Chapter 25 

He was just ushering Ser Mitcham into his office when the urgent call came through from Nakamura. 

"I'm still in the mountains looking for these hikers sir, but my prisoners are gone!" 

Prisoners? What on Earth was he talking about?  

"Take a breath Corporal and tell me what's happened, from the beginning." 

"Sorry sir, I just got the news and it threw me for a bit," the other man took a moment to steady himself. "Ser Drever, you know, the owner of the camping shop opposite my station in Hathor? Well he keeps an eye on things for me when I'm away, and he noticed the front door wasn't secured as it should be. He went inside to look around and found the cell open. Both prisoners are missing, Marshall and Amoros. He can't tell how long they've been gone, could be anything up to two or three hours, since I left this morning. They were there at 10:00, but after that I don't know." 

The silver! The silver was the first thing that occurred to him. He'd bet anything you liked they were going after the silver. He had to warn Nick and Kim, chances were they would already be in the mine, but surely he could catch them. He called both men urgently. 

There was no answer from Nick's wristcom nor from Kim's. Fuck! He sent them a message anyway, just in case they reached a spot with reception. He had to go after them. 

"I'm sorry Ser," he apologised to Ser Mitcham, making an effort to keep himself under control, even as plans raced through his head, "An emergency has come up, we'll have to reschedule. I'll be in touch." He practically flew out the door. "Gregoryan, you're with me, we're going down to the silver mine. Wanganeen, you're in charge until the Sergeant gets here." He was calling Forrester as he spoke.  

"I'm sorry to ask this of you John, but is there any chance of you coming down to the station this afternoon, just to keep an eye on things? I wouldn't ask except it's an emergency, Wanganeen will fill you in when you get here." 

He briefed his two men while he and Gregoryan pulled on their hiking boots and stocked themselves up with weapons, then in less than five minutes, they were on their way to the docking bay. Connell and Kim had already taken the Patrol shuttle, but Rice was able to commandeer one belonging to the station. 

They reached the mine in record time and hovered for a moment to scan the area. The Patrol shuttle was clearly visible on the ground but the heat scan didn't show any people in the immediate vicinity of the cave, only a single image near the river, about a kay to the south. The Captain was almost certain Marshall and Amoros were in the mine, but were they ahead of Nick, and Kim, or behind them?  

Gregoryan carefully lowered their shuttle to the ground next to the Patrol vehicle and followed Rice outside. He secured the shuttle and both men went into the cave with stunners drawn. 

XXX 

Colonel Rice twitched his rod impatiently. He wasn't cut out for fishing but he had needed the excuse to get out here by himself. He looked at his wristcom, surely things would be over by now? Where were they? He looked up as a shuttle hovered to the north of him and then landed somewhere out of sight. Something must have happened. Perhaps the men he was waiting for had failed, been caught or killed. He could only hope they had completed the job he had given them first. 

He had deliberately refrained from contacting Stefan all day but he couldn't wait any longer, he had to know what was happening. He called Stefan, bracing himself to react appropriately. 

There was no answer. He tried again, the meeting with Ser Mitchell should have finished by now. Even if he was busy, Stefan would have his wristcom set to message, but he was getting no response at all. Uneasily, he called the Reception desk at the station on Aykut. The answer turned his veins to iced water. 

"I'm sorry Ser, Captain Rice is not here. He's involved in an operation." 

"Where? This is Colonel Rice, tell me!" 

"On Isis sir, the silver mine."  

"Quick man, when did he leave?" 

"About half an hour ago, Colonel." 

He couldn't believe it, despite all his careful arrangements to the contrary, Stefan was in that damned mine! In all probability he had been in that very shuttle he had just seen. 

Colonel Rice made another few unsuccessful calls before reaching a decision. He climbed into his hovercar and pointed it towards the silver mine, setting the machine as fast as it could go, his face fixed in a mask of grim determination. Please god he'd be there in time! 

XXX 

Nick Connell and Kim approached the tunnel where the silver was supposedly stored with caution. It had been a long trip through the mine to get there. They both wore lightweight helmets which shone a light in front of them as well as carrying a brighter handlight in one hand and a stunner in the other. It was best to be prepared. Before entering the last tunnel, Nick signalled to Kim to stop for a moment. They both listened intently, holding their breath, but couldn't hear anything except their own heart beats. 

Nick went first, carefully pushing a small scanning device around the corner, up high, just below the ceiling, while Kim stayed back out of range. Experience showed that most people looked at the area between head height and the ground, most tended to miss things above their head. Of course, the 'ceiling' wasn't very high in a tunnel! In any event, the device showed that the tunnel was empty, except for a stack of back packs at the end. 

"That could be it," Connell commented. "Keep an eye out while I go and check." 

"Yes sir." 

Connell shone his handlight on the packs as he advanced. He couldn't see anything suspicious, the heat scan didn't show any heat. There were three medium sized packs. He opened the first, and peered inside at the contents. He wasn't expert enough to tell if it was silver ore, it certainly didn't look like the polished wristband he owned, but it was evident the basic rock had been treated, perhaps put through the first stage of processing where the zinc was added to the molten metal to separate out the silver and lead. If so, there must be a processing room elsewhere, this place was purely for storage, and temporary storage at that. He could see there was going to be quite a bit of work for someone exploring and investigating the rest of this mine. He wondered if one of the legal mines would think it worthwhile putting in a tender to take it over, still, that would be up to someone else to decide. 

He lifted one of the packs and found it heavier than he had expected. "I'll take two, see if you can manage one." He beckoned Kim over and helped him lift one of the packs to his back. "I don't want to put unnecessary pressure on your leg, if we can't get them all the way to the surface, at least we can move them somewhere else. How does that feel?" 

Kim rotated his shoulders, "I think I can manage that sir." 

Connell put one pack on his back and the other on his chest, making sure his hands were free to operate his stunner in case it was needed. "Right, let's go."  

The ambush came when they were about a hundred metres from the surface.