The Collected Lancer Volume 1

by Troy Osgood

  Turning my back on him I walked towards the stairs up to the bridge. I could hear Valeri getting up to follow.

  “Hey kid, clean up the dishes,” I called out walking up the stairs. I didn’t even bother looking back at him. Not worth my time.

  I could have sworn I heard Yer chuckle. It’s hard to tell with Curdo.

  *****

  A day later and we were on the final hop to Orso. We’d hop out at the edge of the system and it was a three hour in-system jaunt to the moon.

  Time was ticking and I was going to need to make a move soon. No way was I landing on the moon with these jokers in control. And no way was I delivering Romer’s cargo. I liked the Yortusk. I didn’t like Romer.

  Valeri got out of the bed and started rummaging around on the ground for her clothes. Aside from the first time, she never brought her blaster in. Smart. I sat up and watched her. She ignored me. Leaning forward on the bunk I grabbed my pants and briefs but didn’t move to put them on.

  I waited. She put on her pants and then started to pull her shirt on over her head. I stood up quickly and moved towards the refresher. There were six bunks on the Nomad’s Wind with a private refresher and closet for each one. I moved quickly before she got the shirt all the way on.

  “Be right back,” I said as the refresher door slid shut behind me.

  The room was small. A stand-up shower unit and toilet on one wall, sink and cabinet on the other. Functional. There was a storage room on either side of the bridge and the refresher in my bunk, the first one to the left of the bridge, backed up to the storage. Valeri and crew had searched it when they first got on, finding nothing special. It was mostly empty.

  What they didn’t find was the hatch between the refresher and storage.

  Turning on the shower unit so the noise would hide what I was doing, I put on my briefs and pants. Slowly, quietly, I ran my hand along the wall between the shower and cabinet feeling for the catch. I found it, clicked it, and the hatch slid into the wall revealing an opening big enough to crawl through. I made my way quickly into the storage room, no light but I knew the space by feel.

  The floors of the bunks and refreshers was finished in a vinyl material, warm on bare feet, but the storage was not. The metal floor was cold.

  I searched in the dark and found the latch on this side, closing the hatch and shutting away the light from the refresher. Closing my eyes, letting them adjust to the dark, I opened them and looked around. Nothing had changed or been moved. A couple travel trunks and that was it. I made my way to the door, moving quietly and hit the pad that turned on the light. Yep, room was the same as I’d left it. Dust on everything except where Romer’s thugs had walked in their casual review of the room.

  They hadn’t done a good search because I was supposed to be under watch all the time and they figured I wouldn’t get into a firefight on my own ship.

  They were partly right.

  I moved a couple of the trunks out of the way and ran my hands along the metal wall. The walls of the Wind’s hold and living spaces did not go all the way to the outer hull, there was a couple foot gap all around the ship. Not enough space for a person to get into but just enough space to put in some hidden compartments.

  Finding the latch, I pulled a piece of paneling away from the wall and set it to the side. Revealed was a small storage compartment. Only about six inches deep, three feet wide and three feet high, the back was lined with a peg system. Hanging from the pegs were an assortment of weapons. A couple blasters and rifles.

  Some of them illegal in different systems.

  There were a couple boxes lined up on the side. When I had left the service, I made off with some gear. I wasn’t supposed to have it, that’s why it was in the hidden compartment.

  I grabbed a blaster, a Remington Tech 6, the better version of what Valeri had. Not as good as my trusty Sig, but still a good weapon with a full power pack. Good to go.

  Quickly replacing the panel, knowing Valeri was going to start getting anxious if I wasn’t out of the refresher soon, I headed for the door. I hit the keypad, undoing the automatic opening mechanism. I didn’t want the door sliding open onto an unknown situation. Listening at it, I couldn’t hear anything in the corridor beyond.

  Taking a deep breath I took hold of the manual handle and slowly pulled the heavy door open. The metal slid, soundlessly, and through the crack I could see the corridor outside. A nice design feature of the storage room door on this side, it was at an angle so had good sightlines down most of the corridor. I could see the three bunk doors on the other side and most of the hall’s width. Couldn’t see the wall and doors on this side. But there were no shadows across the metal floor to indicate someone was there.

  All clear.

  I pulled the door open fully and stepped into the hall. The only door I hadn’t been able to see was the bridge but there shouldn’t have been anyone there. I checked that first to be safe. Empty and just the way I had left it. The controls were already locked so only I could do anything so there was no worries about that.

  Stopping outside my bunk door I could hear Valeri pounding on the refresher. Smiling, I entered a code into the keypad and locked the door. It wouldn’t open from the inside and only I could unlock it. I closed the storage room door and did the same, just in case she managed to find the connecting hatch from the refresher. I was a little worried about her finding the weapons but I had replaced the panel and she couldn’t do much damage with them locked inside the room.

  I had a feeling my bunk would be destroyed when she finally got out.

  Good thing nothing of importance was kept there.

  I repeated the same at the other doors, locking anyone inside if they were. I had no idea where the other three were, except one should be down in the hold. The other two could have been sleeping but with my luck they were roaming the halls. The Wind was a small ship, wouldn’t take long for us to bump into each other. Not that many places to hide.

  Weapon ready, I crept down the corridor, keeping the blaster to my side. The door to engineering was closed and I leaned closer to it, listening. I couldn’t hear anything on the other side but that wasn’t a clear indicator. The doors and walls were solid and not easy for sound to pass through.

  I hit the buttons on the keypad and the engine room door slid open. Immediately the noise level in the corridor almost doubled, maybe even tripled. The wall and door between these spaces was thick and sound proof. It had to be. I really didn’t need to be in engineering, there was no reason for any of them to be there, but I wanted to make sure it was empty. I had thought about locking the door when the goon squad first arrived but it’s not like they would tamper with the engines. They needed the ship to get on and off Orso. Once we were off the moon and cargo delivered, anything could happen. But that was a worry for later, for now I had set up a routine in the ship’s computer to record if anyone entered the room. So far no one had but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Engineering was the largest room on the upper level. Taking up pretty much the back half. It was noisy, lots of moving parts, spinning turbines and high powered energy generators. I’d been in some rooms and they were a mess. I kept the Wind neat. Plenty of space to get around, easy access to the readouts and everything was as clean as they could get.

  I quickly reconned the space. Walking a circuit and checking the alcove to the right of the door. This was where the out-atmo suits were kept for space walking, along with a ladder leading to the airlock and the outside hatch mounted on top of the ship.

  The whole room was empty.

  Time to get on with this.

  I ran back, quietly, to the bridge and turned on the security cams. I felt exposed, because of the positioning of the screens I had my back to the door. There was an excuse ready if one of the others came up. Valeri was in the can. Could work long enough for me to attack but luckily it didn’t happen.

  After this was over, maybe adding more lockable doors to the Wind would be a good idea. />
  The screens showed Darm in the lounge with his feet up on the table. Bastard. The Curdo was the most dangerous and the cams showed me that Yer was in the hold. I couldn’t see Hors. That meant he was probably in the bunk, the only places there was no camera. Safely locked away.

  Back down the corridor, I checked but could no longer hear anything coming from my bunk. Wonder what Valeri was doing? At this point she knew I was up to something, she had to be. She was probably trying to understand how I had gotten out of the refresher. She’d probably find the hatch to the storage room, but was trapped in there as well.

  This level was as secure as I could get it.

  Now came the hard part, but the easy one first.

  To the right of the bridge was a short hall that ended in the spiral stair that went down to the lower levels. It was open to the galley, which is why I had been moving as quiet as possible. All that back and forth would seem suspicious. Just to be safe I locked the door to the right side storage room. There was nothing vital or harmful there but again, safe over sorry.

  Keeping the gun in my right hand, tight to my body, I walked down the metal stairs. I kept my body loose, like there wasn’t a care in the world. Darm was in the lounge but he could have moved. But no, there was no one in the galley.

  Across the space, the door to the lounge was closed. I crossed through the galley quickly.

  At the door to the lounge I paused and took a deep breath. I forced myself to focus. This had always been the hardest part for me, the calm before the storm. My mind would fill with random thoughts, things that had no place or meaning to what I was about to do. Just distractions. But once I focused, got my mind locked down, it was like I went on automatic.

  The door slid open and I walked into the lounge.

  What I called the lounge really wasn’t much of one. In most ships they were bigger, with lots of entertainment options and sitting areas. This one had a single couch and two chairs. Lots of empty space. It was just me, I didn’t need much. The couch ran parallel with the length of the room, the two chairs on either end facing into the middle where there was a table. In front was the large vidscreen.

  There was some show playing, one I didn’t recognize. Not sure where Darm had found it, not one of the ones I had recorded. When a ship was in wildspace it couldn’t receive any transmissions. Once you hopped out and into normal space, you’d receive a ton of stuff. Communications, anything that was set to download from the Galactic Feed.

  The Feed was the communication system and organization that linked all the separate planets and races together. Using Tradelan, the common language, allowed us to communicate and the Feed allowed us to share data. The Feed transmitted through satellites placed throughout the systems and could punch through wildspace. You couldn’t access it well in wildspace but once you were out everything was available again. Most people, myself included, had the Feed set up to download certain items whenever they hopped into a new system. Messages, news, entertainment. That kind of thing.

  Whatever Darm was watching, it wasn’t something I had programmed into the Feed. Just one more thing I was going to have to cleanse once they were gone.

  Darm glanced quickly at me when I walked in and returned to his show. He didn’t notice that I had one hand behind my back.

  “Where’s Valeri?” he asked.

  “Refresher,” I replied. He didn’t even ask why I was shirtless. Although he did know what Valeri and I had been doing, so me being shirtless shouldn’t have been that big a surprise.

  He kept glancing at me, pretending not to, but my presence without someone else was making him nervous. Especially when I started walking behind him.

  My old Special Operations commander, Colonel Jessups, had three rules for any mission.

  First was to plan for every eventuality.

  That was always the hardest because there were so many things to account for. I was treating this whole voyage like a mission. Planning and assessing my targets, Romer’s four goons. Planning for every eventuality for this was in how I would approach each and where. Options had to exist for meeting the Curdo in the galley with Darm, with Hors or alone. And there had to be one for meeting Yer in the bridge or the bunk or lounge and with or without others. Lots of options. But what else did I have to do during the trip?

  Second was to choose your battlefield.

  This one was the hardest for me. It was my ship but there were way too many variables. The only one I could have any control over was Valeri and then only limited. What if she didn’t want to fool around during one of her shifts watching me? But I knew my ship better than they did, so that gave me a bit of an advantage.

  But I could control some of their reactions. Somewhat befriending Hors, so he wouldn’t react as negatively to me was one way. Another was the stunt I had pulled on Darm the other day. Now he was afraid of me, wary. So his reactions would be slower and not as confident. Made him a bit more predictable.

  Jessups third rule was my favorite. Be good at making it up.

  All the planning in the world didn’t help you once the blasting started and the chaos came, he was fond of saying, because that brings a whole new set of conditions and variables you never thought about.

  I could plan with the best of them but my real strength had been in improvisation.

  Pausing behind Darm, I placed my free hand on the back of the couch, making him jump a little bit.

  “How are you doing Darm?” I asked.

  He leaned forward, trying to ignore me. I was making him jumpy.

  Good.

  I turned and headed for the cargo hold door, adjusting my right hand so the blaster was blocked by my body. I figured Darm was doing his best to pretend I wasn’t there, try to maintain what little dignity he had left. If you’re a punk ass cocky kid, getting shown up by the older guy you’re supposed to be guarding and pushing around, especially in front of the woman you have a crush on, that pokes lots of big holes in the pride.

  Whatever. He could use this as a teachable moment if he survived.

  I paused at the door, body blocking the weapon and could feel Darm glance at me, curious what I was doing. I looked over my shoulder and he quickly looked back at the vidscreen. Perfect. Turning around I stepped to the side so I could get a better shot around the couch and thumbed the blaster to stun. No need to accidently shoot holes in my own furniture.

  Raising the weapon I took aim at Darm’s chest. The angle was off and the way he was sitting didn’t give me much of a target.

  “Hey kid,” I said.

  He turned towards me, turning to face me, showing more of his body.

  Thanks kid.

  I pulled the trigger, a bolt of energy shot out of my gun and struck him in the chest. Darm convulsed, lines of energy sparking around his body, his head falling back and his body just sagged against the couch. He lay there awkwardly, body bent strangely, and gave little shakes. Maybe I had the stun setting too high.

  Too bad.

  I stepped away from the door and turned so I could cover it with the blaster. I was moving to my right, I’m right handed, so the blaster was pointing across my body to the left. Awkward but I’d be able to get a couple shots off before having to dive for cover.

  Darm was no longer moving. Placing a couple fingers to his neck I could feel his pulse. Still alive. He should be out for a couple hours.

  One more to deal with.

  *****

  I crouched down, using the couch as a kind of cover, and sighted on the door. Maybe Yer would make this easy and come in on his own.

  No way I’d be that lucky.

  Instead he’d be on the other side with his weapon sighted on the door and just waiting for me to enter.

  If the Wind was bigger, there would have been space in the hull and other sneaky spots to move through. I’d been on board larger freighters where you could move between levels and rooms through the hull space. Not here.

  A year or so ago I had thought about installing secondary mo
nitors for the security cams down here in the lounge or galley area. Never got around to it. Sure would have come in handy right about now. I added it to the mental list along with more lockable doors.

  I had one thing working for me. Yer couldn’t kill me. Not yet anyways.

  I knew next to nothing about Curdo anatomy. Had never run into them during my time in service. They lived on the far side of the known space, the far edge of the Inner Worlds. Some jungle planet called Durod. The Tiat had a small colony there but it wasn’t a world they fully controlled. Which said lots about the climate and the natives. All I knew was that Curdo were tough bastards. I needed to take Yer out from a distance. No way would I win a hand to hand fight with him.

  Didn’t want to wait here forever either.

  Keeping my blaster trained on the door, I moved that way. The keypad was on this side, which worked to my benefit. I hugged the wall, crouching low and hit the pad. The door slid open.

  Blaster bolts, the green tinge of stun blasts, flew through the opening. They struck the far wall, leaving smoking scorch marks on the metal, searing off the paint. Splashes of energy moved across the wall.

  Staying low I rotated around the wall and into the opening. I fired off three quick bolts, jerking my blaster so each bolt went to a corner and straight down the middle. Following behind, I rolled into the bay, came out of the roll and fired three more shots. Same pattern but lower. I could hear most of my shots hitting the metal walls and one hitting the polyplas of a crate. No grunts of pain from Yer.

  Dammit.

  The hold was big and empty, just the three crates that Romer’s people had brought aboard. No other cover and those were down at the far end, like fifty feet away. Not good, not good at all.

  I got up and ran towards the right wall. Even though they were further away and Yer was behind them, I could still make use of the crates. I fired as I ran, keeping Yer’s head down. I had gotten a good look at the hold and hadn’t seen him, which meant he was behind the crates. I hit the crates and some shots going wide. I didn’t care if I damaged whatever was inside, I just needed to damage the Curdo more.