No Quarter (Bounty, Book One)

by d'Abo, Christine

  Tossing the plates into the cleaning unit, the two men made their way to the front of the ship. Faolan felt himself relaxing for the first time in months, accompanying a man tasked with bringing him in if things went badly, no less. He couldn’t put his finger on it, what it was about Gar that let him take the edge off and be himself. Certainly not the young man’s reputation—he was no less a killer than Faolan.

  More like they were kindred spirits who’d finally found each other.

  “I promise the jump will be much smoother this time.” Gar worked his sleeves down his arms as he lowered himself into the pilot’s chair. “While you were resting I took some time to make a few calibrations. No more banging of your head.”

  “Thank the Gods. I was going to complain to your boss.”

  Gar rolled his eyes, a reaction Faolan now realized was the young man’s true personality coming through and not the image he wanted to project. He liked it. It made him wonder what other idiosyncrasies Gar the man had. It was almost a shame he wouldn’t be around long enough to find out.

  “Only one jump after this until we get to my ship. Then you can see for yourself the power of this stone. Jason will be all over me to have a chance to get it in his possession.”

  Gar turned his head, the look of relaxed amusement stripped from his face, to be replaced by an emotionless mask.

  “I’m sure he will.” Gar sat rigid in his seat. “Please strap yourself in, Captain. We will be jumping in a minute.”

  Faolan opened his mouth, but for once in his life he was at a total loss for what to say. It was like a cyber morphing blanket had been placed over Gar, completely changing his personality. The walls were back up, with no sight of the young man who he’d just shared a meal with. Instead, Faolan moved by rote and prepared for the jump. Why Gar’s rapid personality change should bother him was a mystery. He wasn’t here to make friends or find a life partner. This was about money, security and his health, nothing more.

  If Gar wanted to keep things professional, then he would too.

  “Dimension gate jump in three, two, one, jump.”

  Faolan took a deep breath and tried to relax his body as Gar tapped in the commands and maneuvered the Geilt where it needed to be. The guide beacons flashed red, then green before the computer chimed everything was ready. The world shrank once again. No matter how many times Faolan lived through the event, there was something about a jump that made his head spin and his stomach flip. It wasn’t normal, no matter how his medic tried to convince him otherwise. He’d gone so far as to ask Mace if she felt the same, but she’d simply rolled her eyes and called him a baby.

  Maybe he was, but it still didn’t feel right. It hadn’t always been this way which meant it was likely another symptom.

  The ship lurched back into real space only moments after they had left. Faolan barely had time to blink when laser blasters pummeled the side of the Geilt.

  “What the fuck!” Gar’s shout echoed in the small space, but served the purpose of kick-starting Faolan into action. “Did you plan this, Wolf?”

  “Like I’d set up the ship responsible for my safety. I’d have at least waited until I got you to my ship.” Faolan jumped forward and frantically typed a search command into the weapons grid. “Shit. I can’t get a transponder signal on these bastards.”

  “Pirates?” Gar slammed the Geilt hard starboard and somehow managed to dodge a barrage of missiles.

  “No one I know. Loyalists?”

  “Probably.” Gar growled, smashing his hand hard against the console. “Fuckers are jamming me.”

  “Shit.” Faolan’s mind raced as he tried to work out a plan. The Belle Kurve was too far away to be of any assistance and if it really was a Loyalist attack crew, then the authorities would be no good to them. “What region of the sector are we in?”

  “Clax’mont. Why?”

  Shit, we might be able to pull this off and get out of here in one piece. “There is a planet near the edge of this system. It has five moons and a shitload of space debris. Head for it. Here are the coordinates.”

  Gar punched the numbers into the system. “What are you going to do?”

  “Buy us some time. I hope. Weapons?”

  “Laser cannon in the back and a pile of shields. I’m built for speed and stealth, not firepower.”

  “I could have told you that, darling.” Faolan winked. “Be back soon.”

  Grabbing Gar’s head, Faolan placed a sloppy, wet kiss on his cheek and dashed out of the room in the direction of engineering.

  “I’ll release the lock for you.” Gar’s voice was tinny over the ship’s intercom. “Cannon room is the second door.”

  “Got it.” Faolan prayed the few hours’ rest he’d gotten would be enough to keep his eyesight sharp and his aim deadly. He really wished he’d put his boots on now.

  The cannon controls were as basic as they came. A bank of monitors lined the small room, shouting out the array of the enemy fighters’ approach vectors. Falling into the chair, Faolan threw on the fire control visor and waited while his field of vision morphed into a three-dimensional view of the space around the outside of the ship. Computerized replicas of the enemy vessels buzzed in and out of his periphery, their image projections flickering slightly as the ships pitched and rolled.

  “Okay, Gar, we’ve got five attackers on our tail. I’ll lay down some cover fire for us until you can get me close to that debris.”

  “Then what?” It was odd hearing Gar’s voice in his ears while looking out into the vastness of space.

  “Then I’m going to blow some shit up.”

  “What?”

  “There is prymalin in those rocks. They used to mine it in this sector before the big cache was found over near Veena.” The ship shuddered as a laser blast pummeled the side of the hull. “Now stop talking and start flying!”

  The Geilt lurched hard to the starboard, bringing Faolan’s cannon tracking in line with two of the other ships. He quickly got a lock on the closest one, sending a blur of lasers flying toward it. He landed a hit to that ship’s front engine, halting its approach down to a crawl.

  “I thought you liked the sound of my voice? One minute you’re begging me to talk, the next you’re telling me to shut up. Fickle, Captain?”

  Faolan chuckled. “Note to self, Gar gets aroused and chatty when threatened. I pray to the Gods I don’t get trapped with you someplace we have to keep quiet.”

  A hard maneuver sent Faolan lurching in his chair. The back of his head was still a bit tender from the hit he’d taken in that earlier dimension jump and the additional smack did little to improve the situation. Growling, he opened fire on the next ship, this time landing a direct hit on the shield generator and creating an explosion that ripped the enemy apart.

  “I’m not chatty,” Gar replied. “Prymalin field coming up. I’ll open up the throttle and swing below it. Should give you enough time to blow it and for me to get my extra shielding in place.”

  “It will give them one hell of a light show. Let’s just hope there’s enough to blind them.” Another barrage of shots.

  “And not enough to blow us up in the process.”

  “Faith, Stitt. You need to have some. Go!”

  The world spun around as Gar increased the engine thrust, causing the Geilt to fly forward. Nausea caused Faolan’s stomach to roll and forced him to close his eyes. Shit, not now. He sucked in several deep breaths, trying to keep the contents of his stomach down and hoping he could keep everything else together long enough to get them out of this alive.

  “Faolan? We’re almost through the field. Fire!”

  Forcing his eyes wide, it only took a heartbeat for him to locate the largest of the derelict mining rocks, lock on with the cannon and fire. There was a brief pause where nothing appeared to have happened and then a blinding light shot from within the rock, quickly chased by a spray of shards that ignited until the chain reaction filled the blackness of space.

  For the five sec
onds he was able to see it, the riot of colors was the most amazing thing he’d witnessed in years. Regretfully, he closed his eyes and hoped there wouldn’t be too much damage to his corneas. Prymalin burned brighter than any other substance known to man and could easily blind a person if they weren’t shielded properly. The poor bastards attacking them wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “You okay?” The note of concern in Gar’s voice surprised him.

  That remains to be seen. “Are you kidding? I’m fantastic. Swing us around and I’ll get rid of these pests, then we can lie low for a bit.”

  There was a pause as Gar huffed. “Get ready for the pass.”

  Faolan ignored Gar’s annoyance and focused on the rapidly approaching ships. The remaining three were drifting, presumably due to the sudden blindness of their captains. After a few well-placed shots to disable their shields and engines, Gar and Faolan were free.

  “Get us out of here, Gar. It won’t take them long to get their scanners back online and start tracking us.”

  “I’ll take us to one of the moons. We’ll have to power down until the ship is ready to hit the next dimension gate.”

  “What do you want to bet they’ll have a nice welcoming committee waiting for us too?”

  “No doubt.”

  Faolan pulled off the visor and rested his aching head gently against the seatback. His stomach still rolled from the ship’s movement and his head now throbbed with pain. The good periods between his symptoms were getting shorter and shorter, and that was if he didn’t exert himself. He needed more rest, which was unlikely to happen given his current situation. Still, it couldn’t hurt to take a few minutes for himself. Closing his eyes, he let out a soft huff and tried to gather his strength.

  When a hand gently squeezed his shoulder, Faolan jumped, knocking his attacker down. He leapt forward and pressed his forearm into Gar’s throat, pinning his body to the floor before his brain caught up to what was happening.

  “Faolan,” Gar croaked out. “Let me go.”

  “Shit. Shit. Sorry.”

  He moved his arm away, but didn’t get off Gar. Instead, he braced his hands on either side of Gar’s head and fought to regain his control through the sudden adrenaline rush. Gar didn’t force him away. Instead he seemed content to watch Faolan, concern filling his eyes.

  “You okay?” Gar asked softly. He pressed his palm against Faolan’s cheek.

  “Will be. Just closed my eyes for a second there. Didn’t think I’d drifted.”

  “It was long enough that I got…well, you know.” Gar chuckled. “Guess that’ll teach me to sneak up on you. Eh, Wolf?”

  Lying on top of the younger man, looking down into those blue eyes, Faolan felt the now-familiar spark of attraction explode between them. The urge to lean forward and close the distance was too much for him to resist. Keeping his eyes open, Faolan lowered his head just enough to brush his lips against Gar’s. They were warm, moist and tasted of iron. The side of his nose rubbed against Gar’s as he pulled back, his skin tingling pleasantly in its wake.

  “You bit your lip,” Faolan muttered.

  “Nervous habit.”

  “Any other nervous habits I should be aware of?”

  Gar smiled. It wasn’t like any other Faolan had seen. This time the young man’s eyes sparkled and the tension eased from his forehead and neck. “One or two. But I’ll keep those to myself for the time being.”

  “I’ll have to see if I can figure them out. I like challenges.”

  Placing another quick kiss on Gar’s lips, Faolan pushed himself to his feet before holding out a hand to help Gar up. Firm fingers squeezed until both men stood face-to-face once more. Their eyes locked for a moment before the ship shuddered. A meteor bouncing off the shields, no doubt.

  Gar recovered first, letting his bland mask fall back into place. “I left us drifting in orbit around the third moon. Best if we get back to the cockpit and hide the ship in a crater or in a sensor blind spot. Gods only know who attacked us.”

  “I imagine they won’t give up that easily either. Lead the way.”

  “Can you get word to your crew? Tell them of the delay?”

  The idea of breaking communication silence didn’t sit well with him, but neither did the prospect of getting them blown the hell up. While there wasn’t an immediate threat, Faolan decided to play things safe. “They’re running dark. No way of getting through.”

  Gar snorted. “I find that hard to believe. You have a backup plan for everything.”

  Faolan was about to retort as they entered the cockpit when Gar stopped mid-stride. “What?”

  “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “I think…no, it can’t be.”

  “What?”

  Gar ignored him as he strode over to the small computer panel along the side wall. He listened to Gar’s muffled curses in a language Faolan could only assume was Zeten as he pulled up a stream of data from the ship. Frowning, Faolan stepped beside Gar, letting his hand rest on the other man’s shoulder.

  “Are those readings from the attacking ships?”

  “Bastard.”

  Faolan cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “Jason. That fucking bastard!”

  A very nasty realization hit Faolan. He knew the answer before he asked the question, could tell from the look of pure rage on Gar’s face. Still, he needed to hear it, needed to be sure before he took any action.

  “Tell me what those readings say.”

  Gar closed his eyes, the muscles in his jaw twitching from the pressure.

  “They had Jason’s transponder code hidden under a layer of garbage. I didn’t think of it in the heat of the moment. I only now remembered it was even there.”

  “Your boss tried to kill us?”

  Gar opened his eyes and glared at Faolan. “He’s a dead man.”

  Chapter Seven

  Gar had discarded his suit jacket several hours earlier and was now leaning shoulder-deep into the guts of the Geilt. Jason had sent a squad after him. Him! Those shots weren’t intended to scare Faolan into trusting Gar—a tactic they’d used on more than one occasion—but had been designed to blow him out of space.

  “What the hell are you looking for again?”

  Faolan had given up all pretense of helping about an hour ago and now stood propped against the wall, arms crossed and his gaze fixed on Gar’s ass—Gar had caught him staring more than once and the older man did nothing to hide his attentions, which wasn’t improving Gar’s mood.

  Squeezing his eyes shut, Gar silently counted to ten before standing straight and flashing Faolan a fake smile. “As I said, I’m looking for the tracker Jason put on my ship.”

  “Ah, right.” Faolan toyed with his chin. “And how do you know there is a tracker? I wouldn’t think you’d let anyone near your baby.”

  He wouldn’t. Not normally. No one other than prisoners and dead bodies were brought on board. Certainly no one was allowed to roam the halls. Faolan had been the one and only exception, which Gar now regretted.

  “It’s the only way for him to have found us. It’s not like I had the coordinates previous to you giving them to me.”

  “Not a chance he could have intercepted, oh, I don’t know, a transmission of the coordinates, say from your computer?”

  Gar’s already fragile hold over his temper shattered. He threw the electro-mag wrench against the wall and strode over to where the pirate stood. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you accusing me of something, Wolf?”

  Faolan held his hands up in mock surrender, but Gar could tell he was anything but intimidated. Anger floated beneath the surface of Faolan’s easygoing exterior and Gar knew it would take very little to push the captain over the edge. “I’m not accusing you of anything, Stitt. I just find the whole situation a bit…peculiar.”

  “Jason tried to kill me. I really don’t give a shit what you think. What I need to figure out is how he tracked me so I can find the bastard without h
im knowing I’m on the way.”

  Faolan didn’t move, his appraising gaze taking inventory of Gar’s reaction. He really didn’t care what the pirate thought of him. They were just stuck together until Gar could dump his ass somewhere and go after Jason. Shit, it would mean he’d have to go back to Zeten. His home world held very few good memories for him.

  “You might want to ask why Jason would try to kill one of the Guild’s best bounty hunters. You’re not the type of asset anyone would want to lose. What it means is the stakes are a hell of a lot higher than you thought they were.”

  “It doesn’t matter. He betrayed me.” The one man Gar trusted with his life had tried to end it. “No one does that and lives to tell the story.”

  Faolan nodded once, understanding clear on his face. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

  “You wouldn’t live long enough for the reminder to stick.”

  Smiling, Faolan pushed away from the wall and sauntered past Gar to the engine. “My earlier question still stands. How did someone get inside to place a tracker here? Wouldn’t an external one be easier?”

  “Not with my shields. They are passive-defensive when I’m in dock. A simple touch to the outside is fine, but if you try to attach something to the hull, you get zapped. The shields send out short-range, targeted EMP too. It disables anything electronic not flagged with my ship’s signature within a certain radius.” He paused. “No, the only way a tracker got on this ship is from the inside. Someone came into my ship and placed it here.”

  “You think Jason managed to do that when you weren’t looking?”

  It was hard to believe. Gar had always prided himself on the level of security of the Geilt—been obsessive about it if he were being honest. Jason had teased him more than once about his fussy nature. Sneaking a tracker into his home and rubbing Gar’s nose in it was certainly something Jason would do. The humor factor alone would be incentive enough for the older man.

  “I was on Tybal Station longer than anticipated. My information wasn’t as clear as it normally is. If he’d managed to get my security codes it wouldn’t have taken an operative long to get on board and place it. I have a normal maintenance schedule and wouldn’t have looked for anything before then.”