Smuggler's Legacy

by Bradford Bates

  My screen flashed, and the information rolled across it. We would get about seventy percent of our credits back, but we would also be able to move around the planet with impunity. Not that our contract would keep the Solaris Corporation out of our business. They wouldn’t like us poking our noses in where they didn’t belong, and kidnappings were bad for morale. Worse for morale was some off-worlders flashing around credits showing people that there might be a better way to live off planet.

  Ice dropped off of her call and slumped back into her seat. The fact that she was really heading home must have finally hit her. It wasn’t going to be easy for her when we got there. If I really thought she would follow the order, I’d have confined her to the ship. Knowing that she wouldn’t stay put meant we were going to have to keep our heads down, which wouldn’t be easy in a tight-knit mining community. People might not recognize her right away, or at all, but I’d feel better not putting her under any undue scrutiny.

  I pushed off the wall I had been leaning against and walked over to Ice. “We got this.”

  “I know.” Ice bent over the controls and checked our flight path before engaging the FTL drive.

  It wouldn’t take us longer than a day to reach the planet. When we did, I wanted everything ready to go. Our last run in with a crazy cult had gone pretty well for us, and not so well for the men that had abducted Kyra. Still, there was always room for improvement. Those crazy bastards only had clients, this cult would have devout followers. The main difference being we were going to need more ammo. I’d sneak along a few less than lethal options too, but if it came down to their lives or the life of any one of my crew they were dead, and I’d still sleep like a baby.

  When I got to the armory, Gabe was already there. He had three rifles laid out before him. Two of them were shiny from being cleaned, he was still reassembling the third. I noticed that he had an array of pistols and blasters out as well. It seems as though I wasn’t the only one that wanted to be prepared.

  “Anything I can help with?”

  “Nah Cap. I’ve got this. You just make sure our girl is ok,” Gabe said with a smile.

  “Not one for the emotional stuff, are you Gabe?”

  “Never really seen much of a reason for it. We do what we need to do to stay ahead in this world. Angry, sad, winners, losers, it’s really all just a matter of perspective, Captain.”

  “You’re kind of scary sometimes.” I gave him a complete once-over, glad that he was on our side and not the other way around.

  “See what I mean?” Gabe moved his hand back and forth between us. “If I was an emotional man, that might have hurt my feelings. Instead, I’m choosing to take it as a compliment about the level of critical thinking I bring to the team.”

  “Delusional as well,” I said with a laugh.

  This time Gabe joined me. “I might be at that, Captain. But I’m probably the happiest person on this ship. I live my life by my own terms, and if I ever need a change, I wouldn’t hesitate to make it.”

  That I would believe. Gabe’s always been a lookout for himself kind of guy. That was why it surprised me when he felt so strongly about helping Ice. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was up to something. Frankly, as long as I continued to pay him more than he would make on the open market I wasn’t too worried about it. He might get a better offer someday. On that day I’d have to watch my back.

  Turning away, I waved over my shoulder at him. If he had prepping our weapons under control, then I was going to have to find something else to do. There was no way in hell I was going back to the bridge. Ice, Kyra, and Maze were up there with a bottle of wine and a whole lot of mushy feelings. I’d had just about enough of my feelings for one day.

  That left my cabin or the gym as the place to be. I patted my stomach, not exactly liking what a week off and unlimited food had done for it. So the gym it was. People always liked to say that it was harder to stay in shape as you aged. I’d never really believed them, but in my forties I had to work out twice as long to keep the same body that I had in my twenties. Maybe it was just vanity, but I liked to tell myself I had to work this hard just to stay alive. First rule of being a mercenary was: fat mercs were dead mercs.

  Walking into the gym, I paused and tried to pick my jaw up from the floor before she saw me. With no chance of not being seen, and since fleeing from someone that worked for me wasn’t exactly a real option, I just stood there staring. I gave Samantha a halfhearted wave as she looked up at me from between her legs.

  She was wearing some kind of stretchy pants that left nothing to the imagination. On top of that, she was fully bent over with her hands wrapped around her ankles and her legs spread in some kind of stretch that only a deity of yoga could master. It had taken me a moment to realize she was still looking at me, as my eyes had been firmly locked on another part of her body. She straightened and turned to face me with a playful smile on her face. That was when I knew I was in trouble.

  “Why Captain, I do believe I just caught you staring at my ass.”

  Turning away from her I started to strip out of my clothes and quickly dressed in my workout gear. “I think that was probably just shock. I mean, is it even humanly possible to be that fucking flexible?” I tried to keep the frustration from being caught out of my voice, but I was a hundred percent sure that I didn’t succeed.

  “If you like flexible, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

  I turned around to see her in another stretch. This time I made sure to keep my eyes on hers. She let out a little huff of disappointment and stood up. One point to me. Not only did I successfully avoid staring at her ass, I managed to do it while recovering a sliver of my dignity.

  “Well, now that you have control of yourself again,” she pouted, “care to get in a little sparring practice?”

  Ugh, I knew it. There was no way she was letting me out of this gym without hitting me a few times. Yes, I stared at her ass, but did that mean I had to get the shit beat out of me for an hour before we were even? “Actually, I just wanted to get in a quick session on the weights.”

  “When I’m done with your sorry ass you won’t be able to lift your arms. Come on, let’s go.” She dropped into a fighter's crouch.

  Well, it had been worth a try. I let out a sigh resigning myself to the inevitable torture that was sure to follow. “Just remember that last time we were here I almost won a match.”

  “You mean, when I almost let you win because I was afraid your ego wouldn’t fully recover after having a woman kick your ass that many times in a row.”

  “To be fair, Maze was kicking my ass around for years before you showed up. I’m kind of used to it. I mean, not all of us can be genetically modified badasses. Some of us have human limitations.”

  “So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” Samantha said as she started circling me. “All I’m hearing is a lot of excuses for how you’re going to end up dead on our next mission without my help.”

  “Help would be if I could walk after we are done.” I lashed out as I finished speaking hoping to catch her off guard. She easily parried the blow. I know, cheap shots weren’t exactly classy, but an old dog like me had to rely on as many tricks as possible to stay one step ahead of the younger competition.

  Samantha pushed the attack to the side and then launched herself at me. Her fists flew at me faster than I could track, each blow coming in rapid succession. If she had been a normal woman, I would have let them fall as I pushed forward to overpower her. With Samantha that option didn’t exist. She had all the power, and she knew it. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but she was also faster than I was. I blocked her punches, feeling the power behind them. I was going to be bruised in the morning. The worst part about it was I knew she was still just toying with me, she could end this fight at any time.

  Samantha kept the attacks coming, and all I could do was retreat and block. It was working perfectly until I bumped into the wall and didn’t get a knee up in time. Her knee slammed in
to my stomach doubling me over. Gasping for breath, I knocked away her offered hand. She held it out again, and this time I grabbed her wrist. Pulling her arm over my body, I launched to my feet spinning and throwing her over my shoulder as I did. Samantha slammed into the wall and fell to the floor in a heap.

  No way I was falling for that trick. I fucking invented it. Not to mention that I’d seen her heal from a knife that went through her chest in a few seconds, so I knew my little toss against the wall hadn’t done any real damage. She waited a few more moments for me to give in and then flipped to her feet. Her eyes flashed red for a moment. Thankfully they were back to the same piercing blue color as always when she charged at me.

  This time it was a series of kicks that came my way. The first kick I blocked actually lifted me into the air. After that I stopped trying to block like I would with anyone else attacking and started using my blocks only to redirect the force of her attacks somewhere else. The kicks stopped, but the punches continued. She slowed momentarily, and I put everything I had into an attack. It hurt me just a little to know she was giving me this opportunity. Samantha needed more practice on her defensive moves, and the only way she would get it is if she slowed down to my level. It had to be frustrating for her, knowing she could win at any moment while she let me punch the crap out of her.

  Finally, one of my hits got through her guard and glanced off her cheek. She paused as I backed away and wiped a tiny bit of blood from the corner of her mouth. Her glare intensified as she looked at the blood on her hand. While she was distracted, I shot forward dropping to my knees and grappling her legs. Samantha hit the ground heavily next to me, and I managed to throw an elbow into her stomach before she flung me away. I rolled three or four times before coming to a stop. I looked up, and she was standing over me. If this had been a real fist fight, I would have been dead before I got back to my feet. Just another subtle reminder that she was the ultimate badass.

  This time I took her proffered hand and let her help me up. There was no shame in it. I was old, and getting tossed around was a young man’s game. Still, it felt good to get in some real work. The last thing I wanted was for my skills to get rusty. You couldn’t always rely on having a gun, or being the biggest and the strongest.

  “Not bad, Captain. Want to go a few more rounds?” Samantha asked calmly as she looked me over.

  I was panting and out of breath. Every muscle that I had hurt, and hurt badly. There were already yellow bruises on my forearms that threatened to turn deep purple by the morning. “I’d be happy to, but I don’t think my body can take it.”

  “You know I can make all those bruises go away, right?”

  Yes, I knew that she could heal me instantly. Her blood also intensified the bond that we shared. I wasn’t so sure that was a good thing, and I knew Maze damn well thought it wasn’t. Samantha had never given us any reason to doubt her, and she never pushed us to keep the bond intact. Maze’s bond with her had completely faded. I didn’t know if that was because of her cybernetics, or the fact that after being healed, she had never taken another drop of blood.

  For me the blood was a double-edged sword. The bond didn’t worry me too much, and the benefits were outstanding. I felt younger, full of energy, and completely healed of any ailments the second I took it. That kind of feeling was better than any drug I had ever tried and was equally addictive. The last thing I could afford to be was addicted to Samantha.

  “I’m fine,” I said with as much bravado as I could muster. She reached out and grabbed my arm making me wince, ending any hope I had of looking manly.

  “You sure don’t seem fine.” Samantha bit her wrist and held it out to me. “One little lick should fix you right up.”

  I’d never been considered a strong man when it came to my vices. As long as they didn’t hurt anyone else and didn’t jeopardize my mission, I was known to indulge in all kinds of things. I pulled her wrist to my mouth trying to shrug off the smirk she gave me. Two licks and I already felt my body healing. Damn, it felt good.

  Samantha pulled her wrist back from my mouth and in the same motion, spun around with a kick I wasn’t completely ready for, and I took it straight to the ribs. I heard something crack, but by the time I climbed back to my feet I felt fine. “So that’s how it’s going to be.” I dropped into a fighting crouch.

  “Damn straight,” she said, launching herself towards me with a smile plastered all over her face.

  All I could think as I got my guard up was, here we go again.

  Chapter 14

  Drake

  Sometimes I really hated visiting a new planet. This was one of those times. As the Talon glided over the city heading to the spaceport, the inequality of the living conditions became increasingly apparent. Most of the massive city was covered in single story squat grey structures that tried to suck the life out of you even from ten thousand feet above them. I couldn’t imagine growing up in one of those.

  One family per one thousand feet of living space all crowded in together on twelve hundred square foot lots. What did you pay for the privilege of living in one of these depressing structures? Almost your entire paycheck. Add in food and the cost of water and power, and the sixty hours you put in the mine still left you owing the company money. It was basically slavery, but because goods and services were exchanged, it wasn’t strictly illegal.

  Sure, you could leave the planet. Right after you paid off your debts and found a transport that was willing to take you off world. Good luck with that. Most of the air traffic was controlled by the Solaris Corporation. They preferred to deliver the goods off planet. They didn’t want clients flying in and seeing what I was seeing now. The company did all they could to make it impossible to leave, and stowaways were punished harshly and publicly. It didn’t leave you with many options, except to keep slaving away in the mines. Most of the people below us had been born and raised here for generations. Almost all of them would be trapped here until the day they died.

  Then there was the other half. The company goons and paper pushers. I could see their tower lit up in the distance. The damn thing had to be two hundred stories tall. This is where the rich got pampered, each level more lavish than the last. The fucking tower looked like a beacon of light. It might as well have been the stairway to heaven for all of the splendor the building had compared to the rest of the city.

  Turning away from the window in disgust, I looked over at Ice. She was handling her first look at home in nearly ten years better than I would have expected. This place must have brought back so many memories for her, and based off what she had told us, most of them were not of the warm and fuzzy variety.

  Ice flicked a button on the console to accept an incoming call. I motioned for her to put it on speaker. I didn’t know if they had voice recognition software, but the last thing I wanted was for the company to figure out Ice was on board before we had a chance to land and push our rights to be there.

  “Ship designated Star Talon, you have entered a restricted planetary zone. Please return to twenty thousand feet before exiting the atmosphere.”

  “Control, this is Captain Drake of the Star Talon. We have accepted a guild-sanctioned contract and have every right to land via the Mercenary Jurisdiction Act. Are you refusing us the right to land?”

  Ok, so I was laying it on a little thick. Technically, they didn’t have to provide us with a place to land, but I knew the company would want to keep an eye on us, so they would want to have our ship in a location they could control. Solaris also wouldn’t be providing us any assistance, unless they sent someone with us to try and monitor our progress. Really, all they were obligated to do was not openly hinder our investigation, but if we were successful they would take credit for the win despite their lack of any real contribution.

  “Star Talon this is Control. You have been cleared for docking at the spaceport. Slip sixteen has been made available for you. Please remain on your ship until a representative from the company arrives to greet you.”
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  “Message received, Control. We will dock at slip sixteen and wait for your representative before departing.”

  The Talon banked as Ice entered the new coordinates. A quick look at the screen let me know we would be docked within ten minutes. I didn’t know how long they planned to keep us waiting, but if the wait was longer than I was comfortable with then they would be in for a surprise. I was of the opinion that they could stuff their etiquette right back up their pompous asses. There was no way I’d be waiting around on this ship for days while Ice’s brother was in trouble.

  “Gabe, Maze, Samantha, gear up. I want to be ready to go when we hit the ground.” All three of them were already in the cargohold. I didn’t wait for a response before I cut the comm line.

  “Captain, didn’t they ask us to wait onboard?” Kyra asked.

  “Yeah, and if you think I’m not coming you are out of your mind,” Ice added.

  “Sure, they asked us to wait, and I’m willing to give them a little time, but I’m not willing to sit on the Talon for days before they send someone to see us. Solaris knows that time is money when it comes to mercenaries. They also know that no one on the surface could have put up a bounty that would keep us here longer than a few days. I have a feeling they’ll try and wait us out. I’m not going to let that happen.”

  I turned from Kyra and fixed Ice with my glare. “I want you on this ship, butt in that damn chair.” She tried to interrupt, but I held up a hand to stop her. “At least in the beginning. Let us do some digging before we run into any problems.”

  Ice’s eyes oozed with anger. “You’re going to need me. These people won’t talk to you even if you are trying to help. You’re an outsider, possibly a company plant. They will only open up to one of their own.”