by Scott Moon
Telling herself not to be annoyed, and admitting that she was worried about Maximus as well, she went back to work.
She put in long nights studying the information that pertained to Judy Ortega's proposition. Everything was legitimate. Her father's call had been upsetting, but not unexpected. What she wanted to know now was whether or not she could do this without Ortega and Interstellar Enterprises.
That had been her plan from the start, before the woman came into the picture with her enormous political clout and endless resources. What Shaunte had in mind was developing Ungwilook to its full potential. The back-to-back disasters at the SagCon mining operation had shown what over-reliance on a single income stream could do.
She’d apprenticed on a planet called Moreen Dale where a single-purpose operation made sense. The planet only had one resource worth claiming and an environment that was hostile to humans.
Darklanding was different. Humans could thrive here. The local culture was rich and diverse. There were problems, to be sure, but why shouldn't she maximize SagCon’s return on their investment in the system?
What she needed now was a better idea of Ortega. Was the woman an ally or an enemy? She didn't have enough information.
Her annoyance at Thaddeus's preoccupation with the pig-dog returned. All she wanted him to do was take a look at Ortega's base of operations in Darklanding. The woman had an entire block of apartments converted to her use. It would be well within the rights of the local sheriff to do an inspection for code compliance.
And Shaunte had detected several suspicious real estate transactions. At first, none seemed related, but now she believed Ortega was plotting to gather land near the edge of the Darklanding mesa. What was most interesting was that this particular area had once been designated as a secondary spaceport site. Many of the first surveyors thought it was a superior location to where the current spaceport was located.
Shaunte didn't need competition on that scale. If Judy Ortega didn't come clean that she was planning such a facility, then the deal was off and they were destined to become the bitterest of rivals.
But it still wasn't war. Her father acted like she could get herself killed, but this was just business.
***
Thaddeus stopped and looked back. Shadows moved. The first five times, he thought it could be his imagination, but now he knew he was being stalked by something inhuman. The way these things moved reminded him of the creatures at the bottom of the spirit quest shaft. Had they been living down there for all these centuries? How had they survived? Why would they climb to the surface now?
Each of these thoughts had merit and needed answers, but most of his attention was on his immediate environment. This area was dark, with streetlights that seemed to be working even less efficiently than usual.
Following his gut instinct, he crossed the street and positioned himself near the corner of a building he could use as cover if he were about to be in a firefight. The arachnoid things didn’t have weapons, but he thought they might rush him. If that happened, he would need barriers to slow them down while he laid down blaster fire, moved, and reloaded.
A cluster of shadows skittered across the intersection. Most were small—maybe a half-dozen dog-sized things and twenty or thirty resembling hairy peaches with multi-jointed legs and sharp mandibles. He didn’t know what color they were. Everything was a variation of black and grey in the dim light of the Darklanding industrial slum.
He radioed Mast. “Sheriff One for Deputy One.”
“Deputy One is receiving loud and muchly clear, good buddy.”
“I think the creatures you saw on your vision quest are in Darklanding,” Thad said.
"I am not thinking that is good. What is your location? I will be on my way with bubble gum so we can kick ass while we chew it.”
Thaddeus gave him the coordinates and a short description of the neighborhood. Mast knew Darklanding well, even the human areas.
"I still hear Maximus going after something. I think he's hunting these things," Thaddeus said. “And forget the bubble gum.” He put away his radio a heartbeat before the creatures rushed his position.
He swung up his blaster and fired the moment he had a sight picture. One, two, three times he stroked the trigger and sent alien-mutants backward. One of the smaller ones exploded into goo.
A pair of them dropped from a roof. He sprinted to a new position, aiming but holding his fire. The shot was too difficult on the move and at such a strange angle. He put his back to the wall, pulled a small back-up weapon from his boot, and fired both blasters as a trio of exceptionally large creatures clattered forward on what looked like hairy crab legs.
One managed to get past the blaster bolts. He kicked it hard and sent it flying through the air. Unfortunately, the creature proved to be harder and heavier than he had anticipated, as his jammed toes and twisted knee demonstrated.
He reloaded as he sidestepped with a hitch in his stride, looking for more and listening for sounds on the rooftops. Sweat ran down the back of his neck. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and hear his own breathing.
The next cluster of alien monstrosities swarmed in from all sides, but they were smaller. He shot two or three and stomped on a few others. The moment he had room to maneuver, he made a tactical withdrawal at best speed.
The night went silent. He watched and listened, but no more of the spider-like creatures came. They weren't exactly spiders, or crabs, or any alien he’d ever seen. Their bodies were a chaotic mismatch of parts. It was like they had grown out of someone's nightmare and then been mangled by larger, more vicious members of their hive.
Pain burned in his left arm. One of them had bitten deep into his flesh. He didn’t have a med kit.
“Mast, I’ve been bitten by one of these things. Watch out for them. They swarm like ants,” Thad said into his radio.
“Ants are very small, Thaddeus. Not scary,” Mast said.
“I said they swarm like ants, not that they are ants! Meet me with a med kit and some antibiotics. Watch your six and bring Maximus if you can find him,” Thad said, jogging farther away from his recent confrontation.
“Yes, Sheriff. I will watch my six, and seven, and eight, if I must. Yes, that is what I will do.”
“And call Sledge. We’ll need his help.”
“Yes, Sheriff.”
“And let Shaunte know, she may need to call her father to get some TerroCom Soldiers en route.”
“Yes. Sheriff. Right away. Sheriff.”
Thad bit back his pain. “Is there a problem, Mast?”
“You are being muchly bossy.”
“I am the boss! And this hurts like hell!” Thad staggered toward a building, leaned on it, and slid to the ground. “I need to rest a minute. Damn, it’s like my blood turned to fire!”
“I will come to you very fastly,” Mast said, his radio voice cutting out as he seemed to be running.
“No. Meet me at the jail. I can crawl that far, I think. Sledge should still be there. He was going to sit on his parolees for a while to be sure they understood he was in charge.”
“Are you okay, Sheriff?”
“No, Mast, I’m not.”
***
Thad threw himself against the door of the Cornelius Vandersun Correctional Facility and Rehab Center, lost his grip on the handle, and slid downward. It opened, causing him to fall inward at Dixie’s feet.
“Well, color me amazed! It’s the sheriff and he’s drunk,” she said with a mischievous lilt in her voice.
“Deputy One to Sledge, come in,” the radio in the center office blared.
“Hold on, Mast. Something’s wrong with the sheriff,” Sledge said.
“Oh my God, he’s been bitten by something,” Dixie yelled.
Thad heard them, then felt strong hands dragging him to a desk. Not that desk, I just organized those reports…
Sledge brushed aside printouts, old books, and electronic tablets as he stretched Thad across the imitatio
n wood surface. “Hope you have another coat and jumpsuit.” He pulled a knife from the back of his belt and slice through fabric until Thad was bare to the waist.
“Dixie, grab a med kit from that wall locker. Right there. It’s marked with a red and white cross,” Sledge said, gripping Thad’s upper arm almost hard enough to be a tourniquet. He reduced the blood flow to Thad’s heart.
Proletan stepped forward calmly, intercepting the med kit from Dixie and opening it. His movements were so efficient, he looked like he was moving slowly. “I have better training for this than she does.”
Sledge nodded.
Thad watched as though he was a hundred meters away. None of it seemed real. He didn’t feel pain.
“Stay with us, Thad,” Sledge said as Proletan cleaned the wound. “My parolee has something to tell you.”
Thaddeus thought this was curious but not urgent. Nothing was urgent. A blanket of soft euphoria flowed through his veins. It was so much better than the burning fire he felt only moments ago.
"He keeps closing his eyes!" Dixie said.
"Don't do that, Thad," Sledge said.
Thaddeus heard what they said, but none of it seemed to matter. They wouldn't stop bumping him around. It irritated him that they wouldn't let him rest. None of them understood what it meant to be sheriff, to be responsible for the safety and well-being of so many people, and protect the company's assets.
He deserved sleep. Just a little nap to take the edge off.
“I know how to get his attention,” Proletan said, then leaned down and spoke in a flat, deadly voice. "Shaunte is in more danger than you understand."
Thaddeus forced his eyes open.
"Someone from Interstellar Enterprises contacted Dixie and sent her to seduce a man named Armand Soler. He'd been a recluse in hiding for many years, refusing to vote on several important issues that affected IE, SagCon, and other business entities," Proletan said. "She accomplished what many others had failed to do, entice him into the open."
"Good for her," Thad mumbled.
"And then I killed him. That was my contract.”
"What does that have to do with Dixie?" Thad asked.
"Perhaps nothing, perhaps everything. But do you think Shaunte is doing business with honorable people? What would they do to her out in the middle of nowhere? Haven't you noticed the interference in your communications network? Doesn't it seem likely that Interstellar Enterprises is moving in to take over this operation?"
Sledge spoke up, his voice rough and low with dread. "That would be total corporate war."
"Not if they can turn Shaunte into their confederate. They're going to make her invite IE to Darklanding.”
Thad shook his head, barely able to control the motion with his poison-weakened neck muscles. Pain and dizziness flowed through him. "The mines are still operating at less than twenty-five percent of capacity. Darklanding isn't worth that type of investment. Interstellar Enterprises would lose money."
"You're forgetting A99. If there is even a small amount in addition to what you already found, there will be a massive shipbuilding facility in the system before long. A99 is a key element in building ship hulls and propulsion systems capable of deep-space journeys. Darklanding could become a jump-off point for an entire new wave of exploration," Proletan said.
Thaddeus started to laugh.
Sledge, Dixie, and Proletan looked at each other in confusion.
"He's losing it," Sledge said.
"No, I'm not. All of these dirty jackwagons are in for a surprise. Their little takeover is going to be a lot less fun with swarms of bloodthirsty spider-things eating their faces." He held up his wounded arm as evidence he wasn't crazy.
Sledge looked at Proletan. "Have you ever seen anything like that?"
Proletan shook his head.
"Help me sit up," Thaddeus said. "I'll need your help, and that includes you, Proletan. It's going to be all hands on deck for this fight."
Sledge and Dixie pulled Thad into a sitting position. He looked around the room and noticed that Carter was no longer in his cell. He pretended not to know Sledge was keeping him there.
He looked at the legendary enforcer for ShadEcon. “Can I trust you to fight on our side until these alien mutants are stopped?"
"It seems like a good way to get killed," Proletan said. "One might even say it would be an honorable way out."
"So are you in or not?”
Proletan nodded. "I will honor my parole and fight these monsters. I must warn you, however, that Interstellar Enterprises treats ShadEcon like a vassal state, protecting them and contracting them for the dirty deeds that need doing. If the IE achieves dominance in Darklanding, it won't be long before their lawyers have set me free and I can't imagine they will not order me to kill everyone who annoys them."
"But you will help me fight the spider mutants?" Thaddeus said, pretending to ignore the dark warning.
"Yes, that is what I said."
CHAPTER NINE: Unlikely Partners
Leslie Stargazer looked down at the young man handcuffed to her bed. She hadn’t put him there. He’d been a special delivery by Sledge, Dixie, and some scary dude with a hooded shirt—no sleeves, but a hood. Fashion wasn’t the stranger’s forte, she thought. Muscles and catlike agility was, however. Her first thought upon seeing the stranger had been to stay back and be ready to run despite feeling the most primal sexual urge she’d ever experienced—and she’d had a few.
“Is this really necessary?” her young captive asked.
“We’ll see. Depends on how good you are. What’s your name?” Leslie asked. “You should be glad I haven’t stripped you yet.”
“Kenneth Carter, Chief Security Specialist for Interstellar Enterprises, Wilok System.” He glanced at each of the restraints stretching him across the bed, wrists and ankles. “Don’t most people pay for this kind of thing?”
“I’ll send you a bill.”
“I don’t want a bill, I want to leave.”
She pouted. “Are you trying to hurt my feelings? Don’t you find me attractive?”
“Very much,” he said. “Bondage isn’t my thing.”
“I’ve never seen you in the Mother Lode,” she said.
“I’ve been here many times to make sure none of my team is being compromised. The thing is, every time I watch you and your girls dancing and flirting, I want to be compromised. But I’m shy.”
“Nice try. Flattery can take you far, if done right, but that was clumsy.” She stood over him, then traced the muscles of his arms and shoulders before looking into his eyes. “Wait, you’re serious, aren’t you?”
He looked away.
“Oh my God, you’re one of those alpha males too shy to pay for a hooker!” She couldn’t help but consider the differences between this young do-gooder and the hooded man. Both men confused her when she thought she was beyond that sort of thing. Prostitutes knew how to bury emotion. Maybe she’d been in the game too long.
He blushed.
“That’s sweet.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not going to remove the handcuffs.”
“I didn’t think you would. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve been gone too long. My boss will assume I’ve been compromised. You people have destroyed my career,” he said.
“You don’t seem that upset,” she said, intrigued by his calm demeanor and maturity despite his apparent youth.
“I earned this position. I can earn it again or find a new career. Am I happy about it? No. Would pissing and moaning get me out of this mess? Probably not.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, crossing one leg over the other. “I like your attitude, kid.”
“You’re no older than I am,” he said.
“You’re sweet.”
“I’m right,” he said. “You deserted from Space Forces after four years of getting slammed around by their dumbass admirals and civilian advisors. Came here. Hooked up with Chelsie and have been walking tall in Darklanding ever since. I do my research, Leslie
Stargazer, or should I say Leslie Mortimer-Roberts. I have a dossier on everyone at the Mother Lode except Dixie and Pierre.”
A thrill went up Leslie’s spine. Kenneth Carter was dangerous. She hadn’t felt anything like this for a while. On impulse, she kissed him sweetly on his forehead. “I think I will un-handcuff you. But I need to take a shower first.”
“I won’t go anywhere.”
“Slow down, Carter. I don’t trust you that much. Unlike half the people around here, I understand the stakes of this game.”
***
Dixie’s thoughts alternated between Thad and monsters all the way to the Mother Lode. Sunlight streamed down, but she still worried a monstrous beast would jump on her. Dying would be bad enough, but death by mutant aliens sounded horrible. She’d be so mangled, no one would want to look at her when she was dead.
That wasn’t the way she wanted to be remembered—all chewed up and torn apart.
Leslie wasn’t running the floor today, having been tasked with watching the IE security chief in her room. That made more work for Dixie, who’d become accustomed to the Mother Lode brothel almost running itself under Leslie’s strict oversight and discipline.
Dixie checked on each of her girls, gave them a lecture on the rules, and a pep talk designed to get them off their asses and into their beds with more clients.
She climbed the stairs to Shaunte's office. The door was closed, but probably unlocked. Everyone knew that Thaddeus walked in unannounced more often than not. She knocked and waited. A moment later, Shaunte spoke through the intercom and told her to come inside.
The office was large for Darklanding, roughly three times the size of one of the girls’ rooms. There was a desk that wrapped around one end of the work space. Several computer screens, keyboards, and a collection of data pads covered the work area. Dixie eyed the new leather couch and wondered if Shaunte and Thaddeus had ever curled up there.