She only had a moment left before two of the men would force her out of cover, and the last thing she needed was to fight on somebody else’s terms. That was a surefire way to get killed.
As much as she hated wasting perfectly good and expensive pieces of equipment, she unholstered her spare blaster and set its power source to an overload cycle. The weapon hummed as it got hotter. A quick glance on her holo-map helped her determine the most efficient location where she needed to throw the blaster pistol.
“Bye, buddy; we’ve seen a lot, you and I, but I’m afraid it’s time to say goodbye,” she whispered.
She threw the weapon high above the crates and counted to three before exiting cover at the exact moment the blaster exploded a few feet from the approaching mercenaries. The blast acted as a flash-bang grenade giving Keera an extra couple of seconds to put her plan into action.
Temporarily blinded, the men discharged their weapons randomly toward the explosion, far away from Keera’s current location. Leaping from crate to crate like a black panther in the silent night, she positioned herself on higher ground, putting her in position to pounce on the unsuspecting prey.
“You’re gonna pay for this, bitch!” shouted one of the mercenaries, mushing his hands on his eyes as he desperately tried rubbing away the burning sensation.
That mouth; I guess you’ll be my next victim, then. Time to teach you some manners.
Stealthily, Keera dropped from above and planted her knee at the top of the man’s spine, while grabbing his arms to better control the rest of her fall. The man’s chest impacted with the hard floor, and Keera heard the crunching sound, as multiple bones broke, followed by a painful moan. She violently hit him in the head with the handle of her blaster. Blood sprayed as the merc lost consciousness. The second mercenary spun around in horror and aimed at her.
Keera reacted instantly and rolled out of the way of the merc’s panicked shot, causing him to miss. Instead, the bolt impacted his colleague’s back, leaving a small charred divot. Keera shot the blaster out of the merc’s hand the moment she ended her roll. The pistol blaster sparked as it flew in the air. Before he could grab his backup weapon, Keera darted forward and sent him crashing against the wall. She swiftly took a blade from her thigh stock and flung it, impaling the man through the shoulder.
A second later, she was upon him and grabbed his backup weapon, pressing it against his genitals.
The look of utter shock in his eyes made Keera smile.
“Please, don’t,” he said, desperation in his voice.
“Time to say goodbye,” she said, her tone icy cold.
“I take it back.”
“What about trying to kill me? You take that back, too?”
She holstered her blaster and punched the blade deeper into the man’s shoulder, preventing him from uttering an answer. She didn’t need or care for one. Distant footsteps from the other converging mercenaries reverberated around her. She needed to get out of there.
She jabbed the muzzle of the gun under the man’s chin and pressed hard.
“Balls or head; decide quickly, or I shoot both…Tick tock!”
The man’s eyes grew wide, and his body began to shake involuntarily. Since it didn’t look like he was going to make the decision, and Keera didn’t care if he did, she ripped the blade from the man’s shoulder and planted it in his windpipe.
“I said tick tock, bitch,” smirked Keera.
With the other two men around the corner, she could use another distraction. She set the shocked mercenary’s weapon to overload and thrust it into his pants just before head-butting his lights out.
“Both it is.”
Before the two mercenaries arrived, Keera merged into the shadows. They both defensively aimed around them when the overloaded blaster exploded, sending parts of the man’s body everywhere in a bloody mess.
“This bitch is crazy! Look what she did to Waryl!”
“Keep your eyes open, Mika, and stay sharp.”
Mika nodded, but his entire body was dripping with sweat, and he reeked of fear.
“I love the smell of roasted nuts, don’t you?” taunted Keera from the shadows.
Both men turned around and aimed their blasters at her voice. Keera emerged from the shadows, radiating a confident smile.
“Stupid move; now you die,” said the one called Mika.
Both men opened fire and scored multiple hits on Keera, but the laser fire passed through her as if she wasn’t there.
“She’s a hologra—”
The mercenary was unable to finish his sentence as Keera kicked him from behind, sending him crashing to the floor. His blaster slipped from his hand and skidded across the floor, passing through the still active, still smiling Keera hologram.
Mika instinctively slashed his elbow toward Keera, but she blocked it with one hand.
“I’m afraid you got it backward, Mika…”
A light-blade pierced and protruded out of Mika’s stomach as his insides boiled and burned. The flashing white light of the blade reflected in the man’s dying eyes.
“You first!” added Keera.
Panicked, the other merc jumped forward darting through Keera’s still standing holo-decoy. Once he grabbed his blaster, he started shooting before he was able to aim.
Keera turned the light-blade off and used Mika’s carcass as a shield. A lucky laser shot bounced off of a nearby crate and hit Keera on her wrist. Fortunately, it didn’t result in a wound, but sparks flew from her wrist device, and her holo-decoy projection twitched and disappeared.
Keera threw the body toward the other merc and dodged to the side, disappearing into the shadows behind more crates.
The mercenary rolled out of the way of Mika’s body coming toward him, and he sent a dozen blind shots around himself as he was getting back on his feet.
His gun overheated and misfired. The man’s eyes widened at the realization, and he darted forward, trying to make a run for it. The whisper quiet sound of a nano-blade cutting through the air ended whatever hope of survival the mercenary had as his head was severed from his body while he was running. Before the head hit the ground, the man’s body continued to run a few more paces and smashed against a stack of crates.
Keera returned the nano-blade into its sheath behind her back and tried checking her holo-map, but more sparks flew from her wrist device.
Crap!
Losing no time, she ran to where she had left Eleni. To Keera’s surprise, Eleni had obeyed and stayed under cover.
“Let’s go! We better not stay in this cargo bay for much longer. That shit-haul of a transport is slow, but at least it’s a huge ship with numerous decks where we can hide for the last few hours of our journey.”
Eleni nodded. “Do you think more will come?”
“You tell me; you seem to have a lot of enemies. You still don’t want to tell me what you’ve done to deserve all this aggro?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“I…I just wanted to fix an injustice, that’s all.”
“That’s as vague an answer as I would have expected from you.”
“Why do you pretend like you care? You have no problem delivering me to my death, so why are you asking questions?”
Keera was forced to agree with Eleni. Why ask questions that could make her job more complicated than it already was.
“You know what? You’re right; I don’t give a shit. You’ve been nothing but trouble since I found you, and I wish to gods I had chosen another warrant.”
“You and me bot—”
A laser blast shot through Eleni’s stomach as her eyes bulged. Keera instantly reacted as she turned around and instinctively shot toward where the blaster fire had originated.
After shooting, she acquired a visual of the man. He dropped his blaster to the floor as his hand covered his gaping neck wound. He was the second mercenary she had incapacitated. In the midst of the chaos that had ensued, she assumed tha
t his wounds were too severe for him to get back on his feet.
Out of anger more than necessity, she supercharged her next shot and blew the merc’s head off. A trail of smoke rose from the man’s spraying neck before the headless body impacted with the floor and blood splattered everywhere.
At the same time, Eleni collapsed with a thud. Keera ran to her side.
“No, no, no; don’t you dare die on me!” she exclaimed.
Eleni was panting, and blood bubbled from the corner of her mouth.
“Hang on; let me get you to medical.”
Eleni shook her head from side to side; fear and sadness mixing in her pretty blue eyes as they filled with tears.
Keera’s soul filled with dread, her stomach knotted, and her heart raced. She had been around enough carnage and dying people to tell that this wound would claim Eleni’s life. She had been careless, and now someone would die because of it.
“Fuck!” Keera shouted in frustration.
“Keera…” mumbled Eleni, as blood ran down her mouth.
“I— I’m sorry.”
“Ne— never mind that. There’s…” Eleni coughed up more blood. “Nothing you can do for me; please, help my daughter.”
“What? What daughter? Your target sheet didn’t mention anything about you having children.”
“Try— trying to protect her.”
Keera’s throat clamped, and her chest felt tight. Deep down she knew she was too soft to be a ruthless bounty hunter. If she was to survive and make a living from her profession, she needed to be able to separate business from her feelings. And even if she felt responsible for Eleni’s upcoming demise, they would never have been put into that position if Eleni hadn’t tried giving her the slip at every turn.
“Look, Eleni. I’m sorry, but that’s none of my business.”
“She will die if you don’t help.”
Keera got up, turned her back, and took a couple of steps.
None of my business. None of my business, she repeated mentally, trying to use the words as a mantra to counter the pain and compassion that was invading her soul.
Eleni was sobbing. Keera’s mind was thrown all over the map; a million thoughts were rushing toward her at light speed. Eleni’s warrant was only good if she brought her back alive so that payday was gone. And while she hated herself for thinking of money while someone was drawing their last breath near her, the implication that came with that could not be ignored. Her own life was in jeopardy if she didn’t get Tron’Tak what she owed him.
Somewhere, a little girl was about to lose her mother, and Keera couldn’t help but feel some responsibility in the matter. At least at that moment.
Keera loathed her job right now. She wanted nothing more than to quit and find something else to do, but the cold, harsh reality was she couldn’t until she cashed in some credits.
“K— Keera…” pleaded Eleni.
Eleni was breathing rapidly, and then she suddenly stopped. Keera turned around and saw the life leave Eleni’s eyes.
Dammit!
Keera crouched next to Eleni and tried resuscitating her.
“Breathe, dammit! Breathe!” she exclaimed.
Keera alternated between chest compressions and mouth to mouth for several minutes, eventually punching Eleni in the chest out of frustration. Tears filled Keera’s eyes at the realization that Eleni was gone for good and the implications that came with it.
Keera kept staring at Eleni’s dead body while her mind spun and took her to a dark place. Everything she had been counting on for the short-term future had been thrown out the airlock. She was still nowhere near recovering her ship, and feelings of guilt over Eleni’s death and the future of her little girl dominated her thoughts.
What was she to do? She was on her way to Ponos One where her ship awaited, but she had no credits to get it or her life back. Instead, she could very well incur Tron’Tak’s wrath for not bringing him what she owed. She could try to make a run for it, but that would undoubtedly cost her her bounty hunter license and paint a permanent target on her back, which was something she’d rather not have to live with.
But her immediate concerns were what to do with Eleni’s body. If they had been on a planet, she would have dug a grave. On this filthy transport though, options were limited. She could either leave the body or hide it, but it would soon decompose. That didn’t seem fair to Eleni.
They had not been friends by any means, but Keera felt compelled to give Eleni a proper send off. Her only real option was to send her to the stars from an airlock. She could mark the point in space and perhaps recover it later, though that implied she would get her ship back. An outcome that seemed less likely with each passing minute.
She picked up Eleni and placed her body on her shoulder. Eleni was already cold. With fresh tears still burning her eyes, Keera made her way to the nearest airlock.
At the airlock, she laid Eleni’s body as delicately as she could. A metallic device fell from Eleni’s pocket and bounced off the floor with a clang. Keera picked up the round shaped item. It was a portable holo-projector.
She turned it over in her hand and then pressed a button to activate it at which point the face of a young girl, not older than seven, hovered an inch above the holo-projector’s base. The child was beautiful with shoulder length, golden hair and deep blue eyes like her mother’s. Keera’s heart skipped and she felt a sting as if someone had thrust a knife through it.
What have I done?
It didn’t matter how much she tried to justify that Eleni had been a wanted criminal and that Keera was only doing her job. All she could think about was the child and what would happen to her now.
To Keera’s surprise, just when she was about to turn the holo-device off, the little girl’s face merged into a holo-recording of Eleni.
“If you’re seeing this message, it more than likely means I’m dead. If that’s the case, then please listen carefully. My little girl’s life depends on what you are going to do next. When the DT, known as the Data Thieves Consortium, put a bounty on my head, I had to act fast. So I hid my little Tanelis in a safe place. But this is a temporary place, one she can’t stay at for too long for fear of being hunted just like I was.
“I made many mistakes in my life, but the one thing I did right is Tanelis, and it’s not fair that she may pay the price for her mother’s sins. I was only trying to help a group of people that got screwed by the DT’s shady business practices; preying on the poor, stealing their hard earned money to grow their fortunes. I thought I had covered my tracks well when I redistributed that wealth back to their rightful owners, but the DT found out.
“Because I had hired a top-level hacker to do the job, the DT wanted me alive so that I could reveal my source, and they could get their credits back. But the fact of the matter is that the money is gone. Well, most of it. I kept a little on the side for my escape plan and to pay the people who are hiding Tanelis. I’ve only paid for a couple of weeks, as I thought it would be enough for me to shake the DT’s tail. In two days time, and for their own protection as well, they’ll just abandon my child. The DT will most likely capture her, and I wouldn’t put it past them to torture her for information she does not have.
“Whoever you are, I beg you, don’t let this happen to my little angel. She is innocent and doesn’t deserve this. I can’t promise you any sizable reward and have to ask upon the better facets of your personality. Please help my daughter. This holo-device contains a briefing package with all the information related to her location as well as the digital key to access the limited resources I hid on the same planet that would allow us to make a run for it with a ship I had purchased.
“Tanelis’ father doesn’t know she exists, we broke up before I knew I was pregnant, and while we didn’t part on the best of terms, I’m hoping he would be willing to take care of his own flesh and blood. I’ve hesitated to contact him many times, as I thought I had no right to throw his life into chaos after all these years. He’s mov
ed on, and I owed him, so I didn’t involve him.
“The DT will stop at nothing to try and get the info they want, but the enclosed digital key opens a decoy file in a safe deposit package. I spent weeks working on it with the same hacker that helped me recover the credits that were wrongfully stolen. He’s embedded an intricate money trail that will take years to unravel and should, I hope, make the DT abandon their quest once they learn of my passing.
“All I ask is that you get my daughter back to her father, and find a way to deliver that file to the DT, ideally with my body or some proof of my death. Please help me; you’re my daughter’s only hope.”
The holo-recording merged back into the holo-picture of young Tanelis.
Keera accessed the file and reviewed the data in the holo-message. Tanelis was on Pyros III; a world that was less than a day’s travel from here, except the ship was heading toward Ponos and she would not make it in time unless she found a way out of the ship or redirected it to Pyros.
Keera deeply inhaled as she tried to re-center herself and assess her options. She could get Eleni’s ship and hope its value would be enough to get Tron’Tak off her back; then she could try to track down Tanelis afterward. With her valuable cargo, Keera could acquire enough credit to achieve this option. But, that meant letting the deadline pass, which could result in the kid’s demise; something Keera wasn’t willing to risk.
For all her faults, and based on the feelings from Eleni’s recording, Keera saw Eleni under a new light. She wasn’t the type of criminal Keera had thought she was. Like Keera herself, Eleni hated injustice and got into trouble trying to right a wrong. Something Keera could relate to; an unspoken code she strove to live by, in fact.
In her heart, she knew she couldn’t abandon Tanelis, even if that meant she’d put her own life in further jeopardy.
Keera grabbed a tracking device from her pocket, activated it, and injected it into Eleni’s cold, blue skin. She had no idea if she ever would recover the body but she preferred covering all her bases. She grabbed her holo-scanner and took a biologically enhanced picture of Eleni. The holo-picture would contain a medical life-sign scan of her body, proving her death. Hopefully, with that attached to Eleni’s decoy file, it would get the DT off of Tanelis’ trail.
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