Jaxon gingerly raised a finger, a zing of pain shooting from his shoulder to his hand, “I just want to thank…”
“Save it,” she waved dismissively. “I did it more for me, than you. Last time I had to deal with one of his tantrums, I was cleaning blood and body parts out of here for days.” She looked back over her shoulder, “Now hurry up, a free drink or two, won’t hold him very long,” she circled the items on the table with her index finger, “because you two have cost me enough already tonight.”
■ ■ ■
Three blocks from the restaurant, a heavy, noisy, vehicle rumbled up the street from behind them, its tires crunching on the hard-packed gravel, forcing Jaxon to look over his shoulder to be sure he and Rikit were well out of the way. A four-door truck missing its doors, passed them in a hurry and with a flurry of dust and skittering stones, slid to a stop on an angle, blocking their way, the engine chugging to a stop.
“I’m hurt. You didn’t even bother to say goodbye,” sneered Targus, swinging his foot out of the truck, sliding off the passenger seat and dropping to the ground. He was a head taller than Jaxon and the two other men that exited the rolling wreck; one from the driver’s seat, the other from behind where Targus had been sitting.
“What the hell, are we back in high school?” muttered Jaxon.
“What?” whispered Rikit.
“Never mind. Any chance someone will call the cops for a street fight?”
“Cops?”
“Police. Law enforcement…” hissed Jaxon.
“There’s no law enforcement, here.”
“Swell.” The hair on the back of his neck stood up and Jaxon waved expansively, “Look guys, I…” A flash of intense white light filled his mind, blocking out his vision, freezing him in mid-sentence and mid-action, an immense flood of information suddenly available - all at once. Everything. It all became clear. “I… I…” he stammered, his mind locked in place.
The three men standing near the truck laughed. “We scared him so bad, he froze…”
Admiral and GIS Agent, Jack Steele, blinked hard - the whiteout fading away. “Jaxon,” whispered Rikit for the third time, “Are you OK?”
Jaxon checked the man out of the corner of his eye, his attention concentrated on the three men. “I’m fine.” He scanned them, taking it all in. Assessing everything, every minor detail. He took a deep breath, “Stay behind me…” he whispered, stepping forward. “SO,” he smiled, addressing the three men. “What happens now?” He pulled his pockets inside-out, “I’m broke, I don’t own anything, my friend has little to nothing worth stealing, so what’s your deal? You just assholes?” He spread his arms wide, “What the fuck do you want?”
They all had sidearms. The guy on the left had two tactical knives the size of a Marine Corps K-Bar, sheathed on his vest, handles facing downward. The one on the right had one strapped to his right boot, and Targus didn’t seem to have anything other than his slug-thrower. Maybe he felt he didn’t need anything else. The one on the right hung back a step, the one on the left a step forward. He would have to be the first one. “So? What’s the deal? Get your kicks outta’ beating people up?”
Targus didn’t speak, he just grinned, a crooked, evil, toothy grin.
“Something like that,” smirked the guy on the left with the knives.
Jaxon planted his feet shoulder width apart and folded his arms casually. “And what happens if I’m not who you think I am? What happens if I’m really good? Or just really lucky?”
The guy on the left with the knives laughed and Targus stalled him with a wave, eyeing Jaxon suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”
“What if I’m a trained fighter? What if I’m an ex-Marine?” He nodded toward Mr. Knife, “You willing to die tonight so he can get his jollies?” he indicated Targus. “How about you?” he asked the man on the right, who refused eye contact.
“And what if you’re just a nobody…” said Targus flatly.
Jaxon shrugged, “What if I am? What does that say about you? Kinda’ sad that you choose to beat up or kill a helpless nobody. Wow,” he shook his head, “impressive. What’s next, beating up children and stealing their candy?”
Targus grit his teeth and clenched his fists, “Take them. We’ll go back to the shop.” He punched a massive fist into his other palm with a smack, “I’m really going to enjoy…”
The instant Mr. Knife stepped off, he placed himself between Targus and Jaxon, who launched himself like a running back. Crashing bodily into the thug, his knee up, his arms out, he drove him backwards, slamming him into the side of the truck, coming away with both knives. Not very martial-artsy, but effective. Before the man could touch his sidearm, Jaxon had stabbed him deep, several times, slitting his throat as he spun to face Targus, in one, swift, smooth, movement.
But Targus, well out of reach, his eyes locked on the man who had just cut his friend up like a steak, had his slug-thrower out of its holster already, the muzzle clearing the top of the leather... In desperation, Jaxon flicked the knife in his right hand and watched it sail harmlessly past the man’s shoulder as the first bark of a slug-thrower split the night silence, PWOM. The visual didn’t match the audio and he watched in strange curiosity as two, three, and four more shots assaulted his ears, Targus dancing around, his firearm dropping to the ground as he stumbled backwards.
Reflexively, he checked his body and did an assessment as Targus’ knees buckled and he dropped, slumping over, crumpling to the ground face-first. Mouth open, Jaxon glanced around, all three of the men on the ground, dead, he and Rikit still standing, Rikit holding a slug-thrower in his hand. Jaxon blinked, his eyes narrowing, “Where the hell did you get that?”
“I’ve had it.”
“On you?”
“Yeah…”
“Hell! That would have been nice to know!”
Rikit shrugged, “Wasn’t even sure it worked. I’d never fired it before.”
“Well, bra-vo. Nice job.” He pointed the knife in his left hand over at the man beyond Targus who lay in blood-red mud, the handle of a knife sticking out of his neck just below the jawline. “Did I do that?”
“Yes. About the same time I shot Targus. Pretty good throw, you’ll have to show me how to do that. You saved my life, he would have shot me…”
Jaxon’s mouth skewed sideways, “Well yeah. Um, OK. Because I meant to do that…”
Rikit tucked the slug-thrower back in his belt line and covered it with his jacket, “My momma didn’t raise no idiot - you really didn’t mean to do that, did you…”
“I um - ahem, no.” Jaxon motioned toward Targus with his knife, “I uh,” he indicated a line down the middle of his own chest, “was going for somewhere in here…” He ran his fingers through his hair, “I didn’t even see him back there… First time I ever hit anything though - so there’s that, right?”
Having harvested a slug-thrower, holster and sheath for his blade from Mr. Knife, Jaxon pulled the body away from the side of the truck, letting it roll over on the ground.
“Where are we going?” asked Rikit pulling himself up into the driver’s seat.
“Somewhere I can get a coded deep-space message out,” replied Jaxon, pulling himself up into the cab on the passenger side.
“Only one place for that,” nodded Rikit, stabbing the starter button with his index finger, the truck coming to life with a rumble, “Byas Kuyol Field.”
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
EDENLIGHT TO MADRASSAS SYSTEM : FLIGHT OF THE RAVEN
It wasn't that the Glyder was the be-all and end-all of exercise equipment, but Lisa Steele liked it because it was a rather nice all-body workout, without being abusive. She discovered early on, it was difficult to fly with sore, exhausted muscles. Out here, she could be called on at any time to suit-up - and flying the Reaper wasn't as much about brawn and brute strength, as much as stamina, coordination and finesse.
After picking up Mercedes Huang and Chase Holt from Sandorra on G'Naroth Sarat, it
looked like the trail for her brother had grown cold. A visit to the secretive temple in the outskirts of Amanpoor yielded little information, but Lisa recognized some of the symbols on the structure. She could only wonder and guess as to how it all tied together. What the Amanpoor Police and Sheriff of Sandorra offered, wasn't much better.
According to Chase and Mercedes, the last information they had for the Perseus was, she was pursuing a target toward Edenlight from G'Naroth Sarat in the Bengaloo System. Fortunately, the gate systems had recorded the Perseus using the Edenlight gate leading to Madrassas, though there was no record of her arrival in that system - possibly due to a solar storm that effected data transmissions and travel for some time. The Revenge, traveling as the Raven in this Dark Territory, was going to continue to search where the best information led them; Madrassas.
Lisa halted her workout at the tap on her shoulder, popping the earbud out of her right ear, “Huh?”
A towel hanging around her neck, a crew-member she'd never met, pointed at the ceiling, “Isn't that you?”
“...Lisa Stone report to the Captain on the bridge...”
“That's the second call,” the woman added.
Lisa jumped up, “Oh, shit...” she pointed at the sweaty machine, “would you mind? Sorry!”
The woman waved her off, “I got it, just go!”
Lisa sprinted for the corridor, the door swishing open as she approached, nearly colliding with Draza Mac who was on his way in for a workout. She spun around him as he danced out of her way, “On me!” she shouted, continuing her sprint.
He turned and gave chase, “Where to?”
“The bridge...”
He slowed, tugging on the front of his sweatshirt, “Dressed like this?”
“Don't be a girl,” she teased, “you look fine.”
■ ■ ■
The instant they passed onto the bridge, the officer on deck wordlessly directed them to the Captain's ready room with a pointed finger.
“Lieutenant Steele and Flight Sergeant Draza Mac, reporting,” announced Lisa, entering the ready room, pausing inside the door as it slid closed behind them. “I apologize for our attire…” The faces of the senior staff turned in her direction.
From behind his desk, Brian waved it off. “Not important.” He rose from his desk and moved over toward the holo-chart table, indicating the vid-screen on the wall, “TESS, play the readout,” he instructed. The words, Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan. Jupiter descending. Mercury in retrograde, scrolled across the screen, followed by the signal’s origination marker. He watched Lisa’s changing expression, her eyes widening. “TESS, now play the audio, please...”
“Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan. Jupiter descending. Mercury in retrograde.”
“That’s Jack’s voice!” exclaimed Lisa. “He’s alive!”
“I thought you’d agree,” nodded Brian. “We ran it through SPECTRUM and confirmed a voice pattern match. It does indicate he is under stress however, so we need to be cautious, he may be under duress…”
“What else does he say?” she interrupted.
Brian shook his head, “Nothing else. Just his emergency code. He repeated it several times and then went dark.”
“Where - where,” she stammered, “Let’s go!”
Brian held his hands out, trying to slow her down, “Hold on… We have to take into consideration that this may be a recorded message. That it may be some kind of setup…”
“But…”
“This was a broad-band signal, Lisa. We’re not the only ones who could hear it…”
“But we’re the only ones who know what it means…”
“We can no longer assume that,” corrected Brian. “First off, the Admiralty knows the signal…”
Lisa’s eyes narrowed, “Are you saying we can’t trust the Admiralty?”
Brian shrugged, “I don’t know. Leaks happen. We can’t...”
Lisa spun around and punched at the air, “Dammit, I hate this!”
“All we do know,” added Brian, “is that it’s an authentic code - and that Jack sent it.”
Raulya leaned forward in her seat on the sofa, “There’s a lot more of what we don’t know, than what we do know. We don’t know what, or who’s influence, Jack might be under. He’s spent a considerable amount of time in the dark. Why call now? Why out here? The timing just seems odd…”
Lisa spun back around, So, where is he?”
Raulya stood up and moved over to the holo-chart, “The signal came from a jungle planet called Byas Kuyol in the Castille system.” She checked her TESS, “We’ll be out of transit and in Madrassas in about four hours. Castille is seven systems from Madrassas…”
Lisa’s fingertips went to her forehead, rubbing the tension in her brow, “Oh my God, that’s going to take sooo long… what if he can’t wait?”
“Not as much as you might think…” Brian motioned to Raulya, “As soon as we clear the Madrassas gate, have navigation work on plotting GOD jumps, let’s see if we can’t cut some corners and shorten this trip, shall we?”
“Do you want the end jump to be in Castille?”
Brian had turned to consult with the holo-chart, “No, the system before that - Kingman 79. If there’s something waiting for us in Castille, I don’t want to fall right into its lap.”
Lisa positioned herself face-to-face with Brian, tapping him on the chest with her index finger, “Listen to me, Brian Carter, you need to get my brother and coincidentally, your best friend, out of there, ASAP. If it wasn’t for him,” her index finger circled the air above them, “you wouldn’t have this ship,”
Brian nodded, “You’re absolutely right, I wouldn’t. But your brother gave me this ship because he trusted me with it, and the lives of everyone on board her. And coincidentally, that includes you, and him, when he’s aboard.” He took a step back to ease the tension and leaned back against the edge of the holo-chart. “We have protocols and procedures for…”
“Fuck your protocols and procedures,” spat Lisa, “we need…”
“Lieutenant!” warned Raulya.
Brian stayed his bridge officer with an open hand, his eyes still on Lisa, “Lieutenant,” he said slowly, “you are out of line. Go to your quarters. Now.”
“I…”
“Do I need to relieve you of duty? Because I can assign Ensign Tusker to the Reaper…” Lisa looked like she was ready to explode, and he could see Draza Mac’s white-knuckle grip around her wrist. “We will get him back. But going in loud may not be the wisest choice. It is always an option, but if we start there, it eliminates all other options.” He paused to consider his next words. “Your input will be important in the planning stages and I will need you thinking clearly. This kind of outburst is not productive, and I won’t tolerate it, is that clear?”
Her face locked in grim determination, Lisa nodded.
“I didn’t hear you,” prompted Brian.
Her eyes lifted but her scowl didn’t waver, “Yes. Captain,” she replied deliberately.
Brian nodded his acceptance, his eyes flicking over to Draza Mac, “Flight Sergeant, would you be so kind as to escort the Lieutenant back to her quarters and make sure she’s comfortable?”
The Marine Sergeant saluted with his free hand, “Aye aye, Sir.”
■ ■ ■
Draza Mac laced his fingers together behind his head, leaning back on the sofa, still dressed in his workout clothes, his feet up on the coffee table. “Well, that was… interesting. Although I don’t know if interesting is the right word for that… um… whatever that was.”
“A meltdown,” grumbled Lisa, throwing her gym towel on the floor. “A fucking meltdown. Like a bitchy little brat. What the hell is wrong with me?” she kicked the towel. “What was I thinking?”
“Calm down…” countered the Marine.
Lisa shook her head, plopping her butt down on the corner of her bed, “That was bad. Soooo bad…” She dropped her face into her hands. “I fucked up… Oh this is bad. When
I go off the rails I really go off the rails… I am sooo screwed.”
Daza Mac shrugged, “I’m not going to lie to you, it wasn’t pretty…”
“You might think you’re helping - but you’re not helping.”
Draza Mac shrugged again, “I wasn’t trying to - just confirming the obvious.”
Lisa bounced up off the corner of her bed and the Marine dropped his feet off the table as he lurched forward, waving his arms, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you’re going?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, pacing. “Out. Maybe I’ll go try to apologize…”
“Oh, hellion no. Not until he calls you. He catches you anywhere wandering around out there,” he pointed, “and we’ll both end up in the brig.”
“Well I gotta’ do something,” she whined, pacing, “I can’t just stay here…”
He jumped up and blocked her path to the door, his arms spread wide, “No, no, no, no… You’re not going anywhere.” She moved closer to him, nearly nose-to-nose, but he didn’t flinch, determined to keep her in her quarters. Until she grabbed him by the face, covering his lips with hers, thrusting her tongue into his mouth. Dumbfounded, trying not to panic, with a soft, wet, vacuum attached to his face, trying to suck the tongue out of his skull, he finally reacted, pushing her away, their mouths slurping on separation. “What… what… what…” he stammered, holding her at arms-length. “What the hellion are you doing?”
“Burning off some of this nervous energy.” She tried to pull him in again.
“No, no, no…” he retorted, holding her off. “This isn’t happening.”
“Sure it is,” she countered, pulling her sweatshirt off over her head, “have sex with me…” She pulled the drawstring on her waistband, sliding her pants down, kicking her shoes off.
“WHAAAT?” he screeched, his voice cracking. “You’re a superior officer…”
“Yes, I am.” She pulled him in again, against her mostly naked body, “Have sex with me,” she demanded, tugging on his sweatpants.
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