“He beat you up?” Olin was indignant, his voice rising.
“Not this time. This was just a warning.” Gabie took another swallow of juice. “He’s given me two days to think about it.”
“So what are we going to do?” Paz was scared. “Gabie, if we let them use us now—”
“We’re not going to be used.” Gabie frowned at him. “We might as well just throw ourselves to the law right now if so. Raznin has cargo that’s highly illegal, I don’t know what, but whatever it is he doesn’t want to risk his own people shipping it through. And if it’s too risky for a shark, there’s no way in hell we’re touching it.”
“But how are we going to avoid it?” Misha traced an imaginary figure on the table top. “And live?”
“I’m working on it.” Gabie drained the last of the juice and stood up. “We have two days to come up with a plan of some kind.”
“Two days isn’t long enough,” Olin muttered.
“We’re dead.” Paz heaved a sigh. “Dead as dead can be.”
“Now come on, it’s not that bad.” Gabie smiled at him.
“It’s not that good, either,” Misha said sourly.
“We just need to do a bit of brainstorming.”
“Then I say we get close enough to his ship, plant a bomb and blow it up.”
Gabie looked at her.
“It’s the only way,” Misha declared defensively. “While he’s running around we’re dead meat.”
Paz groaned.
“I’m thinking it’s not such a bad idea.”
“Huh?”
Gabie leaned back against the food counter. “Raznin has never been linked openly to smuggling, because he’s never been caught with anything onboard. But his ship is in hiding which means he has illegal goods on board, and I know where his ship is hidden. We need to disable the ship and get Michel to come and pick him up. Anonymously, of course.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Misha stared at her.
“Hey, I don’t hear any better ideas.” Cupping her hand to her ear, Gabie angled her head to one side. “Nope, just the sound of silence and defeat.”
“So a noisy bomb isn’t going to make him flee?” Olin queried ironically.
“Not that kind of bomb. Something to quietly short circuit his electronics so it brings his shields down and disables his engines.”
And just where are we going to get a disabler like that?”
“That’s your department, Olin. You’re the ex-outlaw. I’ve no doubt you’d know where to look.”
Muttering, he subsided in his chair.
“This is insane,” Misha declared.
“So is working for the shark.” Gabie rubbed her hands together decisively. “Come on, it’s a fact. Unless Raznin and his men are out of the picture, especially Raznin and Tason, we’re going to be made an example of if we don’t comply. I certainly don’t aim to be under his control for the rest of my life, which could be very short if we’re caught with highly illegal goods.” She shrugged. “Oh yeah, and he knows we have discs made to cover our own goods. He thinks we can get discs made for his illegal goods.”
“Can’t he take the discs in exchange?” Paz looked hopeful. “He has some discs and leaves us alone.”
“Tried that already.” Gabie shook her head. “No go. He wants the discs and us.”
“Why us?” Misha queried.
“Because the law has never caught us smuggling. Even when we’ve got illegal goods onboard, we have our little discs with the false invoices. Raznin thinks there’s a good chance we’ll slip past the law without inspection, which we’ve done before when the law is overloaded with trade inspections.” Gabie looked at her friends. “Whatever Raznin wants smuggled, it’s possibly a one-off huge haul of something we don’t want to be caught with.”
“What’s the cargo?” Olin asked.
“I don’t know and he wouldn’t say.”
“That’s bad.”
“Even worse, if we make it through once he’ll have his teeth into us and never let go. We’d be too valuable.”
“And if we get caught, we ride the long shuttle to Cardrak, the prison planet,” Paz said grimly.
“And he won’t do a damned thing to free us,” Misha added.
They were all silent for a few minutes. The timer on the wall ticked the minutes past.
Gabie chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully and then smiled slowly. No mistake, she wasn’t hugely happy, nor was she scared witless. Her father had brought her up with gumption and a spirit that refused to lie down and die under what would seem insurmountable odds.
She’d been amazed that Raznin had even let her go to think about things. That was a big mistake, thinking he could make her sweat for two days and finally come crawling back to him, too scared of losing her skin to refuse him. His arrogance was his downfall. There was no way in hell she was going to allow herself and her crew to be his fish food. There was only one thing to do, and that was to disable him and put him out of the picture without the suspicion coming back to her.
Olin was obviously thinking along the same lines because he looked at her and nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out. Tonight would be better, those in the know will be out and about.”
“Good. Misha can go as your back-up.”
“I don’t need back-up.”
“If you’re going into shady territory, you’re not going without back-up.”
“Misha would be better off staying here with you—”
“Nothing is going to happen to me on the ship, Olin. We have two days, he won’t come looking for me until then.” Gabie straightened. “Misha goes with you tonight.”
“And meanwhile we’ll try to think of a way to disable the ship without being discovered,” Misha said.
“That’s the spirit.”
“How can you be so cheerful about it?” Paz asked gloomily.
“Paz, sweetie, we have two days. That’s a chance. It gives us time. I’m not about to start mourning my death before it comes.”
“That doesn’t give me comfort.”
She patted his thin shoulder as she passed him to the door. “If we don’t come up with an idea to get rid of Raznin ourselves, then we might have to come up with another plan.” She grinned. “I have a few favours owed to me.”
“Favours that won’t bite you in the arse?”
“Hey, Paz, I do have some friends, you know!”
He sighed.
“Speaking of which, I want you to go with Misha and Olin tonight. While they’re looking for Olin’s goodies, you case the joints for signs of friends.”
“Be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Don’t be like that, Paz.”
He sighed again.
She might have to do some strong bargaining, but at least she knew some who would help her for the right price. But first they had to try and deal with it themselves. The less who knew what they had done—if they could do it—the better off they’d be. Knowledge was a dangerous thing, and that could always bite her in her ample arse later. Nope, much better to try it themselves first.
Meanwhile, she wanted to do a last check of the cargo to make sure it was all secured in case of a last minute, unplanned flight at a faster speed than normal.
It always paid to be prepared.
Walking into the cargo hold, she looked across the docking bay. The planet shuttle was gone, a good thing. Things were looking up already. And to make her day even brighter, Michel was heading in her direction.
She met him at the bottom of the ramp.
“Michel,” she greeted him cheerfully. “What a pleasure.”
“Your disc.” Michel handed it to her, his face set in lines of disapproval. “All in order.”
“Did you expect anything else?”
“Did you?”
Stepping back, she gestured to the cargo hold. “You want to have another look?”
“Gabie, one day you’ll make a mistake.”
“Oh, honey
, you’re worried about me. That’s so sweet.”
“Damn it, Gabie, I’ve known you since you were a puking babe in your aunt’s arms—”
“Hey, I might have been puking, but you were wetting your nappy.”
His mouth tightened. “One day, Gabie, you’ll get caught. I just hope I’m the one there at the time.”
“To protect me?” Gabie beamed at him. “You sweetheart! You do care!”
Michel was practically breathing fire. “This isn’t funny, Gabie.”
“Oh now, come on, honey. Why don’t you come in and have a nice cuppa with us? A hot mug of una to soothe your shattered nerves, or an icy glass of berry juice to sweeten your disposition?” She grinned widely, enjoying the frustration that crossed her old childhood friend’s face. “Or maybe you’d like to buy a trinket for your lady love? I have some gorgeous necklaces back here in the—”
Michel threw up his arms and stalked away in disgust.
Laughing, Gabie went back into the cargo hold. Yep, she felt a whole lot better.
~ * ~
Keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the Larceny’s crew, Shamon saw his chance when Olin, Paz and Misha left the ship and headed into the settlement. That meant Gabie was alone on board. Perfect.
Heddam grinned as Shamon strode past him down the ramp. “Want company?”
“I can handle her.”
“If you get scared, just contact me and I’ll come to the rescue.”
“That little wench is no threat, trust me.”
Heddam gave him an odd look. “Are you sure?”
“Aye. However, if I get scared I’ll scream, and then you’re free to come to the rescue.”
Crossing the docking bay, Shamon noted that four more spaceships had docked. All was quiet, the ramps down but invisible security shields no doubt locked into position. Only the crew’s body pattern was locked into the ships’ security shields, and no one else could enter the ship unless their body pattern was entered into the security system. It was an effective method.
He felt the resistance of the Larceny’s security shield as soon as he came to within a foot of it. As expected, the little viscomm camera just inside the cargo hold slid out on a small lever and swivelled around. Coming to a stop on him, it dipped slowly up and down as though weighing him up, a move not needed at all. No doubt Gabie was operating it.
He should have guessed. Amused, he grinned at the camera.
“Well, Shamon. What could you possibly be wanting?” Gabie’s cheerful voice came over the communicator. “Here to buy some goods? Do a bit of trading?”
“Oh, I’m here to discuss business with you, ’tis right.” Oh aye.
“Really? My heart pounds.”
The wench had no idea. Shamon smiled calmly up at the camera.
“Look, I’m a bit busy—”
“’Twon’t take long, lass.” Just all night. And if not tonight, then another night very, very soon.
There was silence for several seconds and then she said, “I’ve entered your body pattern into the security shield. Come on up. I’ll be in the dining cabin.”
Entering the cargo hold, Shamon cast a quick glance around. Everything looked so neat, so empty, but the cupboards he just knew held contraband. Taking the steps three at a time easily, he soon came out into the main part of the Larceny. Nowhere near as big as the Daamen trade ship, it had a big cargo hold on the bottom, and the second floor housed the control cabin, dining cabin and crew’s cabins. Very plain layout, like a thousand other spaceships, but the décor was a little more intriguing.
The control cabin was the usual at the front of the ship, he saw as he came out of the stairwell. Console before the space shield, the rollback shutters open. Two chairs before the console. Radar screen and galaxy map on the wall, the little lights different colours for different planets, possibly according to what Gabie did there. From the roof in the middle of the cabin hung a trinket of some kind. A photo image of a half-naked, mohawked, albino male was fastened on one wall. Someone had drawn a moustache and little goatee on his face. In the corner to the left of the door was a photo image showing Gabie and her crew arm-in-arm with a load of peacekeepers. It was more than obvious a fake, whoever had made the image hadn’t even bothered to fade out the adding-lines. Someone with dubious artistic talent had used a marker to change the grim faces of the peacekeepers to huge smiles.
Shamon shook his head and continued walking.
From the control cabin a corridor ran, the tiles a soft grey. A line of pale pink, almost white, tiles bisected the grey halfway up. Photo images were hung here and there on the walls, mostly people and animals. The people looked to be different family members, he could see the resemblance to some of Gabie’s crew in a couple.
The crew’s cabin doors were opened onto the corridor, except for one near the end. The cabins were basic—bunk, little table, chair, built-in robe and a door in the back leading to private shower and toilet. But the rooms reflected the occupants.
Paz’s was easy to spot. The first on the left, it had photo images of shapely wenches scattered on the walls, and a huge world globe spun in the centre of the room. Handtronic games were scattered on the table. Several model spaceships hung from the ceiling. His bunk was unmade.
Olin’s cabin on the right was comfort personified. Big pillows on a bunk which was piled high with covers in odd shades. On the table were several books and a mug. On his wall was a photo image of a group of some kind. Family, mayhaps?
Misha’s cabin was next on the left, recognizable from the photo image of two older albinos, mohawked people taking pride of place on the side wall. The close resemblance shouted ‘parents’. The scent of incense wafted from the room, and he recalled that she always had a scent of incense about her. A rich red satin quilt covered her bunk. On the little table stood something strangely vase-like, from which a curl of scented incense floated.
Next to her cabin was another one, the door partially open, and opposite that cabin was a fifth cabin with the door completely shut. He didn’t get to study inside them, which was a bit of a disappointment because one of those cabins was undoubtedly Gabie’s.
But disappointment slid away when he looked into the dining cabin on the right. Like so many spaceships, it had a table on the left with fixed chairs, and on the right was a relaxing area equipped with a big sofa—interesting—and several armchairs. Instead of a low table, the sofa and the armchairs had individual little tables attached to the sides, which were now folded down against the sides of the chairs. A medium-sized screen was built into part of the side wall. It was a game screen. No doubt Paz whiled away quite a few hours there during flights. And the others, possibly.
Shamon noted it all in one glance around, for his main attention was focused on the figure partially bent over a bench near the wall on the left. The panel on the wall above the bench was open and Gabie was typing onto the tiny keyboard set within the panel.
Her back was to him but he had a good view nonetheless. Up on tip-toe and with one hand leaning on the bench, her other outstretched as she looked up, she continued typing, the lines of her body from the back his to study as he moved forward silently.
She was all soft curves. The shirt she normally wore untucked was lifted at one side, baring to his eyes an indented waist before the swell of hips that led down to shapely legs encased in pants which were tucked into low-heeled, black boots that came up to just below her knees. Her bottom was rounded and he itched to trace his palms over the ample curves. He did like a voluptuous wench.
Muttering to herself, she bent down to study the screen of the handtronic lying on the bench in front of her. That enchanting ponytail bobbed with every movement. So caught up in what she was doing, Gabie had no idea he was in the dining cabin yet. How nice. Anticipation curled through Shamon. This would be fun... in so many ways.
Coming up behind her, he looked down upon the shiny hair, imagining how silken it would feel against his bare skin. His loins tightened. F
irst things first.
He moved fast, leaning down over her and slapping his palms down on the table one each side of her own hands. He was big enough that he could lean over her without quite touching her, but the warmth from her body seeped through into his, and her faint sweet fragrance tantalized his senses.
Shamon sure felt her when she jumped and tried to straighten up, her back thudding against his chest and her generously curved bottom pushing back against his groin, making thick heat swirl through down from the pit of his stomach to curl low around his groin. He sucked in a breath and nearly got a mouthful of hair as that cute little ponytail brushed across the lower part of his face.
Unable to straighten Gabie tried to turn quickly but was unable to do so with his body caging her in. She was almost a little panicky, and Shamon was about to step back and apologize for scaring her when she caught sight of him and rolled her eyes. Leaning back on the table, she continued to gaze over her shoulder at him. Not an ounce of fear was reflected in those bright green eyes now.
“Cripes, you need to learn the proper way to approach people, Shamon,” she chided him. “This is not the way to discuss business.”
Relaxing again, keeping her caged in his arms, he raised one brow at her. “No other wench has every complained before.”
“I’ve no doubt, but I’m not an other wench.”
Shamon was more than aware of that little fact. No other wench had made him so hot and bothered, and he’d certainly never pursued one as he did Gabie. “So I see.”
“So if you could just let me up.” She gave his abs a little jab with her elbow. “We can discuss business. Though goodness knows what you Daamens would want with me.”
“Only one Daamen wants to talk business with you, lass, and ’tis me.”
“Really?” She grinned. “Wanting to join my crew?”
“Correction. I’m waiting to join with you.”
She stared at him for a few seconds while a delicate little pink blush filled her sweetly rounded cheeks. Shamon’s gaze dropped to her lips, which had parted slightly in surprise, and heat flushed low at the thought that he’d won the right to explore the moist warmth beyond at his leisure. And he would... thoroughly.
Heart of a Smuggler Page 10