Deuces Wild Boxed Set: Books 1-4: Beyond the Frontiers, Rampage, Labyrinth, Birthright

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  “Then the database should reject jobs that necessitate trekking into the boonies,” the first officer argued, shrugging loosely.

  “Especially for such a simple thing,” Karvar grumbled in agreement. “Show up. Grab slaves. Leave again. Make it back to the trading port. We’re going nearly a full day out of our way for a job that will take half an hour.”

  “But think of the money.” His first officer made a show of swooning.

  Karvar rolled his eyes and punched the officer’s shoulder. “Sit back up before I get the smelling salts.”

  “It is a good price, though,” the officer continued, dutifully sitting back up. “And once we have them, we’ll be back in the Romulus Quadrant in no time.”

  The pilot grumbled to himself from his station, but he didn’t add anything to the conversation.

  “Your optimism makes me nauseous,” Karvar informed his first officer blandly. “Stop it.”

  “I’ll pass,” the officer replied easily. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath, presumably to say something melodramatic and designed to get on Karvar’s nerves.

  Karvar held up a hand to halt him, then waved him toward the door with an air of resignation. “Spare us all and go finalize the payment for this. We’re still in range of the last signal relay for the moment, and I would hate to get there just to realize that there was a complication.”

  His first officer snorted but got to his feet and headed for the door. “As you command, Captain,” he offered before the door slid closed behind him.

  Karvar watched the door for a moment just to make sure he was gone before turning his attention back to the viewing screen. He might as well enjoy the temporary peace and quiet.

  Rebus Quadrant, Themis Colony

  Radio static filled the air.

  It seemed like all that ever filtered through the speakers was radio static. The corresponding monitor was always blank. Raynard knew he wasn’t working with the best or the newest radio tech. It had all been salvaged from older equipment, and he was pretty sure some of it was actually older than him, all to make sure the Skaines didn’t pay attention to it. But it seemed unbelievable that no one was getting their signal.

  Or maybe he just wasn’t getting any sort of return signal. It wouldn’t surprise him if the walls of the room were too thick for a signal to penetrate. It had been built to withstand a mineshaft collapsing, after all.

  “Raynard?” Adelaide called from the doorway. “Come on. You’ve been in here all day.” She stepped into the room to stand behind his chair, her hands settling on his shoulders. “At least come eat dinner. We don’t need you passing out in here again.”

  “I still haven’t heard back from Cruise,” Raynard muttered rather than offering an actual reply. “It’s been weeks.”

  “Raynard—“

  “I mean, we would have seen some sign if he had been shot down,” he continued, reasoning with himself more than he was speaking to Adelaide.

  “That’s not necessarily true, and you know it,” Adelaide interjected before he could get on another tangent. “Now come to dinner. Your equipment isn’t going anywhere, and it will still be right here after you—“

  A sharp tone abruptly filled the room, and Adelaide stopped talking so quickly that her teeth clicked together when she closed her mouth. Raynard scrambled for the radio, pulling the monitor closer and adjusting the settings until he could see text on the screen.

  Message Received:

  Is anyone on this frequency?

  As Raynard began typing, Adelaide turned and bolted from the room. Raynard hardly even heard the clatter of her shoes as she sprinted, all his attention focused on the radio setup in front of him. He yanked the keyboard closer so quickly it nearly unplugged itself, and he kicked the plug back into place with the toe of one foot before he started typing.

  Message Sent:

  This is Mining Outpost Tykis on Themis. How can we be of assistance?

  As much as he wanted to start asking for help immediately, he knew it could backfire. It was best to simply wait and play dumb at first, until he could be sure that whoever he was speaking with wasn’t going to get anyone in even worse trouble.

  The next message appeared almost instantaneously, too quickly for anyone to have manually typed it.

  Message Received:

  My intel indicates that the Skaines are not monitoring this frequency so I will speak freely. You may call me Meredith. We—that is, my companions and I—are aware of the invasion, and we wish to help. Please give me an indication of your current status.

  Raynard sagged back in his chair, its uneven legs wobbling as his weight shifted. For a moment, he was positive he was going to burst into tears. But no, he didn’t have time for anything like that. He cracked his knuckles and reached for the keyboard again.

  Message Sent:

  Stable for now, but it won’t stay that way for long. No deaths since the initial invasion, but we had to set up an impromptu infirmary. The Skaines won’t kill us or maim us, but they aren’t shy about putting us in our places if they think we’re getting too rowdy.

  Message Received:

  This isn’t surprising, unfortunately. My companions and I are on a hijacked Skaine ship. We will be breaking atmosphere within the hour under the guise of picking all of you up for transport. It would be best if you spread this information around so that none of the colonists try to attack us when we arrive. Our purpose is to help you, so if we are forced to injure anyone due to a miscommunication, it would be counterproductive.

  Message Sent:

  Understood. The colony leader is on the way as we speak. He’ll be caught up on everything soon, and he can explain everything to the rest of the colony. Is there anything we should do to prepare?

  Message Received:

  Just take precautions not to let any of the Skaines on the colony know what’s going to happen. Be prepared for a lot to start happening very quickly. We can’t entirely predict what will happen once we arrive, but it may not be pretty.

  Message Sent:

  Should we arm ourselves? I mean, we’ve always been a fairly docile colony, but we have a militia and some basic firearms.

  Message Received:

  It would be a good precaution, but I would advise against trying to start anything. We can handle ourselves. If any of you try to help it will likely result in you getting in the way at best, or getting yourself or someone else killed at worst. We’re professionals. We know what we’re doing.

  He wanted to ask what kind of professionals they were, but he knew he was running out of time before he would need to leave the room. And if he were honest, he didn’t much care what sort of professionals they were, as long as they could actually get the Skaines off the colony.

  Raynard glanced over his shoulder in time to see Adelaide lead Keen into the room when he heard two pairs of footsteps rapidly approaching.

  “What’s the situation?” Keen asked, leaning over Raynard’s shoulder.

  Raynard leaned to the side and turned the monitor to let Keen read it himself rather than rehashing the entire conversation.

  Keen was silent as he read it, and silent afterward as he let it sink in. Then he took a deep breath and sighed it out. “Adelaide?”

  “Keen?”

  “I need to meet with everyone after dinner,” he stated, voice level. “Can you make sure the message gets around? I will explain everything to everyone then.”

  Adelaide nodded rapidly. “Of course, sir. In the emergency shelter again?”

  “That would be best, yes,” he agreed, before stepping from Raynard’s chair and quickly beginning to make his way out of the room.

  Raynard and Adelaide were both quiet for a moment, staring at the text on the monitor as if they were both waiting for it to disappear. It was as if they were both expecting it to be an elaborate hallucination and realize they were still in the exact same mess they had been in.

  When the text remained on the screen, though, Adelaide lau
ghed suddenly, clapping her hands over her mouth at the last second. Beside her, Raynard was grinning at the monitor. He got to his feet and tugged Adelaide closer, kissing her swiftly before he lifted her off the ground and twirled her in a joyous circle.

  They were being rescued!

  Laughing still, she swatted his shoulder. She waited until her feet were back on the ground before she caught his hand and tugged him out of the room. If she was going to spread a message during dinner, she needed to actually be at dinner.

  Rebus Quadrant, Themis Colony, Mess Hall

  Dinner was a strange but quiet affair that evening. It was hard to relax and have a conversation with a dozen Skaines patrolling the tables. Even so, there was a thrum of energy in the air, like a live wire waiting to spark.

  Adelaide tapped the end of her fork against the side of her still-half-full tray. The movement seemed absentminded to anyone who didn’t know the significance.

  Only a few people glanced at her, but she knew that she had the entire room’s attention. She tapped her fork against the tray four more times, leaning her chin in her other hand and staring into the middle distance. She looked listless and tired; as harmless and as innocent as a lamb.

  “Quit that racket,” one of the guards snapped. “Otherwise you can finish your meal with your hands.” A surprisingly gentle threat, considering it wasn’t unheard of for them to simply take meals away when they were annoyed. It wasn’t the sort of thing she was inclined to question just then, though.

  Adelaide glanced at him over her shoulder, but she didn’t reply. They all knew that none of the Skaines ever wanted them to actually talk, and it was just easier in the long run not to—especially when they couldn’t risk too much attention just then.

  She ate a few more bites before she set her fork down, instead drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Four times, then two times, then three, and then four again. To all appearances, she was simply bored and waiting for an unsatisfactory meal to end. She could practically feel the guard scowling at the back of her head, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t exactly take her hand from her. That would be property damage, and then he would have to pay for her.

  Not exactly a warm and fuzzy thought, but that was what was keeping her safe just then, and she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  It was a simple code, thought up in a hurry when the Skaines had first invaded and based on the tapping code designed for when a shaft collapsed and trapped someone in the mine. It just let everyone know when Keen needed to see them all. After all, it was easy to lose track of their jailers in the deeper reaches of the outpost. No one knew the mines and the outpost better than the colonists.

  Adelaide fought back a smile. If the Skaines noticed, they would figure out that something was up. A slave’s duty was not to be happy, after all. So she slumped loosely in her seat, gaze distant and unfocused as she watched the wall across the room, even though her heart was pounding a mile a minute in her chest and she wanted to leap out of her seat.

  Chapter 13

  Tabitha

  Farha Station, Yeven’s Bar

  “That is definitely him,” Tabitha insisted. She looked at Hirotoshi and Katsu. “Bet?”

  “As I recall,” Hirotoshi reminded her smoothly, “there was a bet last time about who could punch the most people in a bar fight, and neither you nor Ryu paid up.”

  “I will this time! What are we betting? Push-ups? Five hundred push-ups.”

  “Since you didn’t pay up last time, make it a thousand.” Hirotoshi smiled at her and sipped his drink, looking down at the liquid. “This really is much better than the other stuff.”

  “What other stuff?” Katsu asked.

  “We can get you one,” Tabitha offered.

  Hirotoshi shook his head slightly, hinting strongly to Katsu not to agree.

  "You ruin all my fun.” Tabitha stuck her tongue out at him. “All right, how about this? Since I didn’t pay up last time, not only will we make it a thousand push-ups, I’ll put my bet on ‘no.’”

  “I think we can take that bet,” Katsu joked.

  “Hell, I probably need to work out.” Tabitha gave them a big grin and downed her last drink. “All right, let’s go see.”

  Hirotoshi and Katsu picked up their drinks and drifted after her as she made her way through the bar, weaving slightly. By the time she reached the other side of the room, however, her head was completely clear.

  She shook her head over her shoulder at the guys. “All that work and the buzz already wore off,” she groused. “I tell ya, I’m an expensive date.”

  Katsu chuckled. “It would be, as Bobcat would say, funny as hell to watch some desperate guy trying to pour drinks down you, though.”

  She looked at him, nonplussed. “I’m not going out with any guy unless I’ve already decided he gets a chance to ride the rollercoaster.” Tabitha smacked her ass with a grin, and punched Hirotoshi in the shoulder when he gave her a pained look at the euphemism. “Oh, come on, Number One, that was a good one.”

  Hirotoshi took a sip of his drink, trying to ignore the situation as much as possible.

  Tabitha laughed and pointed at the massive blue alien. Next to him was a thinner alien, slightly shorter than a normal human and green. The two bodyguards were brownish, and their skin almost looked like they were made of rocks.

  “So Katsu bets that Big Blue is Don Guido?” Tabitha looked at the two of them for nods of agreement, then slipped around the entourage to hop up on a table and tap the huge alien on the shoulder. “Hey, Big Blue, what’s your name?”

  “Oh, dear,” Hirotoshi murmured, looking around to identify who he needed to worry about.

  The blue alien shook off Tabitha’s hand. “Get lost,” he muttered. His voice sounded like gravel. His two bodyguards jumped up and frowned at Tabitha.

  “Hey, now.” Tabitha grinned down at the alien. “No reason to get grumpy just because someone’s taller than you for a few minutes.”

  “I said, get lost.” The alien shook his head at her.

  “This could still go well,” Katsu soothed Hirotoshi.

  Tabitha’s face darkened. “I just want to know your fucking name, jackoff!”

  “I stand here, in person, unfortunately, corrected,” Katsu muttered.

  The alien jerked his head at the bodyguards. “Get her out of my face.”

  Tabitha stood up, one arm on her hip and the other pointing at him. “Oh, hell no, you jerk! I want your fucking name!”

  “All right,” Katsu began. “I’ll flank left, and you—” He looked around, but Hirotoshi was already gone, sliding into one of the seats vacated by a member of the entourage. Hirotoshi leaned into the skinny green alien and clinked his glass. They seemed to be holding a drinking contest. “So I'm alone on backup,” Katsu grumbled. “Great.” Achronyx, anything you can give me for helpful advice here?

  Yes. Don’t get into fights with several large aliens at once.

  Not helpful, Achronyx!

  On the contrary, given that you could still walk away, it seems to be eminently useful advice.

  Katsu was going to respond, but the first alien sailed past his head.

  I’ll get back to you, Achronyx.

  You’re not going to take my advice, are you?

  As one of the bodyguards tried to clamber up on the back of a couch to get to Tabitha, Katsu took a flying leap and tackled him over a table and onto the floor. They rolled, glasses and silverware clattering around them.

  No, probably not.

  I tried.

  Tabitha, meanwhile, had avoided the first bodyguard when Katsu had tackled him, and avoided the second by leaping off the table she was standing on, and onto the back of the giant alien as he stood up to get away from the fight.

  “Hey, asswipe!” She rapped the top of his skull with her knuckles. “Tell me your name, for fuck’s sake!”

  The alien, finding Tabitha to be heavier than expected, tried to shake her off his shoulders and
also tried to bat at her, but his range of motion didn’t allow him to hit her. Tabitha scrambled up to perch on his shoulders, directing a punch at his shoulder to emphasize her point.

  “Why are you being such a jerk about this?” she demanded.

  A loud crash caught everyone’s attention, and they looked over in time to see one of the bodyguards slide down the back wall of the bar, surrounded by broken glass. There was a polite round of applause.

  “See?” Tabitha slapped the blue alien. “The rest of these people are cool. Why do you have to be Dr. SuckMyAss?”

  “Kemosabe, one is sneaking up behind you!” Katsu yelled.

  “Ugh, I have to do everything myself.” Tabitha directed a last punch at the blue alien and vaulted forward, flipping and landing with one leg out on the floor.

  The other bodyguard, who had been hoping to knock her off his boss’s head, tackled his boss instead. An angry roar filled the room as the blue alien turned around to cuff the bodyguard for his mistake.

  “I hired you for one thing—so I can drink in peace—and you fail me!”

  Tabitha was laughing. “Ha. This Don Guido is a taskmaster.

  Wait, Achronyx said to her. Don Guido. I have a thought. Let me check something.

  Sure. I don’t have anything going on until he stops beating up his bodyguard.

  There was a pause, then Achronyx reported, “Don Guido” means “still waters rolling” in the local dialect.

  Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Tabitha looked at the huge alien. So when I told Guildert that I would never try to intimidate someone named Guido…

  Yes. ‘Waters rolling.’ Like a wave.

  No wonder he looked confused.