The shuttle was untouched. Tristan wasn’t surprised. They would have heard the explosion if anyone had tried to get in. He deactivated his security measures, then unlocked the ramp and entered. He headed to the cockpit to do a scan of the area, find out if he should expect more attacks. Alex went in the room to check on the boy. Waste of time, he was still in Cryo. He came out a moment later and sat at the communication board.

Tristan watched him place the earpiece in his ear, turn it this way and that, grimacing, then he began typing and talking in a low voice.

The scan came back clear. Nothing living larger than rodents, no energy source. It looked like these four were the only ones he’d have to contend with.

“Tristan, you need to listen to this.”

He nodded.

“This is live, I’ve tapped the local node.”

Voices erupted in the cockpit. Dozens of them; it was almost too chaotic to make out the individual conversations, but Samalian kept coming up, the persons mentioning it sounding far too excited. From the other bits Tristan could make out, it sounded like they were negotiating assault windows.

Tristan motioned for him to silence it.

“I’ve gone back, and around the time we made planetfall, this call went out.”

“Did anyone else see that?” a woman.

“You mean the ship?” another woman, “Yeah, we saw it. Dropped right out of the clouds over Gelentry Forest.”

“There’s nothing there,” a man, “what do you think they’re doing?”

“They’re flying due west,” someone yelled, his voice distorted by high wind. “I’m trying to keep up, but they’re flying and I’m—shit.” Silence for a moment. “I’m on a speeder. Anyone out there can take over for me?”

“I’m in Ducurt, if they don’t change direction I can pick them up so long as they stay below the grid, that thing throws off my scanners.”

The conversation stopped.

“For the next hour or so it’s more of the same. Someone confirming we’re still there, and checking who down the line can take over.”

“Who are they?” Tristan couldn’t believe he’d missed such a network.

“I think they’re amateur ship watchers.”

Tristan stared at Alex. “What?”

“We’re away from the major centers, so people here don’t have much to do. With the major industries being movies, some of the stars have to fly around, so people look for ships, probably hoping to be able to get to see those stars in person.” He types something. “This is where things get interesting.”

“Guys, Guys,” a woman said. “You won’t believe this, but I think it’s him.”

“Oh boy,” a man replied. “Everyone better sit down, B.B.’s going to dazzle us with working out which of her dream actor’s in there.”

“Shut up, Chasty.”

“Well?” someone else said, “I’m waiting.”

“Okay, well, since I knew it was coming and from what direction, I set up my gear and I was able to get a crystal clear recording. I ran that through comparative programs, and you’ll never guess which ship it matched.” She stopped talking.

“B.B. just spit it out. Which actor is it? We have a pool going.”

“Come on,” someone cut in. “You can’t trust her, she’s always saying it’s—”

“Glen, shut up and let her talk. All you’ve contributed to this conversation is bitching. If you don’t start bringing in some sightings we’re going to kick you out. Go ahead B.B.”

“It isn’t a movie star,” she said. “It’s the kidnapper.”

“What kidnapper?”

“You know the one. It’s been running on the news for months now. The alien who kidnapped the kid. It’s his ship.”

Before Tristan could say anything Alex motion to the pilot’s screen. One of Masters multiple interviews was playing, the sound off. It looked to be the same as the others Tristan had watched, and then it showed his shuttle moving away. He growled. The station’s record. Masters had gotten his hands on that.

It wasn’t enough that Mercs were hunting him for the reward, now they were helping the Law. He was going to have to make sure to remind every one of the folly of working against him.

“From here, we get to a new group of people.” More typing.

“I’m telling you, it’s him.” The voice was familiar, the one called Glen.

“You remember what I did to you the last time you promised me a score?” this man’s voice sounded harsh.

“Of—of course, but I swear I checked. The bounty on that guy is enormous. All I’m asking for is a one percent finder’s fee when you bag him.”

“If it’s him, fine, if it isn’t, I’m not going to leave anything of you this time, got that?”

There was a series of click.

“Who do we have in that area?” the same man.

“Rod’s around there, hunting with a few of his buddies.”

“Call him, tell him what I expect of him.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” a woman, sounding amused.

Cursing.

“Now now, is that any way to speak to a lady?”

“The Earthbound aren’t ladies, they’re bitches.”

“And I guess that makes you Glamours, my puppies?”

“The Glamours don’t work for you or anyone else.”

“Really? Maybe you need to be spanked, again.”

“Why don’t you two get a private channel if you’re going to start talking obscenities?” this was a man, sounding refined.

“How the fuck are you on my line?”

“Might have something to do with how little security you have on it. It’s almost like the Glamours like being bent over.”

“You try it Hardcase, and we’ll see who gets—”

“Language, there’s a woman present. And don’t worry, the Glamours aren’t my type. Now, I’m going to hazard a guess that you two are arguing over who gets to go after that supposed kidnapper who’s flying our skies.

“No. The Glamours have him, I already have someone close by.”

“Really? Is he willing to fight the Red Blood as well as the White souls for the privilege?”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you bothered keeping an ear on the agreed negotiation node, you’d know that every gang knows about him and we’re all discussing how we’re going to work this, instead of having a screaming match.”

More cursing, clicking, then the cacophony of earlier. Alex shut it down.

“They agreed that whichever gang caught you got half the bounty, and the rest was to be split evenly among the other gangs. The Glamours were the closest, so they were given an hour from the moment we landed to capture or kill you. That ends in fifteen minutes. Then a group from the White Souls will get a go, also an hour. And so on. They don’t plan on stopping until one of them have you.

Tristan shook his head in disbelief. “Don’t they realize the futility?”

“They don’t know who you are, all Masters provided was your image, to most people that means only you’re an alien. But considering the amount of the bounty, I don’t think they’d care even if they knew. Money will make people do really stupid things.”

“Humans,” Tristan cursed and sat in his chair. He powered the ship up and maneuvered it outside the building, then straight up until he’d inserted himself back into the detection grid.

He flew the shuttle to the other side of the planet, where the darkness of the night would keep those ship watchers from seeing them. He’d wanted to set the engines to max and blast through the clouds, make this a high-speed obstacle course to stay in the zone’s dead spots. He needed something to vent his anger, and he couldn’t pound Alex to a pulp.

He buried the anger and set to work on reworking the plan. What had to change, what could remain the same, what new opportunity did this give him?

Alex would have to procure the equipment by himself. Was the human even capable of pulling it off? He’d have to write down the entire plan in detail to make sure he couldn’t screw it up. The showdown could still happen here, there were other places he could use, and now he knew to move during the night.

And with not being involved in the execution of the first part of the plan, it left him free to work on something else. With that realization, Tristan knew what kind of place they needed to hide in.

Maybe the change was for the best, ultimately.