Chronicles of a Space Mercenary 3: Vengeance

by Ronald Wintrick

  “Are you trying to be Serrath when you grow up?” I asked conversationally once we had achieved the outside corridor with our lives intact. “You may never grow up.”

  “It’s time I lived a little.” Leethea replied, even drawing a speculative look from Serrath. I knew what her speculative look meant because I had noticed it as well. Melanie would never have been so aggressive, and not because she wasn’t capable. Her reptilian instincts were at play on her sense of reason.

  “Spill some blood and get it out of your system.” Serrath said. “I have to admit, that might have been a close shave.”

  “Spill some blood?” Leethea said with a speculative look of her own in her eye. “You know maybe that’s exactly what I need.”

  I wasn’t sure if Serrath’s therapy would work and settle Leethea’s nerves or turn her inner mass-murderer loose. Of course it is not a crime a Kievor Trade Station, there were no laws and beings re free to murder whosoever they chose- but one thing I did know for sure; any time blood was going to be spilled I was tagging along to watch. Blood draws the flies and I’m the biggest fly of them all.

  Chapter 34

  “Who are you going to murder?” Serrath asked Leethea casually after we had continued along for a while without Leethea finding any likely candidates for her murderous rampage. As we had suspected we had been docked in a mammalian zone and an even larger reptilian area was right next to it. Right next to it being a fifteen minute walk while we took in the sights and while also looking for Serrath’s uptown section- which could appear anywhere- and somebeing for Leethea to murder. An uptown joint, as Serrath so fondly liked to call them, might encompass ten or even twenty regular business spaces and you could be sure your credit balance would be checked before you were allowed in. If you were going to kill somebeing you might as well kill somebeing who had something worth salvaging after. At least that was Serrath’s philosophy. It was more my style to clean them out legitimately and then if I had to defend myself after who could blame me? I slept at night- the intoxicated sleep of the innocent.

  “This could backfire.” I told them. I didn’t mean the murder part itself- I had little doubt there would be any hardship in that. Life can be a very tenuous thing and easily extinguished.

  “It won’t just be anybeing.” Leethea said. “I’m not a monster. However, I do not believe it will be too hard to find an appropriate applicant.” I wasn’t so sure in her present guise but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Once we entered the reptilian conclave and any mammals at all became far and few in-between I began to notice the looks of many of the males we were passing. They were looking my way but they weren’t looking my way.

  “Do we do a lot of that?” I asked. Race didn’t seem to be a barrier for the varied reptiles looking the girl’s way as we moved through the crowds and I certainly meant races from different worlds and entirely different genetic ancestry. I wondered how often such unions resulted in new reptilian bastard-races and surmised that it must be quite often- given the proliferation of such activities. Mother Nature takes care of herself- given opportunity She will upon occasion find a way. Mammals participated in more than their own share of cross-race sexual activity and I have seen the results of such unions with my own eyes. Such beings usually never left the Stations where they were born, having nowhere else they were welcome and amongst the hundreds of thousands of alien races on the Stations the only place they truly fit in.

  “Endemic.” Serrath said as she returned a most complimentary look- a largish brown reptile had shown her at least a meter of forked tongue.

  “Who would have guessed.” Leethea said as she tried not to be revolted by the smells of lusting lizards. Most of these had just climbed into the gene pool of sentience and their thoughts were clearly understandable without having to read their pheromones. Most were capable of but few thoughts and those seemed to be centered on one topic.

  There were plenty of females as well and I began to catch a number of surreptitious glances in my direction by those we were passing but any time a good looking male was with two beautiful females I was going to receive a few glances as they wondered what my mojo was- and likely a bit more. It was never a bad policy to surround yourself with beautiful women you weren’t sleeping with and who were in collusion with you no matter how treacherous your soul. Then I thought about what I was thinking. Meerla and I were married and even beyond that I had suddenly found myself a bit too interested in those lizard females. I reminded myself how much I did not want to do that because I did not want the memory of that staining the rest of my life and then Leethea found somebeing to murder. Several in fact!

  Gangs were an endemic problem and slavery a huge business within the reptilian races- a point Melanie was intimately aware of. What could be taken and held on a Kievor Trade Station was the property of the holder and likely to be shipped off somewhere unpleasant as soon as the slaver-ship was full. It was a more than common practice and probably the main reason human women who lived among other races had become so fearsome. They were in high demand because of their hairlessness and uncommon beauty as sexual slaves throughout the mammalian races- if you lived through capturing them. There were no humans here that I was aware of but business here was pretty much business as there and quick as a striking serpent Leethea changed direction and began moving purposefully toward her goal.

  “Do we help her?” Serrath asked as we paused to ponder.

  “There are six of them, it appears.” I said. Six huge heavily-armed reptiles- blast rifles held at the ready- were shepherding a group of at least fifty chained females of various reptilian races. “They seem to be headed for a voyage.”

  “One way would be my guess.” Serrath said. “Maybe we had better help.”

  “Do tell.” I said as I studied the guards. I couldn’t find a single weakness in their stance and intimate awareness of their surroundings. They looked a tough bunch in the least. “We pull our weapons and they’ll level this corridor.” I added judiciously. This was no bunch of bumbling fools Leethea had chosen. These were trained killers with their weapons at the ready.

  “Do tell.” Serrath said as we moved forward.

  Chapter 35

  Leethea seemed to have eyes for the lead guard. Though technically a reptile’s face could not form any type of facial expression the eyes themselves could be very communicative. A little tilt of her head, a seductive lilt to her walk and thoughts of intimate moments with Bren so she would exude the proper scent as she slowly minced toward the row of prisoners and the guard she had chosen to begin this. These were worthy of her attentions and she had an itch she just couldn’t seem to reach to scratch in any other fashion. She was completely calm and self-assured as she approached- so calm she could hardly believe it herself- considering what she was about to do.

  It was by no means a rule that large beings had to be slow of intellect, I noted as Leethea approached the first overlarge reptile, but in this case those were the prerequisites for the job and this stereotype the sort which would thoroughly enjoy their occupation. Of course these brutes weren’t the mind behind this operation but in my opinion were plenty guilty enough- not that this type of operation took a lot of thought and planning. Grab whatever beings were close to hand, throw them in chains and march them to a ship. It was possibly the second oldest occupation in existence and easy enough for the likes of these brutes to understand. Then they would brutalize the females on their trip to being sold to other beings which would brutalize them even further and forever and those not lucky enough to end up in the mines, factories or whore-houses likely to end up on dinner tables. Such was life in the wondrous spacious Universe and I had seen its like many times. I had interfered in more than a few of these situations but as with everything else Time wears you down and breeds callous indifference. It was how Melanie had become a part of my original crew, a dedicated member no matter what her mouth might say, but I had long since given up being a hero. It was perpetual harvest-time in these places an
d nothing an insignificant being like me could do about it.

  The lead reptile brought the train of prisoners to a halt as a tongue slipped out to taste the air, taste Leethea’s intentions, and smelling her desire let his guard down. Leethea had reached him by then and laid a caressing left hand upon the leering beast’s left arm while looking deeply and longingly into the stupid brute’s eyes. Leethea would be a prize for a brain-dead brute like this and he was immediately enthralled. I knew what was going to happen next and it had nothing to do with Serrath blurring into motion as she bounded towards the rear of the train- a Fsyth on the move was a sight I was not likely to forget soon- I’ve seen slower lightning bolts. I went for the middle still surprised at how fast I could move when I had thought being an Alartaw was the very pinnacle of physical achievement. I hadn’t guessed the half of it.

  Leethea’s claws extended and she gave the surprised reptile a full injection of venom from every finger. Her claws were buried to the knuckles but the big brute barely felt it. It looked down at its arm and then raised its head and began to laugh. “You’re pathetic venom won’t…” It began then suddenly its eyes rolled up in its head and it was dead.

  The second guard was just catching on to what was happening when Leethea flung the huge reptile one-armed down the corridor behind her and used the momentum to launch herself in a spinning backward spiral. The dead reptile was flung up the corridor limp as a ragdoll to land in an inanimate heap amongst started beings as Leethea’s right hand claws raked across the face of the second guard. She landed rolling and came up just in time to catch the weapon of the next as the large reptile showed those reflexes. She caught the barrel of the blast-rifle with her left hand as the weapon came down and then shoved her right hand fully into the brute’s stomach and released her venom. Stunned eyes just managed to catch hers as she used the reptile’s blast-rifle as a pivot and flung the big brute over her shoulder and across the corridor. It lost its grip on the blast-rifle at the apex of the spin and by the time it hit the deck it was dead.

  My own victim was a gimme as I sprang out of the crowd upon it as it was bringing its blast rifle down to level Leethea- and the entire corridor beyond. Left hand captures blast-rifle, push up, right hand on reptile throat, rip. Green blood sprayed everywhere as the reptile struggled for a moment to take the blast-rifle from my hand before dying but my attention had already long since shifted to the last two guards.

  They were already dead I noted immediately and Serrath already back to window shopping, this time looking in the window of a high-end jewelry store. “Look what I found.” She said when she noticed me looking her way. I threw my own victim to the deck but kept the blast-rifle and several other odds and ends including a fat credit-voucher and then turned to survey Serrath’s victims. Each had received a small nick on its face. She had simply run by and nicked them on the way.

  I ignored her and took out a little pocket laser and began cutting the manacles of the prisoners though I wouldn’t gamble on their freedom lasting more than a few hours or days in the extreme. It was my opinion that the sheep came here to be sheared as much as the crooks came to shear them. The crooks couldn’t exist without there being sheep to shear and since there would always be sheep which trusted in the good fellowship of their fellow beings- despite knowing better- the shearing would go on forever. This was why I was no longer a hero. It was a war that simply couldn’t be won.

  “Waste of time.” Serrath said as she appeared at my side. I hated it when she did that. She turned to Leethea who was standing there surveying her work; “Feel better?” She asked.

  “Very much so.” Leethea replied, looking very much satisfied.

  She smelled satisfied, I noted. It was a strong smell.

  Chapter 36

  By the time I had freed and gotten loose of the very grateful females who had been among the doomed- certainly none had expected last-minute rescue- Serrath was back in front of the jewelry shop with a look on her face I recognized quite clearly despite our new differences. The look was greed. It may have been a changed and even expressionless face but her thoughts were clear without my having to smell them. Reptiles were perfectly capable of expressing themselves despite our lack of facial muscles. The tilt of her head and stance of insolent superiority meaning here was a payday if she but decided to reach out and take it but mostly because I could see her thoughts clearly within the depths of those strange wrong-slitted eyes. Plus of course there is the point that I am fully aware of her proclivities and the fact that she spends every free waking moment pursuing them. Collecting precious jewels was the motivating force behind everything she did and in my opinion was the sole reason for her existence. The thought of ever more jewelry was what kept her going, at the very least.

  I’d had to repeatedly assure the females I had released that I did not want any of them for my harem though I will admit that they had been hard to deny. Their pheromones told me of their desires and my body reacted the way a normal body reacts. It was a good thing I was wearing armor-gear and not going natural because certainly I would have given myself away. They desired me and would do anything to be with me and my body unwillingly responded- I think that was why I’d had to repeat myself over and over again- my mouth had been telling a story my body wasn’t corroborating. I had wanted them. They had mistaken Serrath and Leethea as harem females, a common enough thing among reptiles apparently and most of these had been eager to be my slaves. Better the wolf you know than the pack hiding in the hills. While I wondered what mad plan Serrath could be concocting I made a mental note to remember the readiness with which the freed females had wanted to attach themselves to me. Being my harem females would make them my sexual slaves as well as my soldiers. It was something to think about when clearly they would understand that as my slaves they would have to fight on my behalf if I had allowed them to join. It was a thing to think of because there were always those in need of rescue on a Kievor Trade Station and a being never knew when one might need a quick army. I was trying not to think of the other aspect because they’d had a real physiological effect on my own hormones and I was not trying to go there despite the apparent willingness of my own body.

  The front hatch of the jewelry store was locked of course and probably protected by Kievor Security- most high-end businesses opted for Kievor Security and screened everyone who knocked at the hatch. It didn’t need to be said that there was no better security on a Trade Station than to be under the paid protection of the Kievor. It cost a lot but these places made a lot. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I mentioned as Leethea and I joined Serrath to look at some of the merchandise displayed behind the thin transparent display membrane. The lack of any further signs of security other than the locked hatch led me to the sure conclusion that this would not be a good place to rob.

  “Of course not.” Serrath said. “That would be ridiculously risky.”

  “Not to mention impossible.” I said. “Why don’t I feel confident with your response?”

  She swiveled yellow wrong-slitted eyes in the direction of a jewel bedecked reptile which walked out of the jewelry shop at that moment with several of her retainers/guards and who immediately moved off into the crowd paying us no mind. They were big reptiles or maybe it was just my perception that they all seemed large. The Fsyth weren’t a large race, though not what I would call small either. I had slightly more mass as a Fsyth than I’d had as a human though I was smaller in size. Our relative size difference to most other reptilian races we made up for in strength, speed and our overly toxic venom. There were few reptiles poisonous enough to kill another reptile and venom attacks were seldom employed by one reptile against another- though there were always exceptions to the rule. “Just window shopping I guess.” Serrath said sighing.

  “That big one not have anything you want?” I asked. If there had been a spare centimeter of skin showing under the big reptile’s gold and diamond necklaces I hadn’t seen it. Making the case that Tanya and Meerla both lo
ved jewelry as much as the average reptile made me wonder how many such big reptiles would have to die before her new reptilian love of jewels and precious metals was satisfied.

  “Third-rate castoffs. Pretty if you don’t know what you’re looking at.” Serrath said.

  “Lucky for her she’s cheap.” I said.

  “Why don’t we just rob the jewelry shop itself?” Leethea suggested. The looks both Serrath and I gave Leethea were long and meaningful ones. I was under the impression she got the picture but I was beginning to wonder if Serrath’s therapy was going to backfire on us.

  Despite not knowing what the best Fsyth drug was I still managed to get quite intoxicated that night and was quite sure our activities had been noted. The best subterfuge was to play your game right out in the open.

  Chapter 37

  Serrath was preening over a new necklace she was wearing when I stumbled into the Bridge the next morning, though when or how she had acquired it seemed beyond my mental grasp of the previous evening’s activities. It wasn’t a blank spot like the very first morning of this new escapade but everything was a bit fudged and not really very clear in my head. To the best of my recollection it seemed I’d had a great time.

  The Fsyth had their version of a morning stimulant drink called gurla and I was already working on my second though I knew that by the time I finished it the first would already have me wired to the Universal network. It took a lot of intoxicant to put a Fsyth down but only a little stimulant to bring him back up. I was beginning to like this more and more.