by M. D. Cooper
Marge’s voice rose in judgement. Kylie heard a bit of a pout forming in the AI’s voice.
Marge paused, only a fraction of a second, but too long for an AI, which told Kylie something was up. She needed to make time to figure it out.
Kylie scowled.
As the door started to slide open, Kylie stood. She folded her hands loosely in front of her and made sure her stance wasn’t threatening. Chief Raynes, a tall guy in a starched black suit, strolled in with both purpose and poise. His dour face was accented by a dark mustache shaded by a wide brimmed hat that rested on a prominent brow, and he moved with exceptional grace for someone pushing two hundred centimeters.
“Chief Raynes, it’s an honor to make your acquaintance, sir.” Kylie extended her hand.
He didn’t take it, though he glared at her proffered hand for a moment before raising his gaze to meet her eyes. “You think I’d shake hands with the likes of you? You show up on Chimin with no business here, as far as I can tell, and engage in a firefight in my docking bay!”
“In my defense, they shot at me first.”
Chief Raynes shoved his chair into the table, the loud clang filling the room. “I run a tight ship here, Rhoads. No trouble from gangsters or junkers. Far as I can see, you’re neither anymore. Whatever is going on, whatever you’re into, it’ll have to happen somewhere else, understand me?”
Kylie knew she wasn’t that smooth, not even by half. She’d barely even spoken.
“I get your point, Chief Raynes,” Kylie said, her tone serious and deferential. “I see where you’re coming from. It’s obvious you know my background. But I won’t apologize for why I’m here.”
“Which is?” he barked and narrowed his gaze.
“To hunt down my brother, Paul Rhoads. He’s out there somewhere, still carrying out my father’s twisted mission. I have to bring him in. Peacefully, I hope. My pilot, Rogers, had a contact here who said she had intel. We only docked because Liberty said she knew where Paul had gone. Seems she just wanted a piece of my hide. If not for her, I never would’ve stepped onto your asteroid, you’ve got to believe me.”
“People around here used to listen to Peter Rhoads when he spoke.” Raynes shook his head. “See where it got Hubei? Good people. Governor Yovette did a fine job. She had our respect and our friendship. Look where it got them.”
Kylie glanced down and felt the death of the colony stronger than she had in the past. Though Kylie had gazed on the ruined world with her own eyes, she hadn’t heard any of their names before, or seen anyone personally affected. She hadn’t been able to think of them in terms of individuals lost to her father’s cause.
Now it stared her in the face. “With the destruction of Hubei,” Raynes went on, “we’ve lost our best trading partner for imports and exports. We’re scrambling to find replacements and soothe the fears of those here in the Chimin Group. A bad time for us to deal with the likes of you.”
“I won’t get in your way. If there was something I could do or say to help…”
Raynes sighed. “OK, you seem like a good kid trying to do the right thing, but I have my own problems. Hubei kept us in the black. Without them, we need to work twice as hard to make less money. Surely you can understand why I don’t have time for your BS.”
“And you have to understand why I can’t care. Liberty and her men tried to take me out—on your dock, to use your words—and they didn’t do that for kicks. If someone on Chimin-1 has a contract out on me, I have to know who. Maybe it’s related to Paul, maybe it isn’t, but we’re going to stay and find out. I’d like your permission, sir. And if you won’t grant it, I want a meeting with Governor Winch.”
Raynes studied her with his hooded eyes, and Kylie gazed right back. She wouldn’t back down from a confrontation with him when she needed information so badly.
“All right.” He maintained eye contact even as he gave Kylie what she wanted. “I’ll give you two days. If I don’t see the Princess slated to depart when that time’s up, I’ll round you all up and arrest you myself. Clear?”
Two days was longer than Kylie had hoped for. “Clear. Thank you, sir.”
Raynes grumbled under his breath, his words indiscernible. Then he spoke up, “I’d better not regret it. We picked up the reports of what happened to the Revolution Fleet at Silstrand. I’m not much for crystal balls and tea-leaf readings, but maybe if you hadn’t been there, it could’ve been worse.”
“I was surprised to find that they hadn’t left any ships behind,” Kylie said, attempting to eke out some information from the chief.
Raynes shrugged. “That’s not how your family did stuff. They stopped by, made thinly veiled threats, and then left. If they came back to find that you weren’t toeing the line…well, Hubei is an example of what happened.”
Kylie swallowed, wishing she could have learned more from her father before the end. “So you have nothing?”
Raynes barked a laugh. “Unsurprisingly, the Revolution Fleet didn’t file flight plans with our STC.”
Kylie nodded. She’d pushed him as far as she could. “My crew?”
“Finishing up their statements. I’ll escort you down to the precinct lobby where you can wait for them.”
Raynes opened the door and gestured for her to exit. She walked up to him and held out her hands. The Chief keyed in a code—surprising her that he hadn’t used a biolock—and the cuffs came off.
He hooked them on his belt. “After you.”
Kylie walked out into the corridor, and the chief gestured left. She strode down the passageway as though she owned it, with Raynes following behind, keeping a hand near her elbow. Kylie understood his paranoia, didn’t mind it per se, but he really was too close for comfort.
They reached a lift and rode it down two levels to the CSF precinct’s main lobby. Kylie stepped out to see several people waiting, spread out unevenly across the two-dozen chairs. Some were paying rapt attention to their surroundings, while other looked as though they were about to fall asleep.
Several holos played news clips on one wall. One was highlighting refugees from the stations surrounding Hubei—mainly how few there were, and another was showing celebrations on Battia over the destruction of the Revolution Fleet at Silstrand.
On the other side of the room, the desk sergeant was barking orders at a trio of officers. When she spotted the chief, the sergeant barked a final order, clapped her hands, and the three officers scattered like mice.
The sergeant kept her eye on Kylie as she moved across the room. Kylie considered sitting in one of the uncomfortable-looking black chairs but decided against it.
“One more thing. I’m going to need my ship to dock. If I have access to my ship’s resources, it’ll make what I’m doing a lot easier to accomplish.”
Chief Raynes sucked on his bottom lip—a show of stubbornness not weakness. He shook his he
ad. “Absolutely not. The Barbaric Queen is not unknown in Hanoi. We’ll not have a pirate ship docking here.”
“It’s not a pirate ship anymore,” Kylie replied with a grin. “The BQ is under new management. Besides, if it’s here, then I can stay there, eat there, and generally be out and about on your station less.”
Raynes scowled, grumbling to himself. Then he said, “That ship doesn’t dock ‘til I send an inspection team over—that you’re paying for, you hear? And before they get there, your reactors will be off, and the ship running on batts. You got me? If we even pick up a hint of reactivation, the very moment….”
“It’ll be my head. I’ve heard it all before, Chief.”
“Good.” The chief marched off leaving Kylie behind while the desk sergeant continued to glower at her.
“Read any good books lately?” Kylie asked with an impish grin.
The sergeant’s eyes widened, and she was about to retort when Ricket and Rogers stepped out of the lift. Kylie turned from the desk sergeant and walked over to them. “Boy am I glad to see you guys.”
“And I’m glad we avoided the full cavity search,” Rogers said, snickering behind his hand. “The partial cavity search was bad enough.”
“They aren’t really just going to let us go, are they?” Ricket asked.
“We have two days to figure out who Liberty was working for, and why she wanted me dead. After that, it’s my head if we’re not off Chimin.”
Ricket scowled. “So, they’re just going to let us walk around the place after what we did?”
“We were attacked first,” Rogers said. “Little detail.”
“Little detail or not, we still had a gun-fight in one of their docking bays. I’m surprised we aren’t being shown to a holding cell.” Ricket’s lips twisted to the side. “I don’t like it.”
They walked across the room to another lift that would take them down to a public concourse. Kylie pressed the button and the lift doors opened as though it had been waiting for them.
They filed in and Rogers selected the destination.
“It’s a little weird, a little too easy and pat,” Kylie said to Ricket. “Does that mean anything other than the fact that they want to be rid of us? Not sure yet.”
“Pat? Clearly you didn’t get the body search,” Rogers chuckled.
“You are ridiculously handsome Rogers,” Ricket winked. “Maybe they couldn’t keep their hands off you.”
Rogers stuck his tongue out at her.
“We should monitor their communications, just in case. I can put that in place,” Ricket said, waiting for Kylie’s response. When she nodded, Ricket smiled. “Thanks, Captain. Nice to feel useful around here.”
“You are, Ricket. We’re going to need everyone’s help to get this done on time. I don’t want to be forced to leave here without knowing who is gunning for me.”
“Gunning for us,” Rogers corrected as the lift doors opened. “Someone comes after you, they come after all of us.”
“Quite literally.” Ricket stepped off the lift first and the others fell in time beside her as they walked down the concourse toward the docking bay.
“I don’t want to delay in finding Paul, but we have to pick up a lead somewhere. My gut tells me that folks here know something. My brother was here, his ships went somewhere.” Already Kylie felt her skin itching from just being on Chimin. Kylie needed to right her family’s wrongs, and she couldn’t do that while stuck on an asteroid.
Kylie figured as much.
“Why don’t you two get started on your investigations?” Rogers asked. “I’ll take the shuttle out and bring the BQ on in.”
Ricket looked at Kylie and shrugged. “Makes sense to me. Gotta be here to get my taps into their network, anyway.”
“OK,” Kylie gestured for Rogers to carry on while she and Ricket slowed. “Just don’t get into any more trouble.”
“Me?” Rogers snorted and shook his head. “I think you’re getting the two of us confused.”
EVIDENCE
STELLAR DATE: 11.03.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Barbaric Queen, Platform 9, North Docks
REGION: Chimin-1, Hanoi System (independent)
The Barbaric Queen was a tight fit inside the asteroid’s northern docks, but Rogers managed to slide it in on the grav drives with only minimal assistance from station tugs.
Ricket had planted her network taps, feeding the data to Laura and Marge to sift through. With that work done, the two women boarded the ship, and the first thing Kylie did was to brew a pot of coffee.
She’d tried some from a shop on Chimin, but the stuff was like water.
Kylie topped off her Kiss the Captain mug and grabbed a handful of dried fruit and nuts. Once sated, she made her way up to the bridge where the crew was discussing their next move.
Kylie eased into the captain’s chair while Rogers leant against the back of his. Winter and Bubbs stood between them, and Ricket sat atop her console, still clothed only in the flow armor, her ass—which hung over the back of her console—getting periodic glances from Rogers.
Ricket shook her head when Kylie offered her a snack.
“Your loss,” Kylie said. She finished the last of her nuts and wiped her hands on her pants. “We don’t know when we’ll get to eat a real meal next. Updates first off?”
Bubbs spoke up first. “We weren’t able to find any active bounties on you, or the ship in general. A lot of people pissing and moaning about what you might really want in the system, but most people seem to believe that you were on the right side in Silstrand.
“I used some of the new scan tech the ISF people installed and pulled feeds from the shuttle. Between it and the ‘Queen I was able to triangulate a response to the signal that came from your little shindig on the docks—which I’m pissed I missed.”
“Focus, Bubbs,” Winter said with a laugh.
Bubbs shot Winter an unreadable look. “I’m more than just a sexy gun-arm, you know, but I like being a sexy gun-arm the most. Anyway, the acknowledgement response came from a housing block—one of the lower-end ones. Coordinates are on the shipnet.”
“Nice work, Bubbs,” Kylie said, impressed.
Bubbs nodded. “Thank you, Captain.” She paused for a moment. “Is this when I get the cookie?”
Winter patted her on the shoulder. “It was a hypothetical cookie, Bubbs.”
She scowled. “So there are no cookies? Great.” She rubbed her hand on her armored thigh, appearing agitated.
“Well, we can get you cookies,” Kylie offered with a grin, unsure if Bubbs was really upset, or just playing around. “An array of cookies.”
Bubbs tilted her head as she weighed her options. “Don’t need a whole array. Chocolate would be enough for me. I like chocolate.”
“Duly noted,” Kylie said. “So, two of us can hit the housing block—”
“I want to be in on that. Done being cooped up on the ship,” Bubbs interrupted. “Plus, we can get the cookies on the way back.”
Kylie laughed and shook her head. “Uhhh…sure. OK, Bubbs and I will hit the housing block. What other avenues can we take?”
“There’s only one bar here and tonight is karaoke night,” Rogers grinned and rested his elbows on the back of his chair.
“Seriously?” Ricket snorted. “A hundred thousand people live here. There are well over a hundred bars. We all have access to the same data on Chimin-1’s public network.”
Rogers waggled his finger at Ricket. “Oh ho, but what those public nets won’t tell you is that there’s only one bar that has karaoke tonight.”
Ricket snorted and shook her head. “An
d you wonder why we doubt you,” Winter said. “Party boy.”
Rogers narrowed his eyes. “Hey listen, all the locals will be there, OK? If we need to shake someone down, or want to cozy up to someone, this will be the place to do it.”
Kylie sipped her coffee. “OK, Rogers. Take Ricket and be on your best behavior, though. I don’t exactly know why the chief let us off so lightly, but I have a feeling he was pressured to do it. He’s just looking for an excuse to kick us off this rock.”
Ricket nodded and Rogers gave her a small salute. “Sounds fun, just no one ask Ricket to sing…please.”
Ricket rolled her eyes but didn’t reply.
“That gives us an AI with both teams, and Winter can stay back on the ‘Queen.”
“Seriously?” Winter asked, his brow lowering. “Why me?”
“Because after the inspection team checked that our weapons were locked down, Chief Raynes messaged me saying he wanted a full inventory of all our small arms. It’s just busy work he’s using to mess with us, but I want to stay as much on his good side as I can.”
Winter groaned. “That could take days. Again, I ask, why me?”
“Because half of them are yours,” Rogers said with a laugh. “Plus, everyone has seen you dance; no one wants to risk you picking up the karaoke mic.”
Kylie rose from her seat and looked at Bubbs in her black armor. “Oh, Bubbs, your gun arm is going to have to stay on the ship.”
“I figured,” Bubbs said simply with a little sniff as her back straightened. “No arm, no cookies.”
Kylie tried to think of the right thing to ask. “Do you…uh…have a regular arm rather than just going without? Maybe one that looks real so you’re not so….” Kylie searched for the right word.
“Nubby,” Rogers suggested.
“Nubtastic,” Winter said with a small chortle.
Bubbs tossed her head and glared at Winter until the chuckles subsided. “I don’t have a ‘normal’ arm, but I do have an attachment that serves that purpose.”
“Will it…scare anyone?” Kylie asked, fighting a cringe.
Bubbs’ nose flared at the question. “No.”
