by J. J. Snow
Reilly felt nauseous just watching Crazy Ray as he twirled in delight across the stage, showing off items, demonstrating what they could do, and adding in additional tidbits about each. Chang seemed unaffected and watched the proceedings with an air of stolid disinterest. Vishon stood sweating at the control panel in constant motion flipping switches, recording prices, and zooming cameras to capture every little detail. All in all, it passed for a nightmarish form of entertainment that was part infomercial, part product demo, and part beauty pageant with Crazy Ray as the queen himself. After more blasting and some small-scale explosives demos done inside an ordnance shield against various objects and protective plating, the last items were finally sold.
At least today he didn’t utilize any live targets, Reilly thought, relieved. The last auction had been difficult to sit through. Crazy Ray had pulled two sellers who had irritated him onto the stage and made them swallow small grenades while taking bets on which one would blow up first depending on the button he pushed. Thankfully, Reilly and Chang had seen much worse in battle, and so when the two men detonated they both sat in silence, indifferent, as if nothing especially significant had happened. To react negatively or even at all in front of Crazy Ray was dangerous. But neither of them forgot the lesson: don’t cross Ray, not ever. His station, his games—everybody plays, and then maybe everybody gets paid and gets to go home alive.
Vishon walked quickly to Crazy Ray’s side with his tablet pad to show him the overall results of the auction and fees collected. The TORRs had returned and were already repacking and loading items for transport off the station. Crazy Ray waved Reilly and Chang over.
“Vishon shows me that we have done very well on this auction. I have been able to impress my buyers, thanks to the specialty items you have brought, and so I will also thank you. If you give Vishon your handheld, he will upload your credits while we talk. Now, what can I give you as a thank you?”
Reilly was taken aback. This was one scenario she had not anticipated, having to accept a gift from Crazy Ray and be required to request something that did not offend him, something that was not too much or too little. She knew she had to say something, because to tell him she didn’t want his thank-you gift was not an option either. Crazy Ray waited politely, looking at her. Suddenly it came to her.
“You’re too generous, Mr. Ray. We do have one need that you may be able to help with, and I hope you won’t think it too odd a request.”
Crazy Ray looked interested. “Please, my dear, name it and it will be yours.”
“Well, I need some hay. Um, and some corn, too, if you happen to have it.”
Crazy Ray looked at her very strangely. “It is an odd request, I must confess. What are you going to do with hay and corn? Or are you planning on settling down on a world? Oh, I know, it must be for…Vishon…what is it called? Drink of the stars, mechanics whiskey…ha! You are setting up your own brewery now, that’s it!”
“I actually have some cows that we acquired during our last stop, and I need—”
“Cows? Did you say cows?”
Reilly was worried now. If Crazy Ray had a thing against cows, this could backfire completely. Dammit, I should have stuck with the whiskey! she thought. “Keep it simple, stupid” was a principle she had learned a long time ago, and it had always served her well. She watched Crazy Ray carefully to see what was going to come next.
“How many cows?” he asked.
“Only two. We had three, but one didn’t make it,” Reilly replied. She figured there was no need to highlight the fact that Chang had killed one for breakfast.
Crazy Ray thought again, then snapped his fingers. “Vishon. Get Captain Campbell hay and corn, and have it delivered to her ship.” Vishon nodded as he gave Reilly her handheld back with the credits from the auction and then scurried off.
“Thank you very much for your gift, Mr. Ray. I certainly do appreciate you allowing us the visit to participate in your auctions,” Reilly said.
“I want to see them. Your cows. I have twenty minutes before my next auction, so let’s go—chop, chop, my dear!” Crazy Ray took off towards the ship before Reilly or Chang could react.
Chang clicked twice on his handheld to alert Duv that they had guests headed their way and then hurried after Reilly and Crazy Ray. As they moved down the hallway, one of the Enforcers fell into step behind them and followed them out to the ship. Reilly glanced at Chang. The shield on Ty’s room would only hold up at a distance, not if they had an Enforcer follow them into the cargo bay. It would immediately detect the shield and report it, which in turn would draw the attention of Crazy Ray’s security team. If they found Ty on board, Reilly knew the whole crew would be dead. Crazy Ray would have the lot of them up front for his next auction demo—if they were lucky. If not, then they would have a very uncomfortable stay in his detention cells as stars in his latest torture video. Neither option appealed to Reilly. As they strode towards the ship, she toyed with the idea of keying Duv to take off. She and Chang may be able to explain it as a misunderstanding then. But one or both of them would still probably wind up dead.
Crazy Ray began walking up the ramp into the bay with the Enforcer.
“Mr. Ray, wait a moment please.” Reilly stopped as he turned towards her with a slightly irritated look. “I would sure appreciate it if you would leave your Enforcer down here. The cows are a bit shell-shocked, and I don’t think they will deal very well with your friend there.”
Crazy Ray paused to consider, then nodded in agreement. The Enforcer sat back on its metal haunches as they continued up the ramp and into the bay. The cows had been moved to the front and were lying down on the floor together by the small hold that Seth had claimed. They eyed Crazy Ray up warily as he approached. To Reilly’s surprise, he got down and began to pet them and rub their ears, talking to them in a low, deep voice. Just then, a TORR rolled up with the hay and corn Reilly had request. One of the cows rolled its eyes, fearful of the machine and its noise. Crazy Ray turned to look at the driver. The man got out and offloaded the bales and the bin of corn near the back. Then he drove the TORR back out. As he left, Crazy Ray stood up and walked to the back of the bay and called out to the driver to stop. When the man obeyed and turned to see what his boss wanted, Ray shot him in the head and then turned to Reilly apologetically.
“I am very sorry my man upset your cows. It should not have happened. Thank you for allowing me to see them.” He holstered his gun and walked abruptly down the ramp and back towards the auction house.
Reilly and Chang both drew a deep breath too soon. The Enforcer still sat at the back of the ramp, and it now sent out a moderate alert signal. Crazy Ray turned and eyed Reilly suspiciously, then stalked back to the Enforcer. He flipped open a side compartment on the neck to view the reason for the alert.
“Captain Campbell, we have just had such a nice visit. And now this. My Enforcer tells me you have shielded a room in your ship and that there is a human within. Dear me. I hope it’s not our old friend the miscreant?” Crazy Ray pulled his gun back out and held it by his side as six security troops boarded the ship, headed for Ty’s room.
Reilly and Chang remained still as two other security members stood to either side of them, weapons trained to respond to the slightest movement.
A few minutes later, Duv emerged, followed by Skeeter. The security team lead jogged over to Crazy Ray and whispered a few words, pointing at Skeeter. The kid was holding up so far, but he was beginning to get the stare. Crazy Ray eyed him up and then turned back to Reilly, Chang, and Duv.
“What is this? This boy?”
“We picked him up after slavers took over his planet. He was fighting them and did okay, so I figured he was worth training,” Reilly responded.
“The Captain assigned him to me, Mr. Ray, sir.” Duv looked down, the picture of the humble soldier. “Sometimes he’s not right in the head and we have to lock him up so he doesn’t cause trouble. We figured we’d keep him that wa
y during the Captain’s visit with you so he didn’t interfere with business.”
Crazy Ray walked over to Skeeter. With the hand that held the gun, he reached out and grabbed Skeeter’s jaw, laying the barrel of the gun alongside it as he turned his head first left then right, looking at his face. Duv tried to remain calm and unconcerned, but Reilly could see the tension boiling underneath. She caught his eye and just barely shook her head. With his thumb pressed to Skeeter’s chin, Crazy Ray pulled his head down and leaned over so they were at eye level.
He grunted, then leaned in and whispered, “One day, boy, you will need that anger. Don’t let them take it from you. It makes you strong.”
Crazy Ray stepped back, releasing Skeeter and waving off his security. He waved his gun lazily in Skeeter’s direction. “He’s a good boy; he’ll make a good fighter. Reminds me a bit of me when I was young! Ha! Until next time, Captain Campbell!” He walked off, holstering his gun, and this time the Enforcer and the security personnel followed him.
Reilly turned too and, in the most relaxed manner she could muster, casually walked up the ramp with her crew. Duv followed Skeeter, and they kept going towards the bridge while Chang punched the blast doors and closed up the ramp. It felt like a lifetime as they continued to move at a relaxed pace, firing up the ship, checking and rechecking the boards before taking off. None of them spoke. Having Ray and his security goons on board meant that there were probably some bugs now too. They all strapped in and Duv spent the next hour taking them back out through the asteroid field. Once through, Chang and Reilly swept the decks and found five surveillance devices, including two in Ty’s bunk area, two in the halls, and one in the mess area. They put the bugs out the air lock. Then they did a second sweep just to be sure. Finally, when everything came up clean, they made their way back up to the bridge.
Duv and Skeeter turned as Reilly and Chang stepped onto the bridge. “Are we all clear, Captain?”
Reilly nodded. “Now, how the hell did you spirit Ty away before we got back to the ship? Please tell me he’s not still somewhere back on that damn space station!”
Duv and Skeeter both grinned at each other.
“Actually, it was Skeeter’s idea, so I’ll let him tell it.” Duv sat back with a proud look on his face as he waved his son forward.
“Well, I knew if Crazy Ray was coming on board then Sergeant Ty was in trouble, especially with the Enforcer, because then the shield would be pretty obvious. And then I thought of the cows. Enforcers can detect heat, and but they target everything visually. They only do heartbeats if something messes up their optics, which were working fine on this one.”
“You hid him with the cows? We didn’t see him,” Chang said unbelievingly. “What kind of trick is this?”
Seth paused to shake his head and then continued. “While I was living down in the bulkhead, I didn’t want to get trapped, so I, uh, made some modifications to your ship just in case I needed to find another way out. Nothing too big, I swear!” he said as Reilly eyeballed him. “Anyway, I knew if I could get Sergeant Ty down there, he could hide out until after we left, so that’s what we did. Then I went and took his place up in his room.”
“And how do the cows come into this story?”
Reilly started to laugh. “I think I know what Seth did. C’mon, let’s go see.”
They all left the bridge and followed Reilly down to the cargo bay. The two cows still lay against the back wall, happily eating hay. Reilly walked to one of the lockers along the side of the bay and took out a thermal imager. She walked back to where they others stood and turned it on and started to laugh. On the screen was a big red-and-white heat spot from where the cows were lying together on the floor. She handed the device to Chang and went back to the locker, this time grabbing out one of the combat sights. She flipped the sight on and clicked it over to P for penetrate, a setting that allowed soldiers to see their enemies through walls during operations in enclosed areas. Now when they looked at the screen they could see the two cows lying on top of a human. Reilly moved the sight around, examining the modifications that Seth had made, clearly impressed by his ingenuity, while the others looked over her shoulder. The kid was smart, no doubt about it.
Reilly turned back to Seth. “Great job, really great job. That’s the kind of thinking that saves lives. Today it may have saved all of us, not just Ty. Seth, I want you to keep doing this. In fact, consider it your new job. You still report to Duv and Ty, but outside of that, I want you thinking about how to improve this ship. Talk to everyone and see what kinds of scenarios they’ve encountered in the past, then come up with solutions. You present them to me, and if I like one, you make it happen. Understood?”
Seth could barely contain his excitement. He nodded in agreement. “I’ve got some stuff to finish up, but then I’ll get working on it, Captain. Thanks, thank you a lot!” He took off to go finish up his daily tasks so he could get started on his new project.
Reilly smiled and turned to Duv and Chang. “I’ll see you guys later, need to go work out everyone’s cut and finalize a parts list. We’ll talk about our next stop at dinner.” She headed up the catwalk towards her room.
Duv and Chang put the sight and the thermal scanner away and walked over to open up the hatch. Chang suddenly stopped short and cleared his throat. “So how long is Ty supposed to stay down there?”
Duv caught on at once. “I guess until someone tells him he can come back up. Does he still have that hidden stash of cigars and Virilonian vodka somewhere in the common area?”
“Yep. The Captain is going to be working in her room, and we still have four hours until dinner…” They both grinned mischievously and headed back up towards the mess.
Ty, lying in the hold on Skeeter’s old blankets, dozed in the cramped space, snoring, tossing, and cursing to himself, waiting for someone to give him the all-clear sign. He could’ve sworn he had heard the Captain and Chang talking above him just a short while earlier. He sighed. With his luck, it was probably going to be a long wait.
Chapter 5
Duv sent Skeeter down to let Ty out for dinner. He and Chang tried unsuccessfully to find the hidden compartment in the common room and finally gave up so they could finish their regular duties before eating. Reilly came in a bit early and settled into her leather chair in the corner, talking and joking with the rest of the crew as Chang and Skeeter set food out on the table. Ty demanded to hear what had happened during their visit to Crazy Ray’s, so they each recounted their piece of the story for him. When Skeeter finished up his part, Ty looked at him hard.
“I could be dead right now. We all could be if Crazy Ray had found me on board.” He waved Skeeter over from the table and reached for a bag next to the sofa he was lying on. It was an old army duffle, and he opened it up with care then rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for.
“I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m pretty sure we all agree you proved to this crew that you know what it means to be part of a team, to watch someone else’s back. So I want you to have this.”
Ty handed Skeeter an olive drab square and motioned at him to open it. Inside was a military jacket, somewhat worn but still wearable. It had a single stripe on each sleeve and the ISU marine emblem on the front left pocket.
“It was mine as a specialist. It’s been through a lot, got a lot of history, but it made it through and so did I.”
Skeeter quickly put it on. It was a little long in the arms, a little big in the chest, but he would grow into it. He looked back at Ty, who was pulling another package out of the duffle now.
“I asked the Captain and your dad on this one. They agreed that when we get planetside again and if you want, we can start running you through some of the ISU basic training drills, teaching you some stuff so you can start working missions and maybe earn a full cut on jobs. This was mine, too. It’s yours now.”
He finished unrolling the cloth, and inside was a battle rifle, the sta
ndard issue for the ISUs with a holosight. Skeeter sucked in his breath as Ty handed it to him. He had never had his own gun before, although he had shot several with the crew for practice. He slid his hand around the grip but made sure to rest his finger above the trigger, and checked to make sure the rifle was still on safe. He turned away from his audience and brought it up to his shoulder to see how it felt, making sure he kept the muzzle pointed at the wall. When he turned back around again, the rest of the crew was grinning at him.
“Let’s eat! I’m starving!” Ty reached for the plate Chang passed him. Skeeter set the rifle against the wall and chose to pull his chair up next to Ty, who started to tell him all of the specifics on the battle rifle and what made it such a great weapon.
They all bantered back and forth as they ate, Chang giving Duv a hard time about his flying in the asteroid field, Reilly assuring Ty that his title of “Wanted Man #3” was still secure and that Crazy Ray had increased the bounty on him, Duv giving Chang crap about his shooting, Skeeter telling them about the latest happenings with the space cows, and Reilly realizing that Duv and Chang hadn’t let Ty out of the hold for an additional three hours so they could search for his hidden stash. Ty bet them they would never find it, and then Reilly claimed she already had, which started the betting again on whether she had found it or if she had found another hiding place. She refused to reveal the location, though, much to Ty’s relief and the others’ chagrin. Finally, as dinner started to wind down, Reilly settled back into her chair and the crew looked at her expectantly.