Harry sauntered up to Charley with a canvas tube slung over his shoulder.
“Marooned on a planet with hostiles to all sides,” he said with a wink to Charley. “Old-fashioned pirating at its finest.”
13
Charley gave Harry a peck on the cheek and retired to the bedroom to retrieve her weapons belt. Vanessa was halfway into Charley’s spare utility suit. Charley was actually a full size smaller than Vanessa, who was tall and big-boned. The effect left nothing to the imagination. Her large bust was doubly emphasized in the tight jumpsuit. And the butt? It was truly a thing of glory. Charley felt like cupping her hands over the smooth material right there.
“Take one of my blasters,” Charley said, snapping herself back to reality. “You’ll need it out there.”
Vanessa took the gun reluctantly, hooking it into her utility belt. If she was going to be a pirate she’d need to learn how to do more than look pretty.
“Let’s go, people,” came Vinnie’s voice topside.
Charley took one last look at the ship’s interior. A ship that had become her home. She really hoped she’d see it again in one piece. It would be devastating to lose it just as she was beginning to fall in love with it.
Vinnie, Gronko and Harry were waiting out in the jungle, ready to move. Vin spoke to all of them, a steely glint in his eyes.
“It’s clear the Silent Runners followed us from Mina IV,” he said. “They knew we had the mining job and they waited for us to finish it before attacking.”
Charley nodded in disgust. She had to admit it’d been a smart play.
“But they didn’t get our minerals,” she grunted. “We didn’t let them.”
“That’s right, Charley,” Harry enthused. “We still have our future in our hands.”
“The ship’s damaged but I’m confident we can find the right parts,” Vinnie went on. “The Silent Runners run a smuggling depot north of here. We need to infiltrate and take what we need. The pirate way.”
“Let’s move out,” Charley said.
The party moved silently through the jungle, Vinnie on point. He was still ignoring Harry, who was content to walk behind Charley. For her part, she made sure she had Vanessa in her sights. Gronko followed at the rear, a scary and discomforting presence for friend and foe alike.
The sun beat down through the trees. The tropical rainforest was beautiful, alive with the sounds and smells of countless animals and plants. Charley knew better than to touch the various colorful flowers and fungi she saw through the undergrowth. The best part was she doubted the bandit cruiser could possibly know where they had landed. For now they could move around with complete freedom. There was even a small chance they would escape the planet in one piece. One thing was for sure, the Beluga Run certainly wasn’t going to plan. They’d picked up potential crew members but were still desperately low on resources. The galaxy couldn’t be won over with one measly ship. Turning her thoughts back to the present, Charley kept a lookout for potential dangers. FIGJAM muttered at her belt, so she muted it. It wasn’t the right time to let the aggressive PalBot do his thing.
The terrain was relatively flat but the undergrowth was thick. Vinnie used his beaten, scratched broadsword to cut through the lush foliage. The sun struggled to penetrate the high canopy, but when it did it burned with fierce intensity. At length the party reached a small glade and called a rest. Charley took a long swig from her water canister and sat gratefully under a tree. When she realized it was filled with fire ants she was more than happy to keep moving. Vinnie agreed, clearly keen to reach their destination before nightfall. The party wasn’t equipped for a long trek through unknown terrain. They didn’t have thermal coccoons or any field gear to make them more comfortable. Charley regretted not having the foresight to load such supplies into the Surprise before they began their run. This pirating caper took some getting used to. The management side of things didn’t come naturally to her and she would need to address their needs at the next trading center. If they made it that far.
Just when Charley had settled into a nice rhythm, a rowdy tribe of monkeys came swinging down from the canopy and attacked Vinnie at the front of the line. Several plasma blasts whizzed past Charley’s head and three of the monkeys fell dead to the bracken. Charley turned to see Gronko grinning from ear to ear, his plasma rifle recharging.
“I don't fuck around, girlie,” he said. Charley didn’t reply. She wasn’t sure if she liked this renki at all. Vinnie turned out to be OK. One of the monkeys had clawed at his scalp but the wound was superficial.
The party continued through the trees, having learned that the animals in this jungle weren’t shy at all.
At length the towering trees thinned out and the rainforest became more of a woodland. Dappled sunlight kissed the ground and walking became a little easier. They came across a large family of black pigs and gave them a wide berth. Charley wasn’t sure whether her blaster could pierce those thick hides.
The hours dragged on as the party picked its way through a lush woodland. Harry tapped Vinnie on the shoulder and took over his position. Vinnie drifted back down to Charley and walked alongside her.
“We need to reach the Hidar Plain before sundown,” he said. “I don’t think camping in the jungle without tents or cocoons is a good idea.”
Charley was inclined to agree. The jungle contained all manner of toxic creatures, and most of them were probably nocturnal.
She was glad Harry’s pace up front was just as quick as Vinnie’s had been. The old pirate had the stamina of a much younger man.
The shadows cast by the swaying yule trees were growing long by the time the party reached the edges of the Hidar Plain. A rolling expanse of green stretched out before them. A string of red light sat on the northern horizon.
“Bandit camp,” Vinnie said with a trace of contempt. “We can set up a cold camp here. Tomorrow morning we try to find a way in.”
Charley considered the terrain carefully. The forest continued to the west and then ran north around the back of the bandit camp. Their approach would probably need to be under the forest cover.
Yawning, she tried to find a comfortable spot to sleep on a bed of tussocks. Vanessa watched what Charley was doing and tried to follow suit, but it was obvious that she was out of her element.
“It’ll get easier,” Charley said kindly. “Hey, at least you’re free now.”
Vanessa grinned as she nibbled on a protein stick. That was another thing that was lacking in the Surprise - fresh food supplies.
“I don’t mind at all,” the girl said. “I just hope I can be useful to you.”
“Where are you from, Vanessa?” Charley asked, sensing the girl needed to talk.
“I was born on Abeyas,” Vanessa said. “One of the larger trading families in Spacetown.”
“No way,” Charley said in amazement. “I’m from Sandflower Downs.”
Vanessa frowned. “Where’s that?”
Charley chuckled. “It’s in the southern wastes. Don’t worry, I’m trying to forget it too. So how the hell did you end up as Fallon’s pet?”
Vanessa grimaced.
“Sorry,” Charley said. “That was a clumsy term.”
“It’s OK,” Vanessa said. “That’s exactly what I was. My family ran into financial trouble. We fell out of the trading syndicate that protected us. My father and mother tried to make things work in the street, but it’s hard to get ahead on Abeyas.”
“Don’t I know it,” Charley said with a grin.
“My younger brothers and sisters needed food. The local bandit leader took a shine to me and offered to buy me. It was Fallon.”
Charley shook her head, knowing the story all too well. Fallon had probably paid a pittance for Vanessa, yet her parents had lost a daughter forever.
“For what it’s worth, you have a new family now,” Charley said.
“I know,” Vanessa replied, her eyes burning with appreciation. “And I’ll never forget it.”
; Sleep was hard to come by. The renki insisted on running some kind of perimeter but his heavy footsteps kept waking her up. She wondered how many hours Gronko actually slept.
Dawn emerged clean and pure. It was going to be another hot day. Vinnie woke everyone gently, keen to get some trekking in before the sun became too hot.
The plain seemed to shiver in the near darkness. Every now and again a hooting noise wafted across the camp.
“There’s something out there, Vin,” she warned.
Harry appeared by Charley’s side and rested a hand on her shoulder. The action was innocent enough but Charley felt a jolt of electricity through her body. If Vinnie noticed he gave nothing away. He produced some optics and looked across the plain intently.
“Paja deer,” he said in awe. “Tens of thousands of them.
Charley’s stomach lurched as she realized the shimmering plain was covered in chestnut brown deer. They were quite small but had straight, sharp antlers. She didn’t doubt that they would be a major threat if panicked.
Vinnie spent a long time looking through his optics. Charley badly needed to pee so she took her time in finding a suitable saltbush for privacy. Just as she was taking a long swig from her canteen, Harry’s lithe form appeared through the dawn murk.
“I thought about you all night,” he said, taking her arm and leading her behind the saltbush. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it, Charley.”
Charley grabbed the back of his head and pulled him toward her. Their lips met hungrily, their tongues colliding in lust. Charley sucked the older man’s top lip and ran her hands down his toned back and buttocks. His own hands unzipped her utility suit and exposed plenty of cleavage. She pulled open her lapels to allow him to cup her breasts. He kneaded them and sucked them like a depraved animal. Charley gasped, desperate to take things further.
“Charley?”
It was Vinnie, back at the camp. She zipped her suit back up and made her way back to the others. Harry would know to hang back to make things look less suspicious.
“What’s up?” Charley asked as casually as she could.
“The bandit camp is immediately behind that mammoth paja herd,” said Vinnie thoughtfully. “The more I look at it, the more I’m sure that they have a defensive perimeter around the camp. There’s no way we could gain entry through stealth. We need another way.”
Charley looked out at the plain and considered the heaving mass of life out there. “Is there any way we can leverage the herd to our advantage?”
Vinnie grinned. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
“But how do we do it?” Charley asked.
“Like this,” Gronko growled, pointing a huge flare gun at the herd. “There’s no time like the present, eh?”
Before anyone could protest, the renki had sent a purple flare soaring and fizzing barely two yards above the heads of the paja deer. Charley had to admit it was the perfect choice of weapon - it was loud enough to spook the deer, not so loud that it would alert the bandit forces at the camp. The paja began hooting and hollering, stamping their hooves fearfully. Some of the more skittish deer made a dash to the north, away from the big renki who had fired the flare at them. In a dense herd, where one deer ran, the rest needed to go too. Soon a thunderous noise rolled across the plain. The herd was charging the bandit camp and Charley could see flashes of gun fire through the dawn, presumably from gun turrets at the front gate.
The scene was one of chaos and fear, but Charley had never seen anything so awesome in nature. It was as if the planet was rising up to attack the slimy bandits, the scoundrels who made a living from looting the land.
“Do you think they know we’re here?” Charley asked Vinnie.
“I doubt it,” Vinnie snorted. “Besides, they have much bigger problems right now. Let’s move, people.”
14
Charley arranged her weapons belt and fell in behind the others. It made sense to move in behind the herd, to take advantage of the confusion that would currently be reigning supreme at the camp.
It felt surreal to be rushing across the Hidar Plain in the pre-dawn, blaster drawn and ready for what would be a dangerous battle. It was all happening so quickly. She couldn’t really blame the renki for being so rash - who knew how long paja deer would’ve stayed on the plain? And launching the attack at dawn made sense too. Sometimes the best results were simply matters of opportunity.
A cooling breeze kissed Charley’s cheeks as they bustled through seed-laden grass tussocks. Charley wasn’t exactly unfit, but the run made her feel puffed very quickly. Vanessa was faring even worse, struggling to keep up. Charley couldn’t help but notice her breasts wobbling as she ran. There was no lingerie or underwear under her jumpsuit either.
“This is fuckin’ bullshit,” muttered FIGJAM at her belt. “But at least I get to watch that bitch run before a bandit blows me to hell.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Charley said, secretly glad for the distraction. “You’re bad for morale.”
“Then get that whore to strip down,” ordered FIGJAM petulantly. “My antenna isn’t normally so rigid.”
“You’re a moron,” said Charley, resisting a chuckle. “Just be glad I don’t smash you myself.”
“Don’t, you’re making me horny again,” said the PalBot.
Charley sighed, but she felt more relaxed after trading barbs with FIGJAM. The arrogant little robot was good like that.
The paja herd had done a good job in knocking over a fence panel near the front of the camp. Judging from the smoking furry bodies piled there, the fence had been electrified.
“Take cover behind the fallen deer,” Vinnie said. Charley did as she was told, crouching behind a foul-smelling deer who was already stiffening in death.
There were two defensive turrets to either side of the front gate. For now, the men standing at those turrets were concentrating their fire at the deer inside the camp. It was difficult to tell if more turrets were located at the rear of the depot.
Vinnie looked at Charley with pre-battle eyes. He looked feral and rather attractive at that moment.
“Take the old fucker and scale that turret,” he said. “Me and Gronko will take the other one.”
“What about Vanessa?” Charley asked.
Vinnie shrugged as if she was an afterthought. “Take her too.”
“Go!” growled the renki, taking off at surprising speed for such a big alien. The air was hazy from the dust raised by the paja hooves. That only provided more cover for the small attacking force. Charley signaled to Harry and Vanessa before bolting across the tussocks. She could see the paja deer running amok within the bandit camp. They were only small but as a collective force they were devastating. As she neared the camp she saw a paja gore an attacking bandit with its antlers. She tore her gaze to the nearest turret, where the bandit was pumping plasma into the chaotic herd. She leaped onto the steel ladder and climbed the rungs two at a time. It was in moments like this that she appreciated her utility suit. It was light, supple and comfortable as hell to move in. She made it to the top of the ladder, wormed through the small opening in the platform and beckoned the others to stay quiet.
The bandit at the turret was too occupied with atomizing deer to notice Charley. She held the blaster to the nape of his neck and squeezed the trigger. One thing she knew from Abeyas was that there was no time for sympathy when it came to survival. The bandit’s brains spurted out over the frantic deer herd far below. Charley kicked the corpse from the tower, hoping no one would notice the unusual death in all the chaos.
Charley grabbed the turret handles as Harry and Vanessa took cover behind her. She scanned the battlefield carefully. She didn’t want to mangle the poor paja deer if she could help it. Vinnie had already started opening fire from the other turret. An armored vehicle sitting in front of a low building was raked with plasma.
Charley looked for other targets. Peering hard through the darkness, she could see several blue-suited Silent Runners weaving through the paja her
d with great difficulty. She tried to shoot one of them but the heavy turret sent plasma bolts into the surrounding deer, sending up a fountain of red meat. One of the bandits climbed on the armored vehicle to escape the rushing paja. Charley slotted him with a direct hit. With a pang of guilt she saw arms and legs go flying. The bandit’s light armor was no match for a heavy plasma turret!
All the other bandits were either being trampled by the paja or were massing on the other side of the armored vehicle. A bandit appeared on the roof of the vehicle and slotted a mini-turret into special receptors there. Charley fired at the man but the turret had a thick shield which repelled her attack. The bandit showered Vinnie’s tower with raking plasma fire, destroying the steel roof. Vinnie and Gronko dropped to their knees to avoid the fire.
“Someone needs to get down there,” Charley said determinedly.
“That’s suicide,” cautioned Harry. “There’s too much going on.”
“We won’t get any further unless we push forward,” Charley said. “Those bandits are fighting back.”
Before Harry could say anything else Charley dropped through the platform and was climbing down the ladder. Fortunately the bandit on the armored vehicle concentrated his fire on the other tower. Charley was immediately jostled by paja when she hit the ground. She allowed herself to be pushed through the throng, praying she wasn’t knocked over and trampled. She seemed to be headed straight for the vehicle. With yards to go she dropped to the muddy ground and rolled under the troop carrier. She could hear the plasma fire from the bandit on the roof. She could also see the legs and feet of several bandits on the other side. They seemed to be hatching some kind of plan for a counter attack. It was clear they knew there was more to the attacking force than a dumb herd of paja. Charley needed to act quickly. Her blaster, though reliable, simply wasn’t going to cut it. She ran through her pirate pellet options. Green for toxic cloud, red for incendiary grenade, white for flashbang, gray for smoke bomb. She tossed a red pellet across the mud, turning her back to the blast. A chorus of groans suggested she had scored a direct hit, but the resulting shock wave felt scorchingly hot. She worried it had melted her suit but a quick check confirmed it was intact.
The Pirate Captain (The Space Pirate Chronicles Book 2) Page 8
