The Lost Artifact

by Vaughn Heppner

  For the first time, Maddox took stock of his garments. He wore a mercenary pilot’s leather jacket and ordinary shirt and pants. His boots looked worn but they were still serviceable enough. This was anything but his Star Watch uniform. Maddox was taller than most of the people around him. He looked over heads—and saw a Shanghai gunman barreling through the crowd toward him. The heavy effortlessly shoved people out of his way. Their eyes met. The heavy spoke into one of his cuffs. He was obviously communicating with someone about having spotted the prisoner.

  Maddox drew a blaster, raised it—

  Two men by his side moved in. One yanked the arm down. The other tore the gun out of Maddox’s grasp.

  Maddox tried to resist. Pain stroked his side, half paralyzing him. The two men spun Maddox around, forcing him to walk away from the Shanghai bruiser, propelling him through the crowd.

  Maddox drew a breath to shout for help. Another stroke of pain rendered him speechless. At that point, the two men shoved him into a stall, following him through, closing a door behind him.

  The door almost immediately opened. A veiled woman stepped in. Her brown eyes seemed familiar. She was the woman who had stared at his tangler earlier.

  “Send him down the tube,” she said with authority. “No one must ever know that Captain Maddox was here.”

  -6-

  Maddox struggled. The woman shocked him with a riot baton. The two men lifted and shoved him feet-first into the mouth of a tube. He dropped, sliding down metal, picking up speed in the darkness.

  They had manhandled him much too easily. Were they slavers? Had they noticed the Shanghai ruffians hunting for him? He should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. His lack of awareness—

  He slammed against a mattress, bouncing off it and tumbling onto a deck. It took him a second to get his bearings.

  He was in a small metal room. He spied a portal and tried to force it, but it wouldn’t budge.

  Because he had light down here, he went to the mattress, listening carefully at the tube exit lest someone or something else—

  Maddox jerked back, as he heard someone coming down. If it was his captors, maybe he could disarm them.

  The woman dropped out of the tube, striking the mattress and bouncing onto her feet.

  Maddox snatched the pain wand from her belt. It was a riot control weapon and what she’d been using to shock him.

  She no longer wore the ankle-length dress, but pants, shirt and jacket like the men, who had not come down yet.

  “I had to use it,” she told him, referring to the baton. “We’d run out of time and you were resisting. You almost made a scene.”

  Maddox ingested the words. She seemed to think that he should know her.

  “Do you want to get off the asteroid or not?” she asked, searching his eyes.

  He nodded. Of course, he did.

  “Then get out of my way,” she said, pushing past him.

  Keeping the pain wand, he stepped aside and watched her. She moved decisively, touching the portal’s handle.

  Maddox heard a click. It must be thumbprint activated.

  She opened the portal, looked back at him with her eyebrows raised, and he followed her into a larger chamber. It had sleeping cots, lockers and an assortment of carbines in a rack.

  “Just a minute,” Maddox said, grabbing one of her arms.

  She spun around fast and raised her other hand. It held a needle with a glistening green drop of poison on the tip.

  Maddox let go of her. The pin-jabber brought back a memory…but not about this woman or this place. Maddox recalled that his mother had once used a weapon like that to protect him as a baby. He’d seen the memory while—

  “Who are you?” Maddox asked.

  “Where did you go just now?” she asked, seeming interested. “Your eyes went blank and then suddenly you were back. You seemed so sad—”

  “Enough!” he said. “Answer my question.”

  She searched his face. She was tall for a woman, although shorter than he was. She was slender and pretty in a hard fashion, with calculating brown eyes. He wondered what had happened to her veil.

  He did not think Meta would like her, not because the woman wasn’t a decent person. Meta would not like the woman because she had a way about her, a way that Maddox liked.

  “I warned you not to come here, remember?” the woman said.

  “Yes,” he said, not knowing if that was true or not. His instincts told him she was telling the truth. He was usually a good judge of character and good at telling when others lied.

  “You don’t remember me, do you?” she asked.

  He shrugged.

  “They did a number on you, didn’t they?” Her eyes widened. “Did they tag you?”

  Maddox almost said no. In the midst of a mission, lying came second nature to him. But in this case…

  “Yes,” he said. “They tagged me.”

  The woman swore, seemed about to run—

  Maddox grabbed an arm again. She brought up the pin-jabber—Maddox knocked it out of her hand. The needle-weapon shattered against a locker.

  “Who are you?” he said. “Give me the truth.”

  “Finlay Bow,” she said in a deadened voice.

  “What are you?”

  She hesitated before saying, “I’m a merc, a pilot.”

  The way she said that, it probably meant smuggler.

  “You have a ship?” Maddox asked.

  “Great,” she said. “That’s just great. They mind scrubbed you, too. They’re probably moving in on us even now. Look,” she said in earnest. “Your name is Captain Maddox. You didn’t tell me that, but I found out just the same. I lifted this—”

  She tried to reach back with her free hand and then winced as Maddox squeezed her arm with considerable force.

  “Do it slowly,” he warned.

  She nodded, slowly reached back and produced a small leather wallet.

  Maddox released her, opened the wallet and saw his ID.

  “You lifted this from my pocket?” he asked in disbelief.

  “No. On the way in, you stashed a small bag in my ship. I saw it, even though you tried to hide it without me seeing. I opened the seal.”

  “Give it,” he said.

  “If you mean the rest of your stuff, it’s on my ship.”

  Maddox studied her. If Finlay was correct, he’d hired her to bring him onto the asteroid. That meant she could likely take him off it.

  “How much did I pay you?” he asked.

  “A hundred thousand credits,” she said, “with a bonus if I brought you out.”

  She’d probably inflated the price in order to try to get more credits from him later, but that was fine.

  “What is this place?” he asked.

  “Look,” she pleaded. “You said they tagged you. That means they can follow you with a locator.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “The tag shorted earlier.”

  She stared at him.

  Maddox took a risk, half turned and pointed at the back of his head.

  Finlay swore again, with greater force. “We’re screwed,” she added. “You’re a freak, one of Chang’s zombies. What are you supposed to do, infiltrate—”

  Maddox shook her so her teeth rattled. “It only tingles when he presses the pain button.”

  She blinked at him several times.

  “If it tracks me…” Maddox paused. Could that be true? Was the Master—was Chang the Master?—tracking him even now.

  “You’re a mercenary pilot,” he said. “We have to leave.”

  Finlay shook her head. “I want to leave, but there’s no freighter scheduled for another three days. If we leave now, as you say, Chang will send out his scouts. The scouts will blast us so our remains will float in space for the next million years.”

  “No. I have…people out there.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “If…Chang is tracking us—”

  “Chang won’t c
are,” she said, interrupting. “His bouncers will, though.”

  “Bouncers?”

  “Don’t you remember anything?”

  “Just a little,” he said.

  Finlay appraised him again. “You’re a slick one, all right. It looks like you escaped after they caught you. All right. If you’re tagged, I’m already screwed. But we won’t go down without a fight, right?”

  “Right,” he said.

  “Then let’s make a run for the hangar bay. If Chang’s bouncers are there, maybe you can kill them and we can grab my ship, get clearance and go.”

  “What about your gunmen?”

  She sneered. “They’re not mine. They’re local protection. I thought you said you remembered at least a little.”

  “I did. So it’s just you and me, then?” Maddox asked.

  “You’re finally getting it, aren’t you? We’re totally screwed. I never should have listened to you.”

  “Don’t worry,” Maddox said. “We’re going to make it.”

  “Why do you think that?” she asked.

  It was a reasonable question. Instead of answering, Maddox spun Finlay around and pushed her toward the hatch. In situations like this, speed often counted for everything. And he didn't know why he thought that.

  -7-

  Finlay received a lesson in Captain Maddox efficiency. He used the pain wand and a sap like an artist, leaving cracked heads and unconscious questioners everywhere. If Chang’s men were hunting for them, they should be easy to find by following the trail of snoring bodies.

  “The trick is speed,” Maddox told her.

  Finlay shook her head, bewildered by his performance.

  “It’s time to really run,” he said.

  Finlay was already running down a corridor with Maddox beside her. She ran as fast as she could, her feet pounding against the floor. The corridor led toward the asteroid’s main hangar bay. Maddox had stolen tech IDs, a beam carbine and a headset. The captain wore the headset, but Finlay heard hangar personnel alerting the tower for two fugitives worth half a million credits each from Chang.

  Half a million credits? Who was this guy? Why would Chang pay that much, and why for her, too?

  Finlay’s feet tangled and she would have gone down, slamming her nose against the floor, but Maddox grabbed an arm, keeping her upright. Once she got her feet back under her again, he sprinted even faster while keeping hold of her. The air burned into her lungs as sweat dripped from her face.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  ***

  As the two ran, Maddox cocked his head. According to his headset, the guards ahead said they were ready. Maddox had debated with himself to ditch Finlay. He could do this without her, but he owed the woman. She could have faded into the woodwork. Instead, she’d nabbed him as he’d no doubt instructed her to do before Chang’s people had captured him. Her action had his signature style and had likely saved his life. He wouldn’t ditch her. He paid his debts, good or bad.

  “No matter what happens,” he shouted, “keep following me.”

  Finlay glanced at him with glazed eyes.

  After releasing her, Maddox began to truly run, sprinting faster than any Olympic athlete. In seconds, he raced around a corner, spying two guards outside a security hatch. Despite what they’d said on the comm earlier, they must not have expected him like this or so soon. Instead of kneeling, aiming their weapons, each guard watched the corner but kept his weapon down by his thigh.

  Now, the guards tried to bring up their carbines.

  Maddox fired from the hip. A beam drilled the first guard in the face. The captain hadn’t aimed for the chest because the guard might have been wearing armor. The second man went down almost as fast as the first, his face burned off.

  It was brutal but effective and took pinpoint accuracy.

  In moments, Maddox dragged the smoldering corpses to the side and opened the security hatch with one of their recognition codes.

  Finlay finally staggered around the corner looking sweaty and beat. As a pilot and asteroid dweller, she’d probably never run this fast or far before. That couldn’t be helped.

  As she lurched near, Maddox once more grabbed one of her arms and half lifted her as they ran through the open hatch, down a short corridor and entered what had to be the asteroid’s main hangar bay. They slowed to a walk then. This was a back way in, which was why they’d needed the tech IDs earlier.

  The cavernous hangar bay was full of docked shuttles and ships. Crews dragged fuel hoses to some. Deck workers repaired others.

  Finlay groaned as she stared into the distance.

  Maddox followed her gaze to an obvious smuggler’s craft.

  “Are those Chang’s men?” he asked, indicating a group of black-clad heavies beside the ship.

  “Yes,” Finlay panted.

  Maddox looked around. He saw a coaster to his left that could work. It was a two-man craft, a little bigger than the flitters he sometimes used for landings on alien planets.

  “We’ll use that,” he said, pointing with his chin.

  Finlay shook her head. “You’re crazy. We’ll last a day out there, tops, in that. Then what do we do? There’s nowhere else to land in the system. Now if there was a freighter coming—”

  “We’re gambling that there is,” Maddox said.

  Finlay gave him a horrified look and must have seen the determination in his eyes.

  “Listen to me,” she pleaded. “I’ll take the beating. Maybe Chang will have me tagged. At this point, I don’t care. I’d rather be alive than not.”

  “You’re going to live, and live untagged, but only if you stick with me.”

  “I don’t think so. You’re crazy, and believe me, it shows.”

  “You’re rated a comp tech, right?”

  “So…?” Finlay asked nervously.

  “Don’t look over there—”

  “Hey!” a Shanghai heavy shouted. “That’s Maddox. Let’s get him, boys.”

  Seven Shanghai gunmen standing guard around Finlay’s smuggler craft turned toward him. Each was massive, but broke into a faster run than any normal could do, proving their 2-G heritage.

  Maddox didn’t hesitate. He knelt on one knee, powered up the battle carbine, sighted and burned down the last man in the group. He did not target the first man, as the others would see the person drop. That might make the others more cautious. He did not want them cautious. He wanted them racing like charging bulls so he could cut them down.

  The second-to-last gunman flopped onto the deck So did the third. That was when the first runner looked back, shouted in dismay, and watched the fourth member of the team smash onto the deck with a smoldering burn hole in his face.

  “I’m going to be sick,” Finlay said.

  A hangar siren began to blare.

  Finlay moaned in dread.

  The remaining gunmen fired back, sending a fusillade of bullets. Finlay hit the deck as slugs whined and ricocheted everywhere. One of them tore Maddox’s jacket at the shoulder of the previously injured arm, sending up a spray of blood. The captain kept beaming. He seemed impervious to pain.

  Then it was over, the Shanghai heavies dead on the main hangar deck. Everyone else had disappeared, having ducked out of sight.

  Maddox stood and waved the end of the carbine back and forth as if cooling the tip. He hadn’t checked his shoulder yet. He turned and regarded Finlay with eyes that seemed to be made of steel.

  “Who are you really?” she asked, awed but still in panic mode.

  “We’ll talk about that later,” he said.

  “You still don’t get it,” she said, beginning to sound hysterical even to her own ears. “Sure, we can steal the coaster and fly into space. But now, Chang will order all his strikers after us. We won’t stand a chance against them. Our only chance was slipping away quietly.”

  Maddox did not seem to listen as he peered into the distance.

  “What now?” she asked in growing dismay.

 
; He looked at her. “I was going to suggest we grab the rest of my equipment from your ship. We can’t now. More of them are coming.”

  “What?” she said, whipping her head around to look where he had been staring.

  More of Chang’s black-clad heavies burst into the hangar bay. They looked around, shouted and pointed at Maddox.

  Maddox grabbed Finlay, slinging her much too easily over his bloody shoulder, and sprinted for their chosen craft. Well, his chosen craft.

  -8-

  Maddox shoved Finlay at the coaster’s main hatch.

  She tried the outer combination, but the hatch wouldn’t open. “No…” she moaned. “It’s over. We’re dead. We’re—”

  Maddox spun her around and slapped her across the face. She blinked at him in shock as pain jolted her mind. Outrage flared next.

  He put his face an inch from hers. “Get. It. Open. Get the thing running. Now.”

  A light snapped on in Finlay’s eyes, indicating the terror had taken a back seat.

  “Right,” she said.

  Maddox faced the charging bulls, once more took a knee and fired the battle carbine.

  The new Shanghai heavies scattered, jumping behind ships or dropping and sliding on their torsos as they tore out their guns. A few fired back, but they were too far away for effective pistol shots. Maddox drilled one guy in the face, killing him. The rest of those who’d dropped to the floor scrambled for cover.

  Behind him, Finlay laughed with glee.

  Maddox glanced back as the hatch opened. Finlay darted into the coaster. Maddox followed as he fired the battle carbine.

  “Hurry!” Finlay cried.

  Maddox came through. She slapped a control and the hatch snapped shut.

  This wasn’t like a shuttle. It was much smaller. The woman squeezed into the pilot’s chair and began pressing panel switches.

  “We got a break,” Finlay said. “These are easy to warm up.”

  Maddox stowed the carbine as he squeezed into the other seat. He began activating a weapon’s board.

  “I don’t know what you think you’re going to do,” Finlay said, as she continued to manipulate the controls. “We don’t have clearance. Tell me again; why is the tower going to just open the outer bay door for us?”