Wanderer - Millennium

Chapter 2-1

2

Kaira stood at the back of the loading bay, half hidden by the shadows. Standing beside her was Jace, a grizzled old dock worker, arms covered in fading tattoos and his hair cut short. He’d just prised the lid off a large barrel as tall as Kaira’s waist.

“You see,” he said. “Plenty of room to hide inside.”

“You’re sure this will be loaded onto the Glimmer?” she asked.

“Definitely! With what you’re paying me to smuggle you on board I’m not going to mess you around. There’s plenty of room in there, and air holes here. There’s a cutter inside as well which will get you out when you need to. I’ve made sure this will be one of the last pieces of cargo loaded so there won’t be anything stacked on top of it.”

Kaira rubbed her arms. “Now that it comes to it, I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”

“Look kid, if I meant you harm I could pick you up and shove you in the barrel right now. No offence, but you’re not exactly packed with muscles and I spend all day every day shifting cargo around. I’m on the level. Trust me.”

“All right. I’ll climb in then… wait! Did you hear that? Someone is coming!”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I’m sure about it. You go check in case they get here. I’ll climb in and pull the lid down.”

“All right, but get in quick. If someone is coming and they see you stowing away we’re both in big trouble.”

He moved toward the more brightly lit area of the loading bay. As he did so Kaira moved fast. She didn’t get into the barrel. She wasn’t that stupid, especially when she could read cargo loading codes well enough to know the barrel was going nowhere near the Glimmer.

She pulled off her fluorescent green jacket, then shoved it into the barrel and jammed the lid on. She was careful to leave a small piece of the material sticking out. Then she moved two dozen steps over to a pallet loaded with four more barrels, all sitting on their ends. They were destined for the Glimmer, according to their labels, and were large enough that there was a fair gap in the centre. One she could wriggle into and out of sight. Without her bright jacket it was much less likely she’d be spotted.

She was only just in time. Through a gap between two of the barrels she could still see the barrel Jace had wanted her to climb into. He reappeared almost as soon as she’d settled into her new spot, muttering under his breath. She was sure he was complaining about her getting spooked.

When Jace got close to the barrel he saw the small piece of material sticking out and smiled unpleasantly. He pulled a small device from his pocket and flicked a switch on it.

Nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds, then Kaira noticed small puffs of smoke escaping through the air holes of the barrel he thought she was hiding in. Jace shook his head.

“There’s a cutter inside,” he said, then chuckled. “Not quite a cutter, just something to keep you snoozing. Sorry, kid, you were just too damn gullible. If it wasn’t me doing this to you it would have been someone else soon enough.”

Jace sealed the lid of the barrel down, then walked away, still smiling. Kaira forced her hands to unclench. She wanted to chase after him, call him out for what he’d tried to do, but that would do her no good.

Besides, she wasn’t exactly surprised. She’d needed him so she could get access to this area of the loading bay. She’d had to rely on him to have a chance of getting aboard the Glimmer. But she hadn’t for a moment trusted that he would honour his side of the bargain.

She suspected whoever was expecting to receive a shipment including an unconscious stowaway would be less than pleased to find the barrel empty. They might even suspect that Jace had double-crossed them, and she could hope that would mean them doing something suitably unpleasant to him.

Now all she had to do was stay quiet, not get spotted, and get aboard the Glimmer. After that… well, if she got that far she could worry about it when it happened.