Genetic Purge (The Galactic Outlaws Book 2)

by Bradford Bates

  The magistrate didn’t look nearly excited now. In fact, his frown was back in full force. “Max was a strange one, but he always paid his taxes on time. He’s going to be missed around here.”

  I was sure that his credits would be missed, that was for damn sure. Max would have paid more to keep the local law in his pocket, and that meant there were a lot of empty hands now. I wouldn’t be filling them, not unless I had to.

  The magistrate stood. “I think we are about done here.” He lifted his wrist towards his mouth. “Dawkins, Faith, wrap it up and exit the ship.” He turned back towards me. “Thank you for your time, Captain.”

  I was about to tell him thank you when one of the men in white butted into the conversation.

  “Captain, my name is D’avin. I’m a Brother of the Light. Would you mind answering a couple questions for us?” He looked towards the magistrate who frowned but nodded his head in acceptance. “One of our members was killed on the station recently, and we have reason to believe you might know more about it.”

  Oh, shit. Now that was something I’d been expecting since the two men in white boarded my ship. Originally it looked like the magistrate wasn’t going to let them ask questions unless they found something, but these men weren’t so easily put off. How had they even linked me to his death? I had a feeling if they had any real evidence, we wouldn’t be having such a polite conversation.

  “That was a shame,” the magistrate said trying to ease the tension. “We never like to see any harm come to one of the Risen.”

  What in the hell was a Brother of the Light? I needed to get Ice digging online so I knew just how much shit I had stepped into. It became clear that the magistrate wasn’t leaving until I answered their question so I just nodded for him to continue.

  “We know you were in the same area as where the attack on our brother took place. Did you see anything?”

  This is where I needed to bend the truth or outright lie. Yeah I saw something, it involved me blowing his fucking head off, but that wasn’t the answer I was about to give. “I can’t say that I remember seeing a man dressed like the two of you. You kind of stick out, so I think I would recall something like that.”

  “Would you be willing to submit your pistol for analysis?” D’avin asked looking as if he already knew what the outcome would be.

  The magistrate looked uncomfortable, but he wasn’t offering any help. I reached down pulled out the pistol, spun it around, and offered it to the man butt first. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  He started to reach for it, and his brother pushed his arm down and shook his head. “That won’t be necessary, Captain.”

  I slid the pistol back into its place on my thigh. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

  The brothers shared a look. Fuck, they knew something more than they were letting on. Something they didn’t want to talk about in front of the magistrate. I knew I could expect a visit from these two later. They weren’t satisfied with the answers I had given them, but they also weren’t ready to push the issue yet. That bought me a little time, but how much? Would it be enough time for me to set up our alibi and for Samantha to make it to Serenity? Once she was here, we could get out before the brothers had time to push their agenda. I didn’t think she would make it in time, but I was starting to hope she was already heading in our direction.

  “That was all we needed, Captain Drake. Thank you for answering our questions.” D’avin didn’t look pleased, but he turned and started walking towards the door. After a moment and another look, his brother followed him out of the room.

  The magistrate frowned again but this time at their backs. It appeared as if he didn’t like being left holding the bag. He turned towards me and smiled his best politician’s smile. “Thank you again for indulging us, Captain.”

  “Of course, and you let me know if I can ever buy you that drink.”

  This time his smile seemed a little more genuine. “I might just take you up on that.” He turned to go and called over his shoulder. “Enjoy your time on the station and try to stay out of trouble.”

  As soon as he was gone, I commed Ice. “Sweep the ship for bugs, and then it’s time for all of us to get a little R&R in on the station.”

  Jesus, why did things always have to get so complicated? Couldn’t a man just show up to a station, play some cards, and get on camera doing it? People needed to know we were here and that we had nothing to do with the wreckage Samantha was going to be causing back on Mars. We especially needed our employers to buy into our little fiction. If they didn’t, we were back into hot water, full payment received or not.

  “Gabe, go get our guests and show them the door.” I had enough on my plate without worrying about what the damn Martians were up to as well.

  CHAPTER 24

  D’AVIN

  Once we had disentangled ourselves from the magistrate and several thousand credits, we returned to our ship. We had learned a lot on our little excursion to Captain Drake's vessel. It surprised me the magistrate hadn’t found the extra people he had stashed away or bothered to ask more questions about his whereabouts during the incident on the station. Maybe the Captain had fed him just enough truth to keep him away, or maybe he just didn’t care. The owners of this station just wanted it to remain profitable so I had a feeling unless anyone was pushing for answers, things just got swept under the rug.

  We sat down on the bridge to talk. “Did you sense the nosferatu there, brother?”

  “I did. The vampire’s essence permeated the entire ship. It must have been onboard for some time to leave that kind of mark on the vessel,” Dal said.

  “Do you think it forced its way onboard or are the captain and the crew willing accomplices?”

  “It matters not. If they were forced into action, they wouldn’t even be aware of it. We know the vile creatures can easily manipulate the minds of the humans. All that matters now is if we try and follow the path they took towards Mars or wait and see if the creature returns.”

  “I think keeping an eye on Captain Drake is our best course of action. He has some kind of history with the nosferatu. The creature won’t give up an ally easily.” It was hard to believe that anyone could feel some kind of attachment to one of the damned, but if anyone could, it was the man we had just spoken to. He struck me as the kind of man that would do anything for credits, regardless of the stain it left on his soul.

  “I agree,” Dal said. “Why don’t you take the first shift watching them so I can make a call.”

  “To your lover or Father?”

  “Probably both,” Dal laughed. “But one of those calls is going to take a little longer than the other one, if you know what I mean.” He smiled and winked at me. “Comm the ship if you need anything.”

  Standing and walking out of the bridge I muttered, “Handing out orders just like Dad already.”

  “I heard that,” Dal shouted back, his laughter echoing through the small ship.

  This was an exciting time, we finally had a link to the creature we were hunting again. It might have been tenuous, but it was still a ray of hope where we had none before. I stripped out of my white robes and donned my fighting gear. If nothing else, the black cloak would help me fit in more than the bright white robes of our order. It felt good being out of the stuffy robe for once. That was another thing I was looking forward to leaving behind when all of this was over. If I never had to wear one of those stuffy ass robes again it would be a blessing from the maker. The damn things were too hot, and they itched worse than a dog with fleas.

  It felt good to be wearing some color again. I preferred a dark red. It made the harness for my weapons stand out. I found most people left you alone when you showed them you were armed and walked with confidence. That’s what I wanted now. I hit the button to compress my staff into a smaller size and placed on my harness.

  I thought about leaving it behind, but on the off chance the vampire presented itself, I wanted to be ready. Fully dressed with my
weapons tucked away, I walked back off the ship and headed in the direction of the Star Talon. Things were finally on track. If everything panned out, we’d have the first nosferatu kill in over a century.

  CHAPTER 25

  SAMANTHA RIPLEY

  Ragnus stayed true to his word, and no one bothered me while I was inside of the ship. It gave me time to think about what I had just agreed to. I wasn’t against drugs per se, but I wasn’t a big supporter of them either. The harder stuff, and I was sure that was what I was picking up, could ruin your life. Shit, that was probably the least of your problems if you started in with that shit. Once you were addicted, it was a fast track to being broke and closely followed by winding up dead.

  I told myself that it really didn’t matter if I got the drugs for them now or not. All Ragnus had to do was wait and they would be delivered anyways. It was almost enough to ease my conscience but not quite. When I was human, I’d had a few friends that went down the path of hard substance abuse. It was hard for them, and even harder on their families. Now I was going to be part of that. For however brief a time, I was a willing accomplice, and it made me sick. But sometimes we have to do what it takes to survive. Being stuck on Mars after I had killed the scientist and the soldiers wasn’t good for my long term health.

  Walking off the ship, I checked my weapons and the few extra powercells I’d taken from Ragnus’s stash. Everything was ready to go. I looked back at the ship as I left. The damned thing had better be here when I got back. If this dick sent me out there just so he could fly away, I’d hunt him to the ends of the verse.

  This almost felt like one of the ops I used to do for myself when I had finally been let out of the lab. Except now instead of killing the scum I was working for them. Beggars didn’t get to be choosers. I’d scoured the Dnet for any other ships with clearance that I could purchase a ride on. As far as I could tell, all air traffic off planet from this city had been halted. It made sense, but I still didn’t like it.

  Sitting alone had also given me some time to pull up a map and study the route to the building I was going to. I had a rough idea of what to expect out there. I’d also been scanning the news, trying to follow the continuing battles. I was going to have to skirt a few, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Besides the night was my element. Nothing could touch me as I moved from shadow to shadow virtually unseen.

  Ragnus was coming back with his men as I exited the hangar. “Ah, just the lady I was hoping to see,” he said as he swayed from side to side.

  “Make sure you have the ship ready to go. As long as your contact has the goods, I expect to be off this planet in less than four hours.”

  “Maybe after a nap. You could always join me in my cabin for one.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

  My first instinct was to slap him. I would have done it too if he hadn’t looked so silly swaying back and forth and flapping those bushy brows around. It was like something out of a bad porno, a really, really bad low budget porno. Instead I just extended my hand out, and with one finger’s worth of pressure the balance he had been struggling to maintain finally gave away, and he fell right on his ass.

  I turned to one of the other men. “Get him sobered up, and the ship ready to go.”

  He nodded. “You heard the lady. Get the captain up, and prep the ship. We’ve got a job to complete.”

  Turning away from them, I walked out of the station and into the night. Things were looking up. Soon I’d be reunited with Drake. I knew that I shouldn’t have those feelings towards him, that my attachment was probably the byproduct of having no one in my life for so long, and yet just knowing that he was around made me feel good. If I still had any friends they would have pointed out that I had it in a bad way for him, and it would have been true.

  I wasn’t sure what it was about the man. He was attractive in a rugged sort of way. He pretended to only care about himself and credits, but that was just an act. The way the crew interacted with him told me as much. Maybe it was just that little sense of mystique he had. If only Maze wasn’t in the picture, I would have made him mine in a heartbeat. So far, he had chosen her, but I could feel the pull he had towards me. Maybe there was still a chance.

  My thoughts trailed off as my senses kicked into high gear. Someone was following me and had been for a while. Damn that Drake for keeping my mind occupied when I had work to do. A small burst of energy took me forward at about five times faster than a human could go. I jumped from shadow to shadow then ducked into an alley. I waited there to see who would show up.

  The footsteps behind me started coming forward at a run. They had realized that I had lost them and were desperately trying to catch up. As the man passed the entrance to the alley, I grabbed him around the throat and slammed him into the wall. He was so shocked, he didn’t say anything. It must have been a crazy feeling to be running at a full sprint only to end up trapped against a wall with your feet dangling a foot off the ground.

  I looked the man over, and if this wasn’t one of Ragnus’s men, then I was a space zombie. “Why in the fuck are you following me?”

  “Ragnus wanted me to. He said to make sure you got the goods and came straight back.”

  I growled. “You mean he meant to make sure I had the goods, then kill me before coming back.”

  “Ah, something like that, yeah.”

  My teeth started to descend on their own, but there wasn’t time for that. The last thing I needed was to be walking around this city covered in blood. The man looked at me, his eyes pleading now that he knew he was in trouble. He started to shake and clenched his eyes closed in fear. A snarl escaped my throat, and I smelled urine as he wet himself. Disgusted I slammed his head against the wall. It made a loud thump, and his body went limp. I let him drop to the ground. I thought he was still alive, but if he wasn’t, it was no skin off my back. I took his blaster and tossed it in the dumpster just in case he decided to follow me when he woke up. Fucking drug runners, down to a man you couldn’t trust a single one of them not to try and screw you over.

  The building Ragnus had sent me to was a dilapidated little shithole on the edge of town. It had been made out of thick red Martian bricks. The only problem was no one had maintained the structure in years. Some of the bricks had crumbled to the point that the steel interior wall was exposed. You couldn’t see into the building yet, but that day was rapidly approaching.

  The building and the neighborhood around it gave off a vibe that told me I didn’t belong here. I didn’t, but I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to get off this damn planet and back to Drake. All I wanted to do was get this deal done and get the hell out of here. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that simple.

  I circled the structure three times before moving towards the entrance. Nothing appeared out of place. I was sure they had cameras out here, but they were hidden well. No one moved outside. Whether that was because of the curfew or because they’d been taught to stay away from this building, I couldn’t be sure. I thought about scaling it and entering from the roof, but the last thing I wanted to do was make these guys jumpy.

  So against my better judgment I walked directly towards the entrance and knocked on the solid steel door. The three solid booms echoed in the night. A slit opened in the door like in one of the old movies. I could see two eyes peering out, and then the slit closed.

  A speaker sounded to my right. “Fuck off.”

  People on Mars were so hospitable. “Ragnus sent me.”

  “Ragnus doesn’t have any sluts on his crew, nice try though.”

  “I’m going to give you a minute to call and verify it with him before I rip this fucking door down and come in.”

  Laughter sound through the speaker and then it went quiet. I guess that was answer enough. At least they couldn’t say I hadn’t given them a chance to do the right thing. I started harnessing my power, and then I slammed a hand into the door. The bones didn’t break to my surprise, and a huge dent appeared in the steel. The door was thicker than I
expected. I slammed my hand into it again, and on the third try I heard part of it start to buckle.

  My fist was cocked for the fourth blow when the speaker clicked on again. “Stop hitting the fucking door so I can let you in.”

  I waited hand on my hip, tapping one foot impatiently. At least they hadn’t wasted too much of my time. The door slid open with a hiss, and I moved inside only to be confronted by five men with guns. Not the brightest bunch. I’d almost broken through a four-inch solid steel door with my bare hands and these guys wanted to point guns at me.

  A man walked up behind them dressed in a expensive three piece suit. He added a little class to the operation but not much. He was a big boy, had to be topping the scale at well over three hundred pounds. He carried that weight easy as he had at least six inches of height on every man in the room. When he smiled, it reminded me of a shark.

  “So you’re Ragnus’s little messenger.” The men around him laughed. “I didn’t think he’d find anyone gutsy enough to come.”

  “Well, I’m here so give me the package, and I’ll get out of your hair.”

  “Normally that would be fine, but we have to discuss who’s going to pay for my door.”

  That was a good one. I pounded the door until I almost broke through it, and he was worried about who was going to pay for it. He should have been worried about what that same fist would do to him if he didn’t hand over the goods. “I’d suggest you take the money to fix it from the idiot that didn’t open the door when I announced myself.”

  “I think I’d prefer to take it from you.” The men around him snickered.

  “You can try, but I’m not sure what getting beaten senseless in front of your boys would accomplish.”