Pirates of the Dark Nebula (Hearts in Orbit Book 2)

by S. C. Mitchell

  Kyrk shook his head. “She’s two jumps and a couple hours out yet, but she sent her regards ahead. Got some really hot plans for you, as I understand it.”

  The Umberhulk’s nextgen tracking system must have found a way to back-track The Starboard Mist. But he had some time before they’d have to pull out. Maybe they could still get to Doctor von Alderamin.

  “So, tell me ‘bout this party you’re havin’.”

  Kyrk’s grin widened. “Things are going to get hot. A real blowout, if ya know what I mean.”

  Shit! Kyrk was here to blow up the station. The marshals must be ready to make a move against the Brotherhood of the Dark Nebula. Without this facility, the pirates would be crippled. “Yeah, think I’ll miss that, but I need a recommendation, if ya got it.”

  Kyrk shrugged. “I will if I can.”

  “I need to find a doctor. You know, make sure I have a little matter cleared up before that crazy girlfriend of mine gets here. Can’t get the rash to disappear an’ haven’t been able to track the cause.” Would Kyrk know where Doctor von Alderamin was being kept?

  “Ach, that’s nasty.” Kyrk took a sip from his glass. “You’re not going to find what you’re looking for up here on the platform anyway, though I hear Xio has an excellent medical facility in the Romcat district. They’ve a new system to make that kind of thing vanish usin’ some kind of re . . . tractor. Though I think they’d need to stick somethin’ up your ass.” He silently mouthed ‘teroid’ after.

  Okay, that was a stretch even for the looseform Code-Talk, but the message got through. Ian von Alderamin was being held in the Romcat district in Xio. And Kyrk was aware of the cloaking device, tractor beam, and asteroid avoidance devices. Leave it to Kyrklund Jameson to have his finger on the pulse of any operation. “I appreciate the news, brother.”

  “Hey, I’d have called off the party if I’d known you were going to drop by, but everything’s set. In less than an hour, this place is gonna rock.”

  Yeah, I’ll bet. “That’s one party I think I’ll skip. Not into that scene anymore.”

  Kyrk pointed to a short, blue glass filled with amber liquid. “I got ya that. Thought ya might need it. You don’t have much time.”

  Rik raised his glass and tipped it toward his friend. The alcohol slid down his throat, burning as it went. A zombie, just like old times . . . better times. “Stay well, Kyrklund.”

  “Oh, I will.” Kyrk threw him a sly wink.

  Rik stood, nodded, then turned toward the door.

  Kyrk was right behind him, and patted his shoulder as they walked. “And next time you come barging into my life, don’t you be forgettin’ you owe me a drink.” Despite the danger, Kyrk’s parting shot raised the corners of Rik’s mouth.

  He quickened his pace as Kyrk turned down another corridor. Less than an hour. He needed to get back to the others, and get the hell off the platform. At least he knew Ian von Alderamin was in the city-state of Xio.

  As he ran, Rik pulled the com unit from his belt. “Get everyone back to the shuttle now. I’m on my way.”

  “There’s some kind of alert, Miss Callista.” Harvey pointed toward the display screen. “It’s station-wide, but I don’t believe it concerns us.”

  The decoded message was garbled in sections, but she could clearly read the words ‘Explosive Charges.’

  Markus peeked his head through the doorway. “Someone’s coming.”

  The whispered warning sent butterflies fluttering in Luna’s stomach. Rik? Someone else? Gods, she hated this.

  Markus and Carter backed into the room, blasters drawn. Carter pushed the button to close the door. “More than one someone coming,” the big man said cocking his head, “and it’s not Captain Mazar. Maybe they’ll pass.”

  The heavy tromp of boots echoed in the hallway outside, growing louder.

  A commanding voice rose above the din. “No. Check everywhere. Every frackin’ room down here.”

  Luna’s com unit buzzed. “Get everyone back to the shuttle now. I’m on my way.” Rik’s tone sounded harried.

  Markus’s fidgeted, the blaster in his hand shaking. “Frack, now what?”

  Carter seemed calmer. He took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. “I’m going to try and pull them away. You guys get back to the shuttle.” He hit the button to open the door. “I’ll try to double back, if I get the chance.”

  He bent through the doorway and fired two shots down the hall then sprinted away in the opposite direction.

  “Carter,” Luna hissed, but Markus silenced her with a finger to his mouth.

  The little man motioned her and Harvey toward the corner of the room as he switched off the lighting and pulled her deep into the shadows.

  The approaching footsteps grew louder. Three people at least, possibly more.

  “He came from in here.” The voice was high-pitched, anxious.

  Two more shots rang out.

  “Ugh.” It sounded like a body dropped to the floor. More blaster shots.

  “There he is.” That voice was deeper.

  The footsteps in the hall quickened now, into a run. They passed by the doorway and continued on.

  Luna expelled a long breath.

  More shots rang out. Each exchange seemed to get farther and farther away from them.

  Markus edged toward the door. “Brave man,” he whispered, peeking around the doorframe. “It’s clear. Let’s get back to the shuttle.”

  “But, Carter . . .” Luna could scarcely breath.

  Markus looked back at her, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t let the man’s sacrifice be in vain.”

  Rik breathed a sigh of relief when the shuttle came into view. Just fifteen minutes remained of the hour Kyrk had given him to evacuate the station. His route back to the shuttle had been blocked by groups of patrolling pirates. It had taken time and pains to avoid them.

  Are the pirates aware of Kyrk’s little party? Or is it us they’re after? Something was definitely up.

  Well, Jameson could take care of himself. Rik had enough on his plate. The timing of all this couldn’t have been worse.

  His boot steps echoed throughout the hanger as he hurried up the ramp into the shuttle. “We have to get out of here. The station is going to blow.”

  “Carter’s not back yet.” Luna’s wide-eyed look of horror sent a chill through Rik’s gut.

  He grabbed his com unit and jammed the send button. “Mr. Arcturus, get your ass back to the shuttle now. This station is going to blow in less than ten minutes.”

  Blaster fire punctuated Carter’s response through the com. “Not going to make it, Captain. Take off without me.”

  Rik’s hand slid to his holstered blaster. “Where are you, man?”

  The com went dead.

  Frack!

  He seated himself at the pilot’s station, but kept one eye on the exterior camera aimed at the hanger doorway . . . and waited.

  He could feel Luna behind him, her eyes also probably on the monitor.

  Markus stood at the open hatch, peering out.

  Rik tried to message one last time. “Carter. Carter!” The com unit remained unresponsive.

  They were cutting this too close. He didn’t have an exact countdown or any idea where the explosive charges were planted in the station. There could be one right here in the hanger bay.

  But Rik hated leaving someone behind. Come on, man.

  Movement in the doorway caught his eye. It wasn’t Carter.

  Five men with blasters drawn charged down the ramp.

  Damn it. “Mr. Stout, shut the hatch.” Rik punched the accelerator, sending the shuttle toward the exit while keying in the access code to open the hanger doorway.

  As the shuttle lifted off, explosions rocked the hanger. T
he men pointing blasters at them were thrown to the floor and fire belched through the access doorway behind them.

  But the hanger door continued to slide open. Bright flashes illuminated the portholes as the shuttle shot out into space.

  Silence filled the cabin. Sound waves didn’t travel through the vacuum of space. But the rear camera captured the space platform’s final moments.

  Explosions erupted throughout the structure, throwing debris in every direction. Scanning picked up only fifteen small ships rocketing out of the area. There had been hundreds of starships and shuttles docked at the facility.

  “Carter.” Luna barely breathed the name, but sorrow laced her tone.

  Rik glanced her way. Tears trickled down her cheeks, her chest heaved, but she stayed at her station, monitoring the data Harvey picked up while plugged into the platform’s network.

  Rage boiled in his gut. This was his fault. He’d brought them here—chosen Carter for this mission. Yet another stain on his dark soul.

  You’d think I’d be used to it by now.

  Chapter 11

  Xio’s spaceport, a clean, modern facility, bustled with activity. The ever-present tang of gandisol hung in the air, but scrubbers pumped masking fragrance along with pure oxygen into the landing area. The crowded walkways and terminals still made the air feel close . . . overused.

  Luna’s head spun as she exited the shuttle with Harvey and Markus at her sides. “So many people.”

  “More than I expected.” Markus’s grim face reflected his discomfort. “Maybe they were able to rescue people from airlocked chunks of debris. No doubt the explosion would have sent a hoard of ships up searching the destruction for any kind of bounty, and not all pirates are cutthroat enough to leave survivors behind.”

  The vast spaceport swarmed with people, some milling about, others moving purposefully, weaving their way through. A number of them did appear to be nursing wounds. Luna even noted some hovering stretchers transporting a few with crimson stains on bandaged heads or limbs.

  After making their escape from the exploding space platform, Rik had thought it best to waited a bit before landing on the planet, orbiting the world several times before descending into the cloud filled atmosphere. He didn’t want to appear associated in any way with the mishap but he also didn’t want to back to where The Starboard Mist lay hidden behind the moon.

  “We don’t want to draw any attention to her.”

  During their time in orbit, Luna also noted ships coming up from the planet to search the remnants of the platform and no doubt investigate what happened.

  If they found survivors, maybe Carter . . .

  She couldn’t pursue that line of thought. Didn’t dare dwell on the loss. It still hurt, despite the fact she hardly knew the man. He was one of us.

  Markus had used that time and the shuttle’s deepband com to contact someone he knew in the city-state of Xio. This person supposedly had special skills that would help them find Ian in the huge, domed city-state.

  A tall, pleasant-faced gangly woman stood at the bottom of the exit ramp, her arms wide as she bent down to hug Markus. “My little cockatoo. We meet once again. You look good enough to eat.”

  Her exotic, Ferang accent and colorful, beaded dress suited the bold, flamboyant way she carried herself. Each gesture appeared calculated to generate the most drama. The gray streaks in her hair gave the impression of a woman in her fifth or sixth decade, though there was a lively, youthful spring in her step and manner.

  “How are you, Magda? You’re looking good.” Markus’s tone was pleasant. “Come meet my associates.”

  Markus introduced Magda as an old friend from his traveling show. “Fortuneteller extraordinaire, and with enough foresight to know that old Rotund, our ringmaster, had it in for her.”

  Magda harrumphed. “How is the fat, old fool?”

  Markus shrugged. “Dying a little more each day.”

  She kissed the top of his head. “When he goes, and you take over the show, let me know. I’ll come back . . . for you.”

  There was real affection there, and Luna looked away to allow the two a private moment.

  A flash of light blond hair in the crowd to her right caught Luna’s attention. Those broad shoulders. The same color shirt he’d been wearing.

  Could it be?

  “Carter?”

  The noisy spaceport platform swallowed her shout and the man never looked her way in response. Is that actually him? She so wanted to believe it.

  “Carter!” She hollered as loudly as she could, but the man never turned, probably never heard her anyway, over the noise in the starport.

  Rik’s hand landed on her shoulder, startling her and breaking her concentration. “Carter?”

  Luna pointed, but she couldn’t locate the man again in the bustling crowd. “It looked like him. But maybe I’m just seeing what I want to see.”

  Rik scanned the spaceport platform, his eyes intense and focused. He wants it as much as I do.

  Sighing, Rik shook his head. “It shouldn’t have gone down like that. I understand the station had to be taken out. It will put the pirates back on their heels for a while. Our timing was just so incredibly bad. If only I’d known.”

  Regret showed plainly in his eyes. Luna put a hand to his cheek. “It’s not your fault.”

  Rik closed his eyes. “It’s the biggest problem with being deep undercover. I can only see my part of the mission. Kyrk could only see his. He had no way of knowing we’d be landing there when we did.”

  Another heavy sigh. “But that doesn’t change the fact that Carter’s loss is on me. I captained the ship, and led the landing party.”

  “We can still hope he escaped.” Luna knew her comment lacked conviction. Her view of the man in the crowd had been fleeting, inconclusive.

  The corner of Rik’s mouth twitched up. “Yes, we can hope.”

  Markus led Magda up the ramp to meet Rik, but the woman went wide-eyed when she saw him. “By the Hairy Hosts of the Hoganth, get back in the shuttle, you crazy fool. Hide your face, you can’t be seen here. They search. Oh, they search.”

  Her frightened tone sent a chill through Luna’s stomach.

  Despite the visored helmet Magda’d insisted he put on to cover his face, Rik kept a wary eye out as the group made their way through the starport toward the transport access station. Xio was a vast metropolis. The dome’s radius extended over two kilometers.

  It wasn’t that he expected to see Carter, though the man would have been a welcome sight. But there was something else. An expectancy. Concern in the eyes of more than one of the Xioans he passed.

  And he knew. Any rival faction could use the cover of the space platform explosion to launch an attack on Xio to take over its resources. It was always a possibility. Hell, Xio might, at this very moment, be launching its own invasion of one of the other city-states. The timing would be right. The factions within the Brotherhood were constantly looking for opportunities to up their holdings and influence. The leadership felt it kept the coalition strong.

  If you have a knife to your back you keep moving forward. The saying was repeated often within the Brotherhood. A weak faction could disappear overnight.

  Hovering autotaxis stood silently by, awaiting destination programming and a chip scan for payment. Once inside a car, Magda programmed in the route to her apartment. Rik pulled off the helmet and reached out to cover the cost with the sub-dermal finance chip embedding in his forearm, but the fortuneteller grabbed his wrist.

  “You want them to find you?” Magda covered the receiver with her own chip. “No one is looking for me.”

  Though she held his wrist securely, she patted the back of his hand with the tips of the fingers of her other hand. Like stroking a pet wiffleotter. Ugh.

 
Rik gently but firmly disentangled himself. “How do you know someone’s looking for me?”

  She huffed. “Two hours ago, the higher-ups posted your picture and a reward big enough to tempt a Slurgian butterslug to action.” She shook her head. “Someone named Zartos wants your head.”

  “Zartos?” If the man was revealing himself to the common folk, he was getting bolder . . . or desperate.

  Magda nodded. “Seems you took something.” Her gaze swept toward Luna, one shapely eyebrow arched. “Or someone, he wanted very much. Quite frankly, my first reaction to seeing you was to turn you in. I could certainly use the credits.”

  “Magda.” Markus’s plea was filled with emotion.

  “Just bein’ honest, lovie.” Mirth danced in her emerald eyes. “I do have the gift of foresight, you know, and as soon as I saw Rik’s true self, I knew I couldn’t betray him. He holds Magda’s destiny in his handsome hands. Destiny is worth more than any amount of credits.”

  Rik wasn’t buying the woman’s moontalk. It was clear she wanted something. Although, he’d be happy to play along if she could help. “So, where is your destiny going?”

  She gave him a coy look, then shot him a wink. “Well, handsome, that depends on what you’re looking for.”

  Rik sighed. This could get complicated. As if it wasn’t already.

  Magda’s apartment was small but cozy, cluttered but clean. Oddities lined shelves and decorated tables throughout the living area. Actual, living plants grew from pots and boxes lining every windowsill. Luna felt the hominess of the place right away. The air was fresher, cleaner in here than anywhere she’d been in the Dark Nebulan system.