Smuggler's Legacy

by Bradford Bates

  Flattery generally worked on me, so the madam was hitting all the right buttons. Still, this time I knew it was all bullshit. I held all of the power in these negotiations. If she had anything other than a simple transport ship lined up then she wouldn’t be asking for our assistance. “Thirty thousand credits will get you there, plus another ten thousand to cover any potential damage to my ship. If you want us to jump to FTL, it will cost you more.”

  “That’s outrageous. I could hire another ship for a third of that.”

  “You could, but you won’t.” I pointed towards the hole in the top of the train. “Those boys out there were packing some serious hardware. They had armored vehicles with ground to air missiles, and that kind of manpower doesn’t come cheap. My guess is you’re being chased for something other than being whores. People don’t spend that kind of money just to get a few more girls working the trade.”

  “And if I were to hire you, you would guarantee our safety, and not ask any further questions about the origins of our trip.”

  I mimicked locking my lips closed and throwing away the key. “I don’t get paid to look for problems where there aren’t any. If you have the credits, we’ll get you to your destination.”

  Colleen stuck out her hand, and I shook it. “Then we have a deal, Captain.”

  “Just so long as you understand the Talon doesn’t have fancy accommodations for your girls. They are going to have to make do with what we can offer.”

  “We’ve dealt with worse.” She pointed towards the holes in the top of the train cars.

  “Well then, I get the feeling you are going to feel right at home.”

  I stepped away from her and opened up a commline to the Talon. “Gabe, I’ve got some good news for you.” The line remained silent, but I could just imagine the smile that covered his face from ear to ear.

  Chapter 5

  Captain Drake

  “Best job ever,” Gabe said, flashing a mile high grin.

  There was really no disagreeing with his statement. This extension of the job was a pretty sweet gig. It would have been just a little bit sweeter five years ago when I would have been able to take full advantage of the situation, but even now looking over the sixty women crowded in our common area I couldn’t help but smile. Sometimes being a smuggler meant you had dangerous cargo, and there was nothing more dangerous than sixty of Damnation’s finest escorts. Even in their traveling clothes, these women would have stopped traffic in any of the core’s biggest cities.

  Man, even when they were dressing down these women had enough exposed flesh that it required a little closer examination. That made me just slightly uncomfortable, as the past had proved I wasn’t able to make the best decision when there was a beautiful woman in the mix. Still, that wasn’t exactly the problem. The problem was what Maze would do to me if she caught me gawking for too long.

  The last thing I needed was for her to think I was trying to get a little too familiar with our client and her merchandise. I’d been on the receiving end of Maze’s fist for making bad choices before, and even this old dog learned to avoid triggering new and exciting incidents that involved me getting pummeled by her cybernetic strength.

  So sixty of the hottest working women in the verse were off limits, and despite my reputation for overindulging, I was ok with that. That didn’t mean I couldn’t get in a few quick glances before I had to leave the room to do captainly stuff. Not that my crew needed me telling them what to do. They were the best in the verse for a reason. So good in fact, that it almost made calling me captain redundant.

  Nudging my shoulder against Gabe’s, I whispered to him. “Just remember these ladies are our clients, and if you want to partake in their particular brand of entertainment you need to negotiate a fair price with them just like everyone else.”

  “Captain, nothing about how these women look is fair,” Gabe said, his eyes wide as saucers and roving across the women as they got settled for takeoff.

  It was true. Everything these women did was targeted to seduce you. Even on the Talon when they were dressed for travel, every movement they made tried to draw you in. Thankfully, or maybe un-thankfully depending on how you looked at it, it wouldn’t be me ending up with a drained account and a week full of hazy memories. That duty now fell to Gabe as the only single man of questionable repute left on the ship. I guess Samantha could dip her toe into uncharted waters as well, but I’d never picked up the gay vibe from her. Too bad, seeing her making out with another woman would have been glorious.

  Looking around the room one more time, I tried to take in more than just the exposed skin and tight outfits. These women were young. Young enough to earn a premium for their work, but not young enough for me to shoot the lady they were working for. Their madam, Colleen, looked like a veteran in her line of work. She held herself with a quiet dignity that a few of the politicians I worked for could learn a thing or two about. Colleen’s eyes moved over the women keeping a protective watch over all of them. I had no doubt that any man foolish enough to harm one of these women would find out just what it looked like when a grizzly protected their cubs.

  As if on cue, Colleen caught my eye and gave me a curt nod before turning and shepherding some of the girls towards the last remaining seats. I nudged Gabe again. “Just make sure you don’t cross the chaperone. She looks like the type to take personal offense if you don’t treat her girls right. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she had a sharp knife and a case full of man parts hidden amongst her things.”

  “Captain, even the threat of castration isn’t enough to keep me away. Plus the only way any of these women ends up hurt with me is if they get too attached. I’m a love ‘em and leave them type of lover, not a fighter,” Gabe said with a cocky grin, taking a step forward into the room I was trying desperately to get out of.

  “Just remember you still have work to do on this boat.”

  “Come on, Cap. We’ve been working for three months straight. I think I deserve a little downtime.” Gabe pleaded with his eyes worse than a puppy looking for scraps.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. Shit, if I wasn’t dating the most dangerous woman in the verse I’d be escorting a sizeable number of them into my bunk as we hit atmo. “Fine.” I spat out with more than a little jealousy clouding my thoughts. “Just remember why they hired us, and be ready if I need you.”

  “Those pirates would have to be dead stupid to mess with the Talon after what we did to them on the surface.”

  “No one ever accused pirates of being smart.” That was if it was even pirates that attacked us. The men we encountered on the surface seemed a little too organized to be pirates. That and pirates liked to attack from the shadows, and only if the odds were in their favor. Attacking planetside, in full view of the public, against a moving train wasn’t their style. So if they were pirates, someone else was pulling the strings.

  Gabe watched me, waiting to see if I was really going to let him indulge himself or if I had just been screwing with him when I told him it was ok. I slapped him on the back a little harder than was needed. “Jesus, just go already.” He had better remember this moment next time he had something to bitch about, I knew that I would.

  “And you really don’t think you’ll need me.” Gabe’s eyes were filled with hope.

  I could tell he wasn’t above begging if that’s what it came down to, but he was right. We had been working our asses off for the last three months, and he deserved the chance to relax. This should be the easy part of the job anyways. It was one thing to attack a train on some hick world or to attack an unarmed shuttle, but it was something totally different to take on a warbird like the Talon. We had the resources and the crew to take on three ships twice our size and come out ahead. A dinky little pirate ship wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Gabe was right though, we could all use a real break. That lucky bastard was just going to be getting his started a little before the rest of us. I’d kept us moving since the events on Serenity St
ation and Mars. Nothing said I’m ready to be a dead smuggler like making yourself a sitting target. So I’d taken whatever jobs were available through the guild to keep us moving. Most of them just paid enough to cover the cost of fuel and a few credits of extra spending money. But that was enough to keep us in the black, to keep us safe.

  The Talon was our home, but even I was thinking it would be nice to park somewhere for a bit and stretch my legs. That almost never happened to me. I felt more comfortable surrounded by the black than I did on any planet. The black was freedom. Something you couldn’t find in the core worlds, and even in the midrim it was getting harder to live a truly independent life.

  Maybe it was just that we needed some real work. Our talents were wasted on guard duty and flying cows to other worlds. That job had also come with the extra bonus of having to clean shit out of the cargohold for a week. Not that moving contraband didn’t have its upside, but I was looking for a little more risk and a hell of a lot more reward. We weren’t going to be able to do this forever, and if I ever had to retire I wanted to do it in style. Otherwise you might as well just space me. It was time to get back into the game. We needed something big to stay on top, something to announce to the underground that Captain Drake was back in business.

  Dr. Marcom had seen fit to leave us alone, and I was taking that as a sign that it was time to move on. If the N.E.A. wasn’t going to be sniffing around the Talon, then we could do more than jump from job to job. It was time for us to settle in, and make some real fucking credits.

  I realized Gabe was still waiting for me to give him the final go-ahead for his little working vacation. Since we didn’t plan on any real trouble coming our way, I couldn’t deny him the chance to have a little fun. “Like you said, those pirates would have to be spaced to pick a fight with the Talon. Go and enjoy yourself.”

  His eyes lit up like the cheap neons at a county fair. They were big and round like he had finally won the prize he had been scanning credits for all night, and in a way he had. Gabe tipped his electric blue cowboy hat and added a drawl to his voice. “I’ll make sure to keep Betsy by my side, Captain.” He patted the gun on his hip. “You know, in case your little milk run turns into something more adventurous.”

  I watched Gabe walk into a room full of women and couldn’t help but smile as they engulfed him. It brought back memories, but that kind of living was a younger man’s game. I had everything I needed in Maze, and if I didn’t, then she would hit me until I remembered that I did.

  Casting one last longing look at the ladies, I turned and headed for the bridge. Gabe was right in one respect, it paid to be ready. We weren’t being paid like this was a milk run, but unless whoever was after these women had a fleet at their disposal we would be fine. Once any other captain got a reading of the Talon’s weapon systems they would probably bugger right the fuck off, unless they were spoiling for a fight. If it came down to that, we would give them one and we would win.

  The verse was full of all kinds of scum, and most of them weren’t shy about being willing to kill you to get what they wanted. We could deal with pirates, and probably even the slavers as long as it wasn’t one of the bigger outfits, but what if it was the furies? Nothing said scary like a cult of people that were just as likely to kill and eat you as each other. There had only been rumors that they had been coming in from the edges of space, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true.

  Our price for this little run wasn’t cheap, but neither was losing a load of working women and the profits they generated. I didn’t envy the life these women had chosen if they had chosen it, but most of them would be able to retire before thirty and spend the rest of their lives doing whatever they wanted. How was what they were doing now any different than the time I had spent with the N.E.A. being farmed out to one corporation after another to do their dirty work? At least these women were honest about what they did and who they were.

  Shaking my head, I slipped out of the room and into the hallway leading toward the bridge. Life had a funny way of reminding you of your failures when you were least expecting it, but without failing you could never become great at anything. Looking back on my life, I was happy with where I was now and not ashamed of the things I had done to get myself here. I looked up to see Maze waiting for me in the hall.

  Maze leaned against my shoulder stirring me from my thoughts as we continued walking toward the bridge. “Hello there, pretty lady.”

  “Just because this ship is full of twenty-somethings with limited clothing and bright smiles doesn’t mean you’re going to get some in this hallway right now.”

  My feet stopped moving, and I turned to face her. Maze’s eyes sparkled with mischievousness I hadn’t seen since Samantha joined our little crew. I pushed her back against the wall and kissed her fiercely on the mouth. Moving those kisses down against her neck I murmured up at her. “You’ve been watching my vids again haven’t you?”

  Maze slapped me on the back and started laughing. “You wish.”

  I moved up her neck and back to her mouth, keeping her pressed against the wall as I kissed her again. I pulled away just to tease her for a moment before looking into her eyes again. “Wait until you see what the pizza man does.”

  “Well, a man needs to be properly paid for bringing you pizza,” she said with a laugh.

  “Just like I need to be properly paid for being Captain.”

  Maze laughed again and squirmed away from the wall. “Maybe later, slugger.” She wrapped an arm around my waist, and we started walking back towards the bridge. “You know, after you get those women out of your head and can properly focus on what is right in front of you.”

  “Oh, I’m very focused on what is in front of me.” I slipped my hand down to her butt and gave it a little squeeze.

  She turned towards me, trailing a finger down my chest as she spoke. “I do seem to remember you had a distinct lack of focus this morning.” She batted her eyelashes up at me.

  There was no way to stop the huskiness from creeping into my voice. “We should get together and work on that as soon as we get off this rock.”

  “I’d like that.” Maze smiled up at me before she pulled away and slapped me on the chest. “But don’t think for one second you can hire one of those girls to join us. So help me Drake, if I even smell one of them on you, I’m going to cut off your balls.”

  “I’ve grown rather fond of my balls. I’d kinda like to keep them right where they are.” I couldn’t help but smile at her. Maze was fierce and loyal. Exactly the kind of person I needed to keep me in line. That and she had a healthy habit of seeing right through my bullshit, which kept me on my toes.

  “Just remember what I said, and they will stay right where they are. If not, well, just say sayonara to your little friends, lover boy.” She turned and headed back towards the common room.

  Was it wrong that part of me hoped that she was going in that direction to do the exact opposite of what she said, and that when I returned to our cabin I’d find her in there with another lovely lady along for the ride? If I wanted to keep my balls in place then that probably wasn’t the best idea, so I fired off a snarky comeback. “That goes for you too, hands off the clients.”

  “Sounds like wishful thinking on your part, or maybe just the start to another one of your vids.”

  “Hey, just because they were under my bed doesn’t mean they were mine. I’m a smuggler after all.” Oh, they were mine, and now I knew that Maze had at least seen some of them. One point to Drake.

  Maze mimicked catching something and slapping it on her butt as she turned the corner and went out of sight. I stopped walking long enough to think what a nice ass it was, and that I still couldn’t believe that I was lucky enough to have her in my life. She was my everything, and the last few months had only shown me how much I actually relied on her without even knowing it. That and she really wasn’t wrong to doubt me. My love life had a bit of a checkered past, and most of it hadn’t ended well, but only a handful of m
y previous lovers had tried to kill me. That had to count for something, right?

  Maze had only hinted about our clients, but I knew she was also referring to the flirtatious vampire that awaited me on the bridge. Just because I might have dreamed about having both of them in my cabin at the same time, didn’t mean it was something I really wanted to happen. Samantha and I had fallen into a pretty easy truce as of late. She knew I was off limits, but I still thought she was hot. That meant she would flirt with me to make me a little uncomfortable but never pushed it to the point that it crossed the line. Well, at least not with me. Maze was a different story. Samantha really enjoyed pushing her buttons.

  Samantha kept things interesting, and well, that was good for me. It helped me to appreciate what I already had. The flirting was all verbal, and never included any touching. Part of our little cease-fire might have been influenced by the bond we shared. I had the feeling she picked up on how I really felt about Maze even though I was epically bad at saying it out loud, and had decided that it was time to move on. Not that there were a lot of options for a hot young vampire on the ship at the moment. Richard was more like her dad, Ice and Kyra swung in a different direction, and ever since Gabe had stabbed her through the chest almost killing me in the process, well let’s just say Gabe didn’t stand a chance with her.

  Still, it was hard not to remember those brief glimpses of her creamy white flesh. Shit. Maze was right; I was just an old dog that didn’t know any better. But a man could change, I could change. Tossing my thoughts of Samantha into a box, I locked it, and blasted it out the airlock. It was good to have a little fantasy in your life, just not the kind that could get your balls chopped off.

  Not to mention the fact that it wasn’t exactly productive to be thinking of someone naked when you were about to run into them, especially when they had an ability to read your thoughts and use them against you. That just made it downright dangerous. So I mentally dressed up the naked image of Samantha I had dancing around my head. This time it was in baggy sweats. With that process completed, I walked onto the bridge.