Genetic Purge (The Galactic Outlaws Book 2)

by Bradford Bates

  Slipping the knife back into its sheath, I searched the men. The good news was I now had loaded guns. The bad news was I had just murdered six Martian soldiers, and if there was any kind of surveillance in the area, it wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. Using one of the fallen soldiers’ canteens, I washed my face and my hands getting the worst of the blood off of me. I also used a little to clean the burn marks on my pants. I’d forgotten that one of the guards had actually shot me when I broke out of the labs. Walking around a planet in the thralls of a full scale rebellion with a blaster burn on your clothes would have been a huge giveaway I had been involved in some kind of skirmish. Walking into a space station covered in blood would have had more than a few tongues wagging. That was something I needed to avoid at all costs. A few more quick splashes on my jacket and I was mostly presentable again.

  The gunfire hadn’t gotten closer during our exchange, but the sounds had picked up in intensity. Another explosion rocked the streets. The sound of it was enough to get me moving again. It was going to be hard enough to find someone with permission to get off planet during a skirmish, I just hoped at least one person at the station had the clearance.

  Twenty minutes later, I walked slowly into the spaceport and checked my bearings. All of the commercial flight boards were showing a giant red X with the word canceled printed below them. I shoved my way through the agitated crowd to the front of the line. “Is there anyone here flying off planet?”

  A man from behind me grabbed my shoulder and tried to pull me back. “Wait your damn turn lady,” he growled.

  When he tried to tug on my shoulder again, I turned around and broke his wrist, pushing him to the floor. I sent out a wave of compulsion to the people around me, suggesting that they ignore him and turned back towards the frazzled lady manning the desk. I turned up the charm and hit her with a full dose of my power. I didn’t have time to wait around. Breaking that man’s wrist had been a mistake. I had let my anger at everything that happened today get the better of me. I thought dishing out some payback would have made me feel better than it did. Now all I felt was empty and a need to get back to the only people in the universe that I trusted. So I asked her again. “Any captains here with off planet access?”

  Her will crumbled under my compulsion. “You could try Captain Ragnus, but I don’t think he is taking on any passengers.”

  “Where can I find him?”

  “Shuttle bay four, slip S-22.”

  “Thank you.” I tossed her a hundred credit chip. Drake had been kind enough to leave me enough credits to ensure I could meet back up with them on Serenity. Her bad day was only going to get worse, so it was the least I could do. Now it was time to track down Captain Ragnus and get him back in the air as soon as possible.

  Hangar number four was easily distinguished by the burly looking men standing outside of it. They had a fuck off look about them that discouraged the commercial passengers from approaching. I walked straight towards them, ignoring the murderous stares they sent in my direction. The last thing I wanted to do now was get into another fight, but these men wouldn’t be keeping me away from Captain Ragnus for long.

  “Which one of you big strong men wants to escort me to Captain Ragnus?” I laid it on thick but none of them even moved.

  “Piss off, the captain ain’t taking no visitors.”

  My hands balled into fists for a moment before I could stop the action. It took a moment, but I forced them open before I continued speaking. I told myself the last thing I needed to do here was cause another incident. It was also bothering me just how quickly my anger was coming to the surface. My first instinct shouldn’t be to rip these men’s heads off. There had to be a more diplomatic solution. Part of me was craving violence, and the other part was telling me to let it go. What’s a girl to do?

  I got right up in the face of the man that had spoken. I took him by one of his golden hooped earings and spoke slowly and clearly about an inch from his face. “The captain will want to see me, and if you value having this ear still attached to your head, you’ll get off your ass and fetch him for me.”

  He knocked my hand free and laughed with his men. “Oh, I like this one. Captain’s going to love her.” He stood up and started moving towards the door. He paused after it opened and looked over his shoulder. “Follow me.”

  I’m not sure why the attendant gave me the slip number, there was only one ship docked in the hangar right now. It looked more like a warship than a smuggling vessel. I wondered just what kind of hijinks this man was up to. He either liked picking fights or he carried expensive cargo. Maybe even a little of both. Judging by the looks and demeanor of his crew, he might even be a space pirate. It was possible, but most of them couldn’t dock in a civilized port so he must have carried quite a reputation around with him as well.

  The man led me towards the ship and as we approached a man walked down the ramp extended from the cargobay. He was wearing a dark purple trench coat with black trim and a matching wide-brimmed hat. The coat was tailored to show off his trim figure, and his boots had some kind of silver buckles. I almost couldn’t tell if the man was a dandy or he just liked to draw attention to himself.

  His eyes darted over me and then towards his man. “Fuck, Jep, I thought I made it pretty damn clear that I didn’t want any goddamned visitors. The cartel is already crawling all up inside of my ass because their shipment is late.”

  “Oh, I think you’ll like this one.” He gave the captain a sly smirk and walked off to join the rest of his crew by the door.

  The captain looked at me impatiently. “Well, what in the fuck do you want?”

  I almost laughed. It would have been the wrong move, but never the less I was sure the captain could see the barely restrained laughter building in my eyes. “I hear you’re the man I need to talk to about getting off this rock.”

  “I’m not leaving so piss the right the fuck off.”

  This time I did laugh. His eyes turned hard as if he could get rid of me by sheer force of will. “I need to get to Serenity Station, I could make it worth your while.”

  He looked me up and down. It was almost funny how men’s brains always went into the gutter first. I wouldn’t be fucking this man to get where I needed to go. I might kill him and take his ship, though if he wasn’t more careful about where his eyes lingered.

  This time he laughed at me. “Lady, this ain’t no pleasure barge. We do real work, important work.”

  It was time to make a leap, I was pretty sure I figured out what this man did for a living. “I didn’t know running drugs was considered important work these days.”

  The captain rushed forward closing the distance that separated us and then got right in my face. “Who told you that, you some kind of Martian cop or something? Get the fuck out of my hangar before I disappear you into the black.”

  I’d had about enough of this guy’s ego, and twice that for the amount of the bullshit he was spinning. Nothing rubbed me the wrong way more than a self-absorbed prick. I hit him lightly in the stomach, doubling him over, and then I kicked his legs out from under him, sending him to the floor. He reached for something in his coat, but I grabbed his hand before he could remove it and kept it pinned against his side. He continued to struggle for a moment and then finally went limp when I applied a little more pressure to his arm.

  “Jesus, what are you?”

  “I’m just a lady that needs a ride to Serenity.”

  “Well fuck, why didn’t you just say so?” He tried to stand up again. “How about you let go of my arm, and I’ll get you there, no questions asked.”

  I tweaked his arm again forcing a hiss of pain from his lips. “Damn straight you will, but I don’t take charity. So we need to discuss a price.”

  “Well, seeing as I’m on my knees and you could break my arm at any moment, I’m fairly confident that any negotiations we had would be completely one-sided.”

  I pushed him away but kept my eyes focused on him for any movement. I had a
feeling he had gone for a knife in his coat but if it was a gun, he was a dead man. I was pretty confident I could fly the damn ship myself if I had to. I still remembered being in fight school like it was yesterday. All I had wanted to do was fly amongst the stars and live a simple life. All of that was gone now. Ragnus surprised me by turning around with a smile on his face as if the golden goose had just fallen into his lap. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I knew I wasn’t going to like it.

  “So I have a problem I need taken care of before I can head off world, and I’m thinking you’re just the kind of lady that can handle it for me.”

  “I’m not getting mixed up in your bullshit. If you have a problem, solve it yourself and I’ll pay for your fuel and your time.”

  His smile was all danger now. “You see that would work if our ability to leave the planet wasn’t hampered by the situation in question. Even a dashing captain like myself has someone to answer too. My someone supplies the codes that get us off world, and without his shipment on board, no codes.”

  “What’s the problem with this shipment?”

  “Haven’t you been outside lady, the whole damn city is a war zone. They’re afraid to move the cargo until this mess blows over. My employers aren’t too fond of delays or the people that cause them if you catch my drift. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if it goes on long enough, I won’t have a ship to come back to.”

  “So why don’t you send some of your boys to go and get it.”

  “That’s just the thing. They get paid for guarding the shipment once it’s here and helping me deal with any situations that arise in flight. None of them are willing to stick their necks out when the Martians are all beating at each other with huge bloody sticks.”

  “So you want me to secure your cargo?”

  “That I do. If you can get it here before tomorrow morning, I’ll fly you anywhere in this damn verse that you want to go and owe you a favor on top of it.”

  “How much cargo are we talking about?”

  “Not a lot, ten maybe fifteen pounds of the stuff.”

  “And what exactly is the stuff?”

  “It’s probably better that you don’t know. Just get it and bring it back.”

  “Fine, but I’m not leaving until sundown. Until then, I need a place to put my feet up.”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  I moved so fast, there was no way he would have been able to stop me. I had his arm twisted up behind his back and dropped him to his knees again. “Somewhere where I will be undisturbed.” I wrenched his arm up just an inch further. “And no one calls me sweetheart.”

  “Sure whatever you want, lady, just ease up on the goods. I need these arms to fly the ship unless you can do that yourself.”

  Pushing him away I waited for him to turn around and then I grinned at him. He took a step back probably wondering if he pushed me too far. I let him shuffle back and forth without saying a word. When the silence grew uncomfortable even for me, I broke it. “Just give me the damn address and your contact’s name.”

  “Sure whatever you want sweet…” He stopped in the middle of the word thinking better of it. “Ah yeah, so I’ll just take the boys to the bar for some drinks. The ship is yours until sundown. Don’t go and get any ideas of flying off with my baby. She’s trapped right up if you don’t have the right codes she ain’t going nowhere.”

  “Break a deal with me, and you won’t be going anywhere ever again.”

  He held up his hands in a sign of surrender and turned to walk away. Before I entered the ship, I heard him mutter under his breath, “I like her.”

  CHAPTER 23

  CAPTAIN DRAKE

  Our two stowaways were safely hidden away. I doubted the law on Serenity had any of those fancy new scanners, the kind that would penetrate my hidey holes. If they did, we might be in trouble, but that was a chance I had to take. It was either that or march them out front and center and see what happened. I really didn’t think they were coming aboard to look for these two, but I also wasn’t going to fight them if they wanted to take them into custody.

  I was really starting to wonder what this could be about. If they had any direct correlation between me and the damage on the station, then they wouldn’t have allowed us to dock there again even if it was just to arrest us. That meant this visit was about something else and I had no idea what it could possibly be.

  We docked without a lot of fanfare. It was just like every other time we had been to the station. They didn’t attempt to clamp the ship or to lock it in place, that was a promising sign. Even though we were close to full on fuel I ordered the ship topped off. Sure Serenity charged more for fuel than most places but tossing a few extra credits their way wouldn’t hurt our chances of heading off any future complications.

  Everyone on the crew was armed just in case this turned into some kind of shit show. I needed to know my people were protected. I told Ice and Kyra to stay on the bridge, Doc was secured in the medbay. That left Maze, Gabe and I to deal with the magistrate. Gabe had on his fancy blue hat. I hated that thing, but in this case it might be good for us. He had worn it last time we were on the station. If they followed the hat all they would see is a low key supply run. Again, that was us putting money back into the community here. Good will like that couldn’t hurt our chances of coming out of this encounter on top.

  We went down to the cargobay together. Maze and Gabe hung back from the airlock while I took position in front. I typed in the codes to open the door and moved back to see just what was about to happen.

  The magistrate entered in his full dress uniform. That was oddly formal for a routine inspection. It was the kind of thing that was reserved for funerals and award ceremonies. I took heart that he only had a sidearm in place. If this was a shakedown or they were expecting trouble, I would have expected men in combat armor to be boarding. The magistrate had brought two other officers with him. Both of them were also wearing their formal uniforms although theirs were slightly less gaudy minus all the pins and regalia that the magistrate had on.

  The fact that he only brought two guards with him, and both of them also only carried side arms boded well for whatever was coming next. I started to smile and was about to introduce myself when two other men filed onto my ship. Both of them were in white robes, just like the man that had attacked Samantha. They had shaved heads with tattoos that made them look fierce. A quick look was all you needed to confirm they were related. Despite my previous optimism, I now had the feeling that this was about to get more interesting than I would have liked.

  Maze and Gabe would have picked up on the slight amount of tension that rippled through my shoulders, but I hoped no one else did. This was one of those times where I needed to be on point. This is why I made the big bucks as a starship captain. Talking my way out of situations like this was what I did.

  I plastered a giant smile on my face and extended my hand to the magistrate as if nothing was wrong. “Welcome aboard the Star Talon. Captain Drake at your service.”

  “Thank you for accepting my request, Captain.” The magistrate smiled and nodded to his two men. “I hope you wouldn’t object to us doing a cursory search of the ship.”

  His two officers started moving into the ship, so it obviously wasn’t just a request. “Of course. I’d take it kindly if your men didn’t interrupt the rest of the crew. I’ve got two on the bridge and our Doc in the medbay.”

  The magistrate moved into the ship. “Do you mind if we go somewhere where I can sit down? These old knees aren’t what they used to be.”

  Again it wasn’t a request since he was already moving into the ship. I did my best to catch up with him while not appearing to run. “I have just the place, and maybe I could offer you a drink.”

  “That sounds delightful, but unfortunately I’m,” he cast a glance over his shoulder, “here on official business.”

  “Of course.” I let him lead the way through my ship, the two men in white robes behind us foll
owed by Maze and Gabe. I had seen what those men were capable of before, I had shot one. I didn’t like our odds if this turned into a fight, so I was willing to play the happy host up to a point. The magistrate took a seat on the couch, and I took one on the chair across from him. The men in white continued to stand. Maze leaned against the wall feigning a casual posture. Gabe moved into the dining area and grabbed an apple from the dish. He pulled out a knife and started cutting slices.

  The magistrate took in the tension of the room and frowned, but didn’t ask anyone to stand down. “Captain, I just want to follow up with you about your last visit to our station. You left rather quickly after some commotion was caused, and well, we just need to check you off our list. So can you tell me what brought you to Serenity?”

  There was no reason not be honest with the man, well, as honest as a smuggler could be. Plus from looking at the expression on his face, I was pretty sure he had a good idea about where I had been, otherwise he wouldn’t have been on my ship in the first place. “We don’t travel into Earth Republic space very often. So we took this as a last opportunity for a quick refuel and resupply. While I was here, I went to visit an old friend and the crew went to pick up supplies.”

  “And this old friend wouldn’t have happened to be Maximillian Huesa would it?”

  “Yep, that’s the one. Except we all call him Mad Max, as he tends to be a little on the crazy side of things.” I made a motion with my hand to indicate he was coo-coo. “I’m surprised you know about him, he tends to travel well under the radar.”

  “And did you get your meeting with him?” The magistrate looked almost excited as if he had caught the trail and was about to make a bust.

  Now that I had his interest peaked, it was time to do the old bait and switch. “I didn’t. It’s a real shame too. He owed me a favor. Imagine my surprise when I showed up and saw that he had been attacked. I didn’t know what it was about, but Max had an affinity for playing both sides. Maybe it finally caught up with the poor bastard. I didn’t want whatever he had gotten himself mixed up in stuck on me so I called the crew back to the ship and we left.”