Double Cross: From the Athena Lee Universe (Smuggle Life Book 1)

by T S Paul

  Maybe she could get Nicole to have a slip of the tongue. That was just as unlikely. Parker sighed, resigned to going back to the planet and her own personal hell.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Steve stalked the corridors of the Rossi as they continued the trip to New Detroit. The gym wasn’t far, but even that was proving to not be enough of a distraction. What he needed was something to really take his mind off of the job. This was a rarity for him. Typically, thinking about the mission was what Steve needed to do. Now, it was the last thing he wanted.

  Leaning next to the door of the gym was Lindsey. She appeared to have gotten some rest the last few nights after staying up frantically trying to work on the ship. Rest suited her, she was attractive when she wasn’t sleep deprived. She had a natural beauty and needed no artificial help.

  “Steve,” she said. “I was hoping to find you.”

  The Marine smiled at her. This might be the distraction he needed. Part of him hoped for something more than a temporary distraction. He couldn’t believe he just had that thought. It wasn’t that it was forbidden. Rea wouldn’t mind, but Steve was a professional. A relationship with a fellow crewmember could interfere with his job.

  “Lindsey, what’s up?”

  She shrugged. “Just looking for a distraction. This trip. Pirates. Ugh.”

  Steve felt the same. Anything to not think about the current job. Such an odd feeling for him. He hated this mission more than he cared to admit, but he wasn’t going to let anyone know that.

  “Understandable. You eat?” he asked.

  For a moment, the engineer hesitated. “Nope.”

  They walked side-by-side to the cafeteria on the ship. It was bigger than they needed for the size of their crew. The vessel could hold more than it did. Rea wanted to keep her crew lean, and Steve didn’t blame her. It made for fewer disturbances.

  After getting their food, they sat in the corner of the room. It was empty, but still, Steve liked to be in the corner. It let him put his back to the wall and watch everything in front of him. It was ingrained in him to make sure he was prepared all the time.

  “You’re funny,” Lindsey said. The engineer had one of her rare moments of smiling and appearing relaxed. Steve liked it when she was this way. He enjoyed seeing her happy.

  “What?” Steve took a bite of his sandwich.

  Lindsey gestured to where they were sitting.

  “Old habits.”

  “I like it, but it’s still funny. On a ship with people you trust, and you still make sure you can’t get snuck up on.”

  She was teasing him and being playful. Steve knew it and found it pleasing, but he wasn’t going to let her know it right away. Why he was being modest, he wasn’t sure, but he was. His eyes sparkled with humor, and he said, “It’s the tough guy thing.”

  Steve shrugged and continued, “It is what it is.”

  She smiled. They had a good back and forth while they talked. Steve enjoyed the distraction, that much was certain. It appeared she did too.

  “You never really talk about your time in the Marines.” Lindsey gave a shy smile. “What was it like?”

  “Tough.”

  “Really? That is all you’re going to give me?”

  Steve had talked about it to Rea, and that was about it. The rest of the crew just didn’t know what it was like to serve. Civilians didn’t understand military life in Steve’s experience, but Lindsey seemed to actually want to know.

  “Being a Marine was all I ever wanted. It was tough and took me years to be good. It was worth it. I enjoyed my brothers in arms. The men and women I served with were some of the best.”

  Lindsey nodded. “What ship did you serve on?”

  “A few but the ship wasn’t important. It was the people. We had a mission, and we did it. That was what it was about, being able to protect the innocent from pirates, smugglers, and other forces.”

  “I have trouble picturing you getting kicked out. You really seem like a lifer.”

  Steve laughed. That had always been his goal, to stay in until he couldn’t walk anymore, to have them force him to retire. Not get a dishonorable discharge.

  “You’re right. That had been the plan, but a dirty Captain changed that. Pretty sure he was in the Cabal.”

  “That’s real?” Lindsey leaned in. “Just doesn’t seem like it is.”

  “Trust me. It is. So is Earth attacking.”

  Lindsey shivered. Her face held the horror and fear that Steve knew his did when he first realized it and understood what was going on. It was truly frightening.

  “Wow. Just wow,” she murmured.

  “Be thankful we are far away. Very far away. The Empire will have it taken care of.”

  “Are you sure?” Lindsey didn’t sound certain in her tone.

  Steve understood. Earth was feared. People worried it was technologically superior to them. With its advanced tech, it would easily take over the Empire, but Steve had faith. It wasn’t all about technology. Sometimes, it came down to the men, and Marines in the Empire were top notch.

  “I have faith in my Marines.”

  “At least someone does.”

  <<<>>>

  After leaving Lindsey, Steve went back to his room. That had been a good distraction from the mission but not nearly long enough. Steve pulled out a folder. Aldis had been making it for him. It was everything they had on Taylor and what had happened.

  Steve looked it over often since Taylor went missing. It wasn’t that Steve was super close to him, but he was a member of the team. His disappearance was a failure and one the man wanted to fix.

  The reports about what happened weren’t detailed enough. From the sounds of it, local hired guns attacked the pub where Taylor was with a specific target in mind. They cleared out the room and took Taylor. At least he was kidnapped and not killed. That was a plus.

  Steve read and reread it all. Nothing ever jumped out at him. No sign of who was behind it or how they knew he was there. The trip hadn’t been planned. Rea had decided last minute to go to New Reno. None of it made sense.

  A knock sounded on his door. Steve stood and went to see who it was. Glancing through the microscopic peephole, he saw Parker. He opened it. “What’s up, kid?”

  Parker smiled. “I hate it when you call me that.”

  “Kid, you’re still not an adult.”

  “Doesn’t mean you have to remind me every time we talk.” She patted him on the arm and looked past him, easily seeing the paperwork. The whole crew knew what he was doing. “You have to stop blaming yourself.”

  Parker walked past him and entered the room without asking.

  “You keep saying that, but my job is to keep you safe. I failed.”

  “Where you there?”

  “You know I wasn’t.”

  She spun and faced him. “Then I don’t see how it’s your fault. You weren’t there. You were protecting Rea and me. We don’t blame ourselves. It was Taylor who went to a dangerous part of town. That’s on him. Not you. Aldis or Nicole will find him.”

  She spoke so fast that when she finished, she was out of breath. If Steve had ever had a kid, he hoped she turned out like her. She was a good one.

  “You’re right, but I just want to find him. I hadn’t heard that Nicole was looking.”

  Parker shrugged. “She hasn’t said she isn’t. Therefore she might be.”

  Steve laughed. “You’re right. You never know with Nicole. I wonder if all CATTs are like her.”

  “I bet they are.” Parker smiled. “Something in the programming.”

  Steve didn’t know much about it. It was well beyond anything he knew. He just knew CATT programming was something special and not to be messed with.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Entering the bridge, Rea said a silent prayer. She didn’t specify what god. That wasn’t important. All that mattered was that when they exited this last jump, they would be at New Detroit. The hard part was about to start. They would have to clear th
e landing and then inspection all without the stone being discovered, and that terrified Rea.

  Aldis looked up as the ship slowed. “Exiting the jump,” he said.

  “Good.” Rea took her place in the Captain’s chair. Now, it was time to wait. Aldis would be doing most of the work for now. Rea sighed. That had been Taylor's job. He was a real talker and salesman. The ship just wasn’t the same without him.

  She shook her head to clear her mind of Taylor. She didn’t need the distraction. Not now, not with this mission. So many factors could mess this job up, could get them caught and sent to the worst of the worst prisons in the Empire.

  The Stone was in the hidden cargo room and inside the secret compartment in that. Only Rea and Steve knew about that secret chamber. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the others, but the fewer people who knew about it, the better. It meant they couldn’t unintentionally reveal it.

  Looking out at the planet as it came into view, Rea was in awe. This was only her third trip to New Detroit. The second time was when Parker joined the crew. She had been in rough shape then. That felt like a lifetime ago, and it almost was if one measured life in regard to being a smuggler. Time was definitely different, and life felt short. Rea sighed. She both loved and hated being one.

  New Detroit was covered in water, lots of it. From Rea’s understanding, it wasn’t as much as Earth but close.

  Many of the other planets didn’t have the same feeling as Earth. Not that anyone alive could actually know that. It was passed down as a legend from the first colonialist all that time ago. No one had been back to Earth. It closed itself off, at least until it started to attack.

  Maybe soon, once the Empire defeated Earth, if it could, Rea could go visit the homeworld of the human race. That had been on her old bucket list, but it was one thing that might never happen. In truth, she hadn’t been close to it at all. Not even to Mars, another planet she wanted to see.

  That was more likely. She just needed to find a job that would take her there, especially if it helped with her current task. She, much like Steve, was looking into finding Taylor. Everyone on the ship was in secret. They all acted like no one else was, but they all were.

  It was a loyal crew, and they wanted their friend back. Rea hadn’t wanted to take this job because she didn’t see how it could help with Taylor, but the money was too good to pass up. She gritted her teeth. Never again would she make this mistake.

  “Contact,” Aldis said.

  Rea nodded. Standard procedure. “Request landing at the capital city.”

  That was where Drake wanted them to meet his contact, whoever he or she was. The pirate had been mysterious and devious on so many levels. Why Rea hadn’t seen the warning signs that this was going to be a nightmare was beyond her. They were there for all to see. It was clear that Parker and Aldis had. Even Steve, though he didn’t try to fight the job. The Marine would never fight a job.

  The door to the bridge slid open, and the Steve walked in. He was dressed in his typical attire that allowed for quick, fluid movements but was also practical for the planet.

  “ETA?” Steve asked. He walked over to the view of the planet. “Wow. Every time I see it, even though I hate it, it’s still impressive.”

  “It is,” Rea said.

  Most planets were impressive when you saw them from space. They felt smaller and larger at the same time. It was overwhelming the first few times. It had taken Rea a while to adjust to the different view.

  “Sorry,” Steve said. “Distracted. ETA?”

  Rea shrugged. Aldis was in the middle going through the process of getting permission to land. Every planet had their own procedure whether they let you land on the surface or the space station or one of the moons. None were the same. It irked Rea to no end that was the case, but she had learned quickly to deal with it.

  Now, she made sure to check each planet she was on the way to. New Detroit’s moon was used for military purposes only. Same with the space station. That meant all civilian vessels like the Rossi were routed to the planet to one of three cities. Luckily, one was where they wanted to go.

  “Waiting to hear back,” Aldis said. He crinkled his nose, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped his brow. He was sweating profusely with how nervous he was. The mission had him on edge. He was clearly scared to death of being caught. That was typical for most jobs. This was only his second or third time. He was still learning.

  If they didn’t find Taylor, Rea might need to find another member to fill the void, one who didn’t get so anxious making contact. This was the first crucial step to not getting arrested, getting the landing clearance. One that hopefully didn’t come with a full ship search.

  That wasn’t the norm, not even on the most paranoid of planets, but they did have to search some of the vessels that landed to at least feign looking for security issues. It gave the people on the planet a sense of safety, even though it did little to actually stop items from being smuggled on or off. Clearly, it didn’t work. They had something that had been smuggled off not that long ago.

  Rea with Steve next to her watched Aldis go back and forth with New Detroit and their comms officer. It was going smoothly for the most part. The Rossi took up orbit of the planet as the talk went on. This was also normal for them. The ship didn’t have cargo. They were supposed to pick up a shipment and take it to New Texas. Whatever they picked up was supposed to be part of the payment. A bonus. Rea wasn’t against it, but again, not knowing irked her.

  “Rossi,” the comms officer said, “you are cleared to land. Landing area, dock forty-two. A team will be waiting to inspect the ship.”

  “Roger,” Aldis said.

  The line went dead. Rea didn’t like hearing that a team would be waiting, but at least they were going to the city.

  “Great,” Steve said. “An inspection. Typical.”

  His face was crinkled. The Marine didn’t like complications that he couldn’t handle. This one was something he had to sit back and watch. It was one of the times when he had to show patience, which wasn’t his strong suit. Rea admitted it wasn’t one of hers either.

  <<<>>>

  After a quick descent through the atmosphere of New Detroit, the Rossi landed on pad forty-two. Rea did a few last-minute check-ups before she and the crew went to meet the inspection team. New Detroit’s policy was that no one was allowed on the ship during an inspection. Not even CATTs. Nothing that was considered a person or alive, so both Nicole and B113 were required to leave. Neither liked it but complied.

  At the ramp to depart, Rea glanced back to make sure everyone was with her. They were.

  “Let’s get this over with,” she said.

  She pressed the button, and the ship opened to the outside world. New Detroit was different than Rea’s home planet. The atmosphere was a little denser, the air a little thicker. As much as people liked to say the Empire was all the same, it wasn’t.

  “Pleased to meet you, Captain Dodge,” a short, sturdy man said. He held out a hand to shake. “I am Inspector James.”

  Rea shook his hand. “A pleasure. This is my crew as requested.”

  James peered around her, took in all the members, and then checked a sheet. “It says last time you had another member.”

  Rea frowned. “We did. He was kidnapped on New Reno.”

  James made a note on his tablet. “I’m sorry to hear that. This shouldn’t take long.”

  James boarded the ship with another three men. Rea walked over to the edge of the landing pad. It had a designated waiting area for the members of the vessel to wait. Since they had a small crew, there was plenty of room to spread out if they wanted to.

  Steve paced in the front of the area, continually glancing at the ship as he went. Parker huddled down in a chair and curled up. It was tough on the young girl being here. She had visibly tensed up since they had entered the New Detroit system. Even more so than when they just agreed to come. Lindsey was the most relaxed of the group. She kept glancing at Steve.
Rea was beginning to wonder if something was going to happen there.

  Aldis walked to Rea. “What is taking so long?”

  “It has only been twenty minutes,” Rea said.

  Aldis at times could be very impatient. Not saying she wasn’t the same. All smugglers lacked it since they were doing a dangerous job.

  “These do take time,” she added.

  “It feels longer.” Aldis wasn’t looking good.

  “Go sit and relax. If they see you panicking, we’re doomed.”

  “Roger.”

  Aldis went next to Lindsey and struck up a conversation. Rea hoped that would be enough.

  B113 hovered next to Nicole, who wasn’t far from Rea. The CATT licked its front paw and then rubbed her face.

  Rea shook her head. “Anything?”

  Nicole looked up. “Nothing. They are almost done.”

  How she knew, Rea had no idea, but she did. She was never wrong when she wanted to inform Rea, which wasn’t often. At least Rea was able to relax for the last five minutes of the search.

  James departed and waved at Rea.

  “Stay here,” she said the crew and walked to meet James.

  “Found nothing unusual,” James said. He pushed a few things on his tablet. “You are cleared for a three-day stay.”

  Rea nodded. “Thank you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Steve took up the point position in the city. They were told to leave the package behind. That part of the job now caused Steve a lot of grief. He didn’t like leaving it on the ship. What if it was discovered and they had no way to depart the planet? That was the nightmare that played in the back of Steve’s mind as he led the way through the crowded streets.

  They wouldn’t be able to travel the whole way by foot, but Steve wanted to make sure they weren’t followed by anyone, and going by foot and by car was the best way to avoid a tail. It made it difficult to know how far they were going or even what direction.

  A mile from the landing pad, Steve stopped in front of one of the taxi places in the city. He remembered it from last time. They weren’t that far from the location where they had first met Parker. Steve glanced back at her. She was tense, her body stiff, her muscles twitched. She stared at the ground, ignoring her surroundings. Her skin looked pale and damp. Steve grew concerned for the young one.