ROAK: Galactic Bounty Hunter

by Jake Bible

  There was a service entrance in the back of the compound, but it was heavily guarded. No energy or combustion weapons could be used in the open air, so that meant security needed to be beefed up. And it was.

  Roak stared at the four Gwreqs that stood outside the service entrance, two on each side, while a slimy-looking Ichterran, a race that breathed air and leaked water from the gill slits on its neck, checked credentials of the servants that came and went from the compound. With the heavy oxygen atmosphere, those gills were leaking water like crazy.

  The Ichterran wasn’t a problem. Two hits to the gill slits and it’d be down and choking to death. The Gwreqs were the problem. Seven feet tall each, and five feet wide, at least, Gwreqs were not easy to deal with. Their skin was pure stone and they had enough strength in one hand to break Roak in two with a snap of their fingers. The knives he carried wouldn’t even nick their hides. He needed a better way in.

  Staying to the shadows of the jungle, Roak backtracked until he was far enough away that he could cross the service entrance access road without being seen. He came out of the trees and bumped right into a small woman that looked like she’d been working for six days straight. Knowing the scum that Boss Teegg was, Roak didn’t doubt that there was a distinct possibility that she had.

  “Sorry,” Roak said and skirted past the woman.

  “You,” the woman said, her voice a muffled croak behind her rebreather. “You’re that man that Veha was helping.”

  Roak turned quickly, his hand going to the knife on his hip.

  “Relax, stranger,” the woman cackled. “I am no threat to you.”

  “Then why say what you said?” Roak asked. “Why not let me pass by?”

  “Veha is a good woman and she is trying to do good by her son,” the woman said. “Do not ruin any of that for her.”

  “I don’t intend to,” Roak said.

  “Men like you never intend to,” the woman said. “Yet, it happens time and time again. Be careful with her.”

  “I will,” Roak said. “I owe her a life debt. I’ll make sure it is paid without destroying hers.”

  “Very good,” the woman said and nodded. “Now, go and kill that son of a bitch. This planet needs him gone.”

  Roak was about to tell the woman that he wasn’t there to kill Boss Teegg, only to get his chits, but he could tell she’d lay into him as much as Veha did.

  “Listen, if you were me, how would you get into the compound without being detected?” Roak asked.

  “You don’t,” the woman said. At that, she turned and continued walking down the access road.

  Roak watched her go until she was lost from view, the whole time trying to think of a way he could get into the compound. Maybe the woman was right and there wasn’t a way in without being detected. Or maybe she just didn’t want to get too involved. Involved enough to tell him off when it came to Veha, but not involved enough to give him a helping hand even though that meant it would eventually help Veha.

  Roak just did not get people, no matter the race.

  He continued his inspection of the compound, circling it twice, until he realized that the front entrance was actually easier than dealing with the servant entrance in back. The guards in front were armed with heavy sabers, but were mostly average-sized races. Roak liked his odds against sabers than against four Gwreqs. His armor could deal with blades, but it couldn’t deal with getting crushed by stone hands.

  Roak sat with his back against a massive tree, his body lost in the giant shadow it made, and waited until the daylight was completely gone. Once night had fallen, and the security lights went on, casting harsh glares and shadows in all directions, Roak stood up, stretched for a couple minutes, then walked out of the jungle and headed straight at the front gates.

  8.

  “Stop right there,” one of the sabered guards ordered as Roak walked up to the gates. “State your name and business.”

  “Boss Teegg owes me chits,” Roak said. “I’ve come to collect.”

  “Yeah, right,” the guard laughed. “Buzz off, dipshit.”

  “Nope,” Roak said. He pointed at the small guardhouse where two others were sitting inside, rebreathers dangling from their necks, laughing over something on the holo vid that flickered in front of them. “Have your pals give a call to the house. You’ll see.”

  It was a heavy risk, taking the direct approach, but since Roak didn’t have to worry about blasters or laser pistols being pulled and fired, he figured he could take the risk. Plus, he had a plan.

  “Boss Teegg ain’t here,” the guard replied without even glancing at the guardhouse. “He’s off planet.”

  “I don’t buy it,” Roak said and pulled his blade.

  The guards pulled their sabers and came at him. They didn’t hesitate for a second. That was exactly what Roak hoped they would do.

  He ducked under the first swing, slicing open the guard’s thigh with a quick slash of his knife. The man screamed and fell, blood spurting everywhere as his femoral artery emptied his body of his precious life.

  The second guard slowed and tried to hack down at Roak, but he rolled away from the attack and came up, his knife digging deep into the belly of a third guard. Roak was up on his feet and turning that guard around when the second guard regrouped for another attack, slashing blindly. The third guard took the saber through the neck and his head bobbed for a half-second before it came loose, dangling from a couple of tendons.

  The second guard screamed at what he’d done and threw up into his rebreather, instantly aspirating the vomit. He fell to his knees, his hands clutching at his throat as he slowly choked to death.

  The fourth guard jabbed at Roak, gave a feint to the right, then slashed low and fast at Roak’s knees. He missed as Roak jumped over the slash and came at the guard with his knife flipped in a backwards grip. Two quick slices to the man’s rebreather and the guard was down, struggling to clasp the apparatus back to his face. He wasn’t going to die right then, he had several minutes before things got uncomfortable, but when a person is conditioned to fear something, that fear can be overwhelming.

  Roak kicked him in the temple and the man was out.

  The fifth and sixth guards froze. Fifth glanced at the guardhouse where one of the holo vid watchers was on the comm, probably calling for reinforcements. Sixth kept his eyes on Roak, his saber shaking in his hand.

  “You want to let me in to see Boss Teegg now?” Roak asked.

  Neither of the guards replied. Fifth kept his eyes on the guardhouse while sixth kept his eyes on Roak.

  “I don’t have time for this,” Roak said and took a step towards the sixth guard.

  The man dropped his saber and ran. Roak wasn’t quite sure what to do about that. It was surprising, to say the least. It was that confusion that almost got him killed as the fifth guard decided it was time to engage. His saber swipe missed Roak’s face by a millimeter.

  Roak stumbled back, tripping over one of the fallen guards, and landed hard on his ass. The fifth guard pressed his attack and came at Roak fast, but Roak snagged a stray saber and brought it up in time to parry the blow that would have certainly taken his head off.

  Roak slid his saber down the guard’s arm and gave it a quick flick, slicing the man’s wrist wide open. The guard screamed, dropped his saber, and clutched at his bleeding wrist. There was a lot of blood.

  Roak was back up before the man could do a thing about it. His saber drove deep into the guard’s belly. Roak left it there and walked over to the guardhouse. He pounded on the window with his fist and made the universal sign of “open the damn door.” The two guards inside shook their heads.

  Roak sighed. He could hear men yelling and boots running. Oh, well, the gates were about to open anyway.

  Roak found his knife nearby and sheathed it on his belt. He picked up another saber and stepped over to the right side of the gates where he wouldn’t be seen right away. The guards in the guardhouse saw what he was doing and started barking
into the comm, but it was too late. The gates had started to slide open.

  About ten men came through and all looked to their right. The opposite of where Roak was standing. It was almost comical. Roak felt sorry for the morons, but figured Boss Teegg got what he paid for. He should have paid better. But it was already established the man was a cheap son of a bitch. If he wasn’t, he would have paid Roak what he was owed and chalked it up to a business loss.

  Roak slipped inside the open gates and was running halfway across the compound before Boss Teegg’s men realized they’d made a mistake and had looked in the wrong direction. He was at the front doors before they could scramble enough brainpower to think of pursuit. He was inside the house before that brainpower was transferred to their legs and they started running after him.

  It really was sad.

  Roak slammed the hilt of his saber against the door controls and they sparked and sputtered before dying and sending up a trickle of blue-black smoke. Roak cringed at the sparks, waiting for the air to combust around him, but an anti-fire protocol kicked in and killed any danger within a second.

  The house was dark. It was quiet and had that feeling of emptiness that houses had when no one was inside. Roak wondered if it was some manufactured effect because surely there had to be someone in the huge house. Servants, cooks, more guards. Boss Teegg.

  As Roak searched the house, his ear always listening for when the goon squad outside finally made it in, Roak began to believe his guts and realized there might not be anyone inside the house after all. The servants may have fled when the guardhouse called up to the main house. All of Boss Teegg’s hired goons could actually be outside.

  And, maybe, the one guard hadn’t lied and Boss Teegg had actually left the compound. But why? There was no way for him to know Roak was coming for him. As far as Boss Teegg knew, Roak was dead, part of a carbon cube ejected into space.

  Unless…

  Unless someone figured out he was still alive and alerted Boss Teegg to that tiny detail. With Roak’s reputation in the underworld circles, fleeing was the smart move on Boss Teegg’s part. Except that Roak had no intention of killing Boss Teegg. He just wanted his chits. It was extremely frustrating that people just didn’t understand that. Roak was highly skilled at killing, but he wasn’t a killer. There were plenty of others in the galaxy that were, but he wasn’t one of them.

  But he sure wanted to kill someone at that moment when he finished his search of the house. The son of a bitch was gone. No doubt. Boss Teegg’s room looked like he’d packed and left in a hurry. That told Roak that someone must have tipped him off.

  But, who?

  Veha? No, why would she? It would be too dangerous for her and for her son. But, who else knew?

  No one. So it had to have been Veha.

  Realization hit Roak like a metric ton of bricks. Veha did tell someone. But Roak doubted she did it voluntarily.

  Stuck in his thought loop, Roak almost didn’t hear the approaching boots. Lots of boots. Heavy boots.

  “Dammit,” Roak muttered as the mob of guards came bursting into Boss Teegg’s room.

  Roak held up his saber and gave the mob a wicked grin.

  “You’ll all die,” Roak said. He suddenly recognized the lead guard. “Vnluk? I thought I already killed you.”

  “Close, but not close enough,” Vnluk said as he pulled a blaster pistol from his hip. “Too bad for you.”

  “That’s kind of a bad idea on this planet, don’t you think?” Roak asked, his eyes locked onto Vnluk’s. He’d learned years ago that you watch the eyes, not the weapon. Eyes never lie. “You pull that trigger and things could go boom.”

  “Not inside,” Vnluk said. “This house is quadruple sealed from any breaches.”

  “You guys cool with that?” Roak asked the rest of the mob. Some of them looked way less than cool with it. “He misses and this whole building turns to charcoal.”

  “Hey, Vnluk, maybe we just take him with blades?” one of the guards asked.

  “Maybe I shoot you in the face!” Vnluk shouted as he turned his head to look back over his shoulder at the guard.

  Roak moved.

  He whipped the saber out and down. Vnluk screamed and pulled back a bleeding stump to his chest. His hand, with the blaster still gripped tight, lay on the floor, blood pooling about it. Roak didn’t waste time and slashed back at Vnluk, catching the man across the throat. More blood spurted and kept on spurting as the bodyguard fell to his knees.

  Roak hooked the tip of the saber under the blaster and flicked it up into the air. Half the mob flinched. Just the sight of a blaster needled at their ingrained fear of causing a massive conflagration that no one could stop.

  Catching the blaster in his other hand, and trying not to cringe at the severed hand that came with it, Roak waved the saber at the mob.

  “I can still kill most of you with the blade,” Roak said. He managed to get the severed hand free and it plopped to floor, causing more than a couple of the guards to take a step back. “The ones I don’t cut down will get a blaster bolt through their guts. Bad way to go, if you ask me.”

  No one moved. Except for Vnluk who was busy choking on his own blood as his body slowly slumped over and then went still.

  “I’m here for my chits,” Roak said. “I didn’t even want to kill Boss Teegg. I just want my chits. If any of you could point me to his safe, that would be appreciated. No one has to die if you let me fetch my chits and get out of here. Boss Teegg is already gone, so who the hell are you protecting?”

  Still, no one moved. All eyes went from Roak’s face to the saber to the blaster and back again in a dizzying cycle of observation.

  “Someone has to make the call here,” Roak said, nudging Vnluk’s corpse with the toe of his boot. “He sure as hell ain’t, so who’s stepping up?”

  “We let you go and Boss Teegg finds out, we’re all dead,” a guard said.

  “You come at me and you all die anyway,” Roak said. “I’m giving you a fighting chance. Stay and risk what Boss Teegg does to you when he returns.” Roak rolled his eyes. “If he returns. I am going to find him. It’s what I do.” He shrugged. “Or you can run fast as hell out of this system and hide your ass on some tavern planet like Xippeee. Get good and drunk and wait for the news that I’ve put Boss Teegg down and you’re free to live your life however you want.”

  “You said you didn’t want to kill Boss Teegg,” one of the guards said.

  “I don’t,” Roak replied. “But, let’s be realistic here, I’ll probably have to. He’s running scared. And scared fools like him get themselves killed. I mean, come on, the guy left his number one bodyguard behind.” Roak nudged Vnluk again. “That’s how scared he was. Couldn’t even wait for Vnluk to join him. Packed a bag and bailed with his tail between his legs. In my experience tracking fools down, that means he’s destined for an appointment with the Reaper.”

  Some of the guards grunted in disbelief, but most nodded in agreement. The lowering of their blades proved Roak had hit the right nerve. Several members of the mob filtered out of the room, shaking their heads and sighing in frustration. Their careers as hired muscle just ended. They’d need to reinvent themselves if they ever wanted to be employed again.

  Eight guards remained, all looking hard and determined. Roak grunted.

  “Really?” he asked.

  They came at him slowly, cautiously, eyes watching the blaster, waiting for him to pull the trigger. Roak, of course, did not pull the trigger. That was a total bluff. He had zero intention of becoming a crispy casualty. But he did use the blaster to his advantage.

  He jabbed the pistol forward and the first four guards flinched, stumbling back into the second four. Roak slashed and stabbed quickly before retreating a few steps. Two men lay on the floor, their bellies wide open, while two others’ blades fell with a clatter as they grabbed at the fresh wounds that were pouring blood with great enthusiasm.

  Roak raised an eyebrow and two of the guards not
wounded turned and fled the room. The other two stared down at the eviscerated guards then at the ones still standing. Blood was everywhere, multi-colored, multi-raced splashes of death, pooling across the floor. The last two guards backed out of the room, blades still up, but lacking any hint of threat.

  One of the wounded guards slumped to the ground, having lost too much blood to remain upright. The last one limped his way to freedom. Roak waited a couple of minutes then stepped over the dead and cautiously made his way out of Boss Teegg’s bedroom.

  No one was waiting for him.

  He continued to search the house until he finally found Boss Teegg’s safe. It didn’t take much time to crack it, a skill Roak had picked up over the years. It also didn’t take much time to curse Boss Teegg’s name as Roak stared at the empty innards of the safe. He didn’t bother to shut the safe as he left the room and headed for the front of the house.

  He walked down the hallway, into the foyer, and over to the front airlock. The controls hung down in a jumble of wires, but someone had rigged a simple switch. Roak slipped his rebreather on, slipped the blaster into his belt, and held the saber out in front of him as he flipped the switch.

  The airlock door slid open and Roak took a step outside. Men and women milled about the compound grounds, but none of them paid him any attention. They were busy scrounging up supplies and readying themselves to flee the compound. The faster they were gone, the more of a lead they’d have if Boss Teegg decided to go looking for them. Roak highly doubted any of the men and women would ever be on Boss Teegg’s radar again, even if Roak left the man alive after fetching his chits.

  Roak headed to the front gates and the road back to town.

  9.

  The thought of Veha nagged at Roak.

  He had told the woman that he’d go back for her and Deha so they could get off the planet and away from any danger they may be in. But, if Roak’s assumption was correct, then danger had already found the woman and her son. If that was the case, then there was no point in going back to her house. In fact, it would be downright stupid to go back since odds were that someone would be there waiting for him to return.