Last Man Out (Poor Man's Fight Book 5)

by Elliott Kay

  “Yeah, and the other way this works is we won’t have a ship waiting to take us away if the planet falls into some crazy revolution. We get dropped off and left on our own for two months hoping the government doesn’t fall or we don’t wind up getting grabbed and held for ransom in the middle of the night. And even if we decide to leave early, we still have to send out an FTL drone to call in a flight.”

  “Russell, crimes like you’re talking about happen in cities,” said Naomi. “We’re going to be out in the boonies with a big group of people. Nobody’s going to mess with a bunch of university students on an archaeological dig. Professor Vandenberg has been out there twice in the last ten years. He knows his way around. The worst we’re going to have to worry about is somebody randomly stealing our baggage at the spaceport.”

  “Funny you should mention that. You know what else they have out there? Pirates. There were six pirate attacks in Minoan space last year.”

  Naomi’s jaw dropped. “Last year. Out of how many ships coming and going? Does it say how many there have been this year?”

  “And then there are the aliens,” Russell went on. “Minos is on the corner of the border between the Nyuyinaro and the Krokinthians. They have Noonie sightings. And Minos doesn’t want extra protection from the Union Fleet.”

  “You knew where it was on the map when you signed up for this!” she snapped in exasperation. Her head tilted in a sudden connection. “And if they’re blowing off Fleet protection, don’t you think there’s a reason why? What more do you want?”

  “I want out of the expedition, Naomi,” Russell said, crestfallen but firm. “This is all too much. I have a family. It’s one thing to be away from them for two months, but this is…you know what? No. I’m not going to hide behind them. This isn’t something I’m willing to do. I didn’t sign up for this. I’m sorry, Naomi.”

  “Russell—”

  “I’ll forward you all my files. You should reconsider, too. The whole crew should. I’ll see you at school, but please don’t try to change my mind. I’ve got to go. Bye.”

  She didn’t know what to say. Nothing came to her before he cut the connection. Then she was staring at the dresser across from the foot of the bed and the wall behind it.

  Her right-hand guy was gone. He’d been her pressure valve, the only person she could genuinely rely on to help her keep track of documentation, inventory, certification, travel arrangements, finance, and every other fucking responsibility. She couldn’t trust any of the other students to do it. Every one of them was too wrapped up in their own theses or capstone research. It spoke to Russell’s other value: he helped her wrangle the other eleven students when no one else would.

  The professor was no help. He was as bad as the students—worse, in fact, as he held the only spot in the hierarchy above her own. She answered to him. Management tasks were in her hands as her practicum as a field leader. Naomi didn’t have merely her own doctoral research to complete. Her field credentials rode on this, too.

  Sixty thousand in loans, even after all the breaks in the fallout from the Debtor’s War. Three years of work. Three years of leaning heavily on Danielle to pay the bills, too, all with the promise of shouldering her fair share of every burden once this was done and she had a decent job—no. Not a job. A career. Once this was over, she and Danielle would be equal partners again, as they’d been when they were two poor undergrads. Hell, if the expedition went well, she might even have a position lined up before the wedding.

  The thought turned her head toward the bathroom door. It was still open. Danielle leaned against the doorframe in her robe.

  “Heard all that, huh?” asked Naomi.

  “You started shouting. I wondered what was wrong.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you or hurt your head more.” Naomi gestured to the now-absent holo. “Guess I don’t need to explain. You saw. I was hoping to forget the expedition for at least the weekend and focus on us.”

  “Are you kidding?” Danielle sat beside Naomi. Her voice was quiet, still in the grip of her hangover, but the distraction cleared away some of the cobwebs. That, and her concern. “Shit happens. I’m not upset. But what’s with this travel advisory? Is all of that true?”

  “We knew all along it wasn’t in the best neighborhood.”

  “I didn’t know it was pirates and mercenaries.”

  Naomi rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe it’s a little worse than I realized,” she admitted. “It’s not a warzone. We wouldn’t have gotten approval from the university if it was anything like that. And Vandenberg likes to talk big, but he’s not the rough and tumble adventurer type.”

  “Are you sure he’s paying attention?” Danielle asked. “You’ve told me how important this is. I know what you’re hoping to find. It’s enough to make someone blow off some serious risks. Or a few someones.”

  “Hey, I’m not obsessed,” Naomi countered. “I’m not gambling my life here.”

  “You didn’t read the thing, did you?” asked her fiancée.

  “No, I didn’t,” she grumbled. “There’s too much already. I haven’t read every little thing. I’ll read it now, if only to see what Russell is so worked up about.”

  “I want to read it, too.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “But if it’s as bad as he says, are you still going?”

  “Obviously. I have to.”

  “You don’t, hon,” said Danielle.

  “I do.”

  “We can afford—”

  “I can’t keep leaning on you to make up for what I don’t earn, Dani. What am I going to do? Stay in school and get another master’s? Any job I could get with the papers and the certification I have now will earn half of what I’d get once I have a PhD and this cert. I’ll never keep up with the student loan payments even with your promotion. And I’ve been working on these models and these papers for two years. This isn’t just the archaeology, it’s the geology, too. It’s my niche. I’m not going to get another shot like this.”

  “Yes, you will. The galaxy is a big place. It’ll happen.”

  “Dani,” Naomi pleaded. “I have to do this. I’m in too deep. There’s no getting out now.”

  Danielle’s eyes turned to their hands, holding one another. “Read the thing. Then let me read it. Maybe after my head is clearer. Then we can talk.”

  “I’ll read it as soon as I’ve ordered you some meds,” said Naomi. And figure out who the hell I can hire to replace Russell, she thought.

  “Right.” Danielle shrugged. “Hey, the Big Three gave everyone that huge break on primary education debt to make up for that whole Archangel fiasco, right? Who knows? Maybe we’ll see something happen with all the loan outfits at the university level, too? It’s still shaking out. We could still get lucky.”

  Naomi let out a sober breath. “I don’t know if I’d chalk all that up to luck.”

  Chapter Four:

  Polarizing Qualities

  “I heard about the protest. We don’t have an appointment scheduled until next week, but if you need to talk, feel free to call. Otherwise, I recommend trying to let it go. As we’ve discussed, much of this stuff isn’t really about you.”

  --Dr. Alan Tapai, Patient communications, May 2280

  It was a good weekend.

  Many considered Fremantle City one of the Union’s true paradises. Ever since his arrival, Tanner found paradise meant far less without anyone to share it. Phoenix and fortunate timing gave him almost three full days with dear friends. He wasn’t the only one eager to put bad times behind himself. He filled the time they had with sun and swimming, good food and laughter.

  And her.

  “Okay. Honest truth. You don’t get to bullshit me or play humble on this,” Lynette said to the darkness over their heads. “You read how to do that in a book, didn’t you? Several books.”

  Tanner was on his back beside her. The darkness meant she wouldn’t see him smile or blush. “It’s not that complicated.”

/>   “Bullshit. How come so many guys don’t have a clue? And that’s if they’ll do it at all.”

  “Are there really that many guys who won’t? I thought that was a myth.”

  “It’s not a myth.”

  “Wait, how many have you—?” he began, but laughed when she elbowed his naked side.

  “Okay, my statistical sample might not hold up to peer review, but word gets around. Some guys don’t. It’s the ones who do and almost make you wish they didn’t that makes it sad. That’s why I’m asking.”

  “Guys, specifically?”

  “I’m kind of mono-focused, but I don’t have to wonder about whether women would know their way around.”

  “Fair. It’s really that good?” he asked.

  “You either know or you don’t, is what I’m saying.”

  “Fair.”

  “Okay, so? Were you coached or did you study up on it? I know how you were in the Navy. You read every manual on any subject that threatened to come within ten meters of you. So I’ve got my suspicions,” Lynette teased.

  The admission came slowly, muttered through an effort not to laugh: “I might’ve watched a few instructional videos.”

  “Hah! I knew it. Wait, videos, plural? How many? Full holography or flatscreen? Were they immersive?”

  “Y’know, I can’t tell whether I should feel flattered or mocked here,” said Tanner.

  “Not mocked. Okay, maybe a little mocked,” Lynette conceded. “Flattery would be insincere, though. So not flattery.”

  “Whatever gets me invited back for more,” he said. “Which was the point of the videos.”

  “So you didn’t pick up any new coaching since the last time I saw you? This weekend was all pent-up passion?”

  “Are you asking if I’m seeing anyone else? No. I’d have said so by now. What about you?” Tanner asked.

  “Oh. Couple dates. Fooled around a bit.” Her casual tone was followed by a pause. These waters had been discussed, but not yet tested. “It’s nice to have some fun, but I don’t know how much of my heart is in it.”

  “Does it have to be? Like we said, committed non-monogamy until we figure out what we both want. I’m not bothered if you’re seeing someone else. Should I be?”

  “Not as long as it cuts both ways.”

  “I don’t even hang out with anyone here, much less date. Everyone at my dojo is wrapped up in their own lives. The best I ever get at school is other students saying the protests and crap are unfair, but they keep me at arm’s length. They don’t want to ‘get involved’ or ‘take sides.’ And the last thing I’m gonna do is put my name and face on any kind of social service.

  “I don’t want to dump all that on you,” he added. “But I don’t want to hide anything, either. I’m not this guy. I’m not the loner type. Never was. Not until the military, anyway.”

  “I figured that out the day I met you,” she said. “You only needed a safe place to open up. I’m glad I could give you one.”

  “Y’know, I thought for the longest time I wouldn’t want to stay in touch with anyone after I got out of the Navy,” he admitted. “Dump my medals in the trash. Get out and never look back.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” said Lynette. “Felt the same way myself for a bit. Truth is I couldn’t wait to get off Joan of Arc. Thought I might go crazy first.”

  Tanner turned to face her in the darkness. “Really?”

  “I was fine until I lost people.” The words came out carefully, each phrase checked for tears that might escape and cause a greater breach. “After Raphael, every time I was on the bridge, I was afraid to look down. I was afraid I’d see them frozen to the deck.” She didn’t say the names. Tanner knew them. “Sometimes it hurt when I didn’t see them, too.”

  “Did you talk to anyone?”

  “Yeah,” Lynette huffed. “How do you think I held it together? Booker knew. He was the XO and I knew I could lean on him. I didn’t tell the others, though. I was the captain, so I always had this or that meeting to go to when we were in port, anyway. Nobody needed to know if those meetings were with counselors.”

  “Then why take the high-risk jobs now?” Tanner wondered.

  “I needed to get off that ship and out of that dynamic, not out of every danger altogether. It’s not an all-or-nothing deal. Everyone processes differently. If you have to throw out everything, do it. I don’t need that. I don’t think you need that, either, but that’s up to you.

  “And I don’t care how many morons protest you.” She turned to face him, her body laying against his. “I remember Scheherazade. I sent you out into a crisis with my guys and told you to bring my people back alive. That was one of the best decisions I ever made. If anyone here doesn’t like what you did to make that happen, fuck ‘em. They only know what they’re being fed by the news. I know how many people you saved. That’s what you do.”

  Tanner closed his eyes. It was his turn to check for tears. They didn’t need that now. “Pot. Kettle,” he said.

  “Yeah.”

  “This got heavier than I expected.”

  “I know, right?”

  “Confusing, too. I thought you were into me because I’m so sensitive and considerate. Now I feel like you want me for my violent antics.”

  “I can find violent clowns anywhere. ‘Sensitive’ only got you an audition. I keep you around now for what you learned in those instructional videos.”

  Tanner laughed. A low notification tone went off, warning them of the time and turning his laugh to a groan. They had to get moving. “You want to share the shower again?” he asked.

  “Think we confirmed there really isn’t enough room for that to be fun or efficient,” grumbled Lynette. “You go ahead.”

  Reluctantly, Tanner climbed out of her bed. He made it two steps toward his destination before he heard her voice again: “Viewport. Raise blinds slowly. Illuminate.” The light of the setting sun brought with it the sight of her grinning at him.

  “Obviously I’m going to leer at you,” she said.

  * * *

  “He really doesn’t look like much up close,” said Jim.

  Yanis looked up from cleaning his assault carbine on the hotel room bed. His black mustache accented his frown. Dark eyes glared back at his blond teammate. “You were the one who said we should run.”

  “Yeah, because Troy was shot and I thought you were hurt. Everything went to shit, I get it.” Jim pointed his rifle at the far wall of the room to check the targeting system. “We weren’t ready. Fucker got the drop on us. But that’s what I’m saying. It was more surprise and our mistakes that decided it than him being better than any of us, let alone the five of us.”

  No one responded. Yanis looked to Troy at the small table by the window with the last of their room service dinner. Dressed in shorts and a loose shirt, Troy did nothing to hide the gel-covered laser burns on his legs. It would be days before the scars faded. Catching the glance from Yanis, Troy merely rolled his eyes.

  “Guy couldn’t be more than eighty kilos,” Jim continued. “Eighty-five, maybe. And I don’t think he’s more than a meter and eight. Definitely not one point nine.”

  “He’s one point eight five,” grunted Troy. “It’s in the dossier.”

  “Right, so he’s no taller than any of us. No more reach.” Jim’s voice turned to lower, quick grunts as he ran his weapon through its paces. Soft mechanical sounds followed as the carbine switched modes. “Voice action. Rapid fire. Single. Training mode, target light source, fire.” He swept the weapon in an arc pointing along the ceiling. A soft, harmless red light flashed from the barrel as it came in line with the overhead lighting. The weapon beeped to confirm the targeting calibration. “And hell, I’ve been hit harder than that.”

  “This is a weird way to talk yourself up after getting your ass kicked,” said Yanis.

  “We didn’t get our asses kicked,” Jim asserted. “That fight wasn’t decided. We broke contact because we had somebody wounded. It wasn’t
worth losing Troy.”

  “I’m not arguing that,” Yanis replied with a shrug. “This job isn’t worth losing one of ours if we can help it. Never said otherwise.”

  “We had him outnumbered. You were down, but not out. Mickey was still at the wheel.”

  “Sure,” said Yanis.

  “Then what the hell is your problem?”

  Troy’s silence seemed to suggest he was on the same page as Yanis, so he pressed on. “We ran and he didn’t. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “You think I made a bad call?”

  “Nah, I think you made the right call. It wasn’t worth losing one of our own. And look how many people aren’t around anymore ‘cause they didn’t break off when they should’ve. I’m only worried you’re talking yourself up to a point where you’ll forget that next time.”

  “He won’t have the drop on us next time,” said Jim. “We’re not going to engage until we’ve got him dead to rights. And it’ll be five of us, armed and armored up. Nothing fancy. Strictly the basics. We’ll get this done. I’m being careful.”

  Jim turned away from him to key up his holocom. “Chris, anything new?” he asked as soon as the screen flashed with a secure connection. “The sun is going down.”

  “Nothing, boss,” said the bearded man on the screen. He sat at a window amid several more holo screens of his own. “His neighborhood is quiet. No sign of local police. Businesses are all shut down. If he turns up, I’ll let you know.”

  “He’ll turn up. School boy’s gotta go home before classes tomorrow. We’ll be ready to go soon, but it’s no rush. Better to let him settle in before we move.”

  * * *

  “Yes, you need to jump on this right away,” said Professor Vandenberg. His face floated over the small table in Naomi’s living room, looking perfectly placid despite her urgency. “Why don’t you contact the graduate students to see if they’ll take up the position?”