SFSD-X

Two Hijacks and a Time Machine

Clay picked up the gavel.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, I got something."

He turned to Juice.

"Make it quick will ya? It's getting late."

"I've got a pal in San Jose. Wants to know if I can help him hijack a semi full of computer chips. He's got a buyer lined up in LA."

Clay rubbed his eyes, sighing.

"We don't know shit about computer chips! San Jose is fifty miles away. Why the hell would we be interested in this?"

"Buyer's got a hundred grand in cash, waiting."

Bobby sat up.

"How much now?"

Juice looked around the room, sensing this was going to go his way.

"These chips are worth a fortune, Clay. Anyway, what does it matter what the cargo is? Let me at least go up and scope it out? Find out what's involved?"

Clay sighed again, looked at Bobby. Bobby shrugged.

"Can't do any harm to speak to the guy?"

"Jax?"

Jax thought for a second.

"We need to earn fast before we go away. What's the security like Juice?"

"That's the beauty of it! There is none! They ship these components out all the time, to service contracts in the casinos. Those places have got more computing power under all that baize than most data centres!"

Tig spoke up.

"Hold it! You're suggesting we rip off a casino? What are we, Ocean's Eleven?"

"No, Tig! It's the service contractors that buy in the chips. They assemble and upgrade machines, swap em out from the field when they go wrong. This doesn't go near the casinos themselves, just the contractors!"

Clay looked around the room; shrugs or nods all round.

"Shit. Jax, go with him. And we can't afford to leave ourselves light; if it's gonna take more than six guys, walk away."

The gavel came down and the Church filed out. Jax caught up with Juice, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"When do we leave?"

"After lunch? About an hour ride; we can meet my guy at his place."

"Aright, catch you tomorrow, brother."

"Yeah, tomorrow. Night Jax."

On the ride home, Jax wondered how Tara would react to him going away again. Grandma's always happy to help out, but she's not gonna like being left on her own again so soon after Belfast...

She was asleep when he got home. He took off his jeans, threw them over the back of a chair with his cut and went in to see Abel. He slept soundly, peacefully; if only you knew what you'd been through this last month, son. Jax caught himself welling up. How could I have thought of letting you go? Dammit! I am not my Father's son! I am done listening to dead men!

He went though and got into bed with Tara. She stirred as he put her arm around her. Then he pushed the thoughts of Belfast, and the coming storm with the Russians and O'Phelan, and finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

- - -

The straight, clean streets of Silicon Valley with their tall buildings and lit facades were a world away from Charming. It had been slow going on the ride up; a pile-up on exit 384 of US-101 had left the area gridlocked for an hour and a half. By the time they'd found their way down the back roads onto El Camino Real, it was dark.