Doc wrung his hands together trying to rein in his excitement but didn’t quite manage it. “All of my scans indicate minus some extensive cybernetic enhancements, Samantha is pretty much normal.”
So she had a name, I don’t know why I was surprised. I cast a quick glance through the glass. Samantha, that seemed to fit her just right. “Pretty much normal doesn’t explain the jumping and the being able to cling fucking there.” I waved my hand at the roof. “There has to be something else you found.” I tried my hardest not to look into the other room again. The last thing I needed was to have those piercing eyes locked onto my own again. I was raking myself across the coals pretty hard already for putting my crew in jeopardy. I didn’t want Samantha to see that my first thought was still to shove her back in the box. I didn’t need that kind of judgment coming from her. We just met, and normally I had to spend the weekend with a woman before she could make me feel that kind of guilt. “Tell me about her modifications.”
“It’s remarkable really, and it must have been extremely painful.” Doc shook his head as if he was wondering why someone would go through all of it willingly. “All of her bones have either been replaced or enhanced, that as well as her digestive system. I speculate that she could still eat food, but it would have a violent effect on her system. Kind of like you when Gabe made that castor beast chili. She also has quite a bit of cybernetics. They would help her analyze situations, bypass security, and who knows what else.”
“Great so we either have a super assassin or a spy on our hands.” I looked through the window fast enough to catch a small wince as I said the word assassin. Yep, she could hear me all right, and not only that, but she knew I was on the right track to figuring out her origins. I kept my face neutral as I turned back towards the doc. No reason to give away my suspicions. He didn’t even seem to notice my little pause to look through the window. He was so excited about what he had found, I wasn’t even sure if he had stopped talking.
“Some of the tech has been recently enhanced, yet her body has no scars.”
“You can say that again.” It came out sounding a little longing. That wasn’t the tone I needed to use especially once Maze was in the room with us. This time my statement earned me a smirk from the woman in the other room. Maze looked between Samantha and I, knowing something had happened but not sure what. She just handed the woman her jacket and stood by her. Now she had her gaze firmly locked on me and the doctor. I had the feeling she was going to use her cybernetic eye to read our lips. Nothing got by that woman, not ever. “How do you know the tech has been updated recently?”
“Well some of this stuff I’ve never seen before, but I know what it does based off of where it was implanted. It’s newer, smaller, and much harder to destroy than what is available on the open market. The reason I can tell it was upgraded is some of the material connecting it to her is much older than the tech I’m seeing now.” He looked almost apprehensive about whatever he was going to say next.
“How much older?”
“At least fifty years. This is the stuff they had us training on when I went to med school. Older tech we removed from cadavers.”
“So you’re saying she is older than she looks.”
“Very much so.”
Well this was going to be trickier than I thought. Dealing with someone in their early twenties was easy if you had the experience I did. Now there was a distinct possibility that she might be older than me. I was going to have to be ready for anything when I spoke with her. “Anything else you can think of adding before I go in to speak with her.”
“She’s on a liquid diet. Based off what we found in the crate, I’d say a blood diet.”
“Doc, you're trying to tell me that she drinks blood, is at least fifty years old even though she doesn’t look a day over twenty-five, and has enough high-tech implants to kill all of us before we could even get a shot off?”
For the first time, Richard didn’t look excited anymore. “When you say it like that, Captain, it doesn’t sound anywhere near as appealing.”
“I should hope not.” I left him thinking about the situation and headed into the next room. The first thing I did was give Maze a hug. I looked her over to make sure she was ok and then turned to face our unexpected guest.
“Samantha, I’m Captain Drake. Welcome to the Star Talon.”
I could tell she was trying to process my introduction. It was probably a lot to take in. I had completely ignored everything the doc had told me and just addressed her like any other person I had taken on as a passenger. She extended her hand towards mine, and I took it. For some reason, I expected the hand to be cold, but it was warm. Warm and soft.
“Pleasure to meet you, Captain Drake. Seems as though we have a lot to talk about.”
Boy did we ever.
CHAPTER 5
CAPTAIN DRAKE
Richard moved into the room with us, and I watched as he stripped the linens from the exam table and bundled them up for the sanibox. Maze put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and gave me a brief smile. I wasn’t exactly sure if Samantha had earned Maze’s respect or if she still felt bad for the woman. Waking up in a box was a real surefire way to ruin your day. My eyes lingered on Samantha for just a moment, taking in the way she carried herself with confidence. I liked it.
Before we could move forward I needed more information. We had to come up with a plan about what to do next. The N.E.A. wasn’t going too look on us to kindly if we didn’t deliver the package on time. An empty box wouldn’t work for us either. This entire situation was fucked. Being a former soldier for the Alliance didn’t leave me with a whole lot of friends in earth space. I had a few, but I couldn’t drag them into this. If I burned them with something this hot, they’d never help me again. I didn’t want to be contained to just the midrim and Alliance space for the rest of my life. It was nice to have options. Those options expired pretty quickly, kill squad quickly, if we didn’t deliver the package. That didn’t leave us with a whole lot of wiggle room.
Shit, when had things become so complicated? It was the story of my life. I missed the days where I could just steal something or blow something up and then go and get drunk for a week. It didn’t hurt if I could add a woman or two into the mix. Nothing eased my troubled thoughts like losing myself in sex and booze. I couldn’t just abandon everything and hope for the best anymore. People were counting on me, people that I cared about.
It took me a moment to realize how quiet the room had gotten. Lost in my own thoughts, I must have missed whatever had been said. I chose to just ignore the silence I had caused and any awkward feeling it may have inspired. Instead, I chose just to plow forward like I always did. “I don’t see any reason to keep you confined to the medbay, so unless Doc has any reservations, let’s take this conversation somewhere a little more comfortable.”
Richard waved us out the door. “I’ll join you as soon as I get everything back in place.”
Looking around the room, I didn’t see anything out of place. In fact, you could have said it was spotless. It never paid to argue with the doctor though, so I just nodded and turned towards our guest. “If you wouldn’t mind following me.” I started out the door but stopped when I realized she hadn’t moved.
She lowered her head almost in a subservient manner, but I could tell from the tension radiating across her shoulders, she was ready for a fight if it came to that. She looked up at me through locks of midnight black hair. “Where are we going?”
Now it made sense. I could be trying to take her anywhere. I laughed almost as much from nerves as my own stupidity. The laughter didn’t appear to do anything to alleviate the tension she was feeling, so I cut it off. “We're just going to the rec room. It’s bigger and has more couches. Plus, if we are all together, it will keep me from having to repeat what was said to the more nosy members of the crew.” I hit her with what I hoped was a winning smile. “While you’re on this boat, consider yourself a guest. I don’t see any reason why we can
’t remain civil.”
“As long as you understand I’m not getting back into the box.” She paused. “Ever.”
I shared a quick glance with Maze, and she gave me the slightest upward tilt of her chin. While I was happy to see she agreed with me, it didn’t make what I had to say next any easier. “Opening the box might have been a mistake, and until I know more about what is going on, I can’t take any options off the table. I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but whatever we decide to do next has repercussions for more than just you.”
“Thank you for not lying to me. Lead the way, Captain.” She moved to stand behind Maze.
I didn’t like her there one bit. I could tell that Maze liked it even less. We already knew she was fast and incredibly strong. If she hurt Maze, none of that would matter because I would kill her myself in an instant without hesitation or guilt. I took a deep breath and moved out into the hallway. Trust was a two-way shipping yard. You had to give a little to get a little. I was trusting her not to hurt the crew, and she was trusting me not to shove her back in the box. It was more trust than I would normally extend to someone, but if the N.E.A shoved you in a box that was more than enough of a reason for me to give you a chance. I hit my comm and signaled for everyone to meet in the rec room. As we walked in I could see the curiosity on their faces. I wasn’t big on secrets, but I didn’t exactly know how to say the word vampire to my crew without questions erupting from across the room.
I mean that had to be what she was, right? Moved super quick, was super strong. Could somehow cling to a metal object. Let’s not forget she could hear you through plexi walls. Oh and the real big show stopper, that she drank blood to survive. I’m sure there was a story there and hoped maybe she would share it with me one day.
Kyra was watching Samantha as she moved into the room and took a seat. Ice was watching Kyra and then flicking her eyes back to the new female in the room as if trying to figure out what Kyra found so interesting. Gabe looked Samantha over once and then moved to stand behind Kyra and Ice. I was happy to see that he was willing to protect them. Out of all of the crew, Gabe was mostly in it just for the money. That one movement showed me that maybe we were starting to crack that gruff interior.
Maze took the seat closest to Samantha but not on the same couch, leaving that seat for me. Thanks dear, of course the Captain has to sit next to the scariest person in the room. Doc filed in a moment later and nestled himself into a spot next to Ice. Of everyone in the room, he seemed the most comfortable, which was something we hadn’t seen from him in group settings before.
Samantha took all of them in with a glance, and then I watched her eyes move to spot all of the exits in the room. She might have also done a quick scan for weapons. I had on my pistol, and Gabe had his knife. I knew Maze was armed, but she was so damn good at hiding her weapons, I couldn’t have told you with what or where they were. With nothing left to do but get started, I forced myself to speak.
“Ok team, I’m not going to lie to you. We are in one hell of a tricky spot. The N.E.A is expecting us to deliver a box with this woman inside of it.” I waved my hands towards Samantha. “I’m not sure that’s going to be possible now.”
“Of course it isn’t, Captain,” Kyra said. “We can’t just hand her over to those planet hoppers.”
“I don’t see why not,” Gabe said.
Kyra turned to glare at him, and Ice placed a calming hand on her shoulder that she shrugged off. “Fuck you, Gabe.”
He just shrugged his shoulders. “Anytime, anywhere.”
Kyra turned red, and she was getting ready to really lay into him. Before she could get started, I jumped back into the conversation. “Just consider what happens if we don’t do it, and then we can talk about what we should do.” Kyra still didn’t look happy, but at least I had her focused on me now. “Besides becoming fugitives in N.E.A. space for the rest of our lives, we would lose any chance of regaining our position in the mercenary’s guild, and even if we decided to spend the rest of our lives in the rim, we would be on the run.”
Maze and Gabe nodded in agreement with my assessment. Doc just looked shocked. Ice kept looking at Kyra wanting to back her but not knowing what to say, and Kyra just looked flat out pissed off. I could see that Samantha had grown tense, but she hadn’t moved. At least the small amount of courtesy I had shown her so far had bought me a little leeway.
“Captain, we can’t just hand her over,” Kyra pleaded.
“I’m not saying that’s what we are going to do,” I said, and Samantha relaxed beside me. “But we need to lay out all our options.” That seemed to mollify Kyra into silence for the moment. “We haven’t even asked Samantha yet if she wants to go through with her original mission, so I think that’s as good a place to start as any.” I inclined my head towards her indicating the floor was hers.
“I haven’t been given any kind of assignment. The last thing I remember was being drugged. I don’t even know what year it is anymore. If I was going to a job, I’m assuming the details would have been provided by whoever opened the box. She looked around the room once again taking in the décor and technology. “What year is this anyways?”
It was the doctor that spoke first. “Thirty-one twenty-four after earth.”
“Twenty years,” she whispered. “I’ve been asleep for twenty years.”
All of us sat in silence for a moment. It was the kind of statement you couldn’t just process and discard right away. I wondered what it would be like to wake up twenty years in the future as if you had only been asleep for a day. Just the thought of it rocked my world. My parents would probably be dead, none of the crew would know what happened to me. Everything that I knew and cared about would have been gone. I reached out to try and comfort her, but she just pulled away.
“We have another problem,” Samantha said, “at least I think we do. I had an implant in my head before. If I tried to deviate from whatever assignment I was given, they could shock me into unconsciousness or kill me.”
“That’s horrible,” Kyra said, giving voice to what all of us were thinking.
I looked over at Richard. If she had something like that inside of her, he would have detected it on one of his scans. “Doc?”
He was looking over his datapad. “I see something near her brain stem that could be used for such a purpose.”
Samantha stood up visibly agitated now. “Then it seems we don’t have a lot to talk about. They have full control over me as long as that thing is still in my head. So I’ll get back in the box, and you can drop me off. I’m not ready to die.” She turned and started walking back towards the cargo bay.
“Finally, someone talking sense,” Gabe said.
Gabe looked pleased. Maze seemed to be trying to decide if we had just lucked out or if she was pissed off. Kyra’s heart was bleeding all over the place, and Ice just looked stunned, as if she couldn’t contemplate why anyone would do that. Doc was deep in thought, which meant he was already cooking something up.
Me, shit, I didn’t know what to feel. The woman seemed nice enough but was that really enough to condemn all of us to a life of living on the run. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days looking over my shoulder trying to stay one step in front of the biggest military in the multiverse. At the same time, I couldn’t help but thinking this is what the Alliance did. They used us as if our lives meant nothing. And for what? So they could line their pockets with a few more credits than they had the day before. We were choking under their iron grip, and soon we would suffocate under it.
I didn’t want to ask the question, but I had to. “What are her chances of living if you try and remove that thing?”
Gabe looked furious. “Captain, you can’t be serious.”
“As serious as air in the black.”
He just turned around disgusted as Doc spoke. “It would depend if the device had failsafes or not. I’d have to run some more in-depth scans. Without anything interfering with removal, I’d say there is l
ittle to no worry about injury. If the system is set to activate or fight against removal, I’d put her odds at fifty-fifty.”
Samantha walked back into the room her eyes were fixed on the doctor. “When can you get this fucking thing out of me?”
His eyes drifted towards me. The last thing I wanted to do was give her bad news. “We still need to decide what we are going to do. Removing the device doesn’t leave us a lot of wiggle room. If she dies, we are fucked, even if we drop her off. If she lives and we don’t put her in the box, we are back to worst case scenario for us.”
“Captain, we have to do it,” Kyra pleaded.
“No. No, we fucking don’t,” Gabe shouted.
Ice kept her mouth shut earning her a glare from her lover. Maze just tilted her chin down indicating she would stand by whatever decision I made. Sometimes the weight of being captain left me feeling drained. The last thing I wanted to do was try and force this woman back into the box. There had to be a way all of us could win.
Samantha strode the rest of the way into the room and planted herself in front of the doctor. “You’re going to get this thing out of me, and you are going to do it now.”
How had she moved so fast, and how big was the can of worms I'd opened when I asked Doc about removing the damn thing in the first place? It really didn’t matter what she wanted, no one told my crew what to do but me. I moved in behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She spun to face me faster than should have been possible. I should have remembered not to screw with a cybernetically enhanced vampire, but I was never very good at following orders. Despite my reservations, I had to draw the line somewhere. “No one gives orders on this ship but me.”
I remember standing in the middle of the room, and then all the air rushed out of my lungs as my back slammed into the wall by the door. Samantha was holding me six inches off the ground, and her face was an inch from my own. Her fangs were exposed, and she was hissing at me like a wild animal. I could see Maze moving behind her, but Gabe had already pulled his knife and closed the distance. Without any remorse, he shoved the blade through her back. The tip nicked my chest, and then my feet hit the ground.
Genetic Purge (The Galactic Outlaws Book 2) Page 4