Fan Fiction

Space Job
by Ron Geddes

Caroline is on the phone from her Villa in Italy to Harry in a nearby hotel with Paul and Suki.
"Harry, I got a call from a business man named Fellini. It seems hes got a plan to set up his own private phone company. There's a commercial satellite launch tomorrow but hes worried someone has got word of his plans and will try to stop him. He doesnt want to involve the police."
"What does he want us to do?" asks Harry.
"He's offering 10,000 dollars if we successfully escort the payload from his factory in Milan to the launch site tomorrow. It could be dangerous but itll all be over by five o'clock with the launch."
"Why don't Caroline and I deal with this one Harry?" said Paul "It's her baby, I'll go over and
she can fill me in on the details."

Paul parked at the front of the Villa where Chino was polishing Caroline's Rolls-Royce and keeping an eye on everything as usual. Paul soon knew exactly the plan and early the next day they headed over to the Fellini's well-hidden headquarters in an inconspicuous old building in Milan. He was expecting them and they got on quite well. Life had given him a few knocks but he had bounced back and made plenty of money while managing to keep on the right side of the law. This time he was gambling everything though, on a scheme he felt sure would keep the stuff rolling in his retirement - a perfectly legal private phone system. There was a loophole in the law and if he could get it up and running before the new legislation was passed, he had it made. There was only one problem; the state-run phone company may have been tipped off and he was worried they would intercept his satellite on its way to the launch site. That's when he had found out about the Protectors.

Fellini phoned his bank and transferred the fee to Harry's account and soon Paul was sitting next to a small steel canister containing the satellite in the back of an armoured van while Caroline kept look-out next to the driver. It was Fellini. He had learnt to rely on as few people as possible and he had no intention of letting the satellite out of his sight until the very last moment before launch. It was going to be 150 very nervous kilometers to the launch site.

Meanwhile Suki had just brought Harry a coffee. He raised his eyebrows to see from the computer in the room that they were 10,000 dollars richer already; these were the clients he liked, only they hadn't delivered the goods yet.

It was getting very warm in the front of the van thought Caroline, so what must it be like for Paul with no windows?Suddenly the vehicle ahead of them hit the brakes. Fellini couldn't avoid contact as the windscreen burst - it was what he had been afraid of- sabotage. When Caroline awoke he was outside the heavily damaged van struggling hopelessly with a large chain that the van's wheels had been immobilised with.

Now, when Paul had left Harry he had taken a tracking device with him, a device that now told Harry who was just drinking his coffee at the computer that something was wrong. Harry got hold of a chopper and within half an hour the pilot had put him down in a field next to the van. Fellini knew the only way he could make it in time now was in the chopper and taking his precious cargo from the back of the van he made a hurried departure.

"What took you so long?" asked Paul "I thought I was going to pass out back there."
"You need a drink." said Caroline smiling.

"We all need something cool." said Harry "How about a scotch, a cocktail and a Calvados"