Gronko answered by spitting on the ground. “This is what I do, human,” he said, hefting his weapon and aiming at a second insect.
“Gronko, behind you!”
Charley’s warning came too late. The third insect swooped Gronko from behind and lifted the big alien into the air.
“Somebody, before it gets too high!”
Charley fired at the rising insect but her hits didn’t bring the thing down. Vanessa, crouching behind a fallen log not far from Charley, fired her crossbow into the tree canopy. The incendiary dart disintegrated the insect’s right wing and it dropped Gronko like a hot potato. The alien hit two trunks on the way down but landed on a mound of rotting wood, which was probably the best cushion he could’ve hoped for. Charley ran across to assist while the rest of the crew engaged the last giant stick insect.
She was relieved to find that Gronko was knocked around but OK. He had a huge bruise on the back of his neck and there was a nasty laceration across his wrist but he was conscious and keen to return to the fray. Charley shook her head in wonder - that fall would’ve killed a human.
Drawing both blasters, Charley followed Gronko up the wooded slope. Steam rose from fissures in the ground here. There was clearly something unique about the underlying geology. The last insect was hovering above the crew as they fired up at it. Charley considered hurling one of her pellets but there was no guarantee there wouldn’t be collateral damage - her crew was too close. Instead she tried to flank the beast and fired both blasters from the side, hoping to score a lucky shot on its head. The insect moved in short, sharp bursts which made scoring a critical hit very difficult. As she watched, Harry was lifted and thrown across the undergrowth. Gobs of green slime spurted in several directions, but none of the crew allowed themselves to be hit.
“Hold its legs!” Gronko yelled above the general chaos.
“Do as he says!” Charley said, sensing the renki had a plan. She holstered her weapons and rushed forward, waiting for the insect to see her and strike. A pincer came flying toward her and she grabbed hold of it with lightning reflexes. Molly leaped across to grab the other pincer, pulling the other way so the insect was momentarily splayed and vulnerable. Gronko rushed forward with his weapon, butting it into the insect’s elongated torso. The squelching sound was music to Charley’s ears. Gronko retracted the weapon and Charley saw that he had fitted a bayonet to his heavy flak gun. There was a gaping hole through the insect’s midriff from which a sickly yellow ichor gushed. The insect thrashed its pincers and Charley was forced to let go. The creature tried to fly away but crashed straight into a tree, where it fell in a crumpled heap at the base.
Silence reigned in the rainforest once again. Charley sank into a cross-legged position and took several deep breaths. Harry appeared, gingerly rubbing his jaw. Molly look unscathed, as did Vanessa. Gronko calmly cleaned his bayonet extension with a small rag and sat on the edge of a log as if waiting for further orders.
“Well that was pretty fucked,” FIGJAM observed.
“We should leave the geothermal gully,” Charley said.
Harry nodded. “Those insects seemed to be directly dependent on the geothermal heat generated in this area.”
The crew stood tiredly to their feet and assumed their original hiking formation. The terrain became more like the snow-laden woodland they had become used to. Charley wanted to stay as far away from geothermal springs as possible. She was relieved to walk away from that stick insect encounter with no crew losses.
Silent, rocky hills rose to either side and the crew trudged through a narrow pass. On the other side Harry spotted the glow of some kind of habitation. It was already around 3:30 in the afternoon and the daylight was fading. Harry led the crew toward the distant green light. As they neared the light source they saw it was originating from inside a dome-shaped structure built from ice and snow. There were almost a dozen similar structures located in a rainforest clearing. Snow began falling and Charley felt the first chill of night.
“We should ask if we can stay the night,” Harry said hopefully.
There were people inside the snow domes and they received the visitors with bland indifference. Judging from the smell wafting throughout the camp, Charley guessed there was some kind of narcotic at play.
“Cadence minerals,” Harry muttered. “I’d know that smell anywhere.”
Charley looked at him quizzically.
“The fumes released from melting down one of the local minerals,” said the old pirate. “It sends people into a stupor.”
Charley wasn’t sure if there was a single person in the camp who wasn’t under the influence of the drug. Harry pulled her away from the dome she had knocked on.
“These people look a little unpredictable,” he said. “Let’s just find a free dome or two.”
The crew located free domes on opposite ends of the camp. They could hear muted talking and laughter from the other domes. Charley wondered how these people made a living. Did they trade with the other settlements or simply live off the land? Whatever the case, she sensed these folk were on a quick road to self-destruction. It was disappointing to find such attitudes in a place that was rebuilding and needed every set of spare hands it could get.
Harry held Charley’s hand in a gesture that suggested he wanted to share her dome. Vanessa took her other hand with a shy smile.
Molly grinned - that left her and Gronko to take the other free dome. It didn’t matter too much, as Molly was getting used to the renki’s complex personality.
Harry inspected their free snow dome and pulled out a mass of smelly blankets and drug apparatus. He tossed these into the bushes, suggesting that Charley “refurbish” their dome with supplies from their packs. Charley located a few clean blankets and protein bars. The three pirates huddled into the snow dome and were soon snuggling together in the enclosed space. Harry closed over the opening with an oily rag to allow for their body heat to stay trapped within.
The forest outside was silent save for the occasional murmuring from the other domes.
Vanessa took the opportunity to assess Charley’s shoulder wound, which had subsided into a dull ache in the last two hours.
“Clean through the muscle,” she commented. “Could’ve been a lot worse. Let me bind it and you should be fine.”
Charley looked at Vanessa with surprise. “You didn’t tell me you had the Medic skill.”
Vanessa grinned as she applied a strong pressure bandage to Charley’s wound. “For some reason Petyr Fallon insisted on it,” she said. “He hated doctors.”
“It’s a good skill to have, whatever the reason,” Charley said thoughtfully. “I think we should put you through some extra classes when we get back to Danderly.”
“I’d like that,” Vanessa beamed.
“I hate to interfere with this golden moment,” Harry said. “But I do believe the snow dome is quite warm now.”
The girls grinned, knowing exactly what the old pirate meant.
Vanessa removed her top layer of furs and began unzipping her utility suit. Her cleavage became very large. Large and dangerous to Charley’s state of mind.
“I think we should all get more comfortable,” Charley said, removing her own furs. She unzipped her utility suit and lay down next to Harry, who began fondling her breasts.
“So many choices,” he mused, laying his other hand on Vanessa’s breasts, which had bounced free. “How do you expect a man of my age to handle all these choices?”
“Allow me to make them for you,” Charley said brightly, pulling Harry’s trousers free. The old pirate groaned as Charley held him firmly. Vanessa snuggled against him on the other side. The patter of snow on the roof of the dome provided a soothing accompaniment to the hot, sensual work being done inside.
7
Charley must have drifted off to sleep, because when she woke it was light outside the snow dome. She and Vanessa were still naked from the waist up, and a bleary-eyed Harry took the opportunity to have some �
��breakfast”. Charley giggled as Harry ticked her nipples with his tongue. What started as cheeky play inevitably turned into another sweaty session, and Charley wasn’t able to emerge into the world for another half hour.
There were some forest dwellers standing around a bonfire in the early morning mist. Their hollow eyes and vacant gazes told Charley she wouldn’t be getting much sense out of them. Her crew mates emerged in dribs and drabs, bright-eyed and ready for a full day of hunting. The snow domes had been surprisingly comfortable. There was something about being toasty and warm when it was freezing cold outside that promoted a good night’s sleep.
“Today we move deeper into the foothills,” Harry announced. “I don’t think these people have been hunting much so the elks won’t be spooked.”
The crew breakfasted on field rations and not for the first time Charley wished she was able to order room service like she had back at the Ajuna Sapphire on Deep Blue.
Harry took point like the day before and the hunting party made their way into the trees. After around an hour of trekking through montane woodland there was evidence of another geothermal spring to the north. Harry didn’t want to take any chances with a giant insect attack and gave it a wide berth. At around midday the trees became thicker and the party found themselves in a fairly dense section of cool rainforest. The bracken and undergrowth reached up to Charley’s waist as she tried to keep up with the others.
A low hoot echoed through the trees. It was guttural and heavy. It sounded a lot like a large elk. Harry made the signal to drop and Charley found herself surrounded by bracken. Through the foliage she could see a small ridgeline. Silhouetted through the mist stood a very large and elegant elk. She’d seen images of elks from all over the galaxy, but this one was seriously huge. It was probably thirteen or fourteen foot tall including the majestic antlers and would’ve weighed more than a few ton. Its powerful chest and legs left Charley certain that it could easily charge and kill any one of them, including Gronko.
There was a full minute of silence as Harry just seemed to absorb the regal presence of the beast. At length he ushered Vanessa forward to crouch alongside him. She drew her crossbow and consulted closely with the old pirate. Charley saw the girl load a gray-colored dart into the groove and aim her weapon. The dart covered the ground surprisingly well and lodged itself in the beast’s flank. Its breath was visible in the cold as it stamped around in agitation.
Harry held an arm aloft to tell everybody to stay where they were. The elk stamped, stumbled and ultimately fell. Harry rushed to the mammal’s side and checked its vital signs. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it was still alive.
“Tranq dart,” Harry said as Charley joined him. “Vanessa is becoming a crack shot.”
Charley threw an arm around Vanessa as she came over, returning the crossbow to her belt.
“That’s some shooting, sweetheart,” she said affectionately.
Harry nodded to Gronko, who produced a bone saw from his pack. Charley went cold.
“Are you sure that won’t be permanent?” she asked as Gronko knelt and began cutting at the antlers from the base.
“That’s the art of the silver elk,” Harry said. “Those antlers will be bigger and stronger within five years. It just won’t be able to fight until then.”
Charley nodded. She supposed it was a price she could live with. Still, she couldn’t watch Gronko as he went about his work. She took a moment to admire the elk’s shimmering silver pelt before taking a turn in the trees. She turned over the figures in her mind - if Harry was right, the Pirate Guild would soon be flush with funds. How they spent it was largely up to her. There were so many possibilities she thought her brain might explode. The temptation was to continue amassing wealth. Continue being a pirate. But the safe play was probably to return to the Guild Hall at Danderly and consolidate their funds. She was on the verge of making a decision when the sound of condensed thunder rolled overhead. It was a ship. A cruiser, svelte and streamlined. There was a logo on the side, a silver sword on blue stars. The word GALACTUS was emblazoned underneath. It was an Imperial cruiser!
The vessel coursed over the trees, heading south low and hard. There was no evidence that it had seen either Charley or the others. Harry, Vanessa and Molly rushed to Charley’s side as they watched the cruiser.
“Quick, up to Reiko Bluff,” Harry said. Charley followed as Harry rushed up a sharp incline to the west. The top of the bluff was covered in trees but over a large boulder they had a view of the entire plateau they had landed on.
The Imperial cruiser was heading straight for Scantia. Once in firing range it let loose with a series of life-seeking missiles. Charley watched in horror as the glowing red spears zeroed in on the low, modest buildings and reduced them to rubble. Charley looked at Harry in alarm.
“What is this, Harry?” she asked.
“My head tells me it’s a routine cleanup of settlements deemed ‘unworthy’ by the Empire,” Harry said. “My gut says that’s the vanguard of an invasion force. I suspect Galactus is coming here to make Frostfire his own.”
“But why?” Molly asked. “He has the core worlds.”
“I don’t know,” Harry admitted. “We can be sure he means business though.”
“He isn’t hunting us, is he?” Charley asked.
Harry shook his head. “I doubt it. We’re a nuisance to the empire but there are larger nuisances. The Silent Runners, for example.”
The Imperial cruiser hovered over the ruined village before moving on to the south. Charley could only imagine the scene of devastation down there.
“There are hundreds of similar settlements across the plateau,” Charley said. “Tens of thousands of innocent people. Survivors of the long cold.”
“They’re all as good as dead,” Gronko mused.
Charley thought of her upbringing, and how desperate it was. Families being made to fight each other on the streets for scraps. It was no way to live. The people here on Frostfire had a chance to build again. To grow along with a planet that had been dealt a harsh hand. She couldn’t stand by and let women and children be slaughtered by some arrogant, trumped-up Emperor. It just didn’t seem like the kind of thing a pirate would do.
“Harry,” she said softly, “Being a pirate isn’t all about plundering and sex, is it?”
Harry looked at Charley intently, understanding where her mind was heading.
“No Charley, it isn’t,” he agreed. “Sometimes a pirate needs to take a stand against oppression. No one fucks with a pirate’s free galaxy. No one.”
Charley’s eyes filled with tears. She wasn’t sure why. Perhaps they were for the people who were just slaughtered needlessly. Perhaps it was because she had finally realized what being a pirate really meant. It meant fighting for freedom - not only for herself, but for others too. She was going to defend Frostfire or die in the attempt.
“Please tell me you’re just working out how to get off this rock,” FIGJAM said irritably.
Their ships. Charley had forgotten about them in her concern for Scantia’s people. Harry whipped out his opticals and scanned the plateau.
“Our ships are fine,” he said. “The missiles were life-seeking. They go after certain DNA signatures. That way, some buildings and machines are still intact for the Imperials to use when the ground troops move in.”
Charley breathed a sigh of relief.
“We’re gonna need those ships,” Harry murmured. “And a whole lot more.”
“We’re staying right here, people,” Charley said firmly, facing her motley crew. “I won’t leave these people to die.”
Gronko grunted as if Charley was crazy, but said no more. Molly and Vanessa had puzzled frowns. Harry looked like his mind was ticking over already.
“Harry?” she said.
“I have no idea if we can survive this, Captain,” he said at length. “But there are certain things we can do.”
“Go ahead,” Charley said. “You have the floor.”<
br />
Harry stood in front of the crew.
“That Imperial cruiser was just the vanguard,” he began. “It looks like Emperor Galactus wants to set up a military presence here and he will steamroll anyone standing in his way.”
“But why?” Molly asked. “What’s out here that has the new Emperor so interested?”
“I have one or two theories, and I’ve heard some stories,” Harry said darkly. “But I want to keep that to myself for now until I know for sure.”
Charley nodded. She was happy enough with that.
“What matters now is organizing our defense forces,” Charley said.
“That’s right,” Harry returned. “Our main problem at the moment is that cruiser. I don’t recommend going up against that thing with our fighters - we would lose. Badly. I think we should cut back and seek out settlements the cruiser hasn’t destroyed yet. We probably have twenty four hours before the thing makes another pass over this part of the planet.”
A terrain projected from Harry’s wrist pad. It showed the forest they stood in as well as an undulating plain to the east.
“There are settlements here the Imperials may not have detected yet,” Harry said. “More importantly, there’s an old base in that direction that the enemy might be careful not to destroy. We should use that to our advantage.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Charley said. The others nodded enthusiastically. They had been on board from the beginning - they just needed a concrete plan to grasp onto.
“Do we go back for our ships?” Charley asked.
“I think they’re ok for now,” Harry said. “They’re DNA coded to you and I, Charley. The Imperials would eventually jack them but that wouldn’t be high on their list of priorities.”
“Then let’s head east on foot,” Charley said. “Looks like we have a lot of ground to cover.”
The party moved out over gentle hills dotted with tall yaba trees. Gronko had secured the silver elk’s antlers in his pack by cutting them into neat segments. Charley knew he would guard the precious cargo with his life. As for the elk, it would soon rise from its slumber and carry on as it always had.
The Pirate Commander (The Space Pirate Chronicles Book 3) Page 4