Salvage-5: Another Mission (First Contact) Read online

“I wouldn’t have made you fresh orange juice, that’s for sure!”

  “Well, why not?”

  “Because, I would have run the other way...far away!”

  “Hey, be nice.”

  “Oh, you have no idea how nice I’m being, Tuck,” Sam said, shaking her head.

  “So, ya gonna fill me in? What happened, anyway?”

  “You really don’t remember?”

  “Nope, not after the Sergeant left. That’s the last thing I remember,” Tucker rubbed his stiff neck, “and how’d I get these bruises on my arms, and my neck, well, that’s a whole different level of sore I haven’t felt in a long time.”

  “Oh, I could have so much fun with that!” Sam grinned. “Come on. Your eggs are gettin’ cold. I’ll tell you all about it.”

  Tucker reluctantly rose from the couch and followed Sam back to the kitchen table. She handed him a freshly brewed cup of coffee and pointed to a chair where a plate of food was waiting for him.

  Tucker slid his chair up to the table, picked up his fork and poked at the eggs, “Well, I’m here...don’t have much of a headache, but there is a three alarm fire close by.”

  “Huh?”

  “Yeah, the space between my ears is burning from hangover.”

  “Ahhh, I see. Okay, well, that’s a very interesting question I have.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re chipped. I thought that tech metabolized alcohol and you couldn’t get drunk.”

  “Well, apparently, the chip can be overloaded.”

  “You polished off an entire 5th on your own, Tuck. No wonder. Quantity can get you drunk.”

  “I needed to get drunk after everything we’ve been through.”

  “Guess you found your limits, huh?”

  “Apparently...now, how about you explaining to me what the hell happened to me?”

  “You were trying to protect me from being clubbed and drug off by a knuckle dragger.”

  “Ohhh, I see...”

  “You remember?”

  “No, can’t say that I do...keep going, though. I’m sure you’ll jog something soon.”

  “Well, let’s just say he was complaining about your singing.”

  “I don’t sing!”

  “You’re tellin’ me!

  “What?”

  “American Pie? Remember?”

  “Nope, still nothin’.”

  “Maybe you should go to the base and ask the Company to have a look at your chip, Tucker.”

  “Are you nuts?”

  “Yes, most likely because of you.”

  “Me? What the hell did I do?”

  “Need you ask?”

  “Are you still butt-hurt that your knee was shot out back in Mexico?”

  “Well, that might have a tad little bit to do with it.”

  “Geez, where do they find these people?” Tucker motion with bits of egg waving in the air on his fork, “I said I was sorry, already.”

  “I know it. But I have to give you a hard time about it.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because, I guess I’m mad at you for not making it worse than it was?”

  “What?” Tucker asked, with stupefaction written all over his face.

  “Simple...”

  “...easy for you to say...”

  “...if I hadn’t been able to go on our first mission, I’d be in a better position and wouldn’t have had the pleasure of meeting Calvin Jones, not to mention the fun filled alien cyborg-clone things that nearly killed us at every step of the way.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “The alien chip things...”

  “No, what did you just say?”

  “Fun filled cyborg complex?”

  “No, right before that.”

  “Calvin...”

  “...Jones!”

  “...Jones...what about Calvin?”

  “He’s the key to this entire problem!” Tucker slid his chair back from the table and slapped his thigh, “Sam, you’re a genius.”

  “Guess, I’m the one lost now...Calvin’s been missing for months, Tuck. Surely you remember that.”

  “Yes, yes of course.”

  “Then how is he the key?”

  “Wanna go back to Mexico with me?”

  “Well, Tuck. I’m flattered, but NO!” Sam answered, eyes popping wide open.

  “Ah, come on...it’ll be fun...good times, lots of memories.”

  “It’s the memories that keep me from going back!”

  “What?”

  “Geez, where do I find these people,” Sam said with a smile.

  “Hey, that’s my line.”

  “I know.”

  “Now, I’m flattered.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “It’s an honor when someone mimics you.”

  “HA! I’m mocking you, that’s not mimicking.”

  “Close enough...”

  Sam folded her arms, “I’m not taking you to Mexico again.”

  “Aren’t you even just a little bit interested why Calvin holds the key?” Tucker asked, squeezing his fingers together.

  Sam tapped her foot and looked up to the right, “Well...”

  “Just a wee bit?” Tucker said, narrowing the gap between his thumb and index finger.

  Sam unfolded her arms, pulled out a chair and sat with her elbows on the table, “Okay, you got me...why is Calvin the key?”

  “Ah, you think I’m going to tell you now?”

  “Ah, come on, Tuck! That is so not fair.”

  “Well, you sat in the chair, not me.”

  “Tucker…”

  “Agree to take me to Mexico first.”

  “Nooo, I don’t want to go to Mexico, Tuck,” Sam whined.

  “Okay, suit yourself,” Tucker said, holding his smirk at bay. He slid his chair back towards the table and crunched into one of the slices of buttered toast.

  “I even made you breakfast and everything. Come on, tell me.”

  “Take me to Mexico and I’ll tell you everything.”

  “That’s blackmail...”

  “I never mailed you anything.”

  “Tucker.”

  “Sam, I’m shocked,” Tucker said, placing one hand on his heart, “that you actually think I would stoop to such...methods.”

  “Really, Tucker?”

  “Mexico or bust, baby!”

  “I’ll hold ya down!”

  “Not without help you won’t.”

  “Wanna bet, lover boy?”

  “Okay, you don’t have to stay. Just give me a lift is all.”

  “You want me to use my rank and book another Harrier, fly your sorry ass back to Mexico, and drop you off?”

  “Yep, just a nice little ride is all I need.”

  “...and you’ll tell me?”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay, okay...you got me,” raising her hands in the air, “I surrender. I’ll fly you to that quaint little town again, what was it called?”

  “San Miguel de Allende.”

  “Yeah, that’s the place. You’re not trying to get arrested this time, are ya?”

  “Oh, heavens no, not at all,” Tucker smiled, finally finishing his breakfast.

  “Then what?”

  “There’s this nice little Monastery in the mountains that I think I’m going to join.”

  “You’re turning your life over to serve as a monk?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “What’s this really all about, Tuck?”

  Tucker scooted back from the table and grabbed for one of his prize cigars, only to find his pockets were empty, “Hey, where’s my cigar? I know I just put one out last night.”

  “You smoked the whole thing already.”

  He stood and walked over to the buffet, opened a wooden box and removed a nice long cigar. Returning to his seat he proceeded to light it up, “Well, it’s like this, Sam.”

  “Oh, I’m all ears, Tuck.”

  “You see, when I met up with Cal in that
jail cell, he told me some things.”

  “What?”

  “Tuck,” Tucker explained to Sam from across the kitchen table, smoke wafting from his freshly lit cigar, “I need to tell you what I have. It’s imperative that we get out of here.”

  “Cal? You actually sound scared. What happened? I asked him.”

  “I’ve been tracking this strange chatter on the secure airwaves.”

  “Signal? I asked, not trying to sound too excited.”

  “Something from one of the Asteroids out there. We’re missing several ships and now…now there’s this signal, sending detailed blueprints of some kind of technology.”

  “What else?”

  “Isn’t that enough in itself?”

  “I just know there’s more to this story…next you’ll be saying that little green men from outer space have abducted our guys.”

  “They have.”

  “What are you saying, Cal?”

  “When I was tracking the signal, I traced it back to a monastery high in the mountains from this quaint little town here. The word on the street was, they were close to breaking the language and would be building this tech.”

  “Sounds too much like Science Fiction to me, but go on. I told him.”

  “Well, I sort of miscalculated when the good people were home.”

  “You got caught, didn’t you.”

  “Yes. It was a real bugger too. I had the data at my fingertips. It was on the screen, but when I put my thumb drive in the slot, the computer shut down and sounded a very annoying alarm.”

  “Thumb drive…why the hell would you use such an antiquated piece of technology. You could have sent it to your wireless.”

  “It’s a monastery, I didn’t think they had wireless…it was lucky enough that they had a thumb drive slot.”

  “Why would these monks be so interested in this signal?”

  Tucker continued telling his story to Sam as he puffed on his cigar.

  “That’s what I asked too. Seems this tech is some kind of bio chip that can be inserted into our heads. Actual chips grow out and into our cerebral cortex. Tuck we can program this chip to cure sickness.”

  “These people want to get rich selling this…that’s what this is all about.”

  “Perhaps, Tuck. But I think they were already in contact with the Vatican…and I think they were instructed to just turn it over quietly.”

  “What about their data?”

  “It was destroyed. I guess my thumb drive caused their old computer to crash. I memorized the info on the screen. I was going to make my getaway and planned on getting rich. That’s when the alarms all went off.”

  “Go figure.”

  “Yep. So here I am. Rotting in this cell until they figure out what they want to do with me…so how did you happen to end up in the same exact jail cell as me? I’m an awful long way from the beaten path.”

  “I heard you were in a little bit of trouble.”

  “So you thought you’d come down here and bail me out?”

  “Bail? Why does everyone think I’m made of money over here.”

  “If you’re not bailing me out, then why are you here Tuck?”

  “That’s when I reached inside my boot and pulled out two sticks of dynamite. I held them up, one in each cuffed hand, and told him he just made bail.”

  “So what’s this have to do with Calvin being the key?”

  “That data is what I need to get my hands on. If I can obtain the chip blue prints, I could get Buster to program me some special code.”

  “So, that’s why you’re joining this Monastery? You’re going to steal from God?”

  “No...” Tucker thought about it for a moment, “No, not from God...from the monks.”

  “And you’re going to get back to Oak Harbor on your own? I just take you there, drop you off and hope you’re alright?”

  “Yeah, basically.”

  “Define basically.”

  “Well, it would be nice if you did come back for a pickup, you know...but you can fly back to the United Territories and wait for me.”

  “How long do you need me to wait,” Sam sighed.

  “Should only need a few hours, maybe a day or two.”

  “Uh, huh...I think I just detected some deceit.”

  “Deceit? Me? Really, Sam? You’re doing me an injustice over here.”

  “No, I think it’s you who is doing me an injustice.”

  “Well,”

  “Well what?” Sam shrugged.

  “You in?”

  “No, but okay.”

  “Oh come on. It’ll be fun.”

  “Yeah, I can hardly wait.”

  “Okay, I’m all set. Let’s go.”

  “Now?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Well, it’s the small details that get ya.”

  “Like what?”

  “Oh, I don’ know...how about the jet?”

  “What’s the matter with taking a jet?”

  “No, it’s not the taking it...it’s the scheduling it, and getting a flight plan approved.”

  “Flight plan? Flight plan…We don’t need no stinkin’ flight plan! Go stealth.”

  “Oh, I’m sure General McKenzie will buy off on that one, you betcha.”

  “I can do a little AMP thing on him.”

  “You can’t get on the base, and you don’t have a way to get jacked. You have to give me a couple of weeks. Lie low, get everyone to settle down and forget. Then we go.”

  “Well?”

  “Well, nothing! Let’s give it a couple of weeks. That’ll give us some time to plan, get it scheduled and we can sneak down there under everyone’s radar.”

  “Okay, Sam. Two weeks. That’s all. I have to go back and rescue her. It’s really my fault Cass and Hargrove are still out there.”

  “You know what the General said.”

  “Yeah, he says a lot of things.”

  “You can’t go back, Tucker. That’s just not possible.”

  “Sure it is. I’ll steal the ship and go alone if I have to, but I’m going back for her.”

  “They’ll fry you.”

  “Only if you get caught.”

  “Tuuucccker?!”

  “What? Geez, relax already, Captain. I’m just kidding over here.”

  “Uh huh, right. Sure.”

  “Good breakfast, by the way. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” Sam again folded her arms.

  “How can I ever repay you?”

  “Give me a minute, I’m sure I can think of something.”

  “Sex?”

  “NO, not that...not ever!”

  “What? Never hurts to ask?”

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  San Miguel de Allende

  Mexico

  Monastery high in the Mountains

  Earth Date:

  November 10, 2065 12:30 local time

  A crude rope around the waist was all that held the long brown robe Tucker wore. The bell chiming to the monk’s cadence kept time with his steps as he entered the monastery. The hooded robe hid his face and the long sleeves covered his hands. He slipped unnoticed onto the end of the single file line traveling to the refectory.

  Tucker’s eyes glanced left and right. Convinced that no one was paying him any attention, he slid down one of the walkways next to the building and ducked into an alley.

  A tall man wearing a white hooded robe stopped him at the side entrance to the building.

  “Are you lost, my Son?” the man asked.

  Tucker nodded in agreement.

  “You must be new here, aren’t you?”

  Tucker again nervously nodded as he weighed his options.

  “I see...you don’t have to worry, your vow of silence does not apply to your Abbot. You are allowed to speak to me, and only me.”

  “Yes, yes...I’m lost, that’s it.”

  “Well, it is alright, my Son. You’ve been found now.”

  “Great...I
mean that’s good, Father.”

  “What’s your name, my Son?”

  “Tuck.”

  The monastery’s Abbot roared with laughter, “That’s really funny!”

  “What? My name is funny to you? That’s just great!”

  “No, no. I’m so sorry, but it sounded really amusing.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Because that would make you Friar Tuck,” the Abbot laughed.

  “Ha, ha...yah, that was pretty funny, alright. Just take me to the merry men.”

  “Oh, haa, haa...I can see having you joining our little community is going to be very good. We always are in need of humor around here.”

  “Swell.”

  “What do you say we go into the refractory and have lunch? It’s right this way...I don’t know how you could have missed it.”

  “What’s on the menu?”

  “Bread, cheese, and a small spot of red wine...tonight, Brother Lopez is cooking lentils.”

  “Ah, well...I was looking for a rest room first.”

  “Well, we have facilities within every building...come with me.”

  “Oh, wait...I have a confession to make.”

  “The confessional is at three-o-clock.”

  “This can’t wait,” Tucker pleaded.

  “Very well. What is your sin, my Son?”

  “I lied.”

  “You lied?”

  “Yes. I lied, Father.”

  “What was your lie, my Son?”

  “About joining the monastery,” Tucker said. He squeezed his hand into a fist and swung at the Abbot, hitting him square on the jaw. The Abbot collapsed in a heap.

  Tucker shook his hand, “Forgive me for this transgression, Father...but I don’t have time for this!”

  Tucker threw back the hood and looked up and down the alley. He grabbed the unconscious Abbot and pulled him inside the door. He glanced out once more before closing and locking the door.

  Turning around, he stopped at the sight of a scantily dressed woman lounging on a bed that was on one edge of the wall.

  “Oh my, my! What have we here?”

  The Abbot started to come around, slightly shaking his head, and rubbing his jaw.

  “Let me guess,” Tucker lifted the Abbot up by his robe, “You’re kind of lying too, aren’t you?”

  “W-wha happened?”

  Tucker slammed the man back to the ground and placed a foot on his chest, “Don’t you have a sin to confess as well?”

  “Who are you? What do you want?” the man pleaded.