I shoved the pulse-hack back into my pocket and continued my steady stride through the crowds. The restaurants eventually gave way to slums for the sorry sods who lived here. This wasn’t the route I wanted to take, and I wasn’t too familiar with the layout. Rowan and I had agreed to meet up in Cobalt Square, which was hardly more than a cramped urban space surrounded by artisan shops and centered by a rusty fountain that sputtered acidic water. But it was iconic. Getting there would take longer now.
It took me too long before I found a map, one that had been plastered with yellowed paper and covered in graffiti, but it had all faded so I could make out the details of the map below. With a quick glance, I reoriented myself and made my way east to the square.
I passed through more slums, and a long, long hall that was dimly lit and had several people huddled in corners smoking hunra and doing all manner of other things. The pink smoke of it was sweet and beckoned me, but hunra was a treat for later. Now was not the time.
At the end of the hall was a set of dingy double-doors partially eaten through by rust. Beyond, I could hear the bustle of the square and the violent spurts of the fountain. I pushed the door open with my shoulder, flinching at the awful screech that accompanied it. Absolutely terrible. However, upon opening it, I caught a sight for my tired, thieving eyes:
Rowan standing by the fountain, large arms crossed, looking impatient.
He was a Goon like me, pale and short, as most of us were—at least in comparison to the other human races. But whereas many of us were scrawny or diminutive like me, Rowan was built like a battering ram and hit like one too.
I strode toward him. “Rowan!” I called. He turned at the sound of his name and smiled when he saw me.
Then his smile twisted into a look of shock. “Look out!” he warned.
Only then did I notice the large mass in my peripheries bearing down on me. Luckily, I’m nimble. I turned just in time to avoid a large gloved hand swiping at me. As I took in a startled breath, I found myself face to face with another of the Aaugor. Looked like they made it through that checkpoint alright. Unless this was a different one completely.
There was no time for pleasantries. He aimed, I kicked, and my boot threw his blaster into the air. Then Rowan was there, tackling the beast around the waist. Before I could blink, he had his blaster out and put a bolt in the bounty hunter’s chest.
I blinked and grimaced. “Did you have to kill him?”
He shrugged as he reached down and scooped up the fallen blaster rifle. “I don’t think he was going to afford you the same courtesy.”
“Yeah, but still.”
People ringed the square, whispering at us, but most didn’t seem to care that there was a dead body just lying in the middle of the space, sickly blue blood seeping into the seams of the metal floor. This place was such a sty that they probably saw things like this often. I could relate.
“Did you get it?” Rowan asked.
I pulled the hack out of my pocket. “No thanks to you. The safe combination was wrong. I had to knock out the owner and sneak past his guards.”
“Why are you mad?” he asked with a grin. “You like a challenge.”
“Maybe, but you’re slipping, my friend.”
“Well then, we better raid Xarren’s vault before I’m completely useless.”
We both chuckled.
We were ready to go when a sudden uproar to our left drew our attention. People were shouting and yelling as they were pushed aside. And of course, who emerged but a trio of Aaugor. I groaned. Couldn’t catch a break today.
They opened fire without a care. We dove behind the fountain. Rowan cursed. “You really pissed them off, Yan.”
“I’m sorry I’m so infamous and dashing.”
“Yeah, I am too.” He rolled his eyes. Bolts slammed against the fountain, spraying us in bits of dirty copper. Rowan popped up and returned fire. A moment later, he crouched back down as he inhaled air. “So, there are four now.”
“We need to split them up.”
He nodded. “Agreed. On the count of three, I’ll cover you. Go right, down that hallway to the bazaar one unit over. You can manage two, yeah?”
Could I lose two? Yes. Could I take two on in a fight? Absolutely not. But that was semantics. So I said, “Yes.”
“Good. We’ll meet back here if we survive.”
I nodded. We shook hands. Then, “One…”
“Two…”
“Three!”
Rowan stood and opened fire. I darted to my right just as he told me and took off at a sprint. I shouldered past fleeing civilians and the rare fools that couldn’t be bothered with the fact that there was a shootout.
The bazaar was bare bones compared to the larger markets I passed through earlier. Just a series of small booths built hastily, with very few customers to speak of. It was too quiet, and there weren’t enough people for me to hide. The firefight continued behind me, but I had to trust that Rowan knew what he was doing. He wasn’t our weapons specialist, that was Amara, but he could handle himself just fine.
Though, the Aaugor weren’t a group to trifle with.
I walked through the sparse stalls, lost in their sadness and poverty. The eyes of the merchants beckoned me forward to purchase something, anything, so they’d have money to feed their families. I wanted to help, truly, but I had neither the money nor the time. Because just then, one of the fat piles of dung chasing me showed up out of nowhere, plowing through a stall and knocking the small, chimpish vendor aside.
I was too surprised to react properly.
With a gargled roar, the Aaugor swung his rifle at me like a club. He was faster than I thought. I managed to deflect the brunt of the blow, but it still knocked me over, slamming into the blaster wound on my arm from earlier. I clattered to the floor, my bones rattling. I wheezed with pain, but I wasn’t dead yet.
The bounty hunter didn’t waste time. He loomed over me and began to raise his blaster to finish me. No time to lose. I gritted my teeth, flipped myself onto my stomach, and used all my strength to push myself back. I slid beneath the Aaugor’s body and many legs. Once clear, I launched from my stomach, drawing my blaster and my grav-knife. The slug whirled around in a rage. I didn’t hesitate. I pulled the trigger. A gold bolt flashed and smashed into the Aaugor’s shoulder. He roared in pain and spun around from the force. He did a full circle, and when he came around, I slashed with my knife, severing the breathing hoses on his mask. With a loud hiss, the bounty hunter screamed.
As he writhed on the ground in pain trying desperately to fix his ruined mask, I turned and sprinted away. I had to get back to Rowan and not dwell on the life that was just about to end in agony. He deserved it, sure, but killing was just…ugh. I knew Rowan could handle himself better than I could, but there were more after him than me. Plus, he wasn’t so good when it came to escaping. Too big.
Blaster fire sounded off ahead, along with screams and shouts. That must’ve been them. I didn’t like that he was in the middle of a fight, but as long as there was one, it meant he was still alive.
I ran back through the bazaar and to the square. It was mostly deserted now. The fountain was blown to hell and the ground and walls were covered in char marks from the blaster bolts, the air filled with smoke from the discharge. It smelled acrid.
The fighting continued through the long hall that I’d previously come through. More char marks. The squatters and addicts had fled. No bodies, so that was good. As I got to the end, the blaster fire ceased. Not good, not good, not good. I sprinted and pushed open the doors to the next room.
I was back in the slums. More char marks. There was a body that people were fussing over, but it had a large orange tail attached so it wasn’t Rowan. Sad as that was, I moved past them and followed the char marks and debris through some abandoned homes and down a series of hallways before I heard the gargled language of the Aaugor. I froze. Their voices were right around the corner.
I needed to leave. Rowan was prob
ably dead, and I would be too if I stayed. My mind told me to run back to the ship, but I knew I couldn’t do that. Dead or not, Rowan was my friend. I simply couldn’t leave him. So, I took out my pistol and steeled myself for a fight.
Deep breaths. I inched over, my back pressed against the wall. Deep breaths. I peeked out to see what the situation was.
Five Aaugor, all bunched together, backs turned to me. Saints, how many were there? Rowan and I had taken out two already and who knew if any of these were the ones I’d given the slip earlier. Aaugor liked to travel in groups, but seven? More? Seemed a bit excessive.
They had their blasters raised as they spoke amongst themselves. And on the receiving end of their guns was Rowan, arms raised and still alive. I almost laughed with joy, nearly getting myself killed. I held it together. We were still in a bind. I was behind them and they were unaware of me. Could I take them all out? Unlikely. Their armor was thick, and I wasn’t the best shot. Plus, they were quick and might shoot Rowan on accident.
As I struggled with a solution, I noticed the space we were in. They had Rowan backed into a maintenance tunnel, with pipes and wires covering the walls and ceiling. Steam occasionally seeped from the pipes. That would have been nothing until I noticed a steady stream of steam coming off a series of slender tanks. Liquid nitrogen. I grinned.
Rowan noticed me. He frowned harder than he already was. I nodded to the tanks. It took him a second, but he seemed to understand. He inclined his head. Good, he got the plan.
I took a deep breath, gripped my blaster tighter, and stepped out of cover.
“Hey!” I yelled. The Aaugor whirled around. “Miss me?”
Rowan threw himself on the ground and covered his head with his hands. With gargled words and yells, the fat bounty hunters raised their weapons. I raised mine, and my trigger finger was faster.
BOOM!
The tanks exploded with terrifying force as the Aaugor were violently thrown against the wall, a spray of freezing liquid nitrogen pinning them in place. They screamed in agony. Of course, this would probably kill anyone, but the Aaugor were especially susceptible to cold. As they died terribly, Rowan crawled beneath the deadly stream and came to me.
He covered his heart and sucked in air. “Nice shot.”
“The best I’ll ever get.” I pushed him back the way I came. “Let’s get out of here before more of these slugs show up.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.”
And so we ran from the destruction and death that we’d caused and returned to our new ship and our friends, hoping that this crazy mission was worth it.
10
We managed to make it back to hangar bay Au-17 without being attacked, which was a miracle. Maybe we’d dealt with all the bounty hunters. I wanted to believe that, but we couldn’t afford to feel safe.
My eyes scanned the loading docks for a splash of green and sleek wings, hoping to see my precious Sanara. But alas, we’d had to dump her for fear that she was being tracked. I would return and get her one day. For now, though, we had our new ride, one my eyes weren’t so pleased to see.
There she was, the Diego IB337N, a standard issue junker, fat and wide and brown and covered in scratches and scorch marks, just an all-around ugly lady. But she was sturdy, and she got the job done. She was nondescript and didn’t stick out and she actually had a jump drive, so she ticked all the boxes of what we needed. Though, I wished she had a bit more firepower for the skirmishes we’d inevitably fly into.
At the Diego’s feet, my lovely Jinx sat on a cargo container, lying on her back as she tossed a ball in the air. Her amethyst hair was splayed out around her and she had a smile on her golden face. She briefly made my heart stutter.
When she heard us coming, she sat up, ignoring the ball that bounced harmlessly away. “You’re back! How did it— Are you okay?” she asked, taking in our haggard appearances.
“Ship, now. Talk, later.”
She parted her lips to ask something else, but I grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her up the gangplank and into the bowels of the Diego. It was a little rude of me and I was almost never like that with Jinx, but I didn’t want to risk any more run-ins with the Aaugor, nor did I want them to see what ship we were on. Maybe they were all dead. Maybe not.
Rowan, Jinx, and I climbed through the very large and cramped cargo hold to the living quarters above. The junker had a very similar layout to the Sanara, which wasn’t surprising since many ships were relatively the same. Cargo below, then the main deck, with some variations here and there. Of course, the Diego’s cockpit was larger and had its own deck above the main.
We were greeted by Amara and Pivek having a heated conversation about the heist, though listening would only suggest it was a one-sided argument from Amara. She paused, while Pivek, our large insectoid Bantiss, signed rapidly at her.
‘It will work. Why do you doubt me?’ He stood at his full height, his wings fluttering with frustration.
Amara signed. “I don’t doubt you. I doubt this whole thing. I’m on board, but I just get the feeling that everything is going to go wrong.”
“Don’t worry, my dear, everything will be just fine,” I said as we entered the room.
Pivek and Amara turned to us. Amara crossed her arms and took in my appearance. Her jade skin was still flushed from the argument, but she took a deep breath and settled herself. Her long head-tentacle wrapped over her shoulder and neck like a scarf.
“You’re back…barely.”
“Yup.” I flashed her a grin, which I knew would annoy her. I walked past her to the hatch to the cockpit, cupped my hands together, and yelled, “K, in the air, now! We may have guests!”
There was no response, but then we all felt the sudden hum and jerk of the ship coming to life. I let out a breath. Good, no more worrying about the Aaugor, if there were even any still alive to follow us.
I turned back to the rest of my crew. Amara stood in the middle of them, arms still crossed and frowning, her brow arched. “You want to explain why you two are so beat up and dirty and why we’re leaving so quickly?”
“I mean…” I shrugged. “You can probably guess.”
She threw her hands up. “You can never make things easy on me or any of us, can you, Yan? This was supposed to be simple.”
“It’s not my fault! Let me explain.”
And so I did, every detail. The theft of the hack, which was made harder by Rowan’s lack of help, the Aaugor’s coincidentally finding me, the chases, and the killing. I explained that they were probably all dead, but that I was just being cautious. That just made Amara snort and roll her eyes. I made her do that a lot, but this time, it annoyed me.
“You? Cautious? Okay.”
I frowned, and said in a mocking voice, “‘Thank you, Yan, for getting this heavily guarded thing for us and nearly dying.’ Oh, you’re very welcome, everyone. It was my pleasure.”
Amara’s eyes narrowed. “Do you want me to throw you through that wall?”
“Only if you’re okay with decompressing the ship and killing everyone.”
Jinx stepped between us. “Okay, you two, that’s enough. Things went wrong, but everything worked out. Rowan and Yan are alive, we’re in the air, and you got the hack.”
I nodded. “Yeah.” I pulled the stupid thing out of my pocket and tossed it to Pivek. “Here. Hope it does what you say it does.”
His mandibles twitched. ‘It will. Don’t worry. This will make the mission a little less than impossible now.’
Rowan laughed. “Ha, the bug is sarcastic now.”
Pivek rose to his full height and even hovered a bit on his wings, something he couldn’t do on the main deck of the Sanara. Much too cramped there, but in here, not so much. ‘You better watch it, Goon.’
They glared at each other. Jinx groaned, took a spoon out of a bowl on the shelf to her right, and smacked them both.
“Everyone needs to stop fighting or I swear I will go turn the life support off. We Torgorans don
’t need oxygen, so I’ll make you all sleep for a while if you keep pissing me off.”
That was a disturbing but very real threat. We looked at each other, then at the ground and grumbled our assent. Satisfied, Jinx huffed and backed off.
“Good. Now, Amara, fix these two idiots up while I make us something to eat. Then we can discuss things further.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we said like the scolded children that we were. Usually Amara filled the pseudo-motherly role of the crew, but on rare occasions, Jinx did it. Not often, but sometimes we needed to be put in line. Ketellin also did it, but no one wanted to make him mad. An angry K was a bad day for everyone.
Pivek went to help Jinx make our meals while Amara led Rowan and I by the arm to the room she’d commandeered as her own. It was the biggest of the bunch, belonging to the former captain of this fine vessel, but since there wasn’t a med-bay on board, Amara got the extra space to set up her supplies. Much like on the Sanara.
“Sit down,” she ordered. We did so. “Shirts off. Let me take a look at you.”
We complied and stripped off our coats and shirts. Rowan was covered in muscle next me, always making me feel thoroughly inadequate. I didn’t spy any injuries though, aside from some bruising, but I wasn’t a doctor, so I’d leave that appraisal to Amara.
She prodded him and fussed over every detail. He flinched when she poked his ribs, and when she inspected his back, she cringed.
“You got hit, you idiot.”
“I’m aware.”
I blinked and looked at him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Rowan shrugged, “Didn’t hurt too bad, and besides, we were a little preoccupied.”
“True.”
Amara sighed, hands on her hips, and shook her head. “You two are too much for me, I swear.” She grabbed a portable x-ray device and hovered it over his ribs. “I don’t see any breaks or fractures, so probably just bruised. But that hole in your back is bad. You’re lucky we still have a good amount bio-gel.”
“Thank the saints,” he said.
“No, thank me.” She turned her annoyed gaze my way. “I see the wound on your arm. Not as bad as his, but again, you’re lucky.”
The Elarri Heist (Plundering the Stars Book 1) Page 12
