I shook my head. "You are not fine. You are practically defenseless right now. We will do as I stated and be back in a little over an hour. Stay here with the door locked until we get back, even if we are late."
We left the hotel room and made our way down the stairs to the lobby. After carefully exiting into the street outside, we walked a kilometer, always trying to stay in the shadows or have a place to run to, should trouble arise. When we arrived at the factory, it became clear that it had already been picked over by the salvagers. We pushed forward to the second factory only to find the same result.
On our return walk, we began to inspect stores, warehouses, and homes. We came across a street lined with low-income row homes. The first house we entered had not been touched. I stripped a sheet from a bed, and we piled all the nonperishable food into the middle. I folded up the sheet and threw it over my shoulder.
Garmon laughed.
I spoke. "What?"
Garmon pointed to the white sheet bag. "I used to have a Human coworker friend. Every year his family would celebrate some holiday where a fat Human in a red suit would bring toys to the Human children in a white bag like that. They called him Sanda or something like that. What have you brought us today, Sanda?"
I smiled and replied, "Today I bring you canned Borak meat and dried minia beets, but you are not allowed to play with your food."
Layda shook her head. "You two are a strange pair."
As we walked back toward the hotel, I had a sudden feeling of calm come over me. That small interchange of what was arguably not even humorous had taken my mind off the state of things, if only for a few minutes. My troubles all seemed like troubles that I could work to resolve. Garrett’s original ship would free a planet of slaves. It would also give us a ship that would allow us to safely travel the Omega sector, a feat that would allow us to gather the resources we would need to take back SS241 and to eventually mount a sustainable search for Joni Salton.
As we rounded the corner onto the street that our hotel was situated on, I froze in my tracks. Two helocycles were parked in front of the hotel. I dropped the sheet full of foodstuffs and sprinted with my blaster raised. When I reached the front door, I peered into the lobby. No one was there.
I moved quickly to the stairwell and listened. No indication of the salvagers could be heard coming from above. I sprinted up the steps three at a time until I reached the floor where Jallis was recovering. I slowly opened the door and listened. Low voices could be heard.
I moved up to the near corner and looked around. The door next to Jallis’s door had been kicked in, and two salvagers were rummaging around. I quietly walked over to peek in the door and came face to face with a Harpian salvager.
I grabbed him by the neck and pushed him backward. His skin was oily in my hands, making my grip around his thick neck tenuous at best.
I spoke as I aimed my blaster at his partner. "You…gently remove your weapon and throw it on that chair."
I looked at the Harpian that I held in my hand. "You do the same. If I sense anything going on, I won’t hesitate to squeeze this trigger on either one of you."
The second Harpian nodded, slowly lifting his weapon and depositing it on the chair beside him. The Harpian still in my grasp dropped his blaster on the floor. I motioned for the second Harpian to move to the side.
He spoke. "This is an abandoned planet. Everything here is fair game!"
I replied, "You mean, everything that hasn’t been claimed already. This is ours."
The second Harpian raised his hand and spoke. "OK, it’s yours, we’ll leave. It’s a big city out there. There’s plenty for everyone."
I shook my head. "I think you misunderstood. When I said this is ours, I meant this planet is ours."
The first Harpian spoke. "You can’t claim a whole planet!"
I replied as I squeezed hi neck, "I just did."
I spoke as Layda came in the door behind me. "Pick up their weapons. Where’s Garmon?"
Layda replied as she stooped, "He’s checking on his brother."
Garmon yelled out. "He’s hurt! Come quick! Help him!"
I looked at the two Harpians. "I take it you already visited the room next door. If my friend is hurt in any way, you are going to pay and pay dearly!"
The first Harpian panicked. "It wasn’t me, it was him! Your friend couldn’t move, so I said let him be! He dragged him from the bed and started kicking him for the fun of it!"
The second Harpian snarled at his partner. "And you laughed!"
As Layda reached for the second weapon, the free Harpian jumped, grabbing the weapon from her hand and firing a bolt in my direction. The midsection of the Harpian in my grasp exploded as I returned an equally deadly bolt. When the melee had ended, I was standing with little more than the shoulders, neck, and head of the Harpian in my grasp while his midsection was splattered across my abdomen. Layda lay on the floor, covered in the gut and bone of the other, stunned, but unhurt. I dropped the remains and hurried to the other room.
Jallis was conscious. "I’ll be OK. Only a few bruises. I think he thought he had done more damage to me because of the way I was screaming. I would give anything for a pain shot and a room with a magnetic healer."
I looked over his body for other injuries. "A magnetic healer?"
Garmon replied, "It’s a device that our doctors use. It speeds the healing of muscle and soft tissue. It is only effective on Feldons."
I gently lifted Jallis and set him on the bed.
He looked at my chest and then over at an equally bloody Layda. "What happened to you?"
Layda frowned. "I was slow and almost got us killed."
I pointed to the bathroom. "Go and clean yourself up. Garmon and I will go get the food. We found a pantry that had yet to be looted."
Garmon spoke. "The food is at the top of the stairs. We moved their helocycles inside to a storage closet."
I turned to sit on the end of the bed. Jallis spoke. "Hey! You are disgusting! Don’t get that mess on my bed. I am stuck here!"
I looked down at my chest and began to laugh. For only a moment, I was returned to that peaceful calm I had experienced a few long minutes before. Garmon and Jallis each joined in the laughter as Layda closed the bathroom door.
I said, "Well, Jallis, I think I have created a problem for us."
Jallis replied, "What’s that?"
I smirked. "I declared that this planet was ours. I’m afraid we may have to defend it from all the salvagers now."
Jallis smiled. "So much for lying low while we wait."
I nodded. "Tomorrow I will take Garmon. We will see if we can locate one of the magnetic healers you spoke of. I will leave Layda here with a blaster to watch over you and the food. Those two Harpians each had a blaster, so we now have three."
Jallis spoke. "Any of the hospitals or large medical facilities would have had one. They are only useful for the one purpose. You should be able to locate one if the salvagers haven’t destroyed them. Garmon knows what they look like."
After getting cleaned up, I went down to the storage unit to check on the helocycles. Both were disgustingly filthy, but in good operating condition. They would greatly speed our ventures out into the city. They would also vastly extend the range away from the hotel that we could safely travel during daylight hours.
The following day, a magnetic healing unit was located and retrieved. Within hours after its application, Jallis was showing improvement in his ability to move with less pain. Two additional runs were made for food stores. Enough rations were collected to last for several weeks.
On the third day after I had been dropped on Effica, Garrett returned. "Go made it to the ship and is working his way back. Two of the security stations questioned his credentials, but could not find any reason to doubt them after as much as a full day of delay. When he arrives at SS226, he will not request the final jump to SS241. Instead, he will fly the final five days without his transponder on. There is a lot of empty space out
there, and I don’t expect him to have any other issues. If he can manage those final eight portal sweeps that he has remaining, he will be here within a week."
I replied, "The timing couldn’t be better. Jallis is on the mend and should be in good shape by then. Has there been any word from Telfor?"
Garrett nodded. "I have been camping out in that area when not on runs for the Governor. Word is that more than half of the planet has been liberated. The Talisans are focusing on stabilizing the mines they still control. They don’t want to kill the slaves that have escaped. The slaves are viewed as assets that need to be put back to work. They are trying to figure out how to deal with that."
I sat in a chair. "How did the delivery of the artifact go, and have you asked around about any others the Governor may have picked up?"
Garrett replied, "I can’t snoop around openly like that. I delivered the suit to him at the dinner. He was quite pleased when he opened it up. I don’t think he has any idea of its value other than as a relic. Several of the people he was showing it to commented that it wasn’t a battle suit. To them, it appeared more like a uniform. Either way, the Governor was very happy to have it.
"Once he was alone, I asked if he had other artifacts from that era, and he said yes and that he would love to show them to me someday. I told him that I would keep my eyes and ears open for other such items, to which he smiled and gave his approval. He then said that he thought he was close to discovering where the artifacts had originated. He thinks it’s somewhere in the Mensa sector."
I crossed my arms. "Suggest to him that you would like to be involved in that search. If he ends up trusting you enough to show you his collection, he may place full trust in you when it comes to searching. He has to have someone in charge of that, and with the cronies he had surrounded himself with, I can’t imagine they are very intelligent. The Governor likes to surround himself with muscle."
Jallis raised his hand. "What of Telfor? What are we going to do when your ship arrives?"
Garrett replied, "The Talisans have forty-two gunships in orbit there. I believe it to be the vast majority of their fleet. I have little doubt that the Jess can handle all forty-two, as they are little more than converted transports. The armor plating is crude, and the cannons on the Jess won’t have any problem with cutting through it. Their ion cannons are weak; however, if you don’t have armor on your ship, they would easily destroy you. They won’t harm the Jess."
Jallis smiled. "Their fleet is their power. Take that away, and they will go back to being nothing more than pirates. I should like to see them exterminated for what they have done."
Layda charged into the room. "Salvagers have landed and are crawling about on your ship!"
I stood, taking Layda by the arm as I pointed back to Jallis. "Watch him. If anyone comes onto this floor that is not us, don’t hesitate to shoot if they don’t leave immediately."
Layda scowled. "Anyone comes on this floor that is not one of you three, and I will shoot first. They have no business being here."
I held up my hand. "There are salvagers who are good people. All I’m saying is, don’t kill if it isn’t necessary. If you kill an innocent, you make enemies of those who knew them. If you hear blaster fire from below or from outside, then, don’t hesitate to shoot."
We raced out of the room and down the stairs to the lobby. The Jess was parked two blocks from the hotel in a vacant lot. When we reached the corner of the building that led out to the lot, we stopped to evaluate the opposition.
Garrett was the first to peer around the corner. "I see an easy two dozen out there. They look like the Harpians you killed earlier. I would bet they are looking for their friends."
I said, "Take up defensible positions."
Garrett grabbed my arm. "What are you doing?"
I replied, "I’m going to find out their intentions. If they are just here to salvage, they will pick up and go to another sector of the city. If they have other things in mind, they will let us know. Ether way, we can’t let them take or damage that ship."
Garrett again pulled on my arm. "If you go out there, they have an open shot at you. If they want that ship, it will take them days to break into her. She has a solid frame. They also won’t be able to fly her without gutting her systems."
I shook my head. "They are salvagers; they would be happy with gutting her. Now, release my arm and take up a good position. If hostilities start, they will be following me around this corner. Let them make it to the end of this building before firing. That should leave them fully exposed for ten or fifteen seconds. We should be able to cut their number in half in that time."
Garrett released my arm and turned toward the entranceway of the building beside us. "Don’t get yourself killed. I still need your help!"
I smiled as I stepped out from the corner. "You! Salvagers! Get away from my ship!"
Several seconds of silence passed before the first ion bolt came my way. I fell, rolling backward behind the wall of the building as it impacted the ground a few meters to my left. The spray of dirt and sand was anything but comfortable, but again, my thick skin kept me from injury. I stood and sprinted toward the far end of the building.
The others had taken up their firing positions, lying in wait for the salvagers to follow behind me. They did not come.
Several minutes of silence passed before Garrett signaled me over the comm. "They either left or are waiting for you to show yourself. Keep your position. I’m heading up to the roof to get a look."
I replied, "When you get there, hold up your arm pad and snap an image. Inspect that image from behind cover. I’m working my way to the back of the building."
Garrett responded as he ran up a flight of stairs. "Just don’t expose yourself. Garmon, stay where you are. If they try to come around the front, pin them down; you are in a well-protected spot."
I reached the back of the building at the same time Garrett blew the door to the roof off its hinges. I used the distraction to extend my arm beyond the end of the building, capturing an image of the surroundings before pulling it back.
I spoke into my comm. "I have four salvagers moving down the alley towards my position. Two others I can see remain crouched near the Jess."
Garrett thrust his arm up into the air and pulled it back. Repeated blasts began to pound the top corner of the building where he had been standing. He scrambled back towards the door.
An image came over the comm. "I see eight by the Jess, four in the alley, and six approaching the front of the building. That leaves a half dozen unaccounted for. I would guess they have either dropped back for help or are working now to outflank us. I can’t get near that roof’s edge to get a shot off."
I stepped out from my corner, catching two of the Harpians as they attempted to cross to my side of the alley. As one exploded from my ion bolt, the other sprinted back for cover. I took aim and placed a bolt into the construction block wall just above his position. The blocks exploded, pelting the Harpian salvager with concrete debris. A second shot forced him into the open, where my next ion bolt found its target.
Several blasts then impacted the wall high above my position as I slipped back around the corner. After a three-second wait, I again stepped out, catching the two other Harpians as they attempted to flee the alley. I knelt and took careful aim as the runner on the right exploded. The remaining Harpian from the alley then disappeared around the corner.
Garmon then opened up in the front alleyway. I sprinted the length of the building, stepping out from the corner with my blaster raised as I arrived. Two Harpians approached Garmon’s position from the side. Two well-placed shots ended their advance. The four remaining salvagers turned to flee; only three made it back to the building corner.
Garrett again moved out toward the edge of the building, thrusting his arm up and back again, capturing another still image of the area around his ship. The act again brought a flurry of ion fire. As Garrett turned to retreat, the roof of the building gave way beneath
him. The supporting walls on that story of the building had been blasted away. As the roof collapsed, it slanted back towards the Jess and the Harpians. Garrett began to slide toward a position that would leave him fully exposed.
Garrett yelled, "I’m in trouble!"
I sprinted to the front of the building just as Garrett reached the building’s edge. He was in plain view of the Jess, and of anyone around her that wanted to take the shot. Nothing happened.
As I stepped out from the corner, the last of the Harpians was slipping away behind the far building. The third floor of the building had collapsed, leaving Garrett clinging to the second-story edge.
"Drop and roll.", I said. "The salvagers retreated."
Garmon joined me just as Garrett let go and dropped the eight meters to the ground. A hard roll prevented any more than superficial injury. I moved over to Garrett, helping him to his feet.
Garrett brushed himself off. "That was about ten seconds of terror that I didn't need."
I replied, "They are gone, but they will be back after dark. Get the Jess and take her back to orbit or at least to a safe location. We will go back to see if we can fortify the hotel, if it can be fortified, otherwise, we will move elsewhere. We need to go now; they will be back."
Garrett nodded and turned toward the Jess as a small explosion went off underneath her port wing.
Garrett scowled. "I hope that’s not what I think it was!"
We ran to the ship to inspect the damage. Garrett opened the hatch as I went under the far wing to check for damage. Garmon took a position where he could protect us from the alley where the salvagers had run.
Garrett came over the comm. "She’s not going anywhere for a while. They took out the inertial dampener. The engines won’t move her at much faster than walking speed now. That protection is a built-in to keep us from killing ourselves with too much acceleration. We are now stuck here."
I replied, "I think the dampener is OK. The blast severed the control lines running to it. If we had the proper tools, we could have her back flying in a day."
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