Determination: Age Of Expansion – A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Precious Galaxy Book 3)

by Sarah Noffke

  “Hey, Charlie,” Bailey greeted, smiling sweetly at him.

  He eyed the dying sparks behind them and the mob lurking in the distance. “What’s going on?” he asked, looking at Bailey and then Lewis.

  His eyes widened with recognition.

  Bailey knew she couldn’t let this go on any further.

  She stepped forward. “I’m sort of sorry for this,” she said and launched her fist at his face, knocking him back into the wall

  His head smacked hard against it, and he slid to the floor, unconscious.

  She shook out her hand. Damn, that guy’s face was as hard as his head.

  Lewis pulled Bailey into an elevator that was about to close. Thankfully it was empty, since most of those waiting were watching the sparking electrical wires wide-eyed and staring at the passed-out officer.

  Lewis pressed the button for the loading docks, and the elevator began to ascend. When Bailey looked up at him, he was smiling.

  “Something is wrong with your face, Harlowe.”

  He shook his head. “You punched a fellow officer for me.”

  “I did no such thing,” she argued.

  “You totally did it for me, otherwise that guy would have called for backup and taken me away.” Lewis winked at her, his smile widening. “And thanks. I’d do the same for you.”

  “But I’m not a fugitive, so you don’t have to.”

  “You’re not a fugitive yet. You just assaulted a Federation officer. It’s all downhill from here. Welcome to the dark side.”

  Chapter Ten

  Deck 31, Onyx Station, Paladin System

  The alleyway that led to Vernon’s place was as narrow as the one the team had taken to Tomas’s safehouse, and just as dirty. Penrae checked over her shoulder; the Federation officer wasn’t following her. She hoped he hadn’t seen her slip into the passageway.

  Penrae’s foot constantly picked up bits of trash as it dragged behind her with Tomas’s limp, making the trek longer. Finally, when she rounded the last corner through a maze of intersecting alleyways, she saw Vernon’s door.

  Someone was leaving his place. A large Kezzin with a ferocious scowl on his face. Penrae tucked her chin, allowing the hoodie to slide lower over her eyes.

  “You can’t hide, Tomas,” the Kezzin said, his voice gravelly. “I already saw your good-for-nothing face.”

  Dammit, why does this guy have so many enemies?

  Penrae pulled her head up and shot the Kezzin a matching look of loathing. “I wasn’t hiding,” she said, but the fear coursing through her mind made it impossible to say anymore.

  She had absolutely zero retort. Bailey would have told the guy off and slammed her fist into his face. Lewis would have had a clever jab. Even Dejoure would have had a comeback, but Penrae’s mind was blank as she stared at the black eyes of the lizard-looking alien.

  The Kezzin sized Tomas up. “So, do you have it?”

  Penrae’s breath jumped out of her mouth with a startled cough. She covered it up with a fake laugh. “Have what?”

  The Kezzin stepped up so close that Penrae could smell the rotten flesh on his breath. “You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb with me.”

  She wished she could tell the Kezzin just how dumb she was. For a moment, she considered shifting back into Sebastian’s form and fleeing. She couldn’t, though; this was for Dejoure.

  “Look, I don’t really have time for your games right now,” Penrae said, trying to interject as much dominance into her tone as she could. “A Fed was trailing me earlier, and I need to get out of sight.”

  The Kezzin looked over Penrae’s shoulder. “I don’t see no one.”

  “I gave him the slip, but he could still be looking.”

  The Kezzin reached out and grabbed the front of Tomas’s sweaty hoodie, lifting Penrae up so she was eye to eye with him, her feet kicking in the air.

  This is it. This is how I’m going to die. In the form of a drug runner, murdered by a disgusting Kezzin.

  “I’m the one who doesn’t have time for your games. I want what you owe me!” the Kezzin yelled, throwing Penrae against the wall.

  Her head hit hard, making lights flash behind her eyes. She slid down, unable to catch herself. Something sharp cut her palm as she tried to soften her landing.

  “I’ve had a bad day, and been looking for someone to take it out on,” he growled.

  The Kezzin strode over to Penrae, and she held her hands up to shield her face. A yelp of fear fell from her mouth before she could stop it.

  The Kezzin froze, a look of disbelief on his face. “Are you crying?”

  Penrae couldn’t help it. All the emotions poured out of her. The fear she’d bottled up while being locked in the database and then afterward, the guilt of being the only crew member to get out. She wailed loudly, unable to keep the emotion in any longer. Her heart was overwhelmed with the idea that she’d failed the team and Dejoure. The tears fell down her face, hot and fast.

  The Kezzin shrank back like she’d whipped him.

  “Dude, what has gotten into you?” he demanded.

  Penrae tried to say something, but instead, only nonsensical noises spilled from her mouth. She knew this was ridiculous, but the more she saw it working, she allowed the emotion loose. Yes, she was crying in the face of danger, but sometimes the way to weaken an enemy was to turn the tables in the most unexpected way. That was a lesson she could credit to the Saverus; they’d taught her that force was rarely the right approach, when manipulation could be used in its place.

  The Kezzin shook his head. “Look, I’ll let you off this time. But when I see you next, there won’t even be a discussion. You give me what I want, or I’ll break your other leg. Got it?”

  She nodded, pushing the tears off her face. She almost wanted to laugh, picturing this tough guy hunched over and crying at the feet of his enemy. This would ruin Tomas’ reputation. She might have hit a few extra goals with this mission without meaning to.

  When the Kezzin ambled away, Penrae pushed herself up and hobbled over to the door. She wiped her bloody palm on her jeans. She didn’t know the special knock, but hopefully having Tomas’s face was all she needed. Lewis had thought it would do the trick.

  The door opened a crack. Through it, she could see a sliver of a guy with pale skin and greasy black hair looking back at her. After taking in Tomas’s appearance, Vernon let out a sigh and opened the door all the way.

  “Why didn’t you come on in?” he asked. He had large eyes on his tiny head, and it made him look like a bug. “I thought it was someone else.”

  “I was trying to be careful,” Penrae explained.

  Vernon peered at her closely. “Why is your face all red? Have you been…crying?”

  “Hell no,” she answered. “I got into it with a dumb Kezzin and a few traitors.”

  Vernon shook his head, ushering who he thought was Tomas into his place. The space was cramped with beakers and bottles filled with various colored liquids. The light was much brighter here than in the alleyway, making Penrae’s eyes narrow.

  “Do you always have to get yourself into trouble?” Vernon asked.

  “No, not always,” Penrae said, looking the place over. There were more illegal substances in this one room than in most places she’d ever been. “Look, I’ve got a favor to ask of you, and it’s really important.” She pulled out the tablet, about to open the formula for the drug.

  Vernon pushed the pad down gently. “First, I need to know. Have you thought about my offer?”

  Penrae gulped. Not this shit again. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it.”

  “Well, I know you didn’t want to do it, but once again, I have to ask. Before I do anything for you, I need your final answer.” Vernon’s eyes were insistent, hanging with an uneasy bit of curiosity.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Penrae said, but this didn’t seem to relax Vernon. He looked ready to pounce with anxiety. “Yes, I’ll do it.”

  Vernon let out a loud yelp of satisfa
ction and threw a fist into the air as he spun around. “Brilliant! You’re not going to regret this.”

  No, I totally won’t regret this, but Tomas might.

  She pulled up the formula and handed it to Vernon. “I need this right now. Can you brew it for me?”

  Vernon gave Tomas a curious expression. “Brew?”

  “Whatever you do?”

  He nodded and then looked at the screen. A line creased between his eyes. “What do you want this for? This is medical grade shit. Not my forte.”

  “Look, I’m trying to help someone. Is that so strange?”

  Vernon regarded Penrae for a long moment. “To be honest, it is. You never even help your buddies in the safehouse without demanding more than their protection is worth.”

  “Nah, I help them. I’m quite the humanitarian.”

  Vernon erupted with laughter. “Remember that bloke, ‘Suits’? The one running from Gringotts? You sold him out for a reward. Too bad he made it off the station before Gringotts’s men came aboard.”

  “Yeah, well…” Penrae said, heat suddenly flaring in her head.

  “Imagine, if he’d still been here, you would have gotten the full sum,” Vernon said, looking off with a dreamy quality. “You’d be living it up.”

  Penrae pushed the tablet into his hand. “Can you do this for me? I don’t have much time.”

  Vernon seemed to think about it for a moment. “Yeah, I guess so. It shouldn’t take me long.”

  “Good. I’ll wait.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ricky Bobby, Hapeti System

  Jack held up the vial of thick liquid. It was hard to believe this pink stuff was what would save Dejoure. Unexpected things come in small packages, about like the young girl herself.

  “Ricky Bobby,” Jack asked. “Where is DJ?”

  “One moment,” Ricky Bobby answered.

  Behind them, Penrae slithered up next to Lewis. She hadn’t said a thing since returning to Ricky Bobby. Actually, she’d looked a bit dazed since handing off the drug. She’d shifted to her normal form and retreated inside herself.

  “Is everything all right?” Lewis asked her.

  Her forked tongue slipped out of her mouth. “Yes, it was a close one back there. I almost failed, and I haven’t shaken that feeling yet.”

  “No one would have been angry at you if you’d failed,” Jack imparted, looking back at her. “We’re a team, and there’s a lot of factors to a mission, including a few you can’t control.”

  “And you didn’t fail.” Bailey pointed to the vial in Jack’s hand.

  “Dejoure is in Hatch’s lab,” Ricky Bobby answered.

  “Should have figured.” Bailey laughed. “She’s always stalking the mechanic.”

  “He, in fact, doesn’t know she’s there,” Ricky Bobby stated.

  “Clever little girl,” Bailey said.

  Jack agreed with a nod before looking back at Penrae. “You said you almost failed. What happened?”

  “I was nearly arrested by a Federation soldier,” Penrae explained.

  Bailey laughed again. “Oh, us too.”

  “And I was close to getting beat up by a Kezzin,” Penrae continued.

  “Us too, except it was a goonish-looking human,” Bailey said.

  “And I almost didn’t get away at the end,” Penrae finished. “Jack, can you please transfer funds into the account of an old woman who runs a day-old-bread stand on deck thirty-one?”

  Of all the things Jack expected Penrae to say, that wasn’t one of them. “Of course. It shouldn’t be hard to find her. I can make an anonymous donation, but why?”

  “I ruined her stall when I told everyone the bread was free,” Penrae explained. “They rushed the booth and took all her stock. It created a good distraction and let me slip away from the Federation officer who was watching me in Tomas’s form.”

  “Smart thinking,” Jack said, nodding with admiration. “And yes, she’ll be able to abandon the bread business and retire. Don’t you worry.”

  “Lewis, I found out that Tomas was the one who sold you out to Gringotts,” Penrae stated.

  Lewis rolled his eyes, not entirely surprised. “I guess that’s what happens when you hang out with scum.” He shook his head, dispelling his frustration. “You said you nearly didn’t get away. What happened?”

  Penrae hissed, a bit of pride dancing in her eyes suddenly. “When I was leaving Vernon’s place with the drug, the officer was still waiting for me. He put me up against a wall and was about to handcuff me for sabotaging the old woman’s booth. He would have found the drug too, so I knew I had to act fast. I fought him and got away. However, he pursued me, and because of Tomas’s limp, he was about to catch me. But I darted around a set of stalls and looked for a place to stash the drug so I could shift.”

  “Oh man,” Lewis said with a loud sigh. “I can’t believe you had to go through all that.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t have to. Just then, the real Tomas came by, nearly running straight into the officer. He looked pissed and seemed to be searching for someone.”

  “That would have been us,” Bailey said proudly.

  “So the officer, angry at being assaulted by who he thought was Tomas, and then confronted with the real Tomas, put cuffs on him right away and carted him off,” Penrae stated.

  Jack held up the drug. “And you got away masterfully. Nice work, you three.”

  Bailey looked back at the other two proudly. “We did work well together. Great job, team.”

  Jack pursed his lips, a thought occurring to him. “When we rescue the others, I might have to assign the three of you to your own missions.” He looked back at Lewis, a bit of hesitation in his gaze. “That is, if you and Bailey want to stick around when the main mission is complete.”

  Bailey answered before Lewis could. “Hell yeah, we will.”

  “I don’t know,” the detective said, his voice quiet. “I said only one mission.”

  Bailey gave him a determined expression. “And I said we were going to clear your name and make Melanie pay.” She winked at him. “Then we can take on any mission that Ghost Squadron needs us to.”

  Jack smiled. For so long, he’d wanted to help Lewis, but was unable to. Now things were shifting for both of them in positive ways. Working with his nephew was something he hadn’t expected enjoying, about like having his own child.

  Dejoure was nowhere to be found when they entered Hatch’s lab. The mechanic was bent over an orange car that looked like a station wagon but with a sporty spin.

  “What’s that?” Jack asked, looking the car over.

  Hatch pulled his head out from under the hood and looked bemused at the four of them. “What are you all doing here? Don’t I ever get a break to clear my mind?”

  “We’re not here to see you,” Jack stated.

  “Oh,” Hatch said, surprise in his tone.

  “That is a Holden Sandman panel van,” Pip informed them in an Australian accent. “Or as I like to call it, the shaggin’ wagon.”

  Hatch rolled his eyes. “That’s not what it’s called.”

  “Then why do you have fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror?” Pip asked.

  “Because they are iconic and fit the car,” Hatch answered.

  “If the dice are rocking, don’t come a—”

  “If you’re not here to see me, then what are you doing here?” Hatch asked Jack, cutting Pip off.

  Jack held up the vial. “We’re looking for DJ.”

  Hatch stared around. “As you can see, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

  Lewis broke off from the group. He couldn’t see the girl, but had a good idea of where he’d find her.

  “DJ!” Bailey yelled out to the lab. “Where are you?”

  Silence greeted her calls.

  “DJ, we have some great news!” she tried again. “The drug is ready!”

  Hatch shook his head. “I told you, she’s not here. If she were, I’d know about it.”
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  Lewis strode around the Holden, his suspicions getting stronger. Meanwhile, the others were still calling out for Dejoure, not paying him much notice. He’d followed a trail of dog hair, really only a couple of loose strands on the lab floor, to the back door of the vehicle, which was slightly ajar. He opened it and peered in to find exactly what he’d expected.

  “Hello,” he whispered to Dejoure, who was cuddled next to Harley.

  She put her finger to her mouth, encouraging Lewis to be quiet.

  “Is there a reason you’re hiding in here?” he asked.

  She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

  He slid into the back of the car and quietly closed the door, leaving it open a sliver. The light spilled across Dejoure’s face.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, noticing how roomy the back of the van was.

  “I don’t want to take the drug you all brought back,” Dejoure stated, hugging Harley tightly.

  “Have you had second thoughts?” Lewis asked. “We can wean you off the drug. You don’t have to stay on it in order to keep your gifts.”

  Dejoure shook her head. “No, I want to keep taking it. I just don’t want to take that one.”

  “Why? Have you seen something of the future?”

  The girl’s hair hit her in the face when she shook her head again. “No, that’s the thing. Last night, I didn’t have a premonition when I slept—at least I don’t think I did.”

  “Well, maybe that’s because the drugs are nearly out of your system,” Lewis reasoned. “That’s when you start suffering withdrawals, which means you definitely need the drug.”

  Dejoure shrugged. “Maybe I didn’t have a premonition because I died from the drug. I didn’t have a single dream last night; maybe what I saw was death.”

  Lewis considered this for a moment. “When a premonition involves you, do you see it from your perspective?”

  “Yes,” she answered at once. “I always do. The only time I don’t is if I’m not involved at all.”