by Brian Dorsey
***
Astra walked into her father’s marble-floored office. At the end of the room her father sat behind a grand desk surrounded by hanger-ons, advisors, and other cronies.
“Everyone out!” she shouted as she reached her father’s desk.
The room fell silent.
Astra cast a cold, concentrated look at the group.
Quickly grabbing up their documents, they scurried from the room.
As the door shut behind them, Astra sat on the edge of her father’s desk. “Father, have you found him yet?”
“Not yet, Astra. I have posted the bounty at 100,000 Humani with an additional 50,000 for the Terillian he helped escape. My agents on Port Royal are checking each polis and I have requested the Association Council contact me.”
“They will not give anyone up. They are too concerned with maintaining their reputation as neutrals. Why do we not just destroy the Association and take the base for ourselves?”
“Our resources are currently stretched too thin. Besides, as you know, the Association is not only useful to our financial endeavors, but vital to the Directive.”
“Can’t we use our secret pets?”
“No,” snapped Dominotra. “They are not ready…not yet. And you shouldn’t speak of them—not even here.”
“I understand, Father,” stated Astra matter-of-factly. “But he must be found. He must be punished for what he has done to me—to us. Increase the bounty as much as you need to catch them,” demanded Astra. “Our family has been dishonored and the other families must know you will not stand for it.” She paused for a moment before leaning down to kiss her father on the forehead. “I am sure you will do the right thing, as you always do, Father,” she smiled.
“I understand, Astra. You mustn’t fret. I will find them. Until we have, however, I have arranged for an Elite Guard officer to be assigned to watch over you.”
“Do you really think that is necessary? Most of the Elite Guard are from insignificant families and they are so…uncivilized.”
“This one is an exception. The newly promoted Major Arilius Tacitus.”
“The late General Cataline Tacitus’s cousin…Oh. What does he look like?” Astra’s face beamed.
“You will find out shortly. I have called for him. He should be here presently and I am confident you will find him satisfactory.”
‘Senator, Major Arilius Tacitus is waiting outside,’ was heard over Dominotra’s desk intercom.
“There he is,” stated Dominotra, activating his intercom. “Very well, send him in.” He glanced upward toward Astra with a smile. “He is currently unattached as well.”
As Arilius Tacitus walked into the room, his tall proportioned stature was the epitome of military bearing and professionalism. “Major Arilius Tacitus reporting as ordered.”
“You may stand at ease, Major. There is no need for military courtesies here,” replied Dominotra.
“Thank you, Senator.”
“Arilius Tacitus,” said Astra, as she looked him over from head to toe, “it’s nice to see that there are a few worthy officers in the Guard.”
“Thank you, Lady Astra. I am looking forward to this duty, although I do not think the traitor will bother you again. He is too smart for that, although he is a fool to have left you.”
“No need to look at this as duty, Arilius,” replied Astra as she looked him over. “He will do,” she said to her father as she turned toward the door. “Let me show you the grounds,” Astra said as she looked playfully at Arilius and extended her left hand for him.
Arilius took her hand and she led—almost pulled—him toward the exit.
“Astra, do not worry. I will deal with our problem,” promised Senator Varus.
“I am sure you will, Father,” replied Astra, her gaze still on Arilius. “Oh, and Father,” she said, looking over her shoulder, “make sure I see their bodies.”
***
“Here we are,” declared Mori as she and Stone walked into the crowded recreation center. The sound of numerous conversations, loud music, and laughter created a low roar. Scores of Recreation Girls worked the room, looking for the highest bidder. Criminals, smugglers, and renegades all called this and other places like it on Port Royal their temporary home.
They made their way to the main floor, which included two large bars and several gambling tables. A set of stairs in the center of the room led to the second level, where a series of rooms were utilized by the Recreation Girls to make good on the deals negotiated on the lower level.
“What kind of places do you hang out in?” asked Stone, as he smiled at Mori.
“Funny,” she replied. “Sometimes you have to get in the muck if you want a dirty job done. Over there,” she added. “The Scapi.”
Scapi were one of three nonhuman intelligent life forms that were known to the Humani. The Dorans and Xennites were the other two. The Scapi were from the water planet Scapalus. Evolved from sea mammals, they communicated through high-pitched squeaks and squeals. They were also massive. Generally close to three meters tall, they weighed in at over 1000 kilograms. Although very few of them actually left their home planet, those that did were usually pilots, merchants, or mercenaries.
“Good day, Hanagus,” said Mori as she bowed toward the Scapi.
The Scapi raised his webbed hand to his massive head and manipulated a device over an ear hole. A series of pitchy squawks and squeaks came from his mouth. A few seconds afterward, the universal translator attached to his ear spoke for him.
“Captain, it took a minute to recognize you. Your hair is a different color. Good to see you. Rumor had it you had been lost in space. Sit, please.”
The huge alien rose from the table and extended his arms to invite them to sit. Towering over them, his bluish-gray face and arms glistened from droplets of recycled water that continuously ran through a specialized pack on his suit, creating a slight mist around him.
“I am Hanagus Hanaga Hanagato—Hanagus for short. I manage the entertainment here and am a longtime friend of the Terillians. Who be this?” he asked, turning his massive head back to Mori.
“This is…my friend,” answered Mori.
“No need to be secretive with me, Captain. Rumor of a high-ranking Humani officer deserting to the Terillian side has been promulgated in the bounty hunter and mercenary circles. Together, you two are worth more than a million Humani.”
“One million,” replied a flabbergasted Stone.
“Either you must have some valuable information or pissed off someone very powerful.”
“A little bit…well a lot of both,” replied Mori. “But that’s not important, Hanagus. We just need to get back to Terillian territory.”
“I agree. There are a lot of people asking questions and bounty hunters crawling all over Port Royal. Let me have one of my girls help you out.” Hanagus motioned with his hand and a beautiful, scantily clad woman walked over to the table.
“Hi, Hani,” she said in a low, husky voice. “Are these two for me?”
“Yes, Bianca, but these are specials—the ones I have told you about. I recommend you take them to room 5.”
“Sure thing, Hani. Come with me, honey,” she said to Mori, taking her hand. “Have your man come along too.”
“Just a minute, Bianca,” interrupted Hanagus. “I am always willing to help, but I am a businessman and Bianca’s time is valuable.”
“I understand,” said Mori as she took one of the exchange cards and tossed it to Hanagus. “This should cover it.”
“Thanks, Captain,” he replied as he palmed the card with his huge hand. “Enjoy your stay.”
“Come with me, guys,” teased Bianca as she pulled the two away from the table.
Walking up the stairs to room, Stone took in the scene with a bird’s eye view. The bar was full of hundreds of rough-looking sorts—some were no doubt looking to cash in on the bounty on his and Mori’s heads.
After the three entered, Bianca punched in the lock c
ode and turned toward Mori and Stone. “Captain. General. What do you need from me?”
“We need a spacecraft and passage to Terillian lines.”
“That will take a couple hours but it can be done for about 5000 Humani. You will meet a man named Tye at launch station 101 at 2200.”
“That’s it?” asked Stone.
“Pretty much,” replied Bianca. “The less you know about the details the better off we all are.” Bianca paused looking over them both. “That is unless you and your woman had something else in mind. You do have some time to kill and you have paid for me already.” She stepped toward Stone, placing her hand on his stomach and rubbing Mori’s arm with the other.
“No, that’s okay,” answered Stone quickly, backing away from Bianca. “Thank you for the offer, but no thanks.”
“As you wish,” she pouted. “Just be at the launch station on time. He will not wait.”
“We will be there,” replied Mori. “We should get back to our room to gather our goods.”
“Okay, honey.” Bianca punched in the code to unlock the door. As they walked past her, she gave a small squeeze to each one’s behind. “Enjoy your stay, honeys.”
Stone looked at Mori and smiled once they were outside the room.
“You should probably get that thought out of your head for good, Ty,” she said with a disapproving glance.
“Come on,” he protested. “I was just—” Stone paused. A man in the background behind Mori drew his attention. The tall, thin, bearded man was looking toward them, but quickly turned away. As he turned, he appeared to be talking into a comms link attached to his wrist. “Something’s up. We should get back to the room and get ready.”
Mori slowly turned and walked with Stone. “The guy over my shoulder?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Over by that table. There’s another one,” said Mori, slightly tilting her head in that direction.
Stone looked at the table toward the door. Two men sat with their backs to the wall, scanning the room intently. He next looked toward Hanagus. Setting with him was a man wearing a dark cloak. Stone wished it was possible to see emotion on Hanagus’s face but the Scapi’s flat features made that impossible to a human.
“Excuse me,” said a man as he bumped into Mori and Stone. “Too much alcohol, you know,” he laughed, holding a drink up to them. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” replied Mori as she gently directed the man clear of them.
Stone glanced back at the man. His jovial exterior had changed. Taking a quick, determined look back toward the two, the man raised his hand toward his mouth.
He was speaking into a comms link.
Stone looked toward the man with Hanagus, who quickly placed his hand over one ear and looked toward her and Stone.
“They got us,” said Stone. As he spoke, the man that had bumped into them spun around with a pistol in his hand.
Dropping to her knees, Mori’s pistol rang out over the roar of the bar. The man fell and chaos ensued.
Stone dove over a nearby table. He quickly drew his weapon as he rolled off the table and onto the floor.
The two men at the door jumped to their feet and opened fire. Victims fell in front and behind Mori as their fire tracked her across the room. Mori hurdled a table, dropping the bounty hunter at the bar with two rapid shoots while still airborne. She took two quick steps and dove over the bar as rounds hit all around her.
Amidst the gunfire and scores of fleeing patrons, Stone found a gap in the stampede. Peering down the sight of his pistol, he pulled the trigger. The first man by the door fell. Ducking and sidestepping as the remaining gunman returned fire, he looked for another shot. But he didn’t need one. Mori had capitalized on the distraction. Leaping on top of the bar, she ran toward the bounty hunter.
Spotting Mori out of the corner of his eye, the gunman swung his rifle toward her. The man fired but did not have time to take careful aim. Mori was still in the air when she passed the gunman. The reflection of light from her sword flashed bright as the sword passed through the man’s body.
Mori and Stone simultaneously pointed their weapons toward Hanagus’s table where the other man had been speaking with Hanagus. Although Scapi were slow, they were strong. The final gunman lay sprawled out on Hanagus’s table, his neck broken by a twist of Hanagus’s powerful hands.
Stone cast a quick glance toward Mori to make sure she was okay then surveyed the carnage. The bar was now empty of patrons, save the dead and wounded randomly strewn on the floor. Stone looked back toward Mori, who was walking toward one of the bounty hunters.
Still alive, he was crawling toward the door.
“Mori, you okay?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “This one’s still alive.”
Placing her foot under the belly of the man as he crawled across the floor, she flipped him on his back. As she looked down on him, he frantically dug through his pockets. Blood collected in his mouth as his eyes moved wildly.
“You won’t need that,” said Mori as she knelt down and pulled a medipack from the man’s bloody hands. “You’re probably too torn up anyway, but tell me who sent you and I might give it back.”
The dying man glanced away from Mori as Stone joined her. Mori increased the pressure of her boot on his wound. “Who?” she demanded.
“An open bounty,” he answered, spitting blood as he spoke, “from Senator Varus.”
“My ex-fiancée’s father,” Stone informed Mori. “I did not leave on good terms with the Varus family.”
“I see,” replied Mori as she looked back toward the man, who was now lying motionless on the floor. A quick nudge from her foot then a check of his pulse confirmed his fate. “He’s dead,” reported Mori.
“Friends of yours?” Hanagus’s voice translator carried across the room.
“No, but I am sure they are the first of many,” replied Mori. “We need to get out of here tonight.”
Stone was distracted. Looking over the bodies of the bounty hunters, his brow furrowed.
“What is it, Ty?” inquired Mori.
“Sorry. I just had an idea about how to find the information you need about Navato.”
“How?” asked Mori.
“Hanagus,” said Stone, turning toward the Scapi, “how much will it cost to get us passage to Alpha Humana?”
Chapter 16
“I hope this works,” Mori said to Stone as they stood in the landing bay.
“It has to, especially since it pretty much took the rest of our Humani to get this ship and crew,” replied Stone.
“Hopefully we get our money’s worth.”
“Bianca assured me the crew was top-notch.”
“I’m sure she did, Ty,” scowled Mori as she looked at the antique spacecraft in front of them. The outer hull was pock-marked with welding discolorations, showing dozens of repairs, and rust was visible in a few spots. On the exterior near the control station was a painting of a multi-headed serpent with the word Hydra underneath and on the outer blast deflectors read the words ‘Haulin’Ass’. “But look at this old falcon,” she continued. “I think its 3rd generation, your grandfather would have thought this was a piece of junk.”
“It’s got character at least,” laughed Stone.
“I guess,” said Mori.
“Over there—” said Stone as he was distracted by a noise behind them. Four figures were approaching. “I wonder if that’s our crew.”
“Or more bounty hunters.” Mori drew her weapon and brought it to the ready as Stone followed suit.
As they came closer, Mori could make out their features. “It’s your new friend Bianca,” she said as she lowered her weapon.
“Come on,” said Stone as he holstered his pistol.
“Captain. General. Pleased to see you again,” said Bianca as she moved closer, much closer to Stone. “Very pleased.”
“Thanks,” said Stone uncomfortably. “It’s not ‘General’ anymore—just Tyler.”
A seductive smile came to Bianca’s face. “Very well, Ty.”
“It’s Tyler,” corrected Mori, irritated that Bianca had used her nickname for Stone. “Is this the crew?” she continued.
“Oh, yes,” replied Bianca. “Let me introduce you to the crew.”
“Yes, let’s do that,” demanded Mori as she stepped between Bianca and Stone.
Bianca continued. “This is your pilot, Cassandra Orion. She was a highly decorated Terillian fighter pilot.”
“Was?” asked Mori questioning Orion.
“And a damned good one,” replied Orion, “but I chose retirement over a boring desk job that promotion would have brought. Besides, going into private business has been pretty…well, profitable. So you two are the crazy S.O.B.s?” she continued.
“I wouldn’t call us crazy,” said Stone. “Besides you’re taking this little trip too.”
“I am, but I’m doing it because I’m greedy, not crazy. Big difference. We’ll have time to discuss philosophies on the trip. Meanwhile let me introduce you to the crew. This is my engineer, Rickover Fermi.”
“Good evening. Rest assured you will have no engineering problems on your trip.”
“That’s good to hear—”
“Damn it!” Stone was cut short by the engineer’s explosion. “That freakin’ exhaust panel is loose. It looks like the maintenance crew has dropped the ball again. I had better get to work. Excuse me.”
As Rickover pushed past Stone and Mori and stormed into the ship, Orion continued.
“My navigator is slightly less…uh…high strung. His name is Cavanos Cavanarus Canora, but we call him TC for short; you know, three Cs.”
“Greetings,” said the Scapi following a series of clicks and squeaks translated by communicator on his ear. He presented his massive hand to Stone.
“Nice to meet you, TC,” said Stone as his hand was encompassed by the Scapi’s.
“The trip should take a few days, as long as we don’t have any jump interruptions. I have just updated the navigation system to GEN4 so hopefully we won’t have too many,” said TC.
“TC is a hell of a navigator,” added Orion. “The only problem is his side of the cockpit is always damp,” she paused, hoping for a laugh. None came.“Well, anyway,” Orion continued. “It looks like we’re ready to get going. Welcome aboard the Hydra. TC can help you stow any gear and show you to your bunkroom.”