"No." The first said, pushing me into Tabby. Tabby tried to get around me, but I cut her off.
"We'll wait out here, in that case," Nick said. "Beth Anne is expecting us and I know she's the forgiving type so we'll just let this play out." He pulled Tabby to the other side of the hallway.
"Frak, let me just drop these meatheads," Tabby said.
"Who are you calling meat…" The first started across the hallway.
"Boys, girls, no need to get riled up." A sultry figure stepped from behind the shadows of the doorway and placed her hand on meathead-one's shoulder, her voice purring like only one person I knew.
"Xie." I whispered. "What are you still doing here?"
"Is that any way to greet the woman who saved your life, Liam Hoffen?" She sidled over and wrapped her arms around me, drawing me into a kiss before I knew what was occurring.
"What… Stop," I sputtered, pushing her away.
"And Mr. James. Lover. Oh, how I miss traveling with my young adventurers. Could it really be Tabitha Masters? The one-armed girl in the chair? Restored to full health? And to think, you have me to thank for that as well," Xie continued. "Beth Anne said you were coming today and I couldn't believe it. Yet here you are."
"Perhaps the hallway isn't the place for this conversation," I said, interrupting Tabby, who I was sure was ready to say something less than flattering. Either that or preparing to hand out a beating.
Xie smiled pleasantly. It reminded me just how remarkable she was at masking her feelings. Deep down, I had conflicted feelings about her. She'd both endangered me when the chips were down as well as saved my entire crew under similar circumstances. I did not believe she was a lost cause and I think she knew it, although this was one of the forbidden topics between Tabby and me.
"This way, then," she said as meatheads-one and two moved out of the way.
"I guess we'll just keep the guns." Tabby couldn't resist rubbing it in their faces as we passed.
I saw Beth Anne as soon as we entered the crowded bar. The woman was as beautiful as I remembered. Long medium-blonde hair and a voluptuous body that was extraordinarily uncommon for a spacer. Her smile was as dangerous as Xie's and for all the same reasons.
"Liam Hoffen and Nick James. So good to see you," she said graciously, crossing the room, her white scarves flowing out behind her. She gathered us in for hugs and I hated myself for enjoying it. "And who is this beauty you've brought along? Could this be the warrior princess I've heard so much about?" She grabbed Tabby's hand and held it up, inspecting her like she might a slab of meat. "My dear. If you ever find you've joined the wrong team, please know I will always have a place for you."
Tabby pulled her hand back abruptly. "That won’t be necessary."
Beth Anne smiled indulgently. "Of course. I've been rude. Please accept my apologies. Bernd, bring brandies to the VIP room, please." An unusually good-looking man dressed in tight, silky clothing smiled and nodded.
We followed Beth Anne and Xie Mie-su to a room that had couches around the outside walls.
"Please, sit," Beth Anne requested as we entered.
"Not without UV light," Tabby growled quietly.
"Thank you for seeing us," Nick said, once Bernd had dropped off the drinks and the doors had slid shut.
"I like a mystery as much as the next gal," Beth Anne said, "but it's been – what - nearly a stan-year and you show up out of nowhere? You wouldn't believe the rumors that are flying around about you."
"It'd be best if we could stay out of the land of rumor," Nick said. "I'll put our cards on the table as best I can, however."
"That would be refreshing in my line of business," Beth Anne said.
"We've run afoul of Belirand," Nick started. "So much so that we are not currently welcome at spaceports that perform strong identity checks."
She blinked. "I would not have expected you to lead with that."
"I wouldn't want to insult you. I know you have sources," Nick said.
Beth Anne nodded. "Xie told me that I shouldn't underestimate you all. How is it that I might help you?"
"First, we need someone who can fulfill this." Nick swiped what I suspected was the livestock deal to her.
"Cows and sheep?" Beth Anne asked, chuckling.
"Remember how we can't go to most space ports?"
"Right. That does present a problem, but that’s not my usual smuggling material. What is your second request?" she asked.
"We would like to purchase precious metals," Nick said.
"That's considerably easier," she said. "We'll take five percent. How much do you need?"
"That depends on how much the livestock transaction will cost," Nick replied.
"How much time do you have?"
"We'll be gone in six hours," Nick said.
"Give me thirty minutes, I'll have an answer on your livestock," she said and abruptly left.
"Red Houzi wasn't enough, you needed to piss off Belirand?" Xie Mie-su looked at me after Beth Anne had left the room.
"Not a lot of difference, as far as I can tell," I said. "Although, Belirand gunners hit a fair bit harder."
This earned a genuine laugh from Xie. When we'd first met, I'd been so sure of the world; confident in my estimation of just how bad the Red Houzi were and how righteous the law abiding corporations were. Xie had seemed so awful to me then. Now that I was an outlaw and Xie had saved my life, those lines had blurred.
"I'll drink to that," Xie said, raising her glass. I leaned forward and clinked my glass with hers, which earned me a dirty look from Tabby.
Forty minutes later, Beth Anne joined us again.
"I have a deal for you, Nicholas, Liam and Tabitha," she said. Something was amiss, her tone of voice had changed and instinctively I knew we were in the shite again.
"Give it to us straight, Beth Anne," I said.
"Oh, don't be dramatic," she said, her lips tight. "I have cargo I need delivered. That delivery will be my broker's fee. You will exchange three kilograms of platinum for your livestock at this station in ten days." She pinched and delivered coordinates on the outside of the Kuiper belt.
"There's no station at that location," I said.
"It’s there and it's called Freedom Station and is run by a man known as Bard Sanderson."
"He can get livestock?"
"He has your livestock now."
"What's the hitch?" I asked.
"No hitch. You make the delivery, pay Bard his platinum and you'll be on your way with your livestock," she said.
"What's the delivery, Beth Anne?" Nick asked.
"Ah, yes. That would be Bernd, Xie, me and as much of the Welded Tongue as we can pack in six hours," she said.
That sat me back in my seat. "Is it that bad here?"
"Jeratorn has not been able to recover since the Red Houzi tried to steal the refinery. Up until then, as bad as the pirates were, they did not completely strangle trade. They were smart enough to allow most traders to pass unharmed. The bandits we now have strike at everything that moves; the station is dying," she said.
I stood up. "We should get to work."
BANDIT FIELDS
"Those are sure nice looking runabouts," I said. We'd been loading from Beth Anne’s private warehouse for several hours and Hotspur's hold was just about full. "Either of them do atmospheric entry?" Both oval shaped craft were in good shape and were made for hauling up to eight people comfortably.
"The bigger one is good for atmo," Beth Anne said. "Why? You want to try to strap them onto your hull? I've already run the numbers; it won't work."
"Wouldn't you like to have one at Freedom Station?" I asked. I'd already sussed out from idle conversation that she was nervous about moving under Bard Sanderson's control.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Fifty-fifty. If I can get them both there, you take the smaller, I get the larger," I said.
"Done," she agreed. "The platinum is on the way. We need to move. Once it's on board, we'll have a t
arget on our backs."
"Have Bernd get in your runabout. We'll provide instructions after that," I said and turned. "Ortel, on me." My AI redirected the comm to Ortel and I saw the flash of red hair as he turned. "Ortel, manufacture straps for those runabouts and tie them together, set 'em on this course with as big of a punch as you can, then go lights out." I flicked a navigation vector at him.
"Unmanned?" he asked.
"That's right," I said.
"What if someone finds them?"
"How? They'll be lights out," I said.
Ortel raised his eyebrows at me, but didn't say anything further.
A familiar shape caught my eye as Beth Anne's bouncers from the night before struggled to negotiate the heavy, steel tongue sculpture to the top of a stack of crates.
"Nicely done, boys," she said. "As promised, once we shove off, I'll turn control of the bar over to your more than capable hands." Wordlessly, they turned and left.
"Think they can make a run of it?" I asked.
"With fifteen kegs of beer and forty liters of bottom shelf liquor?" Beth Anne looked skeptically at me. "I suppose it's possible if they don't drink all of their profits. If I were a betting woman, which I am, I'd bet they go broke within three months."
"Liam, we have company," Tabby held her short-stock blaster rifle loosely at her waist. I turned to see the approach of six people, a man in a vac-suit and cape in the lead. He was followed by five armed guards; the one in the center pushing a grav-cart that held two small steel chests with sophisticated locks.
"Close it up," I ordered raising my finger in front of me and twirling it quickly for effect. The loading ramp started closing as Xie scrambled out and joined Tabby, Beth Anne and me. "Nick, I need you on security perimeter. Bernd, Ortel, we're about to leave."
"Copy," Nick replied. The lower turret on Hotspur twitched slightly; Nick reassuring me that he was on it.
"Beth Anne, are the rats jumping ship?" The caped man had long black greasy hair and hadn't shaved recently. It appeared he was in a poor mood.
"Don't mince words, James, tell me what you think," she replied. Her words might have been harsh, but she had upped the seduction quotient.
"How do you expect to clear the Bandit Fields? I hate to see my beautiful platinum in the hands of those rats," he said.
"We all have our jobs, James," Beth Anne replied.
"Open up," I said, pointing at the carts. "I need to verify mass and purity."
The man Beth Anne identified as James nodded to the one pushing the grav-cart, who palmed open the two chests. It was quite a sight to see that much platinum in one place. The refiner had chosen a common form we referred to as fingers, which massed at twenty grams apiece. If pure, they were each worth five hundred Mars credits. I held out one of the bags I'd replicated the night before; they were designed to work with my suit.
"Is this necessary?" James asked, annoyed.
"For all I know, we're looking at nickel. We’re not buying three hundred thousand credits of platinum, unverified," I said.
We proceeded to dump the contents of the two chests into the bags, arriving at fourteen kilograms of ninety-five percent pure platinum. It had been watered down with nickel, but not so much I'd kill the deal for it.
"Looks like you're taking a haircut, unless you brought another kilogram along," I said.
"I don't think so," James replied. As he spoke, his armed guards leveled their guns at Tabby and me. The lower turret on Hotspur spun menacingly, aiming directly at them.
"James, don't be a grouch," Beth Anne stepped between us, resting her hand on his chest seductively. "We both know it's your boys out in the Bandit Fields. What's another kilogram to recover?"
"I say we waste 'em and be on our way. If they want to play rough, that is." Tabby leveled her blaster rifle at James' head.
James carefully reached into a pocket in his robe and drew out a translucent pouch of platinum fingers. "As you say, Beth Anne. We'll recover these later."
I added the contents of his pouch to the bag I was holding and we totaled to the exact number we'd agreed upon. I shook my head at the unnecessary drama. The man who'd wheeled the platinum in held a signature pad out to me.
"Your men need to leave before I sign this," I said. "I'll not be signing with a gun to my head."
"Nor will I," James replied. I wanted to point out that he'd started it, but it felt like a juvenile response.
"Tabby," I said. She lowered the rifle but didn't move.
James waved off his guard and once they were ten meters away, I signed the pad and lifted off with the bags of platinum in tow. Using my grav-suit, I negotiated to the starboard airlock on Hotspur. Once inside, I stowed the bags in the armory and quickly made my way to the bridge.
"Are we ready to kick some bandit ass? And what's she doing here?" Tabby asked as she sprinted through the bridge, looking at Xie, who was seated on the bridge couch.
"Today, our objectives align, Masters," Xie said.
"Don't try to play that crap with me," Tabby said with a snarl. "Liam, I don't trust her."
"As you shouldn't," Xie agreed. "Today, I want to live, though. I'll submit to bridge restraints if you wish."
"That won't be necessary," I said. "Tabby, we're all on the same side and I need you focused on getting us out of here."
All hands prepare for departure.
"All right, kids. I'd recommend strapping in. Ortel, you ready for this?"
"Aye, Captain," he replied. "Locked and loaded."
Hotspur had been designed as a blockade runner and I couldn't imagine how anyone could possibly stop us from escaping. I eased away from Beth Anne's private warehouse and my question was immediately answered as Jeratorn's main gun ripped a furrow across our once pristine bow.
Silent running, I shouted and tipped the stick downward so we would spiral beneath the station and out of the reach of the top mounted gun. Unfortunately, to move much further we'd have to come within range of the smaller, but just as deadly bottom gun.
"Tabby, take that station gun out." I’d no more completed the sentence and two missiles rocketed forward and exploded, destroying the gun. I accelerated away from the station, using it as a shield for as long as possible.
"Liam, we're venting. Silent running is worthless. We've got to get that plugged," Nick warned.
"Frak," I said.
"I've got it," Xie jumped up. "Where are tools?"
Project Jeratorn cannon range. Show all possible cover.
The overlay on the holo display showed a narrow corridor of possible safety and I hit it hard. As I reached the edge of our protected space, Hotspur was once again punched, this time aft, and we cartwheeled.
Exhaust emergency airlock and starboard airlocks.
"Liam, you have to correct," Tabby said. I couldn't have agreed more; the cartwheeling was overwhelming, but I watched the holo as we tumbled seemingly out of control.
"No. They're pirates, they want the load." I strained to stay conscious as the inertial systems attempted to adjust for our crazy cartwheeling through space.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, we cleared the range of the station's main guns. I tipped the stick into the direction of our spin and continued adjusting until we achieved level flight.
"Xie, report," I requested. She'd been the only member of the crew who hadn't been strapped in for the last ten minutes and I felt horrible for her.
"Liam, bogeys on approach," Tabby warned. I turned my attention to the four cutters headed our way.
"Tabby, weapons status?" I asked.
"Two missiles and batteries are full," Tabby replied.
"Nick, give me a system's report. What's broken?"
"Starboard engine has a ventral leak. You have ten minutes max on her," he said.
"Weapons?"
"We're go," he replied.
There were two lessons I'd learned in one-on-multiple combat. First, some pilots were better than others, but anyone could knock you out. Take out
the weak first instead of getting distracted by the hotshot. I located the pilot who was sailing the weakest looking boat and tucked in behind another ship; he was about to learn a hard lesson. I painted him on the targeting display as priority one and the second smallest as priority two.
Hail approaching ships. "This is Captain Liam Hoffen, Hotspur. I'm about to drop two of your number. Nothing you can do about it, so I recommend pulling off now and salvaging what you can."
"Fire missiles on targets," I directed, muting the comm.
As soon as the missiles were away, I turned into the first ship I'd marked and followed the missile in, painting his escort as primary target. As expected, the two smaller cutters turned as soon as they recognized they'd been weapons locked, but it was too late. I could imagine their confusion; their ships were barely worth the value of a missile and the thought we'd expend one on them seemed almost wasteful.
To the pirates’ credit, the loss of the two lesser ships didn't deter the larger cutters one bit. From my perspective, however, cutting in half the number of turrets pointing at us was a giant win.
"We're coming around for another pass," I said.
"Liam, two more coming at five thousand kilometers," Tabby said.
"Frak!" I nosed over and lay hard into a roll, feeling guilty about Xie. She was either getting tossed around in the tween deck or worse. The problem was, there was nothing to be done about it.
As I'd expected, the cutters weren’t in good repair. These pirates were pack hunters, relying on numbers much more than skill. I ran up on the closest ship, which attempted to juke out of my way, and lined him up perfectly. Ortel's whoop of excitement was followed by an explosion. Three down.
I turned into the approach of the fourth ship and he stitched a perfect line across our well armored bow. Ortel returned fire, missing with the turrets on what felt like an easy shot. I gritted my teeth. I should have expected some failure, but had gotten caught up in our early success. I dropped Hotspur's tail and gave chase. We'd lost speed from our starboard engine and I was having difficulty catching him as he raced toward his reinforcements.
Give No Quarter (Privateer Tales Book 10) Page 9