The Pirate Guild

by Steven J Shelley

  “First, I think it’s time to get to know each other.”

  Fallon leaned in for a kiss. Charley felt her tongue impact against his unnaturally sharp teeth. Blood tricking down her throat, she allowed his tongue to worm its way into her mouth.

  “You know, I think everything is finally coming together for me,” he said when he finally extracted himself. His hand drifted to her ample cleavage, then down her hip, her thigh.

  “I track myself on certain indicators,” the bandit continued. “My virgin kill was the first sign I was destined for power. Amassing a fleet was another. Being able to spend half my time at the Purple Sands, free of charge, is yet another. But tonight, I might yet surpass myself. Killing a whore without anyone batting an eyelid is the perfect demonstration of power.”

  Fallon’s hand paused at Charley’s blaster. “Expecting trouble?” he asked with a sneer.

  “Not really,” Charley replied, reaching down to Fallon’s crotch. His surprised smile turned to a grimace of horror as he was lifted by the belt and shoved over the rail. The little weasel screamed all the way down the smooth pyramid face, eventually impaling himself on a flagpole over the casino’s main entrance. Charley watched in horror as the body spasmed its dramatic death throes before going limp. Screams rose from the casino and alarms went off in several locations. She heard urgent voices outside the skyhouse and, with a sinking feeling, realized that the entire island would now be gunning for her. Her wrist pad glowed green and she was filld with incredible relief when she heard Vin’s voice.

  he said.

  “I noticed that,” Charley said, trying not to panic. “Just tell me what to do.”

  came the quick reply.

  “’We’? Who are you -”

  But Vin was gone. Charley huddled against the balcony wall, watching the skyhouse interior with bated breath. The front door knob turned slowly. A blaster barrel appeared, then a man’s head. Wishing she had her targeting computer, Charley slowed her breathing and drew her plasma pistol. The intruder was creeping toward the balcony by the time she got around to aiming. The thug’s eyes widened in surprise as she pumped several holes in his chest. His body armor deflected several shots, but one hit a join in his lower abdomen and he fell with a cry of pain. A second bodyguard rushed into the skyhouse and this time Charley was forced to fire purely on reflex. Which proved to be razor sharp. Half the enemy’s neck was dissolved in an instant. The bodyguard had lost half his blood supply before hitting the ground. Charley took a step back, praying none of the blood splattered her designer dress. It was strange the things that entered her mind when her life was under threat. She stepped over the cooling corpses and locked the door. It wouldn’t keep Fallon’s goons at bay but it was a start.

  “Got any ideas?” she asked Vin over her com link.

  Vin advised.

  Charley heard gunshots over the com.

  “Vin? You OK?”

  came the droll reply.

  “A what?”

  Charley had no idea what Vin was talking about, but that was probably for the best. Clutching her pistol, she scrambled into the bedroom and found the closet. She huddled in a dark corner and waited for the inevitable attack. The skyhouse was silent for a full minute. Each second was like a dagger through her frayed nerves. Her heart lurched when she heard the front door shatter. That wasn’t a blast - it was a melee attack.

  “Search every room!” growled a non-human voice inflected with clicks and pops.

  Charley held her breath, knowing she couldn’t survive this scenario without divine intervention. She heard footsteps in the bedroom and her body tensed for violence. A Night Runner appeared in the wardrobe doorway and she fired at his head. She missed. Panicking, Charley squeezed out a second shot that managed to shatter the man’s knee. Next thing she knew, she was being dragged out into the skyhouse living area and deposited before two scaly, glistening feet. One of those feet stomped on her blaster and kicked it away.

  Charley looked up at a tall, bipedal reptile. Sporting a long snout and fiery, orange eyes, it was like a salamander in appearance. It carried a heavy particle cannon and its torso was crossed with ammo belts. The armor was the same dark blue as Fallon’s other guards. This imposing figure was the salukar Vin had mentioned. Yet another race Charley knew nothing about. The salukar peered at her with its weird, laterally-closing eyes. In the end, it simply chuckled. The sound sent a chill down her spine.

  “Really? This was the slut that did Fallon in?”

  In an unexpected move, the salukar dropped his gun to the floor with a heavy thud. Its scaly foot lashed out at Charley’s belly, sending her across the living area in crippling pain. She blinked through the agony, forcing her gaze on the towering salukar as he approached for a second strike. The beast clearly intended to beat her to a pulp. At the last moment, Charley tried to stand and defend herself. She’d learned a few basic moves from her brothers back home. Of course, none of that back water stuff was going to cut it against a highly trained salukar killer. The reptile blocked Charley’s feeble attacks and punched her in the stomach. If she hadn’t turned at the last moment, the blow would’ve compounded the first wound, surely killing her. As it was, the blow glanced painfully off the tip of her pelvis, almost cracking it. She wheezed in panic as the salukar lifted her like a feather and tossed her against the wall. The worst thing was the laughter of the other thugs in the skyhouse.

  She thought of Harry Teks, the devilish, intelligent old pirate who had more class in his little finger than any of these mindless thugs did as a collective. Heaving with rage, she removed a high-heeled shoe and lashed out at the nearest bandit’s head. Shaped to a fine point in the modern style, it penetrated the man’s skull. The other thugs looked on in shock as their colleague fell forward with a strangled cry. Charley clutched at her abdomen as if her guts were about to spill out. Her head rang with pain as she considered using the other shoe. A voice in her head reasonably pointed out that the likelihood of the same outcome was remote. The salukar chuckled a second time and stepped forward.

  “I’m gonna squeeze your head open and eat from it,” he drooled.

  At that moment a figure rushed the skyhouse in a dark blur. Charley got a glimpse of Vin’s rock-hard glare as he pushed her roughly onto the balcony. She had a vague impression her savior was tethered to the front door handle via utility cable. A split second later she was being scooped up and lifted over the balcony rail. Too frightened to scream, she clutched at Vin as the pair tumbled down the slick pyramid slope, hurtling off the edge of the facade and dangling ten yards from the garden beds at the front entrance. Vin tried in vain to reach the anchor point at the small of his back.

  “Can you reach the latch?” he growled.

  Charley fumbled for several pregnant seconds. Several casino patrons had gathered below. Vin looked up at her with a sudden thought.

  “Think they’ll cut the cable?”

  Slicing industrial grade triple thread steel cable was easier said than done. But on cue, the tension was released and they fell into a lush garden bed. Charley was left sprawled amongst the ferns but no bones were broken. Vin didn’t seem hurt either.

  “You’re a genius,” Charley gushed, stepping close to her pirate lover.

  “All pirates know ropes and cables,” he replied, eyes drinking her in, clearly glad she was safe.

  “Are you gonna stand there all night?” came a gruff voice.

  Charley saw the bulbous, pig-like mercenary who called himself Gronko hustle down an adjacent boardwalk and spray plasma bolts into the posse of Silent Runners emerging from the casino pyramid. Three enemies fell and the rest scrambled for cover.

  �
�What the fuck?” Charley asked aloud.

  “He’s not so bad after all,” Vin said, taking her by the arm. “Come on, we gotta get out of here.”

  35

  “We can’t go back to the villa,” Charley said, following Vin into the trees. “They’ll know where we’re staying.”

  Vin grinned. “Then we go where they won’t expect us.”

  At that point, Charley was just happy to be alive. She stepped out of her remaining shoe and hared into the thick foliage. Away from the boardwalks, the only light was cast by sparsely-positioned green lanterns. All she saw of Vin was the occasional flash of light off his cuff links. The sound of her footfall seemed loud in the eerie silence. The leaf litter felt sharp, and she shuddered to think what might be lurking under it.

  “Stay behind me,” Vin said from somewhere ahead. “Platoon of mercs inbound.”

  Charley’s heart went cold. How were they gonna handle a platoon of trained killers? She heard a sound some thirty yards to her right. No doubt about it - men were approaching from that direction. Gronko’s weapon sizzled in the sultry air. It was reassuring to know the big alien was cutting through the enemy ranks. All she could do was focus on getting through the jungle undergrowth in one piece. She could feel herself sweating through what was once a designer dress. If only she had a weapon. And where was Vin? On the verge of panic, she stopped and peered into the trees. She didn’t know which path he’d taken. Bursts of fire flared ahead - probably Vin. Her heart thumping wildly, Charley picked her way through the trees at a much slower pace. Her vague plan was to evade the approaching mercs and rejoin Vin once they’d passed through. A fanciful notion, but the only one she had. Breathing hard, she crouched under a fern and listened. The men she’d heard earlier were stomping through the bracken about fifty yards to the east. She could see the beams of light cast by their night scopes.

  Hoping she was safe for the moment, she allowed herself a deep breath. A man’s arm pressed against her neck. No, not a man’s arm - a snake. The constricting variety. She barely dared to move a muscle as the thing moved round her neck and slithered across her back. It would run a couple more coils and begin crushing the life from her. Numb with fear, Charley stumbled through the bracken, knowing she didn’t have much time. She saw a beam of light ahead and made straight for it. The beam locked on her and she heard a grunt of triumph. The python closed in on her neck with steady power. The thing must’ve been longer than five yards the way she was dragging it behind her.

  “What the …” muttered the merc.

  Charley could really feel the predator pressing against her now, its rippling muscle clamping down on her windpipe. She walked straight toward the bandit, who took an involuntary step backwards and fired his rifle in panic. The shot splattered chunks of snake in all directions. The cloying scent of burnt flesh assailed her as the thing released its grip and fell to the ground. For a moment the bandit didn’t know who to look at. That was his last mistake. Charley grabbed hold of the man’s rifle and pulled hard. The thug didn’t let go but fell forward, tripping over the snake. His downward momentum allowed her to wrest the gun from his grip. Before he could scramble to his feet, she removed his head with a single shot to the base of the skull. She looked at the rifle with immense relief - she now had a weapon and was inclined to use it. The python slithered off, probably to die. Feeling like a badass for the first time ever, she crouched low in the bracken. Plasma fire flared through the trees and she hurried towards it, coming across two men in a glade. For the moment, their attention was on the opposite wall of jungle. She shot one in the back, melting a fair portion of his armor. The stricken bandit turned and fired on her position, but she’d already taken cover behind a gnarled old trunk. More shots erupted from the dark jungle. Vin. Charley popped off more rounds, taking advantage of the bandits’ poor position. Trapped in a pincer attack, they both fell under weight of fire. As she crossed the glade, Charley nudged the bodies with her foot. Dead enough.

  “Come on!” Vin hissed at her.

  Charley followed him through a woodland rife with the croak of frogs and the hiss of lizards. The terrain opened out into a shallow bog. Charley didn’t relish plunging her feet into the soft, foul-smelling mud but there wasn’t much choice. Up ahead, a floodlit villa entered her view. Sentries patrolled the balconies and roof. Vin drew Charley crouched behind a tall bank of reeds.

  “Fallon’s villa,” he revealed. “Gronko tells me there’s good intel in there.”

  Charley’s eyes widened. “Killing Fallon wasn’t enough? The whole island is trying to kill us, Vin!”

  The pirate shook his head irritably.

  “Fallon’s head is one thing, really screwing the Silent Runners is another.”

  Charley immediately knew what was going on here. “Treasure?”

  “What else?”

  Charley had to admit the prospect of killing Fallon and scoring a payload was deeply appealing. She supposed she must have pirate blood flowing in her veins.

  “And the renki?” she asked.

  Vin began moving through the swamp in a low crouch.

  “He’s just a fucking assassin,” he said dismissively. “Like we thought.”

  Trying to ignore the mud clinging to her dress, Charley scurried low. “Then why was he helping us?”

  Vin threw Charley an amused glance. “His target was Fallon.”

  Charley mulled that over. It was heartening to know that she and Vin weren’t the only ones prepared to take on the Silent Runners. Her burly partner stopped and beckoned her over.

  “Get down,” he said quickly.

  Charley grunted as he pushed her down to all fours. She glared at him as he rested his plasma rifle on her back. A bandit on the roof of the villa was just turning in their direction when Vin let off the sweetest shot, necking him in the Adam’s apple and sending him off the roof without so much as a yelp. Provided there wasn’t anyone watching on the other side, that was one kill that wouldn’t be noticed in the short term. Vin nodded in satisfaction and hustled toward the deck extending from the villa’s back entrance. Charley wondered why the island’s most powerful man would choose a villa next to a swamp, but then again the valley was perfectly secluded, providing security on all sides. Two crazy pirates could never be planned for.

  “Vin!” Charley called out as a bandit rounded the corner of the building and lowered his gun at the big pirate. Firing from the hip, she neutralized the enemy’s firing arm. Vin followed up with a second, killing blow to the forehead. The pair swept into the ground floor, surprising two bandits as they chatted in front of a huge lightscreen running an interactive porn fantasy. Charley rushed between two projected legs as they spread wide. She fired into the abyss that opened up and drilled a hole in the back of the closest creep. The second was thrown back into an enormous, pixelated cleavage when Vin popped him with a burst of plasma. The thug smashed through the glass wall near the front door. The noise attracted two Runners standing outside.

  “Nice gun,” Charley said she followed her partner upstairs.

  “Yeah, Gronko had one in reserve,” Vin said.

  “How touching,” Charley quipped as she charged down a hallway and into an empty gym.

  “I’ll check the upstairs bedrooms,” Vin muttered, heading back through the door. “Watch the doorway. Fire first, think later.”

  Charley huddled behind a cardio-rack and watched the doorway intently. A rush of footsteps preceded a bandit rolling into the room, plasma rifle pumping furiously. Fragments of gym gear went flying as Charley huddled low. The bandit’s entrance had been sudden and she took a moment to find her target again. He was propped against a weights station and had her firmly in his sights. She ducked low and commando crawled around the rack. Plasma blasts fizzed passed her ears as she brought her rifle to bear on the firing assailant. Three blasts into the stomach sent him falling backwards. Another two to the head closed the deal. She cursed under her breath, wishing she had the targeting computer to clean
up her aim.

  Expecting more heat, Charley turned to the door. The second bandit must’ve chased Vin upstairs. She saw a ripple of reflected light in the next room. A spa of some kind. Just to be thorough, she went to have a look. Light shimmered from a beautiful, bottom-lit, 25-meter lap pool. Steam drifted off the surface. The water was lined with pretty floating candles. Soothing music sank into the relaxing, semi-open chamber. Charley was about to leave when she heard a gentle splash. She directed her rifle at the cowering figure.

  “Step out, now!”

  Naked and frightened, a young woman hauled herself from the pool. Judging from her lithe body, augmented chest and the fact she was in Fallon’s villa, she must’ve been an escort.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” Charley said gently. “I’m just here for Fallon’s loot.”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “You can’t take that,” she stammered. “You don’t know what he’s like.”

  Charley noticed the burn marks on the girl’s thigh. It was obvious she’d been abused, and fairly recently at that.

  “I killed him,” Charley said with more relish that she intended. “Fucker is stuck on a flagpole.”

  The girl gaped at Charley, unwilling to believe it was true.

  “I heard the shots,” she eventually said. “I guess I’m not dreaming after all.”

  “How long have you been here?” Charley asked suspiciously.

  “Three years,” the girl said, lowering her head. “Apparently I’m due to be replaced. Or so he kept telling me.”

  “The coward’s dead now. You’re free to leave. Start a new life.”

  The girl sank to her knees, not knowing what to do with herself. Her tormentor was dead but she had plenty of emotional baggage to work through.

  “You should dress,” Charley said, tossing her a clean towel. “Can you tell me where the safe is?”

  The girl pointed to a small adjoining chamber.

  “Fallon was paranoid,” she said venomously. “I think he installed a safe under the hot coals in the sauna.”