Impact (Book 3): Adrift Read online

  Petteri held the phone toward the flap of the tent. Outside, the gunshots continued every few seconds. Then he put it back to his ear. “Did you hear those bangs? I’ve had criminal elements come right up to our dig site and threaten my men. At first, they merely brandished their firearms. That’s what you call it, right? When citizens flash their guns to threaten?”

  “Correct,” Mr. Stricker replied in a businesslike tone.

  “Well, I must say, it was a fearful sight. Similar stories are taking place at some of my other dig locations. Armed gangs are intent on stealing our product, or, at the very least, they’ve expressed a desire to ransom the pieces by force of arms.”

  “What, exactly, are you asking me to do?”

  Petteri chuckled, appreciating how easy it was to manipulate the powerful government official. Paying him in suitcases of money helped grease the skids, as they say, but if the man ever chomped at his muzzle, all Petteri had to do was threaten the release of some very incriminating photographs. “I need you to outlaw all guns within a five-mile radius of each of my dig sites. Dorothy will send you the coordinates.”

  “Dorothy?” The other man’s voice became excited.

  It was obvious Dorothy had been right. Stricker was indeed hitting on her. However, instead of dragging him over the coals about it, he thought it might be another useful piece of leverage. “Yes, if you were to help me out on this, I might even be able to arrange a meeting between you and her. You know, to discuss the requirements of our dig sites in more detail.”

  The symmetry of his thought processes never ceased to amaze him. He was going to get something useful out of Stricker, for sure, but he was also arranging a loyalty test for Dorothy. How far would she go to get the money she claimed was her main reason for working with Petteri? If he could establish those limits, he would have a sense of where her true loyalties could be found.

  “Oh, yeah. I also need my men to be able to carry defensive guns within the five-mile limit. We both know this confiscation order will only work on the law-abiding people out there. I want my workers to be prepared if hardened criminals come for them. I need to be able to protect my precious workers. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, of course. Whatever you need. I’ll arrange the message immediately. The president will declare martial law; we’ll ban guns in the entire states you’re working in. Then, when that top-level work is done, I’ll get with Dorothy to go over each site in detail, like you said.”

  Petteri could almost hear the man drool.

  “Well, if you want to go the extra mile for me…” he paused dramatically, “I’m sure she’ll be amenable to meeting with you even sooner.”

  When he hung up the phone, Howard was back at the tent flap. Outside, the sound of gunfire had disappeared, suggesting his security team had regained control of the street.

  “Sir, there were no survivors. The explosion killed most of the PWI men close to the rock, and when their dump truck drivers ran toward the disaster zone, we tried to stop them, for their own safety. However, they had guns and threatened my men, which led to a shoot-out…”

  Petteri put on a face suitable for a funeral. “That’s terrible.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Crow Agency, MT

  Grace stared out the window of the truck as Logan drove them back to the town hall. She was vaguely aware of the passage of time, but grief over the news about Mom kept her oblivious to the trip and whatever words were shared between Asher and the boy. It was only when they pulled into the parking space that she escaped from her own thoughts.

  “We’re here already?” she asked. Glancing down, she realized Asher had been holding her hand the whole time. Even her sense of touch was dulled by the terrible news.

  Asher spoke sympathetically. “Yes. We’re going in to see Logan’s dad. Are you ready?” He opened the passenger door, sliding out first.

  I’ll never be ready again, she thought, before following her friend.

  The curly-haired geologist gently took her hand and walked her into the town hall. Logan got them past the security, and into his dad’s office. Unlike their last visit, Shawn Runs Hard was not inside waiting for them.

  “Where is he?” Asher asked the boy.

  “I don’t know. Let me go look. You two stay here, okay?”

  Asher acknowledged him.

  After guiding her to one of the chairs in front of the desk, Asher pulled the other one closer to her, then he plopped down. “Grace, I’m so sorry to hear about your mom. I know there’s nothing I can do for you, but if you think of anything…I want to help you with this.”

  She smiled weakly, struggling hard to hold her emotions together, but failing. Instead of building her resolve to prove to the others she wasn’t devastated, she immediately fell apart in the privacy of his embrace. Grace broke into tears and threw her face against his chest. The movement knocked her hat off, but he caught it and tossed it on the desk.

  His delicate cradling of her head and brushing her hair made her weep even more. It was like he was zapping her with an energy designed to force massive sobs. Or, she reasoned from behind those tears, his presence reassured her it was okay to display weakness and let that sorrow out.

  Grace cried for five minutes. When Logan and his dad came in, she instantly shut off her emotions and tried to dry her eyes with a sleeve. She blinked like crazy, knowing it would be obvious what she was doing.

  “Hello again. My son told me about your mother. On behalf of the Crow Tribe of Montana, please accept my condolences.”

  Logan spoke up. “Yeah, I’m sorry, too. I don’t think I told you that earlier.”

  She smiled weakly, searching for an out. “Did you tell your father what we found?”

  The boy nodded, as did his dad. Shawn replied, “If what you say is true, it means the negotiators in the conference room are not talking with me in good faith. They have to be aware how much the rock is worth.” He expressed amazement. “Eighty million? Is it even possible? You said it would be worth one or two million.”

  Asher remained next to Grace, not cradling her head, but still holding her hand. “I can’t swear to you it’s worth that much. I’d need tools and computer analysis to confirm my guess, but I did get a close look at the makeup of the rock. It was almost all high-grade ore, with little in the way of impurities, which I didn’t expect. There’s definitely gold and platinum; I’d know those anywhere. If I’m wrong about there being any other rare elements inside, it’s still going to be worth seventy or eighty million, easy.”

  “Unbelievable. They were going to pay me twenty thousand dollars for exclusive access for a flatbed tow truck to go back there and pull it onto the cargo platform. I was going to take it, too.” He smiled at her. “I owe you two for many things now. I’m going to be in your debt for a long time.”

  She waved him off. “We’re not here to cash in on anything. I wouldn’t mind telling the TKM a-holes myself, though. As I said, we had a run-in with workers from their company. In fact, they tried to kill us.” Over the next few minutes, Grace outlined their brush with Misha and why they’d been targeted by the company.

  Shawn laughed. “I believe you. No one honorable enough to both save my son and hand over an eighty-million-dollar payday would lie about being shot at by hitmen. If you want to tell them yourself, I won’t get in your way. I do, however, want to watch.”

  Grace wiped her eyes again, hoping the puffiness wouldn’t make her appear weak. She followed Asher, Logan, and his dad down a short hallway and into a cramped conference room. Two well-dressed TKM employees sat at the far end of the otherwise vacant twelve-person table. She recognized the two men by the navy-blue name badges affixed to their chests.

  Shawn spoke first. “Gentlemen, thank you for your patience. I know the last two hours have been long, but I wanted to confer with allies of the tribe before I gave you an answer about your proposal.” He motioned for Grace to step forward. “And I’ve had a special request from this young lady to relay my
answer to you.”

  One of the men stood up. “Grace Anderson.” He looked between her and Asher. “And you must be Asher Creighton.”

  She was caught totally off guard. “How the hell do you know who we are?”

  The man smirked. “Everyone at TKM gets security alerts for threats we’re supposed to be on the lookout for. I’d recognize your faces anywhere. I probably have a dozen text messages displaying them.”

  “We’re the threats?” she asked, taken aback.

  Asher put himself between her and the men. “Your company tried to have us killed. We almost ate a bullet for the supposed threat we pose. All I did was share with the world how TKM dropped their asteroid on purpose. Everything you do to us from now on won’t change that fact.”

  The man shrugged. “I highly doubt you have your facts correct, but I’m not in security. I don’t really care what you’ve done. My purpose here is to negotiate this deal for my bosses. The only reason I even mentioned your names is because of all the spam I’ve gotten about you.”

  She recovered her wits. “Either way, you should know Asher and I did our jobs, too. We went to the piece of asteroid you’re trying to steal. It’s worth a lot of money and the Crow tribe is going to collect it. Not your stupid company.”

  The guy leaned back in his chair, seemingly defeated. “This is unfortunate. TKM has great respect for the Crow people and lands. We had no intention of ripping off the tribe, which is why we’ve proposed paying a fee for the simple act of collecting what belongs to us anyway. If this is going to be more complicated, I’m afraid we’ll need to involve our lawyers.”

  “It seems to me, if a rock falls from the sky, it belongs to the property owner where it came down.” Grace didn’t know for sure, but it seemed logical. Who else would own it? The United Nations? She’d never heard of that organization driving into other countries to steal their meteorites.

  “That may be true in cases of random meteorite impacts, but TKM owned the rock when it was up in space. We found and named it. We brought it from the asteroid belt.”

  “You crashed it to Earth,” she added in a smarmy voice.

  The man clenched his jaw before continuing. “Whatever else happened, this rock and all the others like it belong to the Tikkanen Kinetic Mining company. I’ll give the Crow people one last chance to hand it over. Our offer was very generous, but I’d even be willing to up the fee to an even one-hundred-thousand dollars.”

  Grace looked back to Shawn Runs Hard, wondering if he was going to take it.

  Instead, he crossed his arms. “I think we’re done negotiating.”

  The two men got up and strode toward the door. The one who’d been talking stopped near Grace. “I’ll have to put you two in my report, you know. It will be worth it if they can stop sending me all those warnings, though. In fact, there used to be three people who showed up over and over, but they caught one of them.” He pulled out his phone with amusement and showed it to Asher. “Here. See? This woman.”

  Asher did something she never would have suspected was in him: he punched the man in the face.

  Chester, IL

  “We have to get to the boat,” Ezra exclaimed. “Francis, please drop us off and we’ll get out of your hair. Thank you for the rides, and the offer of lunch, but that boat has a bunch of armed gunmen who will hunt us down if they see us.”

  Looking out across the muddy brown water, the towboat once again had several boats lashed behind it. It was still far enough down river they’d have enough time to get Susan’s Grace started and on the move. However, if the ship freed the speedboats, they’d have no problem catching up to them.

  Francis kept his foot on the brake. “You know, I served in Korea. Did my part. Back there, I learned to survive by knowing a losing bet when I saw one.” He pointed to the ship, crawling ever closer. “Getting chased by that thing is a losing bet.”

  “We have to try,” Ezra replied, sounding desperate. “My daughter needs me.”

  The old man put the truck in reverse.

  “What are you doing?” Ezra complained, thinking he was trying to deny him the opportunity of taking the boat.

  The driver looked over at him. “I’m getting you some help. If you insist on getting yourself killed, at least let me provide cover fire.”

  Butch, also a veteran of war, nodded approval. “If you have any fifty-cals, we could mount one on our boat.”

  They drove back toward town.

  “I don’t have any crew-served weapons, I’m afraid, but you already saw our militia. We needed them last night to fend off a group of serial robbers who came from the cities to the north. If the main force is still out on patrol, they’ll have a reserve element at the library.”

  “Warrior librarians?” Butch asked with shock.

  Francis laughed uproariously. “Wouldn’t that be a sight! No, they’re just average folk from around town. We watch over each other. I’m sure they’ll watch over you as you get in your boat. I’ll make sure of it.”

  When they got to the tiny town library, one of the warriors was already out on the front steps, rubbing his wood-grained rifle furniture with a cloth. Francis didn’t even get out of his truck. “Hey, Bernie. I need all the men you can lasso down by the water. There’s a pirate ship out there.”

  “Really?” Bernie replied, standing up.

  “Yeah, really. I’ll meet you down there, okay? Make it snappy!”

  “Sure thing. There’s only four of us on reserve duty. We’ll drive down there in two minutes.”

  “Perfect!” Francis yelled, before adding, “Hoo-ah!”

  Butch looked across the front seat to the driver. “You were in the Army? Me, too.”

  “Yep, long before you were even born. I was a ground pounder in the 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Division. Some of the coldest nights of my life. It’s been seventy years and I still shiver when I think of that winter.”

  “I served in Afghanistan. It wasn’t only cold as hell, it was hotter than hell, too.”

  “It sounds like war has gotten worse.” Francis laughed at his own joke.

  Minutes later, as Bernie and his men lined up behind the stripped trees on the shoreline, he said goodbye to Francis, who now carried his rifle. “Thanks for all your help. If we ever come back, we’ll be sure to stop by.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have better things to do than visit an old-timer like me, but thank you for the thought. And Muriel and I thank you for the lift. I hope you find your daughter.”

  “I will. Count on it.” He got Susan’s Grace started, while also looking out over the water. In the minutes it took to gather the defense force, the ship had come up the river and was almost even with the small creek. If the pirates were checking out every inch along the shoreline, they’d see his position any second.

  He reoriented the boat on the water, pointing out to the main channel. It provided a few extra seconds to abort the mission and find another way to travel. Car. Bus. Airplane. Anything might be safer than trying to force their way past the pirates. The reason he stuck with it was due to his backup; if they could prevent the towboat from passing, it would make it safe for him and Butch to continue upriver.

  “Here we go,” he said to Butch, who was holding on to his seat as if he would fall right overboard.

  “I’m with you, E-Z. We’re locked and loaded.” Butch’s rifle was on his lap, ready for what came next.

  CHAPTER 18

  Crow Agency, MT

  After seeing the mining negotiators to the door, and getting some ice for Asher’s knuckles, Grace was directed to the media room. Shawn Runs Hard gave her and Asher a ten-second tour while he clipped on a microphone. “I’m glad you knocked a tooth out of that man’s mouth. He was out of line, mocking you two. However, a company as large as TKM is going to have the resources to pursue their rock on legal grounds. They might have a Supreme Court Justice in their pocket, for all we know. To head it off, I’m going to go directly to the people.”

  A small
team of technicians helped get the room set up, then they directed her and Asher to stand against a green screen. She found the screen interesting. “What are you going to put in the background? I hope you have video of that knockdown.”

  Logan stood off to the side, out of the action, but he laughed heartily. “I’m so glad I met you two. This has been the best day of my life.”

  Everyone looked at him like he were missing an eyeball. The day had been anything but fun for her, or Asher, one good punch notwithstanding. The others in the room seemed to share her sentiment, given the stakes.

  He dialed it back right away. “I mean, except for losing Noah.” He spoke quieter. “I almost forgot he was gone. He would have loved this.”

  Logan’s father walked over and put his arm around the boy’s shoulders. “I’m sorry about your friend, son. We’re going to do our part to make sure the people responsible for Noah’s death get their feet held to the fire. That’s what this is all about.”

  Some of the lights switched off, but brighter ones turned on above her head. Shawn came back and stood next to her and Asher. Like she’d seen in the movies, someone counted down, then went silent before hitting one. It was the cue for the chairman of the tribe to speak.

  “I address you this afternoon with an urgent tribal matter. As you know, a meteorite struck tribal lands two nights ago. Agents of a company called Tikkanen Kinetic Mining sought to buy us off so they could come in and take this blessing from us. However, thanks to my new park ranger friends, Ms. Grace Anderson and Mr. Asher Creighton, I now believe this fallen rock belongs to the Crow Nation. It fell on our land. It’s now part of our heritage. As such, I have been informed by Mr. Creighton, a geologist, this rock has a value of approximately one hundred million dollars.” He paused. “Yes, you heard me correctly. The rock which fell out of the heavens contains gold, platinum, and perhaps other rare elements. I inform you of this so our people can defend our windfall from any and all outsiders who would come and take it. At the same time, because I’m sure TKM will use its legal power to compel us to surrender the rock, I am going to travel to Washington, DC to ensure our rights are upheld.”