by Mike Ploof
“Be safe, Phallus 1.”
The cargo bay doors opened, and I smoothly steered the ship out. It was fun as hell flying it under different circumstances, but this wasn’t one of those times. This sucked, and I would have much rather been on my way to Zerenity to chillax for a bit. But Purshia was right. I was a sheriff, and I had a responsibility to help those in need.
Besides, the idea of intergalactic slavery made my fucking blood boil.
The Korlock ship’s cargo doors opened, and crew members in orange jumpsuits guided me in with hand gestures. A group of six armed dudes stood at the far end with the captain.
He approached as I led Ella and Val out of the ship. They wore only their underwear and were still bound at the wrists. They could easily break their bonds and engage their nanosuits, but the Korlocks didn’t know that.
The captain approached with a shit-eating grin on his face, and I half expected his cronies to open fire.
“Greetings,” he said. “I am Captain Vishk.”
I nodded. “Good to meet you.”
“These are beautiful specimens,” he said, striding closer to the girls. He looked them up and down and nodded, like he was admiring fine art, then he reached out and squeezed one of Val’s tits.
I prayed she would keep her cool.
“There are more where they came from,” I said, noticing how Val’s nostrils flared in response to the groping.
“Is that so?” He cocked a brow at me.
“I’m here for the fuel, but I may be interested in further trading.”
He regarded me knowingly. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the distress call that was issued in this area, would it?”
The gig was up, but his astuteness didn’t surprise me. I’d expected him to figure it out.
“I intercepted the message, but I’m not here to liberate them.” I started laughing, and the captain smiled guardedly. “I admit I have a, shall we say, appetite for Verithian females. They’re so small. I call them fun-sized.”
The captain frowned, but then he got it, and laughed his head off. His guards laughed with him.
“You are a strange creature, Captain Zed. How many of these females can you get for me?”
“Dozens,” I said casually. “Hell, maybe even hundreds. But I’d like to take a look at your stock before I commit to anything.”
“And how is it that you ended up out of fuel in this system?”
“I picked up a third slave near here, and she got loose and sabotaged the ship. By the time I found the leak, I’d lost almost my entire supply of kek dust. I blew her out the airlock for that, but not before taking my frustrations out on her ass, if you know what I mean.”
It looked like he bought the story. “You can leave those two here,” he said, turning and gesturing for me to follow. “I will show you my stock, and we can go from there.”
“Excellent.” I handed the girls’ chains to a nearby Korlock. “Be careful with that tall one. She’s a handful sometimes.”
I followed the captain out of the cargo hold and along a gray hallway. Two armed Korlocks followed a few steps back. A few turns later we came to an electrified barrier. On the other side, fifty women and children huddled together. They were small than humans, perhaps four feet tall. Their light green skin made them look ill, and I didn’t doubt they were suffering. They looked half-starved in their tattered robes, and there were bruises on many of them.
“They look like they’ve seen better days,” I said. “I’d think you’d take better care of your merchandise.”
He shrugged. “They can survive a long time without food and water. It makes them easier to transport—less cost and all that.”
“Where are the males?”
“Dead. Too much trouble. Too hard to break, and they’re a lot bigger and stronger than the females. Besides,” he said and nudged me with his elbow, “the females are more fun.”
I laughed with him, hiding my disgust. Enhance strength and speed 50 percent, I mentally commanded my nanobots.
“Would you like to take one of them for a ride?” he asked with a feral gleam in his eyes. “The young ones have the tightest—”
I hit Vishk with an uppercut that took him off his feet. The two guards went for their weapons, but I enabled my nanosuit and had twin laser swords out in the blink of an eye. I severed the arms off one and impaled the other, ripping the sword up through his chest and slicing him in two. I chopped the armless Korlock’s head off, then returned to a dazed and confused Vishk, who was trying to speak into a small device clipped to his jacket.
I ripped the communication device off his shirt and crushed it in my nanohand.
“You like beating on girls?” I asked, pulling him to his feet by the left ear.
He swung at me, and I blocked the blow so hard, I broke his wrist. He swung the other arm, but I caught hold of it, twisted, and broke it at the elbow.
Vishk howled and cursed,, “You’re a dead man!”
“Uh-huh. Like I haven’t heard that before.” I checked him for weapons and relieved him of a dagger and small handgun.
I glanced at the captives, who were staring at us wide-eyed. One of them limped over to the energy wall. She had been badly beaten. Her face was bruised and bloody, and one of her eyes was swollen shut.
“Are you Bella’Rah?” I asked as I held Vishk against the wall by the throat.
She nodded.
“I got your message.” I said, and punched Vishk in the ribs.
There was a series of loud cracks, and Vishk desperately sucked at air, groaning.
Bella’Rah smiled.
“Hey, Vishk?” I said, carrying him by the neck toward the energy field. “What does this do?”
I threw him against the buzzing wall, and arcs of electricity zapped the shit out of him. He went rigid from the electrocution, then fell over stiff as a tree. When he landed, I slammed my boot down on his right knee, completely shattering the bone.
Vishk begged for mercy, blubbering, blood running from his mouth. “Stop! I’ll give you money. I have a lot. Or you can take the females for nothing. I won’t stop you. Just take them and go.”
That only pissed me off more. “You’re slave-trading days are over, you piece of shit.” I slammed my boot down on the other leg, on the shin this time, and it snapped like dried kindling.
“Please, I’ll do anything!”
Movement caught my eye, and I engaged my nanosuit as I spun around. Two Korlocks were charging down the hall with guns drawn. I engaged my nanoshield on the left hand and a laser gun on my right. They opened fire, and the bullets slapped against my shield with a violent thwap, thwap, thwap.
I fired back, shooting one in the neck and the other in the chest.
“Open the cell,” I growled.
“Tap… tap the green button twice,” he gasped painfully.
I kept an eye on the hallway and backed up to the energy wall. I tapped the green button twice, and the barrier blinked out. Bella’Rah walked toward me slowly and fell into my arms.
“I’ve got you,” I said. “Everything will be all right.”
“Koshrah bless you,” she said reverently.
The other Verithians cautiously moved toward us. Two of them helped Bella’Rah.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” I said, “but I need you to remain calm and quiet. Stay behind me, and you’ll be okay.”
A few of them nodded in understanding.
Boots sounded down the hall, and I grabbed Vishk and held him in front of me, a living shield. Seven armed and armored Korlocks slowed to a stop and took aim twenty feet away.
I put my nanogun to Vishk’s head. “One more fucking move, and the captain gets a face full of laser beam!”
“You’ve got five seconds to release the captain—” one of them began, but gunfire drowned out his voice. The Korlocks were riddled with laser rounds from behind, falling like dominos. Ella and Val stood ten feet behind them, gun barrels smoking.
The Verithians whimpered and cried when bullets started flying, and I reminded them that I needed them calm.
“The alarm has been sounded,” said Ella.
“Let’s get moving,” I said.
Val reached a hand out to one of the little girls, and in her best Terminator voice said, “Come with me if you want to live.”
I walked down the hall with Vishk in front of me, a few paces ahead of Ella, Val, and the Verithians. It wasn’t far to the cargo bay, but the hall was full of Korlocks.
“Tell them to fuck off,” I told Vishk.
“Drop your weapons!” he commanded in a pain-laden voice.
Most of them complied, but one of them had different plans. He fired at me, and a bullet clipped my helmet.
I put a bullet in his head. “Anyone else want to be a fucking hero?”
Val and Ella moved around me slowly.
“Hands in the air!” Ella screamed.
“Now back away from your weapons!” Val added.
The Korlocks backed up, and the girls kicked their guns away.
“Get moving,” I said, waving my gun at them.
We marched to the cargo bay in that manner, and none of the Korlocks tried to stop us after they saw we had their captain at gunpoint. Electrified shackles they used on their captives were available, so we used them to subdue the crewmembers.
After the Korlocks were secure, I left Ella and Val to watch over everyone and dragged Vishk to the bridge of his ship. When we got there, the door was closed.
“Open it,” I said.
“They will never give up this ship. Not even for my life,” Vishk growled.
“I guess we’ll do it the hard way then.” I backed up ten paces, tossed Vishk on the floor behind me, and launched a nanobomb.
It exploded on impact, blowing the door off its hinges. I launched myself into the room and shot everything that moved. When the smoke cleared, five Korlocks lay dead. I located the control for the anti-phasing field and deactivated it.
“Purshia?” I said.
“I hear you, Daddy.”
“There are about fifty Verithians in the cargo bay. Beam them to our ship. I just deactivated the anti-phasing field.”
“Roger that,” she said, sounding relieved. “It’s going to take a while to get them over here, five at a time.”
“We’ve got all the time in the world. The Korlock crew has been incapacitated.”
I dragged Vishk back to the cargo bay and threw him against the wall with the others. Purshia had already beamed ten Verithians over.
“What do we do with these assholes?” Val asked, waving her gun at the glaring Korlocks.
“Excuse me,” said Bella’Rah, who was leaning on two others helping her over to us. “Vishk and these Korlocks are wanted slave traders. They should not be given a swift death, but rather stand for judgement before the Galactic Council.”
I’d heard about that from the girls. Basically it was the equivalent of the United Nations, only way bigger.
“Is there a reward?” Val asked, intrigued.
I’d made a shitload of credits at Mallagag’s casino the week before, but they were loaded into Lord Zed’s account, which we lost access to after I killed the reptilian bastard. So basically we were broke.
“Yes, a hefty reward,” said Bella’Rah. “The closest council location is on Atlasaria.”
“Purshia, have you been listening?”
“Yes, Harry.”
“Can we tow this piece of shit to Atlasaria?”
“With the tractor beam engaged, yes. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
I glanced at Ella, who shrugged.
“We’ll let the Galactic Council deal with these assholes. Let’s remove the weapons from the ship and make sure the Korlocks are secure.”
“I will give you twice the reward if you let us go,” Vishk said through bloody teeth.
“Really?” I feigned interest and walked over to him, then kicked him in the face and knocked him out.
After Ella and I were back on our ship, Purshia enabled a tractor beam and took us to hyperspeed. The flight would take about twenty hours, then we’d drop off our cargo, grab the reward, and finally be on our way to Zerenity for some much needed R&R.
We arrived at Atlasaria the next day around midday. The planet had a metallic sheen to it from a distance, and the lights of hundreds of cities large and small glowed brightly. The lights covered the entire planet, giving the impression that there were no oceans.
Purshia contacted the Hall of Intergalactic Justice, or HIJ, and informed them of our cargo. With the tractor beam engaged, we wouldn’t be able to land with the Korlock ship, so they were going to have to pick it up. When she told them we had Veshk and his crew, along with fifty rescued Verithians, they instructed us to drop into orbit above Imperial City and await a military escort.
“If the greys have eyes anywhere, it’s here,” I said as we sped toward the HIJ headquarters. “Maybe we should drop off the Verithians and Korlocks with a note from their friendly neighborhood Spiderman and bounce.”
“You are forgetting the reward,” said Val.
“No I’m not. I just don’t want any frigging trouble.”
“I agree with Harry,” said Purshia.
“You always do,” said Ella dismissively. “Besides, we need the money.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I let out a sigh and rubbed my face. I was still sleepy, having gotten up only an hour before. “But this reward better be worth it.”
Five spaceships arrived shortly after we settled into orbit, bringing a big barge with them. Purshia activated the main screen when we were hailed, and a fat, walrus-looking being smiled at us.
“Greetings,” he said in a deep voice. “I am Commander Rhuck of the Atlasarian Space Fleet. Please disengage your tractor beam from the other ship, then follow us to Imperial City. You’ve been given clearance to land on pad 127.”
“Understood, Commander,” said Purshia.
She disengaged the tractor beam, and we watched through one of the side cameras as the barge moved under the Korlock ship. A forcefield was engaged that surrounded the ship, then clamps were affixed to it, and the barge took it toward the planet.
We followed the escort down to Atlasaria. When we broke through the atmosphere, I realized the entire planet was an ecumenopolis. The entire surface was covered in buildings and skyscrapers, reminding me of Coruscant from Star Wars.
We landed on the designated pad and were met by about fifty locals in matching gray body armor, who were armed to the teeth. They weren’t pointing their guns at us though, which I took as a good sign. They surrounded the Korlock vessel as it was lowered by a large arm of the barge, and as soon as it touched the ground, they rushed inside, guns drawn.
The Verithians were overjoyed, and I couldn’t blame them. They’d been packed pretty tight in our cargo bay. They rushed down the ramp when we opened the doors, the little girls giggling with joy.
Purshia clapped happily and cried tears of joy when she saw the liberated children running and laughing, and I gotta admit I got a lump in my throat.
Commander Rhuck, the walrus-looking dude we’d spoken to earlier, approached us with another of his kind following two steps behind. He smiled wide and gestured at the Korlocks, who were being let out of their ship by a group of soldiers comprised of various races.
“Greetings, Sheriff Warwick,” he said, stopping before me and looking over his bulbous nose at me.
I had my nanosuit on. We all did, and I was surprised he recognized me. My mind screamed a warning.
“It’s been a long few weeks, Commander. I hope you don’t intend to take us in, because I gotta tell you, it would be a hell of a fight.”
“No, no, nothing like that,” he said with a laugh. “The HIJ has no intentions of giving you to the greys. You’ve done us a great service, bringing in these men and liberating the Verithians. As you may know there is a reward for their capture, and one of the department heads would like
to thank you personally.”
“If you don’t mind, we’ll just take the money and head out.”
“I must insist,” Commander Rhuck said affably.
“So must I,” I said dryly.
He opened his arms and glanced around. “This is not a trap, Sheriff. If we wanted to apprehend you, it would be quite easy.”
“I wouldn’t put money on that if I were you.”
“That is not a threat,” he said, frowning. “You are paranoid, aren’t you?”
“Comes with the territory.”
“Indeed, but please, this is getting rather silly. And this is the Hall of Intergalactic Justice. You have nothing to fear from the Galactic Council or the HIJ. You are our exalted guests. Come and get your reward, and give the department head a moment of your time.”
I glanced at the girls.
“Let’s see what he has to say,” said Ella.
“I agree,” said Val.
Purshia nodded.
I extended my hand. “Lead the way, Commander.”
We were loaded on a small transport ship and flown a few miles into the never-ending city. A huge building came into view, and I knew at once it must be the revered Hall of Intergalactic Justice. Monolithic pillars jutted from the ground, each at least as tall as the Empire State Building, but what they held up was even more impressive. The main structure was a giant glass bubble, perfectly round and covered in a fluid metallic sheen that swirled hypnotically.
“Whoa,” I said in reverence.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” said Commander Rhuck.
“So who’s the department head who wants to meet us?”
“His name is Zex.”
“That it?”
“I believe he would prefer I allow him to introduce himself on his own.” The commander laughed jovially, making his whiskers bounce. “He likes to talk about himself.”
We landed in one of the tall pillars and were whisked over to an elevator that took us up into the glass building. The commander moved at a brisk pace, and soon we were standing in front of a large wooden door. He knocked twice, and the door opened.
