by David Ryker
I recognized Kera, but not the other two, though I assumed they were the Polgarian and the droid we’d killed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, come on now — you want me to talk, but you won’t? How’s that fair?”
“Because we’ve got the guns,” Everett snapped. “Now, tell us. Why’d you cross Fox?” Everett was feeling time running out — we all were. She was prioritizing information. I got that. It didn’t really matter how they got off Telmareen. We knew they were there, and that was enough.
“Cross her? What makes you think I have — or hell, even would? What would I have to gain? We’re on the same side, fighting for the same thing.” He puffed his chest out, proud. “Fighting to make sure that you don’t choke the life out of the entire fucking galaxy. Haven’t you lot enslaved enough planets already?”
“So what’s the point of you being on Notia, selling Iskcara that doesn’t exist? And why are the TC guarding you?” I couldn’t figure any of it out. If Fox had sent him here to sell non-existent Iskcara, then what was that achieving?
He took another breath, hung his head to the right and looked between Alice and me toward the door. His eyes rested there for a while before he looked up. “Look, I’m only going to tell you this because in a few seconds that door’s going to burst open, and you’re all going to be dead fucking meat.”
We all stiffened. Alice started walking backward and approached the door, cracking it half an inch and peering through the gap. Everett still had her Arcram pinned on Smith, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Then you’d better tell us quick,” I grunted.
Alice didn’t come back, but didn’t move from the door either. Smith didn’t strike me as the sort to make empty threats.
He cleared his throat, coughed quietly a few times, and then went on. “Everyone knows that Iskcara was going missing from Telmareen, so it only reasons that it’s out there, somewhere. Notia’s the perfect place for it to show up — lawless, out of the Federation’s jurisdiction, and not super-tight on the old security.”
“And?” Everett was getting antsy.
“And, it means that when you put out the word that you’re looking to offload some hyperdrive fuel slash super-atomic bomb material, well, you get some nibbles.”
“So why kill them?” I asked quickly. “The buyers? What are you getting out of it — what do the Free get out of it? The TC? How does it all fit together?”
His lip curled up. “How old are you, kid?”
Everett stepped forward and pushed the barrel of the Arcram against his forehead. She was long past agitated now. “Talk, or I blow your brains out right here.”
“Go ahead, I did my part,” he said cooly, turning into the barrel so it was between his eyes. “See what happens.”
Everett growled and pulled the pistol away, slamming the butt into his temple. He keeled sideways, groaning, blood running over his cheek. She grabbed him by the collar and heaved him upright. “I said talk.”
“Jeez,” he said, one eye screwed closed. “Alright, shit — I’d have rather you just shot me. Fuck — we’re just trying to do some good.”
“By killing people?” Alice scoffed from the door.
“By killing people who want to buy nuclear material, yeah.” He sucked air in between his teeth, the blood dropping off his chin. The cut looked painful, and deep.
“To what end? What’s it accomplishing?” Everett was still pushing, her words hurried.
I looked over at Alice. Anything out there? I asked without saying anything.
She glanced at me, head shaking. All clear, for now. But we need to go.
I know.
Smith sighed. “They come on board, they want to buy stuff to make a bomb — they want to blow some shit up. If it’s not your shit, it’s ours. They’re claiming to be rebels, looking to stick it to the Federation, but they’re not. They just want it so they can wave it about, make some threats, probably hurt a lot of people. And while the Federation are assholes, a lot of the people on their planets, and on their ships aren’t — we’re just cleaning up the mess before they do any harm. Everyone knows we have the stuff. This was just a way to do a little bit of good with it.”
“You expect us to believe that?” Everett was almost laughing herself. “That’s the thinnest, shittest story I’ve ever been fed.”
“Well, it’s the only one I’m feeding, sweetheart.”
“And if you’re not selling it, then what the hell are you doing with it, huh? Building bombs yourself? Getting ready to go to war with the big bad Federation before we quash you once and for all?”
He started laughing again now, his eyes not leaving Everett. “You don’t have any idea what we’re doing, or what we’re capable of. We’re not getting ready to go to war with the Federation, we’re getting ready to end it, once and for all. The blade’s at your throat, and you don’t even know it.”
I swallowed. “And the TC? They just want to help out as well, huh?”
He shrugged, still looking at Everett. “We’re all trading the same shit. They just want more honest traders, and fewer scum bags out there trying to exploit the weak, trying to make a dishonest buck — the ones who are hiking up the prices by shorting stocks, or stealing resources, or threatening to blow up a goddamn city with an Iskcara bomb unless they hand over every scrap of credits they have — those are the sorts of people who fuck things up for everyone, the sort of people who are bad for business — and those are the sorts of people that no one likes floating around, only the Free and TC will do something about it, even if the Federation won’t. The ones we’ve killed already — they would have done some bad shit with that Iskcara. It’s better that they’re gone. It’s better for all of us.”
Everett exhaled, her nostrils flaring. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Not to you, because you’re Federation. Why would it?”
Red? It was Alice’s voice.
Yeah, what’s up? I said, turning.
She looked at me, eyes wide, mouth set in a flat line. We’ve got company.
19
I pulled away from Smith and headed over, bowing my head so that my shoulders hid my face from behind. “What’re we looking at?” I whispered.
Alice kept an eye in the crack, breathing slowly. “Looks like four guys — two TC, two mercs, maybe… They’re not in uniform.”
“Plainclothes?”
“I dunno. Don’t think so. They don’t have that authoritarian look.” She sighed and pushed the door to a little.
“How long?”
“They’re checking buildings, one by one — maybe a few minutes. Maybe less if they take a liking to this one.” I could see the pulse in her neck quickening.
Smith started laughing again. “They’re here!”
“Shut up,” Everett hissed, clipping him with her pistol grip again.
He swore and spat blood. She’d hit him in the cheek. “You guys only have one shot of getting out of here alive, and that’s to just run away. Leave me alive, and run away.”
“And what makes you think that’d we’d leave you alive, huh?” Everett said coldly.
“Because if you don’t, they’ll make a point of killing you, just out of revenge.” Smith was grinning.
“And what makes you so damn important to the Free? Far as we can tell, you’re just a goddamn errand boy. Nothing but a slab of bait on the hook of Notia, bringing in the scumbags, if your story is to be believed.”
“Far as you can tell.” He chuckled and Everett hit him again.
“So enlighten us.”
“You kill me, and you’ll be killing a Free emissary. I’m Notia’s point of contact with the Free — I’m as good as a political goddamn ambassador. I’ve been brokering their relationship for a year!” His voice rose and Everett raised the pistol as though she’d hit him again. He quieted down and spat more blood on the floor. Alice and I watched cautiously from the door.
“A year? A year ago you were ro
lling with Kera and her cronies. Nothing but a merc!” Everett was getting angry now. “Don’t bullshit us.”
He nodded to his gut and general lack of battle-readiness. “I look like a merc to you? Nah, I’ve known Kera from way back — and sure, I put them onto Telmareen, set their gig up, was their POC there, but I never rolled with them—”
“They said you were held prisoner. A captive in the tower, and—”
“A nice story to keep them on the line. Like I said, we go way back, friends even — I mean, we were, before the kid put a bullet in her head,” he said gruffly, nodding in my direction. He glowered at me before going on. “I fed her that line to keep her on track, said that they captured me, were holding me prisoner, and would kill me and expose them for what they were doing if they didn’t keep bringing in dumb fucking mercs to hit the transports. I was never in any danger. Hell, I’ve been working with the Free for years. I move around, I build bridges, I broker deals, and I set shit up — I’m good at it. I know a lot of people, in a lot of places, and killing me is going to do nothing but piss off the Free, and believe you me, the ones that are on Notia, keeping an eye on me — they’re the ones you don’t want to piss off.”
I pushed back from the door now and surged over. “And why are you telling us all this? Why tell us anything at all?”
“Because you look like you’ve got sense, and you obviously don’t play by the rules. You’re Federation, and you’re not supposed to be here. They haven’t ordered you to take me out — they wouldn’t, not on Notia. It’s neutral ground as far as they’re concerned and they want to preserve their trading relationship with the Notians—”
“How do you know that?” Everett snarled.
“I’ve been here a year! Are none of you guys listening? It’s all inter-fucking-twined— Look, you run now, let me live, and you might just get out of this if you can make it back to your ship before they catch you — if they haven’t grounded them all already. But shit, if you kill me, then… Well, then all bets are off.” There was fear in his voice, suddenly. He didn’t want to die, that much was obvious.
“We can’t let you go, it’s too much of a risk,” I said quietly, my voice barely above a growl. “You can put us on Telmareen, and that will fuck with our story. Your testimony will put us behind bars — probably worse. There’s only one way this can end.”
I saw the glimmer of hope in his eyes fade. “I’d die before testifying in a Federation court. They’ll never catch me.”
“We did.”
He drew a slow breath. “Hey, listen — we can talk about this. We can work something out. If the Federation are after me then—”
I couldn’t hear any more. I didn’t need to. I pulled the Arcram up and put a bullet between his eyes. The muzzle flashed and the dull thunk of the gas-propelled bullet split the air. My hand throbbed painfully around the grip, my knuckles purple, but I didn’t flinch. Smith keeled backward, a wide spray of blood covering the wall behind him.
Everett jumped backward. “Jesus, Red! A little warning would be nice.”
“We don’t have time. We have to go. The TC are here — the Free, too.”
“And what, you want to carry him—”
“We leave him. We can’t afford not to.”
“It’ll be a goddamn nightmare for the Federation if—”
“It’s already a goddamn nightmare!” I snapped. “You heard what he said. The Free, the TC, they’re all mixed up together. It’s not about corruption anymore, they’re the same fucking people! The Federation are fighting the Free with their right hand and lining their pockets with their left. We need to get out of here, and we need to tell the Federation what the hell is going on. It’s going to be an incident either way, because the Federation are going to declare war on the fucking Trading Collective when they find out!” I couldn’t keep my voice down, but Everett didn’t say anything, she just started nodding. Minutely at first, but then with more surety.
“Okay.” She sighed. “Okay, let’s get the fuck off this ship. We dealt with Smith, so let’s go. The plan is the same. You lead. The vanguard. Clear us a path.”
Alice turned from the door. “And these four guys out here?”
“We kill them before they can call for backup,” Everett said coldly.
The words hung in the air for a second before Alice and I both automatically checked our Arcrams.
I cracked my neck. “Then let’s do it.”
We waited for them to get closer, and then we hit them.
The door burst open and I plunged into the cool air of the street. It was an old industrial section with warehouses and workshops, but they seemed to be disused for the most part. The sight of the TC patrolling had been enough to clear everyone who still lingered. So the street was empty, and ripe for a gunfight.
I took two steps and then rolled left toward a group of trash cans, squeezing off two shots as I did, towards the group standing across the street, knocking on the door of what looked to be a metallurgist.
I aimed well, and the first bullet hit a guy in TC red and black square in the back of the head. Blood splattered the closed door, his fist still raised, and he sprawled against it with a clatter.
The second bullet was hastier and caught one of the plainclothes, a big guy wearing a dark coat and military boots, center mass. It didn’t seem to phase him, just absorbing into what had to be body armor. He grunted, and stepped casually sideways, drawing a pistol it would have taken me both hands to use. He lifted it with ease, brushing longish brown hair over his ear with his free hand.
The other two turned to face me in shock, immediately scattering for cover. Alice came out of the door and ran toward me, putting a few rounds into where they were running to. The other one in civilian clothes, with a shaved head and tattoos on his neck, got clipped in the leg and sprawled forward into the street. I finished him off, the bullet ripping through his temple before he could make any sound. The second guy in the TC uniform, a flak vest over a shirt and a long red and black jacket, crashed into a heap of junk and rolled behind it, swearing audibly over the sound of the gunfire.
Alice slid in next to me. Two down?
Yeah. Big guy took a shot like it was nothing. Body armor.
No one walks away from a headshot. She flashed me a smile. Flank left, I’ll go right.
I nodded. I’ll take the brute. Put the other one down before he can call it in. I’ll draw his fire, ready?
She took a breath. On your go.
Now. I twisted sideways onto my knee and brought the pistol up as quickly as I could. Before it got halfway, the trashcan exploded, a hole the size of my fist punching right through it where I’d been half a second before. Trash plumed into the air and the bullet clanged off the cladding on the building behind me, the bang of the shot already ringing in my ears. The brute was striding forward, cannon raised. It’d punched a hole through three layers of metal like it was nothing, and he didn’t seem bothered by the recoil at all.
I shrugged off the reflexive duck and brought the pistol back up, firing three times in quick succession. The first shot disappeared into his body again, the second and third went wide altogether, despite heading right for him.
He rolled left, swerving his body out of the way like he’d seen where they were aimed. They would have caught him in the neck and head but instead plinked off into the darkness beyond the other row of buildings across the street.
It threw me — I thought he’d be dead when my finger pulled the trigger for the third time — but before I could get my bearings, he fired again.
I dove out of the way and rolled into the street, the canon blasting a chunk of dirt into the air where I’d just been. I felt the wind off the bullet as it rushed by and knew that no matter where I got hit, it’d make a hole big enough for me to bleed out in seconds.
“Everett!” I yelled, scrambling forward for any semblance of cover. The brute was coming fast, but not firing again.
I heard shots in my peripheral. Alice
putting the other one down, maybe. Then there were more, closer. Everett this time. I glanced over my shoulder, making for a garage across the street, and saw her coming out of the storeroom, both hands firmly around the grip of her Arcram. She must have fired six or seven shots, but none of them seemed to land.
The brute dipped his shoulder, his coat flapping, and then was gone. I felt like my brain stuttered. He was on her in a second, closing the gap quicker than I ever could have thought possible.
I heard the dull thud as his shoulder hit her square in the chest, and then the crack as she slammed backward into the wall of the building, nearly a meter off the ground. The force had knocked her clean off her feet.
She sagged down, and lay in a slumped heap. The brute stood over her, unphased, and lifted his pistol, the barrel nearly thirty centimeters long.
I skidded to a halt and turned, firing on instinct. On the other side, I could see Alice coming back across, doing the same.
He dropped to the ground and spun on his heels, letting off a single shot at her. The only reason she wasn’t blown off her feet was that she was already strafing.
The bullet winged her, barely glancing her hip, but it sent her tumbling. She left the ground and hung in space, her cry piercing the air, before crashing to the ground and rolling to a halt.
I stopped dead in my tracks, watching as the brute stood straight and rounded on me, his arm out, cannon raised, like iron, unflinching, expression like carved stone. I could see the muzzle faintly smoking, each shot still ringing in the air like a bell toll. “Smith,” he said, his voice thick and deep. “Alive?”
I had my pistol raised, but I didn’t want to fire it. It seemed somehow pointless. He was no more than five meters away, and I could see four holes in his black shirt from where bullets had gone in. Getting hit by an Arcram was no joke either. They packed a helluva punch, but this guy had taken them like they were breath mints.
I swallowed hard, knowing I’d only have one word. “Greg!” I called, digging my heel into the ground and kicking right.