Part 13 (2/2)
The staircase to that floor of the building was where Mr. Data and Chief Engineer La Forge could not see anyone coming up or down. And anyone seeing that device sitting there would instantly want the gold ball inside it, since it looks valuable.
Both men a.s.sure me that without that small ball of Auriferite, the Adjuster will not work. It is somewhere in the program for Dixon Hill, and if the program is shut down, it will be lost into the holographic matrix, just as sure as if someone had transported it into s.p.a.ce.
La Forge and everyone with any knowledge or wild idea are continuing to work on the problem of s.h.i.+elding the impulse engines from the effects of the Blackness. It seems my only choice is to take as many people as possible into the world of Dixon Hill and work to find the ball.
Mr. Data, using a small portion of the remaining Auriferite, has put up a s.h.i.+eld around the main controls of the holodeck to keep it from shutting down, but it cannot be changed. The world of Dixon Hill is very much alive and working in there, and the safeties are off, which will make it a very deadly place.
But there is no choice. The golden ball of Auriferite is in there somewhere, taken by someone. It can be found. But do I have enough time to find it? There are less than twenty-four hours left before this s.h.i.+p is torn apart entering the Blackness. Time is critical.
This will be my last Captain's Log until the ball is found, or this s.h.i.+p destroyed. Until that moment I will be Dixon Hill, the best detective to ever walk the streets of the city by the bay. I just hope the best is good enough.
Section Two: Teamed Up Benny the Banger's headquarters were in the back of a hardware store with a big front window and a door with the words H ARDWARE AND T OOLS etched on the gla.s.s. Blinds had been drawn on both windows and Benny's goon didn't even slow down as he went past. Dix and Bev and the others followed the man around the corner and down the block to the alley where he stared down the dark, garbage-littered pa.s.sageway between the buildings.
Dix motioned as they entered the alley for Whelan and the rest to spread out along the street and wait while he and the Luscious Bev went in with their shadow escorts.
”Oh, you'll want your guns back,” Dix said, flipping the gun in his belt to the man who had done all the talking and was leading them. The other three goons got their weapons back as well.
”Thanks,” the guy said, sticking the gun away inside his jacket.
The other three did the same.
”Don't mention it,” Dix said.
”Don't worry 'bout that,” the guy said, laughing.
The other three also nodded. It was clear that making a mistake with Benny and letting themselves get caught was a very bad thing.
The inside of the hardware store looked like the back room of any other store, with shelves of tools and boxes of nuts and bolts. A counter along the back wall was cluttered with hammers and saws.
”What is that smell?” Bev whispered.
”Cigar smoke,” Dix said. The entire room was filled with thick cigar smoke. A cloud seemed to hang in the air and Dix's first impulse was to duck under it.
”Ughhh,” Bev said, softly. ”This is going to be toxic.”
”This way,” the guy said, opening up a side door that led into a well-lit and even smokier room. Five men sat around a green felt-covered table. Multicolored chips filled the center of the table and were stacked in front of each man. Cards were being shuffled by one man with his back to the door.
All the men were in their s.h.i.+rtsleeves, with their gun holsters showing. All five had guns.
And all five were smoking large cigars, and the ashtrays beside each man were full of old stogies. The smoke from each cigar seemed to drift upward and thicken the white cloud that filled the top half of the room. There was no window in the room to open.
”I see you brought me a guest,” one man said. He stood, smoothed down his white silk s.h.i.+rt over his large stomach and motioned for Dix to come forward. He stood no more than five feet tall. Bev towered over him.
”I'm Benny,” the short man said, smiling, the cigar a smoking stick in his left hand as he stepped around the table and extended his right hand for Dix to shake. ”You play poker, Mr. Hill?”
Benny was dressed in the most expensive clothes of the bunch, and sweat had stained his s.h.i.+rt. He had the remains of his last meal dotting his s.h.i.+rt and the largest pile of chips in front of his position at the table. Clearly playing in this game was a losing proposition for anyone but Benny.
”No,” Dix said. ”I'm hear to make you an offer. A deal of sorts.”
”A deal?” the man asked, smiling at Dix, then winking at Bev. ”I heard you was looking for me. I'm just glad ta hear it wasn't to give me any problems.”
”No problems,” Dix said. ”I'm looking for a small, gold-painted ball.”
”About gumball size,” Benny said, waving his hand for Dix to stop. ”Yeah, I know, I heard. Why's this ball so important to you that you spent the entire night lookin' for it? I hear everywhere you look, people get killed.”
Dix was stunned that the word had already reached Benny. This little man was not someone to take lightly, that was for sure.
”Just say a special client of mine hired me to find it. It has no real value.” Dix winked at Benny. ”But he's paying me a big chunk of money to get it back for him. Something about it being his mother's.”
”Well, Mr. Hill,” Benny said, walking around in front of Bev and looking her over like she was something he wanted to purchase, ”I sure wish I had that little ball.”
”So do I,” Dix said, ”but I have a feeling Harvey Upstairs Benton has it.”
Benny stopped his pacing like he had walked into a wall, turned, and looked hard into Dix's eyes. ”And you want me to help you get it from Harvey?”
”Basically yes,” Dix said.
”Why would I do dat? Sounds like more people gettin' killed to me.” Benny shook his head and took a long pull on his cigar, letting the smoke out in a direct line at Dix. ”I don't like when it happens to my men. Right, fellas?”
”Right,” they all said, nodding and puffing.
”Because I have something you want,” Dix said, ”and that's why I want to deal.”
Benny laughed, the sound high and almost shrill. The other men at the table laughed along with him, like trained seals, and all puffed on their cigars, adding even more thickness to the already thick, white air.
”What could you have, Mr. Hill, dat I would want?”
”I have two things, actually,” Dix said. ”The first I will give you to show you that my intentions are straight.”
Dix nodded to Bev.
She reached under her coat, but by the time she could pull out the book, five guns were trained on her, and every man at the poker table had stood.
”Nothin' cute, now, doll-face,” Benny said, the gun in his hand looking far too big for his frame. Yet Dix could tell there was no doubt the man knew how to use that big gun very well.
”Not a chance,” Bev said. ”Nothing cute, I promise.”
She finished pulling out Slippery Stan Hand's ledger and handed it to Dix, who then handed it to Benny.
”You're givin' me a book?” The guy shook his head and laughed, putting his gun away in its holster. Again the rest of the men laughed, putting their guns away and sitting back down.
”What am I gonna do with a book?” Benny asked.
”Take a look at it,” Dix said, nodding.
Benny flipped open the book, then suddenly got very interested. The pages flipped slower and slower, the sounds like a ticking clock in the silent room.
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