by J. N. Chaney
“But Mr. Hughes, I—”
“Do what I say, kid!” I snapped.
Her eyes flinched at my voice, something I wasn’t used to seeing, and it gave me pause. I stared at her for a second, stifling my frustration and forcing it down like a half-chewed piece of candy.
“I’m sorry, Lex,” I said, staring at her. “Just take a second. Count to five. Promise me you’ll go where I told you. Can you do that for me?”
“Yeah,” she answered, slowly nodding. “I can do it, Mr. Hughes.”
“Good girl,” I said, giving her a pause to gather herself. After a few seconds, I squeezed her hand. “Ready?”
She nodded.
“Let’s go.”
I pointed to a small store. “Go in there and hide. Don’t come out until you know it’s safe.”
With a fierce nod, she turned and ran into the shop, not looking back until she was inside.
When I was confident that she was far enough away, I went back in the direction of the soldiers. One of the men had managed to get farther than the others, allowing me to deal with him before the rest could arrive.
Adrenaline pumped through me and my fingers itched, but I kept the gun holstered at my waist. The crowd around me was thick and would make it difficult to land a clean shot without risking lives.
I opted for the knife instead, holding it flat against my wrist as I came within spitting distance of the first soldier. He was around my height and weight, burly, with an eager look in his eyes.
“I knew it,” said the man, looking me up and down. “I knew I recognized you. You’re Jace Hughes.”
“And what if I am?” I asked.
He scanned the area, looking across the street and around my shoulder. “Then you’re coming with us. Every Sarkonian in the fleet knows to bring you in.”
“Can’t say I don’t appreciate the attention, but that’s not in the cards today,” I said, twisting the knife in my palm to show him. “I’ve made other plans.”
“Like rescuing your friends?” he asked, raising his brow. “We have our people scouring the city for them. You’re out of luck.”
“I doubt that,” I said, fanning my hand at him to come at me.
He went for the knife and grabbed my wrist. I let him have it, drawing my gun with the other hand. I shoved it under his chin and pulled the trigger.
The shot sent the crowd into a frenzy. The man fell to the ground, his head half gone, a pink mist washing over the confused throng all around us.
His friends were still on their way, trying to move through the mob.
I took the opportunity to duck inside the crowd, hoping to flank them. “Pierce is down!” one of the men bellowed. He raised his pistol, trying to fight through the crowd.
I stayed low, waiting for a gap to open. When it did and I caught sight of him, I came up from his left.
The knife slid between his armor paneling and into his side with ease, and I circled around behind him. He staggered at the blow, hardly enough time to understand what had just happened to him. He swung his gun around, trying to find me, but I was already where I needed to be.
I grabbed the rear of his head and pulled him backward into a reverse headlock, then fired into his chest.
He dropped to the ground and let go of the weapon, the crowd moving apart from us at long last.
The center of the street was open enough for me to come face-to-face with the last of the three, a woman in Sarkonian heavy armor. She had her finger on her earpiece, speaking words too soft to hear, but I already knew the message.
Jace Hughes was here, she’d no doubt told them. The kill order had been sent.
We locked eyes for a brief moment before she raised her weapon at me. I couldn’t take the risk of shooting someone else, so I charged.
I dropped my knife to free my hand.
The gun went off as I arrived, but I managed to grab the barrel before she could bring it high enough to matter. The shot hit the ground behind me.
The soldier grunted as we pressed into each other. I tried to lift my gun, but she caught it, keeping my arm away. She was strong for her size, so much that it surprised me.
“Why do you all . . . have to do things . . . the hard way?” I asked between short breaths.
She turned the gun so that the brass ejector faced me, then fired twice. Two bullet casings ejected into my face, forcing me to let go. As she brought the rifle to meet me, I twisted around her other arm, loosening her grip on my weapon.
I placed my gun to her throat the exact second she pressed hers to my head.
We stared at one another, both afraid to blink.
“Give up,” she wheezed.
“I was just about to tell you the same,” I countered.
“My people are almost here,” she said.
“I’ll deal with them, too.”
“You’ll—” She paused, a look of surprise falling over her face.
“Let go of Mr. Hughes right now,” said a tiny voice from behind the soldier.
I heard a hammer click.
“Or else.”
The woman hesitated, probably deciding what to do. After a few seconds, she let go of the grip, letting it hang free from her index finger. I grabbed it, thumbed the safety, and shoved it into my belt as she raised both hands.
She peeked over her shoulder to see Lex standing there, the gun still pressed into the small of the woman’s back. “So, you have the girl, too,” said the Sarkonian.
I checked her for any other weapons, found none, and looked at her. “Lady, I’d watch what I said next if I were you. Unless you wanna end up like your two friends over there.” I motioned to the bodies lying in the middle of the street. “Follow?”
She said nothing.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said, nodding for Lex to get away from her. “Best lesson you can take from this is to find a hole and bury yourself in it, then wait for the fleet to come find you.”
“We’re all trapped here,” said the woman. “You really think you’ll find a way off before the Empire comes? Or the Union? All it takes is a single stellar class ship with decent shields to land here, and the city will be beset by squads of—”
I shot her in the leg below the knee, and she yelped, falling to the ground. I gave her a second to understand before continuing.
“Warned you to stay quiet. That’s on you,” I said, then turned to Lex. “Ready to go?”
She nodded, putting her gun away.
I looked down at the Sarkonian woman. “Fair warning. You follow us again and it won’t just be the leg this time. You hear me?”
She moaned at the pain, too absorbed in it to say anything.
I took Lex by the hand and ran to the end of the now-empty street. With one last look at the Sarkonian woman, we were gone.
The chase had brought us a little closer to our destination. We hadn’t run into any other soldiers on the way, and I counted that as a good thing. I was beginning to slow down again. The strain of the fight had taken a toll on me—more than I’d expected. Despite Lex’s patchwork, my wound still ached, and so did my head. I needed to rest and get off my damn feet, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Lex seemed to notice my fatigue and took it upon herself to retrieve more pain blockers. “Here,” she said, putting them in my hand. She followed them up with a bottle of water.
“Thanks, kid. You’re like a little grocery store, aren’t you?” I swallowed the meds and took a long gulp from the bottle.
“Just glad to help,” she said, smiling. “How much longer do you think it is?”
“We’re almost there,” I said. I needed to look at my wound, but it wasn’t safe to stop yet.
She took my hand again, and then the pad, and this time she was the one leading me as I struggled to keep up. The meds would take time to work and I needed to rest.
Before long, the subsequent streets had lost the activity of the shopping plaza and the many vendors. The crowds had dispersed, and
most people had shut themselves inside their homes. Only a few remained in the open. I couldn’t blame them for being afraid, not after a gunfight had broken out and two men had died. Gods only knew what these people were thinking right now. All I knew was that I had to get out of here. Small as this colony might be, it had police—otherwise known as peacekeepers—around the city. It wouldn’t take long for them to arrive and discover the Sarkonians.
The end of the residential dome lay straight ahead of us, forcing the street into a dead-end. Beyond that, the mining dome rose even higher, connected by a large gate.
Between that point and ours, a single building stood alone and isolated, no sign of upkeep or activity.
“Let me see the pad,” I said, holding my hand out. She passed it to me, and I studied the directions the old woman had given us.
This was exactly where Talia had told us to go, unless I’d misread the note.
Red building. End of the East Block. Near Mine Gate.
“That’s got to be it,” I said. The place looked empty, but we stepped up to the door and knocked. There was no answer and not a single light on. I tried the handle. It opened, and with one final glance at the street, I ushered Lex inside.
It was dark, and I fumbled around for the penlight I’d found on the Darkstar.
With the door closed, I activated the pad’s light feature. It was so dark that I thought we might have the wrong building after all.
“Mr. Hughes,” Lex whispered. “Look over there.”
My vision finally adjusted, and I saw a dim glow coming from somewhere on the other side of the building. It was hardly noticeable at first, and I was surprised Lex had spotted it.
Strangely, the light had come from a small pad in the corner of the far room. I picked it up and examined the screen. There was nothing there but a white page.
I was starting to feel uneasy about this house. There was nothing here at all. Just a damp cave of a building with no one to help us. “She must’ve given me the wrong directions. Let’s go,” I said, putting the tablet down and reaching out for her.
The light from the pad turned off when it left my hand, and I tensed in the darkness.
Something touched my arm and shoulder, then there was a firm hand with a heavy grip. I tried to move and react, but someone’s wrist and bicep stretched around my neck. Whoever this was had just placed me in a rear naked choke, the same kind I’d used on the Sarkonian on the ship. Was this what that man had felt?
The pressure built as I struggled, clawing at the arm at my neck in the darkness. My face felt numb, my legs went cold, and then—
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but when I opened my eyes again, it was to the soft glow of a wall of holo monitors. A muscular man with bright red hair was watching them intently. I blinked to clear my vision and the scene came into focus. The man hadn’t noticed I was awake yet, so I watched him as I slowly tried to orient myself and fight the fog in my head. He occasionally made notations in a small pad, reversing the feed every few seconds and letting it play again.
It was hard to tell what he was looking at, but I quickly lost interest as I realized Lex wasn’t with me. I sat up slowly, trying not to make a sound.
I looked down at myself, noticing I had a new shirt on.
“Hello, Captain Hughes,” said the burly man with red hair. I looked up to see him facing me, arms crossed and leaning back in his chair. “About time you came to.”
He had a thick and heavy beard that matched his hair hanging to the middle of his chest like some kind of wildman. I opened my mouth to ask who he was when he held up a cup of something looked suspiciously like—
“Coffee?” he asked, offering the drink to me.
I ignored the question and pushed off from the couch to stand.
“Where’s the kid?” I asked, injecting as much steel into my voice as I could manage.
“Oh, you’re right. My apologies.” He touched his ear and spoke. “You can send the young one in now. Mr. Hughes is awake.”
Within seconds, the door opened, and Lex entered, followed by a younger woman with hair like the man in the chair.
“Mr. Hughes! You’re awake!” she said.
I gave her a quick once over. “You okay?” I asked.
“Uh huh.” She gave me that toothy grin again. “I didn’t want to leave you, but Mr. Angus said I should get some food. He promised to let me know when you woke up.” She looked at the redheaded man I’d woken up to. “You forgot.”
“I sure did,” said Angus with a hearty chuckle.
She sat next to me, as close as she could.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked, darting my eyes between the bearded fella and the woman.
“Sorry about all the theatrics,” replied Angus, handing me the mug of coffee.
Now that Lex was with me, I allowed myself to relax and took a cautious sip. It didn’t taste half bad, and I drained the rest of it quickly.
Angus fanned a hand at the monitors. “The Union is unaware of my activity here,” he said. “It needs to stay that way. No one comes here unless someone I trust sends them.”
“Is that why you choked me out, you lumberjack-looking fuck?” I asked, tossing the empty cup back at him.
He caught it, sending me a wry grin. “Can’t blame me for being cautious. I’ve got a whole operation to look after.”
“Oh, I can blame whoever I damn well please,” I said. “Have someone do that move on you sometime so you can appreciate the hangover.”
“Oh, I’ve been there,” said Angus. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. In fact, I had my girl here fix you up. Seems you’ve had yourself a busy day, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“It’s been interesting,” I said, glancing down at Lex.
“Am I right in thinking Talia sent you here?” he asked.
I nodded.
“I thought so. The house serves as a cover for all of this.” He motioned at the room with both hands. “She told me you two might show up, but I can’t trust a stranger that easily. You understand.”
“Sure,” I said, honestly. “Doesn’t mean I gotta like it.”
“Fair enough,” he remarked.
My pack was on the floor, and I pulled the pad out of it. “I’m looking for my crew,” I said, and handed it over.
“Ah, so I was told.” He studied their images before handing it back to me. “I might know where they are. What can you do for me, though?” He settled back into his chair.
“I don’t know that I have anything you want right now, but there’s a Sarkonian ship parked in high orbit. I might be willing to let you salvage some parts.”
He snorted. “I might trade for the ship itself.”
“You’re kidding,” I said, scoffing.
“I’m not,” he countered. “I expect you’ll have a ride off this planet soon, based on who you are and what I’ve heard. That is, if you really are the Renegade.”
“What exactly have you heard about me?” I asked.
He was quiet for a second. “Let me ask you something, Hughes. Is it true what they’re saying about Earth?”
“I don’t keep up with the tabloids,” I said. “How about we start with what you’ve heard and I’ll say if it’s true?”
He chuckled. “Well, people are saying you found it. They’re claiming you’re building the greatest army in the galaxy, but that can’t be right, seeing you in this condition, stranded and alone on this moon.”
“That’s what you think, is it?” I asked.
He paused, looking me up and down. “No, maybe I don’t,” he said. “I’ve seen the feeds. I know some of the stories are true.”
“Only some?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Unless you’re actually four meters tall and have the strength of four men.”
“If only,” I commented. I considered my options, deciding how much to reveal to him. “There’s another ship on its way. A Sarkonian vessel. We have control of it. You can have whatever cargo it’s ca
rrying, so long as we don’t need it.”
Angus tilted his head, thoughtfully. “Interesting. How about instead of the cargo, you give me the ship?”
I scoffed. “Look I don’t have all damn day. I’ll just as soon find my people myself. Either be reasonable or I’ll walk the hell out of here.” I got to my feet. “Asking for an entire ship? Of all the shit I’ve heard today--”
“Just hold on a minute.” Angus gestured for me to sit back down. “Perhaps you would consider taking something off the planet.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Us,” he said, nodding to the girl beside him. “We’ll take an escort to Earth instead of the ship. Fair enough for you?”
“You want to come to Earth?” I asked.
He nodded. “Safe passage for my daughters and a few more. Could that be arranged?”
“You’ve got more than one kid?” I asked. “Alright, fine, but the situation there is a little more complicated than you might be aware of.”
“Whatever problems you have, I’m sure they’re better than this moon,” he lamented.
“A war on three fronts,” I said, crossing my arms. “The Union, the Celestials, and apparently the Sarkonians.”
“Celestials?” he asked.
“It’s complicated,” I said again, fanning a hand at him. “Best we save that talk for later.”
Angus stood up and reached for my hand to shake it. “I just want a chance for me and mine, same as all the rest you’ve found and brought home with you,” he said. He reminded me a little bit of Bolin and the way he talked about his daughter, Camilla.
“What do you do here?” I asked looking up at the monitors.
“These feeds analyze activity from within the debris field,” he explained, pointing out a screen that was tracking various points in the ring.
“What for?” I asked.
“Every so often, one those rocks collides with another one, or an incoming ship nicks one and sends it flying to the surface.” He gave me a knowing look. “Sometimes the rocks only move around a little, but other times our little colony gets a beating. There’s a station inside the dome that runs continuous scans of the ring to monitor all orbital activity. I’m tapping into that.”