“But you’re not one of them, not anymore.”
Ice let out a growl of frustration. “Drake, it’s my brother. I have to be there.”
That was a feeling I understood. If it was anyone of the crew who was missing I would want to be there personally. I doubted anyone would ever be able to talk me out of it. I stared back at Ice to make sure she knew I was being serious. “Fine, but you have to do three things for me.”
“Name them,” she replied in an instant.
“I want your hood up and your mouth closed.” Ice nodded back in acceptance, so I continued with my third demand. “I also need you armed.”
Ice shook her head from side to side. “I don’t carry a weapon, Captain. Not ever.”
“You do if you want off this ship while we are here. Not only do you have to look the part, but you need to be able to protect yourself.”
“Captain, I can’t. Not after what happened last time.” Ice shuddered.
I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and waited until she looked me in the eye. “If you want off this ship, you’re going to have to put whatever baggage you are carrying around aside. Otherwise you’re a liability to the team.”
I could tell she was fighting through something. I let her have a moment to compose herself, but I meant what I said. She wasn’t getting off this boat without a gun strapped to her hip. We had enough to worry about out there without having to keep an eye on Ice as well. If it wasn’t her brother missing we wouldn’t even be having this talk, I’d have left her on the ship in an instant. Ice is one hell of a hacker and an even better pilot, but she wasn’t a killer. What I needed standing next to me out there was someone that wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger.
Ice’s internal struggle seemed to come to an end. Her tears dried up and her gaze turned firm. She looked back up into my eyes. “I’ll carry a gun, but I’m not using it.”
“Not good enough.” My gut clenched as her face fell, but I needed her to know how important this was. “Ice, if it comes down to a them or you situation I need to know you’re willing to pull the trigger. I’ll do my best to make sure that never happens, but if it does and I call on you, I need to know you can do this.”
“I won’t let you down, Captain. I won’t let anyone hurt my family.” Ice’s face showed me nothing but stone cold resolve.
“Good. Meet me in the cargo bay in five. We’ll get you geared out.”
I left Ice standing there. She needed a few moments to mentally prepare for what she was about to do. That was ok, it was hard to take that next step. The step from carrying a weapon to actually contemplating using it on another person was a big one. Ice had obviously suffered some kind of traumatic event when she left this hellhole, but she was still playing whatever happened to her here pretty close to the vest.
I’d be here for her if she wanted to talk. When I left the military, I had gone through something similar. I was disillusioned and angry. Trying to keep all of those emotions inside tore me apart. Some of the things I had done in the N.E.A. still had me waking up in cold sweats with a scream on the edge of my lips. It was no small thing to take a man’s life, but you had to be willing to do it if you wanted to live in this world.
All those feelings that I had about my time in the army got shoved back in their own special little box and tossed to the furthest reaches of my mind. I didn’t like to think about that time in my life. Sure I’d killed men since then, more than I was comfortable admitting, but I had done that to protect my people, my crew. It was a different feeling when you were defending something that you believed in, something that you loved. I’d never woken up screaming thinking about my time after the service.
Moving down the hallway, I felt my combat bravado washing over me. This was the calm curtain that kept me alive for so long. I never doubted myself or my team when we were out on a mission. The outcome was never in jeopardy. We always completed the job, and all of us came home alive. That was how it worked, each and every time we went out in the field. This wouldn’t be any different. We’d been sent to rescue people before, sometimes without perfect results, but this time I just knew we would bring Ice’s brother home.
As I walked into the cargo bay, Gabe tossed me a vest. I pulled on the vest and started tightening it, while Maze moved towards me with pistols strapped on her hips. My breath caught in my throat for just a moment. I mean is there anything hotter than a woman in tight leather pants that has two hand cannons strapped to her thighs?
I slipped on my shoulder harness while Maze strapped my thigh harness in place. After she stepped away, I made sure everything was in reach and tightened all of the straps down. Gabe tossed my favorite coat to me, and I slid it on before making sure my hat hadn’t shifted while I shrugged into the large duster. The weather on these mining planets was sporadic at best. Rain could often fall at any time, and it wasn’t the good kind of rain. It was a dirty rain often carrying down leftover chemicals blasted into the atmosphere by large pumps in the bottom of the mines. The last thing I wanted was that shit in my eyes, so the wide-brimmed hat was perfect.
Ice and Kyra came into the room. Kyra had this expression on her face that said don’t ask me any questions, as if that was going to happen. “Kyra, what are you doing here?”
“I’m coming with,” she said with a defiant smile on her face.
“Not. Fucking. Happening.” It came out as a growl. Damn it, sometimes I just couldn’t help myself.
“Come on, Captain. I need to be there for Ice, and I’ve proven myself on plenty of jobs.” Kyra brought her hands up in front of her chest and wrung them nervously.
The look on her face was anything but nervous. That look said I dare you to try and stop me from coming. What was with all the women on this boat? Every single one of them thought they were in charge all the time. At this point, I was starting to think that maybe I was the delusional one for thinking I was the one making decisions.
Maze nodded to me. I could tell Gabe wanted to say no, but a quick glare from Ice stopped his head mid-shake. That didn’t leave me with a whole lot of options. “Fine, but the same rules I gave Ice also apply to you. If you’re coming, and I mean if, you have to be armed, and not with only a taser.”
“But, Captain,” Kyra whined.
“No buts. If you want to come, you have to take a gun. That also comes with the stipulation that you will promise me in no uncertain terms that you will use the weapon if you have to.”
Kyra balled her fists by her sides in frustration. She looked towards Ice and read something on her face that made her scrunch up her own face in determination. Her hands slowly unfurled, and she met my gaze. “If that’s what it takes.”
I nodded towards her, and Gabe and Maze moved forward to get them outfitted for the mission. Now we were bringing two liabilities with us into the field. That wasn’t exactly optimal, but maybe I could get them to stay at Ice’s parents’ house. If that worked, at least I wouldn’t have to be worried about them while we were searching for her brother. I wished they would just stay on the fucking ship, but I was also impressed by their determination to be there for each other.
Ice and Kyra both had vests on and guns strapped to their hips. Kyra also had a taser with her, and Maze had tucked a small blade into the sheath on the back of Ice’s vest. I slipped my rifle over my shoulder and moved towards the door. “Ice, I’m counting on you to get us to your parents’ house. Once we are there, we will reassess and start tracking your brother.”
“You have my word, Captain.” She turned from me and looked down at the ground before mumbling. “I can do this, I know I can.”
Chapter 15
Drake
The cargo bay door lowered and I was shocked to see a representative from the company already waiting for us. They must have really wanted to make sure that we stayed out of whatever was going on if they had sent someone this fast. On second glance, it wasn’t just a someone, but a somewoman backed by four armored guards.
She
marched up the ramp, oblivious of the dirty rain that spattered against her all-white outfit. I could only assume that one of the many benefits of working for the company was that you didn’t have to wash your own clothes. Still, her white suit stood out in stark contrast to the grey and subdued conditions outside. I was sure that was the exact intention of her outfit, to make her stand out.
It didn’t hurt that the suit she had on was form fitting. It hugged her in all the right places but was modest enough that she would have fit in the boardroom of any of the big companies on the core planets. The woman’s hair was dyed grey and pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail that matched the expression on her face. With a resting bitch face like that, this had the potential to be fun.
When she reached the top of the ramp, she extended her hand. “Rebeca Smith, here to represent the Solaris Corporation.”
I clasped her hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “Captain Drake, here to get shit done.” The way her lip curled in a slight sneer let me know that I had succeeded in setting the tone I was looking for. Rebeca needed to know that I wasn’t going to be taking shit from anyone.
“Mind if I step inside so we can discuss matters more thoroughly?” She started to move into the ship without waiting to see if I acquiesced to her request.
I put a hand out to stop her, and she shook it off before taking a step back. Her men raised their weapons, and I knew that my crew had done the same. “Here,” I said pointing towards a spot on the ramp, “will be just fine for talking.” Then I motioned for my crew to put their guns down.
Rebeca motioned towards her men to do the same. The anger dancing in her eyes had enough heat to melt a starship. “State your business.”
I guess she was done playing games. “We have been contracted to locate a missing person.”
“Name?”
It was never good when things devolved into one word questions. “Nick Rosenbloom.”
Rebeca pulled out a datapad and started running a few quick searches. “Then you are in luck, Captain Drake. Mr. Rosenbloom isn’t missing. He reported for work this morning.” She motioned for her men to leave. “Looks like your contract has been fulfilled and you can be on your way.”
That was awfully convenient. “Sure thing.” She turned to follow her men. “As soon as you can take us to him.” Rebeca turned around looking even more furious. “We have to visually validate the subject to receive full payment on our contract.”
“The company would be happy to cover the remaining portion of your contract and provide you a small bonus if you leave now. Outsiders tend to be disruptive towards our operations, and we prefer to keep their presence on our planet to a minimum.”
I was pleasantly surprised when Ice kept her mouth shut. It was also nice to know that she had enough confidence in me to know that there was no way in hell we were leaving this planet for a few credits. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid that I will have to decline. The mercenary’s guild frowns upon it when you don’t actually do the job you were contracted for.”
Rebeca took a deep breath, trying to rein in her temper. “Fine, but two of my men will escort you at all times, and you will be required to leave your weapons on the ship.”
None of that worked for me. No one was going to talk to us with two of the company’s goons on our asses. “We don’t have any intention of leaving this ship unarmed.” I held up my hand to stop her from talking. “Guild law clearly states that we have the right to carry anywhere. As for your men,” I pointed behind her, “we’d prefer to go it alone.”
She smiled, and I knew I was in trouble. “While I can’t stop you from bringing your weapons, the Solaris Corporation owns this entire planet. And since the planet is our property, it is within our rights to require you to have an escort.”
She was right. There was nothing we could do if she insisted, and from the tone of her voice and that nasty smile playing across her lips there was no getting out of it.
“Agreed. Now if you could just take us to Mr. Rosenbloom we would appreciate it. Probably about as much as you would appreciate us getting out of your hair as fast as possible.”
“Unfortunately, I have other business to attend to, but you have my leave to poke around until you find him.”
That was another way for them to try and stall us until we gave up the search. No one would talk to a group of mercs with the company’s men standing right behind them. At least Rebeca hadn’t figured out that we had an ace in the hole. Ice would be able to lead us to her family’s home, and from there we would be able to figure out our next step. I tried my best to look frustrated before Rebeca turned away and headed down the ramp.
“Thanks for all your help!” I shouted down to her. She never even broke stride as she continued to walk away.
Two of her armed escorts waited at the bottom of the ramp for us to leave the ship. This wasn’t ideal, but if Rebeca thought we couldn’t slip out from under the watch of her guards, she was greatly underestimating the talents of my crew. If it came down to it we could always just knock the two buffoons unconscious. If we did that it wouldn’t give us a lot of time to get things done, but it was an option. I stopped thinking of auxiliary plans and turned back to look at the crew. I saw a lot of frowning faces, but all of them still looked determined.
“That actually went better than expected.” This time my smile was genuine.
“Fucking hell, Cap. How did that go better than expected?” Ice singsonged the last part trying to imitate my voice. “I mean, no one’s going to talk to us with the bozo twins following us around.”
“Oh, I have a feeling they won’t be a problem for long. We’ll just have to find a way to work around them in the meantime.”
“It might not be as easy as you think,” Maze said as she pointed to three places along the walkway exiting the spaceport.
It took me a second to see what she was trying to call my attention to, but then it hit me all at once. Cameras, the fucking company had installed cameras. And not just a few cameras, the fucking things were everywhere. Now that I’d seen the cameras they couldn’t be unseen. That seemed a little out of place for a rock like this. Normally it wouldn’t have been worth the expense to install that kind of security unless they were on the brink of a miners’ revolt. That didn’t seem extremely likely, not in a long-established community like this.
“Looks like Ice is going to have something to do after all.” Gabe smiled and mimicked typing his fingers in the air.
“It would be my pleasure.” Ice was smiling from ear to ear. “Just get me to a terminal, and I’ll bring the whole damn system down.”
“That might bring us just a shade too much attention. I was thinking of something a little more subtle, like looping the footage.”
Ice smirked at me. “Not very sexy, Captain. I mean a girl has to be allowed to let her hair down every now and then. But if you think that’s the way to go, I can do it.”
“Good. Now let’s get going.” I walked down the ramp with a swagger I wasn’t really feeling. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I made it out to be. When the whole damn planet was working against you, things didn’t normally end up working out very well. Still, we had a job to do, and at least all of us were settled on our initial course of action. We had to get to Ice’s parents’ house. “Make sure you wander us around for a bit. I don’t want these two assholes reporting that we knew exactly where to go.”
“You got it.” Ice brushed past me with Kyra at her side.
I motioned for Samantha and Maze to go next so Gabe and I could bring up the rear. The two guards fell in behind us as we passed them. That was just what I wanted. If anything happened or they just decided to shoot us in the back, I wanted to make sure my ladies had a chance to make it out of here alive.
The ramp into the ship closed as we left, and I saw a lone figure standing there. Richard waved once and then turned and headed back into the ship. I was happy that someone was willing to stay behind and make sure my baby was safe. I
had the feeling those company assholes wouldn’t leave the Talon alone. Doc would keep her buttoned up, and get a message to us if anyone tried to get in.
The air here seemed heavy, but maybe that was just the depression this place exuded over your every step. As an outsider, this place was already starting to weigh on me. For the people that lived here, this was just any other day, for me it was like stepping into a small corner of hell. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t that bad, but there was something about it that had me on edge one second and lulled into a false sense of peace the next.
Every building was painted grey. There was no color anywhere, probably against the company’s rules. Everyone we passed had on grey jumpsuits and was either covered in dust or on their way to get covered in it. The streets were paved, at least I think they were. It was hard to tell under the layers of grime that covered everything. I didn’t see any cars so they might as well have been dirt for all that it mattered.
The rain briefly stopped as we left the ship, but it was already starting to mist again. It gave the whole city a washed out look. The lights were dimmed, and I had no idea if it was day or night here. In a normal city you would have been able to tell by the traffic or just the fact there was sunlight, but here everyone would work in shifts, the mines never closed.
Now that Maze had pointed out the cameras I could see them everywhere. A few moved to follow our progress but not enough that the company thought we were a threat. Rebeca was smart, and with any other crew that landed here they probably would have taken the money or at the very least would have after they became frustrated walking around aimlessly. She had to know something wasn’t right for me to push so hard to get down here, but there was no way for her to know what it was. That meant we would have extra eyes on us all the time. Not to mention the chuckle twins trailing along behind us. I was sure that we would find a way to get rid of them soon enough.
Ice continued to lead us through the city, giving me the opportunity to scope out the scenery. Not that there was much to see. All of the buildings might as well have been the exact same. A few of the buildings we passed had crosses on them. Who wouldn’t want to turn to religion in a place like this? Here your life was working twelve hour days until you died. Nothing made you look for a higher power faster than that. Once we passed the city center and started moving back towards the outskirts, I noticed some of the buildings here had crosses made of bones above the door.
Smuggler's Legacy Page 13