Smuggler's Legacy

by Bradford Bates

  Samantha flashed a quick grin my way before facing forward and staring at her feet. Fuck, if she had read my thoughts through our bond then I was in trouble. Sure the bond had been fading, but it wasn’t gone yet and every now and then I caught her smirking in my direction. It wasn’t my fault that I thought about things that Maze would have killed me for. I’d never act on those feelings. At least I was pretty damned sure that I wouldn’t. Wasn’t it coded in male DNA or something down at a genetic level that you had to fantasize about women you couldn’t have? It didn’t hurt my feelings when I saw Maze check out a dude, so maybe it was just coded in all of us.

  None of that really mattered now that the train was moving. My only goal was to get sixty women from point A to point B without any harm coming to them. I didn’t plan on ruining my reputation by fucking up such an easy job. Hopefully a few bad guys would show up and make us look good. Otherwise it was like we got paid for doing nothing. Granted, that didn’t sound that bad. If members of the galactic senate could do it why couldn’t we?

  I looked over the car I was in again. Nothing was out of place, and no one was trying to push past me to get into the next car. So far so good. “Everything is clear on my end.”

  “All clear here as well,” Maze replied with just a hint of disbelief in her voice.

  I knew how she felt. You didn’t get hired for a protection detail to have everything go right. That almost never happened, at least not on guild runs. We were always hired for when shit was about to or already had hit the fan. That and smuggling, we did a lot of smuggling. Hey, people needed things to get places, and going through official channels cost time and money most corporations didn’t want to waste. We just skirted the system a bit, and people everywhere were happier for it.

  Maybe I should have been the one to go undercover, just sitting in a seat looked nice and relaxing. On the other hand, I’d be standing here for the next six hours. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but it came with the job. I was sure Maze was doing the exact same thing while staring out of the back of the train. At least she had a great view, I was going to be stuck looking at the same ten people for the rest of the day.

  This was the part of the job no one talked about when they were out recruiting. When the guild recruited mercs, they always talked about all the action you would see, all the women you would meet, and the travel. Sounded good right? Sure it did, that was until you had to stand outside of a conference room door for eight hours. Thankfully we picked our own jobs, so I didn’t do this kind of work often. One thing was certain, I was damn well going to pick something more exciting for our next gig.

  The train took a slow turn, entered a tunnel and then accelerated. We came out of the tunnel moving quickly. The landscape seemed to almost be blurring by now. I didn’t know what they called this area of the planet, but it could have been called a wasteland or a desert. Lots of dirt and not a lot of anything fucking else. That and you probably wouldn’t see any wildlife. In short, it was the perfect place for an ambush if you had a vehicle that could keep up with a high-speed train.

  Right on cue Maze came over the comm. “We’ve got company approaching from behind.”

  “Gabe, how are we looking up top?”

  “You’ve got four vehicles coming in from the rear and two from each side.”

  I knelt down to look out the viewport. Sure enough I could see the clouds of dust on each side closing in on our position. “Since we can’t be a hundred percent certain they are here for our ladies, we are going to adopt a wait and see what happens kind of approach.”

  “You sure about that, Captain?” Gabe responded.

  “Yep. Now if they start unloading men on the train you have my permission to blow up their vehicles as they leave.”

  “That’s more like it, Captain.” Gabe sounded truly excited about the possibility of dishing out a massive amount of destruction.

  “Glad you approve. Let me know if you see any more trouble.” I looked to the front of the cabin again and waited for Samantha to look at me. “I’m going to join Maze in the back, call if anything comes up.”

  Samantha just nodded her head. I turned and walked into the empty first car. It had seemed like a good idea to take the two cars at the back of the train at the time, but now I was thinking we should have taken the first two after the conductor’s car. Knowing where we are now, if I was one of the bad guys I’d just uncouple the last two cars and then wait until the passengers gave up. There wasn’t going to be any help for us out here, at least not in time for it to matter.

  Colleen moved into my car. She grabbed my arm, her face tightened with tension. “Is everything all right?”

  “Nothing we can’t handle.” I tried to say it with as much confidence as I could because she looked rattled. If she broke then I’d have sixty frantic women on my hands, and trust me when I tell you that no man wants to deal with that kind of drama, ever.

  She didn’t look as reassured as I hoped. “Can you move all of the girls into this car?” Colleen frowned. “Just temporarily, of course.” I tipped my hat to her and moved into the next car with her at my heels.

  Colleen took control of the girls and had them all moved into the next car before I made it to Maze. Her gaze was fixed on the back of the train and the four clouds of dust that would reach us in the next few minutes.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think you should have let Gabe rain down death from above,” Maze said never taking her gaze off our potential enemies.

  “But what if they aren’t here for our clients?” It sounded lame to my ears even as I said it.

  Maze turned to look at me, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. “Even if they aren’t, those bastards aren’t up to anything good.”

  “And that’s our problem how?” I held out my hands in a placating gesture. “Our only concern is for the people we’re paid to protect.”

  Maze turned back towards the approaching vehicles. “Sometimes you can be such a dick.” She paused. “All it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.”

  “All the good men I know are dead.” Maze just shrugged her shoulders. I wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted from me. It was true, not having a flexible moral code would get you dead in this line of work faster than if you came out of FTL in an asteroid storm. Still, if it was going to make the lady happy then we might as well get involved.

  Maze was still watching the vehicles edge closer when I lifted my rifle. “This one is for you, baby.” I let a few shots fly towards the lead vehicle. The red beam streaked across the open space until it hit the windshield. There the energy dispersed across the surface. The next three bolts had the exact same effect. These vagabonds had some good tech, which meant they had a major player behind them.

  Maze patted me on the arm as she lifted her own rifle. I was still thinking about what it meant that our potential threat was that well-funded when Maze’s shot rang out. Her bullet ripped through the center of the windshield causing the buggy to swerve. I could see the smile on her face from where I was standing. Despite my earlier reluctance and what I said, I was warming up to the thought of a good fight. I kinda liked knocking some people down a few pegs. You know, when it was appropriate, of course.

  There was still one thing I needed to do before the rest of the little buggies got close. “Light ‘em up, Gabe.”

  “You sure?” he responded through the comm.

  “Fuck yeah I am.”

  The Talon swooped in from above and to the left of the train. The two armored buggies didn’t even know what hit them when Gabe opened fire. The large guns blew holes in the vehicles the size of my head. Two down, six to go.

  The Talon started to circle around for another pass. “Hey, don’t forget to save some of the fun for us.”

  The Talon banked hard and then rolled in the air as it passed the four cars closing in from behind. The large guns opened up again taking out the two vehicles approaching from the right. The explosion that
followed was epic, but the vehicles were close enough now that our antics were starting to draw some attention from the other passengers on the train.

  Two of the buggies behind us broke off, and I watched as twin missile launchers rose from the back of them. “Get the Talon out of here, now!” I shouted it just as the first of the missiles launched into the air. The Talon almost seemed to stop in midair, and then it rocketed straight upwards as if they were going to try and break atmo. The first missile exploded against her shields, the next three blew up in the flares and shrapnel Ice released as they soared out of sight.

  “You better not have gotten a scratch on my ship,” I growled into the comm.

  “Quite frankly, Captain, I’m offended you felt the need to say anything,” Ice smoothly replied while she flew the Talon.

  “Well after what happened on Regelous Four, you can’t blame me for showing a little concern. These jobs don’t exactly cover those kind of repairs.”

  “Hey, that wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know those pirates had acquired a shield disruptor?” Ice said, sounding slightly defensive.

  “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” I turned to Maze. “Time to take out the garbage.”

  “My pleasure,” she said as her rifle roared to life.

  The two armored buggies directly behind us accelerated forward trying to close the distance before Maze could do any more damage. The two that had the rocket launchers deployed swerved to the side and moved ahead of the train cars we were actively protecting. I watched as three men from the right side used some kind of grappling device to jump onto the train. It wouldn’t be long before they were inside. The surprise was going to be on them when they ran into my vampire.

  “Samantha, get ready for some company.”

  “I’ve been waiting to hear that since I had to put on this ridiculous outfit.”

  “Don’t feel too bad about it darling, I’m sure all of the murderous scum heading your way will appreciate all of the effort you put into looking your best.” I was hoping for a laugh or two and I wasn’t disappointed.

  Maze snorted behind me and took a shot at a man climbing out of the roof of one of the buggies. His head snapped back, and he tumbled out of the vehicle. The men behind us didn’t stop though, they just accelerated moving past our line of sight.

  “They damned well better,” Samantha snarled. “At least I don’t have to worry about getting blood on these clothes. I’ll never be wearing them again.”

  “Well try and keep the bloodletting to a minimum around the other passengers. They might take offense if you start ripping men’s throats out with your teeth.”

  Laughter filled the comm. “Oh, all the passengers left when they thought the crazy farmer’s daughter was talking to herself about killing people. So now I can do my thing however I want.”

  I tapped Maze on the shoulder. “Samantha’s got the front covered. Let’s lock this door down and head inside.”

  Maze had already slung her rifle on her back and had both of her pistols ready for action. It seemed like giving her orders was just a waste of time. We had been working together for so long she already knew what I was going to do before I said it. My pistols found their way into my hands, and I was ready for some action. If these bastards wanted in they were going to pay for it in blood.

  The only way in now was through the sides or the roof of the train. The back door was locked, and Samantha wasn’t going to let anyone past her to uncouple the cars from the main train, so all we had to do was wait for them to make a move. Apparently, these guys were done wasting time, because sparks started to fly from the top of both train cars at almost the exact same time.

  It was kind of reckless to cut your way into a moving train, but criminals didn’t get paid for being smart. Smugglers on the other hand, well, we were ready for just about anything. Maze moved into the next car to cover the hole they were cutting in the roof. Leaving me in position to cover the holes they were cutting into the roof of this car.

  When the door closed behind me I let out a little sigh of relief. I was more than happy to let Maze stay in the car filled with screaming anxious women. This car was relatively silent minus the grinding of the saw through the steel of the train. It wouldn’t be long now before they cut all the way through.

  It took a moment of staring at the sparks gently floating down into the empty car for me to realize what was going to happen next. I knew if I was up there I’d probably toss in some kind of flashbang to disorient whoever was inside before attempting to breach the train. I started running towards the back of the train as I heard the hole they cut in the roof fall into the car. Ripping the lock open, I stepped outside and closed the door just as they threw something through the hole.

  Even after I turned away from the small explosion it was hard not to see the bright white light. The door did enough to muffle the sound so my ears were only ringing instead of bleeding. I opened the door and knelt down with my pistols at the ready. I had almost made a rookie mistake. It was funny how you think you are too old to screw up the simple things, but every now and then you find yourself slapping your forehead over something simple that you almost missed.

  The first man jumped into the train, and I waited to open fire until his partner followed. The man’s eyes widened slightly when he saw me. Not that it did him any good. Before he could even lift the weapon in his hand a bolt from my pistol slammed into his chest sending him staggering into the other man. I had the feeling his armor had saved him from death, but that wouldn’t last long.

  Rising to my feet, I continued to fire at the two men as I walked forward. The repeated blasts from my pistols were enough to keep them from getting me into their sights. A few wayward bolts flew past me but nothing close enough to write home about. I didn’t look up as I ran past the opening in the ceiling, I just kept moving.

  The two men might have been unconscious from the repeated bolts their kinetic armor had deflected, or they could have been faking. I slapped two new energy packs into my pistols and then lifted the first man’s head just enough so I could fit the barrel of the gun under his chin. One shot made sure he wouldn’t be getting back up, and his helmet kept the bolt from exiting his head. A little less mess when cleaning up was always appreciated by someone. The second man didn’t move as I finished him off.

  Standing, I continued towards the door to see if Maze needed any help. It was doubtful, but you never knew, this could be the one time I got to save her ass. She was always saving mine, it would be nice to finally return the favor. My hand closed around the handle to the door, and then I slammed into it head first as a blaster bolt caught me in the back.

  Thankful that I had my own armor on, I pretended to be dazed and slid down the door to my knees. At the last moment I spun around and fired my pistol. The bolt struck home, and it did just enough damage to push my attacker’s next shot wide. He managed to get off one more shot before my pistol brought him down. As he hit the ground, I kept up the barrage until I could wedge the barrel into something vital to end him.

  A shot went off, and the man’s head exploded. Turning, I found Maze standing there with a smug smile on her face. “That one didn’t count, I already had him.”

  “Sure you did,” Maze snickered as she slung her rifle onto her back.

  “Fine. You can have the kill, but I’m not cleaning that shit up.”

  “I’ll take care of the blood if you get the bodies off the train.”

  “Whatever. Just cause I’m a man doesn’t mean I’m the strongest one here.”

  “Well at least you are finally realizing your limitations,” Samantha huffed as she walked in dragging four corpses behind her.

  On my best day I would have been able to lift one of these men at a time. She was carrying four like it was nothing. Maze moved out of the way to let her pass. Her dress was ripped and had a little blood on it but nothing that would have indicated she ripped her victims limb from limb.

  “So how did it go?”
I asked bending to pick up the headless attacker.

  “They’re dead, and I’m not. So pretty well overall.” Samantha grunted as she added one more man to each pile.

  Now she was just showing off. I mean fuck. If I had that kind of strength I guess I would show it off as well. She was probably pulling seven hundred pounds with each arm, and she hadn’t even broken a sweat. Wait, did vampires sweat? I guess that was a question I could worry about finding out the answer to later. I tossed my lone body off the back of the train and watched as it bounced a few times before coming to a stop.

  Ducking back inside the doorway, I moved around Samantha and took my position next to Maze. “How is our client taking things?”

  “She’s just happy to be alive. They’ve moved into the next car, and she requested a word.”

  Well, things never got dull, did they? “You can handle the rest of this, I take it.” I waved my hands around indicating all the blood.

  “Of course.”

  Maze started to remove something from her vest as I turned and headed deeper into the train. I didn’t need to know what she had. I’m sure it was some newfangled gadget that would make cleaning up the blood super easy. I had more important things to do like seeing to our client’s needs.

  Colleen beckoned to me as soon as I entered the train car. “That was some very impressive work, Captain. How would you feel about extending our contract until we are safely off-world?”

  “Guess it really depends on how much you can afford.” She scowled at me. “And of course I am going to have to charge you an additional fee for hazardous duty.”

  Colleen patted my shoulder and laughed. “Oh, Captain, I do love your little jokes.” She smiled and looked me straight in the eyes. “All you have to do is get us to the station, flying through space can’t be that hazardous for a man with a ship like yours.”