Galactic Bandits 3

by Duke Campbell

  “Perhaps it was a notification about our missing antimatter modules?” Straya asked, half joking.

  “But why would a notification show here, in the hallway?” Calico asked.

  Squit made some sounds and Bob turned from her with a proud and confident expression on his face.

  “Squit adjusted the settings so that warnings of any type would show wherever the crew happened to be, though this reading wasn’t clear, and disappeared right away. So with your permission, Captain, Squit and I would like to stay aboard the ship to run some maintenance testing.”

  Sure you do.

  “All good, Bob,” Regan said. “Thank you, Squit.”

  She made a squishy sound back at him. Then Regan realized that this should be a protocol of theirs, to run maintenance and diagnostics whenever they land in a new place, just to make sure the ship was up to standards. After all, he had the crew now.

  He also thought it would be a good idea to keep Arkei behind, being that she was the second-best pilot they had. She could keep the ship primed and ready in the event of a quick escape. So far, quick escapes seemed to be their thing. Just because Posha vouched for the planet didn’t mean they were out of danger entirely.

  “Arkei, would you mind staying behind as well?” Regan asked. “Just to make sure we have the ship up and running if need be?”

  Arkei turned her glance toward Regan slowly. Almost too slowly. When she made eye contact, it was as if she were snapping out of a daydream, but not completely.

  She finally nodded. “Of course, Captain. That’s a good idea.”

  Arkei turned and made her way back to the bridge, but her head wasn’t as tall as it normally was. And she didn’t glide the way her movements generally allowed, her stride sluggish instead.

  I’m going to have to chat with her once we’re settled in.

  But until then, Regan wanted to see this planet and get things going on the next phase of their plan. He led, with Straya, Calico, Reverie, and Posha following him down the ramp.

  Regan was the first one off the ship. Right away he noticed how bright it was. The windshields on the ship naturally tinted light as it came through, otherwise the stars would have been too bright as they blasted by. This thought hadn’t occurred to him until right then.

  It had been a long time since Regan wore a pair of shades, and he wondered if maybe they had some on this planet.

  The second thing he noticed was the humidity. While the planet looked green and lush from the ship, the humidity was horrendous once he stepped off it. He felt sweat accumulate over his entire body nearly instantly.

  Regan assumed the humidity would be tiring and slow down his movements. It had already slowed down the pace at which he walked. This thought made him laugh as he noticed the many Volteks at the base of this ramp who moved about. They too, like Posha, moved incredibly slowly.

  Regan now thought of this speed as ‘humid slow.’

  They waved to Regan and the ladies, their waves, like Posha’s, made in slow motion. Many of them turned up the ramp to meet them, taking slow steps. The distance between them was getting shorter, but only because of the speed at which Regan and his crew walked.

  He also noticed how soft the ramp was on which they had landed. It was seemingly metal, but comfortable to the touch.

  Suddenly the Volteks started to hiss and snarl. They had upset expressions and waved again, but these waves were waving them off, not welcoming them. Regan paused his steps and looked around in confusion. Then he realized who the Volteks were hissing at: Posha. Whatever he had done in the past, his people were not a big fan.

  Posha slowly walked down the ramp as well and snickered at the rest of the Volteks who were in the process of turning away.

  There was no denying what had just occurred. Regan wanted to ask Posha about it, but he decided to wait. What if it were a touchy subject? Even so, it was quite humorous.

  Regan, Calico, Straya, and Reverie slowed down their strides to maintain pace with Posha. It was unbearably slow, but this was his place and he was showing them around. Not that Regan minded the slow pace; he had been running for so long that he welcomed a slower stroll. It allowed him to take in the new environment.

  The trees were incredibly tall and reminded Regan of mangroves. All kinds of complexes had been built into them, some out of wood but mostly out of whatever metal he was walking on. But it didn’t look rough and none of it was rusty. It almost felt like it was alive, like it was some kind of organic metal he knew nothing about.

  It made him think of Arkei’s bionic arm and reminded him that he knew little about the universe.

  Volteks moved all over the ramps, which seemed like intersecting highways, but cleaner and without the honking horns. Without the speed.

  Calmways.

  They carried many items that Regan didn’t recognize, items that looked intricate and expensive. Many of them had exposed wires or parts, as if they were in a state of repair. Regan thought of his old factory job fixing broken game controllers. It had been a long time since he dug his fingers in wires to fix something. Part of him felt sentimental about it. But he shrugged it off. Once you became a Captain, your fixing-things days were over.

  Overall, this place felt like a paradise. The trees reached high enough to provide shade, and the breeze that went through them made a relaxing rustling sound. It sounded like music. And mixed with the crashing of the waves far below, it was a perfect balance of sounds that put Regan at ease.

  He could see that it put his crew at ease as well. The ladies were looking all over, clearly taking it in as Regan was. They had smiles on their faces.

  “You have a beautiful planet here, Posha,” Regan said.

  “Wait until you see my residence,” Posha replied. “It isn’t too far from here.”

  Posha’s residence was not far from the landing pad at all. In fact, the ship was nearly right above it. But the speed Posha took to bring them there made it feel longer.

  It was good to know they would be able to get back to the ship easily enough.

  Once they walked through the wooden door, Regan took it all in. The home was massive, with windows showing the glorious view below. The structure must have had some sort of air system, as the humidity was nearly non-existent inside. When he asked about it, Posha merely gave a proud smile and said, “Just some good old fashioned engineering.”

  “Captain, catch!” Straya threw a piece of fruit at Regan. It was large and had a soft texture.

  “Ah!” Posha said. “It seems that my neighbors kept my fruit bowl fresh while I was away.”

  Regan quirked an eyebrow. “Damn, haven’t you been gone for ages? It’s crazy no one robbed the place, and even crazier that your neighbors would bother keeping the fruit bowl fresh.” Regan then took a large bite of the fruit, at this point no longer shy of alien food. It was sweet and juicier than he thought it would be.

  Straya bit into a piece of her own and sucked the juice right away. “Oh, hell yeah. This stuff’s good.” She shoved one in Reverie’s hands.

  Reverie accepted the fruit, but unlike the others, hesitated to try it. When she saw Posha watching her, she blushed and, out of politeness more than anything, took a bite. “Mmm,” was her verdict, as her mouth was too full to say much else.

  Calico grabbed herself a fruit and tossed one to Posha to save him the effort. A large smile came over his face as he caught it.

  “Tangerquats… my favorite!” he said. He lifted one up and took a bite, and though he usually ate faster than he moved, he took this bite slow. He was relishing it. Regan could swear he saw a tear form in Posha’s eye.

  Posha faced the others.

  “It has been years since I have been back home,” Posha said. “Years since I have enjoyed a tangerquat… I’m surprised how much I missed it.” He stepped slowly away from the table. “Anyhow, I want you all to take a look around,” he continued. “Be comfortable. I’ll be with you all shortly.”

  He made his way toward a m
assive balcony that overlooked the ocean and trees as far as any eye could see. He needed some alone time.

  Regan nodded at the ladies and started walking around the home. It consisted of several levels, with gadgets and cool items scattered about. Regan didn’t know what any of it was, and as badly as he wanted to pick things up and inspect it all more closely, he resisted. It was Posha’s home.

  After a few minutes Regan realized he was getting a bit of a buzz—and it was coming on quickly. He turned to the girls. “You feel that?”

  “It’s the fruit,” Straya said. “I felt it straight away.”

  Calico elbowed her. “Lightweight.”

  The two glared at each other for a moment, slowly raising their fists, before bursting into giggles.

  Regan leaned over the balcony and looked down at the kitchen table where Reverie was pacing slowly about, dancing almost. He could see that she too was feeling the buzz from the fruit. She looked up at him, the movement making her dizzy. The resulting stumble made her chuckle.

  Regan smiled in return, then continued walking. He came to a place on one of the inner balconies that was full of weapons. At first he thought how much Arkei would appreciate this small arsenal, but then wondered why Posha would have so many.

  There was a door beyond the gun wall, the amount of security surrounding it looking quite comical.

  Clearly there’s more to Posha than meets the eye. Sweet bachelor’s pad. Gun inventory. Bolted up rooms.

  Regan turned to ask Straya what she thought was kept in there, when he saw Posha outside. He was on the ground, seemingly unconscious. But it was more than that… There was a small dart in the back of his neck.

  Shit.

  Regan heard a whizzing sound followed by the noise of Reverie dropping to her side onto the ground below.

  Regan dropped his fruit and dove toward the table where the guns were sitting, hoping to get a better view of what was happening from a sheltered place. Calico made a similar movement.

  Straya attempted to dash to the side as well, but a dart hit her in the neck before she could reach safety. She hit the ground.

  Regan had so many thoughts come at once. But they fled from his mind when a pair of legs dropped down before the table he was on. They wore black pants over black boots. Regan didn’t hesitate, he kicked one of the knees and then erupted from under the table.

  “Regan, don’t!” Calico shouted. But he continued on.

  He went to punch, but his fist was caught by the attacker who was covered in black all the way up, head too.

  It’s a freaking ninja.

  Regan was pulled close, followed by the ninja high kicking him in the chest, instantly knocking all the air out of him. He went flying back toward the table.

  Calico jumped up and went after the ninja, leaving Regan to recover by himself.

  As Regan struggled to regain his breath, he watched Calico go blow for blow with the ninja. It was impressive. Even though she was getting knocked around, she still managed to get the upper hand and swiftly had the ninja on his back. Regan could barely see the motion it was so fast.

  She was going at him, punching, elbowing, and blocking blows from the decreasingly efficient ninja. The ninja finally stopped fighting before collapsing to the ground. This didn’t stop Calico at first. She shouted at the ninja, before finally taking a moment to pause. She held her fists in the air knowing that one more blow would kill the ninja.

  But Calico didn’t deliver it. She dropped her arms with an exhale.

  Suddenly two more ninjas hit the ground, having dropped from the ceiling. They each grabbed one of her arms and began dragging her from the house. She valiantly struggled and kicked, but the two of them had no trouble getting her under control.

  Regan, still out of breath, reached up to the table top for whatever gun he could grab, and pulled it down.

  It was heavy, like a mini-Gatling gun. It slammed into the ground loud enough that the two ninjas carrying Calico quickly turned their faces back to see what caused the noise. While Regan couldn’t see their faces, he could imagine their expressions.

  “Let her go,” he said simply. He fired several warning shots, which, to his surprise, were lasers instead of bullets.

  Even better.

  The ninjas looked at each other, then swiftly grabbed their wounded partner in crime and disappeared. They leaped from the windows. Even though Regan followed them to see where they went, they were gone. Disappeared. It was just the calming sounds of the ocean and the breeze it made, pushing through the tall trees.

  Regan ran over to Calico.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded briefly.

  Regan pulled out his communications link. “Arkei, we were just attacked by ninjas. Was the ship attacked?”

  It took a few moments before Arkei replied, and it was less than satisfactory.

  “Nothing here, Captain,” she said.

  No enthusiasm? No asking if everyone was doing fine? Regan was definitely going to have to talk to her sooner rather than later. But now, he had to make sure everyone else was okay. He turned to see that Calico was already lifting Straya’s head up, having pulled the dart out of her neck.

  “It’s a temporary sedative,” Calico said. “It’ll keep them out as long as it is in the neck.”

  “Got it,” Regan replied. He dropped the gun and dashed down the stairs toward Reverie. He lifted her head slowly and pulled the dart from her neck, holding it carefully to avoid touching the tip.

  She immediately started to regain consciousness.

  He ran to Posha outside and did the same with him, carrying him back in to join the others. He then quickly ran back out the exterior balcony and once again looked all over, but he couldn’t see anything. He looked up at his ship and tried to spot something, anything out of the ordinary, but it all looked fine.

  This was spooky.

  He returned inside to see Calico helping everyone get seated at the table. Reverie, Straya, and Posha all rubbed the back of their necks. They were groggy, it was clear.

  “I should have been faster than that,” Straya said. “Sorry, Captain.”

  “You ate the tangerquat,” Posha replied. “It hits you quick. Unless you are like me, with a slow metabolism.”

  “Noted,” Straya replied. “Also, what type of Class A species keeps weapons like this in the house? I think I saw Regan holding a Gatling Blaster?”

  “I’ve always found the Intergalactic Council’s classification system to be insufficient,” Posha said, barely hiding his pride. “While most of my brethren fit the classification, I was always a bit different.”

  “That’s why your neighbors don’t like you?” Reverie asked.

  Posha nodded, as if in acceptance.

  “It was why Mephistopheles wanted you,” Calico said. “He often toyed with the idea of embarrassing the Intergalactic Council for their dated classification system. He’d gather specimens that didn’t fit the classifications, all with the intention of one day making a mockery out of them.”

  Regan couldn’t believe they were chatting about weapons and classifications at a time like this. Maybe it was the fruit, or maybe it was the fact that they had all been stunned. Well, except Calico.

  He snapped his fingers, bringing everyone’s attention back to him. “Why aren’t we discussing the fact that ninjas just attacked us?”

  Straya, still clearly drunk, poked Regan’s nose. “Such a good Captain. Always on point. Do you think… he is already onto us?”

  “Rubicio?” Reverie asked. “It would seem obvious wouldn’t it?”

  Posha added, “If there was some remaining trace of me in that hangar, then it wouldn’t be hard for him to trace us back here. This is the only Voltek civilization in the universe.”

  Regan didn’t like that conclusion at all, but he didn’t want to rush off without knowing more about his enemy. Even though this situation was dangerous, getting back on that ship without the ability to make an FTL jump was also no
t an ideal situation.

  “Team, we need to get out of here,” Regan said. “But we need to regroup and get everyone sober first. Make sure our plan is set in stone.”

  Then Regan had another thought.

  “And Posha,” he said. “I want to know what’s in that vault upstairs.”

  Posha grinned broadly.

  Chapter Three

  Posha led Regan and Calico to the vault door on the balcony behind the large table of guns. Reverie and Straya stayed back for a moment to catch their breath. The ninja attack, and in particular, those darts, really did a number on them.

  Regan told them to take a moment, but to catch up as soon as they felt capable. He didn’t want to rush anyone, but their situation was compromised.

  Posha entered a keycode on a screen on the vault door, then provided a fingerprint as well. There were other switches and adjustments he had to make to get it open. The process of unlocking the door seemed to be consistent with Posha’s slow movements.

  When the door finally opened, it revealed a massive bunker full of electronics, gadgets, weapons, and heavy crates of mystery materials. There were small vehicles as well, big enough only for Posha to fit inside.

  “Jesus, Posha. You didn’t tell me you were lizard Batman.”

  Posha blinked. “Thank you, Captain. I am sure that compliment makes sense on your planet, at least.”

  He continued forward. “You’ll be glad to know I have a secret door from which we can load up the ship. I know we are in a rush, but there are many items that I would highly encourage we take with us.”

  Regan laughed, as if he needed any persuading to load up on this arsenal. He lifted his comm link to his mouth and called the ship.

  “Arkei, please move the ship to the back of Posha’s house, and open the cargo loading doors. We’ve got ourselves additional weapons, courtesy of our orange-scaled friend.”

  Arkei was hesitant to respond, which bothered Regan. It was consistent now.

  “On our way,” she finally said, but she didn’t comment about the weapons. Weapons were her thing! It was just like how she didn’t comment on the ninjas earlier.