Part 3

  After getting the message from Utopia, Carlo left Charles to go check on the fathier. He found the beast in the stable happily munching on some grass. Cress was there as well cleaning out a stall. He interrupted his work as he saw Carlo enter. “Did you hear from your friends in Utopia?”

  Carlo leaned in the gate of the stall and nodded an affirmative. “Yeah. They’re sending a speeder for us. Probably get here sometime tomorrow.”

  “That’s great!” The young Rodian opined. Then he saw the brooding look on Carlo’s face. “Uh, isn’t it?”

  Carlo forced himself to brighten. “Of course. Sure is!”

  Cress seemed unsure what to say, as if he still didn’t feel right about the situation.

  After a moment, Carlo asked Cress, “You know anything about the droid repair shop down the lane?”

  Cress nodded. “Oh yeah! Miriam is a genius! She knows all about all kinds of droids.”

  “You have some time to go down there?” Carlo asked.

  Cress leaned his rake against the stall, “I sure do!”

  Carlo and Cress went into the lobby to pick up Charles. Horace had put a children's program on the display screen but the boy offered no protest when Carlo told him that they were going down to the repair shop.

  It took only a few minutes to walk down to the shop.

  When they arrived the three went inside. The shop was filled almost to overflowing with droids in various stages of repair. Several open totes of spare parts were scattered about the room as well in no apparent regard for order. There was a workbench set up at the back wall. A rather rotund middle aged woman was busy tinkering with a mouse droid. She turned around as the door opened admitting the three companions.

  “Miriam!” Cress called out as he entered. “How’s it going?”

  The woman smiled broadly, “Cress! It's going good.” Miriam picked up a rag and began wiping her greasy hands. “How’s your father?”

  “Good, he’s good.” He turned to Carlo and whispered a poorly disguised aside, “Miriam has a thing for my dad.”

  Miriam laughed loudly and threw her rag at the Rodian who caught it and threw it back. “Miriam, this is Carlo and Charles,” he said, pointing first at the hunter and then at the young boy. “They’re staying at the hotel for a couple of days.”

  “Nice to know ya,” Miriam smiled. “What can I do for ya?”

  In answer, Carlo reached into his bag and retrieved VP16’s disembodied head. He handed it to Miriam. “Is there anything you can do for this one?”

  She took the droid head from him and flipped it over looking into the connection where it had been attached to the neck. She sighed. “Well, it wasn’t removed using tools.” She pointed out some areas where the attachment looked almost melted. “I’d bet this droid was decapitated by an electro-blade.”

  Carlo shrugged. “Possibly. I didn’t see it happen.”

  Miriam took the head over to her work bench, picked up a tool and began to tinker with it. “Who did it?”

  “Don’t know,” Carlo replied. “I thought at first it was a bunch of desert scavengers.”

  Miriam shook her head. “Not likely. They prefer their merchandise intact,” she said, thumping the head with her finger.

  “Yeah,” Carlo agreed. “I was thinking the same.” He sighed. “It may have been the Narakans.”

  Miriam made an ugly face. “Those weirdos? You could be right.” She wagged her screwdriver in the air. “You know those guys think that droids are evil? Like they’re possessed by demons?”

  Carlo nodded.

  Miriam resumed her tinkering. “Well, maybe we can find out. I might be able to get this thing activated.”

  “Really?” Carlo seemed incredulous.

  “Sure! This type of unit has most of its memory and processing units in the head. Just need to supply power.” Miriam continued. “It’s gonna take time.”

  Miriam pointed her screwdriver at Cress. “Bring these two back tomorrow. I’ll see what I can do with this.”

  *****

  The sun was starting to sink low in the sky casting a pink hue along the horizon when the speeder carrying Glade and his black garbed passenger to the cliff overlooking Paradise. The top of the cliff was quite high up and several winding switchbacks were required to get to the lower elevation of the town.

  As the speeder approached the cliff, the man in black raised his arm pointing toward the side of the road where there was a wide area used by occasional passersby as a rest stop or even as a vantage for sightseeing.

  Without a word of his own, Glade throttled back the speeder and angled for the rest stop. He pulled up to a point close to the edge and came to a halt. The passenger door opened and the man in black stepped out. Glade followed suit.

  There was no one else on the road or at the overlook. He stepped to the edge of the cliff and peered over at the town below. The drop off was sheer straight on but off to the side, opposite to the start of the switchbacks, there was a large stand of trees that led to a thick forest that extended almost all the way to Paradise.

  The man in black also approached the cliff. Glade looked over at the hooded figure and wondered absently what he was thinking about.

  After a long moment he pointed at his own chest and then at the town below.

  “You’re going to town? Yeah, I figured.”

  The man then pointed at Glade and then back to the speeder.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “And you want me to stay here.”

  Glade got a nod in return. Without a word or further gesture his former passenger headed off to the trees. He watched the man skillfully make his way down the steep embankment and finally disappear into the trees.

  Glade stood at the edge for a while longer until his stomach growled. He swore under his breath and shook his head. He was sure to starve out here in the middle of nowhere while waiting for the man in black to return. He snorted and went back to rummage through the speeder. Surely someone had left something to eat in there.

  *****

  Lucy watched from the mercantile counter while the last customer of the day left out through the door. She made her way to the door and locked it from the inside.

  “Gary! I’m locking up!” She called out.

  Gary poked his head out of the stockroom. “A little early isn’t it?” He said with an accusatory edge.

  Lucy picked up a convenient pair of socks from a clothing rack and threw them at the Sullustan who dodged the improvised missile. He ducked back into the stockroom yelling, “You’re fired!”

  Lucy gave a sardonic laugh, “You can’t fire me, I quit!”

  Gary reappeared at the door. “Well, come back tomorrow. I may have more work for you.”

  “May have?” asked Lucy as she picked up a bag of items from behind the counter.

  Gary snorted.

  Lucy gave him a genuine smile which Gary returned. “See you tomorrow.”

  She left the mercantile from the side door and walked to the street. She felt a little guilty engaging in her usual banter with Gary when her friend’s son was still missing up in the mountain. Her most recently acquired friend Carlo was still missing along with the droid VP16 as well. She was suddenly sad with worry.

  Very few people were out this evening but as Lucy stepped out from the alley onto the street she almost ran headlong into the Colonel. Lucy gasped and stepped back a half step. The Colonel reached out to steady her. He was dressed impeccably in a dark suit. He wore a matching wide brimmed hat and was carrying an ebony walking stick with a chrome tip. “Are you okay, Miss Lucy?” He asked, his deep voice sounding concerned.

  “Yes, of course, I was startled, that’s all,” she answered.

  “Good. I’m glad.” The Colonel said, sounding relieved. “I was actually hoping to run into you.”

  The confession almost startled Lucy again. “Oh?”

  “I’ve been meaning to speak with you for a bit.” The Colonel said, his eyes wandered down the road but ended up fixing on Lucy’s own.

  Lucy felt an involuntary shiver. “Well, what can I do for you?”

  The Colonel exhaled deeply. “Why don’t we find a more suitable place for conversation?” He asked and then pointed his stick at the saloon down the street. “Join me?”

  Although it was phrased as a question, Lucy had the impression that refusing would be unwise. “Sure,” she said.

  The two walked down the street to the saloon in silence. The Colonel paused only once to touch his stick to his hat in response to a friendly wave from one of the Ugnoughts who was happening by.

  The Colonel held the saloon door open for Lucy and she passed inside.

  There were several patrons already inside. Lexa was behind the bar serving a drink to Doc Mason, who was sitting on his customary stool at the end. He was one of the few who turned and took notice of Lucy coming in with the Colonel. Lexa herself barely managed to cover her look of surprise. Lucy rarely came to the saloon and no one would have predicted that she’d come in with the Colonel.

  For his part, the Colonel ignored the looks and patted Lucy lightly on the back while pointing her toward his usual table. It was centered in an alcove with windows facing the street and one other side bordered by the fireplace hearth. Lucy took a chair with her back to the fireplace and the Colonel sat opposite her, his back to the windows.

  They’d scarcely been seated when Lexa walked up. “Good evening, Colonel. Miss Lucy. What can I get started for you?”

  The Colonel nodded to her, “My usual,” he said, referring to a rather strong whiskey. “And you, Miss Lucy?”

  Lucy, her eyes still wide and unsure of where this meeting was going, replied simply, “Just water, thanks.”

  The Colonel nodded a dismissal and Lexa left to retrieve their orders.

  He smiled and Lucy felt that she was facing down some kind of reptile and not the de facto mayor of their community. She smiled back attempting to maintain a cool exterior.

  The drinks arrived and Lexa placed the short glass of amber liquid in front of the Colonel on top of a small, square linen napkin, just the way he preferred. She then set Lucy’s glass in front of her, also on a linen napkin. Lucy had not seen this type of finery in the saloon before. She was sure that the Colonel and his guests enjoyed a slightly higher level of comfort and service here.

  Lexa paused and then asked “Can I get you anything else?”

  The Colonel raised his eyebrows, “Would you like anything? Something to eat, perhaps?”

  Lucy hoped that this encounter would not drag on any longer than necessary so she replied, “Nothing else for me, thanks.”

  The Colonel didn’t seem perturbed by her refusal and waved a hand once again dismissing Lexa.

  He picked up his glass and sipped all the while looking over it at Lucy who left her own glass sitting on the table.

  He set his glass back down and drew a deep breath. “How have you been? Is everything going well down in your neighborhood?” he asked, surely referring to the apartment community.

  Lucy nodded her reply.

  The Colonel took another sip. He was clearly in no hurry. “I understand there are no new reports about the missing boy.” A statement, not a question.

  “I’ve heard the same,” Lucy mentioned.

  He leaned forward just a bit. “I also understand he’s not the only one missing.”

  Lucy was doing her best to stay calm and cool but it was not easy. “Well, our droid went missing in the storm.”

  The Colonel leaned back and put his hands on the table. “Ah, yes, the droid as well,” he locked eyes with her. “I was actually referring to your new resident, the stranger from the desert.”

  Lucy saw no point in playing dumb. She knew the Colonel was too crafty not to know the answers to the questions he was asking. “You mean Carlo.”

  The Colonel nodded, “Carlo.”

  Her mouth was suddenly dry and she picked up her glass, taking a sip. “He was hunting the day of the storm. We haven’t seen him since.”

  “So he absconded with your droid?” the Colonel asked.

  Lucy shook her head. For some reason she didn’t feel like giving the Colonel all of the answers he was after. “I don’t think so. Carlo left on Anga’s fathier. I wouldn’t think VP16 could ride and I doubt he could keep up on foot.”

  “Hmmm,” was the Colonel’s response.

  Lucy took the opportunity to turn the tables and ask a question of her own. “Have any of your miners seen the fathier? Anga’s been worried.”

  The Colonel shook his head. “What do you know about Carlo? Where’d he come from?”

  Lucy shrugged. “He came in out of the desert after a sandstorm. Said he was a hunter from down south. He was dehydrated and we helped him out. He returned the favor by hunting for us.”

  It was the Colonel’s turn to shrug, “Sounds like he repaid your kindness by making off with a fathier and a droid.”

  She felt herself flush with anger and immediately regretted the reaction. She tried to keep her voice from shaking, “He got caught in the storm. He’ll be back.”

  The Colonel lifted his glass again. “I’m sure,” he said.

  His tone had a finality to it that Lucy took as an invitation to leave. She stood up. “Thank you for the drink.”

  The Colonel smiled and raised his glass as Lucy turned and walked out of the saloon.

  When the doors closed behind her she stopped for a moment and let out a breath of relief. Just to be out of the Colonel’s presence was a load off.

  She proceeded down the street walking faster and faster. Her thoughts were a jumble in her head. What interest would the Colonel have in a desert hunter? Or the community’s droid? Or in Anga’s fathier?

  Suddenly she stopped and let out a low cry. A tear came involuntarily to her eye. What did they have to do with the missing child?

  The Colonel had spoken of the boy first. But why? What was the connection? Lucy had to find out.

  Lucy abruptly changed direction and headed toward the Sheriff’s office. She had to talk to Ghor.

  *****

  Back at the saloon Lexa watched Lucy’s quick exit. She hadn’t heard any of the conversation but Lucy had not seemed comfortable at all. Of course who would be?

  The Colonel sipped his drink again and then motioned to Lexa. When she approached, he ordered a steak, rare as usual.

  Lexa returned to the bar and let the kitchen know that the Colonel was waiting for his dinner. When she was done Doc Mason, who was still at the bar, spoke: “Can I get another.” He pointed at his empty mug.

  Lexa filled another mug and exchanged it for the one in front of the Doc.

  “What do ya think they were talkin’ about?” he asked. His speech was slightly slurred.

  Lexa, not wanting to engage in conversation with the Doc, responded curtly, “No idea.” And she stepped to the end of the bar.

  At that moment, Gary from the mercantile walked in. He tipped his hat to Lexa before removing it and walking over to the Colonel’s table.