by S. E. Smith
Krac ignored the burning from the numerous wounds on his body as he ran the rest of the way down the narrow corridor. His only thought was to get to Violet. He grabbed Gracie around her waist, turning as he did, and slammed his shoulder into the heavy metal door. He released Gracie and slammed into it again. The metal groaned under the force of the impact.
“Take care of Kordon,” he growled through gritted teeth before slamming into the door again. “Now!”
The healer nodded and stumbled up and into the other room where Kordon lay motionless on the floor. Blood pooled around his body. Krac ignored all of that as the door finally gave way. He stumbled before running for the open window.
His eyes quickly scanned the area, but there was no sign of the transport the men had used to get away. His eyes lowered to the ground twenty-six floors below. Life below remained untouched by the violence happening high above them.
He turned, his hand already running through the information on scheduled departures at the same time as he sent a level five alert with information about the abduction of High Councilman Kordon Jefe’s daughter and the attack on him and his family to Rorrak and other members of the council Rorrak assured him could be trusted.
“What is his condition?” Bazteen Jefe demanded immediately over the connection. “Additional guards are on their way.”
“Lock down all departures,” Krac responded. “I was able to kill one of the attackers. The healer is working on Kordon.”
He paused inside the door of the healer’s office. Gracie sat on the floor next to Kordon’s head. She was gently stroking his hair and face with one hand while Adam’s small body was tucked against her with the other. The healer was speaking quietly into her comlink while placing a stabilizer over the large wound to his chest.
“Krac?” Gracie whispered, looking up at him with eyes filled with a quiet grief. “Is she…? Is she…?”
“No,” Krac interrupted harshly. “They took her. They will not harm her, Gracie. They wanted you. They will use her to get to you. They cannot do that if they harm her. Will he live?” He asked the healer.
“Yes,” the healer replied with determination. “I will not lose him. I have an emergency team that should be here any moment.”
The sound of running feet echoed before her words finished leaving her lips. Krac turned immediately and scanned those coming in. He stood to the side as Kordon was lifted onto a stretcher and a portable life support was attached to him. One of the medics who came in bent and carefully helped Gracie up.
“Krac, find her for us,” Gracie whispered as she watched their healer nod for the group to move toward the lift. “Please… please find her and bring her ho… home.”
“I will find her, Gracie,” Krac promised. “I will find her and I will kill every one of those responsible for this.”
“I can’t… I can’t lose them,” Gracie choked out, holding Adam closer against her. “I can’t. Not after losing everything else. Even Murphy can’t be that cruel.”
“Murphy?” Krac asked, puzzled.
“Murphy’s Law,” Gracie mumbled. “I have to go with him. I love him so much. Find Violet, Krac. I’m trusting you. You are the only one right now that I can trust to find her and bring her home safely.”
Krac watched as Gracie hurried after the small group who surrounded Kordon. Bazteen and Saffron, Kordon’s younger brother, had appeared and quickly wrapped Gracie safely between them. He would look for clues here before anyone else could disrupt the scene. He would start with the male he had killed and then the nurse who had betrayed them. He hoped she was still alive, at least until he was finished with her.
Chapter 7
Two weeks later: Pyrus Spaceport
“I swear I’m going to kill her,” Froget muttered as he searched another crowded bar. “If I’m going to die anyway, I might as well have a good reason for it. Maybe I’ll be lucky and Ti’Death will just shoot me.”
“What’s that, Frog?” The huge yellow and black bartender asked. “I didn’t hear what you wanted.”
“My name is Froget! Not Frog, Froget!” Froget growled as he hopped up onto the tall stool. “Have you seen Skeeter?”
Hornet’s antennas flickered madly for several seconds before he shook his head. “Gods no! I haven’t seen her since she was here a few weeks back. It took me that long to get the rest of the tables repaired. What are you doing with Skeeter?” He asked innocently, not wanting Froget to know he had been the one to recommend him to Ti’Death.
“I need a Reptilian Runner,” Froget sighed loudly. “I’m her new co-pilot. Or I was as of yesterday. I’m probably going to be dead tomorrow if I don’t find her.”
Hornet set a large glass with blue flames burning on the top of it in front of Froget with a look of sympathy. He slapped at a small spill of the flaming liquid with the damp cloth he pulled from his waist before leaning on the bar and looking at Froget with his multiple eyes. He watched as the small green creature blew out the flames and took a long, depressing drink.
“Okay, tell me what she’s done now,” Hornet said. “You know the life expectancy of her co-pilots have not been long. Well, except for the human one. I think he is still alive.”
“Oh, he’s alive, just not all in one piece,” Froget replied in a discouraged voice. “Five weeks with her and I’m ready to slit my own throat and save her father the trouble.”
Hornet threw his head back and a loud buzzing laugh filled the crowded bar. From the look on the small creature’s face, he was going to need something a little stronger before the night was over. He knew Ti’Death’s reputation, especially when it came to his unusual daughter. While she was human, she was the strangest one he had ever met before. She almost always caused a riot whenever she came in and was totally clueless to the fact she was the cause of it.
The last time she had come in was a little over two weeks before. She had joined in a game of Battle Beasts with a couple of cutthroat pirates from the outer rim that had more credits than brains between the two of them. They had thought the curvy redhead with the innocent smile and flashing eyes would be an easy target in more ways than one.
Hornet had heard the two males talk about taking more than her credits. They planned to enjoy her and thought of ransoming her back to Ti’Death which was suicide in the first place. By the end of the game, she had taken everything but their underclothes.
Enraged, they had accused her of cheating. When one of the men jumped up, so had Skeeter. Unfortunately, one of the males had just ordered a Reptilian Runner. When she swept her arms forward to gather her winnings, her hand hit the tall glass of flaming liquid igniting the front of the pirate’s long leg coverings setting them on fire.
In his panic, the pirate had turned and knocked a serving platter of food onto a group of Bulltian miners. Food covered the thick, massive creatures who surged up in fury. Hornet had watched as Skeeter stuffed the credits down her shirt as the other pirate tried to grab them. She had fallen back into her chair which tipped into another barmaid carrying a pitcher of icy Frozen Moon which flew over a group of Zion warriors. All the Zion warriors saw was the pirate with his hands out as Skeeter was now on the floor.
Hornet had watched as she had crawled under the tables until she made it to the door where she stood up, wiped her hands on her dark blue pants, fluffed her hair and straightened her shoulders leaving a battlefield of flying fists and bodies behind her. A smile curved his lips when he remembered seeing her turn and peek back inside the bar, biting her lower lip before giving him a small apologetic smile. The only thing he could do was call for security to come break up the fighting mass of bodies and clean up the mess. Technically, she hadn’t done a thing but beat a couple of pirates at their own game.
“So, what has she done?” Hornet asked, nodding to the other bartender to take over the orders coming in. “Is she in trouble?”
“Is she…,” Froget asked in disbelief. “SHE is trouble. In three weeks, we have gone to four Spaceports. Sh
e has managed to hit one Zion Warship, which she painted a huge pink line down, hit four space markers, rammed one pirate ship and almost crashed into four asteroids. She doesn’t have a clue how to fix more than the basics on the Lulu Belle. Her idea of repairing something is to take it out and make a sculpture out of it or paint it some awful color. I have had to tape together the thrusters, the navigation module is shot and I have red and black bugs all over my cabin that I want to eat so bad my tongue hurts from trying to taste them!”
“So, where is she now?” Hornet asked, unsure of what to say about the rest.
He remembered Ti’Death’s own experience with Skeeter’s piloting skills. He had come in more than once the past couple of years and downed half of his supply after taking Skeeter out for ‘lessons’ when she announced she wanted to work for his freighter line so she could learn the business.
“The girl can’t pilot worth a damn. We’re on our second freighter in a month,” Ti’Death had slurred at him. “She scares the hell out of me. Can’t talk and navigate at the same time and forget backing up or docking the damn things.”
Hornet had just poured his old friend another drink. He had promised him that he would do what he could to keep Skeeter safe while she was on the Spaceport. He felt a tinge of guilt that he had been the one to suggest Froget as a replacement for Skeeter’s last co-pilot, but he thought the small amphibian creature could handle it. Now, he wasn’t so sure it had been a fair thing to do to the other male.
Skeeter’s last co-pilot had plotted to sell the curvy girl to a brothel. Luckily, Skeeter had mentioned where Druss planned to take her as a surprise to her dad. Ti’Death had been furious and the male had disappeared on his way to the bathroom.
“I don’t know. She was gone by the time I woke up. I spent half the night working on the thrusters. I planned to take the navigation module apart and see if I could repair it. I left it on my workbench. When I woke up, Skeeter was gone along with the navigation module,” Froget said. “I’ve checked all the major dealers and they haven’t seen her. Ti’Death is going to roast my legs and eat them while I watch. I just know it.”
“She’ll turn up. She always does,” Hornet assured the little green male. “The girl has one of those human angels watching over her.”
“She needs a whole army of them. It’s the only way they could remain sane,” Froget muttered, dropping his head onto the bar. “Pour me another one, Hornet. I need it.”
“Red and black bugs, huh,” Hornet chuckled.
Froget just groaned and wrapped his hands around his drink. His eyes closed as he quickly blew out the flames and downed the drink. He was going to need a lot more before the night was over.
*.*.*
Skeeter bit her lip as she walked down the narrow, dark alley. This is where Artemis said she could get the new navigation module. At least, she thought it was where he said she could get it. Was it level one or eleven? God, she sucked when it came to remembering numbers and stuff like that.
I should have just told daddy I’m not a good pilot, she thought. I should have just told him I wanted to be an artist.
Instead, she had been too afraid of disappointing him. She really wanted to make him proud of her. If she could only be good at something. She was horrible at maiming and dismemberment. She fainted at the first sign of blood!
She was horrible with numbers and could barely keep track of the balance of credits in her account. She had made a mess when she had tried to work in the firm. She thought if she could pilot one of the freighters that might be fun. After all, she could work on her art between Spaceports and there was always lots of interesting stuff that she could use to create new pieces. What she hadn’t taken into consideration was she was lousy at piloting, knew nothing about repairing engines or navigation without instrumentation and before she could get on the Spaceports she had to dock with one which came back to the fact that she was lousy at piloting.
I do love the little space scooters, though, she thought with a sigh. Those are fun.
She felt bad about damaging the thrusters again when she hit the pirate ship. She thought Froget might forgive her if she returned with a new navigation module. That hope led her to her current situation.
She snuck out while Froget was still asleep. He had worked all night. She knew because his cussing and the loud banging on the pipes kept waking her up. She thought if she could surprise him with the new module he wouldn’t be so upset with her. She hadn’t meant to hit the thrusters when the pirate ship came after them. She thought it was the main engines.
Instead of disappearing into the vastness of space, she had stalled the engines when she overcompensated. She had gotten nervous when Froget yelled at her and she didn’t do well when she was nervous. She ended up hitting the orange button with the minus on it that meant backwards when she meant to hit the green button that meant go very fast. She thought if she color-coded the buttons different colors it would help her remember what each one did.
Instead, she ended up backing into the front of the pirate ship as they came up behind them. She knew the damage must have been bad because the alarms sounded. Her dad said that alarms in space were not good and she needed to find out what was wrong or get to the escape pod as fast as possible.
Luckily, Froget had been able to turn them off and get them going before the pirates had a chance to board them. Not that it was likely to happen as there had been a huge flash of light behind them before a shockwave had caused more alarms to go off. Froget was able to shut those off too, thank goodness.
“There it is!” Skeeter breathed in relief when she saw a dim flashing light that said Parts.
She hurried forward, pausing to look around before she pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the walls were lined with all kinds of parts. There were three men standing inside. One behind the counter and two in front of it.
Skeeter pushed the hood of her cloak back and smiled. “Hi, I need a part for my freighter. Do you mind if I look around for a few minutes?”
Chapter 8
Banshore Spaceport
Krac scowled at the men surrounding him. For the past two weeks he had been following one lead after another. Each one led him a step closer to finding the men who kidnapped Violet. Unfortunately, he was still no closer to finding out who the leader of the New Order was or where he might find him.
The dead male at the medical tower had given him his first clue. While there was no identification on the male, Krac had been able to link him to the Tillman Corporation back on Earth through facial and DNA scans. Tillman was one of the largest suppliers of weapons for the Earth’s military.
The founder was also a contributor that funded the research lab that developed him. Richard Tillman had remained free because there had been no trail of paperwork that lead back to him. Krac knew better, but Anastasia made him promise to not go after Tillman as it would prove his point that Krac should have been destroyed instead of set free. Instead, she promised to have him watched so she could bring him down publicly, a fact that caused open hostility between her and Tillman.
Video feeds from the apartment where the nurse lived showed the shadowy face of one of the other males, the one who held Gracie. Krac had finally been able to make a facial match after piecing together numerous images. Harden Blake was a mercenary for hire who was wanted in at least three star systems for the murder of prominent political figures. He had found the nurse dead in one of the exam rooms at the medical center. From the evidence in her apartment, she and Harden had been lovers.
It was the piece of information he had been downloading when Kordon alerted him that had been his first big break. A personal starship belonging to Richard Tillman was requesting emergency clearance to depart from Zion. He had tracked it to Banshore Spaceport. It would appear that his movements were being tracked as well based on his welcoming committee. The only way that was possible was if the sleek starship that Anastasia had commissioned for hi
m had been tagged with a tracker, or worse, there was a traitor within Anastasia’s inner circle.
One of the men spit on the ground before grinning at him. He held a long laser whip in his right hand, tapping it against the palm of his left. Krac watched as his eyes ran up and down him with a sneer of contempt.
“You don’t look so big and mean for being a monster,” he chuckled menacingly. “If you live, we’ll see how good you are in the fight rings.”
Krac stared intently at the man. He would be the second to die. The man to his back and left would be the first as he held a dart gun. He could process and control being shot better than drugged. If these were Tillman’s men, and he was positive they were, then Tillman would have given them the drugs that could neutralize him. He could not take a chance on that. The other four men would die at random.
“Where is Councilman Jefe’s daughter? If you tell me, I’ll kill you quickly. If you don’t, I will make sure I take my time. Believe me, I know many, many ways to prolong your death,” Krac said quietly.
“Fill him with a low enough dose he can feel the whip, Sal,” the leader of the group ordered. “I want him begging for us to kill his ass.”
Krac didn’t wait any longer. With a slight shift of his weight, he kicked out backwards. His booted foot caught the man holding the dart gun in the throat, crushing it. He ducked and swiveled, grabbing the dart gun as it fell out of the dying man’s hand as he grabbed his shattered throat. Completing the circle on his heel, he fired a dart into the man with the whip. He decided he wanted him alive.
He ejected the second dart in the gun into his hand as he stood up. He swung out with both hands. His right hand smashed the butt of the gun into the third man’s jaw while his other drove the tip of the second dart into the fourth man’s forehead, piercing his brain.
He grabbed the man whose jaw he had broken and pulled him in front of him as the fifth and final man lifted the laser pistol he had drawn and fired. The man in Krac’s arms jerked as his chest was riddled with laser bursts. Krac pulled the laser pistol from the dead man’s waist as he let the body fall and fired a single shot between the last man’s eyes.
