by Ryk Brown
“I thought Haven was a wasteland,” Dylan said.
“It is,” Josh replied.
“Haven is a wasteland, but Tikka’s rings are full of rare elements, many of which cannot be found anywhere else in the entire sector,” Nathan explained. “The fact that all those resources are locked up in small, collectible-sized chunks makes it far less expensive to mine, which makes the Haven Syndicate able to undersell competitors.”
“Is that why we’re here?” Dylan asked. “To make sure we have access to those resources?”
“More like to make sure the Dusahn don’t,” Jessica said.
“We invite everyone,” Nathan corrected, “regardless of what they may or may not have to offer.”
“Even if we don’t like them?” Josh wondered.
“Especially if we don’t like them,” Nathan replied.
“Still nothing,” Josh reported. “What do you want me to do?”
“Find a place to set down,” Nathan instructed. “Preferably someplace near the Syndicate headquarters.”
Josh studied the sensor screen for a moment. “Not gonna be easy. There’s a lot of debris down there.”
“Do the best you can,” Nathan instructed.
The Voss coasted smoothly above the rooftops of the surviving buildings, her grav-lift systems humming loudly. People in the streets scattered, fearing the unidentified, armed vessel. They too had heard rumors that the Dusahn had acquired makeshift warships from worlds outside the Pentaurus sector. For all they knew, this was one of them.
“Damn,” Josh exclaimed as he peered out the port cockpit window. “Like gula bugs when you turn the lights on.”
“They’re afraid of us,” Jessica stated.
“I suspect they’re afraid of everyone right now,” Nathan added.
“We should maintain a safe perimeter while we’re skids-on-the-ground,” Mori suggested.
“You and Jokay take ground watch,” Jessica instructed.
“What about me?” Kit asked.
“You’re coming with us.”
“Let’s keep the reactors hot and shields up,” Nathan added as he turned to exit. “Subvert busted their asses patching us up. I’d prefer to get off this rock without a scratch.”
“We’ll keep the fires burnin’,” Josh promised.
The aft cargo ramp hit the ground with a thud, kicking up dust. Immediately, two men carrying assault rifles jumped off either side of the ramp. They quickly moved into position, crouching behind the port and starboard aft gear struts, their weapons held ready as they scanned the area for threats.
“Clear to starboard,” Mori reported over comm-sets.
“Clear to port,” Jokay added.
“Drop aft shields,” Nathan instructed. He peered out the back of the utility bay as the shimmering transparent shield just past the foot of the ramp flickered slightly, then disappeared, leaving a ten-meter-wide gap.
“Aft shield is down,” Dylan confirmed.
“Let’s move out,” Nathan ordered Kit and Jessica.
Marcus stepped up to the top of the ramp, watching as the other three headed down. “Damn, I didn’t think Haven could get any uglier,” he said, scanning the area. He spotted something in the distance, moving from right to left…something large. Its motion suddenly stopped, but then the object began growing in size. “Movement aft!” he warned over comms as he reached up for the newly installed tail gun with both hands.
“Looks like a vehicle headed our way,” Mori announced.
Marcus twisted the release lever and pulled down hard, swinging the big, double-barreled cannon down from its storage position. The weapon made a loud click as it reached the bottom of its travel and locked into place. He grabbed it and swung it ninety degrees, so that its barrels were pointed aft out the door.
“Can you make it out?” Jessica asked over comms, as her group knelt down and raised their own weapons.
“Gimme a sec,” Marcus grumbled as he powered up the weapon. The targeting screen between the control handles flickered to life, and he pressed the zoom button. “It’s a vehicle!” he reported. “Open-cab cargo. Two in the cab and four in the back, all of them armed.”
Nathan dialed in his scope, keeping his crosshairs on the distant target as it closed on them.
“Shall I raise the aft shields?” Dylan asked over comm-sets.
“Not yet,” Nathan replied. “We may need to get back inside the shield perimeter in a hurry.”
“Or we could move back a few meters and be inside the shields,” Jessica suggested.
“Don’t worry, Cap’n,” Marcus told him over comm-sets. “I’ve got that fucker sighted and ranged. They so much as fart and I’ll burn’em down.”
“Nobody fires without my express orders,” Nathan ordered firmly. “That includes you, old man,” he added, glancing back at Marcus. “We didn’t come here to start a fight.”
The vehicle came to an abrupt stop twenty meters away from them, the men in the back jumping out to either side.
“I’ve got right,” Mori stated over comm-sets.
“I’ve got left,” Jokay followed.
“I’ve got center,” Kit added.
“I’ll just take out the whole fuckin’ truck,” Marcus declared.
“That’s close enough!” Nathan yelled.
A man climbed out of the passenger seat, slung a weapon over his shoulder and walked around to the front of the truck.
“I’ve got him,” Jessica announced quietly.
“I’ve got the driver,” Kit added.
“Easy,” Nathan urged under his breath.
“Identify yourself and state your purpose!” the man now in front of the truck yelled confidently.
“Syndicate?” Jessica wondered.
“Probably a local group boss,” Marcus sneered over comm-sets. “If the syndicate is down, the city would be swarming with shits trying to carve out a piece of what’s left for themselves.”
“My name is Nathan Scott!” Nathan yelled back. “We came to talk with the Haven Syndicate.”
“That would be us!” the man replied.
Marcus’s brow furrowed. Something wasn’t right. He tapped a button on the side of his targeting display, changing to its maximum magnification. After making a minor adjustment in aim, he was able to put his crosshairs on the man in front of the truck. “Syndicate my ass.”
“I know that guy,” Marcus announced over comm-sets.
“Which one?” Jessica asked.
“The one doin’ the yellin’, and he sure as hell ain’t with the syndicate.”
“Are you sure?” Nathan asked.
“That asshole was on one of my crews,” Marcus replied. “He got traded along with two other losers to another crew. If I remember correctly, we got an extra collector bin for the harvester out of the deal.”
“Could he have been picked up by the syndicate after the Dusahn bombardment?” Nathan wondered.
“Syndicate don’t like locals,” Marcus insisted. “Actually, they fuckin’ hate ’em. No way they’d pick up a cocky piece of crap like him.”
Nathan thought for a moment.
“What’s our play?” Jessica asked.
“How do I know you’re really with the Haven Syndicate?” Nathan yelled at the man. “And why are you pointing guns at us?”
“Same reason you’re pointin’ them at us!” the man replied. “Put down your weapons and come out with your hands held high, and we can talk all you want.”
“You first!” Nathan yelled back.
“This is our world!” the man yelled. “We don’t lay down arms for no one. You wanna talk, come out and talk, but put your guns down, or we’ll open fire, whether you come out or not!”
“That would be a mistake!” Nathan warned.
“I suppose we’ll see!
”
“Jesus,” Nathan cursed to himself. “Why is it that men get so stupid when you gather them together and put guns in their hands?”
“It’s a testosterone thing,” Jessica replied, smiling. “Say the word, and we’ll take them out. One shot for each target.”
“Maybe two for Deeks,” Kit joked, his weapon still trained on the driver.
“I heard that.”
“What’s it gonna be!” the man yelled. “We ain’t got all day!”
“If you’re going to be this inhospitable, we’d just as soon leave if it’s all right with you!” Nathan replied.
“What?” Jessica asked.
“These fuckers ain’t Syndicate, Cap’n,” Marcus insisted.
“Better we don’t take the chance,” Nathan replied.
“Movement to starboard,” Mori reported. “Six, maybe eight. Armed, moving to circle around us.”
“Movement to port,” Jokay added. “Count eight. Rifles and boomers. Thirty to forty meters, staying behind cover.”
“Don’t worry about them,” Jessica instructed. “They can’t get through our shields, at least not before we get back inside.”
“Another contact to starboard,” Mori reported. “Technical. Looks like a large gun mounted on a rover of some sort.”
“They’re going to try to get through our shields,” Jessica warned.
“Dylan, get to the topside turret and get a lock on that gun to starboard,” Nathan instructed over comm-sets.
Dylan looked at Josh. “Oh shit,” he muttered as he jumped out of his seat and headed aft as fast as he could.
“I could hit’em with a thruster wash from the mains,” Josh suggested.
“And light the whole place on fire?” Nathan scolded.
“Just tryin’ to help.”
“We need to fall back inside the shield perimeter,” Kit said.
“As soon as we start moving, they’ll open fire,” Jessica replied. “Our only chance is to take all of them out now, all at once. Marcus, you take out the vehicle, including the driver and this asshole. The rest of us will take out the pukes on either side. Brill and Deeks to the outside targets, Kit inside left, and I take inside right.”
“Wait!” Nathan ordered.
“There is no wait, Nathan,” Jessica insisted. “We’re about to get mowed down here.”
Dylan scampered up the ladder, twisting his body around the underside of the control deck and sliding into the gunner’s seat. “What do I do?” he asked as he powered up the weapon.
“When we start shooting, you take out that other truck,” Jessica instructed.
“Got it,” Dylan replied. He looked around outside his bubble, confused. “Which truck?”
Jessica squinted slightly, readying herself as the man she was targeting turned around to look behind him, shouting something to the others.
“Something’s got them spooked,” Kit announced, seeing the same behavior with his target.
“I see four of them!” Dylan reported over comm-sets. “One to my left…I mean…starboard, and four more aft, about two hundred meters out and closing!”
“Uh-oh.”
Nathan looked at Jessica. “Uh-oh? Is that your tactical assessment? Uh-oh?”
“Target the one to starboard!” Jessica instructed. “The one to your left!”
“Oh, this is not good,” Dylan moaned as he swung his turret to the left. “This is sooo not good.”
“Okay, I’m locked on the vehicle,” Dylan reported nervously over comm-sets. “Should I fire?”
“Not yet,” Nathan instructed.
“What the hell?” Kit said, as his target headed back toward their vehicle. “Are they leaving?”
Weapons fire suddenly erupted from the approaching vehicles. It was not aimed at the Voss, but at the men who were challenging it.
Bright yellow bolts of energy slammed into the back of the truck, tearing into the men firing back as they tried to get into the truck.
The man in front of the truck turned back around to face the Voss, raising his weapon to fire, but he never got a shot off. Three bright red bolts of plasma energy streaked over their heads, fired from Marcus’s tail gun, slamming into the man, the truck, and its driver.
The truck exploded, flipping over onto one of the other men. Mori and Jokay opened fire at the same time, each of them firing a single shot to drop their targets. Kit fired as well, taking out his man with a double tap to the head, spinning him around before he fell in a smoldering heap.
Yellow-orange bolts of plasma slammed into the starboard shields directly in front of Dylan, causing the Voss’s shields to flash brightly.
“Oh shit!” Dylan exclaimed. “Do I fire now?”
“Yes!” Jessica replied. “Fire!”
Dylan closed his eyes and pressed the fire button. His weapon screeched as bolts of energy leapt from its barrels, slamming into the doomed vehicle that had opened fire on them. The vehicle shot up in the air, then fell back to the ground, bouncing and flipping over as it became engulfed in flames.
Dylan opened his eyes. “Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “Did I do that?”
“Nice shootin’, Tex!” Jessica congratulated over comm-sets.
Dylan glanced around as bolts of energy streaked about in all directions…all except toward the Voss. “What the hell is going on out there?”
“Swing aft and hold fire!” Jessica instructed.
“Got it!” Dylan replied, swinging his turret back to the right again.
“Cease fire!” Jessica instructed the others. Seconds later, the firefight ended.
“Whoever that is, they’re still coming,” Kit warned.
“Another gang?” Nathan suggested.
“Could be,” Jessica agreed.
“It ain’t a gang,” Marcus assured them over comm-sets. “Well, it is, but it isn’t.”
“Could you be a little more cryptic?” Nathan wondered.
“It’s the syndicate,” Marcus explained.
“Well it’s about fucking time,” Jessica declared, standing up and lowering her weapon.
* * *
Nathan and Jessica were ushered into Jenno Motto’s office by four heavily armed guards.
“The infamous Na-Tan,” the man behind the desk exclaimed. “The young captain who refused to die, even when executed. Have you come to witness the results of your handiwork?”
“And you are?” Nathan wondered.
“Jenno Motto, head of what’s left of the Haven Syndicate.”
“And you blame me for this?”
“I suppose that would be unfair, as I imagine you believed you were doing the honorable thing at the time.”
“That means a lot,” Nathan replied, “coming from someone who enslaves people in order to increase profits.”
“I enslave no one,” Jenno stated, obviously unbothered by the familiar accusation. “The act of acquiring debt with only themselves as collateral is what enslaves those who end up here. I am merely purchasing those debts and giving them a chance to repay their debts.”
“By working and living in brutal conditions for decades,” Jessica remarked.
Jenno pointed at her. “You are not the first to disapprove.”
“Color me shocked.”
“He is correct,” Nathan told Jessica. “I’m sure most of these people ended up here due to their own poor choices.”
Jessica looked shocked. “Some of our best people came from here,” she reminded him.
“For which you technically still owe me compensation,” Jenno pointed out. “However, I am willing to ignore that fact for the time being.”
“How gracious of you,” Jessica snarled.
“Easy,” Nathan told her.
“I suppose you’ve come to offer us the protection of your grand
alliance,” Jenno surmised.
“Something like that,” Nathan confirmed.
“Haven has survived four empires,” Jenno told them. “It will survive the Dusahn.”
“Survive?” Jessica challenged. “Is that what you call what’s going on outside?”
“Our harvesters were unharmed. Our processing facilities were unharmed. We are still able to function.”
“And how many workers did you lose?” Nathan inquired.
“More than we would have liked,” Jenno admitted. “However, there will always be others. The debtor’s prisons are full of people who would rather labor away on Haven than rot in a damp cell eating crap.”
“You have something other than molo to eat here?” Jessica snapped.
Jenno smiled. “An acquired taste.”
“Protection is not the only thing we have to offer,” Nathan explained, trying to push past Jessica’s distractions. “We are setting up trade and communication routes. We’re even setting up a dedicated ferry ship that can move cargo as well as smaller, interplanetary cargo ships, to any point along the network. You could expand your markets, and your new customers would not have to worry about logistics.”
“So now you are trying to put independent cargo carriers out of business?”
“No, we’re simply trying to help improve the economies of our member worlds,” Nathan argued. “To give them access to new markets they might not otherwise have, as well as to products they might not even know about.”
“We have all the customers we need,” Jenno said. “More customers means more production, which means more workers, which means more logistical support for those workers, which means more complications…you get the idea. Quite frankly, Haven is barely able to support our current population.”
“You’d be able to import what you needed to support a larger population from other worlds,” Nathan countered.
“We already do, but only the essentials. Again, we like to keep things simple.”
“That’s fine for you and your people,” Jessica interrupted, “but I wonder what the workers would say?”