Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ The Boundaries of Parents ❯ Rising Stakes ( Chapter 6 )

The Ice Daggers had spent all night working on the new Zoids, with the exception of one. Spence had gone out before daybreak to do one more recon sweep of the base. When he finally came back, he had bad news.

"Which do you want first? The good news or bad?"

Angel didn't like the way that sounded. "Let's hear some good news for a change."

"We know they're going to run the test tomorrow night. And we know that haven't found that bugs that Jaq gave us, but that might change."

"Why?"
"They're going to do one major sweep of the base to prepare for the test. It seems the original date for the Liger Zero test was tonight, but something has them spooked."

"I hope you had an opportunity to take out the bugs." Jaq looked concerned.

"I couldn't even get near the place with everybody running around. I set them on self-destruct. At least there are no traces of us being there, now."

"Good. So what has them spooked? We've been so careful." Nick was a professional hitman, so he didn't like the idea of leaving a trace.

"It's hard to explain. It looks like the captain's wife doesn't want anything to happen to that valuable Zoid. Does this change anything, Angel?"

"Where's Van, now?"

"Went back home. By the way, they have a guard assigned specially to them."

"I don't like the way this sounds, Angel." Jaq was hoping she had a back-up plan. Angel didn't fail her, either.

"If the captain is worried about his family and the new Zoid, it really doesn't change anything. We can still make them transfer the Liger to another base."

"How?"

"I didn't want to do this, but if it means getting that Zoid, then it must be done."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to put out a bulletin. A reward to anyone who can capture the son of Captain Van Freiheit."

"Why didn't you want to do that?" Nick didn't see the problem with doing that in the first place.

"You can expect problems if you add too many people into this."

"Do you think anybody will stumble on the new Zoid while trying to snatch the kid?"
She thought carefully before speaking, "As classified as the Liger Zero is, they shouldn't. A lot of people have a grudge against Van, so they should be more concerned with revenge. I'll post the bulletin now. It shouldn't be too long before there's a response. You know how fast the underground word spreads."

"We can still do this." Jaq was relieved.

"Oh, yeah. Remember, as a merc you have to be flexible. No plan ever goes without a hitch."

Spence asked one more question, "What if Van finds out about the bounty on his son?"

"The idea is to get the Zoid transferred, and if Van or anybody else finds out, it will still get what we need accomplished."

"You pretty much got if figured it out, don't you?"

"We all better hope so."

"Do you think whoever gets the kid, will kill him?" Jaq was asking out of curiosity.

"Maybe, but that's not our problem once we have the Liger Zero. They only have one purpose: to give the Guardian Force a reason to relocate the Zoid. Then, we can take it." Jaq looked over to see Nick's gray eyes gleam.