Thank you all again for the kind reviews. Now I have another chapter for you all.
Chapter 8
Trance stood up and pulled her cloak tight around her. The purple alien watched the Sabra Jaguars come out of the hotel and turn right. Then the Nietzscheans walked down the street, looking around them at the while.
Trance was careful not to draw attention to herself. The purple alien walked ahead of the two Sabra Jaguars at one point, using a compact mirror to keep an eye on them. Another block later and the Nietzscheans made a right turn at the corner before entering a café.
The purple girl waited up the street between the café and the hotel. Just after it became dark Trance spied the Sabra Jaguars walking back to their hotel room. The change in her chemistry made her impatient. Trance was also having a little difficulty regulating her body temperature, something that was more of a nuisance then a serious problem.
As soon as the Nietzscheans came close to her Trance bumped into them and stole a pocket watch before running away. The Sabra Jaguars turned around and ran after the purple alien.
Trance ran down an ally and allowed the Nietzscheans to catch her as she came to a dead end. The purple girl whirled around and backed up against a brick wall. "Please don't hurt me," she pleaded.
The blonde Sabra Jaguar smiled an evil smile as he grabbed Trance by the arms. "Don't worry little lady. We won't hurt you. You're going to enjoy what we have in store for you."
Trance pretended to tremble as she made eye contact with her attackers. "You can't help looking to my eyes can you? My eyes are rather mesmerizing aren't they?"
The two Nietzscheans were mesmerized as he stared deeply into Trance's brown eyes. The purple pixie's eyes were filled with planets and stars.
I can't believe I am seeing whole solar systems in your eyes. It is fascinating," the blond Sabra Jaguar remarked lazily.
Trance shed her helpless victim act now that she had put her two potential captors into a trance. The purple alien laughed to herself at the irony of her first name; Trance. With the Sabra Jaguars rendered harmless Trance began questioning her newly captured prey.
"Now where is your leader hiding out?" Trance asked as the stars in her eyes spun around.
"I don't know," the blond Nietzschean mumbled his answer.
Trance grabbed a handful of blond hair and pulled the Sabra Jaguar's head back, making sure not to lose eye contact. "Now tell me the truth. I don't like it when people lie to me."
The brunette Sabra Jaguar spoke up. "Siegfried is in the Daedelus System, waiting for us to bring him the progenitor's remains."
"Very good. You are both feeling sleepy. You should sit down here and take a rest," Trance suggested.
The two Nietzscheans began feeling sleepy and their eyelids became heavy. Trance helped the two Sabras to sit down. Before she left Trance left them with one last post hypnotic suggestion.
"You are afraid of kludges. Kludges are dangerous and deadly. You will avoid them in order to ensure your survival," Trance instructed. "Do you understand?"
The Sabra Jaguars meekly nodded their heads before saying in unison, "I understand."
Trance pulled a backpack from around her shoulders and set in on the ground. The purple girl unzipped the main compartment and pulled out a syringe. "You're just going to feel a little prick," Trance warned as she stuck the needle and injected s content into the arm of the blond Sabra Jaguar.
Trance had a smirk on her purple face as she turned her attention to the brunette Nietzschean. Trance injected the contents of the syringe into the brunette Nietzschean as quickly as she could.
"The serum I injected into both of you will make you feel like a strange at first, but you'll get used to it. It will simply make you weak, rather like a Kludge," Trance said as she started the galaxies in her eyes spinning again as she stared at the two Sabra Jaguars. "I don't know why I mentioned that since both of you will forget all about me and what happened here," Trance said with a menacing sounding laugh.
The two men passed out where they sat, giving Trance the chance to leave without protest, not that the Sabra Jaguars could have kept her from leaving in the condition they were in. Trance wore a self satisfied smirk on her face as she walked back to her hotel room. The first part of the plan had gone smoothly. It seemed almost too easy. The purple pixie pushed aside any negative thoughts she had about the situation as she slipped around the backside of the hotel. Trance didn't want to be seen returning to the hotel so she climbed up a pipe that ran up the back wall of the hotel. The purple alien knew she probably could have come through the front door without being seen by the front desk clerk, but she didn't to risk using the same tactic as a precaution.
Trance was able to climb up the pipe with ease. She opened a window to an empty room on the second floor and climbed in. Trance had a hunch that the room was empty and was pleased to find out she was right.
Trance opened the door a crack and checked to make sure the coast was clear. Satisfied that she wouldn't be seen, Trance stepped into the hallway and made her way back to her room.
Now that the first part of her mission was complete Trance gathered up her belongings. She too one last look around the small, sparsely furnished room for anything of her things she might have missed. Satisfied that she had collected everything she brought along on the trip. Trance moved to the window and hung a leg over the window sill.
The purple girl slung the duffel bag with her belongings over her left shoulder. Trance reached out and grabbed hold of vine clinging to the outside wall of the hotel and climbed down. Fortunately for Trance she had the cover of the dark night to keep people from seeing her or she might have aroused suspicion.
When she reached the bottom of the vine Trance let herself drop to the ground below. The purple alien walked towards the spaceship she left at the spaceport. Trance stayed in the shadows the whole way.
At the spaceport Trance gave a phony itinerary to security before getting on her rented ship. Trance performed a pre flight check before starting the engine and taking off from Fargo Drift.
Beka Valentine strode into the security office at the spaceport and walked up to the first security officer she could find. "Hey mister, I need some assistance." The executive officer figured the spaceport's security office might be able to provide some useful information in finding Trance.
The red headed security guard turned to face Beka. "Yes what is it?" the security guard asked with irritation.
Beka called on her experience working scams. "I'm after a friend who may have been kidnapped. I figure whoever kidnapped her must have left from this spaceport so I thought you might be able to look through your dispatch logs," she explained hastily.
The guard eyed Beka with suspicion as he looked her over. "A missing person would be a case for our police department."
Beka thought fast to come up with an answer. "I know but, well but I was already there and the idiot police sergeant refused to take the report. He said I had to wait an "appropriate amount of time. But I found a witness who saw somebody fitting my friend's description get onto a ship here at the spaceport." Beka tried to look upset over the ordeal. The executive officer even did her best so appear anxious and concerned as she looked around and kept shifting her weight from one foot to another.
"I really shouldn't be doing this, but you seem desperate. Follow me and I'll take a report." the redheaded guard instructed.
"My friend is an escaped slave. I don't want her former owner coming after her since my friend was badly treated by him," Beka informed, hoping she sounded sincere.
The redhead shrugged his skinny shoulders. "Okay lady I can't force you to file a report. So why exactly did you come here anyway?"
"I was hoping you could tell me who owned the ship my friend left on," Beka answered curtly. She was tired of the guard's apathy. Beka was glad Trance hadn't really been kidnapped as this guard didn't appear eager to help.
"Okay I'll see what I can find out. When was your friend taken and what makes you think she was taken off this planet?" the guard questioned as he motioned for Beka to sit down in a nearby chair.
The executive officer sat down in a small metal chair on the opposite side of a desk from the redheaded guard. "I found a witness who said he saw my friend leave sometime two days ago," Beka answered with concern. "I waited a couple days once my friend failed to return to our ship before looking for her. I don't want the police involved because whoever took my friend might kill her if he sees any kind of security."
The redheaded guard nodded his head as took notes on a flexi. "What does your friend look?"
Beka prepared herself for the customary puzzled look she would get from the guard. "My friend looks human but is purple and has a tail."
The guard stopped writing and looked up in surprise at the blonde pilot. "Your friend is purple and has a tail? Your friend sounds rather unusual."
"My friend Trance is unique but I assure you she is not a figment of my imagination," Beka stated with conviction. "Now do you mind looking for the information? The witness said my friend Trance left on a cargo ship."
The guard sighed and wrote the Trance's description on his flexi more due to his job regulations than any real belief in Beka's story. Then he turned to a computer on his desk and began tapping at the touch screen monitor. "Okay it's just as I thought. There are dozens of cargo ships that left during the last two days. You're going to need give me some more information if I'm going to narrow things down."
"The witness said the ship was gray and black. She also remembered seeing two numbers on the ship. The numbers were five and three," Beka informed, grateful that she could call on her experience running scams.
"That helps a bit," the guard said as he eliminated all ships on his list that didn't have numbers Beka mentioned. "Were the numbers five and three in that order and where were they the first or last numbers?"
Beka eyes fixed on the ceiling as the tried to remember all of the information she had obtained from a real witness she had questioned. Beka could have kicked herself for not having a flexi with her at the time so she could take notes. "I think the witness said the numbers were at the beginning and were in red."
The information brought a slight smile to the lips of the redheaded guard. "Ah that does narrow things down. Red letters are reserved for rental ships."
"Yes I'm aware of that. So who rented the ship that my friend left in?" Beka questioned impatiently.
A few more taps on the touch screen computer and the guard had greatly narrowed the list of ships. "I show only six ships with the numbers five and three at the beginning that left here in the last two days. Only one of those ships is a rental."
Beka breathed a sigh of relief and nearly jumped out of her seat she was so anxious to be on her way. "Thank you officer, I will put in a good word for you with your bosses. Now where was the ship headed?"
The guard ignored Beka's offer of a good word. He began downloading the information he had found from the touch screen computer to a flexi. The guard handed Beka the flexi. "Here's the information I was able to get for you. Those rental ships have a tracking beacon installed. If you have a halfway decent ship you should be able to home in on the ship. I was able to get the frequency the rental company uses on their tracking beacons and I downloaded it onto the flexi."
Beka smiled graciously at the tall skinny redhead. "Thanks again. I just hope I can catch up to Trance in time." With that Beka left the spaceport security building and headed back for the Maru.