By Ken McConnell
They had built the bank building from wood hauled down from the nearby mountains and cut into boards in a timeless, traditional manner of construction. This was not unusual for all the buildings in the town of Chubbuck. The robbers used a device or weapon to blast the wooden building in a circle around the safe. The robbers did not damage any other buildings.
Devon stood in the center, where a dusty square marked the spot that the safe had sat. She had never seen such a thing before.
“Man over there says he witnessed the robbery,” Hap said, as she walked over the broken wood pile to Devon.
Devon shook her head. “Damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. There’s not even any drag mark where they would have tried to move the safe. It’s like they just lifted it up from above and carried it away.”
Hap motioned to the old man sitting in the shade of an overhang across the street. “He claims they were aliens. Spoke some unknown language.”
Devon walked over to the old man, who was staring off into the distance.
“What did you see, old timer?” Devon asked.
Dirt lined the wrinkles on the man’s creased skin. “I didn’t see a damn thing. I’m blind.”
Devon looked at Hap, who shrugged. “Said he witnessed it, didn’t say he saw it.”
The old man pointed to where the bank had been. “They came at first light. Must have been about three or four of them. They didn’t have a ship, just a few lerra. They put the safe on a silent sled. He pointed north and said, “They rode off that way.”
“How big was the safe?” Devon asked.
“Oh, big enough, I’d say. All the town folk’s money was inside it, maybe some legal documents.”
“Was anyone injured or killed?” Hap asked.
“Nope, the banker was out of town on business. It was locked up tight.”
Devon and Hap exchanged knowing looks. Whoever they were, they cased the bank pretty good to time the heist.
“Were there any strangers in town during the last week or so?” Devon asked.
The old man shrugged. “We don’t get many visitors to these parts. I don’t recall hearing anyone mention aliens.”
Both Rangers stepped away from the old man to converse, their flat brimmed hats lowered. A brown and black dog came up and sat with the old man who pet its head and continued to stare off into the brilliant sky.
“They’re on lerras, so we won’t need air cover to go after them,” Hap said.
“They must have a hover wagon hitched to the lerra. Been riding for several hours at this point. We should be able to pick them up,” Devon said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
“You should take the dog. He’s a tracker,” the old man announced.
Devon walked back to him and reached out to scratch the dog’s ears. The animal accepted the attention without alarm.
“Did you get a good whiff of them robbers, boy?” she said to the dog.
“Of course he did,” the old man said.
“Which way did they go again?” Hap asked.
The old man said a command to the dog, and it stood up and moved toward the canyons and sat down, pointing its head.
“That’s into the canyons. We won’t be able to track them very good over rocks,” Hap pointed out.
“He’s a dog, he don’t care what the landscape is, he can sniff ‘em out.”
“What’s your dog’s name?”
The old man looked toward Devon and said dryly, “He’s not my dog.”
Devon smiled. “Right.”
She pulled Hap away from the dog, and they walked across the dirt street to the market. They purchased a few supplies, including water and trail food, and strapped them to their lerras. The dog followed them at the old man’s command.
Devon pulled out a tracker and got their bearings straight. “Once we get down into the canyons, the sun will shield us enough to continue the pursuit,” Devon said.
Hap finished tying down their canteens and pulled herself up on the lerra. Devon pushed the tracker into her pocket and mounted Dusty, her lerra. Both animals stood as tall as a horse with a much longer neck.
“Let’s go, dog, point the way,” Devon shouted. The dog barked and started running out of town toward the canyons.
* * *
Hours later, they were making their descent into the first nook of Hell’s Crack. Hap had another name for it, based on their anatomy. That made Devon smile. The dog was out front, strutting along confidently, stopping only long enough to get its olfactory bearings straight.
Devon took out a pair of binoculars and scanned the canyon ahead of them. There was no sign of the robbers yet. Her gut was telling her she needed to be patient and trust the mutt, but her brain kept saying it was futile. They would never catch up to them at this rate. She wondered if the robbers were as familiar with the canyons as this brown and black fur-ball that they were following. She hoped the dog had an advantage, but there was no way to tell. It was a feral animal that probably hunted in the canyons for snake and utthan, an indigenous reptile.
Hap’s lerra steered the narrow, rocky edge of the canyon with grace. Hap was too scared to look down. Devon turned around in her seat to say something to Hap and noticed how green her friend looked.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m terrified of heights,” Hap ashamedly admitted.
Devon’s expression was one of absolute shock. She did not know that her best friend was acrophobic.
“What? I just am. Deal with it,” Hap said.
Devon put her hands up and turned around, never mentioning it again. Before long, they were deep into the canyon with wind and water shaped sandstone high over their heads. A muddy river that originated high in the mountains ran through the canyon as it had done for millions of years.
As the suns set, they stopped to let the lerra’s drink by a bend in the river. Devon dismounted and walked ahead of the dog. When she got around the bend, the river straightened out. She could just make out something moving in the distance. Holding up her binoculars, she waited for them to focus and tell her the range.
Hap came up and put her hand on Devon’s shoulder. “Is that them?” she whispered.
Devon nodded, handed Hap the binoculars.
“Who are those guys?” Devon pondered.
Hap studied the shapes. They looked like tall, bipedal beings to her. She lowered the binoculars and scrunched her forehead in thought.
“You remember that gambling gang we ran into in Dover? Tall, thin aliens with the whinny, drawls,” Hap asked.
Devon looked at her critically, then back to the river. “They weren’t from this side of the Rim. Said they were just passing through.”
“Yeah, well, maybe they stayed and tried their hand at banks.”
“Let’s keep riding. I bet they break for the night. Far as they know, ain’t nobody after them,” Devon said. Hap agreed, and they went back to their rides and kept moving along the waterline.
* * *
Halfway through the night, they heard a massive explosion. Reverberating in their ears, the sound echoed off the canyon walls. Startled by the explosion, the lerras sidestepped and attempted to turn around. The dog was unbothered by the noise. It kept trotting out ahead of them.
A circle of light from a fire became visible as they approached away from the waterline and up against the cover of the canyon wall. Devon dismounted again and crept up to an enormous pile of boulders and rocks. She laid prone against a smooth boulder and fished out her binoculars again. Hap stayed with the lerra, keeping them calm with some feed and letting them drink from the river.
There were four aliens clustered around a campfire made from driftwood and what looked like Ocha weeds. Having secured the redbacks, they passed around food and counted what was in the safe. They discarded the safe a fair distance away in a blast crater. They had blown the door off of it and cleaned it out. Near the fire sat an abandoned hover wagon with what looked like a large collapsible crane attached. They must have blasted the bank and lifted the safe directly onto the hover wagon.
Who are those guys? She asked herself.
She scanned the area with the binoculars and then watched them for a while, trying to think of a way to take them alive. Everything she could think of involved killing them. Finally, she crawled down and came back to where Hap was sitting on a rock. She was digging into her field rations, eating them as if they were a gourmet meal.
“They blew open the safe and now they’re sitting around divvying up the take. We should move on them now,” Devon said. She took out her heavy pistol and checked the charge.
Hap pushed some food into her mouth and chewed. “I’m eating now.”
Devon glanced down at her. “So are they. We need to catch them with their guard down.”
Hap wadded up her wrappers and tucked them into her bag before taking a big drink and washing down her food. Devon went back to Dusty and pulled a long rifle out, and checked its charge. It was full and armed.
“What’s the plan?” Hap said, getting her rifle from the side of her lerra.
“I don’t know. I’ll think of something.“
Hap nodded, “You’re the brains.”
They both climbed up to where Devon had been watching the robber aliens. Hap surveyed the campsite with the binoculars. “They’re under that overhang. We could try to set a rock slide in motion over them.”
“That would kill them,” Hap replied.
“We could edge closer using those rock slides for cover. Then we’d have a clear shot at all of them and they wouldn’t be able to get cover.”
“Again, that would involve killing them all,” Hap said, putting down the binoculars.
“That’s the best I can do. There’s four of them and two of us. They’re not going to just surrender to us.”
Hap agreed with her. She looked back at the lerras and the dog, who was lying near the rock where she had eaten. She had fed the dog, which had no doubt endeared it to her for life.
“What if we send the dog into their camp?” Hap asked.
Devon looked at her oddly. “What for? That would put them on alert and we’d lose our surprise.”
“You’re right, you figure out the plan. You’re the brains.”
Devon grinned for a moment until she realized that she still didn’t have a solid plan. She looked up at the stars visible above the canyon walls. Why would they take the safe into this canyon? There’s nothing here. Nothing at the moment. But what if they are expecting a ride?
“Hap, I think I know what to do.”
Hap waited patiently for her friend to say something.
“What were those aliens in Dover flying?”
Hap thought for a moment. “Some kind of transport ship. Not that big.”
“Could it fit into this canyon?”
Hap looked up at the narrow gap above them filled with stars. “Yes. It was long and narrow. Do you think they are waiting for a pickup?”
Devon nodded. “I think the reason they stopped and blew the safe open here is because this is where they are being picked up.”
Hap grinned. “Now you’re thinking, girl.”
Devon checked her watch. It was an old mechanical style dial with hands. Dawn was just an hour away. If they were going to be picked up, it would be before the twin suns rose, so they had the cover of night to make it to orbit, or wherever they were going next.
She looked back at the camp and saw that the aliens were moving around, picking up their gear and setting it in a central location. It sure looked to her like they were getting ready to leave.
“We have to hurry. It looks like they are preparing to bug out.”
“How are we going to stop them?” Hap asked.
“I dunno. I’m making this up as we go.”
Hap shook her head. “I didn’t need to hear that. You’re supposed to have a good plan and just tell me what it is.”
Devon crawled back down to their camp and took off her hat and her leather jacked. She then removed her leather gun belt and took out her massive handgun.
“What are you doing?”
Devon motioned to the river. It was moving at a leisurely flow and was probably only a few meters deep at the center.
“I’m going to float down river and try to get past them. When I’m in position, I’ll signal you.”
“Then what?” Hap wasn’t liking where this was going.
“Then you will approach them and announce that you’re a Stellar Ranger and ask them to lie down their weapons and hand over the money,” Devon said.
The light evening breeze blew her blonde bob across her face, forcing her to pull it back. Hap’s curly brown locks were still firmly in place under her Ranger hat.
“What happens when they decide to open fire on me?”
“There’s only four of them. If you can get at least one, I’ll get the others.”
Hap held up her hand. “Now just hold on there, sister. We’re not supposed to kill them, remember?”
Devon broke into a toothy grin. “Tell them they’re surrounded, and I’ll make myself heard behind them.”
Hap shook her head. She didn’t fancy the idea of splitting up and she hated the idea of walking into what was inevitably going to be a gunfight.
“Look, use the lerra for cover and aim your rifle over her back. Their poor night vision means they won’t see you until you’re very near. Trust me, they’d be stupid to resist.”
Despite still being unconvinced, Hap gave in to the plan.
Devon waded into the cool river and got low until she was up to her head. She let the current take her, keeping her blaster above the waterline. Hap watched her drift towards the robber’s camp for a while and then she gathered up her lerra and headed in the same direction as quietly as she could. She had to pace herself enough to let Devon slip past them.
Hap’s rifle was resting in her lap, fully charged and ready to shoot. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest and her hands were wet with sweat. After a while, she lost sight of Devon’s blonde hair bobbing in the water.
A sound from above started echoing in the canyon.
“Shit!” Hap breathed aloud. The alien ship was coming in for a landing. She had to get off her lerra and start shouting or the aliens wouldn’t even hear her. She wrestled the beast to the ground and aimed her rifle at the group around the fire. They looked up, watching their ship descend.
* * *
Devon slipped past the camp, watching the aliens until she heard the ship dropping into the canyon. It blocked out the stars as it lowered. Devon swam a bit to get past the aliens. Nobody would hear her strokes in the water with that ship’s engines blooming from above.
She headed for the shore and crawled behind some rocks for cover. The ship had trouble getting into the landing zone. It hovered for a while, then tried to edge its way down lower, only to be denied by the natural curves of the canyon. Devon looked up at it and saw that it was closer to her than to the aliens on the ground. A ramp extended down and several armed crewmen came out. She aimed her rifle and shot each of them in their legs.
They fell on the ramp and tried to crawl back inside. She shot at them again, killing one of them. Her shots drew the attentions of the aliens on the ground and they started shooting at Devon. She hid behind a larger river rock as their shots impacted the other side and all around her. Some of them had projectile rifles and at least one of them had a blaster.
The landing ship had to get closer to her before it could reach the aliens on the river beach. Devon shouted at her comm device for Hap to engage them. Shots rang out from Hap’s rifle. Devon stood up and ran towards the landing ship.
The aliens returned fire at Hap, giving Devon just enough time to jump for the ramp of the landing ship. She just made it aboard as the second wounded crewman took out his pistol and started shooting at her. His shots were high and Devon returned one shot to his head, silencing him. The other aliens on the ground were shooting at Devon now. One of them hit her right leg, and she felt the sting of a slug enter her calf.
She hauled herself onto the ramp and returned fire at the ground, taking out two of the aliens. Hap shot the third alien, and the remaining alien focused on saving the safe’s contents.
Devon tried to stand up on the ramp, but the ship violently lurched to shake her off. She clung on and wondered how many aliens remained inside. Nobody else came out to finish her. As she dragged herself up the ramp, she could smell the aliens and immediately remembered the stench from when they were in Dover. These were the same guys they had tussled with over a gambling scheme. Now she remembered them. She remembered they were professional gamblers and not really bank robbers.
She crawled the rest of the way up the ramp and entered the main cabin of the ship. It was long but narrow inside and she couldn’t see anything but crash seats forward and a few supply crates aft. The door to the ship’s cabin was open and she could see just one alien struggling to fly the starship.
Devon got to her feet, limping her way towards the cockpit. The pilot never saw her. He was watching his monitors and trying to see out his windows to land the ship on the river’s edge. It was not going well for him. Devon held on to the seat backs as she crept towards him with her blaster at the ready. She couldn’t believe there wasn’t more crew to deal with as she put her back to the bulkhead with the cockpit behind her. She grimaced at the pain in her calve as she readied herself to take over the ship.
The pilot was yelling at the alien on the ground and even though she couldn’t understand what it was saying, she could tell it was more swearing than anything else. Finally, she came around the bulkhead and leveled her blaster at the pilot.
Seeing her, the alien startled and dropped the controls, raising his hands.
What a dumb-ass, Devon thought.
The ship wobbled even more, then it sank towards the river.
Devon motioned for the alien to get out of the pilot’s seat. She did not know how to fly this hunk of metal, but she could damn sure do better than it. As the alien scrambled past her, she slapped a handcuff on it and attached the other end to a pipe. It struggled to get free, but the pipe trapped it aboard.
Devon put her blaster inside first and then dragged herself into the single seat. It swiveled around as if it were on a gimble and she struggled to stay upright, swearing like a siren. Grabbing the controls to steady herself, she quickly grasped what each stick did enough to keep them from crashing into the canyon walls or into the river. It flew like a rotary-wing aircraft, except with thrusters. Totally insane, yet not impossible to figure out.
She put it down onto the beach and saw Hap fist fighting with the last alien on the beach. The Ranger won, of course. Devon started flipping switches with the alien, pointing to stuff and screaming at the top of its lungs.
Finally, her ship’s drive shut down and steam escaped from somewhere to flood the cabin.
When the air cleared, the alien pilot was staring at her with its arms folded. It obviously thought she was insane. Devon smiled at it and picked up her blaster.
Out on the beach, Hap had secured the loot and came aboard with her pistol drawn, looking for Devon. Inside, she noticed the container and much of the paraphernalia lying about the cabin. Most of which were loose decks of cards, colored chips, and wads of redbacks.
Devon had pistol whipped the alien pilot into silence and was sitting on it with a crooked smile.
“You were right Hap. They were the gambling pros from Dover,” Devon said.
Hap shook her head, seeing the wound on Devon’s leg and the unconscious pilot sprawled out underneath her.
“Looks like they totally failed to make it as bank robbers, too,” Hap said.
“At least we didn’t kill all of them,” Devon laughed.