by Scott Moon
Sledge spread his hands. "Problem solved!”
"Problem not solved. Ruby has to see justice, not some pleasure yacht where she can cool her heels while his lawyers get everything scrubbed away," Penny said.
Thaddeus motioned for Mast to follow him and headed for the fully-functional airship. "Hurry, Mast. Penny is excellent at all forms of navigation. It doesn't mean she's going to give us the good ship if she has a choice.” He sprinted for the ship and found the door locked. He punched in his SagCon law enforcement override code and nothing happened. The entrance required a hard key, which he didn't have. Frustrated, he stared at the lockbox on the door handle.
When he turned around, he saw Sledge holding up the key. "Sorry, buddy. This is the way it has to go.”
Thaddeus considered making a grab for the key, but glanced at Sledge's beefy arms and decided it wasn't worth it. He turned toward the other ship. "Can you fly, Mast?”
"Not even a small bit," Mast said.
Thaddeus reached the second airship and punched in his override code. The ramp came down immediately. He rushed inside and climbed into the cockpit. Mast followed and took a seat, sitting with his hands in his lap like he didn’t know what to do. Maximus strolled on board as though he had all the time in the world, then plopped down in a corner to lick himself.
"Buckle in and sit tight. We have to be ready to go when they lift off. That red ship is already too far ahead of us to follow, so we are going to be at the mercy of my ex-wife. She will probably try to ditch us, but between you and me, I'm the better pilot, even if she is better at everything else relating to ships and navigation," Thad said.
"If you muchly say so," Mast said.
Thaddeus flipped switches and checked gauges. He wanted the engines ready when Penny's airship lifted off. As soon as it was in the air, he followed at a safe distance. Too close and she could make a sudden turn and try to lose him. Too far and she would just hit the afterburners and outrun him.
"Looks like about a two-hour flight to Raven’s Haven, if I remember correctly. Tell me about that ancient ship you found on your vision quest," Thaddeus said.
"I do not know what to say. It is an ancient artifact, a curiosity." Mast looked around and wiggled his nose at something Maximus was doing to himself. "We should talk about White Skull and the Unglok he has partnered with. Monnik is very dangerous. White Skull may not understand what he has done by freeing him.”
Thaddeus focused on the controls and made a sharp turn to stay in a proper pursuit vector behind Penny’s airship. “I’m listening.”
Mast seemed at a loss for words. "He is from a rogue tribe, or a tribe we thought to be lost. But that is not what makes them dangerous. That merely explains some of his size and unique beliefs. No one knows why he does the crimes that he does. Something is missing inside of him. It is like he needs to kill more than he needs to eat.”
"Sounds like an unpleasant individual," Thaddeus said.
"Yes, very unpleasant. He is the bogeyman. All Ungloks are terrified of him. That is why they freed him. They feared he would reach back and get them from the grave, if necessary.
"All right, I'll let you handle him then. Mast Jotham isn't afraid of anything," Thaddeus said.
"I am very muchly afraid!"
Thaddeus saw Penny's ship accelerate and mashed his thruster controls to keep up. They were going to race all the way to Raven’s Haven. "Maximus, you better hold onto something. It's going to get rough.”
Maximus looked at him, one leg still raised in the air.
Snort, snort, snort.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Death in Raven's Haven
Stacy “White Skull" Rings stepped out of the airship holding a can of spray paint he had taken from the airport before leaving in the best available ship. He wasn't sure how long it would take Sheriff Fry to jerry-rig the other airplanes or copters, and he didn't care. He was free and that was all that mattered. His companion was a grumpy Unglok jerk, but that was no reason for his mood to suffer.
He turned toward the aircraft, quickly sketching a skull in white paint on its nose. In a flash of inspiration, he took off the sheriff's fire coat and spread it on the ground. He painted the same design on the back.
Monnik lumbered over to him and stared down at the sloppy spray-can art. "Must dry. Sheriff Fry not like that.”
White Skull waved away the comment with a flurry of curse words. "What do you know about the sheriff?"
“Monnik know he won't like that."
White Skull mocked the thick-chested Unglok in a childish voice. “Monnik know, Monnik know… I was being sarcastic, you big dummy.”
Monnik narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, something he did often. White Skull found it annoying. He was enjoying his new minion less and less. When they had been working together to escape, a partnership had seemed like a good idea. If the native of Ungwilook were more easily managed, he could imagine a long-term future for the flat-faced Unglok.
As things were, he wondered if he was going to have to shoot Monnik.
"Why we come here?" Monnik asked.
White Skull stared at the streets of Raven's Haven. He shook his head. Every time he showed up, the streets were abandoned. Did Amanda think anyone thought this place a ghost town? He followed dozens of tire tracks to what seemed to be a staging area. “Looks like someone is reaping the rewards of my hard work.”
“What you mean?” Monnik asked.
“Nothing. Just a small army of trucks and front loaders gathering up the loot that was meant for me.”
“Gone now.”
White Skull pointed at mountains of crated materials at the edge of town. “They’ll be back for the rest, but we won’t be here.”
He strode through the town like a lonely, vengeful king.
Back when they got along, before his brother came between them, he had put forth the idea of a ghost town in Transport Canyon. The sky had been the limit. She saw a chance to conduct her science experiments without interference from corporate oversight. He saw everything else.
History always favored frontier towns without laws. His brother, despite his pretense of civility, knew he was right. White Skull’s mistake had been underestimating his brother’s transformation. Something about Darklanding had turned him into an actual lawman.
"This not good place. Why we come?" Monnik asked.
"I heard you the first time," White Skull said. "I have unfinished business here and I'm expecting a ride. I called in some debts before we left Darklanding. I'm getting off this place and I'm taking Ruby Miranda Vandersun with me. You should join my crew. I'm about to be richer and more powerful than anybody you know."
Monnik's expression didn't change. His smashed face looked like a fence post with eyes. Or about that smart. "Hostages are mistake. No one pays. Rich Grandfather-human can pay warriors for kill Stacy-Stan. Why he would pay Stacy-Stan?"
White Skull smiled. "That's a really good point, Smash Face Stan. You can move to the front of the class and be the teacher's pet." He thought about striking the Unglok in his big mouth, but thought better of it. He wasn't sure if he could get past the long arms and violent disposition of his reluctant partner with him standing ready to defend himself.
"You say stan wrong. Makes no sense. Monnik not mad when Stacy-Stan talk stupid.”
"Whatever," White Skull said. Ignoring the Unglok, he strode into town. No one came out to greet him. Annoyed, maybe a bit angry, he sat on one of the porches and stared at the airship. Ruby was locked inside, but he worried that she might escape. If there was anyone he would not underestimate, it was the girl. Sure enough, after only a few minutes, the ramp lowered.
“Monnik! She's running!" White Skull yelled.
The oversized Unglok spun around and rushed toward her. The look on her face was priceless. White Skull thought she was used to embarrassing people with her speed and agility. Monnik started as awkwardly as a horse in high heels, but he moved like lightning once he got going. White Skull walked slow
ly toward them and enjoyed the sight of the cocky young princess getting tackled to the dirt street.
"Good work, partner. Bring her inside." He walked toward the science building and punched in an override code. He stepped through the doorway to find Amanda and Ryan holding shotguns. He tapped the butt of his blaster.
"Think about it. I've got blaster and grenades from one of my numerous weapons stashes and you have something to shoot birds with. Can either of you hit anything?"
"You'd be surprised," Ryan said.
White Skull could see the fear in his eyes and practically smell it in the air. To his surprise, Amanda didn't look much different. Normally, she was fearless.
"Amanda, did you miss me?" he asked.
She swallowed and didn't answer.
Monnik ducked through the doorway with Ruby slung over his shoulder. Her unconscious form could have been dead.
White Skull was about to say something when a hard-faced miner stepped from the shadows and smashed his wrist with a hammer. He dropped the blaster and jumped backward. Monnik dropped Ruby and sprang into action, punching the miner square in the face.
White Skull cursed fluently as he rushed forward and picked his blaster up. His right hand was useless. The weapon felt weird in his left hand as he pointed at the stranger. "Get up, but show me your hands. Keep them where I can see them. You're about two seconds from dying."
Amanda stepped in front of the miner. "Leave him alone! He's been helping us clean up the mess you made."
"Mess? I gave you and the rest of your science-geek friends the opportunity of a lifetime. It's not my fault you listened to the sheriff and ruined everything."
Amanda crossed her arms. "I don't know why you came back. Even if you're able to steal all that is left of the train wreck, it wouldn't be enough to rebuild your stupid army. You're done in Transport Canyon and on Ungwilook. Sheriff Fry will be here before you know it, and you'll be right back in prison."
"We break out," Monnik said.
"Shut up, Smash Face. She's right, but she's wrong. It's kind of cute. She thinks I'm a one-trick pony, but I have a brand-new plan that's better than the first one. She obviously doesn't realize who our guest is," he said, nodding at Ruby, who was groaning and holding her head.
Amanda's eyes went wide. Then she started to laugh, but it was a bit hysterical. "You really weren't the brains in your family. If that's who I think it is, you have more problems than the sheriff or even SagCon."
Ryan spoke up. He was kneeling beside the miner, trying to rouse the man, when he looked over at Ruby. "Oh, my God. Is that the missing Vandersun girl?"
Ruby rolled into a sitting position and growled. "Don't answer that, Stacy."
He shook his head. "I told you that name doesn't bother me. What bothers me is a bunch of people who don't know what's good for them. I don't want to hurt anybody here, especially not you, Amanda, but I'm way past caring and you all know it. My partner’s a homicidal maniac wanted on three different worlds, so watch yourself."
"Monnik only wanted on one world. This world. Why Stacy-Stan say many worlds?"
Ruby faked an extra loud laugh. "Come on, Monnik, he's always telling lies about you. Didn't you know that?"
Monnik twisted around. "Stacy-Stan-Skull not tell lies about Monnik!"
White Skull sighed in exasperation, moving to a better position to aim his blaster at anyone in the room, including his partner. "She's trying to make you angry, Smash Face."
"She make me angry. Muchly angry."
"I don't know why you're helping him, Monnik of Ungwilook. He's famously prejudiced against Ungloks. Calls them Gloks. I heard he chases Unglok herdsman in his airship and scatters their animals with blaster fire for no reason," Ruby said.
Monnik looked back and forth between Ruby and White Skull. Each movement of his head was quicker than the one before. When he finally stopped, he locked his teeth together and growled. "Monnik no like human!"
"Now you've done it," White Skull said.
Monnik roared as he lunged forward.
White Skull shot him through the heart.
Amanda screamed. Ryan staggered back, face pale as a sheet. P. C. Dickles sat up and stared at the scene. His unfocused eyes wandered to the fallen Unglok and the pool of redness spreading around him.
"That's a lot of blood," he said.
No one moved to help the giant.
White Skull stepped carefully toward his former partner, boots clomping on the hard floor. He stopped and looked down.
Monnik gurgled blood and reached up with one hand. White Skull knelt on his throat until the Unglok outlaw quit moving.
"I'm rather disappointed in all of you. That would've been a good time to rush me. Since the opportunity has passed, I'm going to advise you to do what I say."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Rescue Gone Wrong
Ruby had no reason to grieve the loss of one Unglok criminal. Mostly, she was intrigued by what happened to the Ungwilook man to make him such an outcast. She had learned a lot about Ungloks during her formal education before she ran away. Everything she had seen since arriving in Darklanding had proved that her teachers knew what they were talking about for once.
Ungloks were not pacifists, but their society was based on traditions they all followed. Some of the rules seemed chaotic and strange, or downright random to humans, but they existed and bound their culture into one cohesive whole.
But she didn't have time to get sidetracked by an anthropological thesis. White Skull, a man she had hoped was just a loudmouth bully with an exaggerated reputation, was finally showing his true colors. She would probably survive this ordeal, and so would Amanda, but for different reasons. Everyone else in the room was heartbeats away from dying.
She always had one advantage when dealing with people like White Skull. No one expected a tiny little girl like her to fight.
She sprinted across the room and leapt into the air, cycling her legs for momentum, then landed a flying punch. The force of the blow stunned White Skull, driving him back several steps.
She followed up with a quick flurry of roundhouse kicks and jabs. He blocked many of them, but had to be getting hurt. No one was that tough. She'd broken bones in barfights and knocked out bigger men than him.
Soon he was stumbling backward, pitifully holding his hands up and turning his face away from the blows. She drove him into a corner, then set up a spinning back-kick and nailed him with it. He crumpled to his knees.
Ruby flicked her hair behind her ear and took a moment to catch her breath. "You thought I was knocked out. Don't feel bad, you're not the first person to underestimate me."
White Skull continued to lean forward, sagging as all his muscles seemed to give up on him until his forehead was on the ground. She couldn't see his hands, but he was obviously beaten.
He started making a choking sound that sounded a little bit like deranged laughter. A second later, something rolled out from under his curled-up body.
She realized it was a flash-bang grenade about the time it exploded. Then she was flying backward. Time skipped ahead. White Skull went from being on the other side of the room to standing directly over her. She was mildly curious how that had happened. Her bell had been rung hard.
He put one foot on her throat and pressed. She tried to push him off with both hands. She twisted and squirmed to get out from underneath his boot, but he kept pressing down.
"You saw me kill Monnik by dropping my knee on his throat. Why would I do that? Because it's a very vulnerable part of any bipedal humanoid’s body," White Skull said, pumping his boot in rhythm with his words.
Ryan and Dickles screamed and charged. White Skull barely looked at them as he fired the blaster twice, striking Ryan in his upper chest and Dickles in his shoulder, throwing them back like a pair of ragdolls trying to do somersaults without arms.
"I'm done playing games. Amanda, help me tie everyone up," he said.
"No, I'm not going to help you this time," Amanda said.
/> "Then I guess I have to kill everyone except you and Ruby," White Skull said.
"Wait! I'll do it. Just stop hurting people," Amanda said.
* * *
"I said give me the controls!" Cornelius yelled at the shuttle control screen. Red's avatar, a woman far more attractive than any woman he'd ever had the courage to approach in real life, rolled her eyes. He turned off the screen with the punch of a button.
"You can turn off the video screen, but you can't turn me off," Red said, her low, raspy voice harder than normal.
"I just want to fly the shuttle. It's not like I'm hijacking you," Cornelius said.
"I am the ship and all my shuttles. I am every electronic connection in my electronic, multi-galactic network. That's the way you made me. Do you wish for me to be decommissioned?" Red said.
"No! That's not what I meant. I just want to fly a simple airship and rescue my granddaughter," Cornelius said.
"Very well. Just allow me to complete my scan of the surface and sweep the area for hidden threats," Red said.
Cornelius sat in his high-back leather captain’s chair and twiddled his thumbs for several minutes. "You're getting slow in your old age." He counted to ten in his head. "Aren't you going to respond to that obvious insult?"
"We both know I will outlive you. Please don't project your insecurities about mortality on me, you old fart," Red said with all the gravity of her computer intellect.
"Ouch." Cornelius was sitting there staring at his hands when the ship lurched to one side and plummeted toward the rocky canyons below. He seized the controls and pulled up with all his strength. "You could have given me a little warning!"
Red sounded on the verge of sleep when she spoke next, the rhythm and tone of her words somehow portraying the intimacy of a candlelight romance with glasses of wine near a fireplace. "I thought such a great pilot as you would want a little challenge. Show me what you've got, stud."
"If you weren't a coldhearted AI trapped in a machine, I would love you," Cornelius said as he banked the bright red shuttle toward his destination.
