“There wasn’t much else to say anyway.” Miranda patted Brook on her shoulder. “Guess I’ve got a shuttle ride to get ready for.”
“You’re not going over there alone,” Lee said.
“Yes I am.” Miranda glared at Lee. “Taking someone with me wouldn’t do any good anyway. That destroyer has hundreds of people on her. If the senator wants to keep me over there, she’ll do it whether I take someone with me or not.”
Lee didn’t like what she said, but he knew it was true.
“Fine,” the old man growled. “Just be careful. We’ll be out here if you need us.”
* * * * *
Chapter 16
Miranda went to her quarters and hurriedly donned her armor. Just because she wasn’t taking anyone with her didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be ready for a fight if things came to that. She was ready when the Earth Gov shuttle docked with Strider. The shuttle extended a boarding tube that connected with Strider’s side airlock. Miranda crossed it to find two heavily-armed Earth Gov soldiers waiting on her. They appeared unimpressed by the armor she wore. That was an unusual thing. Miranda was used to her suit awing people, and on the fringe worlds it did just that. Her armor was pretty high tech, even for the core worlds controlled by Earth Gov.
The two guards accompanied her into the shuttle’s interior as its pilot retracted the boarding tube and pulled away from Strider on a course to the Clarion. They showed Miranda to her seat for the brief trip over. She felt the eyes of the two soldiers on her and realized they were checking out her armor—they just were trying to hide their fascination with it.
“You’re a monster hunter, huh?” one of the soldiers asked. He was a young man with brown hair and keen green eyes.
“I like to think of myself as an exterminator.” Miranda grinned, unable to resist messing with him.
“Oh, she’s a monster hunter, alright,” the other soldier said. He was slightly older, and his dark hair was flecked with gray. There was a jaded quality about him that told her he was a veteran. “A famous one, too. You’re the girl that took over for Claus Wulf, aren’t you?”
“That’s me,” Miranda answered. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“Not with us, ma’am,” the younger soldier said before the older one could open his mouth again. “I’ve never met a monster hunter before.”
“Well, I’m glad I could make your day,” Miranda chuckled.
“That armor of yours looks pretty wicked.” The young soldier smiled. “How did you get it?”
The old soldier glared at him. “What did I just say? She got it from Claus Wulf. That was his armor.”
“Not entirely,” Miranda corrected the man. “I’ve made a lot of alterations to it over the years.”
“It’s really cool.” The young soldier beamed at her. “I bet it can kick some serious butt.”
“She wouldn’t be alive if it didn’t,” the older soldier grumped. “Look at her. She’s just a kid.”
“I’m twenty-seven,” Miranda glared at him, “I just look younger than I am.”
“As you say.” The older soldier dropped the topic of her age, though she highly doubted it was because he gave a flying flip about offending her. More than likely he just wanted her and his comrade to shut up.
“I always wanted to be a monster hunter,” the young soldier told her. “Ever since I was a young kid.”
“You’re still pretty young now,” Miranda reminded him.
“You know what I mean.” The young soldier shrugged.
The shuttle entered the starboard bay of the huge Earth Gov destroyer and clanged down onto it.
“It was good meeting you, ma’am.” The young soldier smiled at her as he gestured for her to disembark. The shuttle’s side door had opened, and a ramp extended to the bay’s floor.
Miranda winked at the young soldier. “You ever get tired of this line of work, look me up. We’ll see what happens.”
His cheeks went red as he blushed and started to stammer something back to her. The older soldier stopped him.
“We’re Earth Gov troopers,” the older soldier barked at her. “Our loyalty is and will always be to the government.”
Miranda didn’t respond to his jab. She knew he was just saving the kid from saying something that could be considered treasonous, and that would have been bad for them all.
Another group of armed soldiers was waiting for Miranda at the bottom of the ramp. They escorted her through the corridors of the Clarion to where Senator Lindsey was waiting for her. The room they led her into made Miranda think of an old Earth throne room. It was a large open space with Senator Lindsey sitting in a rather expensive and comfortable-looking chair on an elevated platform at its far end.
“Welcome to the Clarion,” Senator Lindsey said, rising to step down from the platform. The senator wore long, flowing robes that were a bloody shade of red. Her skin was as pale as the snow in the streets of Brickson. Her hair was a short-cropped gold. Miranda couldn’t help but stare at its color. She knew that Earth Gov senators like their fashion; it was often a symbol of rank. But to have one’s hair synthetically altered to appear like strands of gold was going too far in her opinion.
Senator Lindsey was in her early thirties by the looks of her, but Miranda knew that Earth Gov bio-tech could greatly slow the aging process, producing much longer lifespans than those of the simple folk out in the fringe worlds. Senator Lindsey’s eyes radiated a sharp intelligence, but they also had a hard gleam to them that bespoke the woman’s willingness to do whatever it took. The senator’s greeting had been a warm one, all things considered, but Miranda figured the woman would be smiling just as prettily while she was tossing her out an airlock. There was no way someone rose to her level of power in Earth Gov without getting some blood on their hands.
“Did you find him?” Senator Lindsey asked, getting straight down business.
“We found your brother, ma’am,” Miranda answered her.
Senator Lindsey frowned at her. “Then I presume that he’s dead, since I don’t see him at your side?”
“That would be correct, ma’am,” Miranda said. “He’d been dead for a good long while before we arrived in Brickson. From what we can figure, the colony’s mining woke a species of predatory bugs beneath the planet’s surface. They came howling out of the ground with a vengeance, slaughtering everyone in the town, including, I’m sorry to say, your brother.”
“I see,” Senator Lindsey’s voice trembled as she spoke, but the woman seemed to will the emotion she had to be feeling into check. “And you’ve brought proof of this.”
“Per our arrangement,” Miranda told her and opened a compartment on her armor to produce a data chip and a small box. She saw the soldiers in the room become even more alert than they had been as she approached the senator.
“It’s sad how many people die out on the fringes,” Senator Lindsey commented, accepting the proof she was offered. Miranda watched as the senator opened the small box that contained a finger cut from her brother’s corpse.
“That’s just the nature of things, I suppose,” Miranda commented.
“Indeed,” Senator Lindsey agreed in a voice that was little more than a whisper. “I told my brother not to go to the fringes, but he was determined. He wanted very much to have a real adventure like you folks do before he settled into the life he was born to.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Miranda said, completely sincere. “I lost my father at a young age to a monster, too.”
“Did you now?” Senator Lindsey’s voice rose and anger flashed in her eyes at the unintentional comparison between them that Miranda had seemed to make. But it faded quickly.
“I imagine you’ll be wanting what you were offered in trade for your services, despite the bad news you’ve delivered.” Senator Lindsey stared at her as if waiting for Miranda to say the wrong thing so she could pounce on her—metaphorically speaking, of course. The senator would never sully her own hands with the likes of su
ch as her, not to mention the fact that Miranda was wearing high-tech combat armor built solely for the purpose of killing things normal Earth Gov troops wouldn’t likely be able to.
“That would be the deal.” Miranda flashed the senator a wry grin.
Senator Lindsey gave her a sharp nod. “Then you shall have it.”
She gestured to one of the aides standing about the sides of the room. “Julie, make sure this woman and her friends are paid the amount we agreed upon.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the aide answered and dashed out of the room.
That was easy, Miranda thought. Now all she needed to do was get the hell out of Dodge.
“Thank you,” Miranda said. “I’ll take my leave, then.”
Miranda turned to walk out of the room, but Senator Lindsey’s voice brought her whirling back around with a question.
“Have you picked a side yet?” Senator Lindsey stood straight, watching Miranda intently and waiting for her answer.
“A side?” Miranda croaked.
“Yes, a side,” Senator Lindsey said. “Though it’s been limited to skirmishes here and there, scattered across the fringe worlds, war has come for us all, Miranda. Soon, no one will be able to escape it, I fear.”
“I’m just a girl who kills monsters for a living,” Miranda answered. “I don’t want any part in the war you’re talking about.”
“No?” Senator Lindsey pressed her. “You were born on a fringe world yourself, and raised in a culture that hates everything Earth Gov is and represents. Surely that sort of upbringing left you some sort of inclination for which side you will choose.”
“My father was an Earth Gov operative, ma’am,” Miranda admitted, though thinking of her father stung her dearly. She still missed him so much.
Senator Lindsey cocked an eyebrow. “Your father was an operative?”
Miranda was stunned the senator didn’t know. The woman had no doubt run extensive background checks on them all before even considering employing her and her crew.
“I was unaware of that.” Senator Lindsey frowned deeply.
Miranda could tell from the edge in the senator’s voice that someone’s head was going to roll for failing to share that information with her.
“It’s true.” Miranda stood her ground because it was the truth. “He was an operative for many years before retiring to the colony world where I grew up after my mother died.”
“Perhaps I’ve misjudged you,” Senator Lindsey said through clenched teeth. “I, truly, did not know that. It explains a great deal about how a young girl such as yourself became such a legendary hunter in so short a span.”
“Everything I am, I owe to my father,” Miranda said.
“Then I hope, when the time comes for you to choose a side, your father’s memory will outweigh the culture you spent your childhood in. You see, you’re more than just a monster hunter, Miranda. You’re a legend. That’s a very powerful thing. Your fame extends all across the fringes. Should someone like you swing over to join the growing rebellion, well, legions of others would follow you. You would become a beacon of misbegotten hope that those like myself would have no choice but to crush.” Senator Lindsey’s frown became a scowl.
“I don’t have any intention of joining the war, on your side or theirs, ma’am. My crew and I just want to be left alone to do our jobs.” Miranda turned and headed for the door.
“Remember what I’ve told you, Miranda, when the day comes,” Senator Lindsey’s voice boomed after her. “One day you’ll be forced to choose. There will be no escape for any of us. Mark my words.”
Armed soldiers followed Miranda out of the room, and she met still more in the corridor beyond it. It looked as if the senator had expected things to turn a great deal uglier than they had. Miranda was glad they hadn’t. She didn’t like killing other humans, not that she could have killed them all anyway. There were too many soldiers for her to have stood a chance. The battle would have been short and violent, staining the walls with blood, and she wouldn’t have lived through it.
The soldiers escorted her back to the shuttle that would be returning her to Strider. The soldiers guarding her on the shuttle were different than the ones who had been with her on the trip over. There was no chit chat this go ’round. Miranda made the flight to Strider in a rather strained silence. The tension inside the shuttle was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. She was lost in her own thoughts, anyway, and the silence allowed her to dwell on her meeting with the senator. How could the woman not have known about her father being an Earth Gov operative? That made no sense at all, because the only reason Miranda could think of to explain it was that her father’s work had been so classified that not even someone like Senator Lindsey had access to his service records.
As close as the two of them had been, he had never shared the details of his life as an operative with her. He had taught her all that he knew about fighting, but had never once spoken a word about how he had put those skills to use, himself. Every time she brought it up as a child, her father either changed the subject or simply walked away. Just what the hell had her father done for Earth Gov that was so classified a high-ranking senator was ignorant of it? Miranda knew she would likely never know the answer to that question.
“We’ve arrived at your ship, ma’am,” one of the soldiers told her, speaking for the first time since she had set foot on the shuttle. “The docking tube is in place.”
“Thank you.” Miranda smiled at the hard-faced veteran as she rose from her seat and hurried to get back aboard Strider.
Lee was waiting on her as she came aboard. The old man was grinning. “The senator’s ship transferred the credits over a little while ago. Good job, kid. You made it through without getting yourself killed or forcing us to try to come after you.”
Miranda couldn’t help herself. She fell into the old man’s arms, sobbing.
“What the frag, girl?” Lee demanded. “I just told you that you did a good job, without a single complainant attached to it.”
“She didn’t know about my dad, Lee,” Miranda told him.
“Your dad?” Lee was utterly confused. “How the heck did he even come up?”
“She was trying to find out which side we’re going to take in the civil war,” Miranda explained.
Lee struggled in the embrace of her armored arms. “You’re going to have to let go of me, Miranda, if you want me to be able to talk. My bones aren’t as strong as they once were.”
“Sorry.” Miranda let him go, carefully wiping away the tears on her cheeks with her armored fingers.
“As to that civil war crap…” Lee said, “we’re not taking a side. It’s as simple as that. I’m surprised the woman didn’t have a Psi there to get in your head so she would know that without question.”
“If there was a Psi there, I didn’t know it.” Miranda hadn’t even considered that possibility. “I sure didn’t feel anyone trying to get into my head.”
“You wouldn’t.” Lee rubbed at the sides of his chest. “Not if they were any good at their job, anyway.”
“I think she was planning to kill us on the spot if I’d given her any indication we were leaning toward joining the fringe worlds in their fight against Earth Gov.”
“We’re not, though,” Lee reminded her. “We’re neutral and staying that way.”
“I brought up my dad being an operative, Lee,” Miranda said, “but she didn’t have a clue about who he was.”
“That’s freaking crazy,” Lee stammered. “The senator had to be playing some kind of game with you.”
“I don’t think so, Lee. I was there, remember? When I told her, you should have seen the look on her face,” Miranda assured the old man.
“She had to be faking it.”
Miranda shook her head. “Thinking about him hurt, Lee. It brought it all back like it was yesterday.”
“That was a long time ago, kid. You’re going to have to let it go. You’ve got a new family, an entirely new life,�
�� Lee’s voice was soft and gentle as he spoke. “This is your home now.”
His words reached her through her pain. Miranda cracked a grin despite her tears and laughed, giving him a punch on the shoulder. “You’re going soft, old man. It almost sounded like you really meant that.”
“Anyway, you’re missing the point here, kid.” Lee grinned back at her. “We just got paid. You know what that means?”
“What?” Miranda asked.
“This ship is finally going to get fixed up, and we’re going to have some fun!” Lee grabbed her, putting an arm around her armored shoulders. “Come on, girl. It’s time to forget about monsters and Earth Gov for a bit.”
* * * * *
Chapter 17
Moore Colony was the perfect place to get your ship repaired and spend some downtime, as long as you didn’t mind sharing it with the best and worst of the monster hunters, killers, thieves, and scum of the fringes. Strider had touched down at the colony’s spaceport a week ago. Brook seldom left the ship. She was obsessive about overseeing the repairs and upgrades being made to Strider. Joe, fully recovered, stayed with her.
Flynn and Lee hung out at Wild Mack’s. Mack’s place was the premier saloon in the colony. Lee kept the drinks flowing for both of them with his share of the generous payout they’d gotten from their newly completed contract with Senator Lindsey. Rachel wasn’t much of a drinker and hated the often violent atmosphere of Wild Mack’s saloon. She caught up on her reading with the latest medical journals and a good novel on the beach near Wild Mack’s.
Strider’s crew were living the dream of all monster hunters, and Miranda didn’t want to trouble them with her woes. She had fallen into a sullen mood after her conversation with Senator Lindsey. The questions she had about her father haunted her. She used half her share of the payout to hire the best hacker available in the colony, a man named Marston, and she was on her way to see him.
Marston’s home was a two-story flat just outside the central town of Moore Colony. The hacker could have afforded somewhere much larger and fancier, but Marston was the paranoid type—with good reason to be that way. He dealt in information and data that was very likely to get someone killed. The money he earned went into security, not luxury and pleasure. Marston’s small house resembled a fortress more than a place to live. A high, gated wall extended around it. Heavily armed guards constantly patrolled the wall. The weapons they carried were the best credits could buy on the fringes. As she approached the gates, Miranda hoped she never had to test her armor’s ability to stand up to them.
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