“They are going to beg for more time,” he said.
“Listen to him,” she said, “get them to kill the general for us.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” Red said, smiling.
Then as Mattie sent them the Alliance Seal, he turned to face the screen.
And then the image cleared and he couldn’t believe it.
He somehow managed to not let his mouth fall open. He was staring into the face of one of humanities worst monsters, General Jarvis.
The general had on his uniform, pressed and clearly recently washed. He had on his hat and had a fresh shave and haircut. His thick nose and beady eyes glared through the screen.
After the surprise had passed, Red managed to also not scream at the man.
Behind Red, Mattie muttered, “Well, what do you know?” It was soft enough that only Red heard her.
He was feeling the same way. Stunned, disgusted, and angry all at the same time.
“What are your terms?” the general asked.
The bastard had enough gall to ask what their terms were. He was clearly an insane monster right to the end, without any grasp of reality.
“We have already started back, general,” Red said. “I’m afraid you missed our deadline.”
The general actually started to look panicked, beady eyes glancing at someone beside the screen. Sweat broke out on his forehead, but he managed to maintain a little composure.
“Let me check if that decision can be cancelled?” Red said.
The general only nodded.
Red indicated that Mattie join him.
“General, I would like to introduce myself. I am Red Simms of Innocence Incorporated and this is Mattie Silks from Sector Force.”
“But…” General Jarvis said, his eyes filling with panic.
Red smiled, feeling better than he had felt in years.
“General, we first would like you to know that we rescued every person from your decoy fleet and saved all their families as well.”
“And general,” Mattie said, “we stopped your attempt to destroy the Sector Force and we saved all those families as well.”
Red went on, smiling right along with Mattie. “You are so incompetent a leader, we have now rounded up your entire following on one ship and killed you all, letting you think it was all your idea.”
“You can’t leave us here!” he shouted at the screen, his face growing red.
“We can,” Red said.
A shot exploded over the communication link and the side of General Jarvis’s head exploded out to the right in a shower of red.
Red was actually impressed.
“I hope we have all that recorded,” he said to Mattie, who only nodded. “We’ll play it back in slow motion for most of the two civilized sectors to watch. That was almost as much fun as being able to do it myself.”
“Almost?” Red asked, smiling.
“Almost,” she said, laughing.
A man pushed the general’s body aside and it landed with a loud thump and crash on the floor, clearly knocking something over.
The man sat down in front of the camera, the same one that Red had talked to before. “The general is dead now. Would you please come back for us? Please?”
Red glanced over at Mattie who wore a smile so large it looked like it might hurt.
“What do you say?” Red asked her.
“The Sector Force would not like the fact we brought back so many killers who helped General Jarvis. You would just have to all be targeted and tried and then killed. A huge waste of time and effort. So I would vote no.”
Red looked back at the screen, his anger building. “You and your general and your little private army killed my best friend and one of the nicest people I have ever known.”
The guy on the other side looked like he might pass out his face was so white. But Red did not care. All he could see was Carson lying there in that mall, dead.
“My organization, Innocence Inc., sides with Sector Force. We believe that some people should not be defended or rescued from their deserved punishment, which in your case and in the case of the rest of the crew, is death.”
Red clicked off the communications link and flipped the ship around and headed even farther away from the passenger liner.
Then suddenly he had the most dangerous enforcer in all of known space holding him, hugging him, kissing him, and climbing on his lap.
“We got him,” she said after letting Red come up for breath from a very long and passionate kiss.
“That we did,” Red said. “And we saved a lot of innocent lives in the process.”
“Somewhere,” Mattie said, “Carson is smiling at us right now.”
“I hope he doesn’t watch too long,” Red said, working at kissing Mattie’s neck, “because very shortly I plan on doing some very rude and wonderful things to your body.”
She laughed. “A promise I will hold you to.”
And she did.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
MATTIE COULDN’T REALLY BELIEVE General Jarvis was finally dead. They had stayed close to the liner for another two days until on board there was some sort of revolution and gunfight and about half of the remaining crew and followers of General Jarvis were killed.
“What are they fighting for?” Red had asked more as a rhetorical question, because he knew the answer just as much as she did. They were fighting over food.
And all that would do would delay the inevitable. That liner would become a ghost liner in very short order if someone inside didn’t blow it up first.
They had sent the video back to both their headquarters and would continue to send it every day on the way back until they got a response. The Sector Force and Innocence Inc. needed to know General Jarvis was finally dead, the threats were over.
On the day they both decided it was time to just head back, Red had asked how fast she wanted to get back.
She had been thinking about that same thing. She wasn’t sure what awaited the two of them back in civilization. And she wanted to know some answers to that question before they got there.
“Normal speed,” she had said. “I have a bunch of cooking to learn.”
His smile in response to that eased a lot of worries. Clearly he wanted the same thing.
He set their speed to take them just under four weeks to return. She hoped that was enough time to figure out just where they were headed, and get to know each other better without the pressures of a manhunt and threats of death around every corner.
And it did. In all her life she had never imagined getting to know another person as well as she had come to know Red.
And even more frightening to her when she allowed herself to think about it: She loved everything about him. And she had a hunch that being trapped in a tin can in deep space for weeks at a time would bring up any bad habits she might not like over time.
The man had none. She had no idea how that was even possible.
CHAPTER SIXTY
AS THE STARS OF THE SECTOR grew from a thin line to a wide band and then filled the viewport, she got more excited about being out of the emptiness. And worried at the same time.
In four weeks since leaving the General’s ship, they had not talked about what they were going to do next. She was afraid of bringing up the topic and Red didn’t bring it up either.
Red took his ship around the edge of the big nebula and docked at Bodie Station. When that final click and bump echoed through the ship, she felt the largest sense of relief she could ever imagine.
Chief Lovell and his men give them a military welcome and in all her life of staying out of the limelight and just doing her job, this kind of ceremony just felt strange.
They headed eventually up to Red’s big suite after having a drink with Lovell in his office. The pool looked wonderful and all she could think about was taking off her clothes and jumping in, enjoying the feeling of being back in civilization.
But when Red suggested they go get some dinner first in th
at wonderful café in the trees, she realized just how hungry she was and said yes. There would be time for the pool later.
And she wanted to sleep next to the man she loved for a good twelve hours, make love, eat something, and then go back to sleep again. She felt that tired.
But first, she wanted to ask Red what they were going to do next. No one at Sector Force had even suggested she might have another assignment quickly. So she felt relieved to be back and at the same time sort of at loose ends.
She needed some answers.
But mostly she needed to know what Red was thinking about their future.
The restaurant was as beautiful as she remembered it, tucked in and around huge trees off to one side of the large lobby. As they came out of the elevators and walked to the restaurant, dozens of people had nodded at them and a couple people said, “Well done.”
When they reached their table, Red smiled at her and pulled her chair out like a real gentleman. Could the man get any more perfect?
Or more handsome.
She was so much in love, she didn’t want to even consider a future without him in it. She knew that much for sure.
He ordered a bottle of wine. After very little deliberation, she ordered the same meal she had had with him that first time.
And he did the same.
Then before she could even say a word, he reached across the table and took her hands gently in his.
“So what do you want to do next?” he asked.
“My topic of conversation exactly,” she said, smiling at him.
“I have a suggestion,” he said. “Why don’t we come back here every year on this same date to celebrate.”
The feeling of disappointment slammed into her stomach. She didn’t want to only see Red once a year. Was that how he felt about her?
She pulled away from his hands and sat back.
“The head of Sector Force will be offering you a new position as the liaison between Sector Force and Innocence Inc.”
That shocked her more than she wanted to admit. And made her happy. But how had he known?
He smiled at her and motioned that she not say anything just yet. He was up to something, but darned if she could tell what.
Chief Lovell walked over to their table and handed Red something. Then he said, “Enjoy your meal.”
But she noticed he didn’t go far before stopping and turning around.
And all over the restaurant and huge lobby, others turned to stare at them.
What was happening?
She glanced back at Red as he stood, moved around and knelt on one knee facing her.
If felt like the entire room was spinning.
“Mattie, would you do the honor of marrying me?”
He opened the package that the Chief had handed him, showing her the most beautiful diamond and ruby ring she had ever seen.
She wasn’t sure if she could catch her breath.
She looked at the ring, then into the handsome face and smiling eyes of the man she loved more than anything.
Around them in the trees and out in the lobby area, hundreds of people watched in silence.
She leaned down and whispered to him, “I could kill you for this, you know?”
“I know,” he said, smiling at her. “But I would rather you just say yes so we can go back upstairs after dinner and take a swim in that pool.”
She laughed, pulled him to his feet and kissed him harder than she had ever remembered kissing someone before.
Then she pulled back from him just enough to say, “Yes.”
Around them the lobby and restaurant exploded in applause and cheers.
She didn’t care. She was kissing the man she loved and that was all that was important.
BORN TO BE WEIGHTLESS
She was born six weeks early,
on International Two, the space station,
one day before her mom was to take the transport
to the surface.
She was healthy, a little light,
but the zero gravity caused no complications
a moisture suction hose couldn’t handle.
Mom, biologist Susie Maxwell, did fine as well.
But then came the question.
What should the first child in space be named?
The parents had no preference,
so they opened the choice to the world.
Computers set up at major universities
kept the nominations
as everyone wanted to have a say
in the name of the first human child born off planet.
A picture of her floating in the air,
weightless and smiling, her eyes twinkling,
sealed the vote. There was no other name close.
Star Maxwell it would be.
Star returned to Earth a week later,
and was soon forgotten by everyone but her family.
and the record books.
On her eighteenth birthday she turned down an interview.
She grew to love floating in pools,
seeming to want to return to space and weightlessness.
At seventeen Star had a drug problem,
telling her mom it made her feel light and free.
At eighteen she was arrested for swimming nude
in a public pool.
At nineteen she died sky diving,
just not bothering to open her chute.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith published more than a hundred novels in thirty years and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres.
He wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.
He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.
He now writes his own original fiction under just the one name, Dean Wesley Smith. In addition to his upcoming novel releases, his monthly magazine called Smith’s Monthly premiered October 1, 2013, filled entirely with his original novels and stories.
Dean also worked as an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. He now plays a role as an executive editor for the original anthology series Fiction River.
For more information go to www.deanwesleysmith.com, www.smithsmonthly.com or www.fictionriver.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Now for Something a Little Different
If Sex is All a Dream, Then Who Cleans Up the Mess?
That Lost Riddle: A Poker Boy Story
The Life and Times of Buffalo Jimmy: Chapters 13-15
PART THIRTEEN
PART FOURTEEN
PART FIFTEEN
She Laughed
Stand For Home
One
Two
Three
The Adventures of Hawk: Chapters 13-15
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Love with the Proper Napkin
Sector Justice
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
&
nbsp; Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter Fifty-three
Chapter Fifty-four
Chapter Fifty-five
Chapter Fifty-six
Chapter Fifty-seven
Chapter Fifty-eight
Chapter Fifty-nine
Chapter Sixty
Born to Be Weightless
Smith's Monthly
About the Author
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