by Eric Warren
“Yes, sir?” the bartender asked, approaching him. Definitely some malice in there. Had to be.
“One more round,” Cas said.
4
The alarm tore through the air and Cas shot straight out of bed, puking on what remained of his sheets. “Dammit.” Cas wiped his mouth. The smell of vomit permeated the room. “Turn that fucking thing off!” Cas yelled in the comm.
The alarm went silent. “Everything alright, boss?” Box said through the speaker.
“It would be a lot better if you stopped waking me up with an ear-splitting siren.” He clutched his pounding head, recalling the brief image of a woman with a sword. Had he dreamed her?
“Sorry, boss. But I do love hearing you retch in the mornings,” Box said.
Cas coughed and spit what remained of the vomit into the spreading pile on his bed. He’d clean it up later. “What time is it?”
“Nine hours have passed since I brought you back to the ship,” Box replied. “You need to hydrate.”
Cas pushed the sheets to the side and staggered to his sink, splashing water on his face and down his throat. It didn’t help. “You brought me back?”
“Carried. You were too drunk to walk. Again.”
“Tell me I didn’t do anything stupid,” Cas said, hanging his head over the sink as the water droplets dripped down his face into the basin.
“No more than usual.”
That was a relief. Cas hadn’t meant to let it get out of control. He hadn’t even thought he’d had enough money to buy that many drinks. He’d underestimated how much he’d gotten for the data recorder. “I’ll be up there in a minute,” Cas said.
It was hard to concentrate under the shower. Each stream of water felt like an exhaust blast on his skull. He shouldn’t have gone overboard but what else was he supposed to do? He was almost as bad off as Maddox. At least Maddox had a functioning ship to make runs. Cas would be lucky to launch from Devil’s Gate at all. And he still had no clue what to do about his money problem.
No. He knew what he needed to do. He just didn’t want to do it.
Cas finished the shower and threw on his cleanest clothes. If he had to do this he wanted to at least make a good impression.
“Morning,” he grumbled, ambling into the cockpit.
Box’s attention was focused on a net drama playing on one of the screens. “Coffee is brewing in the kitchen. Sleep well?”
With each step a miniature shockwave blasted its way through his brain. “Don’t start. What’s the ship’s status?”
Box paused the feed and turned to him. “Thruster four on the port side is dead. You have two magnetic coils that need to be replaced and the undercurrent targeting system is off by twelve percent. It will need to be switched out with a newer model…unless you want to get lost in the deep reaches of space.”
“That would almost be preferable.” Cas slumped down in the captain’s chair. Really it wasn’t the captain’s chair, this ship was too small to have anything so grand. Box always took the pilot’s seat, so if he was really honest with himself it was the co-pilot’s chair. He was the only one who thought of it differently. “Maybe I can take a look at the targeting system, realign it in some way.”
“Hab suite two has a pressurization problem, but it’s localized,” Box added. “Also two of the landing gear struts are rusted from that landing on Calfour Straxus. Which, if you’ll remember, I warned you about.”
“Okay, okay, stop,” Cas said putting one hand up and rubbing his temple with the other. “How much do we need for repairs? Minimum. To get the ship in working condition?”
“If we ignore hab suite two and a few other non-essentials, approximately four hundred and twenty-five thousand kassope.”
Cas slapped his hands to his face and screamed into them, despite the pain it caused his head. When he removed them Box was staring at him. “Would you like me to leave?”
“No,” Cas said, standing. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to go to Veena. But I don’t see any other way out of this, do you?”
The robot shrugged. “It’s not too late to take Maddox’s ship. We could leave him yours.”
“I’m not giving up the Reasonable Excuse. This ship has been the one constant in my life for the past five years.”
“What about me?” Box complained.
“You weren’t you in the beginning. You were just like all the rest.” Cas made his way into the kitchen and poured the slimy coffee from the maker into a chipped cup. It might as well be tar. Still, he downed it as quickly as he could without burning his throat.
Box appeared at the entrance. “I’m serious. There are people worse than you out there. People who deserve to have their ships stolen. It isn’t like you’d have to make it a regular thing.”
Cas shook his head. “I’m starting to think you’re right. Making an ‘honest’ living out here is impossible. I’ve already had to concede to carry Veena’s goods along with the passengers. But it looks like that might not even be enough anymore.” He placed the cup in the autocleanser. “But I’m not taking another courier’s ship.”
“You seemed pretty serious with Maddox last night,” Box said.
“That was to scare him. Sometimes I think he’s worse at this than I am.”
“Except he’s willing to break a few rules.”
Cas turned to the one window in the kitchen. Beyond was the surface of the station, hundreds of ships docked beside one another. And after that the blackness of space stretched to infinity, only occasionally interrupted by a speck of white. “It could be worse,” he said. “She could have me working down on Vetar. At least here I’m in space, even if it is the same few routes over and over again.” The thought of the woman with the sword crossed his mind again and he turned around. “Box.”
The robot looked up.
“What would you think about taking a mercenary job?”
“Veena would cut off your balls,” he replied.
He arched an eyebrow. “Only if she found out.”
“If you’re willing to risk it. I’m not sure I’d be so careless with my genitals, if I had them.”
“Let’s take a moment and be thankful you don’t.” Cas immediately wiped that image from his mind. “I think something happened last night.”
“It must not have been up to your usual standards, I didn’t catch it on the vid feeds before I came to pick you up.” Box moved into the kitchen, his yellow eyes blinking in what Cas recognized as amusement.
“No, not that. A woman approached me. A mercenary. Said she had a job for me.”
“What did you do?”
“I think I laughed in her face.” Cas shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe I imagined her. I was already drunk when she came up.”
“A random mercenary comes up and offers you a job out of the blue. You.” Box said. “I agree, it was probably an alcohol-induced hallucination brought on by your fear of facing Veena and perhaps even guilt over what you did to poor Maddox.”
“You just said I should steal his ship!”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t feel sorry for him, especially after you pointed a gun in his face. Tsk, tsk, captain.”
Cas’ eyes narrowed. “I really hate you sometimes.”
“No, you don’t. If I weren’t here you’d end up talking to the coffee maker. And nobody wants that.” Box turned and left the kitchen.
“Thanks for the help!” Cas called after him, knowing it was futile. “I guess I’ll go off and sign the rest of my life away!”
Box didn’t reply. He’d probably already plugged back into his net drama. Cas smoothed the front of his wrinkled shirt, then grabbed his worn jacket from the floor and dusted it off before slipping it on. He hated himself for what he was about to do. Even if he wanted the mercenary job he didn’t have the ability to do anything worthwhile. Not unless this possibly fictitious woman paid for all his repairs.
As he strolled out of the ship and down through the airlock into the connecting corridor he w
inced as he imagined the look on Veena’s face when he asked her for a loan. She’d toy with him, that much was guaranteed. And she’d hem and haw over it and try to make him think he wasn’t worth the extra risk. But the truth was she’d love it. Because it would mean Cas would be indebted to her so deep he’d never be able to get out. He’d be a part of the Sargan Commonwealth for the rest of his life, and there was little he could do about it. It wasn’t as if he could go back to the Coalition, what with the warrants for his arrest and all. Not that he ever would anyway.
Cas made his way through the main promenade, looking exactly as it had last night. The only difference being it wasn’t as crowded as it had been the night before. It seemed everyone only came out later in the station’s cycle, which was synched up with the closest planet: Vetar. Vetar had a twenty-two-hour day. It was better than some of the more exotic planets, but also made adjusting difficult. He kept the Reasonable Excuse on a twenty-hour cycle, despite operating in this sector of space for over five years. It was something he didn’t want to let go of. Not yet.
As Cas passed The Pit with zero memory of Box retrieving him from the place, he happened to glance over only to catch sight of the same woman from last night. He almost stumbled, but managed to keep his composure and his stride. She was leaning up against the side of the doorway, her arms crossed with the long sword still strapped to her back. As he passed her gaze bore directly into him, following him down the corridor. Cas thought about calling out to tell her to mind her own business but thought better of it. Instead, he turned away and focused on his destination: Veena’s chambers. He hadn’t made an appointment but it wouldn’t matter. She’d see him if for no other reason than to give him a hard time. It seemed to be her favorite pastime.
Before Cas rounded the corner, he risked one look back toward The Pit only to find the doorway empty. Finally. Go find someone else to bother.
Maybe he should mention to Veena he was being headhunted by a couple mercenaries. See if she wouldn’t up his pay. But why would she? By Kor, he’d be lucky if she didn’t decide to impound his ship. But that definitely wasn’t happening. He tapped the boomcannon under his jacket. No one was getting that ship.
A pair of strong hands grabbed his lapels, yanking him inside a room adjacent to the corridor. He hadn’t even seen them coming. By the time he got his bearings and the fog of his hangover allowed his eyes to adjust he found a very long and sharp blade pressed to his neck. And the person holding it was none other than Evie.
5
Cas breathed heavily as Evie pressed the blade to his skin. “Is this because I said no?”
“By Garth your breath stinks,” Evie replied, screwing up her face. “Ever hear of a mint?”
Cas surveyed the room. It was a normal hab suite with a bed and adjacent room with a head and shower, but it appeared unused. A window on the opposite side of the room showed the starfield beyond. “I’m not really into the kinky stuff. If you’re going to make me do this you might be disapp—”
“Shut up,” Evie said. “How any woman would want to have sex with you is beyond me.”
“Then, if you’ll just excuse me,” Cas said, “I have a meeting and I don’t want to put it off any longer otherwise I’ll lose my nerve and have to pay another visit to the bar.”
Evie lessened the pressure on the sword, still keeping it close to his throat. “I don’t care about your schedule,” she replied. “You’re coming with me whether you like it or not.”
“You sure you’re not into kinky stuff?” Cas asked. “Because the sword seems to be turning one of us on and it’s not me.”
She withdrew the weapon, sheathing it with a simple, practiced movement. Cas worked to hide his awe.
“My name is Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Diazal of the Sovereign Coalition of Aligned Systems. I was ordered to retrieve you from Sargan space and that’s what I’m going to do,” she said as if it was obvious.
Upon hearing the words Sovereign Coalition of Aligned Systems Cas recoiled, pressing himself further into the wall despite the lack of a weapon making him do so. “I don’t think so, lady.”
“You don’t have a choice,” she replied, matter-of-factly.
“No, you don’t have a choice,” he said, heat rising in his cheeks. “I’m not part of the Coalition anymore. I can do whatever I want.”
“Mr. Robeaux,” she said, her voice dripping with disdain. “I don’t think you understand the pred—”
“I understand perfectly, Evie,” he said, pushing past her. “The Coalition decides maybe I’m better off back in jail so they send an errand girl to do their job for them. I don’t think so. You’ll actually have to use that sword on me if you want me to come back with you.”
“Jail? What are you talking about? I was ordered to bring you back to Coalition space, to Starbase Eight.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why were you in jail?”
“You don’t know?” he scoffed. “That’s surprising. And here I thought I was infamous. I’m sure someone will tell you if you ask. But it’s not going to be me because I’m not going back.”
“Until recently I was stationed out near Epsilon Lyre. We don’t get a lot of gossip out there.” She seemed to reset herself. “Regardless, it doesn’t matter. The admiral made this mission a priority one, which means come with me willingly or unconscious. Your choice.”
“Neither.” He grabbed the handle of his pistol but kept it in the holster. “I told you, you’ll have to take me in a body bag if you want to have a chance of getting me back into Coalition space.”
Evie’s eyes went to the pistol and she stiffened. He hadn’t even meant to do it, it was a reflex. But if the Coalition had sent her, how many other officers were out there on the station waiting for him? She might be right, he might not have a choice. If she was alone he had a good chance of getting past her. But if there was a small army on the other side of that door waiting to ambush him…he’d never have a chance. And the longer he stood here arguing with her the more paranoid he became about it.
Cas released the handle of the gun, leaving it in its holster. Evie relaxed her shoulders. “Look,” he said. “I don’t have a quarrel with you. But if you try to take me back I’ll be forced to shoot you in the leg. And neither of us want that. Don’t make me do it.”
She seemed intrigued by the prospect. “I have my orders.”
“How many more are there? To take me back?” he asked when she cocked her head as if she didn’t understand what he was talking about.
“Just me.”
Cas nodded for a moment. “I have no doubt you know how to use that sword, but I also know you won’t use it on me. Not if you’re really from the Coalition.” He turned toward the door. “If you want my advice,” he said. “Get out while you still can. Before they make you do something you can’t take back.” He took another breath then pushed the pad beside the door and it slid open. It was a gamble, turning his back on her, but he needed to get out of there. To get out from under her accusatory stare.
To his astonishment, the door slid closed behind him sealing her back inside. Cas’s hands shook. Coming so close to the Coalition after five years of nothing had rattled him more than he’d expected. He hadn’t set foot across Coalition space ever since the incident. As far as he was concerned, the crime-ridden, slimy underbelly of the Sargan Commonwealth was much safer. Everything in the Coalition was too…structured. Too easy. At least that’s how they made it seem. That was the whole recruitment slogan. Come join the Sovereign Coalition of Aligned Systems! Share in our resources! Eliminate your planet’s problems!
Yeah, and the only cost was any sense of self-determination.
The supporters would disagree with him, saying not only did people have the right to choose whatever they wanted, they could do so without consequence. Want to be a painter? Great! The Coalition would provide for all your expenses. Prefer to lay on some exotic beach for the rest of your life? No problem, the Coalition had you covered. Want to explore the stars in an advan
ced starship? Absolutely! Have the time of your life! Except sometimes you might have to do a few things you might find questionable. We are a military organization after all. And there has to be a tradeoff for all those painters and people lying on the beach all day. It all has to even out in the end.
Ugh. Cas tried shaking his hands out as he made his way back to the main corridor. He couldn’t see Veena like this; she’d play him like a Valderan squrn. No, he needed to get his head straight.
He passed The Pit again but the last thing he needed at the moment was more alcohol. He’d made the mistake of meeting with Veena drunk once and it had not gone well. Apparently it was difficult to make contract negotiations for what you’re agreeing to haul for someone when you’re intoxicated. He was still paying for that one.
No, he needed to go back to his ship. Get his head straight. Otherwise he might as well curl up beside the wall like Maddox and wait for station security.
6
“That was quick,” Box said as Cas re-entered the ship. He’d moved to the kitchen and had switched off his regular net drama to some other program.
“I didn’t get to Veena’s, tha—” Cas paused. “What are you watching?”
“Hm?” Box said, looking up. “Oh, this? It’s an old program called World on Fire. It’s about this woman, Janet, whose husband has been cheating on her, but she doesn’t know it, and then her teenage daughter finds out he was actually cheating with her best friend, but she doesn’t want to tell her mom because she thinks her mom will think it’s her fault because she’s the one who invites Rebecca over all the time and it will tear their family apart and there’s all this drama and it’s just great! It was on for forty-seven years. I’m on season three.”
Cas stared at him, dumbfounded. “You know what, I’m sorry I asked.” He rubbed his temples again. “I need to go lie down. I assume nothing else has broken in the thirty minutes I’ve been gone.”
“I don’t know, I’ve been engrossed.” Box turned his attention back to the display.