Hunter

by Sharon Partington

  I was just moving away when a muffled thump came from the starboard pod. The shuttle was supposed to be empty and my instincts took a high-octane lurch as I drew my weapon and slid the door open, reaching inside quickly. My hand grabbed hair and I heard a terrified gasp as I pulled a petite stowaway with a heart shaped face and blue eyes out of the pod.

  Joanna! Fuck! “What are you doing here!”

  “I need to...to know what Lansing knows,” she stammered. “And since you won’t tell me, I have to hear it for myself!”

  “You can’t be here. Get the hell off and go home.”

  “No! If he knows who killed Danny, I want to hear it.”

  Voices approached the shuttle. Lansing and his entourage.

  Shit! They were early!

  I shoved Joanna back into the pod, tossing my bag in next to her. “Stay the hell in there and keep your mouth shut, understand? Whatever happens, you don’t come out until I come get you.”

  I thought for a moment she’d argue with me. “Fine,” she whispered.

  I slammed the pod door shut as Lansing, his personal assistant, and two body guards entered the shuttle. I just barely managed a hasty salute.

  Brigadier General Andrew Lansing looked the same as I remembered. Iron gray hair and brown eyes. Square jaw. He wore a dark blue sweater over a white shirt, and his gray trousers sported a crease sharp enough to draw blood.

  He nodded a curt greeting. “Good afternoon, Lieutenant.” His voice sounded like gravel grinding against stone.

  “Good afternoon, Sir.”

  “I heard about Captain Darcy, I trust you’re just as competent a pilot?”

  “Yes, sir, I am.”

  “Glad to hear it. Are we ready to go?”

  “Whenever you are, Sir.”

  “All right, then. Let’s get on with it.”

  He moved down the aisle, taking a seat next to the view port. I waited as his guards and PA strapped themselves in. When they were all seated and comfortable I moved back to the cockpit.

  Time to get this show on the road.

  “Arcturon Control, this is Executive shuttle Bravo Seven Niner Seven requesting clearance to depart.”

  “Bravo Seven Niner Seven, roger. You are cleared to depart bay six in three minutes, seventeen seconds.”

  “Bravo Seven Niner Seven, acknowledged.”

  I maneuvered the shuttle toward bay six and eased out of the hangar. Lunar City and the Arcturon dropped away as I pointed the shuttle’s nose toward the Earth. I had eighteen hours to formulate a new plan.

  I’d better come up with something pretty fucking quick.

  ◆◆◆

  Five hours into the flight my calm had returned, and I’d worked out an uncomfortable plan B. I’d take Joanna to my father’s. He and I might have our issues, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t turn away a woman in trouble, and she’d be safe there until I could arrange for Kenny to come and get her.

  I’d closed the cockpit door but turned the intercom on so I could hear what went on in the main cabin. Lansing and his assistant discussed the problems associated with some kind of treaty agreement between the GF and the Sirtans. Eventually their conversation trickled to a stop. After listening to another hour of silence I decided I’d waited long enough.

  I set the shuttle on autopilot and stepped from the cockpit. Lansing looked to be asleep; at least his eyes were closed. His PA appeared to be engrossed in the reports he was reading. The guards were seated across the aisle. One sat with his back to me, his head resting on a pillow against the view port. The other played a VR game he’d plugged into the console next to his seat.

  He died without finishing his game.

  Lansing’s assistant was next.

  The second guard woke with a start, but my laser blast caught him before he could draw his own weapon.

  Lansing surged from his seat. My fist caught him in the midriff, driving the air from his lungs with an audible whoosh. I shoved him back down, trapping his arms with the safety restraints.

  “What...the hell...!” he managed to gasp.

  I leaned close, forcing the muzzle of the blaster under his chin. “Let’s talk about Ansaala.”

  A flicker of confusion passed across his face.

  “Six years ago, you dropped my unit into the Androsian jungle, then sent our allies to execute us.”

  “I don’t...know what you’re talking about.”

  “You disappoint me, Director. Considering all the trouble Delta Six caused you I thought, for sure, you’d remember.”

  “Delta...?” Realization dawned. “Captain Brassan?”

  “You owe me some answers.”

  “I don’t...have to explain myself to you. Not...after six years.”

  I smiled. A faint, cold smile. “Oh, I think you do.” I slid the blaster down his chest, shoving the muzzle into his groin. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to start relieving you of your body parts, beginning with these.”

  His face turned ashen.

  Glad to see I’d gotten his attention.

  “My unit was compromised, we had a rebel informant among us, and you know who it was.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t...don’t. Not for certain....”

  “But you suspected someone.”

  “I...maybe...I....”

  “Who?”

  “Morrison had a suspect in mind, but...he never told me who.”

  I leaned forward, grinding the blaster into his groin. “Bullshit, I know the regulations as well as you. If Colonel Morrison suspected a rat, he was duty bound to pass his suspicions on to you, along with a name.”

  “He said...he wanted to be sure...and then Delta Six was terminated and...it no longer mattered.”

  “Delta Six was my command, why wasn’t I...?” I cursed under my breath. “You thought it was me?”

  “No! Morrison’s investigation began...almost a year before you were promoted to Lachra. There were incidents...minor, but...worrisome. The rebels always seemed to be...one step ahead of us....”

  No fucking doubt; they had someone on the inside feeding them every move we made.

  “Let me get this straight. You knew, for over a year, that Delta Six had been compromised. And you did nothing?”

  “We had no proof!” cried Lansing desperately. “All we had were rumors—speculation— nothing could be substantiated!”

  “So while you and Morrison sat with your thumbs up your ass, this anonymous informant was free to do whatever the hell he wanted?”

  “I...suppose it would appear that way to someone who...was not directly involved in the investigation.”

  “Is that why you ordered the Androsians to execute us? No more Delta Six, no more informant, isn’t that right? No more headaches?”

  “I didn’t...I had no authority over the Androsians. An order like that would have come from...within their High Command.”

  “I’ll bet you could be pretty persuasive though, couldn’t you? Considering you had the power to withdraw all Terran military support from the system, they would have done whatever you wanted.”

  He swallowed convulsively. “It wasn’t...like that.”

  “Then how was it?”

  “Complicated...”

  “Simplify it.”

  He closed his eyes. “The civil war had dragged into its fifth year with no end in sight. The provisional government’s power base was crumbling. Corin Raas...and her Chakar Resistance had gained considerable support—not only within the general population but...within certain sectors of the High Command as well. There was a very real danger that her supporters could destabilize the government enough to cause its collapse. Something had to be done....”

  “What kind of something?”

  He hesitated and I adjusted my grip on the blaster. “Don’t stop now, Director. You’re doing so well.”

  Lansing drew a shuddering breath and whimpered. “The Interim President...ordered her arrest, but...he didn’t dare take the chance of sending her
to trial...not when he couldn’t predict the verdict. She was to be killed. Executed. Before she could be transferred to Orlakhan. It was hoped...that the rebel movement would die with her.”

  “Killed how?”

  “I...was never...given the specifics and it seemed more prudent...not to ask.”

  I’ll bet.

  “If the plan was to kill her, then why fire on us when we didn’t have her?”

  “I...I can only speculate....”

  “Why don’t you do that?”

  “The Androsians knew you had been sent to apprehend her...they were the ones who made...the initial request. But they had no way of knowing...she’d fled. What better way to...to undermine her credibility...than to blame the massacre of innocent civilians and allied troops on her and her rebels? A rescue attempt gone horribly wrong...if she were to somehow die in the confusion...so much the better....”

  “So, the Androsians destroyed Ansaala?”

  “I...believe so, yes. But...again, I have no proof.”

  “So what happened to Corin Raas?”

  “I have...no idea...we know she escaped to Lachra, but...we lost her there. One intelligence report suggested she was killed attempting to flee the planet.”

  I’d heard everything I needed to. Not that I was any more enlightened than I’d been before. “Anything else you’d care to confess?”

  He gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “Thank you, Director. It’s been a pleasure.”

  I considered, for one second, letting him go. Maybe crashing the shuttle. Giving him a fighting chance at survival. Then I thought, fuck it. I’d give him the same chance he and Morrison had given Delta Six. Besides, he was a loose end. I hated loose ends.

  I moved back to the cockpit and disabled the com-link and autopilot, then snapped open the compartment on the floor adjusting the settings on the hyper-drive, overloading the engine.

  I hurried aft, climbing into the starboard pod next to Joanna. “Strap yourself in, we don’t have a lot of time.”

  “What did Lansing say?” she asked as she slipped her arms into the shoulder harness and tightened the straps.

  “Later,” I said, pulling the door shut.

  The overhead light came on, bathing the pod in a faint blue-white glow. I switched on the control panel and the view screen flickered to life along with the compass and guidance system. I entered my desired destination: Western Canada, North America, then pulled the release mechanism. There came a loud clunk and I thought about strapping myself in as we dropped away from the shuttle.

  Oh well. Too late now.

  I angled the nose of the pod towards the earth then changed the view on the screen so we could watch the ship. It hung for a moment then exploded.

  Director Lansing and his bodyguards were on their way straight to hell.

  The plan B that had seemed so great back in the shuttle looked shakier by the minute. What if my dad wouldn’t help her? Then what?

  “What did he tell you, Gage? Did he give the order?”

  I struggled against a storm of frustration as I adjusted the coordinates in the guidance system. “You’re not supposed to be here, Joanna. I told you, I’d take care of it and get the truth back to you. Fuck.” I drew a deep, steadying breath. “I’ll have to take you someplace safe until I can figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do with you.”

  “I told you, I wanted to hear it for myself. Did you really think I’d go through all this, help you get close to him, and then just let it go? Danny was my brother, Gage. He was like a god to me. I have to know who’s responsible.”

  I closed my eyes. Even in my worst case scenario I hadn’t anticipated this.

  “Where will you take me?” she asked softly.

  “My father has a farm in western Canada. We’ll go there.”

  “He’ll be happy to see you.”

  “No, he won’t, but I’m a little short on options right now.”

  She fell silent as the image of the Earth grew larger, and soon we were being rocked and buffeted as we entered the atmosphere. The pod’s guidance system sent us in a circular arc toward the North American continent. I fired the retros to slow our descent as we passed through a thin veil of cloud and the Pacific Ocean opened up below us.

  The global defensive net would mark our descent, but I hoped they’d think we were too small to bother with. A radar blip the size of ours wouldn’t rank very high on the priority scale.

  I made a course adjustment and the pod angled northward, toward the vague brownish-gray land mass rushing up to meet us. If I’d calculated correctly, we’d come within thirty miles of Meyer’s Landing and my father’s farm.

  “Hold on,” I muttered, firing the retros again.

  We could make out visible land marks now; we were probably no more than twenty or thirty thousand feet up. The retros stayed on steady burn as the numbers on the altimeter wound down, and a dark green smudge accelerated toward us. Trees. We skimmed along the tops and heard the crack and thump of branches rattling off the hull.

  A meadow opened up below us. I banked left, towards a second tree line. The pod hit the ground with a solid thump, bounced once, and then smashed into the trees.

  My head hit the console and white light exploded behind my eyes as I was plunged into blackness.

  Chapter 9

  I woke to a thundering headache and the bitter taste of blood in my mouth. Sounds drifted into my fuzzy mind. Birds. Wind in the trees. I smelled wet leaves and the acrid scent of plasma exhaust from the damaged pod.

  I opened my eyes. I lay on my back in the damp grass. Morning sunlight slanted through the leaves above me.

  Jesus, my head hurt.

  How had I gotten out of the pod? Joanna must have....

  Where was Joanna?

  Probably left me to fend for myself while she waved down the nearest security patrol. I sat up, closing my eyes against the nausea that rocked me.

  A hand touched my shoulder. “Gage?”

  Okay. So maybe she decided to stick around in case I died or something. After all, someone would have to bury me.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Perfect, thanks,” I muttered. “How long was I out?”

  I lurched to my feet, leaning against the pod until the universe stopped its sickening tilt.

  “About an hour. It took me awhile to get you out of the pod, you’re heavier than you look.”

  Note to self: she’s five feet fuck all and she hauled your six foot three, 210 pound, unconscious ass out of an eight foot metal tube. By herself. She’s obviously tougher than she looks.

  “We can’t stay here,” I said. “The pod’s emergency locator beacon will tell them exactly where to find us.”

  “Can’t you turn it off?”

  I sighed with exaggerated patience, explaining it the way I would to a three year old. “No. I can’t turn it off. It’s not designed to be turned off. It’ll continue sending out an SOS in five minute bursts until the world ends or the battery dies.”

  “Jeez, you don’t have to get all snarky. And I’m fine, by the way. Thanks for asking.”

  My instincts were prodding me to get the hell away from the pod; it honestly never occurred to me to ask if she’d been hurt in the landing.

  I glanced at her as I reached inside to grab my bag. “You don’t look too badly damaged.”

  “Well, you do. Is there a first aid kit in there somewhere?” She nudged me out of the way, peering through the damaged hatch. “Here we are,” she pulled a silver case decorated with a red cross from behind the pilot’s seat. “Sit for a second while I clean you up.”

  I didn’t want to sit. I wanted to get the fuck out of that clearing and away from that pod before the cavalry showed up. I thought for a moment about arguing with her, but a wave of dizziness suggested that maybe sitting for a minute might not be such a bad idea.

  “So where do you suggest we go?” she asked as she wiped the blood from my face. “I don’t see much around here
but trees and grass.”

  I gritted my teeth against the sting of peroxide as she dabbed at the cut above my left eye and covered it with a small dressing. “We’ll walk till we reach the highway then follow it to the nearest town where we’ll rent a car.”

  She looked at me like I’d asked her to dance naked in Lunar City’s central square. “Walk?”

  “Yes. Walk. You know, one foot in front of the other? Of course, you’re welcome to sit here and wait for the security patrol if you like, I’m sure it won’t be more than six or seven hours.”

  She tossed the first aid shit back into the case and slammed the lid shut. “Maybe I’ll do that. They might be interested to know that you’ve just killed a very prominent government official.

  “They might,” I agreed as I got to my feet. Good. Not as dizzy now. “They might also be interested to know how I got past Arcturon security.”

  “You threatened my life, I had no choice!”

  “That excuse might have flown better if you’d stayed in Lunar City. Which is where you’re supposed to be. You invited yourself on this little adventure, remember? Stowing away on Lansing’s shuttle was your brilliant idea, not mine. I’ve got enough shit to worry about without having to look after you too.”

  “I don’t need you to look after me, I can take care of myself.”

  “Good to know. I’ll be on my way then.”

  She looked like she didn’t know whether to cry or kill me. “You’d just leave me here? In the middle of nowhere?”

  I looked at the sun, trying to get my bearings. It sat a couple of degrees above the eastern horizon.

  “Meyer’s Landing is this way,” I said, heading south. “Come. Stay. Whatever.”

  ◆◆◆

  We stumbled out of the bush just before noon. Another hour’s hike along a deserted secondary highway brought us to Lassin, a town about sixty miles from Meyer’s Landing, where I planned to rent a car to take us the rest of the way. The cut above my left eye throbbed and the side of my face ached along with my head.