by J. N. Chaney
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving a hand. “Fine.”
“Very good, sir. You’ll be pleased to know that the town of Roh is small and not subject to standard regulations. Any regulations at all, in fact.”
I perked up a little hearing that. “So I can land wherever? No mind-numbing protocol? No trying not to piss off control tower agents?”
“That is correct. I would recommend the local landing dock, which has enough space for us. The Renegade Star could do with a refuel.”
“Good call, Siggy,” I said, making a quick check to see how low we really were. It wasn’t bad, but Sigmond had a point, and refueling here would make the most sense. I might even be able to get a good price, since there didn’t seem to be much competition in the desert regions. “Take us down, standard landing procedure. I’m going to let our client know it’s time to buckle up.”
I found Calista sitting in the lounge, watching the holo television from the chair I’d nearly been handcuffed to. She had made herself right at home from the looks of things. Her battered boots were propped up on the low table and she had a steaming cup of instant noodles in her hands.
“I told you not to eat my food,” I snapped, glaring at the noodles.
She shrugged. “Add it to my bill, then.”
The Union News Network played on the holo, and I sneered as I caught the tail end of the propaganda-riddled report.
“Thanks to the president, taxes are at an all-time low, making it a great time to invest,” the anchor said in a soothing, monotone voice. “Even with recent aggression from the Sarkonian Empire, most companies are seeing stocks on the rise.”
It was the usual government drivel, and the Union was trying to convince its citizens that all was well, thanks to the government.
“Siggy, turn that shit off,” I ordered.
The holo went dark, and I set my hands on the table and studied Calista. “Comfy?” I asked, looking pointedly at her feet propped up on my table.
She ignored the question and barely flicked a glance in my direction. “I was watching that.”
“Not anymore,” I told her. “We’re starting landing procedures. Your job description didn’t say what we’re doing once we land.”
“That’s because you didn’t need to know.” She polished off her meal and got to her feet. “Now that we’re here, I can tell you. I’m picking up an item for my client—an old artifact that’s been gathering dust since one of the miners found it a few years back.”
“Sounds exciting,” I said dryly. “Now strap in so we can set down.”
Roh’s landing port didn’t have a queue, and it was quite a treat to set down at the dock and schedule the Star for refueling without a wait. The prices weren’t bad, but I’d haggled it a few credits cheaper out of principle before we set off to get whatever artifact Calista had to retrieve.
As we walked through the desert town, I counted twelve buildings, each of them covered in years’ worth of grime and dust. Some people were walking around, and they eyed us curiously. A few of the rougher-looking men tipped their hats at Calista as she walked by, their eyes lingering on her ass as she passed, but the locals didn’t otherwise bother us.
I didn’t care if she got ogled. She wasn’t my woman, after all.
The place was a dirtball, at least as far as I was concerned, and hot as hell. I felt like I was being steamed alive in my own clothes. A thin layer of sweat had begun to pool under my arms, and I could already feel the sand finding its way into my shirt and scratching uncomfortably in places nothing rough should ever touch.
“There are hardly enough people here to qualify this as a camp,” I noted, shaking my head. “Much less a town.”
“That’s because the majority of residents live in the north, where the weather is milder,” Sigmond offered through the comm in my ear. “The mining communities in the desert areas are more isolated.”
“It works out well for us,” said Calista. “Mining planets are more laid back. Fewer rules and safer because they aren’t usually worth a Ravager’s time.”
“If you say so.” I snorted as a tumbleweed rolled by. “To me, that ain’t living. Working long hours in the miserable heat to make some rich asshole richer and hoping no one attacks just because you have nothing of value? No thanks. Danger makes life more exciting.”
“Not everybody wants cheap thrills,” she pointed out. “Some people prefer to live safely, even if it is boring.”
I raised one eyebrow and grinned as I shot her a knowing look. “You can’t tell me that this place appeals to you.”
“I never said it did,” she countered, her tone defensive. “Just that everyone is entitled to live how they please.”
“Fair enough,” I conceded as we rounded one of the taller buildings in the so-called town. “Let’s just find this contact of yours and be done. The sooner we pick up this artifact, the sooner we can get off this rock. Who are you meeting?”
“Memphis Wyatt,” she replied without pulling out her pad.
Her knowing the intel about the pickup by memory was a good sign. Relying too much on a data pad was a rookie mistake, one that got a lot of Renegades into life-or-death shoot-outs in their early years if they ended up saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. I’d have been concerned for my own safety if she hadn’t committed the information to memory.
Calista flagged down a dock worker who was about to climb into a ground transport. He looked at her with tired eyes but still waited patiently for her to speak.
“Hello,” she said, keeping her tone friendly. “Can you point me to the town’s central office?”
“Sure,” he said with a lazy shrug as he pointed toward the main dirt path through town. “Just take the road over there and head north. It’s the third building on the left. Can’t miss it. Foreman Wyatt’s name is on the door.”
Calista thanked the man and let him drive off. “Let’s hope the rest of it is that easy,” she said, smiling.
“Don’t ever get your hopes up,” I warned her. “The minute you do, things start going to shit. Believe me, I know. Nothing is ever easy, and if it is, it’s probably a trap.”
She rolled her eyes and started walking. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a pessimist, Mr. Hughes?”
“Sure, and most of them aren’t alive anymore to judge anyone at all, let alone me. Yet here I am, alive and breathing. I think I’ll stick to my way of thinking.”
That got a laugh out of her, but she didn’t speak as we approached the building that the dock worker had pointed out. It was still too early in the day for lights to be on, but I saw a sign in the window telling us the place was open for business.
With the exception of one man leaning against a nearby fence, the place looked dead. No one passed by the windows. No conversation bubbled through the air. Nothing.
The lone man stared at us, but he didn’t move. I made eye contact with him and subtly rested my hand on my gun, making a silent point for him to leave us alone.
He didn’t move, and he certainly didn’t stop staring.
Usually, that meant trouble. If Calista had noticed him at all, she did a mighty fine job of ignoring him. She jogged up the steps toward the main door, leaving me alone at the foot of the stairs.
With a subtle turn of my head, I scanned the area to see if anyone else was acting suspicious. As far as I could tell, though, he was the only one out here. No one else stood nearby. No one else even walked past, though I noticed a few people farther down the road, their silhouettes hazy and distorted in the heat.
Instead of eerie, it all just struck me as lifeless. With the sun in my eyes and sweat covering every other part of me, I just wanted to be done with this whole planet.
I climbed the short flight of stairs, keeping the man in my periphery and my gun hand ready, just in case.
Inside, the climate controlled building was a welcome relief from the oven outside. The space was small, just enough room for a few chairs in what could loosely be called a wait
ing room, before it opened into an open office area.
A large, older man sat behind a beat up desk, talking on a mobile holo with a well-dressed woman. Judging from the deepening scowl on his face, the conversation wasn’t going well.
“...and I’m telling you that I don’t care, Mr. Wyatt,” the woman said. “Get it done, or I’ll find a replacement for you who can.”
The transmission cut off before he could reply, and he slammed a fist down on the desktop. He didn’t seem to notice the two of us standing there, and he let out a stream of colorful curses as he stared at the pad on his desk.
Calista strode forward, the click of her footsteps on the floor loud enough to make the man’s head snap our way.
“What the hell do you want?” he asked, his voice gruff. “I’m busy enough as it is without you tourists adding more work to my plate.”
I opened my mouth to tell him where he could stick the attitude, but Calista laid a subtle hand on my arm, warning me to be quiet. Since it was her job, not mine, I settled for giving him an annoyed glare and keeping my mouth shut.
For the moment, anyway.
“I’m here on behalf of Julian Abbot,” said Calista.
The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t place it.
She kept her demeanor relaxed and calm, as if she were speaking to an old friend. I appreciated the benefits of using techniques like that, but I rarely had the patience for it.
Wyatt’s eyes brightened at the mention of Calista’s client. “Took you long enough. I’ve been waiting weeks for someone to come get this piece of junk out of here.”
Moving with speed I wouldn’t have expected from a man with that much gray hair, he got out of the chair and went to a cabinet in the corner of the room. I saw the glint of a safe as he bent over and unlocked it to retrieve an strange square object unlike anything I’d seen before.
He set it on the table and gestured at Calista, inviting her to inspect it. I didn’t know if it was all for show, but she stepped closer and picked it up. It was a small cube about the size of my palm, and it shone almost gold in the desert light filtering through the dusty window by his desk. An intricate design had been carved into each side, wrapping around to create a connected pattern of coils and curls.
Apparently satisfied, Calista nodded and pulled out her data pad to complete the transaction.
It just looked like a piece of junk to me. I wondered how an antique like that could be worth enough to someone that they’d pay an exorbitant sum of credits to get it, but I didn’t say anything. So long as we did get paid, I didn’t much care who bought what or why.
“Tell Julian that’s the last one,” said Wyatt, shoving the pad back into Calista’s palms. “And good riddance. It’s too stressful keeping these damn things here.”
“I’m just the delivery girl, and I’m only here for this cube,” she replied as she tucked the box into her pocket. “It’ll cost extra if you want me to deliver messages, too.”
“Bah.” The old man waved at the door, giving us a less-than-subtle hint to get the hell out. “I’ll take care of it myself. You couriers. Can’t stand the lot of you. Your kind always tries to squeeze a few more credits out of people.”
That would’ve pissed me off, and I would’ve had a few choice words with the asshole about his attitude.
Calista, however, remained calm and simply gave him a little wave on her way out the door. When I didn’t follow, she waited by the exit and gave an exaggerated nod to the world beyond the building.
“Fine,” I muttered.
She wanted to leave, and I didn’t care enough to defend her honor.
As we hit the sweltering heat once more, I couldn’t hold my questions at bay any longer. “What sort of artifact is that? It looks more like one of Ollie’s pieces of ‘art’ than a real antique. Hardly seems worth all the fuss.”
Calista looked at me over her shoulder as she descended the stairs. “You’re kidding, right? There is a lot of money in these old things if you can find the right buyers. Only the mega rich can afford them.”
I shook my head. “Never seen anything like that before. It doesn’t even look like a museum would bother displaying it.”
She paused to study my face as if she thought I was messing with her. When she realized I was being serious, she snickered.
It annoyed me, but that was usually the case with Calista.
She looked me over. “I would have thought someone like you would know all about the ancient relic industry.”
“Someone like me, huh?” I walked past her and headed toward the landing dock so we could get out of this sweltering heat once and for all. “What’s that supposed to mean? Last I checked, I’m the Renegade and you’re just a freelancer with no ship.” I paused, unable to restrain a grin from tugging at the corner of my mouth. “And no special gun.”
“Cute,” she snapped as she jogged to keep pace with me. “I might be a ship-less freelancer, but you’re also missing out on some big paydays if you don’t know about the artifact trade. How did you think I could justify bringing you along with just the measly cargo I’m delivering? You can make a killing dealing in these. The government snatches up any they can find, so that drives the prices up. They’re hot tickets, and people like us will do a lot to get their hands on them.”
“Must be why the old man was so nervous,” I said, starting to understand Wyatt’s anxiety about having one on hand. “He couldn’t wait to get rid of it.”
“That’s true,” she admitted. “Makes for dangerous work, but the payoff is worth it, believe me.”
“I guess I’ll have to look into this a little later,” I told her. “See if the credits are really worth the risk, as you say.”
As we reached the dock, I saw it was no longer deserted. The worker driving the transport had long ago departed, but the same guy who had watched us at Memphis Wyatt’s office now stood there with two of his friends. He was at the forefront of the small group, clearly the one in charge.
Ah. This was where the real fun would start.
Careful to keep my voice low, I hailed Sigmond through the comm in my ear. “Get the Star ready. I have a feeling we’re going to need out of here in a hurry.”
“Affirmative,” answered the AI. “Powering up the ship now.”
Each man had a weapon at his hip and a look in his eye that no one could mistake for friendly. Wrinkled foreheads. Steely glares. Guns at their waists.
My hand went to my pistol, and I felt Calista tense beside me.
“You don’t want this fight,” I said to the group.
“This is our town,”said the ringleader as he stepped forward. “You’re more than welcome to leave, but you have to pay the toll first.”
“How much?” I asked.
Like hell was I going to pay a backwater asshole some bullshit toll.
It was a stall tactic. Same as I had no plans to give these assholes anything, it was safe to assume they had no intention of letting us out of here alive.
If this guy knew about the artifact, it was a wonder he hadn’t just stormed into the office and taken it. I figured he must have overheard our exchange with Wyatt somehow, or the foreman had sold us out.
Either way, things were about to get heated.
“The toll’s pretty fair.” A grin spread over the man’s face as his gaze drifted toward Calista. “I think everything she’s got on her, including the clothes, will do just fine.”
I blew out an exaggerated sigh as though I was thinking it over. “Sorry, gentlemen. That’s too steep.”
“You don’t get to negotiate,” snapped the leader. “I set the toll, and you do what you’re told.”
He went for his gun but made the mistake of reaching too slowly. My pistol was already coming out before he had his holster undone.
I had a choice to make, and a split second to make it in: to kill him, disable him, or intentionally miss.
With the way he’d leered at Calista, I figured he’d rather shoot me than give us
a way out of this. I’d probably have to kill him.
I pulled the trigger and squeezed a round off. The gunshot cracked through the desert sky like thunder, and it hit him in the abdomen. He collapsed, doubling over as he held his bleeding wound.
Not my best shot, but it would get the job done.
The two meatheads behind him scattered, and instead of helping their boss to his feet, they both charged toward Calista. The first one to reach her grabbed her shirt as he shoved her backward.
She bared her teeth and raised her fists. “Try it!” she taunted.
The second one, who was a little shorter than the first, reached her as I pivoted. I raised my pistol to take them both out and only paused for a brief second to aim. There was no way she could win against these guys, both of whom were bigger than her.
The woman was going to get herself killed, then I’d be out a payday.
I put a bullet in the leg of the shorter man, and he howled in pain. When the idiot reached for his gun, I shot him once more in the chest. His hand went limp.
I’d given him the chance to live, and he’d thrown it aside. That was on him, not me.
The larger guy flinched as his buddy fell to the ground, and he raised his palms before stepping backward and giving Calista room to breathe. Panting and out of breath, she darted to my side and stood just behind me as I held the goon at bay.
“You have the artifact?” I asked, not bothering to look away from the thieves.
“Yeah, it’s still in my pocket,” she answered breathlessly. “I’m fine, too, by the way. Thanks for asking.”
“Get back to the ship,” I said, ignoring her. “I’ll cover you.”
The taller guy watched Calista as she ran, his greedy expression drifting from her ass to her pocket that bulged from the artifact.
“You’re going to stay right there,” I told him as I began to back up down the walkway toward my ship. “When we’re gone, you’re going to stay here. If you guys follow us in a ship, I will not hesitate to blow it up. You got me?”
He scowled, his jaw tensing as he glared at me.