Eye of the Tiger: A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure (Star Justice Book 1)

by Michael-Scott Earle

  The two women agreed, and then I rolled up the dark glass so I could concentrate on the road ahead of me.

  Unlike the other road we took out of the city during our first reconnaissance mission, this one was in decent repair and had some lights on the side. Even though the planet had been terraformed, and the gravity adjusted, the terrain still looked like the kind of badlands I had often seen in the high desert areas of Ganymede. It was mostly rocky mountains, stocky shrubs, and withered trees. The vegetation was kind of odd given how many times it had rained since I escaped into the city, but I supposed there could have been some problems with the soil that prevented a proper jungle from growing.

  Or it could have been the light from the system’s sun. The city only ever seemed to get a few hours of hazy light every day before it slipped back into darkness. I did recall seeing many tanning booth storefronts in the city, and it was possible the planet didn’t spin on its axis completely.

  The walls of the shipyard facility rose in the distance like a glowing caterpillar. The sight filled me with a bit of dread, and I contemplated the possible outcomes of our mission. The best result was us accomplishing our goal and stealing a ship out of their yard. Z had been right when she expressed doubts about any of the vessels having space folding technology. Those starships were virtually unheard of, but even a cruiser with a hyperdrive would mean we could jump solar systems with only a week’s worth of Earth time. We could head in any direction, and Elaka Nota would be unable to follow us through the vastness of the Milky Way. If we found a ship with a warpdrive we could get away even faster, but those ships were also rare.

  The worst case scenario was the three of us getting captured. As much as I didn’t want to be experimented on again, I almost couldn’t bear the thought of Eve back in the liquid filled tube. I didn’t want to ponder the depth of my feelings for the woman who freed me, but I would give my life to protect her. I’d do it a thousand times and endure whatever agony to repay her.

  I would do the same for you, Adam. They will not capture us. Death will take us first. It would be our last freedom, and while I would choose life for obvious reasons, dying by your side would bring me peace in the afterlife.

  “Confirmed,” I said to her.

  I tightened my grip on the steering wheel of the limo and turned into the main road of the facility.

  Z’s eyes have recovered, and she has hidden our equipment under the longest rear seat. We are lounging on either side of Alwin. He takes women to the main office building. It is attached to the north side of the largest building. I wish we had a better plan, but Elaka Nota is too powerful for us to wait. This will be our only chance.

  “I know. We’ll shoot our way past the guards if we have to, but then I can guarantee the final outcome. Let’s hope this works.”

  The closer I drove to the gate, the more impressive it looked. The mass of concrete squatted a good forty meters high. The top of the wall had flashing red beacons to alert aircraft, and I spotted way too many auto turrets to count. I angled my head down into the steering wheel and prayed to my luck that none of the monitors on the gun’s cameras were linked to the facial recognition software running my image.

  There were two gates, and I rolled down the window as I drove the limo up to the first one. A pair of guards wearing Heavy Elaka Nota armor stepped out of a side station. One of them approached my open window, and the other circled the car. Each of the men was holding what looked like plasma rifles.

  Shit.

  The armored guard said something I didn’t understand, and my heart started to hammer in my chest. If things had gone wrong, I’d planned on shooting these guys, plowing past the gate, driving into the main building, and attempting to get onto the nearest ship. The armor these men wore would laugh at my bullets, and each of their plasma rifles probably cost as much as ten of these limos.

  The weapons would also destroy the car in two shots. I’d never had one issued to me when I was in the Marines, but I had seen their power on the battlefield plenty of times. They mowed through the armored opposition as if everything was a paper target. I doubted I’d live through a shot of one, and I doubted that my healing abilities would save me if I did manage to live after taking a shot.

  I needed to talk my way through this.

  “President Alwin in the back. He’s got girls with him,” I said as I pointed my thumb. I couldn’t see the man’s eyes through the glass of his helmet, but I did see my reflection. I was surprised that I looked so calm.

  “How many?” The voice asked.

  “Just two this time. Can you believe this guy? I told him this was a secured area, but he said he does it all the time, and if I didn’t like it he’d fire me.”

  “Where is Kimba bin?” the guard asked. I knew that was the name of the driver I killed.

  “Night off. Alwin told the other guys they could stay at the club. Said to me I had to drive him here because I was new. Said I had to do my time. It’s my second day.”

  “Where are you from? Your accent is strange,” the guard asked, and I saw the other one circle around to the driver side out of the corner of my eye.

  “Jupiter. How about you? You don’t sound like a native.” I forced a smile to my mouth.

  “Ha. Mars actually. We are a long way from home.”

  “Mars, huh? You’ve probably got a story a lot like mine. You serve?” I asked.

  “Fifth Army. I was in the Diatrade scuffles,” he said.

  “I wouldn’t call those ‘scuffles.’ Heard that was some shit. I wasn’t in anything that serious. A couple of pirate issues. Mostly ship and station disputes.” My story was under exaggerated a bit. I’d done plenty of space, planet, and station missions. Some were full-scale conflicts. Others were recon or special assignments.

  “Ha. I could never get comfortable with that idea. A bullet goes stray, and you are all dead. I prefer to be on the ground,” the man said.

  “Confirmed. We should grab a beer sometime and chat more. I’ll grab your info when we get out. Good to talk to someone who is kind of from home.”

  “Ha. That sounds good. Talk to you then.” The guard waved his hand, and the gate lifted in front of us.

  “Wait,” the other guard called out, and I felt my stomach freeze.

  “Yeah?” I asked as I leaned my head out.

  “You mind rolling down the window?” this guard did have a local accent, but he didn’t have the “ah” phrasing tossed in his words.

  “Sure. Let me figure out what button it is.” I looked through the controls and found the ones for the window. I unrolled the divider at the same time as the passenger one so that I could hear what the armored sentry said.

  “What is taking so long?” Uwuwto said with a gasp.

  “Sorry sir, wanted to confirm you were back here with two guests.”

  “I am. Let’s go.”

  In the rearview mirror, I saw that both women were hanging on the man, and Eve was stroking his neck with her long nails. I averted my eyes before I could get angry and focused on the gate ahead.

  “Carry on,” the first guard said to me after the second had stepped away.

  The gate was opened now, and I let the limo crawl past the doors before I slowly accelerated. There was another guard post up ahead, but the gate there was already opening, and the pair of men just waved us past without inspecting the limo.

  Then we were inside of the facility, and a few more steps closer to getting off of this planet.

  Chapter 13

  There wasn’t much activity in the outside areas of the facility. I would have thought there would be some workers walking around, drones, or anything, but I recalled that this was supposed to be non-working hours. Everyone must have been off site.

  There were a few large trucks carrying equipment between the buildings, but they all stayed on yellow lit paths, and it was easy to avoid their automated activity. Five minutes later I parked the limo outside of what Eve had told me was the office building, and we wer
e talking through our next steps.

  “We still can’t get changed? You are kidding me,” Z shook her head angrily at me, and the motion made her breasts strain against the dental floss covering her nipples.

  “There are cameras everywhere. If you two step out of the car wearing your street clothes, someone might ask questions. If you wear that, it is a pretty clear visual about why he is taking you inside.”

  “Shit. Fine. You are bringing the bags? I don’t want to wear this while we are escaping gravity. This get up is already violating Newton’s Laws.” The blonde woman gestured to her breasts, and I had to agree that I didn’t understand how everything was staying in place.

  “I’ll bring them.” I turned to the plump Asian man. “I will open the door; you will exit with the women. I will open the door to the building. Then we will go inside. You will take us to your office there. If anything other than that happens, the last thing you will see is a bullet tearing through your retina. Understand?” I asked through the open divider.

  “Yes.” The man gulped.

  “Good.”

  I got out of the driver seat and walked back to the door of the long luxury car. I took Z’s hand to help her stand, and then I moved aside so Uwuwto could get out, and then I helped Eve. The vampire woman’s hand was warm, and her fingers gave mine two brief squeezes before she let go. Our eyes met for a second, and I felt my tension relax a bit.

  They waited while I stepped into the limo. This was one of the parts of our plan with the least amount of leverage over the man. Eve didn’t have a gun out because of the cameras, nor did Z. The man could break free of both women and then make a sprint to the door.

  Fortunately, he didn’t think about escaping, and I managed to get our gear from the car without issue. I took the lead to the door, and then I opened it up so that the three of them could enter.

  There was another pair of guards inside. They weren’t wearing armor, though. These were just men in cloth uniforms, security badges, and hats. Each of them had a pistol on their belts, and they stood as soon as we entered.

  “Boss wants to show the girls around,” I spoke before the men could ask what was going on.

  “Ahh na,” said one of the guards as he eyed the two women. The fucker was actually licking his lips like he was starving.

  “What in bags?” the other one asked in a heavy accent as he pointed at my load.

  I looked at the two men and then nodded my head so that they would step with me to the side of the room. Uwuwto continued to walk with the two women, and they reached the elevator of the lobby.

  “Toys,” I whispered to both of the men and wide smiles spread over their faces. “He wants to keep this a bit of a secret. Like the last time. Here is some cash for you guys.” I pulled a roll of bills I took from one of Uwuwto’s guards and handed it over. “Can you turn off the cameras again? He doesn’t want his wife to find out.” I had no idea if the men would shut down the security stuff, but I figured it was worth asking.

  “Where ahh you take ahh them?” one of the men asked.

  “To his office.”

  “No camera there. We turn off the, ah hallway ones,” the other said.

  “My boss thanks you,” I whispered as I handed the men another roll of bills. “I’ll mention to him how good of a job you are both doing.”

  “Ya. Have fun. Ahh maybe if he’s done he can let us ah play?”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged and tried to keep the disgust off of my face.

  I walked to the other side of the lobby and stepped into the opened elevator a few seconds after my companions. Eve’s fingers were still wrapped around the back of the man’s neck, and she gestured for him to press one of the buttons. He hit the icon for the top floor and the doors closed.

  We were almost there.

  “I can’t wait to get into this man’s office,” Z hummed as she kind of ground Alwin’s leg. I thought this was weird for her to say, but I noticed the cameras on the ceiling also had a receiver that could have been a microphone.

  The doors chimed and then opened to show a well-lit hallway. It was generic corp styling with gray walls, gray carpet, gray ceiling, and propaganda artwork adding the occasional splash of color. We followed Uwuwto to the end of the hallway, and he slid his thumb over a control panel for his office. The wood doors opened, and the four of us walked in.

  “There are no cameras in here,” I told the women as soon as I closed the doors behind us. The room was large, and a three-meter long fish tank sat in the middle. On the other side were the man’s wooden desk, couches, and a wet bar.

  “You sure?” Z asked as she looked at the ceiling. “Can I get out of this thing?”

  “Yeah. Then we need you to--”

  “I know. I’ll have a much easier time hacking their system from this fuck’s desk. Ugh. Do you have any idea where that sack of shit touched me? I need to shower a few dozen times. So gross.”

  “Let’s focus on the job, you can shower later.” I said as I set down the duffle bag with the women’s clothes in it.

  “Easy for you to say. You weren’t even there, and your girlfriend has bodysuit and skirt on. Look at my outfit. This guy just put his fingers wherever the fuck he wanted,” Z said as she glared at the man.

  “I thought you were an employee of the clu--” the chubby president began to say, but Eve interrupted him.

  “Let us continue. We have limited time.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” Z grabbed her clothes, shoes, and gun holster from inside of the bag. Then she walked over to the desk on the other side of the fish tank.

  “I will wait until she is done before I change,” Eve said to me. “It is easier for me to read him while I touch his skin. They’ve given him some training to resist.”

  “I won’t do anything. Please let me live,” the man whined again.

  “I’m changed!” Z shouted from the other side of the room. “I’ll start on this computer. Can sleazebag log in? It'll make it easier.”

  “Confirmed,” I said as I yanked the man away from Eve. I nodded to the bag with her clothes, and she smiled before she kneeled down to grab her things. The movement allowed me to see down between her breasts, and I turned my head away before I was completely distracted.

  “Sit here and unlock your terminal, Mr. Toad,” Z gestured to the large office chair at the desk. The blonde woman was wearing a pair of black military pants, military shirt, and light armored vest.

  “I will. Just don’t--”

  “Yeah, I get it. Just unlock the damn thing.”

  Uwuwto typed on a keyboard for a few seconds, and then Z kicked the chair away suddenly.

  “Don’t get any fucking ideas. Asshole,” she seethed.

  “What did he do?” I asked as I pulled out my pistol and set it against his head.

  “He tried to send a message. Slimy bastard.”

  “No, I was just logging in. Please!”

  “Keep an eye on him. I don’t think he sent it.” Z leaned over the desk and began to hammer away at the keyboard. The hair on the half of her head that wasn’t shaved fell over her eyes, and I noticed the sound of her typing speed didn’t decrease when she lifted one of her hands to push the blonde locks behind her ear.

  “We look okay. He didn’t get it out. I’m checking his messages. Give me a minute. I’m going to see if I can figure out what ships they have on deck. If they have anything ready to fly, I’ll look for the manual and see if I can find launch codes.”

  “What will the launch codes give us?” I thought it was kind of odd that there was an additional layer of security, but I supposed they didn’t want a random employee jet-setting with a hyperdrive craft.

  “I’m not really a pilot, but you are going to need a few codes. First is the stuff to turn on the ship. Second is the ones which can open the fly bay. The third one will make it seem like the take off is approved by the government, aka Elaka Nota Corporation, or else the surface-to-air missiles will take us out,” Z explained. Maybe Eve alread
y thought of all of this, but I hadn’t.

  “Thanks,” I said to her.

  “Huh?” she turned her eyes away from the screen and looked at me with her mouth opened.

  “Thanks for helping us. We couldn’t have done this without you. We owe you. Even if we don’t get out of here. I am thankful for your help.”

  “Oh. Uhhh. Yeah. It’s fine.” Z’s cheeks blushed a bit, and she cleared her throat. “Just keep an eye on that fuck. I don’t want him messing anything up.”

  “Confirmed. Do you need him for anything else?” I asked.

  “Nope. I’ve got everything I need here. I can dive through their whole system since he has full access,” she said.

  “Good.” I brought the bottom of my pistol down on the man’s head, and he fell out of the chair with a thud.

  “That’s one way to handle it,” Z said as she looked away from the screen again. “How long before he’ll wake up?”

  “Probably an hour, but he’ll be groggy.” I didn’t tell her that he might not wake up. Things like this worked in the movies, but when someone tended to get knocked unconscious by a head injury in real life, it often took them days to recover.

  If they even woke up.

  “I have finished changing,” Eve said as she walked from around the fish tank. The woman was wearing almost the exact same outfit as Z, only the blonde woman’s vest was of soft fabric armor, and Eve’s chest piece was crafted with light synthetic plates.

  “I’ve got some ships. Here, I’ll put them on the screen behind us.” The blonde hacker jabbed her finger against the display of the monitor where she worked, and the image projected onto the blank part of the wall. “Are they called spacecraft, or spaceships, or space vessels? I’ve always wondered.”

  “Loose definitions. Anything with a hyperdrive is really a starship because it can go between solar systems, but they are all considered spacecraft,” I said.

  “Okay. These eight have hyperdrives,” Z said as she clicked on one of the touchpads on the desk. I looked at the blueprints on the wall and tried to make sense of the size of each ship.

  “We can’t go too big because we don’t have much of a crew. Anything over two hundred and fifty meters will be too large for--”