Forced Compliance (The Galactic Outlaws Book 1)

by Bradford Bates

  “I’m going to give you one chance to get this right, and if you don’t, I’m going to hurt you.” He smiled pulling out the pistol from behind him. “Who do you work for?”

  The rage finally broke over the top of the dam, and my self-restraint crumbled. I knew he was a piece of shit, but the fact that he was trying to turn out girls for money made me sick. Dark laughter bubbled up from deep inside of me. I could tell the pimp didn’t know what to make of it, so he countered by doing the one thing his simple mind could contemplate: he lashed out, and that was when his little reign of terror ended.

  The gun arched towards my head. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he would hurt me. If I let that blow land it would have done some damage, it probably would have put a human girl in the hospital. Reaching up, I grabbed his wrist, and the gun stopped moving forward. I broke the offending limb and the gun toppled from his hand to the floor. The pistol was really kind of a bonus. It might come in handy if the beasts managed to track me down.

  When his wrist broke, he screamed and the hand in my hair released. I climbed back to my feet and let my power wash over him. His screams stopped almost instantly, and he stood still. “Do you have any other girls here?”

  “Just one.”

  The expression on his face was almost priceless as he revealed something he desperately wanted to keep hidden. I wasn’t done with him just yet, though. “And where do you keep the credits?” He fought a little harder this time but eventually pointed towards a ventilation grate. I removed the grate and pulled out a plastic bag containing hundreds of credit sticks. I slipped about a thousand credits into my jacket pocket and commanded him to stay still while I went to find the girl.

  She was curled up in a nest of dirty sheets. There wasn’t time to do this nicely, so I compelled her as well. Take a shower, get dressed. Use this money to get off of this planet. Do it now. She jumped to her feet and headed towards the bathroom. When I heard the shower turn on, I knew the compulsion would hold. With that done, I moved back down the hall and to my feast.

  This time I made sure to block my mind when I fed. The last thing I wanted was any of this asshole’s memories trapped inside of my head. It was gross enough that I had to bite down on his unwashed neck. The stench of drugs wafted out of his pores, but it didn’t matter to me if he was high. I hadn’t found a chemical yet that would affect me. My vampire metabolism ripped the chemicals to shreds before they could take hold. It was kind of a shame really, but that was the price you paid for immortality. I drained the bastard quickly and tossed his body onto the couch.

  It took me about a minute to find a knife in the kitchen. I doubted this guy had ever cooked a meal in his life. I went over to the body and slashed his throat and then poured some of my drink around him. I slipped the blade into his hand just as the girl was leaving the apartment. Once she made it past the men outside, she would be free. She might never get over this, but at least she had a chance to make a life for herself.

  I tossed a match on his alcohol soaked corpse and watched it light up. The blue flames wouldn’t do too much and if the couch caught the foam sensors in the roof would put the fire out, saving the building. The flames might do just enough to make the coroner not look too deeply at the prick’s neck.

  Exiting the apartment, I moved quickly towards the stairwell I heard the girl moving down, as I started my trek to the roof. I’d hop across a few roofs before heading back to the ground and mixing back in with the people in the streets. It might have been a kindness to set that girl free, but she would also be another distraction for the beasts. She was carrying my scent now, and that was another trail their group would have to split to follow.

  The rooftops were my sanctuary. I’d heard a few howls from the beasts but they never grew close enough to give me pause. Hell, I was surprised at just how badly they were doing. My brain cried out that it was a setup. Even the more logical side of my thoughts were starting to wonder how they could have missed my trail by so much. Ditching them had been easy, almost too easy.

  I dropped to the ground two blocks away from the space station and moved into the dense crowds. This would drive them nuts. All of these people were now carrying my scent, all of them going to different places. I was in the clear. All I had to do was make it to my hanger, and in twelve hours I would be getting that warm bath, and at least a few days off to plan my next little adventure. I almost felt like I was the one calling the shots, even though that wasn’t the case.

  It wasn’t too much longer before I entered the private hanger our ship was idling in. The door opened, and it took me a moment to realize what was wrong. The ramp to the back of the ship was open. The captain and his copilot were on their knees at the base of the ramp. One of the biggest men I had ever seen was standing in front of them, with a giant sword resting on his shoulder.

  My optic told me he was over seven feet tall, the data it fed me put his weight at close to four hundred pounds. From the look of him, none of that was fat. With that kind of power, he could probably punch his sword through the hull of a ship. He looked relaxed, almost as if he was savoring the moment. He moved his hand and men filtered out of the shadows at the edge of the room.

  “Shit,” I mumbled as the guards continued to move towards me. “There goes my ride.” That’s if I lived long enough even to need a ride.

  Chapter 25

  Samantha Ripley

  “Thank you for finally joining us.” The big man boomed across the space. “I was beginning to think that you would never show up.”

  “I got a little distracted on my way back to the station. By the looks of my men I missed one hell of a party.”

  A deep rumbling laughter filled the space. The large man looked around at the guards. “Oh, I like this one.” His gaze turned back towards me. “The emperor wanted me to impart upon you how much he appreciates what you have done for him.” He smiled. “The emperor also hopes you understand why he can’t leave you alive.”

  “That’s a shame, I rather like being alive.” The truth was if they all attacked right now, I wouldn’t be getting out of here. I was all bluster. I might have been able to take down any five or maybe even ten of them, but not the giant and twenty armed beasts. That was even beyond my talent levels.

  The man bellowed out laughter again. My understanding of this system’s laws was murky at best, but I remembered something about being able to challenge your accuser. “Then I claim the right to single combat.” His eyebrow rose at the mention of single combat. Based off his size and the way he carried himself, I doubt he had been challenged in a long time. I had to play it up and hope his men wouldn’t just try and kill me if I won.

  He hadn’t spoken since I issued the challenge, so I decided to bait the hook just a little bit more. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of fighting a girl?” I slowly slid my swords from their sheaths behind my back. He didn’t move forward. “I mean I can tie one hand behind my back for you if you’re that worried about the outcome.”

  The laughter vanished from his eyes almost instantly. This was a man that wasn’t used to being baited and was used to a certain level of respect. I had just trashed both of those in one fell swoop. A guard moved forward and whispered something to him. The giant shoved him away with a growl. “Fine, what are your terms?” he rumbled.

  “If I win, the three of us are allowed to leave without further delays or retribution.”

  “And what about them if I win?” He nodded towards the prisoners.

  “I don’t give a fuck, I’ll be dead.” It was all bravado, but I needed him to say yes.

  A little bit of laughter escaped his lips before he realized that he was still angry with me. “I find your terms acceptable.”

  He must have issued a command to his men via some internal link because they all started to move towards the door. All of them filed out of the hanger except for two men that stayed positioned just inside of the door. The giant spun his sword around with ease as if he was testing the blade’s bal
ance. His eyes found mine, and he grinned for the briefest second before turning around and slamming his meaty fist into the side of the copilot's head. The pilot fell to the ground, and the giant started to move towards me.

  From the wet thunk his fist made against the man’s skull, I wasn’t sure if he was even still alive. His body was slumped over, and I didn’t have time to try and focus on sensing his heartbeat. The pilot’s eyes met mine, and I could tell exactly what he was thinking. Kill that fucker. That was kind of my whole plan in a nutshell.

  The beast started to drag the tip of his sword on the ground. The metal sparked against the stone as he started to turn in a slow circle. Thousands of hours of training had me watching his hips and shoulders. Everything else was a lie. There was nothing to worry about until he actually set his feet to attack. The blade he was carrying was massive, but he was strong enough to wield it like a normal sword. That didn’t mean I could block it like one. A direct hit from that thing could break an arm or a wrist, or worse yet one of my blades.

  The way to win this fight was to be faster and smarter than my opponent. Even then, I put my odds somewhere around forty percent. It wasn’t just his size that had me worried, it was the grace in which he moved while carrying all of that bulk. The fucking guy moved like a ballerina. A ballerina with a really big sword.

  His blade flashed out, and I batted it to the side. He was testing the waters. Probably trying to gauge my reaction time, hoping to get a feel for how old I was. I made sure to move just quick enough to avoid his strikes but not any quicker. When I moved at full speed, I wanted it to be a surprise. The dance of his blade continued until he backed away. He was sweating now, but I knew he would never quit.

  He started to circle again, letting his blade spark on the floor. The tip bounced and that was the only indication that I had of an attack. He rushed forward moving at least three times as fast as he had previously. The first swing nearly caught me off guard, but I managed to move enough that I could spin out of the way without being hit. He followed up with a series of attacks I was able to deflect until his foot caught me in the stomach.

  I flew back ten feet before hitting the ground. I turned the fall into an artful roll and came back to my feet just in time to see the flash of his blade. It missed me by a hair, but as he pulled it back the blade scraped against my cheek cutting it to the bone. The wound healed even as our eyes met. He had a look of smug satisfaction on his face. I’d been holding back, but as my rage started to bubble over I knew that wouldn’t be an option anymore.

  My power brushed across his mind, he was shielded against the attack, but I’d keep trying.

  “Get out of my head, bitch.”

  Interesting, I never knew that they could feel it when I tried to break them. That was something I had to keep in mind for next time. Instead of giving up, I kept my power swirling around him even as I dodged his next flurry of strikes. Finally, he tried the same kick, but this time I was ready for it. I dropped both of my blades caught his foot and threw him across the room. His growl of frustration filled the hangar as I picked up my fallen katanas and stalked forward. The beast rolled to his feet and charged to meet my more metered approach.

  This time his strikes were clumsy but full of power. It wouldn’t do me any good even to attempt to block them, so I finally let him catch a glimpse of my true speed. I moved around his strikes as if they were happening underwater. His movements seemed slow and clunky, but I wouldn’t be able to keep up this energy burn for long.

  The giant backed away keeping his blade in front of him. He was heaving now, gulping in air like a fish out of water. The rage still simmered in his eyes, but there was something else there now. Was it fear, or maybe even respect? I didn’t give him any time to recover, instead I pressed the issue. This time it was my turn to attack, and I went at him with a vengeance.

  Dodging around the first swing of his blade I buried my sword in his knee. Then I spun jumping over a waist high swing before plunging my second sword into his shoulder. One hand fell off of his blade making his next swing waver. I pushed it to the side and slammed both of my blades into his gut. The beast roared in pain, but he hadn’t stopped fighting. He pulled himself free from my blades and slowly rose to his feet.

  “You’ll have to do better than that,” he sneered.

  The fact that his knee had already healed was impressive. He had both hands back on his sword, so his shoulder must have healed as well. I hoped the lacerations to his internal organs would take a bit longer to heal, but I had my doubts. He looked me over again as if reappraising me, and then with a dismissive grunt he attacked again.

  I let the first strike slide by me, which ended up being a mistake. He reversed the blade, and it raked across my ribs. If I had still had my jacket, the blade wouldn’t have done nearly as much damage as it did. Without it the blade bit deep into my side until it bounced off my hardened rib bones. I knocked the next few strikes wide and managed to dodge a few kicks and punch aimed in my direction. The beast was heaving again, but the hatred he felt for me was still burning as bright as ever.

  He came at me faster this time. His strikes becoming harder to defend. I pulled on my power and kicked it up a notch. I managed to hit him several times, but the wounds didn’t seem to be slowing him down. If anything they seemed to only make him more determined. Jesus what was this guy, a fucking terminator. My penchant for watching historical vids aside this guy was a monster.

  Just when I was starting to get worried, I felt a little crack forming in his mental armor. I let him come forwards attacking. I retreated even letting a strike graze my arm. One of my blades clattered to the ground, and the beast went in for the kill. His sword rose above his head, both hands on the hilt. A strike like that would split me in two. The blade started to descend, and I moved to the side. It wouldn’t have been enough to save me if the compulsion hadn’t taken hold, but it snapped into place just in time.

  The blade was moving so fast, I felt the air it displaced as it brushed past my shoulder. It wasn’t much, but the compulsion had done just enough to give me the opening I needed. The beast was off center from his strike, and even as I spun around behind him my blade rose in the air. I brought it down on a diagonal just as he tried to pivot to face me. His head rolled away with his eyes still open. His mouth moved once as if he were trying to tell me something, even in death.

  Before the rest of his body could hit the ground, I was already sprinting towards the captain. I cut his restraints. “Get us out of here.” He cast one look over at the unmoving copilot and rushed up the ramp. The guards were already moving back into the room. Whether it was to pick up their fallen comrade or to attack didn’t matter. I pulled the copilot into the ship, and the ramp started to close. I gave the guards a saucy little salute and then the ship was moving.

  My senses turned towards the copilot. He was dead, but the body was still warm. I drained the body and then put him in the airlock. As we burned through atmo, his body was turned into ash and sucked out of the small gaps I left in the outer door. I wanted to feel bad for him, or for his family that would never know what happened. Instead I felt those emotions pushed to the side. He worked for the men keeping me captive, that was enough of a reason not to care.

  When we touched down, the captain didn’t exit the cockpit to speak with me. I couldn’t blame him, I had just drained his friend. If he thought I killed him then so be it. It was better that he blamed me than went looking for revenge back on the planet we just left. I’d hate to think I had saved his life only for him to throw it away.

  The trip back to the planet had given me enough time to clean up and change into something a little more fitting for back home. I had stored my weapons and ruined gear back in the weapons locker, then outfitted myself from my go bag. The two pistols fit well on my hips, and I kept a large knife tucked in a sheath against my back. It felt good to be home and to have a gun back in my hands.

  I hadn’t made ten steps off of the back of the ship
before my comm beeped. It was the office calling. It made me feel better thinking about them as a working relationship, instead of my captors. The reality of being an assassin forced to work because of a time bomb in my brain didn’t sit very well with me. So I played my little games. Most of the time it helped.

  “This is Samantha.”

  “Subject Thirty please stand by for a message from control.”

  I really hated when they called me that. I was Samantha Ripley. I knew it, and so did they. That was the one gift Dr. Marcom had given me. I got to keep my name, at least for now. “Go ahead when ready.”

  “Subject Thirty, report to location forty-two by seven PM.”

  “Message received control.”

  Location forty-two was a small bar in the working district. It had a tiny second story where my employers kept a room. So much for getting in my bath and enjoying a bag of warmed blood. A little time to relax and regenerate would have been nice, but if I was going to make it to the bar on time there wasn’t a chance for me to swing by the house. At least I wouldn’t have to enjoy the wet dog smell that always greeted me at the door.

  The city blurred by as the auto car moved through the traffic. Twenty minutes later I was standing in front of the Carillion Moon. The blue lights shined down onto the street, and the door opened revealing the smoky interior. I dodged past the couple that was leaving and moved inside without touching the door. A few people looked up as I moved through the bar, but most of the patrons just ignored me.

  The bouncer at the bottom of the stairs was talking to someone else, so I used my speed to pass behind him. I looked back from the top of the stairs just in time to see him push the man away. The third door on the left was numbered forty-two. I opened the door and moved inside with confidence that I didn’t feel.

  The room’s pristine interior was in stark contrast with the rest of the bar’s appearance. The room was all polished steel and glass. There was a lone figure sitting behind a desk. He motioned me towards the seat that was facing him and I moved to take it. Sitting down, I met the man’s eyes. I tried to get a read on him and his feelings, but he was shielded. I hoped this was only a debrief, but I had a feeling something was about to happen that was wildly outside of my control.