“Call Feleti Leone and I will shoot you down for obstructing a stalker’s justice, sir.”
The man removed his hand from his pocket and showed his empty palms. Dom released him and jerked her head at Eddie and Knox. She prodded Williams in the back to get him moving again.
The Solitude’s umbilicus was still unguarded. She hurried the three men as much as she could. She could sense the syndicate men snapping at her heels. She unlocked the airlock and shoved Williams forward through the umbilicus. He walked like a dead man, a shell.
“You, sit tight and stay out of the way,” she said to Knox. “Eddie, get Williams secured. We’re getting out of here.”
Eddie nodded silently and took Williams by his shirt and pushed him towards a narrow staircase that led to the cargo area and the converted brig.
Dom hurried to the bridge, sat down, and brought the electronics online. The helm’s newer computers clicked and hummed as their monochrome screens flickered to life. “I’m sealing the airlock,” she announced over the ship’s intercom. “Requesting maglock release now. Stand by.”
She started the engine sequence. Deep in the bowels of the ship, the solid fuel engines hummed to life. She relaxed at their familiar sound.
Then they cut out. Error messages flickered across her screens. The intercom crackled to life again.
“Attention all passengers and crew of the Solitude. Clearance to leave has been denied. Put down all weapons, relinquish door control, and prepare to be boarded.”
“Shit,” she said. She hammered the buttons of the helm, but nothing responded. She slammed her fist down. “Shit!”
She grabbed her shotgun and hurried back through the ship’s central corridor. Knox scurried out of the common room towards her.
“What is it? What’s happening?”
“Leone,” she said. “He’s shut us down. Can you break his control so I can get us out of here?”
“It’ll take time.”
“Then hurry the fuck up.”
Knox squeezed past her and ran to the bridge. She met Eddie at the airlock. She could hear voices calling from the umbilicus outside.
“How many of them?” he said.
She touched a control next to the airlock and brought up a fuzzy, black-and-white image from the sensor above the airlock door. A dozen syndicate men and women crowded the umbilicus, more approaching.
“Too many,” she said.
As she watched the vid screen, a figure pushed through the crowd, shoving his way to the front. Feleti Leone. His thin face showed no emotion as he stopped outside the airlock door.
“Can I kill him now?” Eddie said.
“No,” she said. “But I’ve got an idea. Stall him.”
“Stall him? We’re not trying to hide a surprise party from him, Freckles.”
But she was already moving back to the bridge. “Just do it!”
Eddie watched Dom hurry away, then turned his attention back to the view of the exterior airlock door. Leone held up one hideous, long-fingered hand and tapped on the door with his knuckle.
“Stalkers,” he said, his voice crackling through the microphone. “Open up. You’re only delaying the inevitable.”
Eddie pressed the transmit button below the vid screen. “Isn’t that all any of us ever do? Tell you what, Jack. You walk away from here and I won’t put a hole in your head.”
“Still as cocky as ever. I would’ve thought you might’ve mellowed out a little. Or do you enjoy killing women, Eddie?”
His hands tightened into fists.
Leone smiled up at the camera. “My men found the whore’s body. Single shot, probably from a pistol. I assume it was you who did it. She always was Williams’ girl, no matter what I did to her, no matter how hard I tried to break her. Oh, sure, she pretended to forget him. Maybe she even fooled me for a while. I never could think straight around pretty women. Then again, it seems like no one could think straight around her. Shame she’s dead. But now I’ve got something even better. Roy Williams.”
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb, Eddie. It doesn’t suit you. I’m not a vindictive man. You stalkers killed some of my people, and we shed some of your blood. If it becomes necessary, I’ll happily kill you both, and I’ll take my time with it. But I’ve cooled off in the last few hours. You should’ve told me you were looking for Roy Williams. We could’ve helped each other.”
“My mother always told me never to trust a stranger.”
“Wise woman. But I hope you realise you have an opportunity now. I want Williams. I want him bad, Eddie. Bad enough that I’m even willing to let you stalkers live if you hand him over. I don’t want to have to destroy your ship and everyone on it. That would be a complete waste. I’m leaving this station soon, and I don’t want one of my last acts here to be something so violent. But if you give me no choice….” He shrugged.
“Well, hell, I didn’t mean to be inconvenient,” Eddie said. He paused. “What guarantees do I have that you won’t harm me or my partner if I give you Williams?”
“Come, now. You’ve been doing this longer than that, haven’t you? There are few guarantees in this game. But I can guarantee that if you don’t hand Williams over to me, you will die. You will die as surely as Williams’ whore died. Understand, stalker?”
Eddie felt his face split into a grim smile. “All right. You got us beat. I’m opening the airlock.”
He punched the button on the panel. The mechanism hissed and groaned. The door slid slowly open. Leone’s pallid, smiling face came into view, and behind him, a dozen syndicate men and women watched.
“You made the right choice, Eddie,” Leone said.
“I sure did.”
Eddie slipped the pistol from his holster and touched the barrel to Leone’s forehead. The man went still. Behind him, all his people raised their weapons.
“They shoot, you die,” Eddie said.
“Don’t,” Leone snapped at his men. His eyes narrowed as he glared at Eddie. “You can’t kill me. I’m protected.”
“You don’t look very protected right now.”
“You know you’re not getting out of this, don’t you, stalker?”
“Call her a whore again. Go on. You know you want to.”
“It’s not an insult. It’s a fact. You couldn’t imagine the things she did for me to ensure her own survival. Such a convincing actress. You know, I started to believe that she’d actually come to want me. Impressive. I’ve never seen someone more afraid of death. And I live on a dying station.” Leone leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the gun barrel. “Not that it saved her in the end. Death comes to us all. You shouldn’t still care. You made your choice. I may call her a whore. But you killed her.”
“I’m leaving this station with Roy Williams. If you try to stop me, if you try to harm me or my partner, you will die. You’re right, I made my choice. I killed a woman I once loved to protect my friend. So what the hell do you think I’ll do to a son of a bitch like you?”
The intercom crackled overhead. “All right, all right, that’s enough, all of you.”
It took Eddie a moment to recognise Lieutenant Pine’s voice. Dom must’ve been piping his connection in over the intercom.
“Feleti Leone,” Pine said. “Stand down. Send your men away. Your transport is arranged to depart in forty-eight hours’ time. You and the other nominated members of your organisation will be relocated in exchange for the information you have provided. And of course, for your generous donation to the Federation Navy. But that can only happen if we all avoid any inquiries coming from Babel. If two stalkers carrying a high priority fugitive are killed, well, I will no longer be able to guarantee you passage off Temperance.”
Leone’s face turned dark. He glared at Eddie.
“Mr Gould,” Pine said. “Lower your weapon and allow Mr Leone to leave. As I told your partner, if any harm comes to Mr Leone, your contract fee will be revoked. Am I clear, gentlemen?”
Eddie showed
Leone his teeth and slipped his pistol back into his holster.
“I’m disappointed,” Leone said in a low voice. “I wouldn’t expect two proud stalkers to go running to Mummy.”
Eddie shrugged.
Leone turned back, glanced at his men, and scowled. “Go on, get out of here. Call Port Authority and let them go.”
The syndicate people filed back out of the umbilicus, casting wary eyes at Eddie as they went. Leone followed them for a few steps, then turned back to Eddie.
“This isn’t over, stalker. It’s a small system. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
Eddie made a gun with his fingers. “Bang bang.”
Leone smiled back. And with that, he walked away. Eddie watched his back, smiling until he was out of sight. Only then did he lower his hand and let the smile slip from his face.
“All right,” Dom called. “Are we all set to get off this damn station?”
Eddie punched the button and the airlock door slid closed. “I’ll be in my room. Wake me when we get there.”
32
As tired as he was, Eddie wasn’t able to fall asleep on the short journey from Temperance to the Fed outpost. He lay on his cot, staring at the ceiling. He’d made the right choice. He knew that. Cassandra was his past, but Dom and the Solitude, this was his present. He’d never been one to wallow in the past. He wrote the story, got it on the page, and let it go. It kept him steady, kept him alive.
But how could he write this? How could he reduce Cassandra to a few words on a page? How could he describe the feeling he’d felt in the pit of his stomach as she fell, his bullet drilling through her chest?
The ship shuddered around him as the maglock clunked into place. He could hear Dom moving about in the corridor, but he didn’t move until she banged on his door.
“We’re here,” she said.
He sighed, swung his legs over the edge of his bed, and stood. Every bit of him ached. He hoped their next stop was somewhere with a doctor and booze. Somewhere quiet.
He made his way through the Solitude and unlocked the door to the brig. Roy Williams sat on the floor, his head against the wall, his arms still bound behind him. A fresh bandage had been applied to the wound on his thigh—it must’ve been Dom’s doing. He didn’t look up as Eddie leaned against the doorway.
“End of the line,” Eddie said. “Up you get, Jack.”
Williams’ eyes tracked slowly towards him. He was quiet a few seconds. Then he spoke.
“Was it worth it? Was it worth her life to catch me?”
“She’s dead, we caught you. It doesn’t matter if it was worth it or not. It’s what happened. Get up.”
Williams put his back against the wall and pushed himself to his feet, grimacing as he put weight on his wounded leg. He took small steps towards Eddie. As Eddie moved out of the way of the door to let him past, Williams paused.
“I think I understand why you do this. You do it for the pain. You want to see the pain. Don’t you?”
Eddie nodded slowly. “Yeah. I do it for the pain.” He jerked his head. “Move.”
Dom stood at the closed airlock as Eddie came up, pushing Williams ahead of him. Eddie met her eyes.
“Where’s the midget?” he asked.
“I told him to lay low. The Feds must’ve scanned his pass on the way here, but I’d rather not wave him under their noses.”
The airlock door hissed open. In the umbilicus, Lieutenant Pine stood with his hands behind his back, two marines flanking him with submachine guns at the ready. Pine looked them over, a sneer forming on his boyish face.
“You two look like you’ve seen some action. I would offer to let my medic examine you, but you know the regulations.”
“Yeah,” Eddie said. “And I can see how much of a stickler for regulations you are. Remind me, which regulation says that Naval officers are allowed to take bribes from known gangsters to give them passage off a dead station?”
“Feleti Leone is a necessary evil.” His eyes roamed over the two of them. “Much like many other less-than-savoury individuals I’m obliged to work with.”
He stepped forward to examine Roy Williams.
“He’s wounded,” Pine said.
“Not by us,” Dom said. “Not the gunshot wound, anyway.”
“Hm.” Pine pointed his chin at Williams. “Identify yourself.”
Williams said nothing.
Pine stepped back and snapped open an extendable baton. “Identify yourself.”
“Roy Williams,” the fugitive said. “And if you touch me with that, I will tear your Fed tongue out.”
“The threats are unnecessary, Mr Williams.” He glanced at Dom and nodded as he retracted the baton. “He fits the description. I’ll trust you’ve provided the right man, for now. We’ll make additional checks once we have him in custody.”
“The reward?” Dom said.
“A number of Mr Leone’s people were killed during your hunt for this man. I have deducted two million vin from the final reward to compensate Mr Leone.”
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Eddie said before Dom could stop him.
Pine’s nostrils flared. “Is that a problem, Mr Gould?”
Eddie glanced at Dom. She shook her head ever so slightly. She could see him grinding his teeth.
“No. No problem at all, Jack.”
“Very well.” Pine took out his tab and touched the screen. “One quarter of the reward has been paid against your debt, Miss Souza. The rest has been transferred to your accounts.”
“Then I relinquish custody of the fugitive to you.” She pushed Williams forward. “And the contract has been fulfilled.”
“A pleasure working with you,” Pine said. He jerked his head at his men. “Take him away.”
The marines stepped forward and grabbed Williams under his shoulders. The fugitive didn’t look back as they dragged him away.
Alone with them now, Pine exhaled. “I’ll be glad to see the back of this place. I always disliked Temperance. Too much sin for my taste. The view from up here should be much better when it dies. Of course, I won’t be able to stay and enjoy it. I’ll be transferred somewhere else. The life of a public servant.”
Dom tried her best to smile. “Yes, sir. If there’s nothing else?”
“Nothing. Enjoy your reward, stalkers. The Federation appreciates your service.”
“Thanks, Jack,” Eddie said. “Always happy to be of help.”
Pine turned his back and strode down the umbilicus. Dom pressed the button and the airlock door slid closed. She glanced at Eddie.
“I’m setting our course. Any requests for our next destination?”
“You’re the pilot.”
“How are you doing?” she said.
He shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“It might be a bit of a journey until the next stop. Might be a good chance for a sleep.”
He shook his head. “Next book’s not going to write itself.”
“You’re going to start so soon? I thought after…you know….”
“Me too. But it’s what I’m here for.” He turned away and raised his hand in a wave. “Try to make sure the ship doesn’t fall apart on the way. I can hear it groaning already.”
“She’s fine.” She patted the wall. “Aren’t you, girl?”
“Whatever you say, Freckles. Whatever you say.” He disappeared into his quarters and shut the hatch.
Dom returned to the bridge and started the engine sequence once more. Outside, the maglock disengaged. As she brought up the system map on the nav terminal, she heard shuffling footsteps behind her.
“Marshall’s Folly,” Knox said.
“What?”
“That’s where I want you to drop me. Marshall’s Folly.”
“There’s not much there. That’s in the Outer Reach.”
“That’s why I want to go there.” He leaned against the helm. “And I’ll be taking my share of Williams’ money, now, if you don’t mind.”
She shru
gged. “Suit yourself.” She reached into her pocket and deposited two small bundles of cash in his hands. “There you go. Don’t spend it all at once.”
He stared down at the wads for a minute, then looked up at her.
“What the hell is this?”
“It’s your share. Two thirds of his money. Shame you weren’t a bit quicker getting us that tracking information. We might’ve found it before that woman went and spent it all.”
“This is bullshit,” Knox said. “I want some of the reward money.”
“That wasn’t the deal.”
“Fuck the deal.”
She turned towards him. “Did I hear you correctly? Would you like to cancel our deal? Because I’d be happy to turn around and put you back on Temperance.”
Knox glared at her, then looked down at the cash in his hands. “You’re devious, stalker. I guess I should’ve expected this, given your upbringing.”
“Make your decision. Marshall’s Folly with that cash there, or I take it back and return you to Temperance. Time’s running out.”
Knox hesitated. “All right. All right, stalker, you win. But I get to help myself to anything in the kitchen I want.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “Now go be annoying somewhere else. I need to concentrate.”
Knox stuffed the cash in his pockets and shuffled away. When he was gone, Dom exhaled and leaned back in her chair.
Through the viewing window, she watched the slow rotation of the blue gas giant. Temperance was barely a speck against its swirling surface, dark and grim from way out here. Tens of thousands of souls would die there in the coming days. Too many to comprehend. So she didn’t try.
She could feel the Solitude’s engines rumble through the ship. With a few touches of the control panel, she locked in the coordinates for Marshall’s Folly. She’d have to stop at a refuelling depot on the way, then they’d be jumping in and out of dark roads to get there in the next seventy-two hours. The autopilot would take care of the heavy lifting. She needed a nap anyway.
She leaned back, put her feet up on the helm, and thumbed the intercom button.
“Gentlemen, take your last look at Temperance. We are now departing Eleda VI space. Prepare for engine thrust in three…two…one….” She punched the throttle.
Stalker's Luck (Solitude Saga Book 1) Page 22