Star Scavenger: The Complete Series Books 1-5

by G J Ogden

  “Are you going to toss me one of those?”

  Hudson looked around to see Tory perched on one of the rocks behind him. He hadn’t considered stealth to be one of the brash mercenary’s core attributes, but she had snuck up on him with ease.

  “How do you like the Orion?” Hudson replied, holding up a bottle. Tory took it and slipped down by his side against the rock.

  “It’s a good ship,” Tory answered, taking a swig of the beer.

  Hudson waited for Tory to continue with a more detailed assessment, but it soon became apparent that, ‘it’s a good ship’ was the extent of her evaluation. “Well, I’m glad you like it,” replied Hudson, smiling. “The big question is, where do we take it next? You said you could find Cutler?”

  Tory took another swig of the beer then rested the bottle on her thigh. “We set up a few bolt holes dotted around the core worlds and portal worlds, where we could lay low if needed,” Tory began, staring off towards the sunset. “He could have gone to any one of them, but my hunch is that he’ll head back to Earth.”

  Tory’s answer surprised Hudson. “Why Earth, surely that would be one of the last places he’d go?” asked Hudson. “Especially with Commodore Trent putting out a warrant for his arrest.”

  “On the portal worlds, there are only so many places to hide,” Tory continued. “Scavenger towns and space stations are easy to search, and even if you hide out in the wilderness, eventually you have to surface for supplies.” Tory took another swig of her beer, then glanced at Hudson. “And Mars is no place for someone like him. If he can get to Earth without being detected, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

  Hudson nodded. What Tory had said made sense, but he still didn’t understand how Cutler could make it back when Trent was amassing an armada at Earth. “That’s assuming he can get to Earth undetected,” said Hudson, “so, I’m guessing he had a plan for that too?”

  Tory nodded, “He’ll have to ditch his ship first, and get a new one. Something unregistered and off-grid.”

  “The Gale Basin?” suggested Hudson, and Tory’s eyes widened. He was even sure he detected the hint of a smile.

  “You know the place?” asked Tory, while spinning the neck of her beer bottle between her fingers.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” replied Hudson, recalling the numerous times he’d been required to do courier runs to the decadent city. “The locals call it ‘The Scar on Mars’. Though, on second thoughts, it’s exactly the sort of place Griff would fit in.”

  “It’s run by the Council,” said Tory, taking another swig, then tossing the empty bottle onto the grass by her feet.

  “Sounds right up his street then,” said Hudson. He slipped her another beer without being asked, and she took it. “Lots more shady assholes for him to mingle with.”

  Tory shook her head, “The Council are looking for Cutler and Griff, because of New Providence,” she said, again playing with the neck of the bottle. “And they’re looking for me too. They think we double-crossed the Council and helped Liberty to escape, after taking their money.”

  Hudson raised his beer bottle to Tory, like a salute. “Which you did. That’s something neither of us will ever forget, you know…”

  Tory sighed, but didn’t acknowledge Hudson’s gesture, or his admiration for what she’d done. “Being indentured to the Council is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.” Then she gave a little shrug, and added, “Well, perhaps apart from scum like Griff.”

  Hudson grabbed another beer from the ice bucket and popped off the cap. Something Tory said had made him think, and he realized how little he still knew about her. “It sounds like you have some personal experience of how the Council treats people,” he said. He was careful not to phrase it as a question, but leave it open for Tory to elaborate if she wanted to.

  There was silence between them for a time, while they both watched the sun drop lower over the horizon.

  “I was sold to the Council when I was eleven,” Tory said, taking Hudson completely by surprise. There was no strain in her voice, and her cheeks had not flushed a brighter color. She had said the words with no more difficulty than if she were reading a ship’s diagnostic report. “The Council has many uses for the indentured, but they realized that my particular talent was violence.” Then she looked at Hudson, and her eyes were even colder and harder than he was used to seeing. “They discovered this some years later, when I clawed the eyes out of one of their customers.”

  “Why?” said Hudson, too stunned to know what else to say.

  “Because he tried to use me for one of the other purposes that the Council has for those in their service,” replied Tory, before taking a casual swig from her bottle.

  “I’m sorry,” said Hudson, again at a loss for what else to say.

  “They were going to kill me, but I disarmed the guard and shot him first,” Tory went on. Hudson was surprised at her sudden frankness, and while it was tough to hear her story, he was glad Tory felt she could tell him. “Then I took his knife and killed the other guard. I was about to gut my bastard holder too, until Cutler stopped me.”

  Hudson almost dropped his beer. “Cutler was there?”

  Tory took another swig, and then nodded. “He was a hired bodyguard for the client at that time.”

  “Not a very good one, as it turned out,” said Hudson, still struggling to accept what he was hearing. “Why did he stop you?”

  Tory shrugged, “I never asked. But if I’d have killed my holder, the Council would likely have just stormed the room and gunned us both down. Maybe he saw it as the only way to save his own ass.”

  Hudson laughed under his breath, “He does have a talent for self-preservation, I’ll give him that.”

  “As a reward for saving my holder’s life, the Council handed my fate to Cutler.” She had already almost finished her second beer. “I said I’d rather die than be owned by anyone again, and I was ready to go down fighting. But instead of killing me, or choosing to own me himself, he offered to buy my release,” Tory continued.

  Hudson was beginning to understand the relationship between Cutler and Tory, and why Tory had been so reticent to abandon the mercenary.

  “The client was incensed; he wanted me to suffer for what I’d done,” Tory went on, still talking freely and without emotion. “He took the knife that I’d used to kill the guard and came at me.”

  “Then what happened?” said Hudson. He was almost reticent to hear more, but morbid curiosity got the better of him and he had to know.

  “Cutler killed him,” replied Tory, briefly meeting Hudson’s eyes. “The Council saw it as a just intervention, considering they had given Cutler the power to decide what happened to me. It only served to enhance his reputation in their eyes.”

  “So, Cutler set you free instead, and you felt indebted to him?” suggested Hudson, taking a guess at the next part of her story.

  “Cutler is many things, but a fool he is not,” said Tory, though this time Hudson could detect a hint of resentment in her voice. “In his line of work, someone like me would prove to be very useful,” she added, a little more sullenly. “I owed him, and doing the jobs he needed seemed better than being dead. At least I was free.” Then she tossed the second empty bottle to the ground and held Hudson’s eyes. “I told you I was someone you don’t want to know. Now you understand why.”

  Hudson looked back to the horizon, stroking his thumb across his chin idly, as he let Tory’s words filter through his mind. Then he turned back to her and smiled. “I never thought you were a saint, Tory,” he began, “and I couldn’t begin to understand the life you’ve had. But whatever you were; whatever they made you – that’s not who I see. And I never have done.” He smiled and raised his bottle, “Now, you really are free. Free to be the person you want to be. The real Tory Bellona.”

  “Griff always did say you were a dumb rook,” replied Tory, her expression as inflexible as iron.

  Hudson scowled, “Hey, that’s a low blow!
” he complained. “I was being nice.”

  “I’m not used to people being nice.”

  Hudson took another beer from the cooler, and offered it to her. “Well, you’d better start getting used to it.”

  Tory laughed, but rather than her usual cruel or derisive laugh, this one seemed natural. It was a shock to hear Tory laugh this way, and it changed her entire visage. It was a good look on her, Hudson thought, smiling.

  Tory took the beer, before adding, a little more playfully. “Are you trying to get me drunk, Hudson Powell?”

  “Not with this piss-water,” laughed Hudson. “But you’ve drunk all of my whisky already.”

  Tory smiled, and in that brief moment, it was like she was a different person; someone not weighed down with years of heavy baggage. Tory popped the cap off the beer, took a swig, then handed it back to Hudson.

  Hudson took a sip and then, emboldened by Tory’s sudden candor, tried his luck with another question. It was one that had been at the back of his mind ever since their encounter in the medical bay.

  “We never talked about that kiss,” he said, offering the beer back to Tory.

  “What’s to talk about?” she replied, taking the bottle from Hudson’s hand.

  Hudson shrugged, realizing he hadn’t the faintest idea what he expected Tory to say. Or even what he hoped her answer would be. Then he threw up a hand and said, “I guess I’m wondering if you’re going to stick around long enough for there to be another one.”

  Tory grabbed Hudson’s jacket, pulled him closer and kissed him again. Just like the first time she’d done it, he was totally unprepared. And, just like the first time, someone arrived to interrupt them.

  “My apologies,” said Morphus, standing just behind the rocks. Hudson recoiled, wondering just how long the alien entity had been standing there, watching. “I did not mean to intrude in your pre-coital mating ritual.”

  Hudson practically fell over backwards. “Pre-coital what?” he stammered, feeling his cheeks burning. “No, we were just… well, we were…”

  “Yes, you did interrupt our pre-coital mating ritual,” said Tory, completely straight-faced. Hudson’s mouth fell open, but Tory was too focused on Morphus to spot it. “So how about you get to the point, lady? Quickly…”

  Morphus raised its eyebrows in what was a perfect simulation of an affronted expression. “Very well, I came to discuss your next steps, once I depart for the Revocater with the Liberty Devan and Tobin Rand entities.”

  Tory shrugged, “The next step is we get the crystal back off Cutler, right?” she replied, before adding, “after I tear his throat out.”

  Morphus frowned. “The latter element is unnecessary, though it would not affect the outcome of our present undertaking,” it said, with a coldness only Tory could match. “However, we must consider the possibility that the crystal is lost, or cannot be retrieved.”

  Hudson stood up and brushed the loose grass from his pants. His face still felt hot, and he tried to ignore it, but he couldn’t shake Tory’s ‘pre-coital’ comment from his head. “If we can’t retrieve the crystal then what else can we do?” he asked, realizing he’d never even considered the possibility they might not get it back. “I thought you said they were all destroyed?”

  “That is correct,” replied Morphus, “but in the same way Goliath has repaired its crystal, there is a way to recombine a crystal from fragments that may still be found on the crashed Revocaters.”

  “How?” asked Hudson, but then another thought popped into his mind, distracting him from their current conversation. “Wait, if you’re here then who’s watching over Liberty’s augmentation?”

  “The modifications to the Liberty Devan entity are complete,” Morphus replied pointing to its ship. Hudson then saw Liberty and Tobin approaching. “The augmentation was successful.”

  Hudson watched as Liberty got closer, noticing that her hands seemed to be shimmering. It reminded him of how Morphus looked, when it transformed into its more fluid-like form.

  “Will she be okay?” asked Hudson, “She’s… kinda glowing.”

  “She will be fine,” replied Morphus, with a stillness that made Hudson feel more assured.

  “Seems like you got the party started without us,” said Tobin, pointing to the beer cooler. “Mind if I grab one?” he added, walking around the rocks and helping himself. He popped the cap off, gave the bottle to Liberty, then grabbed another for himself.

  “So, when do we all head out?” asked Liberty, before raising the bottle to her lips. She was then momentarily distracted by the soft, iridescent glow emanating from the skin on her hands.

  Morphus thought for a moment, then said, “There are still matters I need to discuss with the Hudson Powell and Tory Bellona entities, but I interrupted them. We must let them complete their sexual coupling first.”

  Liberty spat out the beer in a wide spray and coughed harshly, thumping her chest. “Their what!?” she cried out.

  “Severed coupling!” Hudson blurted out, “Morphus said we need to complete some repairs to a severed coupling.”

  Liberty frowned and glanced at Tobin, who was clearly trying his hardest to keep a straight face, but failing miserably.

  “Yes, let’s go and sort out that coupling,” said Tory, turning and walking towards the Orion, before shooting a quick glance back at Hudson.

  Hudson’s eyebrows hit his hairline. Then he jabbed a thumb in the direction of Tory, and started to slink away after her. “I’d, erm, better go and give her a hand.”

  Liberty scowled again, looking utterly confused by Hudson’s odd behavior, but then she shrugged, and said, “Fine, I’ll help.”

  Liberty took a step towards Hudson, but Tobin was quick to intervene. “I think you need to rest after the augmentation, isn’t that right Morphus? I’m sure they can handle it on their own.”

  Morphus also frowned, while trying to judge the meaning of the many facial expressions, mouthed words, and head shakes that Tobin was shooting in its direction, unseen by Liberty. Eventually, the alien seemed to comprehend.

  “That is correct, Liberty Devan entity,” said Morphus, sounding even more artificial than usual. “It is important that you rest. The Hudson Powell and Tory Bellona entities can manage this coupling by themselves.”

  Liberty’s scowl deepened, and there was a momentary silence, before Tobin suddenly burst out into fits of giggles.

  CHAPTER 23

  Alien drones from Morphus’ vessel buzzed around the Orion like bees around a hive. They had been working for the last hour to retro-fit the VCX-110 with additional enhancements to its propulsion systems, armor and weapons. It still looked like the Orion on the outside but, bit by bit, the ship that Liberty had rebuilt in Swinsler’s shipyard on Earth was becoming something else.

  It was a transformation not unlike his own, Hudson mused, as he watched the drones working. On the outside, he looked the same and still wore the same clothes. This included Ericka’s leather jacket, with the bullet hole in the chest, which served as a constant reminder of his journey. Yet on the inside, Hudson had changed and grown more in the last year than in the last decade. He’d gone from a gigging, freelance courier runner, lost and directionless, to a disgraced RGF cop, to a relic hunter. That would be dramatic enough on its own, but events had conspired to throw him into the center of a galactic conflict. Somehow, he was now allied with an alien AI on a mission that could decide the fate of the entire human race.

  His father’s words echoed in his mind again: ‘Son, I wish you’d do something that you actually gave two shits about. It doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure it matters to you, okay?’ Hudson laughed, wondering what his father would make of him now. However, he had also come to realize something important; it wasn’t what he was doing that mattered to him – it was who he was with. Liberty was family. Tobin was like the kid who was trying way too hard to impress her, but had a good heart. And Tory? He wasn’t sure yet what she would do, assuming they could take down
Goliath. All he knew is that he wanted her to stay.

  Morphus walked up behind Hudson and held out a datapad. Hudson took it, noticing it was one from his ship, but that it had also been ‘augmented’, to use Morphus’ own language.

  “I have created a map of the Revocater and stored it in this device,” Morphus said, also turning to watch the drones work. “Do you wish to go over the plan one more time?”

  Hudson switched on the datapad and marveled at the intricate detail of the model Morphus had created. “Thanks, but no. I think it’s all pretty clear,” he replied, noticing that a small section of the Revocater had been highlighted in red. “Is this the part of the ship we need to reach?” he added, zooming in on the area in question.

  “Yes,” Morphus replied, without actually looking at the datapad. “That is where you will find whatever remains of the Revocater pilot, and the crystal recombiner.”

  The crystal recombiner was the name Morphus had made up for the device they needed, assuming they failed to recover the original crystal. Installed into the prototype Revocater, it would allow for a new crystal to be fabricated from a sufficient quantity of fragments.

  Tory walked down the rear cargo ramp of the Orion and moved to Hudson’s side. “I’ve never seen that part of the ship before,” she said, studying the diagram. “That section was always either collapsed, or the corridors were too narrow to get down, even for remotes.”

  Morphus held out its hand, which suddenly shimmered and became molten. A few seconds later, it had returned to normal, but resting in the alien’s palm was a spherical metal object.

  “That’s a neat trick,” said Tory, as Morphus handed the object to Hudson.

  The navigation hub of the Revocater was sealed off from the rest of the vessel in order to protect it from direct bombardment,” Morphus said. “Our ability to alter our form allowed the pilots to enter. For you to reach the chamber, you will need this.”