“The Deathhorn,” I said without hesitating.
“Tell me who their cook is,” the pirate captain said, her green eyes narrowed.
“Melsha,” I said. It was a clever question. No info on the datnet connected Melsha to the Deathhorn.
Inissan watched me. “So, you’re a pirate then?”
I shook my head. “I’m not really anything. Klate gave me these cybernetics after the accident. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“They do look like Doc’s work.” The pirate’s gaze softened. “Go back to work. Sorry for frightening you.”
For the rest of the morning, I scrubbed the tables. By noon, most of the diners had cleared out. The ones who came in for the food had gone back to their ships while the ones who stayed in the rooms were exploring the town. Best I could tell, most of the people who stopped by were either smugglers, pirates, or tattooed criminals looking for work, though there seemed to be a few Tuprans who came to this port town to do trading.
I touched my pocket. Where was my datsheet?
I glanced around the kitchen, my eyes searching. That datsheet had a copy of my license on it.
Inissan leaned against the wall, her back to me. I stalked toward her.
She turned, exposing the datsheet in her huge hands.
I snatched it away.
“You are a hunter.”
I couldn’t tell what her emotion was. “I’ll leave if that’s what you want.”
“You can stay. I know an orphan when I see one.” She looked away. “I was one too. Got pretty good at picking pockets.”
“Who was the pirate captain?” I asked.
“That would be Savora. She’s a war hero in these parts, same as Klate. After the war left Tupra, she never stopped fighting the Company. She won’t sell slaves unless she captures a hunter.”
Very comforting. I began washing another load of dishes. Other than running water and a few perital tanks to fuel a generator, there was no power in the building. Probably a good thing, considering power would mean no job for me. I could work here for a while, but eventually, I’d have to go back to hunting. Here, I was nothing, just a dishwasher who didn’t make any difference. In Ordained space, I’d been able to bring criminals to justice.
A dark sable Chix strode into the inn, her tail held high. “I want an order of narna flavor tilla worms and they’d better be alive.”
Inissan’s ears flattened. “You’re not allowed in here, Nerrini.”
I stared. Nerrini Kazini, the Chix that Dad and I had been hunting when I met Klate. Of course, this town, being the biggest spaceport on Tupra, would be where she’d go. It was the perfect place to bring in black market slaves.
Nerrini glared. “I happen to know where your niece plays. I suggest you get me my worms.”
Inissan growled. “That threat might work with others, but not me. Your body wouldn’t be hard to hide. Get out.”
Nerrini flicked her tail tip downward in a rude gesture then strutted out of the inn.
“Sometimes, I wish more hunters came here and took care of those types.” Inissan glared at the doors. “I wouldn’t mind if she ended up dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“You mean there’s not enough of a law to lock her up?” I asked.
“Trader Town’s security won’t go after someone based on Company intel. We all know Nerrini’s scum, but since she’s never been caught here, there’s no way to arrest her, not legally.”
“So you do have some law?” I finished one of the plates and set it aside.
“There’s a town council, mostly made of veterans. They keep the scum pirates out of town, deal with serious crimes, and the slave trade. We’re on our own with anything that’s not likely to turn into a battlefield. It’s better than being ruled by a greedy company that only rose to power because they got a monopoly on space travel.”
I ignored her barb at the Ordained and scrubbed a pot. “Is there work for someone who used to hunt bounties?”
Inissan shook her head. “They wouldn’t trust you. Besides, bounties aren’t a big thing here, and you’d end up dead in a hole first time you had to deal with an angry Elba. If you’ve got no family, it’s pretty easy to go missing.”
I went back to the pot. Though Tupra seemed stable on the surface, it hid a dark underside, one that ended with the less popular types buried in shallow graves. I’d have to be careful here.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Hunters
I walked down one of the narrow streets and hefted my pack a little higher on my shoulders. In spite of their huge size, Elbas never left much room to move about. Probably something to do with being a tunneling species.
With it being Sabbath day, few trading stalls were in operation. Most of the ones in operation were either run by non-natives, who viewed the Sabbath as falling on some other day, or by those who didn’t believe in celebrating it. I examined the stalls as I passed them. With the little coin I’d earned from Inissan, I could afford to do a bit of shopping.
I eyed one clothing stall with a Varsillian manning it. It flashed light green. If my studies served me right, that flash meant this creature had identified himself as a male.
“These are fireproof.” The Varsillian owner had a voice that sounded like wind through trees. He poked at a gray shirt and matching pants that looked something like a uniform. He had quite a few sets of these clothes. The set he pointed to would fit me.
I stepped closer. “How much?”
“It’s fifty coin for the whole set. Good deal if you ask me. It could save your hide, or what’s left of it.”
I winced at the price. It wasn’t a bad deal, but I needed to save my coin. “Maybe another time.”
I wandered through the streets until I came to the edge of town. The bright colors of the coral-like trees stood in stark contrast to the boring gray sky. Birds and other small creatures darted through the trees. They grew into twisted, gravity-defying shapes enabled by their extremely strong but light fiber, and were as tall as the massive jungle trees on Chibbink, if not larger.
I left the city behind and ventured into the trees. A few himples stalked smaller creatures above me, their bright colors blending well with the multicolored vegetation.
I sat on a fallen coral tree and listened to the bird songs. With all the work I’d put in at the Moonshadow, I hadn’t had time to stop and think.
Something large darted through the trees.
Remembering my training, I didn’t turn to look at the shadow, but my gaze followed it. It zipped behind me. I turned my head slightly, not toward it but enough my cybernetic eye could pick it up.
Nerrini perched in the shadows of thick coral tree foliage, her dark fur blending perfectly. If it hadn’t been for my cybernetic eye, I’d have missed her.
I kept my face turned away from her. She was a threat and I had no backup. In the trees, she had the advantage. Considering the things she’d been criminalized for, she hadn’t come after me for a friendly chat. More than likely, I was the best way to get back at Inissan.
I couldn’t walk back to the town with her above my path, so I walked deeper into the forest. Maybe I could get around her and make it back before she realized what I was doing.
Nerrini darted behind me where I couldn’t see her without making it obvious. I kept walking. Part of me wanted to run back to Trader Town, but a plan formed in my mind. For all Nerrini knew, I was just some dishwasher. She had no idea I was a competent hunter, unless my cybernetics tipped her off.
Coral crackled above me. I kept walking without changing my stride. After a few more steps, I turned toward Trader Town.
My hand moved toward my pistol. I forced it away. I couldn’t let her know she didn’t have the advantage of surprise.
She sprang through the trees above, putting herself between me and Trader Town.
I couldn’t play dumb any more.
I dove for a tree. A stun dart tore past my ear, slammed into the tree, and sparked against the coral bark. I duck
ed behind the tree and drew my pistol.
Nerrini scurried through the branches, making herself a hard target. She must have holstered the pistol.
She leaped into the tree above me.
I turned my body so my metal side faced her, giving me some protection from the darts.
Nerrini dove at me, her wing skin guiding her fall.
I stepped back and aimed upward. My real foot caught on a root as I backpedaled. I fell on my rear.
Nerrini landed near me and leaped for my throat, her claws ready to inject me with their paralysis venom.
I grabbed her throat with my cybernetic hand and extended the arm to its full length.
She choked and clawed at my arm, but her claws did no damage to the cold steel.
I brought my pistol up, shot her at point blank, then dropped her twitching body to the ground. I dug through my bag until I found a pair of cuffs and some rope. I yanked her hands behind her back, cuffed her, then tied the rope around her feet to hobble her. Now that the fight was over, my real hand shook so much it made the job difficult, but I got it done.
Nerrini growled and tugged against the rope. Being a Chix, the paralysis serum from my dart had no effect on her, but the shock from the dart had given me the time I needed.
“You’re caught,” I snapped. I kept my gaze on the trees around us. She might not have been working alone.
Nerrini glared at me. “Where do you think you’re going to take me, girl?”
“Saddat.” The shaking in my hand had subsided.
Her eyes widened, sending a thrill through me. I’d captured a dangerous bounty on my own. Now, I had to figure out how to get her on a ship to Saddat.
After a moment of thought, I dragged her to the nearest small coral tree, which was so wide I couldn’t wrap my arms around it. I tied her to the tree then unraveled a bit of rope and used it to gag her. I couldn’t risk hauling her through town, not without help.
I took off at a run for the Moonshadow.
By the time I got there, the sky had turned from gray to black.
Inissan met me at the door. “What’s your hurry?”
“Nerrini tried to kidnap me.” I gasped for breath.
Inissan’s ears flattened. “I’ll gut that little beast.”
I chuckled. “I’ve got her tied to a tree. I’m not sure how to get her off the planet.”
“What’s the bounty?”
“Four thousand in coin.” It would be enough money to get me elevated to point seven, not a good rank but better than what I had. “Can you get us both off Tupra?”
“I know at least a quarter of the smugglers who trade in this town,” Inissan said. She scratched her chin. “I know the Rogue’s Way, Skycrusher, Warhound, and Samaritan are likely to be leaving town this week.”
“The Samaritan?” Could it be the same ship that had saved my parents and me over a decade ago? “Does it have a Torf captain?”
“Stakku and his wife have been captains for decades. Did you know them?”
“Sort of. I was a baby. The lightshields on the ship Mom, Dad, and I were on went down. That crew saved them.”
Inissan smiled. “Then they’ll be a good one for you to buy passage on.”
The minister placed a bag of flexsteel coins on his desk and began fiddling with his own datsheet. “We’d been looking for this little piece of pitbait for years. Good work, Krys.” His hair had gone gray with age, but he still had coiled muscles, hinting he’d probably been a bounty hunter before getting a less dangerous job.
“You should have killed me!” Nerrini shouted from her cell.
I ignored her and grabbed my new license from where it lay on the table.
Nerrini kept shouting. She’d done it the whole way to Saddat. I’d gotten a good look at her record. If anyone deserved to fight and die in the pits, it was her. Even the old Torf captain of the Samaritan hadn’t complained about me taking her bounty, or threatening to starve her until I got the information I needed.
“Thanks for the coin.” I stuffed it in my pack. “Are there any jobs around here?” If I could get stable work hunting local low-end bounties, the kind who paid the fine instead of being punished with slavery, it would be a lot safer. Those bounties rarely shot back, and I might even get a wage for enforcing the law, rather than depending on the bounties alone.
The minister shook his head. “Sorry. There aren’t any towns around here willing to employ teenagers, at least not ones of your rank.”
I frowned. It wasn’t a surprise, though it was a bit of cruel logic. No one wanted a kid, which meant I’d have to get by on my own.
The minister’s face softened. “Are you any relation to the other Karzils hunting here? There’s a group led by Akar, then a couple more led by Madok.”
“Akar’s my uncle,” I said. Madok must have been some other Karzil that was no relation to my family. “Thanks.” I stepped out of the bounty ministry and headed down the streets of Saddat’s capital. I’d find my relatives if I got in trouble, but right now, I wasn’t ready to face that. They enforced the law like Dad and I had done, but sometimes, the end justified the means for them.
Shops stood on either side of the paved road, which was wide enough for large hovers. Unlike Tupra or even Lokostwa, these shops were indoor businesses big enough to employ others. The buildings around me had clear, domed roofs signifying that they were all upper-class buildings, not those belonging to the lower classes. Those would be near the edges of town, places where bounties sometimes hid.
I passed the buildings and paused by one of the many trees. Finally, I’d returned to a land of blue skies and rolling prairies, as well as an open city with room to walk on the streets and grass around the buildings.
I sat in the soft grass under a tree and began thumbing through the list of bounties in the area. Nerrini had given me some decent info about a few of her associates who helped with illegal slave trafficking. These weren’t some poor children who got caught stealing bread. They were traffickers who needed to be taken off the street. This was the job I was meant for.
I thumbed through bounties until I found Jarkan, a Skallan. His bounty came in at five thousand, enough to propel me out of the points and into the single digits. Once I got there, I could license my cybernetic accessories or get them replaced with something more Human. I’d still need to make forty-thousand more in a year to get elite rank, but at least being in the single digits would be enough to get me taken seriously.
The problem was, Jarkan was a Skallan on Saddat, his native planet. This would make him hard to find. His only distinguishing feature past his facial structure was a tiny scar under his eye. That had kept him safe from most hunters, but I knew where he did his business.
I closed my eyes and thought. From what Nerrini told me, he liked to travel by night, which probably did a good job of hiding his features.
Night came fast on Saddat. Once darkness fell, I put on my jacket. It hid my cybernetic arm. As long as no one realized my cybernetics were overpowered or contained claws, I wouldn’t have any trouble with the law, but it was best to be careful. Savora had shown I looked like a hunter or a pirate. Right now, looking like a pirate might be a good thing.
I consulted the map on my datsheet. After memorizing the narrow alleyways in what Nerrini said was Jarkan’s neighborhood, I pulled my hood up and began walking.
The streets of the capital went from wealthy businesses to the poorer part of town where the roofs were simple and triangular, without the transparent domes, though many of these buildings still had skylights. Most likely, there wouldn’t be that much violence here. After all, hunters spent a lot of time in the region. It had just enough crime to be good for hunting.
Then again, Jarkan had slipped by the hunters.
I headed down one of the alleyways. A Skallan stood at the end of it. Patches covered her worn clothing, but she stood tall, not like a beaten down slave.
I stood to my full height and turned, keeping my real side shadowed.
“I came to pick up the stock,” I said. Hopefully, the cybernetics would look pirate enough to make her think I lived on the edge.
The Skallan’s golden eyes narrowed. “We don’t deal in slaves here.”
“Oh, sorry. Must have got the wrong alleyway. Barrok isn’t going to be happy with me if I’m late.” I’d picked up that name while interrogating Nerrini. “Do you know where Jarkan is?” I shifted from foot to foot, then stopped the nervous habit when I caught myself doing it.
The Skallan stiffened like I’d expected. “I’ll get Jarkan.” She sized me up as she touched a datcom on her wrist. To own that, she had to be well-funded. She looked at the door of a nearby building.
The door swung open and a large Skallan stepped out.
Behind me, something scampered along the rooftops. Most likely, Jarkan had a Chix bodyguard with a sniper rifle.
What had I been thinking, getting into this mess?
“What do you want?” Jarkan asked.
I controlled my breathing. I needed to pull this off, at least until I could escape. “Barrok’s looking for stock,” I said. I hated the word “stock” to describe slaves. They might have been criminals, but they weren’t animals.
My cybernetic eye spotted the Chix, who stood in the shadows, a rifle in his claws. No other guards made themselves visible. Most likely, the Chix thought I couldn’t see him in the darkness.
Jarkan waved his arm and stepped away from me. He’d seen through my act.
The Chix lifted his rifle.
I ran toward Jarkan and drew my pistol. As I charged, I turned and fired three fast shots at the Chix.
The Chix went down. I turned my pistol on Jarkan and fired a shot into his chest. The dart bounced off.
He drew a pistol.
I dodged to the right and reached for his throat.
A dart slammed into Jarkan’s neck. He fell in a twitching heap.
I scrambled from the alley and darted around a building corner that would make decent cover. The female Skallan was still on the loose somewhere. Had she been aiming for me and shot Jarkan?
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