Star Scavenger: The Complete Series Books 1-5

by G J Ogden

  Liberty smiled, but the instant Hudson stepped over the door threshold, a riot of gunshots rang out. Hudson dove back inside as bullets ricocheted off the walls and deck.

  “Hudson!” Liberty cried out, and scrambled to his side, before hauling his body further into the safety of the storage bay.

  “I’m okay, Liberty, I’m not hit,” said Hudson, climbing to his knees. Then he quickly patted himself down to make sure. “At least I don’t think so.” Blood trickled from his head where it had scraped against the metal floor. He dabbed it with his hand, then he quickly peeked back outside. There were two men and a woman crouched at the far end of an adjacent corridor, steadily moving towards them.

  “We’ve got three angry hunters, moving this way,” said Hudson, drawing his pistol from the shoulder holster. “It’s around about now that I really wish you were armed,” he added. Then he glanced back and saw that Liberty had removed an object about the size of a sixteen-ounce coffee mug from the side pocket of her bag.

  “I may not have a gun, but there are other ways to arm yourself,” said Liberty. She then grabbed some strands of loose wire from inside a damaged panel next to the door.

  “What do you have in mind?” asked Hudson, as more bullets pinged off the deck. He leaned out and fired two shots, forcing the three relic hunters to take cover again. They were now about twenty meters from the storage bay door.

  “This is a power cell,” said Liberty, while wrapping the wire around part of the object. “I’ve bypassed its internal fuse, so when I short it, this thing will blow like a grenade, and kick out a ton of smoke.”

  “Are you sure a grenade is the most sensible plan right now?” queried Hudson. He was thinking about how the station was already seemingly on the verge of blowing itself apart.

  Before Liberty could answer, the floor and walls shook again, but this time the magnitude was severe enough to crack the deck and warp the walls. Hudson and Liberty grabbed on tightly to each other, as containers and parts of the ceiling tumbled down around them. When the quake subsided, they both looked up and saw fear reflected in one another’s eyes.

  “On second thoughts, throw the damned grenade!” cried Hudson, coughing and brushing dust from his hair.

  Liberty completed the short circuit, then immediately tossed the cell around the side of the door. They heard frantic cries of, ‘grenade!’ from one of the hunters, and then an explosion cascaded through the deck, though compared to the recent seismic quakes, it produced only a mild shimmy.

  “Go, I’ll cover you!” shouted Hudson, slapping Liberty on the back. He then watched as she charged out into the rising plume of smoke, staying as low as possible. Hudson followed close behind, aiming into the thick smog. Shots rang out and he dove to the deck, as more quakes, like aftershocks, started to shake the station. Hudson saw one of the hunters emerge from the smoke, weapon angled towards Liberty, and he fired instinctively, hitting the man in the leg. The hunter fell heavily, then was dragged back into the smoke, as if a monster’s tentacle had ensnared him.

  Hudson tried to get to his feet, but the deck was still shaking, making it almost impossible to maintain his balance. Liberty was already at the entrance to the next corridor, urging him on, but as Hudson staggered forward, one of the other hunters ran out and tackled him. Hudson fell and the pistol flew from his hands, spinning away in the direction he had been running. He took a punch to the ribs, but then fought back, as the hunter tried to wrestle his rucksack off him.

  “What are you doing?!” Hudson yelled, grappling the man to the deck. “This station is tearing itself apart. We have to get out of here!”

  The man steadied himself, resting on one knee with both palms pressed to the quivering deck plates. “I’ve risked too much coming here to leave with nothing,” he snarled. “Give me that bag, and we’ll let you leave unharmed.”

  The female hunter then staggered out of the rapidly dispersing cloud of smoke. She was trying to aim her pistol at Hudson, but the uneven motion of the deck meant that the barrel was waving around, as if she was drunk.

  “Just give us the bag,” the woman demanded, as another minor quake almost knocked her from her feet.

  Suddenly Liberty appeared out of nowhere, having sprinted the distance with the silent agility of a cat. The female hunter turned the weapon on her, but Liberty struck it from her hand. She then spun on her heels and drove a swift kick into the female hunter’s gut, sending her tumbling to the ground. There was another wicked shimmy, but Hudson managed to grab the male hunter, and use him as an anchor. The man squirmed under Hudson’s weight, then slid out from beneath him as the quake subsided. Hudson rose to his feet first, kicking the man in the face, as if he was attempting to score a field goal with his head.

  Leaving the dazed relic hunter trio behind, Hudson and Liberty darted for the corridor leading back to the Orion. Hudson saw his pistol on the deck and stooped down to collect it, letting Liberty draw ahead. He glanced back, seeing the hunters re-group and head off in the opposite direction. He smiled, then ran harder after Liberty, turning the corner seconds after she had.

  “It’s okay, they’re heading the other way!” he called out, but then almost crashed into Liberty, who was standing motionless in the corridor. Hudson barely avoided colliding with her, and was about to yell at her, asking why she’d stopped running. However, as his eyes flicked beyond Liberty to another trio of figures standing in the passage, the answer became clear. Blocking their path back to the Orion were Tory Bellona and Cutler Wendell. And they were accompanied by Logan Griff.

  CHAPTER 10

  Cutler Wendell stepped forward, maintaining a steady aim with his weapon, despite the now constant tremors that shook the station. He glanced down at the pistol in Hudson’s hand, then locked eyes with him.

  “Don’t try anything foolish,” Cutler warned, while switching his aim to Liberty. “I can kill the girl and wound you, before you could get a single shot off.”

  Hudson noticed Griff scowl at Cutler, then move to the mercenary’s side. He looked like he was about to say something to Cutler, but he held his tongue, and turned to Hudson instead.

  “We want the alien crystal, rook,” said Griff, also raising his weapon. “Just hand it over, and we’ll let both of you fly out of here.”

  Hudson shook his head, “What crystal? I don’t know what…”

  “Save it, rook,” Griff interrupted as another tremor forced them all momentarily off balance. “I know you have it. If we have to, we’ll kill you and search for it ourselves.”

  “Looks like you’ve already tried that,” said Liberty, noticing that the outer hatch light was green, indicating the hatch was unlocked. “But you won’t get it without our help, and we all know there’s no time before this station blows.”

  “Then we come with you,” said Cutler, again asserting control over the conversation. “Inspector Griff and I will accompany Mr. Powell on the VCX-110.” Then he aimed the weapon at Liberty again. “The girl goes with Tory, as insurance so that you don’t try to double-cross us.”

  “Like hell, I’m not going anywhere with that psychopath,” snarled Liberty. Suddenly, a sharp crack cut through the constant background rumble, as Cutler Wendell fired. The report of the weapon made Hudson jolt back in surprise, but he also instinctively knew what Cutler had done. Twisting sharply to face Liberty, his partner stumbled towards him and grasped his shoulders tightly. He felt panic grip his body as Liberty’s weight was transferred to him, and he saw blood running down her leg.

  “You bastard!” Hudson cried out, as Liberty pressed her hand over her wounded thigh, moaning through gritted teeth.

  “She’ll live,” snarled Cutler, his usually soulless expression betraying anger and resentment. “But unless you give me the crystal, the next bullet will be to her head.”

  “Back off, Cutler,” growled Griff, pushing down on Cutler’s arm to force his weapon down. “I told you, I want the girl alive.” Cutler brushed Griff off and pushed him back, before
again thrusting the weapon towards Liberty.

  “Now, Powell!” Cutler roared. “The crystal or she dies!”

  “Okay, okay!” Hudson yelled back. His eyes briefly flicked across to Griff, who appeared to be both stunned and furious at Cutler’s forceful dismissal of him. Glancing back to Cutler, it seemed clear that the mercenary had become unhinged. He had no choice but to do what he asked. “I’ll give you the damn crystal. But it’s on the ship, and there’s no time to get it now!”

  The fury had now surfaced fully from wherever Cutler Wendell kept his emotions locked away. It was seeping to the surface like pus from a wound, and there was no stopping its bitter flow.

  “Then time is up for your friend too…” Cutler sneered, before lifting his weapon and aiming it at Liberty’s head.

  A shot rang out and Hudson squeezed Liberty tightly, trying to shield her with his own body. However, neither Liberty nor himself was hit. Hudson glanced back and saw that Tory had deflected Cutler’s aim, pushing his hand up, so that the bullet hit the ceiling. Griff looked on, appearing as surprised by Tory’s intervention as Cutler was.

  “She’s not part of the agreement,” snarled Tory, with an icy assertiveness. “You’re losing focus. Kill her and our deal with Griff goes south, for me as well as you.”

  Cutler slapped her hand away and stepped back, glaring at Tory with feral eyes. For a moment, Hudson thought Cutler and Tory were going to come to blows, but before anything could happen, another quake rocked the station. This time it was powerful enough to throw everyone off their feet and to the deck. The corridor started to twist and buckle, and atmosphere began to bleed out of fractures in the walls. Then the station’s gravity failed.

  Hudson held on to Liberty and grabbed a torn panel of deck plating to keep them rooted, while Tory, Griff and Cutler were sent pinballing off the walls. Then as suddenly as it had switched off, the gravity generators kicked back in. Tory dropped the full height of the corridor, and landed heavily, while Cutler and Griff were spared harder falls. However, both men were still badly winded, and lay sprawled out on their backs.

  Hudson seized the opportunity and charged, drop-kicking Cutler Wendell in the back as he rose. The mercenary cartwheeled down the corridor, dropping his weapon in the process, before cracking his head against the deck. He climbed unsteadily to his feet, cast his eyes back to Tory, lying motionless on the deck, then to Hudson. Then he ran.

  “Coward!” roared Hudson, but then Griff pounced and struck Hudson across the face with the back of his fist. However, Hudson barely felt the impact. Adrenalin was now surging through his veins. Combined with his own rage at seeing Liberty get shot, it would take an army of Griffs to hold him back. He stepped in and hammered Griff with a succession of brutal punches to the head and body, sending him down again. Then, standing over his prone body, Hudson grabbed a tuft of his stringy black hair and forced Griff to look at him. Griff met Hudson’s gaze with bloodshot eyes, before Hudson pulled back his fist, ready to strike. He wanted to do it. He wanted to pummel the bastard so hard that his nose collapsed into his skull. Yet as the station trembled around them, Hudson hesitated from dealing the final blow.

  “You don’t have the guts, rook,” laughed Griff, spitting blood onto the deck. “You never did. You’re weak, and that’s why I’ll always beat you.”

  Hudson gritted his teeth and clenched his fist more tightly. It was taking everything he had not to smash Griff’s worthless face into the wall.

  “Hudson!”

  The cry came from Liberty. Still holding tightly onto Griff’s hair, Hudson looked back to see her limping towards him, using the wall for support. She had wrapped an emergency bandage around her wound. Hudson remembered that they’d carried them in their packs – another item that Tory had thrown into Hudson’s trolley in the Scavenger’s Paradise on Bach Two. He was glad Liberty had the presence of mind to use the emergency supplies. However, he also felt a sudden rush of guilt that he’d left her to fend for herself, while blind rage had compelled him to attack Griff.

  “He’s not worth it, Hudson,” Liberty said, as she got closer.

  “Listen to your pet, rook,” said Griff, smiling, but then a sharp jab from Liberty’s right hand silenced him.

  “You’re not worth it, because he’s a better man than you’ll ever be,” Liberty spat, glowering down at him. “One day you’ll get what’s coming to you, but we aren’t killers.” Then she looked up at Hudson, eyes imploring him. “Right?”

  Hudson dropped Griff, then picked up the RGF officer’s weapon. He applied the safety and slid it down the waistband of his pants. “That’s right,” he answered, though he was looking at Liberty when he said it, rather than Griff. Then Hudson took a pace back and kicked Griff further down the corridor. “Go on, get out of my sight, before I change my mind.”

  Griff struggled to his feet and staggered away from Hudson. “You’ll always be gutless, rook,” he said, wiping blood from his mouth. “Gutless and dumb. And don’t think for a second this is over.” Then Griff started to stagger away down the corridor, struggling against the now chaotic motion of the station, which was growing more unstable by the second. Hudson and Liberty watched him like hawks, until he finally rounded a corner and was gone.

  CHAPTER 11

  Hudson let out a weary sigh and pressed his hands to his hips. “Why do I get the feeling we’re going to regret letting that asshole go?” he said, before helping Liberty to the threshold of the Orion’s docking port.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have seen you pummel Griff into dust,” said Liberty, hobbling inside the ship. “But not killing him was the right thing to do.”

  Hudson nodded, “The right thing to do, but maybe not the smart thing to do,” he replied, ominously. Then he glanced back out into the corridor to make sure Griff was definitely gone, and his heart leapt as he spotted Tory still lying on the deck. She was moving, but appeared heavily dazed. Hudson turned back to Liberty and quickly checked her wound, which was no longer bleeding. “Can you make it to the cockpit, and get the ship ready to launch?” he asked, urgently.

  “I can, but why, where the hell are you going?” replied Liberty. Then she too saw Tory on the deck. She grabbed Hudson’s shoulders, holding him back. “Hudson, come on, we don’t have time for this!”

  Hudson darted inside, grabbed an emergency medical kit, then met Liberty’s despondent eyes. “What were you just telling me about doing the right thing?” he said, using Liberty’s own advice against her.

  “And what did you just tell me about the right thing not always being the smart thing?” Liberty replied, her responses, as ever, as sharp as her wits.

  “She saved you, Liberty, I can’t just leave her,” Hudson said, firmly. He’d made up his mind. Then he pointed to Liberty’s leg. “That bandage will clot the blood and stop any further bleeding.” Then he opened the medical kit and removed a jet syringe, before holding it up to Liberty. “And this will keep you on your feet till I can treat it more closely.”

  Liberty scowled at the device, then at Hudson, before shooting him a resigned nod. “Did I ever mention that Tory Bellona would be the death of you?” she said, as Hudson pressed the jet syringe to her neck. There was a hiss and Liberty flinched briefly as the drugs were injected into her bloodstream.

  “Yes, I think you did mention it, once or twice…” Hudson replied, smiling. Then his eyes hardened again. “Get the ship started, I won’t be long.” Then he turned to leave, but hesitated, and again met Liberty’s eyes. “But, if it looks like the station is going to collapse, and I’m not here, just go without me, got it?”

  Liberty grabbed a fistful of Hudson’s dark leather jacket, “Don’t be a moron, Hudson,” she replied. Oddly, the words came across with surprising tenderness. “I’m not going anywhere without you.” Then she pushed him away, out towards the corridor and Tory. “Now go help her, while there’s still time.

  Hudson nodded, then raced out into the trembling corridor, before sliding t
o his knees at Tory’s side. She was now on her back, holding her head, but appeared more alert. He quickly checked her over, finding no obvious broken bones, then opened the medical kit.

  “Tory, if you can hear me, I’m going to give you a shot,” said Hudson, preparing another jet syringe. “It will give you a sudden burst of energy and alertness, but will also leave you with one hell of a hangover…”

  Hudson applied the syringe and almost instantly Tory jolted upright, screaming like a banshee. She grabbed Hudson by the back of the neck, while pressing the palm of her hand to his throat. Hudson spluttered, but was unable to speak, and then Tory’s wild eyes recognized him, and she released her hold.

  “What happened?” asked Tory, squeezing her eyes shut from the pain. “Where’s Cutler?”

  “That cowardly piece of shit ran,” said Hudson. “He left you here to die.”

  Tory scrambled to her feet and looked around, before wincing again. “What the hell did you just give me?”

  “It’s called a concussion drug,” said Hudson, removing another item out of the medical kit. “I don’t know how it works; I just know it gets you off your ass faster than an ejector seat. The RGF trained me how to use them.” Then he pressed the second item from the medical kit into Tory’s hand. “When its effects wear off, take this for the pain and nausea.”

  Tory opened her hand and then shot a confused frown at Hudson. “Cutler left me here?”

  “Yeah, the guy is an asshole,” said Hudson, and then added, sarcastically, “Who would have figured?”

  “He wouldn’t have left me,” said Tory, shaking her head. She still appeared to be in a slight daze.

  Hudson held Tory’s shoulders, and she met his eyes, appearing more alert. “Tory, this station is about to rip itself apart, we have to leave,” he said. “Come with me, I’ll get you out of here.”

  Tory looked up at him, but then shook her head again. “No, I need to get back to my ship.” She pulled away from Hudson, and started to get her bearings. “He wouldn’t leave me.”