“It’s good to see you again Subject Thirty.”
Had I met this man before? For some reason I couldn’t place his face. “You as well.” He inclined his head indicating he was surprised that I had placed him.
“We have an interesting opportunity to present you.”
“That’s a funny way to present it. As far as I am aware, I don’t have the ability to make my own choices.”
He smiled and tapped a button on his desk. It showed me exiting the rooftop of Kim Sanchez’s building covered in blood. I watched silently as the figure on the screen ran towards the edge of the building and leaped off. Watching it now, I realized that I looked kind of badass when I was working.
“As you can see, we are well aware of your unsanctioned activities and have chosen to let them play out. What we are offering you now is twofold, a small upgrade to your internal systems, and a chance at freedom if you are successful.”
“Why ask, you have all the control.” I pointed towards my head. “I couldn’t stop you from doing this to me, even if I wanted to.”
“We are perfectly content keeping you in your current role for now if you refuse. If you accept and complete your mission, then we will remove the transmitter from inside of your head, and you will go free.”
Free, I couldn’t believe it. They would never set me free. But could I really risk not taking the chance? It was the one thing I longed for beyond all else. They had to know this, and that’s why they dangled it in front of me now. “What happens if I accept?”
“All you have to do is inject yourself with this.” He pulled a syringe from inside of his coat and placed it on the desk. “Once it takes effect all will be revealed.”
“That’s intentionally vague.”
“Think of it as a symbol of your acceptance.”
That didn’t answer the question, and I had to assume they knew my body would burn through any poison they injected me with. I reached out picking up the syringe. I took the cap off the edge. I looked back at the man on the other side of the desk and watched his eyes. He didn’t look interested in the outcome either way. I still couldn’t read him, my power just washed over him like a wave on the beach. My life had been forfeit since they had taken me all those years ago, what was one more risk now. What was the worst that could happen, if I died, that would be another kind of freedom?
The needle slid into my arm easily enough. As I pushed the plunger, I watched the man behind the desk. His eyebrows moved up just a fraction as the concoction entered my veins, then a smile broke out on his face. Two more men moved into the room, with a hover gurney. They shouldn’t need that my body would burn off any drugs before I passed out. It was one of the benefits of being an older vampire.
I tried to stand and fell back into my seat. My body was numb, and I started slipping towards the floor. The two men moved forward and slipped their arms under mine. Once I was on the gurney the man from the desk stood and moved towards my side.
“You won’t remember this meeting when you wake up, but you made the right choice.”
It didn’t feel like I had made the right choice. As my vision started to fade, I wondered just how bad of a choice I’d actually made.
Chapter 26
Captain Drake, A.E. 3124
The Talon was sucked into the belly of the much larger ship. The energy shield moved across the opening, and they started to vent in atmosphere while they closed the large steel doors. I waited by the cargobay doors until our ship was set down and the sensors picked up enough air for us to breathe, and then I lowered the hatch. There was no point in hiding. We were in deep shit now, and it was best just to deal with it and hope we got the chance to fly out of here.
I motioned the crew to back away from the door and to stand in a line across the empty cargobay. From the sound of it, at least one garrison of armored soldiers was heading our way. The fact that they were coming towards the ship with a show of force also didn’t bode well for the outcome of this meeting.
Looking down the ramp, I smiled as the first armored marine came into view. He kept his gun pointed at my chest and continued up the ramp. The rest of the marines started to run up the ramp side by side and then spread out around me. “You have my permission to come aboard.” The first marine that entered the ship snorted as he made a motion to the rest of the soldiers on board. All of their weapons stayed up and pointed towards the crew.
Well the N.E.A. certainly wasn’t taking any chances with us. We obviously had a reputation that they respected. Ok, so maybe reviled was a better word for it, but at least they knew who we were. The only real difference between us was that I knew who I actually worked for. Most of these men wouldn’t be able to say the same. The N.E.A. worked for the corporations, almost as much as the mercenary’s guild did. Not to mention I got paid a hell of a lot better than they did, at least I had before things with the mercenary’s guild went south.
Turning I moved back into the ship to stand with my crew. The marines still had their guns pointed at us, as if they expected us to produce weapons from out of nowhere and storm the Alliance cruiser. We were good, but not that good. Shit, even with all of us on the bridge, we might not have been able to get this bird moving. “Come on guys, maybe show a little respect and lower those weapons. We are unarmed and in compliance.”
The marine in charge ignored me, and their weapons stayed up and pointed at our chests. Screw em, if they wanted to play games we could do it with the best of them. The crew wouldn’t say a word without my say so. These guys were going to be in for a hell of a long day if they decided to question us after this little stunt.
A man in civilian dress walked up the ramp and looked around before turning to the first marine that I encountered. “Sergeant, please have your men lower their weapons.” He turned back to make eye contact with me even as he continued to address the sergeant. “For God’s sake, I’m trying to hire them for a job, and I can’t do that if they’re dead.”
A silent command passed through the soldiers, and they lowered their weapons. The man walked towards me and extended his hand. “Captain Drake, I’m pleased to meet you. I hope you won’t think too badly of Connor. He’s owed me a rather large favor for quite some time, and I finally called it in.”
I felt my head tilt just a bit to the side as I considered his words. “We try only to work with folks that we can count on.” I motioned towards the soldiers. “This isn’t exactly how we normally do business.”
“Oh, of course.” He turned back towards the marine he had addressed earlier. “Sergeant, please have your men return to their normal duties.”
The marine stepped forward and spoke quietly. “I’d feel a lot more comfortable if I could leave a few men with you.”
The man turned to me, and I just shrugged. He held all the cards here. We couldn’t get off of this ship unless they let us.
“That would be fine, sergeant.”
He turned towards the men. “Brooks, Dunlap. You’re with the Doc. Everyone else on me.”
The marine trotted down the ramp, and the men filed out behind him. Brooks and Dunlap moved to either side of the door. They both kept their weapons trained on the floor, but their eyes watched the crew for any signs of aggression.
“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself,” he said, turning back towards me. “How dreadfully rude of me. I’m Doctor Fidelious Marcom, you may have heard of my father, Sam.” He read the blank look on my face and waved it away as if it wasn’t a concern. “No matter, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.” He turned to leave. “Please follow me.”
“Maze, you’re with me. Ice, lock down the ship. Gabe…” We locked eyes, and he nodded. “You know what to do.”
Maze fell into step behind me, and we followed the doctor down the ramp. The two marines followed behind us but at a discrete distance. Sure they were far enough back we could have snatched or killed the Doc, but where would that have left us. Trapped on an Alliance ship with two thousand marines and a tract
or beam we couldn’t escape from. Those kind of numbers didn’t exactly work in our favor.
The Doc led us out of the docking bay, and into the main ship. He made a few turns and then entered a conference room. We filed in behind him and as the marines entered he held up his hand to stop them.
“If you gentlemen would be so kind to wait outside, I’d be grateful for it.” The Marines shared a look but didn’t move. “I’m sure Captain Drake would be more than willing to give you his word that no harm will come to me.”
The marines looked at me dubious expressions on their faces. I didn’t think it would help, but I said it anyways. “Dr. Marcom will be fine with us. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” The marines shared another glance and to my surprise walked out of the room. They didn’t need to be worried about us, we didn’t have anywhere to go and weren’t exactly in a hurry to get there.
I’d probably agree to just about anything if it meant getting out of here alive. Marcom obviously wanted us for something, so that boded well for our future prospects. He sat down and motioned for us to sit across from him. He smiled as we sat. I wasn’t buying the nice guy routine. Nice guys didn’t have an Alliance war vessel on retainer.
“Captain, I’ve got a job for you.”
Well, he had told the marines he wanted to hire us, now I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one went out of their way to track down washed up mercenaries for work. Trust me, we had spent the last year just scraping by. If there were mysterious benefactors to be had, I would have found them by now. All of this was starting to make an odd kind of sense. Why stop a smuggler, unless you needed something smuggled? Not only that but if you hired me, it’s because you knew we’d never talk, not even to the N.E.A. Whatever job you needed done, we could do it, and were worth every single credit.
“Not be rude, Doc.” I wave my hand indicating the ship around us. “But is this the kind of job we actually get paid for?”
Maze kicked me under the table, and I tried not to grimace. It was a fair question. When the Alliance grabbed you and told you to do something, you were expected to do it, no questions asked, and no remuneration. Since he was a civilian, I was willing to see if we could at least get our expenses covered out of the deal. It wouldn’t do us any good to get his packaged delivered and to not be able to fly the Talon to our next job.
“I knew that would be one of our talking points.” Dr. Marcom smiled and watched both of us for a moment before continuing. “Let me tell you what’s expected and then the pay. That way we both know exactly where we stand.”
He gave me a knowing smile, whatever he was offering was going to be good, maybe too good, and that had me worried. “I’m listening.”
“I have one package. The container is three by three by three in size. The destination is Acentua City on Mars.”
I held up a hand for him to stop. No one went to the Earth Republic, those guys hated everyone. If you even smelled like you had been outside of the system, they would blow you into spacedust. You needed the right kind of clearance to even enter Republic space. I had it, but hoped to never use it again. “That’s deep in Earth Republic territory. What exactly are we delivering?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you. Will that be a problem?”
“Not as long as I have your personal assurance that it isn’t a bomb or something along those lines. I’m comfortable with what I do for a living, but I am not a terrorist.”
“I can assure you that it isn’t a bomb.” He waved for me to stop when I started talking. “The package doesn’t contain anything that will do damage to the city.”
I leaned back temporarily mollified. There was about a zero percent chance that I wouldn’t take whatever opportunity he was going to offer me. You didn’t get pulled into an Alliance cruiser asked to deliver a package to Earth Republic space and just get let go if you refused.
I hated the fact these pricks knew they had us over a barrel. It wasn’t worth our lives to say no, and they knew it. That meant whatever he was going to offer us was going to be small potatoes at best. Instead of letting my disgust slip into the conversation, I kept my voice calm and flat. “Please continue, Doctor.”
“The package will need to be delivered to an address in the city, and then your job is done.” He paused to try and determine our reactions. Not seeing what he wanted he continued. “Tell me, does the job interest you?”
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been in Republic space, Doc, but I’d be willing to risk the trip if the pay was right.”
“Ah, I forgot to get to the best part then.” He smiled. It would have been charming if I didn’t know he was setting me up to take the fall for something. “The pay for this mission will be one million credits. Half will be paid upfront, the other half upon completion. When you complete the mission, we will also file the proper paperwork to have your license with the mercenary guild reinstated.”
Well that wasn’t what I had been expecting at all. For that kind of scratch he could have just hired us outright, and we would have jumped at the job. It was worth the risk. No more scrounging the galaxy for scraps. That sounded nice. As much as the money would help us get back on track getting our license reinstated was worth its weight in mountains of credits. Shit, I might even deliver a bomb if it got us our license back. I looked over at Maze, and her chin moved just a fraction of an inch giving me the ok.
“Doc, we’d be happy to deliver your package.” I stood and extended my hand.
He grasped my hand. “Of course the punishment for failure will be quite severe.”
Now why did he have to go and ruin a perfectly good business meeting with a pointless threat? Of course failing wasn’t an option. We never failed to complete a job, unless you think about the one that almost cost us everything. “You searched for us because we’re the best.”
“Indeed, I did.”
I didn’t hear any hesitation in his voice. I had to give it to him Dr. Marcom was good at hiding his true intentions. We were the best, but we were also expendable, and I’m sure the latter was what he was counting on. We still didn’t really have a choice, so it was better to lock down the details and hope they were telling us the truth about letting us go. “So where and when do we pick that package up?”
“I’ll have the package brought to your ship in eight hours. I trust you can be ready to depart by then?”
“We can be as long as your military friends here don’t mind doing a little resupply of our ship. We need some mechanical items as well as a refuel, and some fresh food if you have it.”
“I’ll have it taken care of.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” I shook his hand again. “It’s been a pleasure.”
He turned and walked out of the room. One of the marines popped his head into the conference room. “I’ll take you back to your ship.”
We filed out of the conference room, and the other marine fell in behind us. We made it back to the ship and as the ramp lowered the two marines left. They took up positions guarding the doors that led back into the belly of the Alliance ship, but for all intents and purposes we were alone now. All we had to do was wait, and we would be off of this asteroid kisser and back in the black in no time. That was if what the doctor said was true. I hesitated to tell the crew about what we were going to do next, but their expectant faces had me spilling everything that happened to us within seconds.
“Sounds too good to be true,” Kyra said.
“Agreed.” Chimed Ice.
Gabe gave me a look that told me he was with them but just didn’t want to say it. The only one that looked pleased was our doctor. “What’s got you so tickled, Doc?”
“Well I was hoping I might be able to add a few things to the list of supplies, surely the Alliance wouldn’t balk at providing us with a few essentials.”
He had a gleam in his eye that told me they would be expensive essentials. “It doesn’t hurt to ask. I’ll drop off whatever request you have with the marines when they come bearing gifts
.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
I waved away the thanks. I’d take whatever I could get from these bastards after they pulled us out of space and stormed my ship with guns. In that moment I thought that this might have been the end for us. The multiverse was big, but we were running out of room to do our thing. It wouldn’t be too much longer before smugglers were a relic from the past. So anytime I had a chance to stick it to the man I was going to take it. As long as Dr. Marcom showed up with his box, I’d get it delivered, and pray that he never found the need to call on me again.
Chapter 27
Captain Drake
Eight hours later the ship was fueled, and Kyra and the Doc had received some new supplies. Before I let them store them anywhere on the ship I was going to have Ice go over them looking for tracking devices. The Alliance was nothing if not predictable in their attempts to be subtle. The outside of the ship needed to be decontaminated as well, but we couldn’t do that here.
The marines had left the ship, and Dr. Marcom entered the Talon with a hover crate in front of him. I motioned for Gabe to take the controls from the doctor. He moved forward, took the controls, and moved the box off to the side of the cargobay before securing it in place.
“Just so we are in complete understanding, you will deliver the package unopened to the desired location within ten days.”
“Doc, you’ve probably written us the sweetest deal a man could expect to get. You’ll get your package delivered.”
Yes, I was playing it up a little. But I was feeling thankful. It wasn’t every day you had a run in with the Alliance and got to walk away from it. All of us had friends that were in the slam for doing exactly what we were doing right now. Being a smuggler wasn’t exactly the most legal of professions. So if I had to play up the deal, that was ok with me. That didn’t mean I liked being pulled onto a ship and forced to do the bidding of one of their corporate clients.
Forced Compliance (The Galactic Outlaws Book 1) Page 22