“Confirmed, huh? You must really be a marine. Where are you from?”
“I was in the Jupiter Marines, but it was a long time ago.”
“It’s a long way away too.” The leathery man leaned back in his chair with a sigh and his eyes focused on Eve. “What’s your story?”
“I am with him.” She smiled slightly and pointed at me with a long finger.
“Well, I can see that! What I meant was, you’re an attractive woman, if you don’t mind my saying so, but you’ve got red eyes and strange teeth. Are you one of those body modifiers from those super cities?”
“Yes I am, and no, I do not mind.” Eve shrugged.
“How fast is your ship?” Wayne asked. “Do you have any guns? How big is your crew?”
“There are twenty of us in total,” Eve said before I could answer, and I guessed she was lying because the old man might’ve had something up his sleeve.
“And guns? Your bird fast?”
“We have many guns, drones, manned spacecraft, and shuttles. Our ship is actually a little too big for our crew size, but it means we can hold a lot of cargo. Do you have any cargo you wish us to deliver?” the ebony haired woman asked him with a slight smile.
“Yeah, I do, actually.” The gruff man sighed and then looked at each of us. “Let’s go for a walk. Much better to speak business out in the open air.” Wayne rose and gestured for us to follow him out of the office.
The three of us walked through the rest of the mansion. He nodded to each of the servants as they scurried past him, but he didn’t say a word to them or us as we walked. The rest of the house was decorated in the same style as the waiting room, but when we walked into the kitchen, I observed the high-tech fridge, plumbing, and cooking instruments of the modern era.
“Right this way, Eve and Adam.” Wayne gestured to a large glass French door that led to a wooden veranda.
We stepped out into the sunshine and saw the spread of land laid out before us like an endless green carpet. There weren’t any cattle within at least two kilometers of the estate, but I could see the herd surrounding the rest of the field. Instead of horses, the cattle was being cut and herded by men on motorcycles. It was all kinds of magnificent, and I couldn’t imagine Cynthia Jayhee having an estate quite this size. Wayne Samson must have been the most powerful man on the small moon.
“What code did your starship’s computer give our little rock?” the man asked as soon as he leaned on the railing of his balcony.
“Gliese 876 - C-ii,” I said.
“Ha! We like to call this place Greenpeace. You came to us in our dry season. Normally we have rain every night and plenty of sun during the day. It’s good for ranching and farming. I’ve become a wealthy man by feeding all of the moons around us.” Wayne looked at the sky and gestured with his hand. “Here is where you guys come in. There’s a war going on, but not an official war, and not around here. It’s around Gliese 876 - B’s fourth moon.”
“We have not been there,” I said when he looked at me.
“Do you know what rhodium is?” he asked us.
“Yes,” I said.
Rhodium is a very rare metal that had uses in all sorts of space travel applications. I wasn’t much of an engineer, but I did know they could not make hyperdrives, warpdrives, or plasma weapons without a significant amount of the precious metal. The stuff was rare, and planets rich with the ore were often the source of military conflict.
“Yeah, well, just like we’ve got good ranching and farming, that fourth moon has good rhodium. There’s a bit of a scuffle going on between the natives, and the not so natives. The latter group has access to starships and threw a barricade around the moon. Can you guess where I’m going with this?”
“We can. You want us to deliver some supplies,” Eve said with a nod.
“Exactly. I load you up with what you need, you get past the barricade, deliver the supplies to my contact, and then get back to me with their payment. I’ll give you a cut of the haul and twice the mixed protein and vegetables you asked me for. Do we have a deal?” The man raised a bushy eyebrow.
“What do you know about their defenses? Who exactly we are up against? How many starships? Do you need us to land on the surface, or are we doing an upper atmosphere drop?” I asked.
“Those are good questions, Adam,” Wayne said with a nod. “Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to all of them. I could tell you what my contacts have told me, but they might be fibbing. These people are all sorts of desperate right now.”
“Tell us what you know,” Eve said as she fixed her red eyes on him.
“The people who reached out to me are part of a resistance movement called The Children of Rah. The history of the moon in question is somewhat complicated, but I can give you the short version. It used to be that the men and women on the planet would mine the metal, process it, and then sell it to traders stopping by. As these things tend to go, the businesses began to consolidate until there was just a handful left who did most of the processing. Then, about two years ago, some of the owners started dying under mysterious circumstances, and the businesses were bought out by this corporation named Alloprize. Now, I’m not saying I know exactly what happened, but after those first few folk died, the other owners of the mining companies sold out pretty darn quick.” Wayne sighed a bit and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
“I see,” I said. This sounded like exactly what we wanted to stop, another megacorp taking advantage of innocent people.
“Yeah, but then here’s the other issue. I may have got involved in this in a way I didn’t really want to. Alloprize needs to feed their new slaves-- I’m sorry, I mean workers, so they came to me to buy protein.” The man let out a long sigh and looked at us. “I’m ashamed to say that I knew what they were up to, and I talked to them about doing some business. I thought they were going to be able to pay me enough to sleep well at night. They didn’t, and when I told them to go pound sand, they started to threaten me.”
“You want us to make the delivery, but you do not wish it to get back to you,” Eve said the words as a statement and not a question.
“Smart and beautiful! You’ve got yourself quite a woman here, Adam,” the old cowboy said as he winked at me.
“How do you know I don’t have him?” Eve smiled as she pointed at me.
“Ha! You remind me of my wife. Bless her soul. She was quite a spitfire.”
“Thank you,” Eve said to the man.
“Her eyes were also red,” the man said with a smile
“They were?” she asked with surprise.
“When I stayed out late smoking and drinking with the boys. Ha!” He slapped his leg, and Eve covered her mouth when she let out a light laugh.
“Anyways, I’m a bug to these people. I’m surprised they haven’t come to squash me and just take my cattle. Now, I’d fight them if it came to that, and you don’t want to mess with a guy like me in my home, but I’d end up losing.”
Alloprize did tell him they would take his cattle by force, but he said he would poison all of his stock.
“What else do you know about their Navy?”
“I’ve a data stick with the transmission from The Children of Rah’s rep. He gave instructions for the drop-off and pick-up of the payment. The information is very general, but they will send me the detailed coordinates if I commit to getting them the food,” Wayne said.
They offered to pay him twelve thousand kilograms of rhodium. It is no wonder he is willing to give us twice our food order.
“So, we get in, drop off the food, pick up the shipment, deliver it to you, and then you’ll pay us twice our food and ten percent of what they pay you?” I asked.
“Yep,” Wayne said with a nod. “Y’all making it sound easy. I’m hoping you have a fast ship, or you’ll end up as space trash. Or captured. I’d prefer the former, honestly, since I don’t want this getting back to the people that are already mad at me.”
“What is the payment
?” I asked.
“A crate of rhodium. Our little moon used to be busy with traders coming here to pick up protein so they could trade it on Gliese 876 - B-iv for rhodium. Then they would go sell the metal in another system before coming back. This war that isn’t a war has put a damper on trade.”
“Can you show us the transmission?” I asked.
“Sure, come on back inside. I’ll show you what they sent me. Then, if you’ll take the job, I can let them know, and they will tell you the exact drop process.”
“We’ll talk about it after we see the transmission,” I said with a nod, and we followed the cowboy back into his mansion.
Chapter 4
“What do you think?” I said to Eve half an hour later. We had just finished playing the transmission Wayne possessed, and we asked the man if we could take a walk around his property and speak about it in private.
“He is not an evil man, but he is not exactly honorable,” she said after a few moments. “I feel as if he might betray us to keep his share of the rhodium, but hasn’t decided.”
“I don’t want to deal with someone who might betray us,” I growled, and the beast inside of me flashed an image of Wayne’s face caving in from the force of my giant revolver bullet.
“We need food. We could also use the rhodium for trade. He said we would get thirty kilograms of rhodium. That would allow us to hire a full crew for at least five years.”
“But you don’t think he’ll give it to us?” I asked.
“He thinks it might be possible pull one over on us. He doesn’t care about the food. His idea is to give us the mixed, and then his men will convince us to leave without the metal, but he is still undecided.” Eve shrugged. “I know his plan, so we might be able to avoid the trap.”
“Did you read his mind about this job? Does he know how many starships are patrolling Gliese 876 - B-iv?” I asked.
“No, but he does know someone who does know,” Eve said with a smile.
“Who?”
“He thinks Cynthia Jayhee took the contract with them. He also thinks she’s behind the bushwhack attempt on his son and us.”
“Did you pick up his thoughts as to why that is?” I asked.
“No. There is some shame there. I believe they were once business partners, but he betrayed her. He did not think of the exact reasons, so I may be wrong.”
“I think we should stay out of this. The man is scum, and it will be more trouble than it is worth.”
“I would agree, except for two reasons,” Eve said as she rested her hand on my arm. Her touch immediately calmed the rage twisting in my stomach, and I stared into her red eyes. “We do need food if we want to continue our quest.”
“I agree. What is the second reason?”
“The men and women on 876 - b iv do need our help. Without us, it is probable they will starve and die, or they will surrender and be enslaved by the Alloprize Corporation.”
“I will let you guide me in this. My solution would involve putting a bullet through the man’s head, taking his food, and then delivering it to the people who need it,” I said with a growl.
“You say that, Adam, but in your heart I have seen your kindness. You would give this man a chance and hope he won’t betray you in the end. Your honor guides you to the righteous path.” Her fingers squeezed my bicep. “We will do this work, prepare for the man to betray us, and hope he has a change of heart when he sees the good we have done.”
“And if he doesn’t have a change of heart?” I asked her as a half smile came to my face.
“Then he will feel the shredding of your claws through his chest and the agony of my fangs at his throat.” Her words were a low growl, and her red eyes seemed to glow with fire.
“Alright, I’ll tell him we will take the job. Let’s tell Z.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the transponder. I pressed the button, and the device made a beeping noise.
“Hey Captain, what’s going on?” the hacker’s voice came across the speaker.
“We’ve found a job,” I said. “What is your position?”
“I’m picking up the last batch of water, then I’m returning to Persephone. I was just taking a short walk around the lake to stretch my legs. What is the job?”
“We’ll be delivering food to the fourth moon of 876 - b.”
“Oh, that sounds easy. For half a second I had the feeling you were going to tell me we were going to have to shoot our way into somewhere.”
“Well…” my voice trailed off as I looked at Eve. The beautiful vampire woman gifted me with a half smile.
“See, when you say ‘well’ like that, and you have a dramatic pause, it makes me feel as if I shouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch,” Z said with a pained sigh.
“There is a corporate blockade around the planet. We’ll have to punch through, deliver the food, and then get out,” I explained.
“See, when you say ‘blockade’ and ‘punch through’ like that and you act like it is not a big deal, it makes me feel--”
“Can you scan the moon and tell us how many starships are around it?” I interrupted Z.
“Sure. I just need to consult the manual to figure out how to initiate the scanner on a planet that is a good tenth of an astronomical unit away.”
“Great. How soon will you have the--”
“Captain,” Z said with a sigh. “I’m fucking with you. The moon you want to know about is a good fifteen million kilometers away, and remember how I told you it was going to take me a month to read through Persephone’s manual? Yeah. Picture a printed book that weighs thirty kilos and is as tall as you are when you are in your sexy cat-man body. I have no idea how to ‘do a scan’ like you want. We need a navigator, and a pilot, and like five other people with starship specialties. I feel like I’m gonna hit the wrong button on Persephone’s controls and smash us into a black hole.”
“Damn,” I said as I looked at Eve.
“We will find a solution and prevail. We always do,” the dark woman said.
“Eve is like one of those motivational speakers.” Z laughed. “I’m going to chew on the problem for a few--” The hacker’s voice cut off suddenly.
“Z?” I asked, but there was no answer, so I asked for her again. The transponder in my hands was brand new, and I wondered if it was malfunctioning.
“Uhhhh, got a bit of a problem,” Z’s voice said after fifteen seconds.
“What?” Eve and I asked at the same time.
“Oh dear, your friend here was mistaken. This ain’t no problem at all,” a woman’s voice came across the transponder. It was a rough voice that sounded as if she’d lived her life drinking whiskey instead of water and smoking cigarettes instead of eating.
It was Cynthia Jayhee.
“You’ve got a gun pressing against the back of my head. I’m pretty sure that’s a problem.” Z’s voice sounded a bit far away.
“Oh, it isn’t. I assure you.”
“What is going on?” I growled into the transponder. “What are you doing to my crewmate?”
“Adam was your name? This is Cynthia Jayhee. Do you remember me from the saloon a few hours ago?” the gruff woman asked.
“Yes, and I’m wondering why you have a gun to my crewmate’s head.”
“Do you recall how I invited you and your two women to have dinner at my place?” she continued.
“Ye--”
“Well, let’s just say it isn’t an invitation anymore. Meet me at my compound in the next few hours, or I’m going to make a second port in this pretty girl’s skull.”
“Hey! Put me down! You fucking assholes!” I heard Z say.
Then there was a gunshot.
“Z!” I shouted into the transponder as my heart threatened to jump out of my throat.
“She’s alright. Feisty bitch. Kicked one of my men. Anyhow, I’ll see you and the dark-haired one at my place in a few. Wear your ‘Sunday go to meeting clothes.’ I’m having my cook make something nice for us t’ sup on
.”
“Wait!” I growled into the transponder, but there was an ending beep noise confirming that my word didn’t make it to the cyborg woman.
“Shit,” I said as I tried to force the beast from taking over my mind. It wanted to run to the other side of the planet and kill Cynthia.
“This device might be able to track our shuttle,” Eve said as she touched the transponder in my hand. It was about the size of a pencil or screen stylus, but I could see a scroll rod on the side of the shaft.
I forced my rage back into the abyss of my stomach and pulled apart the transponder. It unrolled to show a flex-screen with a map of the terrain. I guessed the image was being transmitted from Persephone, but it could have been downloaded to the device during our shuttle trip down to the moon’s surface.
Eve’s fingers moved across the screen as I held both sides of the transponder, and she was able to zoom out so we could see the position of Z’s shuttle.
“Fifty kilometers to the northeast,” she said as she pointed at the glowing dot.
“If they didn’t hijack the shuttle,” I stated.
“I believe it would have started moving by now if they were using it. They must have taken their own craft and snuck up on Z,” Eve said.
“We aren’t ever splitting up again. I should have seen this coming,” I growled as the beast tried to claw out of my stomach once more.
“We have lost some leverage, but I believe Cynthia Jayhee intends to employ us,” Eve said as she rested her fingers on my arm again.
“Agreed. If she wanted to kill us, she would have. She wants us to do something for her, and I doubt it will be in our best interest.”
“No. It won’t, and I have trouble reading her thoughts.” Eve glanced back at Wayne’s mansion and then she pulled a long wave of dark-black hair over her right ear. “Do we tell Wayne Sampson? We will need a ride back to the shuttle.”
“I think we will need to. As you said, I prefer to do the honorable thing. We’ll take his job, but let him know that Jayhee has captured our friend. If he decides not to help us, or to leverage his position, I won’t feel bad about putting a bullet through his head.”
Space Witch: A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure (Star Justice Book 2) Page 3
