As insinuations went, Tory’s was as obvious as the wiry black mustache on Griff’s face. However, he held his tongue, conscious of the mercenary’s fiery temper.
“This system may still have value,” Cutler interrupted. He had continued working on the scan data, while Tory and Griff sparred.
“What do you mean?” asked Griff, springing beside Cutler’s seat so he could see his monitors more clearly. Cutler’s words had given him hope that something of their operation could be salvaged. At that moment, he’d take anything that might spare him from Wash’s spiteful fury. “Is there another wreck?”
Cutler shook his head, “Not another wreck, but I am detecting structures on the largest of the gas giant’s five moons.”
Griff frowned as he looked at the information on Cutler’s monitor. The scan data meant little to him, but to Griff’s eyes, the long-range images certainly suggested the presence of cities on the surface. He smiled and stepped back, unfurling his fingers.
“We might have struck pay dirt after all,” said Griff, plucking a cigarette out of the black packet in his shirt pocket.
Tory scoffed a laugh, “I don’t think the auction houses pay much for alien rubble…”
Griff glared at Tory again, “Who gives a shit about broken alien ships?” he said, refusing to let Tory’s pessimism sour his reinvigorated mood. “We have entire cities worth of relics to pick through.” He laughed again and placed the cigarette in his mouth, before taking out his lighter. “Who knows; this could be the most valuable little planet in the entire galaxy!” Griff flicked open the lighter, but no sooner had the flame sparked into life than Tory spoke up.
“Light that thing in here, and I’ll shove it down your throat, lit end first.”
Griff glanced over to Cutler for support, but he didn’t even acknowledge Tory’s threat, and continued to stare at his screens. Their alliance had always been a fragile one, based on shared interests, but their relationship now seemed to be resting on a knife’s edge.
Griff closed the lighter and plucked the cigarette from his mouth. “Okay…” he said, before reluctantly sliding the stick back into the packet. “Since you asked so nicely.”
“Tory, I’ve sent you the co-ordinates for the moon,” said Cutler, again acting as though he was oblivious to Griff and Tory’s quarrelling. “I suggest we move quickly; we don’t know how long we’ll have before others arrive.”
“Fine by me,” said Tory, adjusting course for the moon. “The sooner we bag a good score, the sooner we can get rid of the bad smell in here.”
Griff’s blood was almost boiling over, but he bit his tongue again. Then Tory pushed the throttle forward, sending Griff staggering to the rear bulkhead. The force of the acceleration wasn’t enough to make him fall, but he knew Tory had done it deliberately all the same.
“Oops, I’m sorry, did I forget to remind you to sit down and strap in?” said Tory, glancing back and grinning at Griff. “You might want to take a seat, Inspector. I’d hate for you to get hurt…”
Griff clambered away from the bulkhead, pulling himself forward using the side consoles like a handrail. He then dropped into his seat and fastened the harness. He was desperate to hit back at Tory, but he could no longer rely on Cutler to support him, or intervene. He had no doubt that Tory would love nothing more than to stick a knife in his throat. However, since Cutler’s announcement that the Council would be hunting for them, he now worried that the mercenary might be having similar thoughts. When the Council boss, Werner, eventually caught up with them, someone would have to take the fall for Liberty having escaped New Providence. Griff’s preferred choice was Tory Bellona; he’d love nothing more than to stitch her up, and teach her a lesson. However, he wasn’t sure if Cutler had a similar plan in mind. And, despite the recent tension between Cutler and Tory, Griff wasn’t yet convinced that Cutler wouldn’t make him the fall-guy instead.
However, Griff also knew that none of that mattered until he had a big score under his belt. For now, he had to bide his time. As soon as the RGF controlled the new portal world, he’d go back to Superintendent Jane Wash and ask for her protection from the Council. It would cost him in credits, of that he had no doubt, but at least he’d be safe. Then he’d be in a stronger position to negotiate with Werner. However, while the Council hunted them, and until he had earned Wash’s trust and favor again, he still needed Cutler and Tory.
“Just get us to that moon,” said Griff, relaxing back in the chair. He was desperate for a smoke, but he didn’t want to risk that Tory’s inventive threat had not been a bluff. “Cutler is right, other hunters will be racing each other to get here next. And it won’t be long before the CET and MP make an appearance too.”
An alarm sounded in the cockpit, and Griff could see a red light illuminate on Cutler’s console. He sighed heavily, and called out to him, “What the hell is the matter now?”
Cutler seemed strangely uneasy, considering his normally unflappable demeaner. He was working frantically at his console, and again choosing to ignore Griff. This made him feel immediately on-edge. There wasn’t much that managed to rattle Cutler Wendell.
“Do you see that?” asked Tory, frowning over towards Cutler.
“See what?” Griff called out. He hated being out of the loop; he was used to being in control, not only of the mission, but the ship too.
“I see it,” replied Cutler. “Analyzing now…”
“What the hell do you see?!” Griff called out again.
Tory glowered back at him, “Will you shut up already? You’re like a damn child, constantly asking ‘are we there yet?’.”
Cutler was the one to eventually answer Griff’s question. He glanced back and met Griff’s eyes. In them he saw something he very rarely saw from Cutler Wendell – fear.
“There is another ship or object on an intercept course,” said Cutler.
“What other ship?” asked Griff, not following. It didn’t seem possible that anyone else could have made it to the Sapphire-Alpha side of the portal yet. “Who is it? Another hunter? The CET, or MP?”
Cutler shook his head. “It isn’t any of those. It isn’t anything I’ve seen before.” Then he hesitated, seemingly struggling to force the words out. “It appears to be… alien.”
CHAPTER 2
Griff watched anxiously as Tory throttled back so that the FS-31 was no longer accelerating towards the oncoming alien vessel. She then pulsed the port thrusters, pushing them into a slightly different trajectory. The unidentified alien ship mirrored her maneuver exactly, and remained on a collision course.
“Whatever that thing is, it’s tracking our movements,” said Tory. Her tone was urgent, but not panicked. “If we stay on this course, it will smash right through us in a little over three minutes.”
Cutler reached over to a secondary console and activated the FS-31’s hidden weapon systems. He then pulled the targeting console in front of him and locked on to the alien vessel.
Griff frowned as the motorized whir of gears deploying the weapons rattled through the deck. “What are you doing?” Griff called over to Cutler. “Surely, you don’t intend to shoot at it?”