Untouchable (LGBT - SciFi - Romance)

Chapter 27

"I wish we knew where they're taking them!" Almeida muttered.

Martinez had just reported that three ships left Capella around the time Banner and Max disappeared. Both a physical, and a heat detector search, had failed to reveal any sign of the missing men around the docking area, and Martinez was now convinced they had been taken onboard a space ship. Unfortunately, the three ships were all going in different directions. One small trader was returning to Burra, a second, larger trader was heading towards Mayia in the Almaaz system and a private yacht was scheduled for a scenic orbit around the water resort planet of Moonta.

Alan stared at his Captain as the words finally kicked his brain into gear. "Maybe we can find out, sir!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with hope. "Michael was carrying a supply of nanobots with him, in his wristcom."

Almeida looked at his First Officer in surprise, nanobots weren't cheap. Stewart explained, self consciously, "I got them for him, ready for his trip to Bao. He's going trekking on Xamo again, looking for more desert dragons and I wanted him to be safe. With any luck, he's got some of them inside him."

Unlike pieces of equipment, nanobots were carried inside the blood stream and could not be lost or stolen.

Stewart seated himself in front of the nearest com unit, trying not to get his hopes up too much, and entered the code for the nanobots that he had recorded on his wristcom. He held his breath as the com unit searched.

A set of co-ordinates flashed onto the screen, then, confusingly, a second set. A third set flashed intermittently from a location on Capella. Almeida peered over Alan's shoulder. "That's obviously from the wristcom in the disposal unit, as we suspected," he pointed to the Capella set.

"Those must be Banner and - ," he looked questioningly at his First Lieutenant. "Could Banner have shared them with Lang?"

"Of course, sir!" Alan exclaimed in shaky relief. For a horrible moment there, he had had a sickening image of Banner in two pieces. He had to get a grip on himself or he wasn't going to be of any use to anyone. Luckily his Captain was still thinking intelligently.

"The co-ordinates match the location of that private yacht. Who is it registered to again?" he asked Second Lieutenant Wilson.

"Kadina Consortium, sir."

"Send that information through to Captain Martinez, if you would." Almeida looked around the bridge at the rest of his officers. "Our job now, I think." Alan Stewart was reassured by the instant nods of agreement. The Qatar was going after one of its own, om or not.

Almeida continued with crisp orders to the crew. "Alpha Team, prepare for immediate deployment, stand by in Bay One. FTL jump in ten minutes everyone."

XXX

Michael Banner was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He tried to distract himself by wondering how long the men were going to leave them tied up, what their plan was. Presumably they were being transported to a secure location, but how long did they intend to keep them? This couldn't be a kidnapping for money, Robin Lang was not rich; it had to be information they were after, or some action they wanted him to take. If the men had simply wanted payback for the death of the tall man, surely they would have killed Max rather than kidnapping him? His mind went round and round in circles.

Max was thinking about his father. Their relationship had been a little strained since he found out about how his Dad had treated Alan, how he had behaved while he was unconscious. He understood that his Dad had been frightened for him, but he should have known Alan would never do anything like that. He knew Lang was keeping secrets from him but he didn't know how to get him to open up, or even if he should make the attempt. He was his father, for god's sake. Maybe there were some things he really didn't want to know about him. One thing he did know however, was that as much as he wanted to be rescued, he didn't want his father to give in to extortion; to do something criminal in order to give the kidnappers what they wanted.

Both men raised their heads, listening intently. Someone was in the passage outside their room. They braced themselves as the door opened.

XXX

The Qatar came out into normal space, just behind the small yacht, cloaked so that the kidnappers couldn't detect them. Eight men from Alpha team loaded themselves efficiently into five stealth pods, on high alert as the Qatar's navigator activated the tractor beam to send them forward through space towards the target. The stealth pods silently attached themselves to the entry hatch allowing the men to disembark directly into the yacht.

They were armed with stunners as well as face masks and gas canisters to use if necessary. It was a small vessel and Stewart deployed two men to the bridge and the rest to check the living quarters. Heat scanners showed them which rooms were occupied. Cheng and Khan entered the bridge softly. The pilot turned to see who was there and Cheng shot him with the stunner, even as Khan took out the navigator, before either man had a chance to discover they were under attack. Bitter experience had shown an immediate shot with no warning was far the safest procedure for everyone concerned.

Cheng made sure the two men were immobilised, while Khan stepped forward to take over the controls.

Second Officer Wilson was not so lucky. Someone must have triggered an alarm because one of the crew was waiting for him. He opened the cabin, fanning his weapon in front of him but a shot came at him from the side. A man was hiding behind the bathroom door, using it as a shield. Wilson slumped to the floor as Brown tossed a gas canister into the room. He grabbed Wilson under the arms and dragged him out quickly into the passage, then closed the door. Brown picked him up in a fireman's lift and carried him back to the bridge, "He's okay," he told his teammates, "He was only stunned." He left Wilson to Cheng's care and went back down the passage. There were still five men to be contained by his count but from now on he would just use a gas canister.

Hussein and Asimov had a plump civilian bailed up in the luxuriously furnished main cabin. He was protesting vigorously, outraged at the intrusion. He had paid a small fortune to be shown Moonta from space and who was going to refund his money? The Patrol? The two officers treated him with cautious respect, uncertain as to whether he was genuinely innocent or a good actor. They searched him politely but thoroughly, found no weapons and allowed him to remain in the cabin under Asimov's watchful eye.

Certain his men had the situation under control, Lieutenant Stewart continued towards the one cabin which had shown two heat signatures. Private Lee, a recent transfer from the Lunar, followed closely on his heels, weapon in hand.