Orbital Disruption Page 20

  “What if she just decides to arrest us?” Molly asked.

  “Do you think she would?” Dennis asked.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so,” Tabitha replied. “I’m pretty sure ‘grand theft asteroid’ is a lower priority than ‘mass murder.”

  “I don’t think we have a choice anyway,” Esteban agreed. “I don’t know how Anna found us or if Ruben has other thugs out looking for us but right now, they’re our biggest risk. Even if the feds arrested us, I’m pretty sure we’d be safer than out here on our own.”

  “Ok,” Dennis said after a moment. “But let’s make contact with Tony first. I’m not sure about Jessica but I know I can trust Tony. Let’s call him up.”

  “I can get us some burner phones at a place I know just off Times Square,” Esteban offered, “while you guys buy us some fresh clothes.”

  “Sounds good,” Molly nodded and yawned. “I know a cheap place on thirty-second street where we can stay that ought to be safe.”

  “How are we going to pay for all this?” Dennis asked. “I have thirty bucks or so in my wallet. If we’re trying to stay off the grid then I shouldn’t use my ATM card or credit card, right?”

  “Right,” Tabitha agreed. “Cash only until we’re sure nobody’s after us.”

  “I don’t have any money at all,” Molly sighed. “My purse is still in my desk drawer at Jovian.”

  “I’ve got about five hundred on me,” Tabitha stated.

  “You’re carrying five hundred dollars in cash?” Dennis whispered loudly and raised an eyebrow.

  “Old habit,” Tabitha replied, pulling a tight roll of green paper from the pocket of her jeans. “In some parts of the world, cash can literally be a life saver.”

  “I’m good for the same,” Esteban said. “Like Tab said, old habit.”

  Dennis shrugged his shoulders. “Ok, sounds like a plan.”

  “Are you sure this is a hotel?” Dennis asked as Molly pushed a cheap-looking plastic intercom button beside a rusty metal door. Neon light emanated from a tobacco and liquor store next door. Brightly lit red characters spelled something in Korean that Dennis couldn’t read. New York City’s Garment District was still bustling despite being nearly midnight. There was an advertisement for karaoke on the second floor and an internet cafe on the third but the other buttons were unmarked. Molly had pressed the one for the fourth floor.

  The door buzzed and Molly pulled it open. Dennis held it with one hand. His other hand held a plastic bag without a store label. It simply said “thank you”. He’d never worn an “I Heart NY” t-shirt before, despite having lived in the city for most of his adult life. But it was the first cheap clothing they found. Perhaps he could wear it ironically, he considered.

  Tabitha passed through the door carrying a similar plastic bag. Esteban carried a paper bag that advertised electronics and phone repairs. Dennis followed them inside. Molly had already called the elevator and it soon arrived. The four barely managed to fit inside the cramped space.

  “Seriously,” Dennis resumed. “What is this place, Molly?”

  Molly sighed. “I used to date a girl who was an artist. She was always broke and hung out with some shady folks who liked to stay off the grid. This place was cheap and never asked questions.”

  “Sounds lovely,” Dennis grumbled.

  The elevator dinged, paused and then slowly opened, the ancient metal doors squeaking, clearly in need of lubrication.

  The elevator faced a long, dimly lit hallway. A small table had been placed next to the elevator. And old asian man with wispy white hair sat at the table wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, boxer shorts and slippers.

  “How many room?”

  “How much?” Molly asked.

  “One twenty each room,” the man replied.

  “Bullshit,” Molly retorted. “My friend stayed here for eighty!”

  “Yeah, I remember you. I know your friend. She still owes me money!”

  “I’ll tell her next time I see her. Ninety.”

  “One hundred.”

  “Deal, we’ll take two rooms.”

  Molly looked back at Esteban. Esteban stepped up and counted out ten twenty-dollar bills. The old man stood up, frowned and took the money from Esteban.

  “Wait here,” he said and walked into the first door off the hallway. A moment later he returned with two dull brass keys, each with a small paper tag attached.

  “Room fourteen and room eighteen. Check out ten a. m. No smoking or cooking in the rooms.” The man looked at them with barely concealed disdain. “And no doing laundry,” he added.

  “Thank you,” Molly said curtly as she took the keys and proceeded to walk down the hall. Dennis, Tabitha and Esteban followed. As they approached the door marked fourteen, Dennis cleared his throat.

  “I suppose Esteban and I…”

  Molly interrupted him. “I think Esteban and Tabitha need some time together. Dennis and I will be fine sharing a room - there are two beds and he knows he’s not my type.”

  Molly handed one of the keys to Tabitha. Dennis looked at Tabitha, then Esteban and finally Molly.

  “Sure, fine with me,” Dennis said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Thanks, Molly,” Tabitha said.

  Esteban reached into his bag and withdrew two small boxes and two plastic cards, each card with a small chip embedded in it.

  “Here are your phones and prepaid sim cards, guys. They’re not fancy but they can do voice and text.”

  “I’m ok with not fancy,” Dennis replied, accepting one of the phones from Estaban. Molly took the other.

  “If you get in touch with Tony or Jessica, come tell us in person,” Tabitha said. “Let’s try to avoid calling each other on these phones for now.”

  “Got it,” Dennis replied.

  After bidding Dennis and Molly good night, Esteban and Tabitha continued down the hall.

  Molly opened the door and Dennis followed her into room fourteen. It was very small - two narrow beds separated by a tiny desk. Light from the street below leaked around the heavy curtains. The beds were fitted with white sheets, white pillows and pale blue blankets. They looked threadbare but clean. A small bathroom sat off to the side of the entrance.

  “I take it you think Tab and Esteban still have stuff to discuss?” Dennis asked as soon as the door was closed.

  “Um, duh,” Molly replied and rolled her eyes.

  Dennis shrugged his shoulders. “You’re probably right. To be honest, I’m too tired right now to care much.”

  “You should take a shower first, though,” Molly replied. “Be sure to wash your wound out. I’ll help you put a fresh bandage on it when you’re done.

  “Thanks, Molly.” Dennis said. “But first I want to get in touch with Tony.”

  He set his bag down on a bed and opened one of the boxes that Esteban had given him. Inside was a small phone with a pink plastic faceplate and a wall charger.

  “Pink. Nice.”

  Dennis snapped one of the small chips out of its enclosing plastic card, opened the phone’s back cover, inserted the chip and closed the back cover. He pressed the power button and the phone’s LCD screen lit up with the icon of a phone manufacturer Dennis had never heard of. The battery icon showed half charged - good enough for now.

  Once the phone had finished powering up and had acquired a signal, Dennis typed in a number from memory and pressed the button to dial.

  “Hello?” a voice answered.

  “Tony!” Dennis exclaimed.

  “Dennis? Holy shit, it’s good to hear from you!”

  “Yeah, you too, Tony.”

  “Are you guys ok? We’ve been worried about you!”

  “We’re ok now, mostly. A little beat up but we survived.”

  “Beat up?”

  “Anna Ivanov found us somehow. She and another guy attacked us while we were on a boat.”

  “Whoa, Anna Ivanov is still after you?”

  “Well, not anymore. She’s dead now
.” Dennis paused. “I’m pretty sure I killed her.”

  Dennis sat down on the small chair in front of the desk. It hadn’t really sunk in until just now. He’d killed someone.

  “Holy crap. What happened? A boat? You guys were on a boat?”

  “It’s a long story, Tony. We’re with a friend of Tab’s. He had a boat. We thought it would be safe but somehow she found us. They attacked us tonight after sunset, there was a fight and I’m pretty sure she drowned while trying to kill me.”

  Tony said nothing for a moment.

  “Still there, Tony?” Dennis asked.

  “Yeah, man. Just. Wow. That’s intense.”

  “Yeah.”

  “She had it coming, you know.”

  “Yeah,” Dennis agreed. “I know.”

  “What about the guy? You said there was a guy with Anna, right?”

  “The guy was still alive when we got away but the boat was on fire and there were cops coming… I don’t know what happened to him. I hope they caught him.”

  “I’ll pass that along to Jessica,” Tony offered. “I think she’ll want to give the local police a heads up.”

  “Thanks,” Dennis answered.

  There was another pause.

  “Listen,” Tony said. “I have good news for you.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah - the FBI raided Excelsior this morning. Ruben left last night but they followed him to a hideout in Idaho and arrested him.”

  “The FBI arrested Ruben St. James?” Dennis asked, incredulously.

  Molly’s eyes got wide and then a smile formed on her face.

  “Yeah,” Tony continued. “They’re charging him with terrorism, Eddie’s murder and a bunch of other stuff.”

  “Shit, that is good news,” Dennis agreed.

  “Listen, Denny - you guys need to get down here to DC. Jessica got your message about the asteroid’s trajectory. They got some NASA geeks to confirm it and, well, everyone’s going apeshit.”

  “I’m glad they’re taking it seriously,” Dennis replied.

  “Taking it seriously? Dennis, you don’t know the half of it. Look, how soon can you get down here.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “Yeah, it’s safe. Everyone knows the score and we’re all on the same team. The feds know you’re not the bad guys.”

  “Ok, that’s good to hear. Hard to be on the run from everyone.”

  “I bet. So where are you? When can you get here?”

  “We’re in New York now, just checked in to some fleabag motel in midtown. We can probably be there by lunchtime tomorrow if we take an early Amtrak.”

  “Hold on a second,” Tony said.

  Dennis heard indistinct sounds as Tony spoke in the background. He thought he heard Jessica’s voice.

  Tony came back on the line. “Can you guys be at the East 34th Street heliport tomorrow morning at eight?”

  “Um, sure. But that sounds expensive and we don’t have much money on us.”

  “Uncle Sam’s going to pick up the tab on this one, Denny. Just be at the heliport. Someone will meet you.”

  “Sure, Tony,” Dennis replied. “We’ll be there. And hey, how is Mike?”

  “He’s still in the hospital but he’s recovering,” Tony replied. “Ricky’s been checking in on him. He told me he got the thrust plan from Molly for the capture attempt and he’s looking at it.”

  “I’m glad to hear he’s ok,” Dennis replied.

  “Do you want to bring Mike and Ricky down here, too?” Tony asked.

  Dennis thought for a moment. “I’ve already got Tab and Molly in enough trouble. I don’t want to move Mike out of the hospital and I’m trying to keep Ricky out of danger. He’s just a kid.”

  “Ok, makes sense. I’ll let them know you’re all ok.”

  “Thanks, Tony.”

  “This is some pretty crazy shit we’re in, eh?” Tony asked.

  “Yes. Crazy shit indeed,” Dennis agreed.

  “Ok, get some sleep buddy. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

  “Good night, Tony.”

  Dennis hung up the phone.

  “The FBI caught Ruben,” Dennis said simply.

  “I heard,” Molly nodded. “That’s awesome news.”

  “Yeah. Apparently Jessica’s friends in the government really want us down in DC.”

  “There’s an asteroid heading toward Earth, Dennis. That’s to be expected.”

  “I guess so. They’re arranging for us to fly down there in the morning. We need to be at the East 34th Street Heliport by eight.”

  “I’ll go tell Tab and Esteban,” Molly said. “You take a shower. Let’s try to get a little sleep now. We might not have much time for it the next few weeks.”

  “Wow, that’s great news,” Tabitha said to Molly.

  “And apparently we’re needed in DC. We’re going by helicopter from 34th street at eight tomorrow morning.”

  “That makes sense,” Esteban replied.

  “If they have Ruben in custody then it almost certainly means they’re not after us,” Tabitha agreed. “I think we should go.”

  “Ok, in that case let’s plan to leave at seven. We can walk to the heliport from here and grab a bite on the way.”

  “That works,” Tabitha agreed.

  “Ok, good night!” Molly left the room.

  After the door closed, Tabitha locked it and then sighed. She was still facing the door. Esteban stood behind her.

  “I’m really going back into that shithole, aren’t I.”

  “No,” Esteban replied and stepped closer. He put his hands on her shoulders. “We’re going.”

  Tabitha turned to face Esteban. His hands fell to his sides. Tabitha reached out and took his hands in hers.

  “Oh, Esteban. You don’t need to do this. I’ve already pulled you in way too far. And you’ve lost so much.”

  Esteban smiled. “I’m not leaving you, Tabitha. I lost you once and I almost lost you again tonight. That’s the only loss I care about and I’m not letting that happen again.”

  Esteban stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Tabitha. She leaned into the embrace and then looked into his eyes. She kissed him.

  Esteban leaned forward to kiss again but Tabitha spoke, “You smell like seaweed and I probably smell worse.”

  Esteban nodded and gestured to the bathroom.

  “Ok, why don’t you shower first.”

  Tabitha took his hand. “Oh, you silly fool,” she said with a smile as she led him into the bathroom.

  Wearing fresh clothing felt nice after a few hours in soggy ones, Dennis thought as he sat on the side of his bed. Getting his wound cleaned out was less pleasant.

  “Ow, damn.” Dennis mumbled.

  “I’m trying to be gentle but I need to disinfect the wound,” Molly explained. “You got seawater in there with god knows what in it. You’re going to need some serious antibiotics soon, too.”

  “Sorry, Molly,” Dennis replied. “I appreciate the help.”

  He was silent for a moment while Molly finished wiping away the dried blood that had oozed out. She applied a new bandage.

  “I really mean it. I can’t believe what’s happened to us these past few days. I never meant for this to be dangerous.”

  “Of course you didn’t. But we’re going to get through this, Dennis. We’re a team. We didn’t count on Excelsior trying to murder us when we stole their asteroid. But we knew that there were risks.”

  Molly finished applying the bandage and leaned back. She was wearing a kitschy t-shirt with a silhouette of the Statue of Liberty and the caption “New York City, USA”.

  “I know one other thing, though,” Molly continued. “Excelsior never counted on us kicking their asses.”

  Dennis looked up.

  “I meant it when I said we’re a team, Dennis. You’re the captain but we’re all in this together. Don’t get all regretful and apologetic on us.”

  Dennis smiled. “Ok, sailor.”

 
; Molly laughed. “Now let’s get some sleep. It’s late as fuck and we have to save the world tomorrow!”

  Thirty

  Dennis sat down on a metal folding chair. He felt dizzy and tired. It wasn’t even ten in the morning and he was somehow already in a government office building in Washington, DC. Esteban was sitting next to him, looking at a painting (a reproduction, Dennis assumed) that hung on the wall. It depicted a dark-skinned man with a rifle sitting on a horse. Tabitha sat next to Esteban, leaning against him. Her eyes were closed. Molly sat on the other side from Tabitha and was tapping her fingers.

  Dennis hadn’t slept well the night before due to the pain in his arm. He tried not to think about the wound getting infected but he knew the burning sensation wasn’t a good sign. It hurt like hell.

  It felt like he’d just managed to drift off when the primitive alarm clock on the small desk had buzzed loudly. They’d packed their old clothing (still soggy and smelly from the night before) into one of the plastic bags. For twenty dollars the old man at what passed for the front desk of the low-budget hotel had agreed to store it for them for a few days. They bought bagels from a street cart to eat while walking several blocks to the heliport.

  As they crossed under FDR Drive, a young man wearing mirrored sunglasses and carrying an FBI badge met them and explained that he would be taking them to Washington. Molly had tried to learn more about what was planned but the agent either didn’t know or wasn’t willing to share. At least, Dennis noted, the agent was diplomatic enough not to say anything about the cheap tourist t-shirts and sweatpants that they were all wearing.

  They were led to a large grey and silver helicopter that took off from the east side of Manhattan and turned north, following the East River.

  “I thought we were going to Washington,” Dennis asked the agent, shouting to be heard over the sound of the engine and rotors.

  “Teterboro!” the agent replied, pointing north-west. Dennis still didn’t understand but decided it wasn’t worth asking further. He looked out the window and saw the United Nations headquarters pass by.