Free Fool's Gold: Carson Lyle's War - Part One by Thomas J. Rock Page B

hatch.
    “That was impressive,” he said.
    Kagan nodded. “We’ve got seven minutes before those guards are supposed to check in.”
    They walked up the ramp to the hatch. It was a site just about any hauler dreading seeing most: the steel X-shaped customs impound seal. Besides denying a hauler access to an impounded ship, it also usually meant the end of a hauler's career was sealed also.
    "What's the plan for this?" Lyle said, pointing to seal.
    "What? You can't pick it?" Kagan said, surprised.
    "No! I can't pick it."
    "Keep your voice down."
    Overhead, they heard a distant whine of aircraft engines…and it was getting closer. They both looked to the south, behind them. There were two sets of red and white strobes heading in their direction quickly.
    “Dammit,” Lyle said. “Are we screwed?”
    “Nope. They’ve been ordered to land for a shift change and refueling. That’s our cue. We’ll have about fifteen minutes to get as far from here as we can.”
    “How do you know that?”
    Kagan turned back to the hatch and retrieved the object Dex got from the guard. “How many times do I have to say it?”
    “Say what?”
    The object was a chip not too different in appearance from his chop. It mated with a matching slot in the middle of the X. The arms released themselves from the sides of the hatch and it fell to ground, almost landing on Lyle’s feet.
    Kagan held up the chip. “It’s all in the preparation.”
    Lyle looked around. “Where are Dex and— Dammit! How do you guys do that?”
    “Do what? Varga said.
    That was twice those two had snuck up on Lyle and he had zero clue they were there. What in the hell have I gotten in to with these guys?
    Dex stepped to the hatch and reached for the access panel.
    Lyle’s arm shot forward grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back. “Wait!”
    “What the hell, man?”
    “You said the booster’s fixed, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    Lyle rubbed his chin. “The hatch is booby trapped. Only those agents could have got past it to get in.”
    “Let’s hurry this up,” Kagan said.
    “They could have…” Lyle ran his hand along a line of rivets on a nondescript panel to the left of the hatch. He drummed his fingers in a pattern on four of the rivets and there was a series of metallic clanks that came from the inside the hull around the hatch. Lyle reached for the hatch release lever. “Hold on to your butts.”
    Kagan, Dex and Varga, looked at each other, confused.
    Lyle lifted the lever. The hatch opened with a hiss. Lyle breathed a visible sigh of relief.
    “What was that?” Dex said.
    When they finished with the ship, whatever protocol the agents used to disable my booby traps was gone. When the hatch closed - incorrectly - they reset themselves.” He pointed to Dex. “You nearly blew us up.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Kagan said. “We’ve got to get in the air now.”
    “But what about—”
    “Now!”
    The followed Lyle to the control cabin at the front of the ship.
    "No time for pre-flight or any of that other nonsense," Kagan said. "Get her fired up."
    "What about the tower?" Lyle said, taking his seat in front of the controls and cinching the restraints tight.
    The other three men took the seats at the other operational stations. Dex and Varga each pulled devices from their packs and began plugging them into the existing inputs on the panel: Varga plugged into the sensor array and Dex connected into communications. It was the first time in years the cockpit had been fully manned.
    "Again, it's all in the preparation," Kagan said.
    Lyle wasn't comfortable with a cold launch, not that he hadn't done it before – probably too many times, actually. He started flipping banks of switches, in sequence, on his left and right. The compartment became lit on all sides by console lights as systems came online.
    He specifically brought up the booster status and, as good as his word, Kagan was right about the damaged booster being repaired. He began starting