Robber Baron Read online

  Fifteen minutes later, we were driving in through the private ship-owner's gate at the Newer York City Spaceport, under false names. Our kids were a little confused, but they could sense the excitement and tension in the air, and were jabbering away in the back seat.

  When the Baron was in sight, Destiny flipped the remote control, and we saw the rear door open up, and I drove our cruiser up into the ship, watching the door close behind us.

  Destiny ushered the kids up into the living area while I rushed for the control room, slipping on my Captain's headset.

  I heard Destiny's voice in my ear, "Honey, I'm on the deck, and the news is on. The police are arriving at our home as we speak. Let's get out of here."

  "Powering up, dear." I was pushing buttons and flipping switches while listening to her. The ship's power system began to hum, and I called the tower.

  "S.S. Grover, calling tower, Captain Blordan speaking."

  "Tower to Grover, go ahead."

  "Requesting permission for take off. Quickly, if possible, my wife's just received word of her father's death. Over."

  "Sorry, Grover, the city police have shut down the space port. Please hold until we contact you again."

  I grimaced, and cut off contact with them. Then I heard Destiny's voice. "Honey, there are squad cars coming this way. They must've just talked to the guys at the gate. Someone must have ID'd the car."

  I couldn't believe that they had found us so quickly. "All right. We're out of here."

  I noted on the screen that there was an overhead suppression field, of about 50-g's. Well, I didn't have the power to get through that, and the field domed all the way over the spaceport. I would just have to do what no one does. I keyed my hyperdrive control pad.

  Isabelle's head poked into the control cabin. "I see you're in some kind of trouble, Philipp," she said calmly. "Are you the Robber Baron?"

  I twisted my head back at her. "Maybe. Do you want out?"

  She looked me in the eyes, sensed my confidence. "If I stay, we'll be safe?"

  I nodded. "They'll never find us."

  "Okay, then," she said, and smiled. "I'll watch the kids." She slipped out of the control cabin.

  I turned back to the hyperdrive control pad - we'd have to Jump out of the spaceport, which was patently dangerous. Jumping from inside such a deep gravity well was almost unheard of, but it was our only way out.

  After checking my power levels, I aimed for a spot near the edge of the galactic rim, several light years between planets, knowing I would end up far from there. I hit the Jump key, and New Earth disappeared. Most pilots would consider such a move to be suicide. When you're that close to a gravity field as large as that of a planet, you just don't Jump. I did.

  I felt and saw the heat at the same time; we had come out too close to a sun. Without recalculating, I Jumped again, heading for the edge of the Milky Way. We made it, appearing in open space, about a hundred light years from the edge of the galaxy, which is not too far. Really, the only way to tell that you're outside the Galaxy is that all the bright stars are on one side of your ship, and all the dim ones are on the other side.

  I checked the power levels again; by a curious phenomenon, we had picked up an outrageous amount of power by appearing close to and Jumping away from that Sun. So I Jumped my way back to where I had left Destiny's world, in the asteroid belt of the Hollis System. After checking my coordinates, it took about six hours to get to our planetoid. The kids had gone to bed by New Earth time, even though it was mid-morning by ship's time - our ship, like all others, was run on Galactic Standard time.

  Destiny gasped when she saw her world; the biggest present I've ever given her. Although the atmosphere was only two thousand feet thick, there were small clouds, and a close look showed that it was snowing on the surface.

  Within minutes, I had parked the Baron next to the small living quarters on Destiny's World and gotten the children inside.

  While Destiny explored the meager living area that the mining company had left for us on the planetoid, I went into the office/control room, and piloted the planet out of the system, using the hyperdrive systems, heading for Gabriel, the gas giant of Banard's Star System. Once there, I hid Destiny's World among the many planetoids that circled Gabriel. I set the planet on a rotational period that would fit the kids' sleeping habits, and went to find Destiny.

  *

  That was in late 2506. Over the next two years, I turned Destiny's World into a virtual paradise, although if my power ever went down, it would all be over. I got two more nuclear reactors, and hooked them into my central computer, for backup systems. I also backed up the gravity generators that I already had. I put ten communication booster satellites up around the world, so anyone anywhere on the surface could communicate with anyone else by a low power radio. Then I put up remote control cameras on high poles in various places around the surface, to keep track of my kids, animals and farms.

  I made all these purchases on lightly populated colony worlds, and ship-repair space stations, using false names, disguises, and always paying with cash. Since a description of the S.S. Baron had been given out, this was risky. But it wasn't too difficult to repaint the ship, and to change the transponder signal. The only people who actually saw the Baron were dock workers, who were either too glad to help a known criminal or could be bribed.

  We began to build luxurious quarters inside the large cavern nearest to the old mining quarters. Inside the cavern, the heat could be more easily controlled, and besides that, we could park the Baron inside. There was no weather inside the cavern, so the housing could be open to the air.

  Wearing lavish disguises and using fake ID cards, we went to the planets where our money was hidden away, and closed accounts, one by one. We used this money to buy the building materials for our home and I bought a small freighter to transport all the supplies to Destiny's World. The freighter was five times the size of the Baron, and helped us avoid further risks.

  By mid-2508, when the "Revenge War" ended, we had finished our home, and I had regular animal herds growing on my own planet. Water, I had obtained from catching ice crystals that made up most of Gabriel's rings, and melting them. We had regular lakes and rivers on the surface of Destiny's World, and irrigation systems watering our farms.

  We intercepted news broadcasts being sent from Tuf to the outer scientific outposts, so we could keep up with what was going on around the Federation. On Aurora, Destiny bought a load of schoolbooks and holographic teaching robots, so our children could continue their education.

  *

  For a while, the authorities offered a reward for our capture, but no one ever saw us again. Or at least, no one saw us looking like ourselves, until after the interest faded away. Two unauthorized biographies were published, one of which I bought on my next trip to Justine. The Unauthorized Biography of Philipp Kaplan & Crew: The Greatest Bank Robbers Ever. I read it, mainly for amusement.

  According to this book, supposedly based on official records, bank security cameras, and anonymous tips, I was a bitter man, trying to punish society for taking away my parents. The author insinuated that I had used my position as Howard Bates' son to cover early criminal activities, and to meet "high society contacts." I had accumulated a veritable gang of nearly 20 people, from computer experts, to hit men, to weapons dealers, and I had a harem of 10 to 15 young girls, which I used to satisfy my enormous sexual appetite.

  I felt good after reading the book, because it let me know to what depths I could have fallen, and reminded me that I wasn't really too bad of a person. But the "harem" part intrigued me... Who had made up that part?

  Gwandon? Was he really so jealous of my success that he had tried to make me look so bad?

  I couldn't imagine having a harem - it would be too much trouble, I think. My wife Destiny more than satisfied my sexual needs, and my needs for companionship. And when she was busy elsewhere on the planet, or off making a purchase in one of our ships, Isabelle was a good friend -
very intelligent and good-natured. And I always behaved circumspectly around her, whether Destiny was present or not, even though she was attractive. I did not allow myself to get into a position where either of us would be tempted to betray Destiny's trust.

  If I wrestled with the children, Isabelle would not join in. If she were playing, I would watch from a safe distance. Say what you will - a harmless touch is not cheating, some have said. But I've seen the holo-shows. I know that a "harmless touch" can soon lead to an affair. And I couldn't bear to think of the consequences.

  Howard Bates, still in his first term as Monarch of Persiphone, publicly rebuked the author of the book, and brought up old films to be played on Persiphone newscasts - the "hero" films. He tried to remind his public that I had done the best with what I could, and said, "...even if he has committed these alleged crimes, I'm sure he never killed anyone out of malice, or hate. I stipulate that it was self-defense... No, I am not endorsing criminal activities of any kinds. I am merely defending the character of my adopted son. I never knew him to be anything other than a levelheaded, hard-working kid. And people everywhere should remember that he served as a valuable information gatherer during our recent war with the Sleebb people. Without men like him, risking life and limb to find out strategic and tactical information, the war may have gone on for years more, and maybe even with a different outcome. Not only that, I am told that he voluntarily took part in training some of our Federation soldiers. So if you read these books, or listen to some of these news reports, take it with a grain of salt."

  I know he must have been hurting inside, though, knowing that at least some it was probably true. I made a mental note to visit him when it was possible, and tell him my side.

  We laid low for quite a while, and finally explained our secret to our son Philipp. He just thought it was great. In 2510, when little Phil turned 13, I turned 40 (!), Destiny turned 43, and Sam turned five, we robbed another bank.

  This time, we went in without masks or gloves, but armed to the teeth. With the new needle guns (the smaller version of the old tranquilizer dart guns), we just walked in and put everyone down.

  When we stepped out onto the street, someone hollered out, "Hey! It's that guy! Philipp Kaplan, the robber baron!"

  Before anyone could get close, I dumped the contents of my bags onto the sidewalk, and Destiny and I flew up into the air, using my new-and-improved a-grav vest. We made nothing on that haul, and didn't expect to, we just did it to get our juices flowing again, which it did.

  That one job did so much for our self esteem, that we kept doing it that way for a while: no masks, no gloves, no disguises, just knock everyone out, and dump the money on the street. Of course, when we took the Colonial Commission's armed transport, we kept the 15 million Colonial Credits.

  Every now and then, we'd keep some of the money from one of the banks to buy something we needed, but most of it we just dumped. Sometimes, we'd wait to dump the money until we were high over the city, so the bills would spread out a bit as they fluttered down.

  Then Destiny got pregnant again, It was in the early weeks of 2515, I was 45, Destiny was 48, Little Phil was 171/2, and Destiny Samantha was almost 10. They really didn't need Isabelle by that time, but she stayed with them anyway, teaching Phil how to run the computer that controlled our planet's ecosystem.

  Three months into Destiny's pregnancy, we robbed the First Central Commercial Interplanetary Bank and Trust in Charta, Turner's Planet. Or, rather, tried to.

  *

  On my way out of the vault, laden with four moneybags, I looked up at the male teller in front of me. Just as I was thinking he looked vaguely familiar, Jason Quivers jumped me. I hadn't seen him in nearly 11 years, so it had taken just a split second for me to recognize him. That was all he needed.

  I found out later, reading the papers in prison on Meela, that Jason had been hired by the FIB, specifically to bring me in. Old records on Persiphone showed that I'd taken his classes there, and military ledgers noted that he'd been my contact when I was selling information to the government, during the Sleebb war. So they had called him in.

  But Jason Quivers was smarter than a lot of people gave him credit for. And much more loyal.

  He had somehow read a pattern into my robberies, and showed up at the right place and at the right time, He disarmed me and held me until the police arrived.

  He's probably the only person in several systems that could have pulled it off. I had paused, while trying to figure out who he was, and that momentary advantage was all he needed. Besides the fact that my hands were full.

  As he held me to the polished marble floor of the bank, he whispered, "Tell me where Destiny is, Phil, and I'll get you out of this. Just make it worth my while."

  I realized then, that he was only doing his job, a job that he didn't want to do. He was protecting his self-interests.

  "I know you're living off-planet somewhere," he continued in a hoarse whisper, talking quickly, glancing at the front door of the bank. "I'll go there, get Destiny, and break you out."

  So I told him. I didn't tell him where Destiny's World was, in case he was wearing a recording device. But I told him that Destiny was parked two streets over, in her a-grav car, waiting for me to exit the bank.

  Then the cops busted in.

  So that's how I ended up being sentenced to two years in the Meela Penitentiary, at the ripe age of forty-five.

  *

  I was there for just over a year, until the Meela Penitentiary caught fire, and burned itself to destruction. And then, as far as anyone else was concerned, I was dead.

  *

  I know, I started writing this account for the prison psychiatrist. And I gave him the first part, up to and including my first two or three robberies. The rest of it, I have written for my own interests, for future generations.

  Let me say this. I do not approve of crime, generally speaking. Just because I made my fortune as a criminal, doesn't make it right. I know that many young people, reading the other books about me, seeing the movies based on the books, or even, perhaps, reading this one, will get funny ideas. Some people will think I'm a kind of "anti-hero," or the "good" bad-guy.

  Don't do it, please. For one thing, it's against the law. And laws are in place for a reason -most of them. For another, you'll live the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, wondering when the cops are going to come looking for you.

  *

  Oh. One last thing: Don't come looking for Destiny's World in Gabriel's rings. Don't think that after all these years of being so careful, that I would screw up and tell you where to find me. I promise, if that's where you look, you'll be very disappointed, indeed.

  Eight.

  There is so much more to tell, but I've got to get on with living my life, and leave this document behind. I've got grandchildren to think about.

  Quickly, I'll mention that I did get that chance to return to Persiphone, to visit with my stepfather, Howard Bates, just after his 20-year term as Monarch ended. I met with him in 2520 GS, at a secluded campground, with his wife Marianne and their 20-year-old daughter Tabitha.

  I didn't tell him everything, naturally.

  But I told him that I was done robbing banks. I described Destiny's World to him in detail, though, explaining all the work that had gone into it, and how I was trying to landscape it to look like the ancient maps of Old Home Terra. I told him that Jason Quivers, his wife, and children were now living with us there.

  At first, he spoke little, his disappointment evident on his face. It took Marianne and Tabitha to help him come around. I think Tabitha had had a crush on me ever since she was a young teenager, seeing my pictures on the news. She and her mother convinced Howard that I was still his son, the hard-working, bright-eyed guy who'd lost his colonist parents in a bus wreck at Mike's Supermarket.

  It was actually Marianne who suggested that they come live with us. Howard had been working as a consultant for the new Monarch of Persiphone, giving advice an
d writing laws, for enormous fees, but he was ready to retire. Marianne said it sure would be nice to live on a world without all the clutter - Persiphone was home to more than 40 million people by that time, and starting to feel crowded by colonial standards.

  I told them they were welcome, and Tabitha smilingly decided at once that she'd come.

  Howard was slow to decide, but finally did.

  "But no more bank-robbing?" he asked me.

  "None," I told him. "My oldest son's an adult now, going to college on Tuf. He's engaged to be married. And my daughter's 15 - she'll be going off to college in two or three years. Both of Jason's kid's are in college on Turner's Planet. All of them use assumed names, of course, when they're not on Destiny's World. They think it's fun. But, to protect them, I've had to stop robbing banks."