by Hal Archer
One of the blasts from Hyde's men struck the cylinder part of Tiffin's flying machine she'd left on the ground where she landed. The contraption exploded, sending fragments in every direction. A few of them landed at Jake and Tiffin's feet.
"Oh, no," Tiffin said, seeing her machine destroyed.
"That's too bad," Jake said.
"At least it got us this far," Tiffin said. "Here." She handed Jake's comm device to him.
"How'd you? Never mind." He grabbed it and called Sarah.
Hyde and his men continued firing at the two of them.
"Tiffin?" Sarah said through the comm device.
"It's Jake."
"Jake! Thank goodness. There are men shooting outside. I heard them. I’m switching on my exterior cameras now.”
"Yeah," Jake said. "I know. They're shooting at us. Tiffin and I are right outside, under the ship next to you."
"She found you?" Sarah asked.
"Yes," Jake said, glancing around the crates to check the position of Hyde and his men. He quickly pulled his head back as more blasts struck the metal leg of the ship they were under and others flew by nearly hitting him.
"Get in here," Sarah said. "I'll open the door."
"Uh, hold on," Jake said. "Bit of a problem with that plan."
"What is it?" Sarah asked.
"Good chance we get shot before we make it the door," Jake said. He winced and grabbed his arm below the blast wound on his shoulder from the arena. It was bleeding again.
Tiffin glanced around the corner of the landing gear. She screamed as blaster fire almost hit her. She moved back behind the crates. "Hundred percent chance of that."
"Can't you shoot back at them enough to make a run for it?" Sarah asked.
Jake hesitated before answering. "I don't have my blaster on me."
"Why not? Where is it?" Sarah said. She sounded irritated and concerned at the same time.
Jake widened his eyes. Getting interrogated on the whereabouts of his blaster was the last thing he wanted to deal with right then. "I don't know. I was a little busy getting out of the death match arena and trying to get here to save you."
"Sarah, he's hurt," Tiffin said. "He took a hit on his shoulder in the arena."
"Where are the men shooting at you?" Sarah asked. "I mean from me, where are they? Wait. I see them. They’re fifty feet off my back left side.”
“Maybe you can do something,” Jake said.
"Do you have good cover?" Sarah asked.
"Solid," Jake said. “We’re behind the stack of crates next to the landing gear of one of the ships near you. But they’ve got us pinned down."
“Yes. I see them. They look like they’re coming toward you. These are bad men, we're talking about. Right?" Sarah asked.
"They're shooting at us," Jake said.
"I know," Sarah said. "Just checking. Sometimes you deserve it."
Tiffin laughed.
"OK. You two stay where you are."
Jake looked at Tiffin with a furrowed brow and widening eyes. She shrugged.
A second later they heard the building hum of Sarah's engines.
"Oh," Jake said. "That's my girl."
Jake glanced at Tiffin to make sure she was fully behind the cover provided by the stacked cargo, which evidently was positioned to be loaded into the ship they were under.
The roar of Sarah's propulsion drive firing was almost deafening. Tiffin covered her ears. Jake covered one of his with the hand of his uninjured arm. A wave of heat blew past them. Jake felt the hairs on his hands crisp. They heard something crashing against something else. Five seconds later the roar subsided, as Sarah shut down the drive.
The cycling hum of Sarah's engines slowed. The heat faded. A few seconds passed, Jake and Tiffin braced against the crates under the nearby ship.
All was quiet. The blasts from Hyde and his men had stopped.
"Jake?" Sarah said through the comm device. "Are you there?"
The ringing in Jake's ears softened.
"Jake? Please tell me you’re OK,” Sarah said, worry in her voice.
"Yeah," he said, looking at Tiffin.
She removed her hands from her ears. "I'm good."
"We're both OK," Jake said. "I think that did it."
He grimaced as he pushed his back off the metal crates and leaned to look around the edge of it toward Sarah and to where Hyde and his men had been. They were gone. The thrust from Sarah's propulsion drive had moved her in an arc about fifty feet. The smooth surface of the landing platform was scraped when her landing gear had dragged along the ground.
"You both should get in here now," Sarah said. "I'm opening the door."
Jake looked at Tiffin and saw she was pleading to him with her eyes. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to.
"OK," he said to Tiffin. "You can come. But, I can't promise you anything. A lift away from Eon. Then we'll see how it goes."
Tiffin smiled. "You won't regret it."
Jake forced out a smile and tilted his head a little. "Let's go."
CHAPTER 38
J ake and Tiffin came out from behind the landing gear which had protected them from the blast of Sarah's propulsion jet. Jake noticed how far Sarah had moved across the landing platform.
"Looks like she almost took off without us," he said to Tiffin, who was walking beside him. Jake was moving slow. The blood loss from his shoulder had taken its toll on him. His face had grown pale.
"You need some help?" Tiffin asked.
"I'll manage." He let go of the grip he had on his arm below his wounded shoulder, to show Tiffin he could make it.
As they walked across the platform toward Sarah, they saw the ramp lower from the back of the ship. Jake nodded to it. "She's got it open."
"Mr. Mudd!"
Jake heard the man's voice. He stopped walking and looked around. A man was coming out from behind one of the ships. He wore a city uniform. He had blue skin.
"Jake, let's go," Tiffin said, pulling on his wrist.
"No, wait," Jake said. "I know him.”
Jake started to lift his injured arm, then stopped when the pain in his shoulder reminded him raising his arm was impossible… and a stupid thing to try.
"We need to get out of here," Tiffin said.
Jake saw Dewey smile as he approached. "This one's OK," Jake said.
They waited for Dewey to come to them, since Jake was having trouble moving to the ship as it was.
A few seconds later, Dewey stepped up to them. "I'm glad I found you in time," he said.
"Did I forget to sign something?" Jake asked.
Dewey grinned. "Sorry about everything. It was my job."
"At least you have one," Jake said.
"Had," Dewey said.
"Is that right?" Jake asked. "Sorry it didn't work out."
Dewey looked at Tiffin. "I'm Dewey."
"I got that much," Tiffin said, but she finished off with a genuine smile.
"Well," Jake said. "We were just leaving. So, why did you need to find me?"
"I overheard some men saying they were coming to take your ship," Dewey said. "And then…"
"They already tried," Jake said.
Tiffin stepped one foot closer to stand directly beside Jake. "We took care of them."
Dewey looked a little lost.
"What was the other thing?" Jake asked. "You started to say something else."
"I had a crazy idea." Dewey glanced at his boots and then looked back up at Jake. "I really need to leave Eon."
Jake tipped his head back, opened his mouth, and closed it as he dropped his head back down to face Dewey. "Oh, no. Not you too?"
Dewey looked confused by Jake's response. He looked to Tiffin for some cue.
"You hate it here. Don't you?" Tiffin asked.
Jake turned to Tiffin. "Wait a minute. I'm not running a transit service. And I'm definitely not starting a bed and breakfast."
Jake stared at Dewey, waiting for him to back out of his request to ac
company them.
"Jake," Tiffin said.
"What?" Jake kept staring at Dewey, waiting for him to give up the idea.
"Jake." Tiffin said his name louder, with more urgency.
"What?" Jake matched her volume. He was getting irritated.
She nudged his arm. He looked down at her and saw her eyes wide. She pointed past Jake, to his left and Dewey's right. He looked.
Ten Eon personnel were jogging toward the three of them. Five of them had their hands on their blasters, which were still holstered. The others had no visible weapons. All of them looked like they had serious business to discuss with Jake and Tiffin, and maybe Dewey. They were a hundred feet away and closing.
"That's what I was trying to tell you," Dewey said. "I came here to find you, but I'm afraid I might have led them here by accident."
"You brought them here?" Jake said. He was mad.
"No. I mean, yes." Dewey shook his head. "I didn't mean to. They're after me as much as you."
"Come on, Tiffin," Jake said. "Let's get out of here."
Jake hurried toward the ramp lowered at the back of his ship, Sarah. Tiffin stayed alongside him.
"Wait!" Dewey chased after them. "I need to go with you."
Jake continued hustling to get into his ship, while yelling back to Dewey without looking at him. "Not gonna happen, Dewey. Sorry, but you shouldn't have brought them here."
Jake and Tiffin reached the ramp and started up it. Dewey stood on the Eon landing platform just before the bottom of the ship's ramp.
Jake and Tiffin reached the top of the ramp and stepped inside the open cargo doorway. Jake looked down to Dewey. "Tell them I'm not interested."
"You don't understand!" Dewey yelled. "They think I was working with Hyde."
"Were you?" Jake asked.
"No!"
Dewey glanced back at the city security men who were getting close. "They probably think I'm working with you now, too."
"So, tell them the truth," Jake said. "I'm sure they'll listen."
One of the Eon security personnel pulled his blaster from its holster and opened fire. The first shot hit the bottom of the ship's ramp and deflected up toward Jake and Tiffin, but missed them.
"Son of a bitch!" Jake said, ducking and moving himself and Tiffin to the side of the cargo bay opening. "Sarah!"
Sarah's voice sounded through the speakers in the ceiling of the cargo bay. "I'm on it, Jake."
Sarah's engines started to hum and the cargo door ramp slowly began to lift from the landing platform.
"Wait!" Dewey screamed. He stepped onto the bottom of the ramp while it was only a foot off the ground.
The rest of the armed security personnel drew their weapons and fired. Several shots blew past Jake and Tiffin, exploding something in the back of the cargo bay. One of the shots struck Dewey's left leg. Dewey screamed from the pain. He fell, slamming his chest onto the bottom of the ramp, which was still rising. The shots continued. Jake grabbed Tiffin's upper arm and gave her a slight shove, pushing her farther back into the cargo bay to a spot behind a large pallet stacked with metal drums.
Jake watched Dewey slide closer to the edge of the ramp which still had a downward slope. Dewey was still screaming, hanging on to the ramp with both hands, pressing his face against it to help keep from falling off.
The blasts from the five armed men were still coming, though most were hitting the outside of the ship, causing no damage.
"Please!" Dewey yelled.
"Jake!" Tiffin screamed.
"Yeah," he said. "I know." He crouched to avoid the few shots still making it through the narrowing opening and made his way down the ramp toward Dewey. He grabbed Dewey by one of his wrists and dragged him up into the cargo bay. The ramp was nearly closed as Jake released his hold on Dewey's wrist, letting him lie on the bay floor.
Jake stood shaking his head at the repercussions of his forced heroism, then a final blast made it over the ramp as it was about to close. The blast struck Jake's unwounded shoulder, clipping it of an even larger piece of flesh than he lost from the other one. He staggered from the impact and shock, then he breathed a heavy exhalation.
"Crap." He dropped to the floor as he heard Sarah's engines come to full ready.
CHAPTER 39
J ake leaned back in his captain's chair and sighed. He had both shoulder's bandaged. A cropped shot of an unknown neighbor of the galaxy filled the wall-sized viewing window in front of him. He propped his boots up on a worn spot of the dash below the window, between various controls to the ship.
"You two comfortable?" he asked, glancing back at Tiffin and Dewey.
Tiffin was in a jump seat attached to a metal wall, conduits, and various switches and screens on it. Her red hair was down and loose. Her backpack was beside her, leaning against her left boot. The pack was open, the flap folded out. Squeakers was sitting inside the bag among the gear Tiffin brought. And the clumps of cheese.
"I'm doing great," she said, then looked at Dewey and winked.
"Dewey?" Jake asked as he faced the panorama of space in front of him and closed his eyes.
"I'm here," Dewey said, sounding nervous.
"You gonna adjust, Dewey?" Jake asked, still resting his eyes.
"To what?" Dewey asked.
"Whatever happens next time," Jake said.
"I'll do my best."
"Good," Jake said. "Oh and, sorry about your leg. When we get a little farther away from Eon, I'll show you the med bay."
"Thank you," Dewey said. His voice had a quiver.
"Jake," Sarah's voice came through the control panel in front of him.
"What is it darlin'?" he asked.
"Before you got back, I received something," she said. "There was a transmission to my mapping system. Coordinates to a remote sector of the galaxy."
"Was there?" Jake opened his eyes.
"It was marked for someone by name," she said. "I stored it for you to see. Should I bring it up?"
"Probably received it in error. I'm sure Eon receives hundreds of those kinds of transmissions every week. Whose name?"
"I could delete it. The coordinates are very remote," Sarah said. "And we have no need for the information."
"Who?" Jake asked.
Sarah was silent for several seconds, then she answered. "It was marked for Hyde."
Jake jerked his head off the back of his chair and his feet fell off the control panel.
He sat upright for a for a moment before saying anything.
"We've got the license now," he said. "Maybe we should go back to doing deliveries."
"I think that's a superb idea," Sarah said.
Jake rotated his chair to face Tiffin and Dewey. "I can drop you at a decent planet, Dewey. Another planet that doesn't have a problem with Blues."
Dewey opened his mouth to say something, but didn't.
Jake looked to Tiffin. "Don't you think you'd be better off getting a fresh start somewhere nice?"
Tiffin's expression soured. "You're not booting me so easily. That wasn't our deal."
"We didn't have a deal," Jake said. He racked his brain for the right thing to say. "I'm not the best company."
"Well," Sarah said through the overhead speakers. "He's not lying about that."
Jake glanced up. "Quiet." He looked at Tiffin again. "I'm just saying, I'm not a good role model. I'm cranky. Mostly directionless. I curse too much. And I have a bad habit of making people want to kill me."
"Are you done?" Tiffin asked.
"Yes," Jake said. "I guess I am."
"Good," Tiffin said. "Let's get this ship going and you can show me what I've been missing."
"My name's Sarah."
Tiffin looked up at the speakers Sarah's voice sounded through. "Sorry, Sarah. I'm still getting used to the idea. To you, I mean. No offense."
"None taken," Sarah said. "I like her, Jake."
Jake squished his mouth to the side and sighed. "OK. We'll give this a try."
"Oh, t
hank you!" Tiffin said.
"But I call the shots," Jake said. "If I say it's too dangerous, you stay on the ship or—"
"You got it," Tiffin said.
"Dewey," Jake said.
"Yes."
Jake looked at Dewey. "Hang in there and I'll get you where you need to go."
Dewey nodded.
Jake turned his chair back to face the big window view of space. "Darlin'."
"Yes, Jake." Sarah said.
“Don’t delete those coordinates just yet.”
THANK YOU FOR READING
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to the following people for the invaluable contributions they have made to the success of this book.
To the many early readers—alpha, beta, and ARC readers—who, in some cases, saw the manuscript in a less polished form. Your feedback was useful and valued.
To my editor, Graham, of Fading Street, your work has immeasurably improved this story. It has been a pleasure working with you.
To the wonderful team at Deranged Doctor Design, particularly Milo, Kim, and Darja, thank you for sharing my vision for this work and for bringing it to life through your wonderful cover design. It's been great working through the whole process with your team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hal Archer was born in Texas, where, after many travels, he again resides. He has worked as a bookseller, a research library assistant, and a military computer network expert (often in hostile enemy territory). He eventually took a position in international shipping and worked for twelve years, while pursuing the writing craft in his spare time. After several early attempts in sci-fi, action/adventure, and thriller genres, he developed a character that he found truly compelling, and the Jake Mudd Adventures series was born.