by E. A. James
Leaning back in her chair, she turned to face Thor. His eyes were still fixed out the window, and his fists still clenched at his sides.
“Well, we’re still alive, so there’s that,” she said cheerfully with an awkward laugh of relief.
“Just barely it would seem.”
“That just makes for a better bar story,” she said with a shrug.
“I have a feeling this is a story I won’t be telling for quite some time,” Thor replied, finally turning his attention in her direction. “What do we do now?”
“Well, we don’t exactly have a lot of options,” Kira replied. “We’re fairly near the Galactic Bazaar – we might be able to better assess our situation there, hopefully with some anonymity.”
“It’s a great place to go if you want to put yourself in the midst of low-life’s, criminals, bounty hunters and pirates, all eager to claim their reward,” Thor replied quickly.
“Do you have any better ideas? It’s not like we can return to Earth, and we don’t really have the provisions for long distance travel.”
“I guess if we’re going to be criminals on the run from the law, what better place to do that than the Bazaar?” Thor said, sitting back in his chair and turning his attention to the horizon again.
“Speak for yourself,” Kira muttered as she directed the ship towards the Bandurian section of space that contained their intended destination.
“I’m just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m not a criminal; I’m just working with one.”
“I already told you, I’m not a criminal,” Thor said pointedly.
“Right, you were wrongfully accused by one of the most respected military leaders in the Terran Alliance,” Kira responded.
“He’s not who everyone thinks he is—at least not anymore.”
“He seemed the same as always the last time I spoke to him.”
“Really? The man you claim to know would ask you to participate in an off-the-record, unsanctioned mission to transport a classified prisoner to Jaantu 7?”
“Maybe…” she said, unsure.
“He’s become obsessed with genetic and cybernetic manipulation. Not only that, he’s become fanatical about his obsession. He has made claims that members of the Arcanum are superior to other Terran's. He’s been isolating himself more and more from the T.A.F. He’s gone mad with his lust for power and supremacy.”
The famously stoic, unemotional Colonel had been more and more elusive in recent years, Kira conceded. But, she only assumed that was because he had been assigned to work with the Arcanum.
“He will do anything in his power to continue with his experiments. He won’t let anything pose a threat to his work. As soon as I began to voice my opposition to his careless, dangerous, potentially lethal enterprise, I became a liability.”
“So, he sent you to Jaantu 7 just to keep a secret?” Kira asked, still suspicious of Thor’s account.
“Not only that,” Thor said. “He’s planning something. Something big.”
“What?” Kira asked, her eyes wide.
“I don’t know,” Thor admitted.
Kira scoffed, but Thor continued. “Even though I can’t be specific, I’m certain he’s planning something, though. That’s why having an Arcanum soldier who openly expressed opposition to his experimentation walking around a free man is so worrisome to him. He can’t let anything stop him from bringing his plan to fruition. Especially because I assume he’s close to putting it into action.”
Kira opened her mouth to respond, but the words caught in her throat. An unmarked gunship suddenly warped in near them and locked onto their position. She looked down at her sensors quickly and realized that they weren’t working properly.
“Damn,” she said as she grabbed for the controls.
Kira started to navigate the shuttle towards the nearest asteroid cluster in the hopes that they could outmaneuver their new pursuers. Before Kira could do much other than reorienting the vessel in her intended direction another three assault class fighters warped in and immediately locked onto their shuttle.
“I thought today felt like a lucky day,” a voice came over the ship’s communication system. “Looks like I was right.”
Just then, the gunships starboard side became visible on Kira’s view screen and a large red and black skull decal stared ominously back at them.
“Shit,” Kira mumbled, “Roughnecks.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Roughnecks were a blended group of rough-and-tumble Terran pirates, mercenaries, and devious opportunists. They happened to be on their way to the Bazaar when they detected the explosion of the freighter.
Coercing their shuttle into the holding dock of the pirate vessel was easy. Deciding what to do with their new prisoners seemed to pose a slightly larger problem for the relatively unorganized group of shameless felons. The second Kira and Thor exited their ship, the questions began to fly.
The men assumed that the two of them were military, but they didn’t know who they were. They questioned them for their names, hoping that a search of their identities would prove that a hefty ransom could be exchanged for their safe return to their fleet.
Kira remained silent, as did Thor. Keeping their identities secret was the best thing they could do. If there were a bounty out for them, this group would quickly and eagerly turn them in—there was no doubt about that.
Their silence frustrated the unkempt, chaotic group, and they were quickly escorted off the landing dock and thrown into the brig. Kira would have tried to fight back if they weren't outnumbered six to one. Even with Thor's enhancements, whatever they were, there was no way the two of them could take on the large group.
Just before throwing them into a small, damp, foul-smelling cell, four of the men came forward, one carrying a medical applicator. He went for Thor first, considering him the greater threat. It took a few attempts as Thor fought back against the group, but finally, he plunged the applicator down into Thor's neck as the other three worked to tangle him up in close quarters.
Thor instantly slumped forward, his body suddenly limp and unresponsive.
“No!” Kira called out, trying fight off the four men who had turned their attention on her.
And then, everything went dark.
Kira had no sense of time when she finally woke up. Her head ached and her mouth was dry. The ground beneath her was hard and cold, and as she rolled over, trying to get her bearings, her ears began to ring slightly.
Lying on the ground next to her was Thor. She reached up and grabbed hold of his wrist, shaking him slightly.
“Get up,” she gasped. “You have to get up. We have to get out of here.”
“There will be no escape today,” a man’s voice startled her. His voice was deep and sinister.
She sat up quickly, her head throbbing. She realized that they were no longer in the brig. They were, instead, on what appeared to be the ship’s flight deck, although the equipment around her was mismatched and most of it appeared to be somewhat out of date. The man who spoke paced back and forth in front of her, smiling down at her with a demonic look in his eye.
Finally, Thor began to rustle. He let out a soft moan as he lifted his hand to cover his eyes.
"The effects of the sedative will wear off shortly," the man spoke again. "You may care to know that we've just landed on Vandor," the man informed them coldly.
Vandor was one of the main planetary hubs making up the Bazaar.
“Thanks for the ride,” Kira replied between gritted teeth. Her head was still aching and her eyes adjusting to the lights. “We were on our way to the Bazaar ourselves, but at least this way we got a nap in.”
The man laughed, a deep, guttural sort of laugh that filled the room and stuck to the walls, hanging in the air, even after he stopped.
“You’re a funny little one, you know that,” he said, leaning in slightly, looking her up and down greedily.
His piercing brown eyes burned into her, maki
ng her stomach churn with disgust. His overall presence was ominous. His head was shaved, revealing a long, gruesome scar running along the right side of his head. And his dark, tanned skin seemed permanently stained with dirt and grime.
Thor pushed himself up slowly. As he fumbled to his feet, the man looked on with an amused, degrading expression written across his face. Even though Thor was slightly taller than him, it was clear that it took a lot more than size to intimidate him. Perhaps it was the five, equally gruesome looking men standing behind him, all holding assault rifles that gave him his reckless confidence.
Kira noticed one of the guards wearing her Phantom on his hip, no doubt taken from her when she was unconscious on their journey to Vandor. She clenched her jaw and made a mental note, she would have to get that back.
“Who are you?” Thor growled down at him.
Kira pushed herself to her feet and stepped up next to him, showing her allegiance to her former prisoner.
“I’m the captain of this fine vessel,” the man said, stepping back and stretching out his arms. “But, that has little bearing on our conversation.”
He took a firm step in Thor’s direction as if he was challenging him. “What we’re all here to figure out is who are you?”
“We’re just two people who want to continue on their way,” Thor said. It was obvious he was trying to keep his calm, but struggling to do so.
Kira suspected that Thor would have had a reasonable chance at disarming or killing this group in a fair fight, but with five assault rifles staring back at them, they were forced into submission.
“You may be able to do just that,” the captain replied. “We are a reasonable bunch. Just tell us your names and provide your identification, and we’ll make an informed decision as to what to do with you.”
Kira’s body tensed as she waited to hear Thor’s response. Despite the captain’s cool demeanor, she had a feeling that there was a beast lying just underneath the surface, waiting to be freed.
Instead of saying anything, Thor remained silent. As expected, the crooked smile on the captain’s lips vanished, and a crazed look of excitement filled his face.
“That’s fine,” he said, leaning back on his heels with a devilish grin. “If you don’t want to talk, we have ways of making you – ways that I particularly enjoy.”
With that, he reached into his holster and pulled out a sonic baton and with a flick of his wrist, it extended fully and crackled with electricity. Quickly, he thrust it forward and pressed it into Thor’s chest. Instantly, Thor fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Two of the men standing behind the captain rushed her as she leaned forward out of instinct to aid her companion.
They pulled her back violently as the captain cocked his foot and let it fly; hitting Thor square in the chest, in the same place the baton had sent a pulse of electricity surging through his body.
Kira felt her heart rate accelerate and her hands started to shake. She tried to pull herself free of the men holding her, but was unable to. The captain leaned in, pressing the baton into Thor's neck, sending another surge of current pouring into him. Thor's body began to shake, but his gaze, cold as ice, was fixed on the man as if daring him to continue.
“All you have to do is tell us who you are,” the captain said, ignoring Thor’s glare and turning his attention to Kira. “I’m just getting started with your friend over here. You don’t want to know what my men will do to a pretty little thing like you once I give them permission.”
Kira steeled herself and let her combat training take over, she spun on the man closest to her grabbing his wrist and twisting his arm beyond its range of motion. The guard let out a cry and his assault rifle dropped from his hands. Kira wasted no time and drove her elbow and forearm into his face, breaking his nose on impact. The second guard reached for her and wrapped both arms around her, trying to wrestle her down. Kira planted her feet against a command console and violently swung her head up into his face three times. The guard released Kira and stumbled back a few steps with blood pouring from his mouth. Kira squared up into a combat stance and prepared to continue the assault.
Suddenly, her whole body was on fire, pain echoed through every joint and limb and she dropped hard onto the floor, her body twitching in response as she cried out. Behind her, the captain released the baton from Kira’s shoulder and watched with amusement as she struggled on the ground.
The captain seemed to find her display amusing. When she dragged herself back to her feet she turned back towards him, he was staring at her with lustful desire.
“Maybe I won’t give you to my men,” he said, taking a small step in her direction. “Maybe I’ll just keep you for myself. I’d like to see those pretty blue eyes of yours roll back into your head.”
Disgust caused Kira’s stomach to turn. She wanted to reply with her fists, but she didn’t have the chance. Thor reached out and grabbed onto the man’s ankle, twisting it around with enough force to cause the lust to fall out of the captain’s eyes and the rage to once again creep back in.
Letting out another loud laugh, the man spun around and kicked Thor in the gut, simultaneously leaning in and pressing the baton to his neck again.
“Captain!” a man shouted, coming into the room quickly.
The captain let out a long, annoyed sigh and turned to face the new arrival. “What is it? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?”
“You’ll want to see this,” the man said, hurrying over. “Look who just popped up on the Galactic Bounty Network.” The captain took the tablet from the man and a slow grin crept over his face as he reviewed the information.
“It really is my lucky day,” the captain said, turning to scowl down at Thor.
“The bounty was set at one million credits alive and two hundred and fifty thousand dead,” the man added.
“Each?” the captain asked.
“Each,” the man assured.
“Well, someone out there values your lives a great deal,” the captain opined.
The eyes of all of the men in the room blazed with excited greed.
“Watch them!” he commanded the others in the room as he turned to leave, “while I figure out where to turn them in.”
As soon as the captain was out of sight, Kira threw herself forward and knelt down next to Thor.
“Are you okay?” she asked, leaning in to examine the burn marks left on his neck by the baton.
“Best day of my life,” Thor replied sarcastically, pushing himself up carefully.
The men instructed to watch over them hovered close by, pointing their guns in their direction while excited conversation continued amongst them about their newfound fortunes.
“Now would be the time for any escape plans you might be keeping from me,” Thor asked under his breath with a slight smile.
Kira’s mind ran wild, trying to develop some plan of escape. But, nothing came to her. She turned to look at the group of men, huddled together near the captain’s chair about twenty feet away, her mind was empty and she didn’t see how they would get away this time. Kira wondered if their luck had run out.
Suddenly, a loud explosion broke through the relative silence, causing the metal decking under them to tremble and the lights overhead to flicker. One of the men stumbled backward, then another. The shaking of the ship caused nearly all of them to lose their footing.
“This might work,” Kira said, grabbing Thor’s hand and pulling him to his feet.
Thor threw his weight forward quickly, knocking down the two men closest to them with one swift blow. They grunted from the impact, their guns dropped to the floor as they reacted, and they went flying backward.
Thor reached the first rifle in an instant and the second rifle not long after. He tossed the second rifle to Kira who quickly turned it on the group of guards just beginning to understand the situation. She fired two quick bursts in their direction, the first shot slamming into the chest of one of the guards and sending him flying across the flight
deck. The remaining guards all dove for cover and began to return fire with poor discipline, hitting equipment all over the flight deck as they fired with reckless abandon. Kira and Thor took cover behind two command consoles.
Kira looked to her left and the unconscious body of one of the guards Thor had struck lay three feet away from her. On his hip, Kira eyed her Phantom.
“Yes!” Kira shouted, as she removed the weapon from the guard and re-holstered it on her own hip.
“Do we really have the time for that?!” Thor shouted at her incredulously.