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"Which one of you is Tim Eng?" he demanded.
"I am," said Tim. "You're Demopoulis?"
He nodded once, slightly. His face was hard, nearly motionless as he spoke. "This meeting with me has already cost you a lot of money," said Demopoulis. "You don't get any of it back, no matter what happens. Now what's so important that you dragged me out here at this time of night?"
"We want to work for you," said Tim.
"No."
"Well earn our way," said Tim. "No handouts. Just let us join you."
"No. Off to the mines with all of you."
"Any terms you want," said Tim, smiling his most disarming smile. "I'll make the deal with you and keep my guys in line. Maybe we can help you expand your operation."
"No. If that's all you want, our business is concluded."
Tim took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips. "It won't hurt you any to tell me why."
Demopoulis stared at him in silence. Finally, he gave just the faintest hint of a smile. "All right, it won't hurt me any. It sure won't." He pointed at Tim with a stubby finger. "This doesn't happen to me. Nobody reaches me from a transport ship that hasn't even landed yet and nobody comes to me with a bunch of soldiers lined up. I don't know much else about you, hotshot, but you're not the kind of man who works for anyone else by choice. Not for long, anyway. You're too much like me. And I'm not giving you any foothold here in my turf. Got it?"
Tim stared back at him for a moment, and then laughed. "Got it."
"I don't think your men have got it yet," said Demopoulis. Suddenly, without moving, he yelled, "Get 'em, boys!"
The mob surged forward. Kyle yanked the heavy freezer case up to his chest and wrapped his arms around it, trying to back away. The thirty or so men behind him, however, were caught off guard. He collided with the guys just in back of him, who were preparing to defend themselves.
In the roiling mob, Kyle ducked low and managed to shove himself backwards and to the side. Most of Tim's followers were ru
Shouts went up on all sides from the men around him, and the immediate violence was halted. Searchlights shot through the darkness, blinding Kyle. He could just see the silhouettes of armed, uniformed men leaping to the ground and spreading out in formation.
A strong hand grabbed his upper arm. "Easy, Kyle," Tim said softly in his ear. "Well be okay. Stay calm. They're CoDo Marines."
"They're what?"
"CoDominium Marines. They'll just take us back where we belong."
"They sure got here fast."
"Fast, nothing. That Grabowski must have alerted them. He's playing all three sides, setting up this meeting for money and also making sure no real trouble happens."
"Everyone freeze," a loud voice ordered over a bullhorn. "Do not move. You are covered. Deportees remain where you are."
"No problem," said Tim easily, to Kyle. "The freezer case okay?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Looks like it's time for our contingency plan."
The CoDo Marines simply sorted out the deportees and herded them back to their facility, as Tim had predicted. When they returned, Kyle noticed that Grabowski was off shift. The next morning, Tim gave a friendly but apologetic farewell to his erstwhile followers. They took it well; what would happen to them now was no worse than what they had expected when they had first been convicted.
Kyle was surprised, though, after breakfast in the cafeteria. Tim, now carrying the freezer case himself, steered him out of the corridor to where Grabowski was standing. He still didn't smile much.
"Pretty slick move last night," Tim said to him with a grin.
"You could have been killed in the confusion," said Grabowski. "This way, Mr. D is happy; I keep my job; and you're still healthy."
"Like I said, pretty slick. Now, then. Where do we go now?"
"We'll get your duffels and go to the heliport."
"Is there going to be any trouble about not processing us for the mines?" Kyle asked.
"Not if you stay right next to me."
They did. By now, Kyle had decided that asking Tim questions in front of other people was a waste of time at best, and maybe a serious mistake at worst. As usual, he followed Tim's lead in silence.
Out at the heliport, they mounted a large cargo helicopter. Grabowski nodded briefly to the pilot and everyone was outfitted with oxygen. Then they took off with a sudde
The chopper droned on. Eventually, Kyle saw first foothills and then a rugged mountain range beneath them. The chopper fairly skimmed over the peaks, at minimum altitude.
The huge mountains below them continued kilometer after kilometer. Kyle finally turned to Tim. "Where are we going now?"
Tim turned his map and marked a spot with his thumbnail. "To the foothills on the far side of this range. They're safer than the steppes beyond it."
"Foothills?"
Tim gri
Finally the chopper began to descend. Kyle watched in near-disbelief as he saw the rugged wilderness that grew larger in his vision. No sign of human habitation existed anywhere he could see.
The pilot tossed them both heavy parkas before they got out. All four of them debarked and the pilot opened the cargo bay. Kyle had thought he was beyond further shock, but he was wrong.
Two of the large, furry Haven creatures called muskylopes were inside the cargo bay. They were already in harness, to a wagon laden with goods covered by a tarp. Grabowski climbed up the ramp to lead them out.
"Oh, no." Kyle groaned aloud.
Tim jumped forward to help Grabowski. In a moment, the wagon was out of the cargo bay. The pilot immediately closed it up.
"All right," said Grabowski. "The wagon has dry supplies for two men for thirty days if you're careful and hunt on the way. The water will only last you a week if you ration, but refilling won't be a problem. You have heavy clothes, blankets, and sleep cocoons. The weapons aren't much by Terran standards-some old Armalite rifles with ammunition, several bows and plenty of arrows. Some revolvers, too. That's where most of your money went."
Tim took a moment to throw back the plastic tarp on the wagon and check the contents.
Kyle stared at the wagon sullenly. He could think of nothing to say. The only alternative was returning to Castell City and its mines.
Tim turned and offered his hand to Grabowski. "We're square."
Grabowski shook with him, but didn't smile. "You're too trusting. If Henley wasn't an old pal, I could have sent you to the mines and kept the money."
"Henley chose well. Thanks." Tim nodded to the pilot as well, and stood back. He and Kyle waited for the chopper to leave.
Kyle inhaled the cold, dry air and watched the helicopter rise into the sky. At last, more than leaving Terra and more than leaving Castell City, this was the end of everything he had known.
Except Tim.
"Climb aboard!" Tim called heartily.
As Kyle did so, Tim found a place for the black freezer case in the back of the wagon just behind the seat. He pulled back the plastic tarp to make sure the sunlight could reach the solar cells on the case and then hoisted his big duffel of cash and liquor alongside it. Then he mounted the seat next to Kyle.
"Where are we going?" Kyle asked. "Do you actually know what you're doing?"
Tim shook the reins and started the team moving north. "I never know exactly what I'm doing, didi. But I'll tell you where we're headed. You just keep an eye out for anyone following us. This is a pretty wild planet, I hear, and you're riding shotgun. Remember the target shooting we did as teenagers?"