hard can it be to get phony ID?” Here it comes, Doctor. Grab onto your chair, Doctor. “Maybe some of your military bosses could help.” He froze, staring at the table. I could tell from the look on his face he was thinking, “How does she know about them?” I didn’t even want to look over at Jane. I didn’t want to lose the moment. I smiled sweetly and continued quickly, “Do you want to know who I want to be, Doctor?”
Dr. Philippe looked at me carefully now. He was wary when he spoke quietly, “Please tell me. What name do you want on these papers? Who do you want to be?”
“The name on the papers will be the new me. My name will be Wildfire. Just Wildfire. Is that okay with you, Doctor? Truth is I like the name Wildfire. It’s like my file, don’t you agree, Doctor?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer. I wasn’t smiling anymore.
I stared straight at him. His forearm was resting on the table. I took his hand in both of my hands, as though we were shaking hands. That placed his hand on its side, exposing his wrist. At the same time, a fork on the table slowly started to slide toward his wrist. I was not using pressure on his hand, no holding, no clasping. Nothing. I was just letting him know what I could do in a heartbeat if I chose.
“There is another thing, Doctor. You have a property of mine, and I want it back. You have a picture in your file that belongs to me. It shows my mother and a horse she gave me for my birthday. Please return it to me…immediately.”
Chapter 6
Safe Landing
“Zeus Spaceport, this is BatWing 4718 requesting clearance to land. Do you copy, Zeus Spaceport? Over.” Peter Griffin was in the cockpit of his spaceship as he was approaching planet Hera. His copilot, Doug Garder, was beside him.
Griffin’s earplugs came alive. “BatWing 4718, this is Zeus Spaceport. You are cleared to land. You are number 6 in the landing pattern. We have you at an altitude of thirty-five hundred kilometers on orbital vector Charlie-Zulu 135. Please maintain present course but descend to twenty-five hundred kilometers.” The voice on his earplugs came back. “And BatWing 4718, change your hailing frequency to seven-four-six, repeat seven-four-six, on your com-one. We will give further instructions on that frequency as you approach.”
Griffin replied into his mouthpiece, “Thank you, Zeus Spaceport. We confirm your instructions.” Peter Griffin was a seasoned and professional pilot. He was a career space force pilot from the time he graduated from the Interplanetary Aeronautic Academy at twenty-two years old. Now at thirty-six, he is a retired military pilot and is flying for a commercial transport company. He is more comfortable in the cockpit of a ship than standing on firm ground. In his career, he had seen many life-threatening events, but his talent has always got him out of jams. He was about to use his skills yet again.
Doug, Griffin’s copilot, was making adjustments on the spaceship’s communications panel. Doug had just gotten out of the military space force. He had never made it to full pilot. He loved flying but could never pass the exams. He hoped to fix that in this new commercial job. He knew he was flying with one of the best. Doug spoke to his pilot, “Peter, I’m looking forward to seeing the Zeus Spaceport. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard a lot about it. I’ve landed at the Cape Messina Federation Space Base, and I’ve landed in Qulan, but I haven’t put down at Zeus before.”
“Well, you are in for a real treat. It’s a big base, maybe fifty kilometers square, but I tell you, Spaceport Zeus is known for having the best of everything, and I mean the absolute best! They have better defenses than the military and better ground to space guns. It’s tucked in mountains, so it’s hard to attack, and so space vessels and airships are safe here. They got the best mechanics, the best food, the best liquor—real Earth liquor, not that synthetic stuff. They import the best merchandise and have the best hotels and sleeping quarters.”
Doug came back, “How about women?”
“I’ll just give you fair warning. When I say the best of everything, I mean the best of everything. But you will pay top dollar for everything. No matter how high the price, it will be worth the money, every credit you spend. Trust me on that one.” Peter smiled and winked.
“Aww, come on. Is it really that good?”
“Spaceport Zeus has only one boss. A woman named Musica put together the whole place. That’s her name, just Musica. It is completely her brainchild. Nobody knows a thing about her before she came to the Bode Galaxy. Who she was, where she got her money, how much money she has, nothing. I’ve never met her and never seen her. They say she is an older woman but still a real good looker, and they say she has a lot of class.”
“Was she a madam? Made all her money running a brothel?” Doug smiled.
“Listen up and I’ll give you a big tip. When we’re down there, whatever you do and say, do not smart-mouth about Musica. You will be in for a mess of hurt. They love her down there. They know their prosperity is because of her. And they will defend her like you wouldn’t believe. They are very loyal to her. And one other thing—the main reason you, me, this ship, my money and your money, everything will be safe down there is because Musica also has her own security force. Like everything else she does, it is the best, the best armed, and the best trained. The toughest going and better than the real army. Do not start a fight because they will finish it.”
He checked a few of the dials on his dashboard, then asked, “How’s our altitude?”
Doug checked, “We’re just passing three thousand kilometers.”
At that same moment, a voice come over their earplugs, “BatWing 4718, abort your landing, repeat, abort your landing. This is Zeus Spaceport Air Traffic Control advising you to clear this Zeus airspace. There is an incoming vessel that is out of control. This area is now being declared unsafe. We repeat, your landing clearance is revoked. Abandon your landing maneuvers and vacate the area.”
Griffin spoke into his mouthpiece, “Zeus Spaceport, this is BatWing 4718. Instructions understood. We are changing course.”
He looked to his right. “Doug, this sounds serious. Can you get us a new course to the nearest spaceport? Have a look on the maps. I think we might have to go all the way to Messina.”
Their earplugs came alive again. “BatWing 4718, please change hailing frequency to eight-two-nine. This is an open public channel. Listening to traffic transmissions may allow you to stay clear of trouble.”
“Roger that, Zeus Spaceport.” Doug adjusted the radio console.
As soon as he got to the correct channel, a woman’s voice came alive over their earplugs, “…best vessel, and I will not abandon my ship, and using my eject pod is not an option. I have control of my ship. I will not watch my best quad wing disintegrate when it enters the hot friction zone.”
Now it was ground control’s turn. “Hinomaru Sun, we have given you a direct order. You do not have landing permission here. Please vacate the area. You can vacate by turning your vessel around or by abandoning ship, but those are your only two choices. If you eject, ditch the ship in the ocean, not on dry land. We will open fire if you continue your approach.”
The woman’s voice came back. “Zeus Spaceport, you know who I am. You are my home base. I am bringing my ship home. Just clear me some place to land.” The pilot of the Hinomaru Sun was Akiko Hoshi, one of the better fighter pilots in the area and known to be one of the better martial arts fighters on Hera. Known as “the Samurai,”
