Corruption_Age Of Expansion_A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by Sarah Noffke

  “The footprints,” he said.

  Bailey squinted, seeing the various footprints in the dirt. The fine crystal quality of the dirt captured the details of the shoes. She squatted down, studying the closest footprint.

  It was a men’s size nine and obviously a work boot of some sort. The person had been standing with his left foot slightly in front of the right, shoulder-width apart.

  She peered around and then swiveled her head to look at Lewis. “The footprints don’t go anywhere.”

  He nodded. “It’s like they all disappeared where they were standing.”

  Bailey stood up, pushing her hair out of her face. She looked over her shoulder as a cold chill ran down her spine. “So the monster was here.”

  “Let’s hope the operative word is ‘was’,” Lewis stated, peering down at the device. “According to this, a monster like the one on Ricky Bobby could very well still be here.”

  “Hmmm, well, if that’s the case, we need to find some more information and get the hell out of here,” she decided, taking off for a set of offices to the side of the warehouse. “I’m not ready to give up my body and live in a database.”

  The door to the first office was locked when Bailey tested it, but one swift kick released the door to reveal a long hallway and a series of cramped offices.

  A half-eaten sandwich sat next to the keyboard on the first desk they investigated.

  “Finally,” Lewis said, picking up the sandwich and smelling it.

  “ ‘Finally’? Like you’ve been looking for a bite to eat all this time?” Bailey joked.

  He rolled his eyes but smiled. “ ‘Finally’, as in, a clue that isn’t covered in dust and that also gives us a timeline.” He peeled back the crusty bread, eyeing the sandwich.

  “So this guy was eating his sandwich when the monster came in here and uploaded everyone in this office,” Bailey said, turning around and scanning the other office areas.

  “It makes sense—the door was locked from the inside,” Lewis said, sniffing the sandwich and then pulling back with a look of repulsion.

  “Yeah, wouldn’t want to have the miners storming in here with union demands, right?”

  Bailey thought bitterly of her father, who had worked for Trafalgar Mining as a laborer and then later as an administrator. As an admin, he was never behind his desk, though—mostly because he couldn’t stay still after years of hard labor. But also because he saw his position as serving the miners, not the other way around. How was he supposed to make sound company decisions unless he was on the ground floor?

  Lewis was watching her when she turned back around. He shook off the observation he’d just made about her, and tossed the sandwich back on the plate. “It’s at least five days old…maybe seven if the bread was incredibly fresh when the sandwich was made.”

  “So the monster has had a busy week.” Bailey trotted around the desk and pulled out the seat, turning on the computer. It started up with a ding.

  “Or monsters,” Lewis said, strolling out of the office.

  The computer prompted Bailey for a password. She thought for a moment before pulling the desk drawer open. Scrambling through various office supplies and loose papers, she ran her hands over the underside of the desk.

  “Bingo,” she said, pulling out a sticky note out and peering at it in the light of the monitor.

  “Bingo?” Lewis asked, stepping backwards and ducking around the corner. “We’re investigating, not playing parlor games.”

  Bailey typed a series of numbers and hit enter. “And I’m about to download all the internal records from Phoenix Tech for our investigative purposes.”

  Lewis’s mouth popped open as he stared between her and the computer screen. “How did you get access to that?”

  Her eyes swiveled to the name plate at the front of the desk that was facing toward Lewis. “I found Mr. Christopher Ronnie’s password.”

  “How did you know he’d have it written down?” he asked.

  She pointed to the picture on the desk. “He’s got five kids. Obviously he can’t remember his password. And he’s overworked, which is why he eats at his desk.”

  Nodding at her with a look of approval, Lewis smiled. “You, Lieutenant, are a freaking detective.”

  Bailey shook her head, placing a proximity drive next to the computer. The truth was that she’d still been thinking of her father. He inherently trusted people, and therefore saw no issue with keeping his passwords in his desk drawer. Her father used to say, “If someone wants them so bad, let them have them. Maybe they’ll log in and do my work for me.”

  Her eyes settled on the photo of Mr. Ronnie with his wife and five children. “Lewis, this guy’s kids are out there somewhere, along with everyone else that was left behind when these people were uploaded.”

  Lewis pressed his lips together, a solemn look in his eyes. “I know. Whoever is behind this, whether it’s Starboards Corps or Monstre or Solomon Vance, has to be stopped.”

  The computer pinged when the upload completed, and Bailey took the drive from the computer and stood. “And we have to find all of the people who have been taken and return them to their lives.”

  Lewis drew in a breath and nodded. “We will. We won’t stop until they’re found.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Phoenix Tech Mining Facility, Dwarf Planet Tangki-124-24/A, Tangki System

  “So Phoenix Tech must have been innocent in this,” Bailey mused. “Maybe they really made that distress call to Ghost Squadron.”

  “They were used by Starboards Corp, that’s for sure.” Lewis stalked for the door to the offices, but halted halfway there, raising a hand in warning to Bailey behind him.

  She approached on his side, her head tilted as she listened. In the main warehouse where they’d come from, voices could be heard.

  “Survivors?” she mouthed.

  His pulled his mouth to the side, thinking, but didn’t respond.

  “How can it all be gone?” a voice yelled.

  “I don’t know,” a scratchy voice answered. “The last time we were here, the mines were full.”

  “Phoenix Tech was also operating,” the first voice pointed out. “Where is everyone? You said that it would be easy enough to sneak in here and skim some off the top.”

  “It was the last time we were here.”

  Bailey pulled her gun from her holster and motioned to Lewis to do the same.

  He reached out, grabbing her bicep. “What are you doing?” he asked, careful to keep his voice down so as not to be heard through the busted door.

  “I’m going to get answers,” Bailey stated. “They obviously know something.”

  “We don’t know who they are,” Lewis argued. “They sound like thieving pirates.”

  “Well, then we’ll kill two birds with one stone: get answers and kill a pirate. Sounds like my birthday.”

  Lewis smiled at her fire. “Shall I escort you on this special day, then?”

  She shook her head. “I’d like to open this present myself.”

  Bailey pulled the door open in a swift movement, holding up her gun.

  “Freeze!” she yelled.

  Two ugly-ass Trids stood in the middle of the warehouse. They startled at the interruption, but didn’t freeze. Trids never listened, it seemed. Instead they took off, sprinting for the closest door.

  Bailey aimed her gun and fired at the ground, the stunning shots echoing loudly in the metal building.

  Apparently not as stupid as they looked, the goons froze, hands reaching up into the air.

  “Alright, alright!” the closest yelled.

  “Stay where you are,” Bailey commanded, marching over with her gun pointed at their back. She looked at Lewis, indicating with her head. “Frisk that one. I’ll take the other one.”

  He nodded, striding around the first Trid, who was easily a foot taller than him. The alien’s beady shark eyes narrowed at the sight of him.

  “Hey there. How about you keep your hands u
p and legs apart,” Lewis said, patting down the Trid and finding a gun on his hip and another on his leg.

  He backed up several feet and pulled his gun up, aiming at the Trid.

  “What did you come to steal?” Bailey asked.

  “Nothing,” the one she’d frisked mumbled, obviously not willing to cooperate.

  She gave him a wicked glare. “Would you like to keep your lubricating device? Because the last Trid I met lost his.”

  The Trid laughed. “You, little girl, are going to take my life support from me? Yeah, right.”

  Lewis shook his head. “Don’t underestimate her. I can attest that she relieved that Trid of his.”

  The Trid laughed, showing several rows of sharp teeth. “Why don’t you let us go, and we’ll be easy on you?”

  Bailey let out a sound of frustration. “Sorry. Can’t do that. What you were planning on stealing? Was it the shiny black mineral they mine here?”

  The Trid that Lewis was trained on laughed. “Noy, they don’t even know what the stuff is called, and they dare question us.”

  “Shut up,” the other Trid commanded, looking back at Bailey. “We were here to look for work. That’s all.”

  “You were here to steal stones,” Bailey insisted. “Who are you selling them to?”

  “Look, sweetheart,” the Trid, Noy, began. “I’d like to help you, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Bailey aimed at the Trid’s leg, nodding to her gun. “Oh, would you look at that, my dumb gun is on stun mode. I’m such a freaking ditz.” In a swift movement, she pulled a clip from her holster and locked it into the cartridge. “Now it’s equipped with bullets. If I stunned you, you wouldn’t be able to talk, but with a bullet in your legs, I think you’ll be a Chatty-Cathy.”

  Both Trids’ mouths dropped open.

  Lewis had to suppress the urge to laugh. Bailey didn’t look the least bit flustered as she stared at the Trid, waiting for him to start talking.

  “There’s a man on the Black Market who—”

  “No!” the other Trid yelled, launching himself at his blabbing companion. He pushed him in the back, knocking him to the ground.

  Bailey kept her gun trained on the fallen Trid, but the other one wheeled around, slamming his fist into Lewis’s face. The detective reacted too slowly, and the Trid knocked his gun out of his hands before giving him a shove.

  Lewis flew back, his hands shielding his face. From the ground, he watched as Bailey launched her foot into the abdomen of the Trid who was now lying on his back. She backed up several feet, keeping her weapon aimed at the first Trid while pulling a second gun from her other holster, and aiming it at the Trid in front of Lewis.

  The angry brute was about to launch another attack, when Bailey released the safety with a loud, echoing click.

  The Trid froze, sensing the gun behind him, aimed at his head.

  Lewis watched, motionless, as comprehension dawned on the Trid’s face.

  He narrowed his eyes. Let out a hot breath that Lewis felt on his face, inches away. And then took off, sprinting for the exit.

  Bailey shot once, hitting the fleeing Trid in the back, and he fell to the ground with a loud clatter.

  The other Trid took this opportunity to roll to his feet and start off in the opposite direction.

  Barely taking a second to reset, Bailey spun around and shot that one down too.

  She turned, giving Lewis an annoyed look. “I really freaking hate it when they run.”

  He reached for the gun he’d lost and took a moment to catch his breath. “Well, thanks for covering my ass there.”

  Bailey nodded. “That’s what a partner does.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Q-Ship, Dwarf Planet Davida-124-24/A, Davida System

  Bailey didn’t take a proper breath until she’d slipped into the pilot’s seat of the Q-Ship. She threw her head back, closing her eyes for a moment.

  “Not to interrupt your moment of respite, but…” Pip began overhead.

  The lieutenant peeled open an eye and looked sideways at Lewis, who gave her a worried expression. “But what?”

  “Thing is, you are probably about to get some company from some Trid ships,” Pip stated. “I picked up a few Stingrays on the other side of Phoenix Tech.”

  Bailey closed her eyes again and shook her head. “We already took care of them. They ate mysterious mineral dust when I shot them in the back.”

  “Oh, good,” Pip said, sounding relieved. “It’s pretty impressive that you were able to take out half a dozen Trids.”

  Bailey cracked open an eye again, staring at Lewis. “Please tell me he didn’t say half a dozen.”

  Lewis shook his head. “He absolutely did.”

  “As in six?” she asked.

  “Yes, I believe that’s the correct conversion, unless we’re talking about a baker’s dozen, but then I don’t know what half a Trid would look like,” Pip said with a laugh. “But you’re good, because you took them all out.”

  Bailey pushed up out of her slouched position. “Two actually. We took out two.”

  “Oh, well, then that would explain why four Stingrays are powering up for takeoff,” Pip said matter-of-factly.

  “Are you freaking kidding me?” Bailey asked, scanning the radar.

  “I am not kidding you,” Pip stated. “They must have been alerted to the disturbance. Well, that, and you didn’t cloak the ship, so I fear you’ve been spotted. I would have done it, but then you wouldn’t have been able to find the ship upon your return. These are growing pains we’ll need to work out over time.”

  “Having a comm connection to you would be helpful,” Lewis suggested.

  “I’ll put it on the wish list for Hatch,” Pip stated.

  Bailey bolted forward, rushing through her flight checks. They had to make it through an asteroid belt, which was going to be enough of a challenge—although she thought she’d played it off well enough the first time.

  If prayers were pennies, we’d be standing in an overflowing vault right now.

  “The Stingrays have lifted off and are headed in this direction,” Pip informed them.

  Bailey gave Lewis a sturdy expression, doing her best to fake some confidence until she felt it. “Stay and fight, or run like hell?”

  Lewis seemed to think for a moment. “Four Stingrays. One Q-Ship. You’re brand new to flying, and they are probably—”

  “Got it,” Bailey cut him off. “Run like hell.”

  “Oh, I see,” Lewis said, pretending to look offended. “No time for my logical analysis presently.”

  Bailey found herself smiling as she ignited the boosters.

  Flying had always been the path she’d wanted with the Federation. However, it wasn’t until that moment, with the controls in her hands and so much riding on her, that she knew there had never been another option. She was born to fly.

  Many described it as freeing, but that’s not the word she would use for how it felt to fly the Q-Ship off the dwarf planet and toward the outer rim of the asteroid belt. It was empowering. Anyone could flee or stay and fight, but a pilot always had one more option. They could spread their wings and fly.

  “Enemy fire heading for stern,” Pip reported.

  Bailey rolled the Q-Ship, careful to avoid an asteroid charging in the opposite direction. An assault sent her forward anyway.

  “What was that? I thought that would get us out of harm’s way,” she demanded.

  “Oh, it did, but it put you in the path of other enemy fire,” Pip stated. “All four ships are on your tail.”

  “Can we cloak and escape?” she asked, maneuvering quickly to dodge oncoming asteroids.

  “The Stingrays already have you in their sights; if you cloak now, they’ll use their heat radar to track you,” Pip explained.

  “Then we’ll stay and fight. Pip, I need you on guns,” she decided, darting around another asteroid that was easily twice the size of the ship.

  “What if w
e use the asteroids to our advantage?” Lewis mused, pointing at one in the distance.

  Bailey considered this for a moment. “You mean as shields?”

  “I do,” Lewis stated. “A little hide ‘n’ seek action.”

  It was a smart approach; the asteroids didn’t run as hot as the ship, but they would be enough to confuse the radar while they were in the belt.

  “Okay, but I’m going to have to do some fancy flying to make that work. As you’ve noticed, asteroids don’t stay still.”

  “Nor do they move like a ship,” Lewis agreed.

  “Which means I hope you don’t get spacesick.”

  She slid the ship around and behind an asteroid that was only slightly bigger than they were. She slowed the engines in order to keep speed with the rotating rock, then she tumbled the bow of the ship forward, sending it into stationary orbit and copying the movement of the asteroid, keeping perfect time.

  “It’s working,” Pip exclaimed. “All four Stingrays have halted.”

  Bailey peered down at the radar, watching the blinking red lights on the screen. The Stingrays had stilled, but that wouldn’t last for long; they were simply trying to figure out where she’d disappeared to.

  Keeping the Q-Ship rotating, Bailey said, “Pip, launch four missiles at those fishbrains.”

  “Launching missiles,” Pips confirmed.

  She smiled outwardly and looked at Lewis, hoping he’d share in the proud moment. However, he had a green tinge to his appearance, and was staring straight ahead like he was trying to melt the controls with his gaze.

  “You hanging in there, Detective?” Bailey asked him.

  His fingers were white, gripping the arm of his seat. “I’m okay. Just been a little while since I was on a ship that was tumbling like a yo-yo.”

  “Oh, yeah? How long?” she asked, her hands steady on the controls.

  “Forever,” Lewis admitted, then gulped. “It’s been roughly forever since I took such a ride.”

  “You’ll get used to it,” she assured him, catching something on the radar.