by E. A. James
"What are the chances that everyone in the damned promenade has seen our faces flashing on one screen or another?" Thor asked.
“I’d say pretty good,” Kira replied.
“Any ideas as to how we’re supposed to navigate our way through that mess of people and make it to Artanis without being noticed?” Thor asked.
“Keep our heads low?” Kira offered.
“Captain Winter and her quick, critical thinking skills,” Thor said with a smirk.
“I don’t hear you coming up with anything,” she retaliated.
Thor smiled down at her and winked. She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side. Dario let out a frustrated grunt.
“Our only hope is to move as quickly as possible,” Kira said, slipping into her role as leader. “We stick to the walls, move in a single file. If anyone spots us, if anyone comes after us, we run.”
Thor and Dario nodded and waited for her to lead them out of the repair bay. Moving in a line, they did just as she had said. Their heads remained low, and their hands hovered over their sidearms, concealed under their flight jackets. Still, they moved as indiscreetly as possible.
Everything was going smoothly. They had made it over halfway to their destination without anyone around them so much as glancing in their direction. Everyone was too focused on what they were doing to care about anyone else around them. No one was looking for fugitives; no one cared about the bounties.
And then, they ran into someone that did.
They didn’t see him at first. All they saw was the bolt of bright green energetic matter flying in their direction. Most everyone around them saw it. The crowd around them fell to their knees, their hands flying up over their heads as the bolt of energy rushed straight at Kira. Thor reached out and pulled her back, his reflexes reacting before she could process what was going on, just as the surge of plasma hit the wall in the spot her head once was.
Spotting the source of the blast was easy. Everyone that stood between them and him was on the ground now. His gun was still pointed in their direction, and a cold, mechanical laugh slipped out past his lips.
“Nico Rax,” Thor muttered, eyeing the rodent-robot bounty hunter they had narrowly escaped back on Vandor. “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Looking for fugitives, clearly,” Kira said, pulling out her gun and lifting it up slowly.
The three of them stood, motionless, for a moment, Kira’s gun trained on the belly of their half-machine, half-Rengar attacker. They knew he wouldn’t shoot them—at least, they hoped he wouldn’t. Artanis had instated their bounties with that goal in mind, making them worth much more alive rather than dead. Kira hoped that Nico Rax was greedy enough to want all three of them alive.
Although, his shot directed right at her head made her wonder.
"Should we just let him take us?" Dario asked as the bounty-hunter took one slow step in their direction. "This is what we wanted anyway, right?"
Kira looked back at the Thor and Dario. “It’s too soon,” she said softly.
Just then, two more Rengar appeared, running up to Nico, the sound of metallic breathing accompanying them. They weren’t nearly as mechanically outfitted as their apparent leader, but they still seemed to be more machine than anything else.
An eerie smile crossed Nico’s face. His voice, thick with the sounds of metal, seemed to echo off the walls around them.
“Take them in,” he ordered his men. “Alive, if you can. But, if not, kill them. I’m after more than a bounty with this group. I’m out for revenge.”
“Damn it,” Kira muttered, pushing back against Thor, who in turn pushed back against Dario. “Run!” she ordered.
Without hesitation, they did. Thor took hold of both her and Dario and rushed them forward. Nico’s men fired at them, but their shots followed Nico’s into the wall, where they sizzled against the high-energy resistant paneling and slid to the ground. Before they were about to find them in their sights again, Kira, Thor, and Dario had disappeared among the crowd of bystanders.
“Move it!” Nico ordered, leading his men into the crowd after them.
Thor was leading them, shoving aside anyone and anything that got in their way. Dario ran alongside him, his sidearm in his hand and his eyes glancing back over his shoulder quickly. Kira took up the rear, her Phantom loaded and ready to fire.
It was Nico's men that fired first. The blast that went skidding past them was startling close. Again, cries of panic erupted from the crowd as random passersby fell to the ground, shielding themselves from the gunfire that seemed to them to be coming out of nowhere.
Lifting her gun and spinning around, Kira planted her feet and fired the second the crosshairs of her sights landed on the plush, fur-covered gut of one of Nico’s men.
She didn’t wait to see if her blast landed where she had hoped it would. Spinning around, she took off as quickly as she could. Thor and Dario had slowed slightly to wait for her. As soon as she reached them, they turned sharply down one of the many hallways leading off of the bustling main promenade.
The section of the Arbiter that they entered was less crowded and much more open. The ceiling above them was made of industrial strength glass, and the bright lights of billions of stars spotting the dark, vast sky would have given the short stretch of the furnished hall a romantic feel if it weren’t for the three robotically enhanced bounty hunters quickly gaining on them.
Kira craned her head around to see how close they really were.
They were very close.
“Take cover!” she yelled as she saw one of Nico’s men life his gun.
The gun wielding lackey had a sizeable gash in his right side. Kira smiled to herself as she followed Thor and Dario behind a large piece of furniture that had previously been occupied by a young couple. As soon as the couple saw them running in their direction, though, they pushed themselves up and raced away, without so much as looking back once.
Everyone in that section of the station had suddenly disappeared.
Kira, Thor, and Dario ducked down behind the plush reclining sofa just as a bolt of electricity followed by another blast of highly energized matter zipped over their heads.
“One of them is already hurt,” Kira informed them.
Thor nodded and took hold of his sidearm. Popping up quickly, he lifted the gun, fired, and returned to her side faster than Kira could have pushed herself up to her feet. She smirked as she looked over at him.
“What?” he asked, reloading his gun.
“You never cease to amaze me,” she said, lifting her gun and preparing to take a shot of her own.
Dario, who was working to navigate a clear escape route for them, tapped Kira on the shoulder and pointed toward a door located about twenty feet away.
“Shoot, then run,” she said, looking between Dario and Thor.
They both nodded and in unison, the three of them popped up from their hideout. Kira instantly spotted the lifeless body of one of the Rengar on the floor, a pool of blood forming under him. Nico and his remaining man had taken cover, as well.
They all remained motionless, waiting for the rodents to make their location known. When they did, they did so with flair. Nico shot into the air, soaring above them and coming to land directly behind them. Kira and Dario spun around and shot in his direction, while Thor aimed at the place where Nico’s side-kick was still huddled down.
“Run!” Kira yelled again, just as she squeezed the trigger of her gun and sent a blast zipping directly toward the mechanical rodent’s face.
The three of them took off again, racing down the short hall that led them back into the heart of the busy Arbiter promenade. They could hear Nico’s heavy metallic footsteps ringing out behind them. When he fired another shot, they all darted to the right, diving deeper into the chaos of the busy station marketplace.
“Move! Move!” Thor yelled, clearing a path for them as they ran.
Behind them, Nico and his man were able to weave through the crowd wi
th ease, one second leaping onto benches and hurtling themselves over groups of ten to twelve individuals at a time.
“They’re gaining on us,” Kira said.
She turned and lifted her gun again, hoping for a clean shot, but the crowds made it impossible.
“This way,” Thor said, turning sharply into one of the many Arbiter bars.
They elbowed their way through the customers, a string of profanities following along behind them. Once they reached the back of the bar, they huddled together, weapons up and hearts racing.
“Did they see us come in here?” Dario asked.
There was no need for either of them to answer, though. The drunken chatter of the bar patrons instantly fell silent as the crowd in front of them parted. And there he was, Nico Rax with his gun in hand and his sights set on Thor. There was a look of victorious rage in his eyes as he stalked slowly up to them.
His sidekick was right behind him, two guns in his hands now, one trained on Kira, the other on Dario.
Nico laughed as he watched an expression of frustration work its way across Thor’s face. “You can try to outrun me again, Commander Rockhold,” he said calmly. “But all three of you won’t make it out alive. You might as well just surrender.”
There was nowhere else to go, nowhere to hide. Kira scanned their surroundings, her heart beating wildly in her ears. The faces of interested onlookers crowded around them. Some were staring with wide-eyes as Nico Rax inched ever closer to where they were standing, their backs pressed against the wall.
“So, what’ll it be?” his mechanical voice pressed. “Surrender or death? It really doesn’t matter to me either way.”
Kira’s eyes continued to scan their surroundings.
“There’s no use looking,” Nico said, reaching out and grabbing hold of her chin with his right hand, turning her face toward his. “There’s no way out.”
The feeling of his mechanical fingers clutching to her face made her skin rippled with goosebumps. Before she could react, though, Thor had his weapon pressed firmly into Nico’s side.
“Don’t touch her,” Thor leaned in and said in a gruff, threatening tone.
Nico simply laughed in return, his gaze falling to his left hand. There, he held tightly to his plasma gun, the barrel of which was pointed directly at Kira’s chest.
“I suggest you take a step back, Commander Rockhold,” Nico said calmly. “Or I’ll take her out right here, right now. And my man,” he added, glancing casually over his shoulder to the remaining lackey he had, “will take care of the Doctor.”
“Thor,” Kira said, “we have to surrender. We have no other choice. We’ll just surrender.”
Nico’s eyes went wide as he turned his attention back toward her. “Really? Just like that? No last stitch effort to wiggle free? No fight-to-the-death mentality? Captain Winter, you’ve gone soft.”
Kira’s stomach turned with frustration and anger. She wanted so badly to retaliate. She knew she could. She could have taken that gun from him before he had the chance to order his man to shoot Dario. Thor could have killed him before he had the time to pull the trigger.
They could have tried, at least. If it had been under any other circumstances, they would have.
Nico turned back to Thor, who had taken a slow step back, although his gun was still trained on the bounty hunter’s side.
“I guess it doesn’t matter how it happens,” Nico said, dropping his hand from Kira’s face and holding it out in Thor’s direction, waiting for him to hand over his weapon. “As long as I get my payout and know that you’re finally where you belong, I’ll be happy.”
Thor grunted as he handed over his gun. Nico tossed it back to his companion and waited for Kira to turn hers over, as well. Next, he disarmed Dario.
All the while, he chattered with laughter, proud of himself for his accomplishment. Kira, Thor, and Dario didn’t speak, but they didn’t need to. They were all thinking the same thing.
“It’s too late to turn back now.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Something’s not right,” Alaria said popping her head up around the control panel.
Bron, grunting with frustration at the mess of wires spilling out of the panel at his feet, looked over at her quickly. “Nothing is right,” he replied. “I can’t figure out where to install the upgrade. I don’t know what the hell Vinnie did in here last time…”
“Not with the ship,” Alaria replied, pushing herself up to her feet and wiping her hands on her long blue work pants, “with the others. They’ve been gone for too long.”
Bron looked around the room as if he was just realizing where he was. "How long have we been working?"
“A couple of hours, I’d guess.”
“Something’s wrong,” he mumbled, walking over to the ship’s intercom. “Vinnie,” he spoke into the speaker, sending his message ship-wide, “report to the airlock immediately.”
Turning back to face Alaria, he smiled. “I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said as encouragingly as he could. “They probably just got caught up talking to Artanis or something.”
“Right,” she nodded, although the look of concern in her eyes didn’t waver.
The two walked together from the engine room and made their way to the ship’s exit. The place felt empty without the others around. Even though Kira and Thor were almost always locked away in the flight deck, just knowing they were there was comforting enough. And Dario was always wandering about somewhere, fiddling with medical equipment or trying personal upgrades to his weapons.
The Curio always had a buzz of life wafting about. Between the constant banter that filled their conversations or the spark of danger that fueled them all to try their hardest or the warmth of closeness that permeated the air, there was always something comforting about being aboard their beloved junker.
But now, as they walked side-by-side through the long, metallic halls, the ship felt almost desolate.
“I’m worried,” Alaria mumbled.
She clenched her hands into fists and pinched her lips together tightly, trying to shake the feeling of gloom. Bron, always sensitive to her feelings, picked up on her apprehension easily. He wanted to comfort her but he didn’t know how. There was nothing he could say to make her father return or to even ensure that he wasn’t in danger.
“He’s with the two most skilled fighters I know,” he said instead. “I wouldn’t be worried about him. I’d be worried about anyone that comes across them.”
Alaria laughed slightly and smiled up at him. “Thanks, Bron,” she said, her voice soft and melodic. “I’m glad that you’re here with me.”
Bron’s cheeks flushed in the way that always made Alaria smile a little bigger.
“I’m glad to be here, too,” he said, clearing his throat slightly as he turned his attention to the large airlock doors now directly in front of them.
Standing there, his long skinny arms crossed over his chest, was Vinnie, his metallic side-kick stationed at his side. He already had an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, and a spark of enthusiasm was visible in his eyes.
“What’s up?” he asked, trying to be cool but failing.
“It’s been too long,” Bron informed him. “We’re going looking for them.”
A smile wiggled across Vinnie’s face as the thought of racing through the TFS Arbiter flashed through his mind. Patting the repair bot on its head, he spun on his heel to open the door. As he spun, the assault rifle on his back smacked into the side of the bot.
“Son of a bitch,” his metallic side-kick sputtered. “Be careful.”
“You’re metal; you’re fine,” Vinnie replied, stepping through the door as it slid open.
The repair bot rolled off, mumbling a string of foul frustrations as it went back to its chores. Alaria and Bron followed Vinnie out through the airlock, not pausing once they were back in the heart of the repair bay.
“Where did they go when they left?” Vinnie called out.
“To talk
to Artanis, I think,” Bron answered.
Bron, with his long, strong strides had no trouble making his way to the front of their group. Vinnie, with his excess energy, jogged alongside him. Alaria, although strong and fast and as enthusiastic about their task as the others, found it a little more difficult to keep up with his long Bandurian strides.
As they went, the space separating her from the other two slowly grew larger—one foot, two feet, five feet. She didn’t let it detour her. Shouldering her way through the crowds in the promenade, she kept her eyes focused on the back of Bron’s head.
Nothing was going to stop her from figuring out where her father and the others were. Nothing was going to stop her from…
