An Unglok Murder: Assignment Darklanding
Page 9
Settling things with blaster fire was easier when facing relatively unskilled opponents. Outnumbered by a crew that seemed to have the same military background would place him at a disadvantage. Maybe he could talk them down, offer them a deal, but in his gut, he knew this was a false hope.
“Why are you doing this, Fry-man? You can’t win, not this time.”
No one answered him.
He burst onto Main Street just before the old Unglok neighborhood and faced his three opponents as they jogged toward him, looking back every three or four strides for pursuit. “I knew it! You bastards were running.”
They stopped. Victor moved ahead of the other two. His lean, weatherworn face was flushed with excitement. His love for conflict and risk shone in his eyes. “We meet again, Sheriff Fry. I admit I’ve been feeling neglected. You’ve been stomping around Darklanding for months and never paid me no mind.”
“You’re just not that special, Victor,” Thad said.
Victor laughed, then flipped back the safety catches on his holsters. His hands hovered above the weapons, fingers twitching every few seconds. “Are we going to do this, or do you have something clever planned?”
The other two mercs flanked Victor but remained slightly behind him.
Thunder rolled from behind the mercenaries as a blaster charge exploded against an antenna array on one of the nearby buildings.
Victor and his crew turned and ducked at the same time. Thad flinched as he stared at Shaunte holding the smallest pistol he’d ever seen.
“What’s the matter, boys? Haven’t you ever seen a Peacemaker fired?” Shaunte said, pointing the weapon toward the sky with her free hand on her hip.
“That’s not a Peacemaker. It’s so small and delicate…and polished,” Victor said, trying to make his voice higher pitched.
“Why thank you. A girl must retain a sense of style when punching a blaster hole through a man’s chest. Now, all of you, get down on the ground.”
Mast, just now catching up with Shaunte, yanked at his blaster until it came out of the holster. When he pointed it, his entire arm shook. “Do what she says. Are you okay, Sheriff?”
Victor started laughing first. His men joined him.
Thad moved while they were looking the other way. His precaution saved him when Victor spun without warning and fired a volley of shots at Thad’s previous location. Thad fired back, hoping he didn’t hit Shaunte and Mast.
"They are running!” Mast exclaimed.
“After them!” Shaunte shouted, hardly believing what she was saying. Part of her suspected a trick, but adrenaline coursed through her veins like a drug she’d never known existed. She wanted to get in a fight. These assholes had roughed her up and done the same to Dixie. For a time, she had thought they were going to do more than that. The fear of what might have happened kept her awake at night. Her only solace was working sixteen-hour days and falling asleep in total exhaustion each night. None of that mattered now. She was more alive than she’d ever been. She was going to get payback.
The two mercs ran into a dark warehouse. She followed them with Mast close behind her.
***
The shooting stopped once Shaunte and Mast disappeared into the warehouse following the two gunslinger mercs. Victor stepped into the street with his blasters holstered. Thad shrugged out of his long coat and moved to face him, his weapon secure on his leg. His heart pounded. He tried not to look at the door where Shaunte and his partner had disappeared. There was no time to worry about them. Victor would gun him down the moment he lost focus.
"You know you’re on the wrong side,” Victor said.
“Maybe. Maybe not. Last time I checked, SagCon built this place and not only has its own fleet, but a standing army,” Thad said.
“An army of mercenaries, just like the ones ShadEcon employs. I’ve worked for both sides. Trust me, you’re on the wrong team.”
Thad opened his mouth to argue and realized his mistake. Victor had continued to walk forward as he talked while Thad was standing flat-footed.
Victor ripped both blasters from their holsters.
Thad drew and sidestepped. He fired. The nearly invisible bolt of energy sliced between the two fired by Victor, hitting the man right below the belly button. It was a rough shot, rushed and fired by instinct rather than skill.
Victor laughed and groaned at the same time as he bent over, seemingly unable to lift either of his weapons. “You’re a real piece of work, Thaddeus Fry. I saw you fight through the tunnels of Centauri Prime. Should’ve known you’d get me like this. I knew. Screw me, I knew as soon as I saw you here.”
Thad holstered his weapon and took Victor’s blasters. The merc leader tried to hold onto them, but his grip was weak in both hands. He stumbled and fell to one knee, leaning awkwardly in a posture no one would maintain on purpose.
“You’re such a lucky bastard. Wow, this hurts!”
“I’ve got a med kit in my coat,” Thad said.
“Ha! You blew half my guts out my back. Can’t believe I’m still talking to you. I really hate you. Officers like you got men killed,” Victor said. He tried to stand and fell to both knees.
“You were an officer.”
“God help me, I was. This would have been a lot easier if your deputy would have just told us how to find the ship. You ask him about the dormant alien ship, Thaddeus Fry. You ask him after I die.”
“I don’t think that’ll do you much good.”
Victor looked up. “I thought you were going to get the med kit from your coat.”
“You killed people in my town. You attacked my friends, people I care about,” Thad said. “I’d still get the med kit if I thought it would do any good. It’s not my style to let a fellow soldier die, even if he’s a low-life scumbag who tried to kill me.”
Victor smiled with bloody lips. “Find that ship, Fry-man. It’s worth more than all the exotics on this planet. Find it first and get rid of it or this place will be the next Centauri Prime.”
“All I care about right now is finding a killer.”
Blood sprayed Thad’s boots when Victor laughed. “Yeah, I killed him. No reason.”
“You killed him during the robbery.”
Victor was on both knees now, forehead nearly touching the ground as he held his abdomen with both hands. “No. I went back. Didn’t like the way he looked at me. Too proud for a stupid Glok.”
“My best friend is an Unglok.”
“He’s your only friend, you asshole.”
“I’ll check you once more for weapons, then go for the medical kit. I’m not interested in getting shot in the back.” Thad pushed him onto his side, causing him to scream and curse. He found the merc’s backup blaster, a small five-shot thing he had been crawling his fingers toward. He zip-tied Victor’s hands.
“You…think…I’ll run for it?” Victor finished the sentence with a long, barely-audible exhalation.
Thad walked to his coat and put it on. The med kit in his pocket felt heavier than normal. He looked at Victor’s motionless form, then walked toward the warehouse where he’d last seen Shaunte, Mast, and the two gunmen.
***
The scene was not what Thaddeus had expected. Shaunte and Mast had the combined tactical skill of a single kid in kindergarten. Her Peacemaker Mini was a powerful weapon for its size. He even thought she could probably use it like a professional marksman, having access to all the best instructors in the galaxy and plenty of time and money to practice shooting. That meant nothing against two mercenaries who had served combat time in Ground Forces. Shooting wasn’t the same as shooting and moving during combat.
“They gave up,” Mast said. “I wanted to interrogate them separately like you told me you muchly learned from your online class, but they just started talking. Did Victor get away? They said he killed Trankot.”
“Yeah, Sheriff. We surrender. Take us to the Mother Lode,” said the merc with black hair and a scar across his left eye.
“What?” T
had asked.
“We’re prisoners. Take us to the Mother Lode.”
“We want to see these big-busted prison guards everyone is talking about and get our three hots and a cot,” said the other merc.
“I’m moving the jail out to Transport Canyon,” Thad said. “Victor’s dead. He couldn’t bear the guilt of his crimes.”
The ShadEcon mercenaries stopped laughing and stared at him with hard, remorseless eyes. He checked the binding cuffs Mast had put on them. “Don’t worry. I am going to have you extradited for about twenty-seven other crimes you are wanted for. My Unglok deputy found your real identities in the SagCon net computer and requested marshals to come pick the four of you up, well, three now.”
“You didn’t kill Victor. He can’t be killed by some frontier world burnout,” said the first merc.
Thad shrugged. “Don’t piss me off. I’ll turn you over to the Unglok authorities.”
Mast bounced on his toes in confusion. “There are no Unglok authorities for this kind of thing…oh, right, I see now…except for the Unglok Counsel of Muchly Painful Justice. It is best the humans are punished by humans. These YanYans would not like being slowly eaten by Motuks.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: The Sheriff and his Deputy
Thaddeus and Mast went to a place called Samantha’s Bluff, which was a ledge on the southeast side of the Unglok settlement cut into the mesa. Normally, a bluff rose above a prairie landscape, having been eroded away by time and the elements. This structure was partly natural and partly a function of the Unglok town that could only be seen from Lingviat’s Canyon, a northern offshoot of Transport Canyon that few humans used. He’d only learned about the town when Andronik led him to the Unglok chapter of ShadEcon. None of the ancient community was visible from downtown Darklanding or the spaceport. He decided to do a flyover when he had time, if he could get clearance.
“I still can’t believe I didn’t know about the Unglok old town,” Thad said as he watched Ungloks and pack animals work their way up terraced streets and stairways. “Can you get to the bottom of the canyon from the town?”
“Very muchly. That is the way it has been for thousands of years. Our culture is very old. Andronik will be unpopular for a while. Ungloks are not supposed to bring humans into our traditional home on the mesa,” Mast said as he stared toward the mountains and the setting sun.
“I guess crime lords get a pass on their guest list,” Thad said.
Mast nodded. “The mighty make the righty.”
Thaddeus burst into laughter. Tears ran down his face by the time he was in control. “We need to talk about this alien ship.”
His friend didn’t answer for a long time. The two of them enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it glowed one last time on the jagged horizon. A cool breeze swept up from Lingviat’s Canyon.
“I cannot take you to the ship. I should not talk about it, but you are a friend like no Unglok has ever had.” He paused. “Every Unglok must go on at least three vision quests. We have nine dreams in our lifetime. Too many of my dreams have been consumed by this ship, if there really was a ship.”
Thad waited and listened to his friend.
“Lingviat chose the location of my second vision quest. I muchly had to climb into the planet. I went deeper than most, I think. At the bottom was only poison air and a spaceship covered with dust.”
“How could a ship get that far underground?”
Mast considered the question. “The shaft is muchly large and vertical. And ancient. Muchly ancient.” He paused again. “I am not sure I saw what I thought I saw. The deep air causes hallucinations. On my way back to the surface, there were creatures following me. Then they vanished. Only an illusion. Only my imagination and fear.”
“Askoak and his goons think there is a ship and they’re willing to kill to find it,” Thad said.
“Maybe it is an ancient artifact. Perhaps it holds secrets,” Mast said.
"It’s hard to believe SagCon missed something like that during their initial survey of the planet,” Thad said. “They even knew about this old town no one bothered to show me until our lives depended on it.”
“Ungwilook is a large and complex planet. You will never see all of it,” Mast said.
Stars appeared one by one. SagCon freighters swooped ponderously toward the spaceport landing pads as they did day and night. Lights flickered on the repaired railway across Transport Canyon, just barely visible from Thad’s observation point. In the unusually clear air, Thad could even see the electrical grid serving the mines on the sides of distant mountains. Human and Unglok workers took trolleys and trams to their nightshift jobs. Darklanding was as busy as ever, yet peaceful and almost quiet as heard from Samantha’s Bluff.
“Let’s head back. I’ll buy you a drink,” Thad said.
***
Pierre scanned the main room of the saloon before sliding Mast his drink. “Keep that on the down-low. Dixie says to try it and let her know how it is.”
Mast took a sip. “It is muchly perfect. The best Tigi this Unglok has tasted.”
“Smells weird. Like peppermint and cinnamon,” Thad said.
“I do not know these things,” Mast said as he took another sip.
“And cabbage.” Thad pointed at the bottles on the wall. “Whiskey, if you’re not too busy to pour me a neat double.”
Dixie made a spectacular entrance. Her dress was tight, perfectly tailored to match her personality and her curves, and new. She smiled. Every eye in the room turned to watch her like she was making a victory lap.
She slid onto the barstool next to Thad.
“What are you up to, Dixie? You look like the cat that ate the canary.”
“Why, whatever do you mean, Sheriff?” she said, batting her eyes.
Shaunte came down the stairs without theatrics. Thad’s breath caught in his throat. The sight of her made his legs feel weak. He’d never been more thankful for his barstool. Normally, he half-stood, half-leaned on it and was glad he sat facing the bar this time.
She might read something into his unblinking attention, but he didn’t care. He kept his head twisted toward her and watched her approach the bar with a tired smile.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I am, Thaddeus. You caught the bad guys and I finally balanced my spreadsheets,” Shaunte said.
“Oh! Let’s have a toast!” Dixie said.
“Ungloks also enjoy eating toast,” Mast said.
Thad lifted his glass. “To Darklanding. May all our troubles remain behind us.”
The End of Episode 5.
Stay tuned, a Darklanding Episode will be published every 18 days. Look for Episode 6, SAGCON on March 16, 2018. Join our newsletter lists to be the first to know when each new episode drops and to get the special fan pricing of 99 cents on release day!
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Other Books by Scott Moon
Darklanding with Craig Martelle
Episode 1: Assignment Darklanding
Episode 2: Ike Shot the Sheriff
Episode 3: Outlaws
Episode 4: Grandfather
Episode 5: An Unglok Murder
Episode 6: SAGCON
Episode 7: TBD
Episode 8: TBD
Episode 9: TBD
Episode 10: TBD
Episode 11 TBD
Episode 12: TBD
The Chronicles of Kin Roland
Book 1 – Enemy of Man (also available on audiobook) Book 2 – Son of Orlan (also available on audiobook)
Book 3 – Weapons of Earth (also available on audiobook)
SMC Marauders
Book 1 – Bayonet Dawn
Book 2 – Burning Sun
Grendel Uprising
Episode 1: Proof of Death
Episode 2: Blood Royal
Episode 3: Heavy Weapons
Son of a Dragonslayer
Book 1 – Dragon Badge (also available on audiobook)
Book 2 – Dragon Attack (also available on audiobook)
Book 3 – Dragon Land
Other Books by Craig Martelle
The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles, a Kurtherian Gambit Series, co-written with Michael Anderle
World’s Worst Day Ever (a short prequel of sorts)
Book 1 – Nomad Found (also available on audiobook)
Book 2 – Nomad Redeemed (also available on audiobook)
Book 3 - Nomad Unleashed (also available on audiobook)
Book 4 - Nomad Supreme (also available on audiobook)
Book 5 – Nomad’s Fury (also available on audiobook)
Book 6 – Nomad’s Justice (also available on audiobook)
Book 7 – Nomad Avenged (also available on audiobook)
Book 8 – Nomad Mortis (also available on audiobook)
Book 9 – Nomad’s Force (also available on audiobook)
Book 10 – Nomad’s Galaxy (also available on audiobook)
Nomad’s Journal – A Terry Henry Walton Short Story Collection
The Bad Company (with Michael Anderle)
Book 0 – Gateway to the Universe (with Justin Sloan)
Book 1 – The Bad Company
Book 2 – Blockade
Book 3 – The Price of Freedom (Coming in 2018)