“That’s exactly what I’m asking.”
She rose from the table, and it took some effort for me to keep my mouth closed. Her long black dress was tight in all the right places. She looked over her shoulder at me, the light reflecting off the bright blue streaks in her black hair. She smiled and held out a hand. I got to my feet making sure not to knock anything over in my haste to join her. It never really worked if you appeared too eager. You lost some of your mystic then. My hand found its way into hers, and she led me out of the restaurant. Her two bodyguards fell into step behind us.
We slipped into her quarters. The large space astonished me, even though it shouldn’t have. Most of the people on this station lived in less than two hundred and fifty square feet. Kitra’s quarters had to be thirty times that size. She motioned to the bar, and I shook my head. She didn’t hesitate as she continued to lead me into her bedroom.
She turned towards me, and her lips found mine. Before I knew what was happening her dress had hit the floor. This time, my mouth didn’t close, but that was ok as she filled it with a flick of her tongue. The years had been kind to Kitra. She looked just like she had all those years ago when her name had been Lulu. My jacket joined her dress quickly followed by my pants. When she ran her hands over my chest and nibbled on my lip, I almost lost it. I tossed her on the bed and fell into her hungry eyes. This was a bonus that I hadn’t expected.
Chapter Fifteen
Damn it. I was running late again, as usual. Lulu had kept me up most of the night. She didn’t bother to wake me up when she slipped out of bed this morning. Now Alphamerix’s rep had been waiting for me, for over an hour. I put on my pants and started walking out the door. I could get my shirt and jacket taken care of on the way.
When I made it to the meeting point, the man in the three-piece suit had an expression of barely suppressed rage on his face. I couldn’t really blame him. If I had been waiting over an hour for a meeting, I would have been pissed off too. Still, the way he tapped his foot as I approached grated on my nerves more than it should have.
“Captain Drake, I take it.” The man extended his hand.
I took his hand in my own, surprised at the offer. “I am.”
“You have the information we asked you to retrieve?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name?”
“That’s because I didn’t offer it. Do you have the information or not?”
Taking a step back I surveyed the room. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry, I would have seen it already. This was a trap. Two men stood almost concealed on either side of the man in front of me. There was only one way for me to get out of this alive. I was going to have to do something unexpected.
Both of the pistols in my thigh holsters found their way into my hands. One was pointed at the head of the man in front of me. The other pistol was held low waiting to see which of the thugs moved first. “Tell me what the passphrase is?”
He looked right into my eyes. “Excalibur.”
I had to give it to him. He had balls, big ones. He delivered the line with enough confidence that it made me want to doubt myself. That meant he was probably a trained agent of some kind. I didn’t have time for this shit. He needed to be dealt with so I could find the real Flinn. “Wrong.” He smiled holding his hands out to the sides. “There was no passphrase.”
He moved his hands forward and the semi-hidden men started to move forward. I shot him in the head before ducking and shooting at both sides of the room to keep the men at bay. I was slowly backing out of the room when I bumped into someone. I turned and almost shot him before I noticed his hands were up.
“I’m Flinn.”
“Nice to meet you, Flinn. You mind backing out of the room for me?”
He started backing up, and I kept the men on either side at bay. I couldn’t tell if I had hit any of them or not, but they weren’t breaking cover. Most of them probably knew the job was a bust when I shot their point man. There was no reason for them to die too.
We made it to the door, and I fired off a few more shots before closing it. “Time to run, Flinn.” I put one of my guns away and grabbed his arm. We ran through the station. After taking a few right-hand turns I pulled him roughly into one of the service passages.
“Well, I have to say that was unexpected,” Flinn said while trying to catch his breath.
Looking him over I decided he was just the right kind of soft to be my contact. “Sorry about that, it seems as though someone else found out about our meeting.”
“Corporate espionage is something that happens more often than it should. I’ll have my team look into the incident as soon as I am off the station.” He made a face as if even the thought of corporate espionage was distasteful. “I take it that the package is still secure?”
“It is,” I said pulling out the small data cube and handing it over to him. He scanned the cube and then smiled.
The cube disappeared inside one of his many suit pockets. “Captain Drake, it’s been a pleasure.” He said extending his hand.
I shook it. “That’s one way to look at it.”
He surprised me by laughing. “You better get used to it. You’ve been thrown into the deep end without a life vest.”
“I’m not sure that makes me feel any better.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. A few years of this and you’ll be able to retire wherever you want.” He slapped me on the shoulder and slid out of the door.
Thank God that was over. Now I just needed to find out what the crew thought about accepting the next job from Alphamerix so that I could get back to Quaid with an answer. I slipped out into the crowded station and made my way back to the Talon.
The look of anger on all the faces surrounding me was enough to let me know what they thought of working for the same company again. “I know guys. The thought of working for them again after what we just witnessed makes me sick too. But I thought before I turned down the chance at a two million credit job that I should at least bring it to the table.”
Gabe’s mouth fell open. “Did you say two million credits?”
“I did. Apparently we have become a valued commodity.”
“What’s the job?” Maze asked.
“I didn’t ask Quaid yet. We have a meeting in twenty minutes. I just wanted to find out if anyone here would even consider it.”
“I still say no.” Ice said. Her arms were wrapped around her body, and she had a scowl on her face. “These guys are more trouble than they’re worth.”
“I say yes.” It didn’t surprise me that Gabe was on board. He loved the risky jobs, and his moral compass faced more to the side than it did up. That might have been an unfair assessment, but for enough money he would do whatever needed to be done. It wasn’t that he was a bad kid. It was more like he could do bad things, and had the unique ability to shove them out of his thoughts. That kind of ability was a blessing and a curse.
“Captain, you can cast my vote with yours.” Maze said. The level of trust she put in me always surprised the hell out of me. Without her skills, this crew would have fallen apart a long time ago. I knew from experience which way she was leaning.
“With that kind of money, we could finally upgrade the engine and the FTL. I vote yes.” Kyra said as she wiped some kind of grease off her hands and onto her pants.
“Doc, you don’t get a vote yet, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
He looked nervous to have been called on. “While I think the way they went about their research was horrific. The outcome was caused by one scared individual. I’m new to this crew, but my vote would be yes if the money would benefit us in the long run.”
All of their eyes turned towards me. “For now, I’m with Ice. I think that working with Alphamerix would be bad for our health.” A few groans and one happy dance greeted the decision. “I’ll ask Quaid what else he can line up. Get us back in the air, Ice.”
There was a chance that I had made the wrong call. Hell, there was m
ore than a chance. Two million credits would have gone a long way to making everything easier. Two million credits could right a lot of wrongs. The ship could use all of the retrofits Kyra wanted, and a million credits split six ways was still a massive payout. That was the kind of money that would allow us to retire in style. The only problem I had with that, was that I didn’t want to retire. I loved what I was doing. I couldn’t imagine waking up and just sitting around all day.
I hit the button and waited for Quaid to answer.
“Drake, tell me you have good news for me.”
“The handoff was a success, but I don’t think we can take this other job.”
“Before you make your final decision, let me at least tell you about it.”
“It won’t do you much good; we’ve already made the call.”
He continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “There is a tremoring colony on Machari Five. We’ve lost all communication with them. The last report we had said something about aliens. If you took the job, you wouldn’t be going in alone. You would be leading a team of space marines into the facility.”
My heart was beating fast, almost too fast for me to be sure of what he said. Did he say the planet was Machari Five? That was where my parents were. It was their latest terraforming project. I had to get there, to make sure they were safe. “We’ll take it.”
“Let me make sure I heard you right. You’ll take the job?”
“Just get me the details,” I shouted and hit the screen to disconnect the call. A moment later the details popped up on my terminal, and I forwarded them to Ice.
“What in the hell, Captain? I thought we weren’t going to work for them again.”
“That was before I found out that the facility in question was the one my parents were leading.”
“I’m sorry, Drake.” A few moments of silence passed before she continued. “The course is set. We will intercept the Arc of Judgement in four days. I’m engaging the FTL drive now.”
Four days seemed too long to wait to find out what might have happened to them. I pulled out the file that Quaid had sent over with the job. They were going to be ok. If there had been any real trouble, they would have contacted me directly. At the same time, Alphamerix wouldn’t be laying out this kind of money if something hadn’t gone horribly wrong.
I sent my thoughts off like a prayer into space. I’m coming for you.
Acknowledgments
This book started as an idea many many months ago while I was still deep in other projects. My wife never let me forget about my desire to write something that was considered science fiction. To my number one fan and largest supporter, I can only say thanks.
I can’t get by without mentioning my three furry friends, who’s nicknames seem to change on a monthly basis. Jackaroo, Blizzy Bear, and Shuggie Shuggs, I love you guys even if you can’t read.
I’d also like to thank my beta reader Kay. I’m sure she will be filling my inbox with corrections soon enough. Thank you for everything that you do.
Also By B. R. Bates
If you also happen to be interested in urban fantasy novels. Check out the first book in my Ascendancy Legacy Series on Amazon. http://amzn.to/1WZbZgX
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Star Talon (Fortune Hunters Book 1) Page 9