Hitch and Dale walked faster than the moving sidewalk, dodging around the people standing still. When they reached the hangar where the flying ships were parked, Hitch turned to Dale. “I’m getting second thoughts about this.”
“Why? You saw the picture. Leonard knows about the Trinity for sure!”
“That’s not what I mean. Going off like this could get you in big trouble with Captain Fife. Not to mention Mayor Wilder. It could hurt your chances of becoming a full Sky Marshal. I don’t think you should come along.”
The idea made Dale stop and think for a moment, but no more than that. “Too late.” She tried to push past Hitch, but he stopped her.
“No, it ain’t. Take the day off.”
“I don’t want the day off,” Dale said. “I’m going with my partner.”
“That’s right professional of you, but you know I work best alone.”
“I don’t know any such thing,” Dale said. “You think you do, but you’re dead wrong.”
“I ain’t wrong. Go home.” He started toward the hangar, but Dale jumped in front of him.
“You listen to me, William Hitchcock. You may think you got it all covered, but you don’t. Not all the time, anyway. Everybody needs somebody to watch their back. Maybe you more than most ’cause you’re always going places where you shouldn’t be going and getting in scrapes you shouldn’t be in. I’m your partner. So, either I go with you, or I blow the whistle and make sure this ship never leaves the station. At least not with you on it. Don’t think that I won’t do it, ’cause I will.”
Hitch stared at Dale. “Would you, really?”
Dale softened. “No, I wouldn’t, but we are going together whether you like it or not.”
Hitch was about to keep arguing but realized it was useless. He saw nothing but stubborn in her fiery eyes. “Suit yourself,” he said.
Dale silently pumped her fist in victory.
The two entered the hangar, threw a couple of casual waves to the ground crew, who had no idea the two were suspended and not supposed to be there, and boarded their ship. Moments later, the ramp retracted and the hatch sealed. With a powerful roar, the silver ship lifted off the deck and streaked across Alterra, headed for the air lock. In minutes, they were back in open space and orbiting Tensor-4.
Together, they worked the controls. Hitch’s eyes locked on the navigation screen, checking it against the coordinates of Rivindale on his computer band, while Dale piloted the ship.
Dale watched Hitch for a long moment. She’d been his partner for nearly half a year and had yet to figure out exactly what made him tick.
“I need you to be honest with me,” she said quietly.
“I don’t lie,” Hitch said.
“Good, then don’t start now. Am I that bad of a deputy?”
Hitch gave her a quick look, as if surprised by the question. “I got no complaints.”
“Then why won’t you let me help you? Like, ever? I know you say I’m still new, but I’ve been at this awhile now. It’s got to be something else.”
Hitch gave the question some serious thought before answering.
“It ain’t you,” he finally said. “It’s just what I’m used to. Ma passed before I was old enough to remember, so it was always just me and Pa. He didn’t want much to do with raisin’ a young ’un, so I pretty much had to take care of myself. I guess I got used to doing things on my own, is all.”
“Is that why you don’t like Mayor Wilder?” Dale asked. “Seeing as how his kid turned out?”
“There are a lot of reasons I don’t like that windbag, but I can’t say it’s the mayor’s fault that he’s got a weasel for a son. Leonard needs to be responsible for himself. But from what I can see, his pa didn’t do much to teach the kid right from wrong. Who knows? If he had, maybe we wouldn’t be out here tracking him down.”
“You might be right,” Dale said. “Look, I’m not saying you should change who you are or how you feel, but there’s no shame in taking a little help sometimes.”
“I’ll try to remember that.” Hitch focused back on the navigation screen.
Dale didn’t believe him for a second. But it was no use trying to force the issue. Hitch was too stubborn. She gazed out the ship’s forward window at the blue-green planet below.
“It surely is a remarkable world we’ve got here,” she said.
“You get no argument from me,” Hitch said. “Where else are you going to find hundreds of different kinds of people who started off on different planets and came to a new world to live side by side?”
“Peacefully,” Dale added.
“Yeah, peacefully,” Hitch echoed. “Let’s make sure it stays that way.”
With that, Dale fired the retro rockets, and their ship dropped down into the atmosphere of Tensor-4, headed for the mysterious town of Rivindale.
“We’re in luck,” Hitch said. “Nighttime. We have a chance to poke around without being seen.”
They descended through a thick layer of clouds. Though it was dark, they could easily make out the massive castle they’d seen on the computer screen. It had multiple pointed towers on each of the four corners of the central open-air courtyard.
“That sure is one fancy shack. For people banished from their home, they got it pretty good,” Dale said.
“Must be how folks live in Rivin,” Hitch said. “Everybody tries to bring a little piece of home to Tensor-4 with them. I guess the Rivin rebels are no different.”
“Why is it so dark?” Dale asked. “Ain’t nobody home?”
“Don’t know,” Hitch replied. “Maybe they turn in early in these parts.”
A tall, imposing stone wall ringed the castle. The only way in was through giant wooden doors.
Dale circled the ship high above the castle, looking for a safe place to land. She found a grassy meadow on the far side of the hill. The only sign of life was a herd of grazing sheep. Dale maneuvered the ship and gently landed near a stand of leafy trees.
“So far so good,” Dale said. “What’s the plan?”
“I’ll fly to the castle on Patches. Have a look around,” Hitch said. “You stay here and protect the ship in case we’re spotted.”
“What? No! Didn’t you hear anything I said? I’m going with you!”
“I heard, but you need to stay here. We don’t want any Rivins getting hold of this ship. They’ll steal it, for sure. If they show up, you take off right quick.”
“But—”
“That’s final, Deputy,” Hitch said with authority. “This time I ain’t givin’ in.”
Dale wanted to argue. She wanted to go with Hitch. She wanted to do her job and, if she was being totally honest, she wanted some excitement. It’s why she joined the Sky Marshals. It wasn’t enough to offer Hitch ideas and advice. She’d done that plenty of times. And plenty of times it got him out of some serious scrapes, not that Hitch would’ve admitted it. Dale wanted in on the action. Sitting on her hands doing nothing wasn’t cutting it anymore.
But as much as she hated to admit it, she also understood how important it was to protect the ship.
“In time, you’ll get plenty of chances to jump into it,” Hitch said, as if he’d read her mind.
“Yeah, right,” Dale said sarcastically. “Be honest. It’s mostly because you work alone.”
“That’s part of it, too.”
“Then maybe it’s time I started lookin’ for a new partner.” Dale plopped down in the pilot’s seat of the ship, folded her arms, and stared out the window.
Hitch was torn. He wanted to square things with Dale, but he was racing the clock to stop a potential planet-wide disaster.
“Let’s sort this out after we finish the mission,” Hitch said. “I’ll be back before you know it. Hopefully with Leonard in cuffs.”
Dale didn’t respond. She was angry, and she wanted him to know it.
Hitch climbed aboard Patches and checked his gear. He still had the lasso from Rangel and the pickax from Gilroy. He took a last glance at Dale, then rose into the air and flew through the hatch and out of the ship.
Dale didn’t turn to watch him go.
The dark night was the perfect cover. Hitch flew Patches toward the castle, close to the ground until he reached the trees just short of the towering wall. After a quick look around to make sure he hadn’t been seen, he gunned the flight cycle and rose straight up, flew over the top of the wall, then quickly dropped to the ground on the other side. He waited. No alarms. Nobody came running. He was in.
The clouds had cleared. Since no lights burned inside the castle, Hitch could only see by the scant light from the nighttime stars. He didn’t mind. It meant less chance of getting caught.
He left Patches and continued on foot. With the coil of rope around his shoulder and the pickax in his belt, Hitch sprinted across the grass and entered the castle. He found himself in a grand hall with a soaring ceiling and a wide staircase.
At the bottom of the stairs stood two medieval- looking knights in silver armor. They stood at attention, their faces covered by silver helmets. Each guard held a long spear.
“Doggit!” Hitch whispered.
His secret arrival wouldn’t be a secret for long. He’d have to fight his way past these two guards.
Back on the ship, Dale drummed her fingers on the arm of the pilot’s chair. She grew angrier by the minute. This wasn’t why she’d joined the Sky Marshals. She’d done all the training, passed every test, and proved that she was as smart and resourceful as any of the other deputies. The last thing she’d expected was to be sitting by herself while her partner did all the work.
It wasn’t only about her ego. If the Rivin rebels got hold of the Trinity, there’d be serious trouble on Tensor-4. Maybe even a war. People could get hurt. It was frustrating to be left behind when there was so much at stake.
Dale made a decision. She was going after Hitch. She jumped to her feet and headed for the hatch. Then her eye caught movement outside. She froze. Was it a tree branch blowing around? Leaves kicked up by the wind? Or was somebody out there?
She and Hitch had landed in a colony filled with rebels who’d tried to conquer their home world. The Rivins had failed and were sent to Tensor-4. They didn’t want to be here, and Dale was in a spaceship that could get them out. Perhaps protecting the ship was pretty important after all.
She turned out every light on the ship, throwing herself into darkness. Cautiously stepping forward, she moved closer to the front window to get a better look outside. She hoped to see a stray sheep or a tumbleweed blowing by.
A face appeared through the window directly in front of her.
Then another.
And a third. All bald men wearing black. It was so dark outside there was no way to tell how many there were.
Dale yelped and jumped backward, nearly falling over the pilot’s seat.
Outside, the man in the center smiled.
The Rivin rebels had arrived.