Steel Coyote

by Beth Williamson

  He expertly set down the shuttle behind the trees, on the opposite side of the trees. Someone would have to walk around them completely to see the small ship. He powered down the engine, and the silence was deafening.

  “Little lost ship to Bo Peep,” he spoke into the comm.

  “Bo Peep here.” Katie’s voice was laced with amusement.

  “We’re at the LZ.” Max finally looked at Remy. “Thirty minutes until the rendezvous.”

  They stared at each other.

  Max huffed out a sigh. “Are you ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” She got to her feet and checked her pistol for the umpteenth time. “How about you?”

  His expression was flat. “It’s been a long time since I was here. My feet don’t want to walk on that ground again, but my brain tells me it’s the right thing to do.”

  She hadn’t expected that level of honesty. The man continually surprised her. “Then let’s show them how we do it on the Steel Coyote.”

  A grim smile. “There may be killing.”

  She returned the smile. “It’ll be what’s meant to be. They deserve it for what they’ve done to those children, all of them, including you.”

  He glanced at the cases. “Let’s get these unloaded.”

  They opened the hatch, and Remy extended the ramp while Max released the locks on the palette mover. Together, they tugged it out of the shuttle and onto the scrubby ground. She went back in for the tablet Cooper had given them. The signal for the rendezvous point was already active, pointing the way.

  Although Max grunted at the suggestion, they took turns pulling the pallet forward. The motorized dray had stopped working six months ago and, as always, she didn’t have the funds to fix it. Of course. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the designated spot. The tablet blinked green and shut itself down. Remy tossed it on top of the cases. She needed both hands free.

  “How will this man called Rockford arrive?”

  Max shrugged. “Most folks use horses and wagons. There isn’t much call for anything else. Things are simple here for the colonists. They don’t have much.”

  Definitely “have nots,” although this moon fell out of the definition Gunnar had coined. Remy peered in each direction, assessing where the threat could be. She didn’t see a thing, and that worried her.

  The rendezvous time was within minutes. Rockford was unlikely to be late, which meant he had a stealthier method of travel than a horse-drawn wagon. Her hand crept to the butt of her gun where it stayed.

  The air around them grew thick. Her instincts were screaming. She kept turning to look, expecting to find someone behind them, but again, no one was there.

  “I don’t like this.”

  “Neither do I.” Max spoke into the comm button he’d affixed to his shoulder. “Bo Peep, you copy?”

  “Affirmative, little lost ship.” Katie’s tiny voice was barely audible from the speaker.

  “Can you do a thermal sweep around us, a kilometer at least, and tell me what you see?”

  “Roger that.”

  A few moments passed while the small hairs on Remy’s neck stood at attention. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

  “I see you two and the shuttle a few clicks away. Got movement to the east, north, and south of you. The trees are to the west. Looks like horses and two land cruisers.” A beat passed, then Katie nearly shouted at them. “Get to cover. Damn it. Get back to that shuttle.” Remy’s heart nearly cracked a rib it was beating so hard.

  “Not a chance Bo Peep. We’re going to follow through with the plan.” Max looked at Remy for confirmation and she nodded.

  They extracted the rifles they’d hidden between the cases, put a round in the chamber, and waited for the enemy to arrive.

  Sweat rolled down Max’s back. He’d forgotten how hot Haverty was in the middle months. His palms were suffering from the heat as well, making the grip of the rifle slippery. The last thing he needed was to drop the damn thing.

  Rockford was thirty minutes late. It didn’t bode well for their plan or their safety. Katie’s warning made his balls shrink and his stomach tighten. All they could do was wait for something to happen.

  Saint stood on his shoulder looking toward the horizon. “What happened in the shuttle?”

  Max scowled. “Nothing.”

  “Do you really love her?”

  “I think I do.” Max glanced at Remy, who was prowling in a circle around the crates. “It doesn’t matter if I do or not.”

  “Of course it does. You told her everything, and that means you really do love her.” Saint sounded so calm, as though he wasn’t talking about Max’s love life.

  Max didn’t want to hear it, and he reached for the wrist control to turn the Moral Compass off. “I can’t do this right now. I need to focus.”

  Guilt pinched at him for ignoring Saint again. He’d purchased the damn thing to help him navigate the universe, but he’d turned into something more. Now when Max needed him most, he turned his back on Saint.

  “I see something.” Remy pulled the rifle up to look through the scope. “Two men on horseback. Both are armed. I see scabbards, holsters, and sheaths.” She lowered the rifle. “Looks as if they’re ready to do battle.”

  “So are we.”

  “Damn straight.” She slung the rifle over her shoulder. “Neither of them have a weapon in hand, so let’s do the same.”

  Max didn’t like that idea. “Then we’re easy pickings.”

  She scoffed. “I can pull that pistol out of its holster faster than you can blink. I am never easy pickings.”

  “Neither am I.” He knew his mother would approve of what he was doing. Like her spirit was with him, urging him on to fight for what was right.

  Remy put her hand on the butt of her pistol. “We’ve got company.”

  Max couldn’t help the feeling that whatever darkness hung over them, it wasn’t these two. They looked like mid-grade thugs sent to teach them a lesson. Too bad it wouldn’t happen that way.

  “You’re late.” Max slipped on his own thug mask and bared his teeth. He wasn’t about to afford the man even the most common courtesy.

  “Oy, and what’s this? You’d best be Max Fletcher, or we got a problem.” The younger of the two spoke. He was missing his top front teeth, had at least a week’s whiskers on his fat cheeks, and mud-brown eyes. Both men were wearing the floppy hats favored by the farmers and the homespun clothes Max had come to hate. They were obviously not working men, judging by the girth they sported, along with the weapons. Anyone on Haverty who carried that much weight ate well and had power to carry guns. That meant they were Delmar’s men.

  “You Rockford?” Max was surprised Remy hadn’t spoken. Perhaps she was too busy assessing the men and their ability to defend themselves.

  “I see you brought the cases.” The younger man’s gaze slid over the black boxes, lingering on the seals. The men seemed to know the cases were no longer intact. As Max suspected, someone was tracking the cases and had known the minute the first case had been opened. Likely the reason they were late, to deliberately make Max and Remy sweat. Delmar was a master manipulator.

  “That was the deal.” He pulled the tablet from atop the cases. “Let’s get this exchange done with. I hate this place.”

  That was enough to throw Rockford’s good humor. “Well, fuck ya, then. It’s a good place it is.”

  Max scoffed. “It’s what’s left in a shithole after the cockroaches get finished eating it.”

  Rockford’s pudgy face flushed. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  “Come on down here and I’ll show you.” He was delighted to see both men dismount. Perfect.

  They were shorter than Max, but each had a hundred pounds on him. They could easily pound him into a stain on the ground if he let them.

  “You got a big mouth for a pilot.” The older one finally spoke, his voice guttural and rough.

  “We can fix that, Leonard.” Rockford caressed the rifle he
slid from its scabbard.

  “And I can blow your fucking head off.” Remy appeared beside him, the butt of her pistol pressed into the fleshy folds of his neck. Smart girl. They weren’t watching her, and she got the drop on them.

  “Damn, honey, you’re good.” Max grinned at her, even if it wasn’t the right time.

  “You call off this bitch, or I’ll show her what a real man feels like.” Rockford didn’t sound as cocky as he had before he’d felt the steel of Remy’s gun.

  “I suggest you keep your fat mouth shut.” Remy pressed a bit harder until Rockford let loose a squeak. “What’s in the cases?”

  “I ain’t telling you nothing,” he growled.

  “Yes you will.” She wiggled her arm and Max realized she had a knife on the man’s balls. Damn, she was astonishingly good. “Or I’ll turn you into a soprano.”

  “I don’t know what’s in them cases. I’m just supposed to meet you and get ’em.”

  Remy met his gaze. “I don’t believe you. You don’t even have a way to bring them back. What are you going to do, strap them onto your back? I carried this shit across the quadrant. I want to know what’s in those cases.”

  “Fuck you.”

  It wasn’t going to work. The man didn’t know anything, or he would’ve confessed to save his balls.

  “Then you pay us what you owe us, and we’ll be on our way.” Max pointed to the tablet. “Let’s finish this.”

  “Not a fucking chance. You’re coming with us, you are.” Rockford seemed pretty sure of himself.

  “Like hell we are.” Max wasn’t going to be captured, no matter what.

  Rockford spat on the ground “I told you I ain’t—”

  Two shots rang out from the east, followed by more gunfire from the west. Both Rockford and Leonard dropped like stones, shot through the head.

  “Get down!” Max didn’t need to say it, of course, but it came out anyway.

  “Damn it, who is that?” She picked up the rifle and looked through the scope again. “Two land cruisers coming in fast.” She swung the other direction. “Six men on horseback, only half a click away.”

  “We’ve got to go.”

  “How do you reckon we do that?” She waved her arm toward the advancing men. “We aren’t even close to the fucking shuttle.”

  “Their horses. If we ride low and fast, we can get to Delmar before they get here.” He grabbed her arm. “Whoever is coming for us, they’ll likely kill us, too. Those horses are our only chance. Move it!”

  She let out a steady stream of curses but she followed, throwing herself up onto the big bay while he took the sorrel. More shots pinged and ricocheted off the cases. Someone shouted, but the words were unintelligible. Max didn’t expect anyone other than Delmar, and now the Great Family, to be interested in the cases, but they weren’t important anymore. The babes were safe, but they still had to get off the moon alive.

  First, they had to get out of the line of fire. The steeds seemed to agree they needed to get the hell out of there fast.

  “Fucking hell.” Remy kneed her mount into motion and headed in the only open direction they had. Toward the man they needed to defeat, no matter the cost. There was no other choice.

  Max followed her, keeping himself as small as possible on top the saddle. It had been a while since he’d ridden, but it didn’t take long for everything to rush back. He leaned down and spoke in the horse’s ear. “Fly, boy, fly.”

  The sorrel picked up speed and overtook the bay. Remy was hanging onto the mane and the reins, her blond hair streaming behind her like a banner. The Valkyrie he’d fallen for rode beside him in full battle mode. What he didn’t like was the blood on her sleeve.

  “You’re hit,” he hissed.

  “Tell me something I didn’t know,” she snarled. “Just ride, Fletcher.”

  If she were badly hit, she wouldn’t be able to order him around or stay on top of the horse. That didn’t mean the sight of her blood was acceptable. He wanted to turn around and kill every one of those motherfuckers.

  Remy followed Max, her heart pounding so hard her ears hurt. The damn bullet had plowed through her arm and it stung like a bitch.

  They rode hard, and she was surprised at the quality of the horseflesh those two morons had ridden. The animals put their whole heart into the escape, and for that she was infinitely grateful. The horse was smarter than her and reminded her how to hang on. When she was ten, Gunnar had taken her to a planet to teach her how to ride—he’d wanted her to have any and all skills.

  Max led them through a maze of farms, fields, and houses, putting distance between them and their pursuers. He pulled to a stop behind a two-story barn deep in the heart of the civilization that had grown from the terraformed moon.

  “Where are we?” She was surprised to find her voice shaking.

  “This is the first barn in Delmar’s compound. We’re close. Real close to him.” His mouth was tight and his gaze was glued to her arm. “We need to stop here and look at that wound.”

  “What about the bastards chasing us?” She listened intently but could hear only livestock, chickens, the occasional horse, and some water nearby.

  “I don’t hear anything behind us. Right now, we need to take care of your arm.” He dismounted and reached for her.

  She smacked his hands away. “I can get down.”

  He made a face but stepped back. “Suit yourself.”

  “I usually do.” She threw her leg behind her but found herself falling backward, unable to stop.

  Strong arms caught her. “You need to stop being so damn stubborn.”

  “Hmph. You need to stop being bossy. I don’t take to it.”

  “Don’t I know that.”

  Much to her consternation, he helped her to the barn. “I can walk, you know.”

  “So can I.” He opened the door and peered in before he hustled her into the shadowy interior.

  Max took a wooden box down from a hook beside the door. He dug into the box and pulled out bandages. When he reached for Remy’s sleeve, she smacked his hand away again.

  “I can take care of that myself.” She pulled up her sleeve to her elbow with no small amount of pain. The bullet had lodged in the flesh of her arm. It was still there, hurting like hell.

  Blood oozed from the wound in a steady stream. Her sleeve was stuck to the parts that had started to dry. The copper scent filled the air. Max scowled at the mess the bullet had left behind.

  “It can’t be the first time you’ve done this.”

  His touch was gentle, which didn’t surprise her. “I’ve patched up people, but never anyone who’d been shot.”

  “I have. Sometimes Gunnar’s jobs went sideways and someone got hurt. He would fuss like a mother hen.” Remy smiled at the memory of her father. He never hurt anyone intentionally but he was a cargo captain first and foremost. A wave of wooziness hit her and the room swayed. She grabbed onto a table nearby, and Max frowned at her.

  “Don’t you get the vapors on me, Remington.”

  She saw shiny halos on everything, including Max. Uh-oh. Fucking hell, she might just have a fit of the vapors anyway. She tried to take a step but lost her balance and found herself saved once again by Max’s strong arms.

  He helped her sit back up and scowled at her. She tried to focus on his face, but he moved too fast and kept blurring. Her head swam and words tumbled out of her mouth. “I don’t want to lose you right after I found you.” She drew a big hiccupping breath and wondered why her face was wet.

  “Stop talking and let me take care of your wound before you get any worse.” Max used a rag to clean the blood off her arm while she watched. “There’s nothing to stitch it with, so I’m going to put extra bandages on to stop the bleeding. When we get back on the ship, I can stitch it.”

  “I don’t need stitches.” She could hardly think straight. “It’s just a scratch.”

  He tied the bandage on her arm and let loose a heavy sigh. “Sit still.” His shoulders
tightened. “I’m sorry you got hurt. I knew this was going to be an impossible task, but I had to try to stop him. The last place I wanted to return to was this moon.”

  Sitting still had cleared her mind, and the dizziness had passed. Her arm throbbed, but otherwise she was back to normal, whatever that was.

  He leaned against the door. “You feeling better?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I’m not a good patient.”

  “Not really a shock.” He waved away her apology. “We’re too far from the shuttle, so I can’t raise Katie on the comm.”

  “What’s next then, Max?”

  He ran his hands through his hair. “Try to stick to the plan, even though things went sideways out there. We need to make our way to the main house.”

  “What about the people on the land cruisers? Someone killed those two jackasses and tried to kill us. Those were professionals, not Podunk hired muscle.” She wasn’t squeamish about killing, but those were executions. Cold and calculating.

  “If they’d been aiming at us, we would be dead, too.” He used logic, damn it.

  “They shot me.” She pointed at her arm. “Remember?”

  “You were grazed by a bullet. No, I think someone wanted us to get gone and laid down cover fire so we could. You got in the way.” Max folded his arms. “That means someone else has an interest in what we’re doing.”

  Her stomach tightened. “The Great Family.” She was annoyed to realize her hands were shaking. Damn, she was stronger than that. “It’s the only thing that fits.”

  He scowled so hard his eyebrows touched. “Why is it the only thing that fits?”

  She focused on the throbbing in her arm to ground her thoughts. “They were following me before I even met you.”

  “We’ll have to unpack that piece of information later.” His expression promised he wouldn’t forget about it. “If it’s the Great Family, then we need to get to Delmar fast.”

  “He’s not the only slave trader. There will be more. Hell, there already are a lot more.” She’d done nothing about any of it in years past because it wasn’t her business. Now that she had been sucked into it against her will, it was much more real. More personal.