Smuggler's Luck

by S. W. Gunn

  “And to you Jarron, our unsung hero, I know that Elyse will receive much of the credit for yesterday but I wish to let you know that we appreciate you as much as her. We all know that she would not have been able to assist without you.”

  Giving his best cheeky grin Jarron stated, “Thanks, although all I do is stand around.”

  Elyse laughed as she retorted, “But you stand around so well!”

  Reaching out quickly Jarron attempted to give her a quick poke, she evaded his maneuver easily. Jarron was impressed with her speed. She laughed at his failed effort.

  “Too fast.” She said cockily, which caused him to chuckle.

  Jarron now knew that he would have to go forward with his plans for a practical joke at her expense. He would have to think on it for some time to find the perfect one.

  “Father Lapella I think I need to take a shower.” Jarron declared.

  “I’ll take him to his room.” Elyse said.

  Father Lapella nodded and then told them, “Lunch will be served in about an hour.”

  “Alright.” Elyse responded.

  She gestured for Jarron to follow her, which he did. They walked through the building and finally made it the door in front of his room. Elyse reached for the handle of the door and turned to look from side to side.

  “Do you need help?” She whispered.

  Very confused by what she meant he asked, “Help?”

  She nodded and answered with a shy grin, “With your shower, I heard they can be tricky.”

  He laughed heartily as he responded, “Actually I really could use some help. I have this spot, right here,” He turned and slowly tapped near the middle of his back before continuing, “I just can’t ever seem to reach. I would love some help reaching it.”

  Elyse giggled in response and then walked into his room. He followed behind her. Once she closed the door, she gently took his hand and guided him to the small restroom. She turned on the shower as high as the heat would go and then slowly helped him unbutton his shirt. Jarron was becoming more and more confident that her Eal’tain heritage was the cause of her voracious desires, he had never met a woman that so aggressively pursued lovemaking, although Hain’s cousin tried. Once they were undressed she stepped into the shower. She shivered as though it were cold.

  “I always hated taking cold showers.” She said.

  Jarron could see the steam of the shower building rapidly. He reached his hand out and touched the water. It was quite hot.

  “This isn’t cold, it’s actually too hot for me. Could we turn it down a little?” He told her.

  She gave him a pout and then turned the knob for cold a little. Once the shower temperature was a bit more reasonable for him, Jarron entered. He quite enjoyed taking a shower with her. She grabbed the small bar of soap and slowly began to rub it across his chest and back.

  “This is fun.” She stated.

  Sarcastically Jarron asked, “Even with the cold water?”

  Giving out a brief laugh she answered, “Well I think because I’m half Eal’tain that I’ve got a higher resistance to heat than humans.”

  “I noticed. The shower at Dalain’s place you must have had on scalding hot, it would have burned my skin.”

  “Sissy.” She said laughing.

  He chuckled at her before saying, “That’s just it Elyse, I’ve noticed quite a few things are different about you.”

  “Such as?”

  “Well you are obviously much leaner and more athletic than a human woman. You always seem hot to the touch, your skin is virtually perfect and your facial features are slightly more exotic.” He explained.

  She looked up at him and asked, “And you like all of these things about me?”

  “Immensely.”

  In a sudden motion she jumped into him and wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. He was stunned by her strength, to be able to leap and pull herself up so easily was impressive.

  She said, “I’m also faster and stronger than any other woman my age.”

  He nodded and said, “I noticed.”

  She grinned and then kissed him. After they finished the shower, dried off, and got dressed they headed out to the dining area. Elyse had finally given up on the show and now hooked her arm with his which he was quite happy about since there was no reason to hide their feelings. He felt that as long as they showed a level of decorum in public everything should be fine. Again Father Lapella waved them to sit with him. This time it was Ramona who said the prayer for the meal.

  After the prayer was finished Father Lapella said, “I am impressed with your abilities Elyse, what will you do with them once you leave Cantua?”

  Jarron turned to look at her, she looked contemplative.

  “Father Lapella I suspect that once we resolve the issues with my kidnapper that I’ll just go with Jarron and our friends. Most likely we’ll help people as we go.”

  He responded, “That seems reasonable. It is always important to help others when you can.”

  After they finished eating she stood and announced, “I think I want to go for a walk, Jarron would you care to join me?”

  He nodded at her because he felt that some fresh air would be good. That had been one of the few real nice things about this planet. The air was much fresher than any he had ever smelled. They slowly walked out the church and down the pathway. Instead of entering the village, they walked through a nearby wooded area. Jarron had to admit that it was beautiful. She leaned her head softly against his shoulder as they walked.

  Elyse said, “I’ve always loved this area. It’s so peaceful and quiet. Sadly I didn’t get to come here very often. They always insisted that it was for our safety. Before it was discovered that I had the Gift, one of the others was walking through town and got hurt. I don’t know what happened to her but since then they had always watched those with the Gift very closely.”

  Jarron just nodded. Her explanation made some sense, after all those with the Gift were rare and they needed to be protected, otherwise they could be lost or hurt. They continued to walk for a while before Elyse slowly guided them back through the wooded area and towards the church. Once they got back on the pathway Jarron stopped walking. Elyse stopped and a curious look crossed her face.

  “Is something wrong?” She asked.

  Jarron shook his head and said, “No, I just wanted to see something.”

  “Which is?”

  In a quick motion Jarron jabbed finger out and poked her side.

  “Ouch!” She yelled out.

  “I just wanted to make sure I could getcha.”

  Giving out a short chuckle she stated, “Next time I’ll make sure to move.”

  Jarron took a step back and lifted both hands, prepared to poke again. Elyse took a defensive stance.

  She smiled wickedly as she saucily declared, “Come and try again.”

  Moving to one side to provide a feint with his right hand, Jarron quickly stabbed out with his left finger. Her response was initially to move to avoid the feint but she was still successful in her reaction to dodge the second strike.

  “Ha! Too fast for you!” She exclaimed.

  “You are quick,” Jarron said, “But I am quicker.”

  This time he moved to fake a feint on his right hand. As he moved to pretend the left hand striking he snaked his right hand back in and successfully poked her side.

  “Wow you are quick!” She said, “When we played tag as a child no one ever could get me.”

  “You have an unfair advantage, I heard that the Eal’tain were the fastest moving people in the galaxy.”

  “And yet you still can manage to get your hands on me.”

  Jarron guffawed and said, “Usually you are the one with hands all over me, not the other way.”

  His joke made her laugh.

  “Alright, my turn.” She declared.

  He nodded and shifted to prepare to dodge. Her quick and hard pokes moved in and out too fast for him to dodge. She must have successfully
struck him every single time.

  Once it was clear that he could not evade her pokes she declared, “I guess it’s just your hands that are fast.”

  “Well I am a pilot. My hands need to be fast.” He explained.

  “At least I know you can’t escape me. Let’s race to the door of the church.”

  Jarron nodded at her. She took off without warning. He jumped and then immediately ran after her. The pathway up to the church was still a good distance away and the hill was steep. Even though she was much more nimble than him, he was confident he could win a footrace. He pushed hard to catch her, which he was slowly doing. Even with her athletic form, the hill seemed to take its toll on her ability to run. As they closed to the final last few meters he overtook her and the finished the last flat part of the race. He had won, barely. Once he reached the spot by the door he was panting from effort. She caught up and for some reason did not seem to be even that tired.

  “I guess you won.” She said sadly.

  He grinned at her and between deep breaths said, “Yep, but you don’t seem to be tired.”

  “I have a lot of endurance.”

  Evilly he commented, “I noticed.”

  His words caused her to laugh again. The door of the church opened to Brother Renard’s happy face.

  “It is good to see the both of you so happy. I am however impressed that the young man actually beat you in a footrace Elyse. I do not remember you losing before.” He stated.

  “I know Brother Renard. Could we not tell anyone? I’d hate for my reputation to be sullied by some hot shot pretty boy pilot.” She responded mischievously.

  “Pretty boy?” Jarron asked.

  Brother Renard and Elyse both laughed at his question. Brother Renard took a step next to Jarron and softly patted him on the shoulder.

  “It is okay young man.” His words were cut off by a pair of loud popping noises.

  Both he and Elyse crumpled to the ground. Jarron recognized an attack when he saw it and immediately dove through the door of the church. Several thumps from what Jarron believed to be a dart hit the wall near the door. He shifted backwards and then rolled to allow him to look through the door as he rolled sideways. He could see several armored men, all wielding a strange looking dart gun. Clearly they were prepared for this. They slowly moved closer and closer. It was obvious to Jarron that they were preparing for his return. He examined the distance between himself and Elyse, it was too far for him to reach her and he became desperate. He could not run and leave her alone but he had no weapon to fend off the attackers. It was now that he wished he had brought his pistol. The men continued to approach the door. Very soon they would be close enough to see him peeking through. Jarron jumped to his feet and ran hurriedly towards the meeting area. If he could find Father Lapella maybe they could overwhelm the men with numbers. As soon as he entered he saw Father Lapella talking with another man. They both turned to look at Jarron. Father Lapella had a smile on his face however as soon as he saw the look of desperation on Jarron’s face he frowned.

  Jarron spoke rapidly, “Strangers attacked us at the door of the church.”

  He panted heavily from running.

  “What?” Father Lapella said his voice thick with concern.

  Jarron continued to breathe heavily and once he caught his breath enough he explained, “Some men with dart guns of some kind shot Elyse and Brother Renard at the front door. I think they were aiming for me but hit poor Brother Renard when he was talking to me.”

  Father Lapella turned to the man he was with and ordered, “Call the others to the front door. Even with these weapons we can overwhelm them in numbers.”

  He turned to Jarron and said, “Let’s go.”

  Jarron jogged quickly with Father Lapella back to the door. He peeked out and saw that the men had left. Brother Renard was still lying on the ground by the door but Elyse was gone. He was heartbroken.

  “Stay here.” Father Lapella instructed.

  He stepped out the door and casually looked around. Jarron lost sight of him as he moved down the pathway some.

  His voice yelled out, “Jarron come here.”

  Jarron ran out and to his side.

  “Down there.” Father Lapella said while pointing down the hill.

  He looked and he saw about seven men moving quickly towards the landing pad. Two of them were carrying something that was large enough to have been Elyse. Frustration welled within him. Jarron could not catch up with them before they would have made it to the ship that he suspected was probably waiting them. Without the Keg he would be trapped on this planet until they returned. Who knew where these people would take Elyse. He sighed heavily.

  “What is your plan?” Father Lapella asked.

  Jarron watched intently as the men disappeared. He kept his eye on the spot where he knew the landing pad was. Eventually a ship that was slightly larger than the Keg lifted off. Jarron continued to watch it intently as it left the planet.

  “I have to wait for my friends. Once I get aboard we will track these bastards down and save her.” Jarron said firmly.

  “But it could be days before your friends come.” Father Lapella said.

  “I know, but I have no other choice.”

  “Actually you do.”

  Jarron looked at him and stated, “Well I’ll do anything to save her so please share.”

  Father Lapella looked quite embarrassed.

  “I have a confession to make to you young man,” He said, “In my youth I was quite the pilot myself.”

  Jarron said, “Really?”

  He nodded before explaining, “In fact I still have a small ship. I don’t know if she’ll fly though, even with the tests and maintenance I had snuck out to do every few months.”

  Jarron’s heart leaped in excitement. If he could get space bound he could track these men and save her.

  “Show me it.” He instructed Father Lapella.

  Father Lapella turned back into the church and ran. Jogging behind him Jarron kept up easily. They ran through several turns and twists within the church. Finally after a few more minutes of running they ended up going through an old door and into a small hidden hangar. Jarron was impressed by the small ship. It appeared to be some kind of starfighter, both small and nimble. He imagined that he could make it do some insane things.

  “This is my old fighter from when I was a member of the GDF. After the Grokmal War I grew tired of fighting so I just flew off with it. I came here because it was far away from anything and just started the order here. That was well over thirty years ago.” Father Lapella told him.

  Jarron nodded sullenly and then slowly walked to the ship. He activated the ship’s entry system, which reacted by having the shell over the cockpit open.

  “Can you fly it?” Father Lapella asked.

  “I have been flying anything since I was 12 years old Father Lapella.”

  “Really? Who taught you?” He asked.

  “No one, I just got in and could fly it. I have always been able to fly anything.”

  “Anything?” Father Lapella asked incredulously.

  “Anything.”

  He walked up to Jarron and engulfed him in a hug before saying, “Go save Elyse.”

  Jarron nodded at him and then climbed into the cockpit. He flipped the cockpit toggle, which caused the shell to close quickly. It only took him a few seconds to identify where everything was within the small ship to control it. He activated the warm up, which went quickly since it was a small ship. Jarron watched as Father Lapella opened the small hangar door before giving him a wave. Jarron slowly worked the controls and brought the ship out of the hangar. He was quite happy to see that the small ship seemed to be working just fine.

  Chapter 10

  Jarron was surprised once he left orbit to see that no one was waiting for him. Either they were certain that no ships were on the planet or they just did not care. He knew that they had already made their fold so he started the sensors immediately. Folding
always left behind a residual trail that never lasted long but in this case there was still a few minutes before it would have dissipated. Once the trail is found the nav computer could calculate a few options of possible locations. Jarron would just have to guess from that point. The nav computer beeped quickly and several options appeared on the screen. Jarron smiled immediately. He recognized one of the planets on the list, Savilus Prime.

  “Bastard.” He mumbled to himself.

  He stole Elyse and Jarron would be damned if he would let it stand. Moving as quickly as he could, he punched the commands in the nav computer to calculate their path through the fold. Since he had a minute or so he decided to give the little ship a few test movements and fire up the weapons just to see what she could do. He spun the ship to the left and right wildly. It responded efficiently to his commands, Jarron had little doubt that this ship was extremely more mobile than any cargo ship he had flown before. He squeezed the triggers on the control sticks, which the ship responded by launching several laser shots forward. Jarron smiled evilly. This ship would be able to easily handle several fighters, especially with him at the controls. The nav computer beeped to let him know it was time to start his fold. He pulled the lever and the ship lurched forward. This folding would take several hours. Several hours that Jarron found he would have to sit bored and very concerned about Elyse. He knew that she had worked her way deeply into his heart, he just never realized how much until she was no longer there by his side. Now he found that he would do anything to find her and he fully planned to do whatever it took. As soon as he went into the fold he formulated a plan of attack, he would fly to one of the outlying moons of Savilus Prime and then scout at a way to approach the planet. After he found a route through any defenses he would land close enough to the base that was mentioned before and then he would sneak in, save Elyse and then escape with her. Once she was conscious and with him they would be unstoppable. Jarron leaned his head back into the seat of the small ship and closed his eyes. He still had some time so he figured a little nap might have been in order. He sat there for a few minutes but he realized that he unable to sleep.