StarFlight: The Prism Baronies (Beyond the Outer Rim Book 2)

by Reiter

  Synh ran to the Delman and took hold of his shoulders. “There is no honor in this victory.” Hillgray’s fist crashed against Synh’s face, sending the man to the floor.

  “Damn right!” Zyzo huffed, “because you didn’t win!” Two stunning lasers hit him in the back and the Delman managed to turn, facing the shooter who fired once again with his stunner and the one he had picked up from the floor. Yet another opponent who fired his weapons again just to make sure of the effect. Hillgray fell face-first to the floor and made a resounding thud.

  “Oh yeah,” Amos LeRoy said as he secured both weapons. “… he’s a solid one!”

  Jovasor sat on the floor, looking at his shoulder wound. “He… he… he attacked me!”

  “You interfered,” Amos advised, peering through light gray eyes at the man who had been made his superior. Jovasor did not have Amos’ experience… he did not have Amos’ education… what he did have was initiative, and the Captain rewarded such things. In hindsight, Amos could agree with the perspective. Pirates weren’t exactly known for being hygienic, organized, or mannerly. Their chief medical technician was going to require some backbone. “You better be glad he chose to only wound you! From what I’ve been able to see, Synh is a true Old Earth throwback, and you just stepped into a very private matter. That kind of thing could get your head cut off where he comes from.”

  “No wonder we lost the damn planet then,” Jovasor said as he pulled the weapon out of his shoulder. He treated his wound as Amos saw to the injured crewmen and then the prisoners.

  Synh said nothing as he collected his sword and the Delman’s mace, and departed from the observation deck. Amos made it a point to be between Synh and the chief med-tech as the silent Terran exited the deck. Ephaliun shook his head as he watched the whole thing. He opened a channel on his brace-com.

  “Llaz, this is Dugger,” the young man said, only half believing it was all over. “The situation here has been secured. Repeat, we are secure and the population of the brig just went up by three.”

  “Roger that, Dugger,” Llaz replied. “All right everyone, all stations can stand down.”

  “Hey, Alpha Team,” Siekor called out, sounding exceedingly happy. “… way to kick ass!”

  “Couldn’t have done it without you, Siekor,” Ephaliun replied, still surprised he had been chosen to be on the first team to try and deal with these rather especial boarders.

  “Siekor’s right,” Llaz added. “That was true gold! Satithe, are we clear?”

  “There is one spacecraft that appears to be on an intercept course with us, but that will be at a fueling station which is seven hours off from this point and time. Tank and Shotgun have procured the drone our uninvited guests brought along with them. Its defenses have been deactivated and its main power supply has been rendered inoperable.”

  “So that’s why they needed her suit’s computer name,” Ephaliun concluded.

  “Any intrusion attempts into your database?” Llaz inquired.

  “Three attempts,” she replied. “All neutralized within forty-seven nanoseconds of entry.”

  “Forty-seven?!” Ephaliun snorted. “Girl’s getting old and slowing down!”

  “Oh shut up!” Satithe said, but only on the Observation Deck.

  “Roger that, Satithe,” Llaz stated. “Fire up the drives and let’s get ready to make another transmission with our holographic Captain.” The propulsion for the Xara-Mansura powered up and engaged as the crew went about the business of getting back to their work and training schedules. Llaz leaned back in the chair and shook his head in disbelief.

  “Even when he’s not here, he’s smarter than all of us combined! Thanks again for your files.”

  “Once again, they are not my files,” Satithe replied. “They were initiated the day Z met with Professor O’Zhar. He detected all three persons engaged in the surveillance of his meeting with Amosse on the Atsildylweer College campus grounds. The task given to me was that of finding as many general facts as I could about each of the individuals. An Olasson Duke was not hard to locate. When the Mech-Maga’s scans were received, it triggered an emergency response, once again programmed by Z.”

  “Blue man saw ‘em coming,” Llaz muttered as he stood up. “From the looks of this emergency response plan, they might be glad Alpha Team took ‘em and not him.”

  “At the risk of demonstrating hubris… ‘might’ is not the proper word,” Satithe stated. Llaz laughed as he departed from the War Room. It was time to get back to work.

  Some minds seem almost to create themselves, springing up under every disadvantage and working their solitary but irresistible way through a thousand obstacles.

  Washington Irving

  (Rims Time: XII-4203.04)

  Persephone rolled over on her back before she opened her eyes. Her head was pounding and she could immediately feel the chill of the cell in which she had been placed. Looking around, she could see it was an energy cell within a large dungeon cell. A slender male Jeelah had been seated just outside the energy cell walls. When her head came up, he stood up and started for the door.

  “Shouldn’t be too long now,” she thought, hearing the Jeelah walk down the corridor… ten meters… coming to a set of metal double doors. “Let’s just hope that wherever I am there’s at least a staircase between me and my keepers. This might take a moment.” Closing her eyes, Persephone went to her training – specifically, the lessons given to her by Nugar. Her breathing became metered and she was able to focus on her form; bones, tendons, muscles and skin… she could feel them all. Her muscles relaxed and soon the throbbing pain in her face and back subsided. “Twenty-three minutes? Is that all?! Either someone hits like a bitch or Momma’s getting a stiffer chin!

  “Bull-Kot, Momma’s got work to do, and there’s no sense in putting it off any longer than I have to.” She could hear the double doors opening again and three sets of footfalls; the soft-stepping Jeelah, one soldier-type and a clod. “… and twenty-three minutes was long enough for them to strip me down naked. That must’ve been fun. I wonder who put me in the teaspoon-of-fabric bra and panties.” Persephone rolled over on her side and started moaning.

  “Good afternoon, Captain Starblazer,” Talthwynn said as he walked into the cell. He looked at the woman and smirked, shaking his head. “You see, I thought we had an agreement.”

  “Typical,” Persephone replied, rolling over to her hands and knees. “A man always thinks he’s got a handle on things. When he’s wrong, he’s got to go and find someone or something to blame.”

  “So, we didn’t have an agreement?” Talthwynn pressed.

  “We had an understanding!” Persephone spat. “You had your life and I had mine, and for some reason, you figured you could just take that wannabe tally-whacker of yours and insert it into my life. No nipple-twist, not even a whisper in the ear. So the only agreement I can say we ever had is that you tried to fuck me, and I’m here to say ‘no thank you’!”

  “From the way things look now, those words sound like shallow bravado,” Talthwynn commented, holding up Persephone’s brace-com.

  “Don’t make too big a deal of it, goose,” Persephone smiled. “Even a busted clock is right twice a day. You either smarten up and do me now, or you can start the countdown to your last sights on this side of Hell! Your choice!”

  “Actually, we need to be discussing your choices, Captain,” Vidé said as he approached the barrier of the energy cell. “Currently, your ship is without its commander and its best crewman. You’ve got an untested crew without any real leadership. I’ve got three Runner-Ships ready to make a quick raid.”

  “Hope you’ve got body bags for the idiots on those Runners,” Persephone said softly. “There’s a guild at Black Gate that took just a few of my people too lightly. Send your raiders, net-junkie… just let me know what the odds are so I can place a bet. You know I’m good for it.”

  Talthwynn looked at the woman and knew simple conversation was not going to get him an
ywhere. What little ability he had to think for himself had been seriously diminished the moment he landed on NayFall. It had been his hope that he could make use of the woman’s headgear and get the man he had grossly underestimated out of his head. The lock-code in her brace-com had been changed, and recently. Talthwynn did not want to risk locking the device permanently, as he still had a chance of making the woman an ally against a common foe.

  “It would appear that your approach is not working, Vidé,” Qeldrun projected. Talthwynn had not been given an opportunity to read what his system had researched on what a DreamCasteR was. All he knew for certain was that he was a prisoner in his own mind, and once again his aims had been foiled. He did not want anything in the way of treasure, save the ship and the system that was its home. He had endeavored to use this man, Qeldrun O’Zhar, thinking of him as nothing more than just another stepping stone. It was, however, Talthwynn’s back that bore the weight of an opportunist and the sense of what it was to be used was now a firsthand experience. “Let us see if Mr. Lornington’s suggestion will fare any better.”

  “I will of course do what you ask,” Talthwynn thought, knowing his surface thoughts were being read. “Allow me to submit that, from my observations, such a tactic will not work. Your Harold Lornington is a true-to-life misogynist, and I think he has a problem with a female ship’s commander.”

  “That goes without saying,” Qeldrun returned. “But if you cannot offer an alternative…”

  “Your credit, Captain, has never been in question,” Vidé stated. “I am trying to appeal to your sense of practicality.”

  “Ass,” Persephone snickered.

  “I’m sorry,” Talthwynn said, confused at her response.

  “Yeah, I noticed that quality,” Persephone muttered.

  “When one assumes,” Qeldrun projected, chuckling himself at the rapier wit of his prisoner. “… ‘you make an ass of you and me’ is how I believe the saying goes.”

  Talthwynn was not appreciative of his situation or this woman’s sense of humor. He took a step forward and glared at her, balling his fists. “Look, I’m not here for you and you’re not here for me. And since you seem hell-bent on doing things your way, why don’t you, without insulting my intelligence or my position, suggest how we exchange your friends for the items in question.”

  “Items in question?” Persephone thought, looking at Talthwynn as her eyes squinted.

  “Well tag my ass and ship me off to the Junior Academy!” she exclaimed before her head dropped between her shoulders. Looking at the floor, Persephone tried to put things together; going through the plan and asking herself if anything changed since she was now up against a new player. “You’re not the man,” she said softly. “Hell, you’re not even the boy!” Her head came up slowly and she breathed out slowly. She locked her blue eyes on his green ones and she stared. “You’re just another cog in the wheel.” The flutter in Talthwynn’s eyes caused Persephone’s head to tilt – it was all coming together: the information she had received from the new Governor of Black Gate and one of his ranking street-thug cronies, the input she had gained from Shotgun, and now the poorly restrained flare of anger she had just received.

  “I don’t have the luxury of waiting for the card I want,” she considered. “I have to play the cards I’ve been dealt!

  “That’s gotta sting something awful,” Persephone whispered as Talthwynn Vidé looked away. “You’ve been buzzing around me and Z all this time… trying your damnedest to get inside the real mainframe and not the one he built for you to lose yourself in.” Talthwynn’s eyes shot over to her and Persephone’s brow lifted high over her eyes. “And I’m guessing that’s news to you, too, right? Hey, I get it! It sucks to be second stick… especially when you consider that computers is not really Z’s strong suit and they seem to be your whole world!”

  “Shut up!” Talthwynn cried out, swinging the back of his hand for her face. He gasped at the speed with which she moved, catching his wrist just before his hand could reach her face.

  “Energy barrier is conditional to my body,” Persephone deduced. “That lock is easy to pick!

  “Now imagine that, I just hacked your mind,” Persephone said softly as she smiled coldly, twisting the wrist she had caught. “Poor baby. This isn’t supposed to happen to you, is it? You’re out there, gliding across the Grid, taking pot-shots whenever and wherever the hell you feel the itch. The hell with the fallout, right?

  “Well this time, someone’s hacked you! So tell me, nipple-twister, how’s it feel?!”

  “Release him now or contend with me,” the Jeelah guard growled as he took a very cautious step forward. Persephone smiled at his respect for her ability and released Talthwynn’s arm.

  “Tell strictly-icky to keep his hands to himself and we won’t have a problem,” Persephone replied as she took a step back, lifting her hands up to show she meant not to engage in any further aggression. Two more sets of footfalls approached and quickly. The first group must have left the outer door open. These sounds were echoing from a stairway.

  “So, I got my stairs and someone in something of a rush,” she thought. “It sounds like he’s got another Jeelah with him... not as heavy as my guard here, but pretty damn graceful.

  “Step back from the prisoner,” the guard directed Talthwynn, and after only a very brief look at the Jeelah Warrior, Talthwynn took one step back.

  “Like I said, not even the boy,” Persephone sneered. “Are you this limp online?!”

  “Bingo,” Persephone thought as the Cyber-Line Jockey bolted toward her. He had no form and even less balance coming through the barrier. He came armed with only fury, and that made the pirate smirk.

  The guard moved even faster to try and take hold of Talthwynn. He caught a hard punch to the ribs as Persephone slipped between the two male bodies. With his breathing temporarily seized and his balance removed, the slightly lighter Warrior stumbled into Talthwynn’s body and the two of them fell to the floor, with Talthwynn’s leg still in the barrier wall. Harold came away from the wall with his already-drawn energy pistol. He took quick aim at the woman charging for the door leading out and fired.

  “Amateur!” Persephone whispered as she dropped and slid across the floor. The laser beam passed over her chest as her back hand throw sent the knife she had lifted from the guard. The blade slashed the neck as it flew by Harold. The door to the cell opened into the room and Persephone came up from the floor, leveling her shoulder into the chest of the body coming into the room. It did not matter that in an earlier time Qeldrun had been quite the athlete. Those times were gone, and he could not have been prepared for the attack.

  “Such a gentleman,” Persephone said, stepping on Qeldrun’s chest as her fist caught Arjhaka’s nose. She took a quick step forward and the frame of the door received a laser burst meant for her shoulder. Rolling out of the cell and to the right, Persephone yelled, “Gangway!” and quickly got up to her feet in the corridor.

  “Dammit!” Harold cursed, holding his neck wound as he rushed after the woman.

  “Wait!” Qeldrun called after him, but it was too late. Harold stepped out of the cell and to the right; Persephone flew by him, landing an elbow to the temple. The force of the blow knocked the man back and his head bounced off the doorframe. He dropped his weapon as he groaned his way into unconsciousness.

  “I heard that,” Persephone thought as she landed on her hands and rolled. “I know a bio-lock when I hear one. Gun’s no use to me.” Persephone turned quickly and moved toward the downed man. “But this knife looks like open game.

  “Whoa!” Persephone shouted as her intended run-by swipe quickly turned into a shoulder-rolling swipe. She still had the knife, but the claws of the Jeelah guard just missed her back. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!”

  The guard growled before he jumped at Persephone who smirked as she also came away from the floor. As the two drew close, Persephone’s left arm deflected the right arm of the guard. His left hand claw ra
ked the skin of her right shoulder as her blade slashed his face, jaw, and neck. Both bodies hit the ground. Persephone rolled upon impact, the guard rolled in anguish. Taking hold of the blade in her left hand, the pirate looked back at her opponent and spat at him.

  “Pussy!” she shouted as she allowed her body to relax before forcing it to explode into action. She spun around, throwing her knife, as she had heard the soft approach of another Jeelah. Her throw, however, was also in line with one she had not heard; a lean, muscle-toned female that was head-to-toe gray with emerald green eyes. Twisting at the hips, the woman dodged the knife and watched as the blade was lodged in the chest of the Jeelah that had come down the stairs with her.

  “There are many who would question the wisdom of throwing one’s only remaining weapon,” Wora purred as her tail swished from side to side. “Now you are unarmed.”

  “Uh, should I wait?” Persephone asked, gesturing toward the female Jeelah. She moved her right arm and winced in pain. “Oh boy… because it looks like you’re pretty busy being your own bad-ass… wouldn’t want to intrude on your moment.”

  “A moment is all that I will need,” Wora said as she walked toward Persephone. “Unless you wish to surrender.”

  “Gods, what do they put in the nip around here?!”

  “As you wish, Human,” Wora said without breaking stride. She looked at the woman’s chest and performed a hand thrust that Persephone blocked, screaming the moment she made contact with the skin of the Jeelah… the EnervationisT Jeelah. Electricity locked the woman’s body and Wora put her hand to the arm meant to deflect her initial attack. It was a simple feat to keep the power flowing as she took a half step back and lunged forward with a hand thrust to the sternum. There was Force Energy combined with the physical attack, and Persephone was thrown down the corridor, nearly reaching the wall. She rolled to a stop and suddenly the pain in her shoulder was secondary in her mind.