by Aaron Hubble
“Malone,” Ben said. “Don’t do this. You can still walk away and no one has to know what happened. We go back to the way everything was.”
Malone backed toward the door. “No. Nothing can go back to the way it was. I need my girls. Enjoy whatever the Collective paid you for your soul.”
He hurried after Luana. She seemed focused on finding Safiya and Galila. Strength and determination radiated from her. It made him want to follow her.
But why?
Whatever the truth was, they were a team again with a common goal.
The door closed behind him. He heard Ben shouting, but the noise was cut off as the door click closed. Malone felt something shift. Purpose replaced the routine of simply scratching out a living. He felt the life he’d known on Carrefour was ending and he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered now was putting his family back together.
CHAPTER EIGHT
They jumped back into the truck. Malone gripped the steering wheel, blew out a breath and looked at Luana for direction.
“Space port,” she said.
The truck whirred to life. “Which one?”
“The new one on the edge of town,” she said. “Ekene’s ship is docked there. If they’re leaving, that’s where they’ll go.”
Malone mashed the accelerator, and the truck zipped out into the street. A horn sounded behind him and he glanced at the aft view cam to see he’d cut off a small transport. The driver’s hand was stretched out the open window, the middle finger extended.
He glanced at the chronometer on the dash and saw the seconds counting up to the next minute. The space port was five minutes away, but it might as well be five hours.
“How do you know that’s where they’ll be?”
Luana reached under the seat and pulled out the backpack. She rummaged inside. Malone still couldn’t see what she had hidden in the bag.
“I did some investigating while you were being stabbed in the back by your so-called friend.”
She took off the light jacket she’d been wearing and strapped on a shoulder holster she’d produced from the pack. A matte black grip just showed out of the holster.
“What’s that?” he said looking at her sideways.
Luana bent over and hiked up her pant leg before strapping a small knife to her calf. “Tools I may need in case Ekene and his men need persuasion.”
He turned the wheel and guided the truck into the crowded space port parking lot. The new structure gleamed in the bright afternoon sun. From the main circular terminal, enclosed tunnels radiated out like spokes in a wheel to the docking bays. Carrefour Space Port boasted ten bays that could hold some of the largest cargo carriers and twenty smaller bays capable of accommodating medium size freighters down to one-man sporting vessels.
“Where did you get the weapons?” he said, cutting the power to the truck.
Luana was opening the passenger side door before the truck was even in park. She hesitated and then looked back at him. “There are some things in my past I haven’t told you. She exited the cab of the truck and closed the door before leaning in the open window and staring into his eyes. “I was a different person. I did…things that were asked of me without thinking about what I was doing. I wanted to forget that. You and the girls helped me forget. You helped me have a normal life.”
Luana pulled the backpack through the open window. Malone sat slack jawed for a moment, trying to process the words she had just spoken. His wife pulled the light denim jacket back on making sure the pistol was concealed and then took a step toward the space port.
“Wait,” he said jumping out of the truck and jogging around to stand in front of her. “You can’t just make a cryptic statement like that and then walk away. What do you mean you had a different life?”
Luana turned toward him. He could see apprehension in her face, maybe even a little fear before she looked at the ground. She pushed her hands into her pockets.
“I wasn’t always the person you see in front of you. Out of school I joined—”
Her words were cut off by the roar of thrusters behind them. They both turned to watch a wide bodied passenger craft lined with windows slowly clear the roof line of its docking bay. The air vibrated around them, and Malone had to shield his eyes when the main engines cycled up and ponderously pushed the massive bulk of the ship upward.
Luana grabbed his forearm. “Can you trust me?”
“Trust you?”
She nodded. “I know it’s not easy for you, but can you trust me enough to believe I’m doing what needs to be done to get our girls back? Can you trust me to wait on the answers to your questions?”
She was still holding something back, keeping something big from him. His mind warred with itself. How could he trust someone who’d apparently lied to him for years? But she was still his wife, someone he believed had truly cared for him at one time. Maybe she’d kept something from him for a good reason.
Malone searched her face and saw the same desperation he was feeling. Behind the desperation was a strength that gave him confidence in her words. The choice was easy.
Malone reached for her hand and squeezed it. They hadn’t touched with any kind of affection since the break-up a couple months ago. It felt right.
“Okay. I don’t understand any of this, but I have a feeling trusting you right now gives us the best chance. But after this is all over, I need answers. All of them.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. Her eyes brightened and a small smile creased her lips. Luana straightened up. “I’ll talk all you want after we tuck the girls into bed.”
She transformed in front of his eyes. The scared, desperate mother evaporated. The Luana he knew, his wife, had been replaced by someone entirely foreign to him. Someone cool and calculating.
The softness of her hand in his was replaced by the hard grip of a pistol.
“I know you know how to use one of these. If the situation turns ugly, I need to know you’ll do what’s necessary.” She looked at the pistol and then back at him.
The weapon felt heavy in his hand. It had been a long time since he’d held one and he didn’t like the memories that came with it. Back in his past, he’d used one once to get away from a bad situation on Earth. That weapon had helped him get to this far outpost where he’d started a new life. Now Luana was asking him to do something he’d sworn he’d never do again.
“Luana—”
“Shut up and listen. Every second we spend talking is another second they get further away from us. The EC isn’t going to give them up because they don’t have to. No petition, no Earth Senate proclamation is going to change any part of what the Collective does because no one has any power over them. They exist on their own and do a very good job at what they do. Including human trafficking.”
Her eyes burned into his. “There are no other options. Ekene and his men won’t hesitate. I know what’s going to happen to Galila and Safiya if we don’t get them back. It’s terrible and I’m not going to let that happen.”
Malone nodded and wrapped his fingers around the grip. The gun slipped neatly into the cargo pocket of his pants. The pistol was small and thin. He’d never seen one like it before.
Reaching out, he took her hand, needing her support, and hurried toward the space port entrance. People moved in and out of the entrance carrying luggage, on their way to or from distant worlds.
As they neared the doors, a man stepped out and held the door open for his wife. The wife stepped through and pecked him on the cheek as she passed. Trailing behind her were two small dark haired girls, no more than five years old. Each wore a purple backpack and clasped each other’s hands.
Malone slowed. A lump formed in his throat. He watched the father reach down and pat the head of one of the girls. His arms ached for the chance to embrace his girls again.
Luana had moved a pace ahead of him and turned back. “Are you all right?”
He tore his eyes away from the family. Away from the picture perfect mom
ent he’d always imagined for him and Luana. He swallowed the lump and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s keep going.”
Past the entrance doors, he saw the passive security scanners. Guards stood on the other side of the scanners. Malone felt panic begin to rise.
“We’ll never get past the security checkpoints with these weapons,” he said.
“They won’t find them. They’re not exactly standard issue.”
She pulled him forward and he reluctantly followed. They passed a throng of people just debarking a transport cruiser. Probably coming to Carrefour looking for work.
Malone wanted to tell them to turn around and go the other way. He wanted to tell them there were still planets out there that weren’t under the thumb of the EC or the companies.
Sweat formed on his neck and ran down his back as they neared the checkpoint. Luana released his hand and stepped with confidence through the automated scanner. He waited for the alarms, but none came. Holding his breath, Malone followed her through, readying himself for the sirens.
To his relief, and surprise, the scanner remained silent. His shock caused him to pause and stop just the other side of the checkpoint. A man brushed past him, and hurried down the crowded hall, trying to make his flight, no doubt.
People flowed around him in a sort of ordered chaos. A holo image of an attractive young woman dressed in a Carrefour space port uniform hung in the air making announcements about incoming and outgoing flights.
He felt a tug on his arm.
“Look. Up there, to the left,” Luana said.
A large man, one of the Collective enforcers who’d come to his house, was guiding a metal shipping container on mag lifts through an open doorway to a docking platform. The number ninety-four glowed above the door.
Luana picked up her pace, and Malone saw her reach under her jacket and undo the strap holding the pistol secure. She wove her way through the crowd, stepping around a group of standing people. Their eyes moved from the holo-image to their tablets, trying to verify flight information.
Malone hurried after Luana, but lost sight of her and the docking platform door when an automated people mover glided by on repulsor lifts. He danced around the mover and jogged to catch up with her, his heart hammering in his chest.
“Wait,” Malone said, pulling Luana to a stop. He grasped her hand and guided her behind a large fountain gurgling near the docking platform door. “What do we do when we get there? Do we just start shooting, or are we going to ask for our daughters back?”
“We’ll let the situation dictate the plan and see what happens.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Malone stammered.
But Luana was already striding to the door. He rolled his eyes and followed her. The EC man disappeared through the doorway. They both peered inside.
On the platform stood a medium sized cruiser, the sleek wings folded upward. The low altitude flight lights were lit, and he could see the dim glow of thrusters that were warm and ready for takeoff. Four men stood outside of the ship, loading cargo with a mag lift and truck.
Galila and Safiya were being ushered up the ramp into the dark hold of the ship. His first instinct was to go and save them. He plunged his hand into his pocket and grasped the butt of the pistol. Malone started forward. Luana put an arm out to stop him, but he knocked it aside and marched into the docking platform.
“Ekene! I want my daughters.”
Safiya’s head swiveled and she saw them. “Mommy! Daddy!” she screamed.
She tried to run to them, but the guard’s strong grip held her back. Her shouts brought everyone’s attention to the doorway where he and Luana stood. Guns were drawn and the men formed up around the ramp of the ship. Ekene took the phone away from his ear and called out while drawing his own pistol.
“Unless you have payment for your taxes, your children are going with us. Let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be.”
Luana whipped the pistol from under her arm and squeezed off several shots. Malone flinched and ducked instinctively, not knowing where the shots had come from. The men scattered.
All but one, that is.
Malone saw the man holding the girls go down screaming, red mist erupting from his thigh. Ekene sprinted toward the ship and grabbed the screaming girls. He dragged them up the ramp, firing several shots in their direction. The remaining men started shooting at them.
Malone and Luana scrambled for cover behind several metal shipping crates.
“What were you thinking?” he screamed at Luana. “You could have hit the girls.”
Luana pulled a fresh clip from the backpack and rammed it home. “Not a chance.”
Malone stared at her in disbelief as bullets ricocheted off the crates. He tried several times to see around the crate, but the cover fire had them pinned down. He punched one of the boxes in frustration.
They were cut off from their daughters.
The sound of weapons fire was replaced by the roar of thrusters. He looked around the crate. The ship had moved off the platform as the ramp closed. Emptiness gripped his soul as the ramp sealed shut and cut him off from his most precious treasures.
Luana screamed and ran forward firing at the ship. Bullets pinged off the black hull harmlessly. Malone surged forward, hurdling over umbilicals that had been refueling the ship only minutes ago.
He yelled in frustration and squeezed the trigger of his pistol, hoping against all rational thought, to score that perfect shot and hit something important that would force the ship to land.
The ship moved above the upper rim of the space port. Its wings unfolded, it rotated 180 degrees, and then shot toward the heavens. Luana emptied the clip of her pistol until the only noise that came from it was the clicking of an empty chamber. She collapsed to the ground sobbing. His chest heaving, Malone rushed forward. His own empty pistol clattered on the decking. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Luana.
Pain pierced his heart. Never had he thought the girls would actually be taken off Carrefour. They’d been literally ripped from his arms. Luana shook against him. Malone buried his head in her hair. He searched for words with which to comfort her, but there were none that could mend a wound this deep.
Instead, Malone clung to his wife and wept with her.
CHAPTER NINE
The blaring of the alarms around him caused Malone to realize their situation had gone from bad to truly terrible.
Their daughters were gone. They’d broken numerous laws, tied up public safety authorities, smuggled weapons into a civilian space port, fired on a cargo ship, and shot a man.
Options were limited.
No, they were worse than limited.
They had to get off planet if they ever wanted to see their daughters again. Weak moaning drew his attention back to the right side of the landing platform. The man Luana had shot writhed on the floor, a red stain spreading across his thigh.
Malone stared at the blood. Rage spread through him.
This was one of the men who’d torn his world apart, and he wanted to choke the life out of the piece of crap and watch him suffer like he was suffering. He released Luana. She hung her head and wrapped her arms around her knees, crying softly.
Malone wiped his tears away with the back of his hand and advanced on the Collective man. Jumping off the platform, he landed next to the thug, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him close. Malone shook him and a pained whimper escaped from the man’s mouth. Satisfaction ran through his mind knowing the man was in pain.
“Where will they go?”
The man kept his eyes closed and continued to whimper. Malone looked over the man’s bearded face, his hate growing with each sound the man made.
The man’s hands were covering the wound on his thigh. Blood had soaked the front of his pants.
This sick excuse for a human had showed him no sympathy, why should he do anything different? Malone knocked the man’s hand away and pressed his fist to the man’s wound for several seco
nds. The man shrieked in pain until Malone let up.
“Feel like telling me where they’re going now?”
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and then spoke. “Retem Station. Oh, god!” he said, covering the wound again. “They’ll stop at Retem before going to Vina.”
“Vina? Where’s that?”
The man shook his head, and remained quiet. Malone pressed his fist into the wound again. The thug let out an agonized scream.
“I don’t know where it is, man!” he cried between screams. “I don’t know the coordinates. It’s somewhere in Collective space, a pleasure planet. I’m just a foot soldier. I swear I don’t know how to get there.”
Malone studied his face. It didn’t look like he was holding back any information. He let up on the pressure to the wound, and pushed the man back to the floor
Malone hurried back toward Luana. Gently, he pulled his still crying wife to her feet. He cradled her face in his hands.
“It’s not safe for us here. The authorities are already on their way.”
Luana nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her softly shaking shoulders and guided her toward the door.
“My girls,” she said through chocked sobs. “My beautiful girls.”
“I know, but I persuaded the man you shot to give up some information on where they’re going. If we can find a way off Carrefour, we can keep chasing them.”
She nodded, her eyes hollow and her face a mask of grief. Gone was the steely woman of a few moments ago, the one who was willing to do anything. Seeing that ship rocket out of the space port carrying away the most precious thing in her world seemed to have broken her resolve. All that remained was a grieving mother. It touched him. Perhaps he’d let the toxic emotions of their break up color how he viewed her as a parent.
They exited the platform and walked into a crowd who had gathered around the door, drawn by the noise of the gunfire. He ducked his head and tried to slip out unseen.
All eyes followed them.