Josh was dead. His girlfriend had sent out word that the police had closed in on him as he was out at the space-docks to meet with a contact and riddled him with bullets. It was yet unclear how much of the operation had been compromised, but it seemed clear Jack and Vince were now on their own.
If they wanted to go on with the plan, they knew it was a pretty big chance they were taking.
'At least, they didn't get him alive. He didn't talk. Our plan may still be safe, and anyway...'
Jack did not finish his sentence. No need to. Vince and he were in it together. They'd been hiding in the basement of an abandoned house for two weeks now. Ever since deserting from their posts at airfield 19. No way they were going to take part in the operation against the rebels in the southern district. Both of them had been born there, they could not go in guns blazing against their own people so they ran away.
It was through Josh, who ran the clandestine Grapevine chat, that they had learned of the possibility of hiding aboard a ship leaving for the free colony of Nebula-6. Officially, the Earth government did not do any business with the 'outlaws' on Nebula-6, but they traded with them secretly, exchanging grains the rebels badly needed for rare metals for the aging space fleet.
With Josh dead and the chat down, all they had was a name, Miller, a second-class mechanic on the ship going out to Nebula-6. On the appointed night, Jack and Vince crept out of their hiding place and risked a trip on the public railway that took them close to the docks. Miller was waiting for him in a bar, glancing nervously towards the door. He was a young man, with thinning hair and a squint in the left eye, dressed in the dark-blue space fleet uniform. They wired the money right there to the guy's private account and they followed him out.
The plan was simple. They were to hide in a crate which was to be loaded on board. They were to stay inside until they felt the ship taking off, which would be in about four hours.
According to Josh, they'd be pretty safe in the holding bay, nobody had any reason to check it out. Still, they kept very quiet and spent most of the time in hiding, surviving on the canned goods in the crates around them. It was a two weeks' journey and spending that much time in near-total darkness was nerve-wrecking. When they didn't sleep, they talkied about their future lives on Nebula-6, a former colony which relied on agriculture and had severed contacts with the rest of the Earth-controlled outposts. Many believed the colony will be destroyed when it would no longer be of use to the world government, and the two fugitives were hoping to gain access to the leaders of Nebula to see if they were aware of the danger.
Unloading day went by uneventfully. They hid in their crate until all motion had stopped and they were sure to be on Nebula-6. Still, they made their way out as quietly as can be. It was a huge storage facility and they wandered around in the dark until they saw a door. Light was coming out under the door and they could hear faint voices.
'Ah, we've been waiting for you! Welcome to the colony of Nebula-6.' Two guys were sitting at a table. They both wore the uniform of the Earth police, yet they kept smiling.
They were given new lives on Nebula-6, working in the mines that supplied Earth with much needed ore. Fugitives were welcome. Catching them on Earth, they'd be executed - such a waste when the penal colony badly needed the workforce. The Grapevine made sure able-bodied young men like them found their way to escape to Nebula-6.
'Don't worry about Josh. He's been moved westwards where he'll start a new secret chat'.
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