The Last Reaper
Page 25
A few minutes later, the man agreed with me that a fugitive like Slipdriver would say anything to stay out of jail. I got paid and I left. On the way out of the system, the Jellybird fired two rockets into the Iben IV communications relay.
“Send an apology and a promise to pay for the damages,” I said. “The good people of Iben IV didn’t deserve that inconvenience. This system really sucks space balls.”
“Agreed, Captain,” Jelly said.
X-37 disapproved of my generosity. “You’re getting soft.”
“Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf.”
“Reapers are known to be recidivists. That’s why the Reaper Corps was eliminated.”
“Am I the last of us?” I asked.
“Unknown, but there were three including you when you were sentenced and I stopped receiving updates,” X-37 said.
I wondered who had survived. Not that we were a close-knit group. Partitioning was a big part of the RC. Thinking on this and other grim scenarios, I went to deal with the kid.
“She’s not going to like your plan for her,” X-37 said.
“Of course not.” I didn’t really give a shit at this point.
32
“Greendale is a nice planet,” I said, glad that her backstabbing, used-his-own-daughter-for-research father wasn’t here to chime in with his opinion.
“It’s not that green,” she said somberly.
I suspected she understood what was about to happen. Smart and street savvy, it was too bad I couldn’t take her with me. I mean, I could, but it wouldn't be fair to a young woman with a future. Going renegade had been a popular fantasy in the neighborhood where I grew up. I’d seen enough to know how dangerous and miserable the career actually was.
The planet we were landing on had some green areas. This time of year, it was mostly brown or yellow, but the name wasn’t a total lie. I’d been to Greendale once before to drop an information packet. Hadn’t killed anyone, which led me to remember the place fondly.
Maybe it was a cancer on the galactic slip tunnel system. I didn’t care and it wouldn’t change what I had to do anyway.
“You’re leaving me here,” she said, swiveling in the copilot’s chair.
“I know people here who can teach you things, basic skills if you want to stay on the run.”
“Why don’t you teach me?” she asked. “Why don’t you take me with you?”
“Because you don’t want that kind of blood on your hands. I made a list while I was stuck on death row,” I said. “There is going to be a reckoning.”
“Are you going to put a stop to people like my father?” she asked.
“Yes and no. A lot of people on the list just pissed me off. Bad service at a restaurant, beat me at checkers, basically everyone who needs to die.” I had the skill and the motivation to do anything I wanted. Including dominate at checkers.
“Be serious,” she said.
“I’m going renegade, but it won’t be like other renegades,” I said. “You don’t want to be part of my fight with the Union.”
“You’re just like everyone else,” she said.
I laughed bitterly. “Kid, there’s no one like me.”
“You think you hate the Union more than I do.” She glared at me. “You think you’ve got a better reason.”
I leaned in close and spoke in a near whisper. “They killed my father and nearly everyone else I cared about. The only reason they left my mother and sister alive was so I’d worry about them.”
She didn’t know how to respond, choosing instead to glare at me like I was a total asshole.
“But you know what? I’m mostly angry at myself for not putting it together before now. They convinced me gangs did it, and I went vigilante. It felt good and taught me a lot about myself. They weren’t wrong to lock me up.”
Her expression changed, uncertain at my admission.
“I could take you with me and teach you things, but I wouldn’t be doing you a favor.” The last thing I wanted to do was ruin this kid’s life. “You want to take the fast lane to hell, then do what I do.”
“Whatever,” she said, looking away.
I landed the Jellybird and worked silently on the keyboard. I could’ve asked Jelly or X-37 to do most of the work, but I didn’t want to speak. That would only give Elise an opening for further conversation.
The ship was old, larger than it really needed to be, and lacking any type of aesthetic presentation. The exterior was three or four different colors, depending on how you classified primer gray, and the design hadn’t been popular for decades. In short, my ship was totally forgettable.
Elise kept up the silent treatment as I walked her down the gangway to the docking station. I bought her a cheeseburger and we watched ships land and take off while we ate.
“You’ll do fine on your own.”
“Fuck off,” she said, not bothering to look at me.
As I handed her a go-bag with not much in it, I nearly reversed my decision. She was probably the last person in the galaxy who would ever travel with me willingly.
“Keep your head on a swivel, kid.”
She turned and walked away.
“Fucking brat,” I muttered.
I left the Greendale system behind, burning more fuel than necessary with a hard acceleration.
“Jelly, let’s take the next slip tunnel to the Deadlands.”
“Right away, Captain.”
When the tunnel opened, I flinched. Why had I left a kid on a planet with only a few old soldiers to check on her? She’d give them no end of grief, probably hate them because they’d been my friends.
And when the Union came looking for them, they were the honorable types that would get themselves killed trying to defender her.
I had to put the Union down before that happened. With luck, they’d be too busy chasing me to look for the kid.
Yeah, right. That would work.
I pulled up a holo screen full of text.
“Looking for a job already, sir?” X-37 asked, finally dropping my name from his regular vocabulary. I didn’t like hearing it.
“We need a lot of repairs,” I said. “And a war against the Union isn’t going to pay for itself.”
“It might, Captain,” Jelly said.
“You have my attention.” I’d probably already thought of whatever Jelly was going to say, but I didn’t want to get caught up in rebel politics. Most of them were amateurs. Still, I had to keep an open mind.
“Mine as well,” X-37 said.
“My previous captains were very fond of stealing from the Union,” Jelly said.
“By previous captains, you’re referring to the ones who died on said raids?” I asked.
“Well yes, but they weren’t Reapers,” Jelly said defensively.
“Good point. But let’s start with an easy job to get warmed up and make some connections. Find me some alien kittens to transport or something.” I needed to recuperate and repair some shit. “Maybe there’s someone in this galaxy that owes someone else money. X-37 knows my CV.”
Several new pages of text rolled across the holo screen.
“Wow. Is there really this much need for cat smuggling in the galaxy?” I asked.
“You would be surprised, Captain,” the Jellybird said. “Shall I plot a course to a system with technology sufficient to repair the damage to your cybernetic systems?”
“You know of such a place?” I asked.
“I do, Captain. It is heavily guarded, however.”
“We’ll figure something out. Maybe I will just ask nicely.” I had ways of getting things done.
Hal, X-37, and Elise will return in Reaper’s Revenge, coming March 2019.
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Books in the Renegade Star Universe
Renegade Star Series:
Renegade Star
Renegade Atlas
Renegade Moon
Renegade Lost
Renegade Fleet
Renegade Earth
Renegade Dawn
Renegade Children
Renegade Union (Out Now!)
Renegade Empire (March 2019)
Standalones:
Nameless: A Renegade Star Story
The Constable (Feb 2019)
The Orion Colony Series:
Orion Colony
Orion Uncharted
Orion Awakened (Feb 2019)
The Last Reaper Series:
The Last Reaper
The Reaper’s Revenge (March 2019)
About The Authors
J. N. Chaney has a Master’s of Fine Arts in creative writing and fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. When he isn’t writing or gaming, you can find him online at www.jnchaney.com.
Scott Moon has been writing fantasy, science fiction, and urban fantasy since he was a kid. When not reading, writing, or spending time with his awesome family, he enjoys playing the guitar or learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He loves dogs and plans to have a ranch full of them when he makes it big. One will be a Rottweiler named Frodo. He is also a co-host of the popular Keystroke Medium show. You can find him online at http://www.scottmoonwriter.com