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

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Cautiously, they both picked up a gun.

  Adelaide turned the gun in her hands this way and that way, inspecting it closely. She had never held a weapon before—she hadn’t been part of the colony’s minuscule militia—but it seemed pretty straightforward.

  “I mean, we might be able to help?” she ventured. “A little bit, at least. This doesn’t look so complicated. Just…point, pull, repeat.”

  “Point, pull, repeat,” Raynard agreed, a virtually identical gun in his hands. He gazed at her for a moment with what Adelaide assumed must be deep affection. She placed a hand on his.

  “Not quite what I had in mind when I left home.” He sighed, leaning over to put the gun down on the nearest shelf.

  “Hey.” His fingers closed around Adelaide’s gun and gently pulled it out of her grasp to set it down with his. “Before this gets any further—“

  He didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Adelaide surged toward him, gripping the front of his shirt in two white-knuckled fists as their mouths crashed together. Their hands began to wander, and it seemed almost inevitable when their clothing began to land on the floor.

  The main hall was empty as Nickie jogged through it. She pulled her drones from her belt pouch and tossed them into the air, and the metallic orbs zipped off in separate directions. Nickie used it as a chance to catch her breath, paying half-hearted attention to their video feeds in the corner of her vision.

  It took a few moments, but by the time her drones had finished scoping out the site she had a loose idea of how the rest of the Skaines were scattered throughout the outpost. She didn’t bother to recall the drones immediately, letting them continue to whizz through the outpost. Every so often a Skaine on the video feed dropped to the ground in a puddle of blood and viscera as the drones ripped through them like a knife through cheese.

  They were handy toys, but Nickie wasn’t going to let them do all the work for her. She took off at a sprint down the nearest hallway.

  She came to the first group of Skaines sorting through a stockpile of weapons. They whipped around to face her when she fired her gun once. Well, all but one of them turned to face her, as the one she shot fell face-forward onto the floor, his gun clattering away.

  In an instant they were firing on her, laser light reflecting off the walls. Nickie dropped to the floor and tumbled to the side. She fired again and a second Skaine dropped to the floor, which opened up enough of a space for her to hop back to her feet without getting shot. She fired three more times, hitting two more Skaines and the corner of the wall, leaving just two Skaines standing.

  They cast about wildly for some sort of cover, but there was nothing but the wall and the weapons behind them, and nothing ahead of them but Nickie.

  You’re beginning to draw attention from other Skaines still in the outpost.

  Good. Means I don’t need to go looking for them.

  She dropped into a backbend to avoid a shot, and by then she was close enough to simply kick one of the Skaines in the chin as she launched herself into a back handspring. His head snapped back with a crunch, and he crumpled to the ground.

  She heard more of them approaching. Quickly she coiled herself at the hips and launched a roundhouse kick, knocking the last Skaine’s gun from his hand and sending him stumbling to the side. Once disarmed, it was easy to shoot him in the chest, and then she didn’t need to worry about them closing in on her from both sides.

  Just in time, as another group rounded the corner, ready for a fight.

  I have an update.

  Make it quick. Nickie ducked beneath a shot. It went wide and clipped a wall, sending a shower of concrete gravel to the floor. She scooped a handful of it up.

  Thermal scans indicate that two of the colonists have locked themselves in a weapons closet. Their core body temperatures are rising rapidly.

  Meredith said nothing else after that and Nickie threw her handful of dust into the nearest Skaine’s face. As he recoiled, coughing and scrubbing at his eyes, Nickie kicked him in the chest and sent him sprawling to the ground.

  Okay? she asked eventually, planting one heel on the downed Skaine’s chest. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with that information.

  She fired a single shot between the Skaine’s eyes.

  I believe they’re mid-coitus.

  Meredith sounded remarkably casual—almost cheerful—as she informed Nickie of that development.

  The only thing that kept Nickie from grinding to a halt was the trio of Skaines rushing her. She turned on her heels, ran three steps up the wall, and backflipped over the trio to land behind them.

  Meredith.

  Her voice was calm even as she shot two of the Skaines in the back and hurled her boot knife at the third.

  Why the fuck do I need to know that?

  She stepped toward the three bodies and pulled her knife out of the third one’s skull with a soggy squelch.

  Please, enlighten me.

  She slid her knife back into its sheath.

  There was a beat, and Nickie had a moment of horrible dread before Meredith replied.

  Merely keeping you abreast of the situation as you asked.

  Nickie groaned and dragged one hand down her face. As an afterthought, she held her gun out to the side and shot the Skaine who was peering around the corner in the chest.

  She didn’t deign to offer Meredith a reply, instead turning her attention back to the task at hand. There were eleven dead Skaines surrounding her and a whole lot more than that along her back trail, but she knew that still wasn’t all of the Skaines on the colony.

  She jogged back in the direction she had come from, checking the video feed to see where she should head next. She didn’t like to leave a job half-finished.

  She wasn’t going to say it was easy, but it was hardly the most difficult thing she had ever done. And they were all so raring for a fight that they practically lined up to charge at her. She found them scattered throughout the outpost in groups of four and five and six, and once she found one group, there was likely to be another on the way by the time she finished with the first.

  While common sense told her that considerable time had passed, it still felt like no time at all before she found herself standing in front of the last group. Six of them were barricaded in an office, upended cabinets in front of the door to block the way into the room without obscuring their lines of sight.

  It wasn’t a bad idea really, but Nickie was pretty sure they had forgotten who they were dealing with.

  She backed up a few paces and broke into a run, twisting and weaving around laser blasts that seemed to be coming toward her in slow motion. She launched herself forward, arms stretched out as she jumped through the gap the barricade didn’t cover. She slammed into one of the Skaines, using him to cushion her landing, then bounced to her feet, already twisting to kick out. She nailed a second Skaine in the chest, and he stumbled back and slid down into the wall, wheezing.

  She fired once at the Skaine she had landed on to make sure he didn’t get up, and then at the two to her left. Just like that, there were only three remaining.

  She twisted to face one, leaning aside to avoid his shot. She caught his arm, bending his wrist to make him drop his gun, and she slammed the heel of her hand into his neck. As he was reeling, she turned her attention to the one still standing.

  He was staring at her with blank, wide eyes. She suspected he had already accepted the fact that he wasn’t getting away from her, and one after the other, she shot him and the two wheezing on the floor.

  It took a second after that for her to realize that she was the only one still alive in that room, and she looked around slowly before heaving a relieved sigh.

  Nickie doubled over, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Hey, Meredith. Can you tell Grim to meet me in the main hall? I think I’ve cleared out the Skaines occupying the outpost.

  Right away.

  Nickie recalled her drones as an afterthought, and after
they were secure in her belt clips she climbed over the barricade.

  Chapter 15

  Tabitha

  Farha Station, Yeven’s Bar

  Tabitha’s mouth hung open. What the fuck? This was Don Guido?

  But now that Achronyx had told her what Don Guido actually meant, she supposed she shouldn’t be so surprised. She looked at the booth. “You two should scooch. I want to get in on this drinking game.”

  The skinny green alien looked as though he might be sick merely at the thought, and Hirotoshi moved out of the booth hastily.

  “Perhaps we should help Don Guido get some air,” he suggested meaningfully.

  “Right. Katsu, help Number One get Don Guido out of here.” Tabitha looked around and saw the whole rest of the entourage staring at her. She nodded to Big Blue. “Klio.”

  She smirked as she walked out of the bar. These aliens weren’t even human, and they were still all staring at her ass.

  Even in her backup leather pants.

  “Still got it,” she murmured to herself. Her lips curved in a smile.

  Level Fifteen, it turned out, was full of bars, and a few minutes later they managed to find a table at one of them. Hirotoshi was coaxing a glass of water into Don Guido while Katsu and Tabitha looked on in amusement from the bar.

  He came over a few minutes later.

  “Katsu hasn’t started his push-ups yet,” Tabitha reported. “So you haven’t missed anything. You two can start together.”

  Katsu jumped and looked at her. “I’d forgotten the bet.”

  “Yep,” Tabitha said smugly. “Double or nothing, baby.”

  “I cannot believe you got out of the push-ups you should have had to do for the first bar fight,” Hirotoshi muttered. He shook his head and looked at the alien. “I figured I’d get in good with the entourage, and when I realized he was Don Guido, I figured I’d get in good with him. I think I overshot.”

  At the table, Don Guido clapped a hand over his mouth and only barely managed to keep from vomiting.

  “Just a little,” Katsu agreed, putting up two fingers a scant millimeter apart with a wink to Tabitha. “A tiny bit.”

  Hirotoshi sighed and got another glass of water from the bartender. “He’ll be sober enough to talk soon, I promise.”

  “Not too sober,” Tabitha called after him in Japanese. “We want him to be honest, remember?”

  Hirotoshi held up a hand in acknowledgment and sat back down at the table to keep nursing Don Guido back to health.

  “So,” Katsu suggested as she came up, “let’s try every alcohol they’ve got.”

  “Deal.” Tabitha hopped up on a stool and flagged down the bartender. “Two of everything, please. We’re trying it all.”

  The bartender looked cautious. “Some of it will probably be toxic to you.”

  “That’s the fun!” Tabitha exclaimed excitedly.

  The bartender looked at her face and decided not to argue. He shuffled off with a sigh to get two of everything.

  At least he would make some money from this.

  A large, bipedal alien with dark fur ducked into Yeven’s Bar and looked around, taking in every detail. He had already noted the broken fountain outside, which was being repaired by the little robots that kept Farha Station operational.

  It and the bar would be as good as new by the dinner rush.

  Inside the bar, one of the bartender’s assistants was sweeping up broken glass and mopping up alcohol and blood from the floor. The broken tables and chairs had been hauled over to one side of the room for repairs.

  The patrons—those who still remained in the bar—had returned to their drinks while keeping a wary eye on the door. A few clearly didn’t like the look of this new alien, either.

  The alien made his way to the bar and leaned on it. It creaked under his weight.

  He jerked his head at the bartender. “You see what happened with the fight?”

  It was a courtesy question. Bartenders always knew. You didn’t keep a bar open on Farha Station without having a keen eye for patrons and their doings.

  Which was exactly what Borven Thod, Interstation Inspector, needed right now.

  He followed up his question by sliding his badge across the counter, making sure that it would be caught by the security cameras. He had no need for secrecy in this case, and he liked to have proof that he had come to a particular place. Inspectors didn’t always have the best reputation, so it was good to leave a trail.

  This bartender did not betray by so much as a flicker of expression whether he was glad to have Borven here or not. He picked up the badge and inspected it, then nodded respectfully to Borven.

  “I did indeed see what happened,” the bartender told him. He nodded discreetly to one of the aliens sitting at a table, surrounded by hangers-on and some bodyguards. “I suppose you could say that he started it.”

  Borven sighed as he looked at the inhabitants of the table. He had been tracking some particular aliens across a few space stations, now, and that blue behemoth didn’t fit the description at all.

  Still, he was here. He nodded for the bartender to keep talking.

  “Of course, he was provoked,” the bartender continued smoothly, hedging his bets so that no one could say he had thrown them under the bus. “One of the humans was very insistent on knowing his name.”

  “Humans?” Borven’s head whipped around.

  He had been right to stay, because he was tracking the humans. Humans with pale skin and dark hair, who carried swords and guns.

  Humans who stirred up bar fights wherever they went.

  “Are they still here?”

  “No, they left with another alien not too long ago,” the bartender answered, grabbing a bottle of green liquid that had bubbles.

  Borven nodded in thanks and headed out of the bar to look around some more. He was hot on the trail, and it shouldn’t take too much time to find the humans. After all, there weren’t many in this sector.

  Don Guido wasn’t the first person Hirotoshi had nursed through a hangover, and between the water and the concoctions he discreetly poured into it, the skinny alien was able to speak coherently after a few minutes.

  “How much did we drink?” he groaned.

  Hirotoshi shrugged as if he couldn’t remember. In fact, he could have listed every beverage they had drunk, but he didn’t think that would make the alien feel better.

  “Did you say you were an information broker?” he asked casually. Tabitha and Katsu had appeared and were drawing their chairs up to the table quietly, so as not to distract Don Guido.

  Don Guido thought very hard about this with all the effort and dignity of someone who was still very drunk. Finally, he offered, “I don’t know if I told you that, but I am one.”

  Katsu pressed his lips together. He was trying fairly hard not to laugh.

  “What luck,” Hirotoshi exclaimed. He smiled at Don Guido. “We need some information. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to make a deal…”

  “I could make a deal.” Don Guido grabbed a menu and looked it over. “You can pay my tab at the other bar.”

  “Done,” Tabitha agreed promptly.

  Don Guido turned to look at her, goggle-eyed. “Where did you come from?”

  “A place of sugar and spice and everything nice. But the Neanderthal with no sense of humor next to you thinks I was born in a barn,” Tabitha answered him. The joke went right over his head, but he nodded solemnly anyway. “So, here’s what we’re looking for—”

  If I might interject, Achronyx said suddenly. It appears an interstation inspector is looking for you three. Perhaps you should come back to the ship.

  Why is he looking for us?

  Because of your penchant for starting bar fights.

  I don’t start the fights. She took a gulp of her drink. I never start the fights. Ask anyone.

  Because of your penchant for being around when fights spontaneously come into being, then. He’s headed your way.

&nbs
p; We won’t start any fights, and he won’t have any reason to bring us in. But Tabitha leaned close to Katsu and Hirotoshi. “An interstation inspector is looking for some people who have been in bar fights recently.”

  “Weren’t you just in a bar fight?” Don Guido piped up, looking at Hirotoshi.

  “No, you’re thinking of someone else.” Tabitha grinned at him.

  “Oh.” He looked at his glass of water with wide eyes, as if trying to figure out what it was. “I suppose that’s possible.”

  “Anyway, what we need to know is what’s going on with the Skaines in this sector.” Tabitha leaned in, her face intent.

  “I don’t think anything is going on with the Skaines,” Don Guido replied after a second spent considering. He hiccupped contemplatively.

  “There’s always something going on with the Skaines,” Tabitha spat back grimly. “We just busted three Skaine ships doing a trade involving guns, drugs, and slaves.”

  “They’re not from around here,” Don Guido countered. “Just showed up. Might be a problem in the future.”

  “No, they won’t. I killed them.”

  “Oh.” He looked at her again with a new appreciation for how dangerous she was. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?”

  “No!” She stopped a moment and leaned forward. “Well, are you trading slaves or guns or anything?” she asked in a whisper.

  “No.” He shook his head. “I never wanted to get into that. I thought I would trade information, right? No guns. Just information. All safe.” He shook his head again mournfully. “But people don’t like facts. People always want to argue with you about facts. Some people want to kill you for facts. That’s why Klio protects me.”

  “Mmm.” Tabitha took a sip of her beer. “We won’t argue with you about facts, anyway. Are you sure there’s no Skaine Big Bad running around?”