by Skyler Grant
A maintenance boom that shouldn't have been there required a last-second calculation, a deviation from the plan that almost caused the shuttle to clip one of the towers. The console beeped and Quinn angled down into another feather-soft landing with the clamps engaged.
It was time for Mara to go to work.
Quinn knew the estimates. It should take her an hour and five minutes to do what they needed to do. That would be enough time to plant a freeze for the mana sensors at the event. Enough time for her to copy a few security credentials as well.
Quinn couldn't risk communication with her to check for status updates, and she was under a tight time-line. They had to pull off within an hour and twenty minutes or it would be another eighteen hours until they'd get the chance again.
Seven minutes before the deadline the hatch open notification went off. A minute later Mara was crawling back into the forward seats, shaking out her mane of red hair.
"Glad you didn't leave me behind," Mara said.
"Oh, I'd never do that. We're married, and I'm still not entirely convinced you're not actually an assassin," Quinn said.
"Happy wife, keep your life. I like you confused, think I'll keep it that way."
That was one way of thinking about it.
The escape went as smoothly as their entry, and just as tediously. Quinn could only hope the rest of their plans went this well.
35
"This was a bad plan," Dela said over the comm.
Things weren't going so well. Stage two of their infiltration involved taking out a Calliope security team without them raising an alarm, and securing their credentials and equipment. They were supposed to have been off duty an hour ago, but had gotten involved in something unexpected. Instead Quinn and Taki had tracked them in the Tango while Kara and Dela followed aboard the Whiskey. Both shuttles had landed about ten minutes ago and, on foot, everyone got into a position to see what was going on.
The security team had set down a shuttle in the ruins of what looked like a row of abandoned warehouses, beside a truck filled with crates, driven by someone who seemed to take charge.
They were doing something illicit—and not just illicit by usual Arkstone standards. Avoiding the corporate authorities as they played private security for one side of a deal.
Another vehicle came down the road and parked. Six men go out. One was clearly a deal maker and the other five muscle.
The way they were holding their guns, they weren't well trained, but anybody with a gun was dangerous. This also complicated Quinn’s plans. They'd prepared for a four-person security team, earning a stunner blast from each of the Bliss crew and thus zero chance to raise a fight or an alarm. This took the numbers of armed up to nine, plus two who could be an additional complication.
Quinn looked over at Taki who was studying the scene. "You're the one with battle plans. Got one?"
It wasn't just a matter of taking them out. They'd planned to haul the team away sedated and out of sight for the duration of the meeting. Ideally they'd never been missed until they were next supposed to report in, but these new people were different.
"They were here first. They're cautious. They'll not want to turn their backs, so they'll be the last to leave. We let this deal play out and then we take them," Taki said.
"They head out first, we lose our chance," Quinn said.
"Then we improvise, sir."
Worked for Quinn. "Hold position, we're waiting for them to break up this party," Quinn said.
The two making a deal were talking with the occasional emphatic gesture, and things seemed in line. But as time passed Quinn felt the hackles of his neck rise. He'd been in deals enough to know when one was about to go sour, and even though things still looked okay, he could tell something was off.
"Something is wrong. Hit primary targets first," Quinn said.
"Your stunners just have a single round," Mara said.
"I've got the others," Kara said.
It wasn't much of a plan, but it was something.
"Go," Quinn said.
In unison all four rose from their cover and fired their stunners, blue bolts of energy streaking down to catch the Calliope agents by surprise, and they slumped.
Bullets tore apart the truck driver they had been guarding, his body stumbling backwards with his chest torn apart.
Kara was on the move. A sword was one of her recent purchases and she was putting it to good use, down and among the muscle. Their leader raised a pistol to take a few shots at her, hitting one of his own guards in the confusion, and a powerful stroke from Kara's sword split his skull almost in two.
Kara's armor was showing a few new scuff marks where rounds had hit, but there was no black blood. They’d had nothing that could penetrate.
"Strip them and load them up," Quinn said, moving to take the armor and weapons from one of the guards before dragging him to the containment cell aboard the Whiskey. The others repeated that process three more times.
Taki and Kara carried the armor they'd just removed over to the Tango while Dela went to study the controls of the Calliope security shuttle.
"What about the loot and the cash?" Taki asked, gesturing to the remains of the deal gone bad.
"Leave it," Quinn decided after a moment. "If anyone discovers what went on here there’s a fair chance they'll cover it up themselves just to keep the money. If not, someone's security didn't show and they got dumb and did the deal anyways."
"Works for me. Taking it might raise some questions," Taki agreed.
Within five minutes three shuttles were flying off into the night, leaving bloody carnage behind.
36
It was reverse heist day. This final stage of the plan only allowed for four people, which meant they had to be chosen carefully—both for if things went right and went wrong.
Quinn wasn't going to leave this final stage of the operation to others. Besides, if things went bad he was still their best pilot. That made one.
Jinx was the person Quinn least wanted along, and the one who most had to be there. She made two.
The third person had to have extensive neural implants, and that made a choice between Mara and Tamara. If Jinx needed help making her case Tamara was going to be the most valuable, although Mara's ability to hack and override security systems could also be invaluable if things went wrong. Quinn reluctantly went with Tamara. If things went bad they were probably dead anyways. Hacking anything wasn’t going to bring them back to life. That brought them to three.
The final slot was for a fighter, a steady gun hand and nerves of steel. Mara would have qualified here, or Taki, or Kara. Quinn trusted Taki the most, thought Mara brought best all-round skills to the table, but if things went loud nobody was better than Kara. That made four.
They'd modified the Calliope security uniforms to fit them, full armor covering them head to toe and obscuring their faces. The gear wasn't proof against stunners, but it did a great job at stopping bullets.
As they approached the resort in their stolen shuttle Quinn triggered the mana sensor freeze. With Duchess Alara of the Imperium having already arrived the guards had the one signature they should be expecting to see. The alterations he and Mara had made to the security systems would assure it was the only mana the sensors picked up until they were ready.
"Shuttle Calliope Three Seven Six, you are three minutes early. Transmit your security codes," crackled the comm.
Interrogating their prisoners would have been too time-consuming, and likely to failure. Most security personnel had an alternate set of codes for capture. Another benefit of the time spent with Mara, they'd gone right to the source for the codes.
"Transmitting. Need us to enter a holding pattern?" Quinn asked.
"Negative, Three Seven Six, you're verified and cleared through to hangar seven."
It wasn't where most of the fancy ships were heading. Those had a private docking ring higher up in the resort. Quinn brought the shuttle down into hangar seven. There were a few other Calliop
e vessels present, along with those of a few contractors servicing the affair—they'd thought of infiltrating as hired help, but the access just wasn't enough.
Inside the security perimeter a lot of the barriers went down. They made their way through back corridors. The occasional security team passed them, suits automatically checking the authenticity of the others before signaling an all-clear.
They weren't supposed to be in the main hall. The security there was specific and those guards were regulars. Here, things got tricky again and they were dependent upon Tamara.
The resort systems proved responsive to the implants in her head and she triggered a water leak on the floor below. With the risk of shorting out systems it demanded a repair crew be present, and a security team to watch them. With callsign codes gleaned from the Calliope system, Tamara sent a team from inside the hall to do so.
Then, separately, through a different branch of the command tree, she generated a report of a delegate behaving badly and the call for another team from the hall to escort them out.
During the long delays Quinn was almost certain they'd been discovered. Then they were finally allowed through to take the place of the missing squads in the hall.
With Tamara's implants providing encryption they could talk fairly risk-free, even here, through the comms in their suits.
"That was close," Quinn said.
"I almost started shooting," Kara said, and sounded very serious about it.
"When are we doing this?" Jinx asked, her nervousness clear.
"I suspect you're already going to be on the agenda, dear. You declared a new Imperium on the edge of their sphere of influence. We wait for them to raise it," Tamara said.
Quinn looked around the tables. Representatives from the fifteen largest crime families were present. Sofia was there in a red gown. At another table sat a woman in white and silver, with a clasp bearing the crest of the Imperium, Duchess Alara no doubt. There were a few other figures seated apart, all extravagantly dressed. Other players strong enough to have a presence, and likely the wealth and powerful of Arkstone.
It was after forty minutes of discussing tariffs and a shipping dispute when the topic finally turned to something of interest.
An older man from one of the families stood up. He wore a pinstriped suit and a white tie. "Duchess Alara. We've heard reports lately of mercenaries being hired for attacking a colony reporting to belong to the Tremel system. Do you have a change of allegiance we should be aware of?"
"I do not. You are aware that the colony has been blockaded by the Consortium for some time. Be aware that whatever is going on there now is an internal matter and will be dealt with in due course," Alara said.
It was go time.
Jinx knew it, she was already in motion. Her gun was set down and gloves pulled off, the helmet following.
Quinn unfroze the mana sensor and an alarm began to blare.
Dozens of guns pointed at Jinx as she advanced down the aisle, her glowing hand held high in the air. "I think I can answer some of your questions there, and some you haven't even thought to ask. The guns are unnecessary."
"But practical. My lady, I haven't had the pleasure," the older man said, unruffled by the intrusion.
"Jinx, I stole a planet," Jinx said.
Tamara also disarmed herself, slipping off her helmet and tossing out her hair before walking to stand near Jinx. "Tamara Cross, council for the Thief of Stars."
"Is that supposed to be some sort of title? Is this all some foolish joke?" Alara asked, rising to her feet. "If you think this thievery will fly you have forgotten something. That is my planet you are stealing."
"You abandoned it. I stole it fair and square by the laws of Arkstone. Before another could steal it I’ll add," Jinx said, and nodded to Tamara.
Tamara's implants sent out the data files they'd prepared, detailing Sofia's efforts.
A few moments of silence followed as people began to go through the files. Then Sofia got to her feet.
She said loudly, "I object to the presence of this person and her attempt to influence this meeting where she has no right."
"I expect you do," Alara said, frowning. "Oswald, if this is true, the families have something to answer for. We have a truce."
The older man remained standing, flipping through pages of evidence on a tablet. "I'd have to agree. Sofia? Care to explain this?"
Sofia stared slowly about the room. "The Emperor is dead. The Imperium is soon to follow. Yes, I tried to seize this colony they were unwilling to defend. The families are the future of Arkstone."
Quinn thought it a pretty good ploy, turning her guilt into a call for a civil war. Greed was always a good thing to gamble on, but so was fear.
"Sofia Delcoro contracted a member of the Royal Astrographical Society and an independent starship to retrieve a cargo located beyond the edges of the Runestone network. This is who she was attempting to retrieve," Jinx said.
Tamara sent more images. Pictures of Ilinar, and the beasts attacking the mechs at the colony.
Sofia gasped as they came through. "He's alive. By what fortune you survived your encounter with him, girl, I do not know. But by now you’ve learned the cost of standing in his way. The Empire will burn and any who stand with it and my family will rise ascendant over the ashes."
And there it was. Tamara sent more shots, these taken from the internal systems on the Bliss. Jinx firing the pistol, the first of the shots that took Ilinar in the head. The slumped remains of his corpse.
Jinx raised her hand once more, displaying that rune to one and all. "I stole a few systems fair and square. You should all be very grateful that I did."
"If these images are accurate we may be," Oswald said his voice grave. "What do these pictures mean?"
Jinx sucked in a deep breath and stood straighter, exuding a confidence that Quinn knew was feigned and despite that he found himself wanting to believe anyways. "It means a storm sweeps in. The Emperor kept monsters at bay and now he is dead. Any one of you might have the power to take the colony from me, though by the time you muster the fleet I'll bleed you so badly for it your fellow jackals will tear you apart."
"Be careful with your insults, lady," Oswald said, the old man finding some fire in his voice.
"The Divide had been breached and the connection with the forgotten half of the Imperium has been re-established. The monsters have their way in the door and right now the only thing standing between you and them is me. Honor your own laws and recognize my stars as fairly stolen," Jinx said.
Jinx turned to leave and Oswald spoke up. "A matter of order. I ask the security stand down once the meeting is concluded."
One of the well-dressed figures stood. "Granted. Calliope forces, stand down once the signal is given."
Oswald offered a faint smile. "Thank you. It is both against protocol and good manners to kill someone during this meeting. You came here to call upon our code and we honor it. Possession is the law. It is not for those stars alone you came here though but for a person, and I'm inclined to let you have her. I'll even pay you for services rendered. One hundred thousand credits for the head of Sofia Delcoro." He gestured at Sofia. “You would be a friend to the families, prove it..”
"You'll regret this, Oswald. I'm not alone and I'm not the last," Sofia said.
"And I am not an assassin but a thief. Clean up your own trash," Jinx said, and again turned towards the door with Tamara in her wake.
Quinn put out a hand to stop the rise of Kara's gun, aiming for Sofia. "No. This is Jinx’s moment and we're being all dramatic and storming off, not shooting. Besides, we’re already getting paid."
"But I like killing as much as I like money. This is both," Kara said.
"Not today," Quinn said.
Kara could have pushed the point, she didn't. Instead she and Quinn fell into line behind Jinx and Tamara, the crowd parting before them as they left the hall.
37
It was four days after their dramatic exi
t and the Centauri Bliss landed on Ixworth, a remote aquatic world with only a few isolated island chains.
Too little land to make a good tourist destination or even a proper colony, it was pretty much perfect for a starship crew that wanted to get away somewhere remote.
Quinn untangled himself from a pile of bodies. Dela's arm was draped across his chest and Kara's thigh was atop him in a half straddle. Drowsy murmurs of protest were left behind as he got dressed. A day of snorkeling had turned into more in the makeshift pavilion they'd made on the beach.
"Back late, sir," Taki said, when he came aboard. Both she and Tamara were set up at the table, scrolling through tablets.
"Did our clearance finally come through?" Quinn asked.
"It did. Priority clearance into the Arkstone system avoiding all queues as well as a license to operate as an authorized trader, hauler, mercenary, and assassin. Money talks," Tamara said.
"Should make it easier to find work. If anyone will hire us after our little stunt," Quinn said.
"I wanted to talk to you about that, sir. Word has spread of what we did and people have been reaching out. A lot of people," Taki said.
"Marriage proposals?" Quinn asked.
"A few," Taki said seriously.
Tamara said, "Forward those to me. They're likely lunatics, but we're interested in expanding the family if they have the right skills."
"That is so weird, but okay. No, the bulk of them are ... I don't want to say job offers. More like requests for help. Against people who abuse their authority, some whole colonies being oppressed," Taki said.
"Not surprising. We just brought down the head of one of the most powerful families on Arkstone and did it in a big way. Of course people are impressed," Tamara said.
"We should listen," Jinx said, stepping in from where she must have been listening in the shadows. "We've got this momentum, let’s keep it."
"No money in bringing the wicked to justice," Taki said.
"Isn't there? We made more going after one of the powerful criminals than we ever made scrambling for what they deigned to throw us," Jinx said.
