by T S Paul
“Only for filth,” Steve said. His face was flushed, and his teeth bared. He was angry and looking for a fight.
Rea knew he would be ready if they needed him. She also knew that since she had arrived, he would listen to her and follow her orders. Even though she didn’t tell him not to come, being here was disobeying if only indirectly. Rea was going to have a talk with him about that.
“Me?” Beyer had an appalled look on his face. “I’m not the one who was dishonorably discharged from the Marines. I believe that was you. Who’s the filth?”
Steve crinkled his nose. Clearly, his fury was rising as his face reflected his murderous feelings. His emotions were on a knife’s edge now. Rea feared that when she did let him fight, Beyer’s head would be removed from its body. It was a disgusting thought, but a possible outcome with the madness Steve approached now.
“We can let the Marines fight, sister, and settle our own score.” Drake stared at her.
Rea loathed the man and no longer considered him a part of her family. She really didn’t consider much of her actual relations as family these days. It had been a long time since she had been home.
Several more pirates joined Drake and Roberts. The two groups of sailors and pirates were now fairly equal. If they both turned to fight Rea and her crew, they would be goners. There was no way the crew could survive against that many people.
The captain needed a peaceful way out of here, one that didn’t have them fighting their way out. With the overwhelming anger in the place, she feared that wasn’t possible.
“Brother, dear,” Rea said with a sweet tone, one she hoped would help him calm down. “Why don’t you and I take our people out of here and talk? You clearly have an issue with me. One that I do not understand.”
Rea truly didn’t. It wasn’t her fault he had died or had appeared to die. There had been nothing she could do. Nothing could have saved him.
Drake laughed. “An issue is right. The perfect sister. The flawless one, better than the family. Who runs off and joins the Navy.” He spat on the ground and stomped on it. “You aren’t better than the family. To make it worse, you left me for dead. Then told the others you tried. No, you didn’t.”
“You fell down the cliff hundreds of feet. Your body was nowhere in sight.” Rea had attempted to climb down and almost fell herself. She had tried, but there was no way to prove that to Drake.
“Enough,” Beyer said. “I want those parts from Mars.”
“You can’t,” Steve said. “They belong to the Dragon Corp.”
That was how they were shipping the regular cargo too. It was an expensive order, and Rea would know on the black market value, all tech from Mars sold well.
“I will have it,” the Colonel said.
“No! It’s mine.” Shouting, Drake raised his weapon.
This wasn’t going to end well. Both men tried to stare each other down like two dogs snarling over food scraps. They were ready to kill the other. Nothing could be done, but to make sure that her crew didn’t get killed themselves.
“Take cover,” Re said under her breath as she backed away. Not that there was much to be had.
A few grunts sounded before the explosion of weapons firing. Rea wasn’t sure who shot first.
“Stay out of it,” she commanded.
Behind her, Lindsey had a weapon out, as did Cody and Aldis. Parker had dropped to the floor with her hands over her head. It was not the brightest move and would do much good, not with both groups firing at each other.
Rea was thankful they weren’t also firing toward her crew, but she still didn’t like the situation. This might end badly for them. Once the dust settled, the victor might turn on them.
Blasts from the weapons rang through the building, deafening Rea. The screams from injured and dying added to the intensity. She could barely keep track of what was happening. Bodies dropped, and others fled. But soon, the shots slowed and stopped.
It felt like a long time had passed, but it had been only a minute or two. Now, it was over. The carnage was visible on the floor with a scattering of bodies. Some groaned, but others were completely motionless.
The CATT stepped forward. “The local authorities are on the way.”
“Time to go.”
“One second,” Steve said. He walked over to the bodies.
Rea joined him. Unfortunately, Drake and Beyer weren’t laying on the floor. Steve stopped at one. Rea noticed it as the young pirate who had caused them trouble. Roberts.
“Poor kid,” Steve said. The Marine reached down and closed the pirate’s eyes. “He wasn’t made for this life. A waste.”
“I know,” Rea said, “but we need to go.”
“Roger that, Captain,” Steve said. He stood and started for the exit. “Sorry about coming here.”
“We’ll talk later.”
Chapter Eighteen
Steve paced the passageways of the ship. Rea had laid into to him, both in private and in front of the others. The Marine knew he was supposed to be the one to set the example of following orders, of right and wrong. Today, he showed the wrong way to do it.
They had a lead on Drake, and now, it was lost. Gone. And to make it worse, Beyer was back in his life. As much as Steve wanted to think it was a coincidence, the man just couldn’t accept that. It had to be related to the Drake and Taylor problem somehow.
Steve tried to hunt down Nicole to see if she would be able to inform him if it was. For now, the Marine was going to ignore Beyer and stay on task.
After a quick search of the ship, the Marine didn’t find the CATT. If Nicole didn’t want to be located, she wouldn’t be. He went back to his room to stew and figure out his next move. Whatever that may be.
The next thing they needed to do was unload both the cargos they had on the ship. Then, they could switch to working on Drake and Taylor.
A knock sounded on his door. “Come in.”
The door swung open, and it was Lindsey. Steve smiled at the sight of her. She didn’t seem to be holding a grudge against him for trying to keep her out of the attack on Drake. The way this job was going, she would have joined Steve no matter what. Because Rea and even Nicole had shown up too.
Lindsey walked into the room. “You okay?”
“I don’t know with Drake and Beyer both escaping us. Then Rea left the ship unguarded that was stupid, and it was my fault.”
“Not on you. On all of us.”
Steve wasn’t sure. He had messed up, and he hated his failure. “Just need to get back on track. Get the job done.”
The engineer smiled. “So very you.”
“I am what I am.”
Lindsey crossed the quarters and hugged him. “It is okay to fail, to mess up.”
Steve hugged her back. The Marine peered into her eyes. They were deep and warming, reassuring him, letting him feel whole, better. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome,” she said. “Come. Help Cody and me out. We have to take care of the cargo.”
“Okay,” Steve said.
With two different groups after the cargo, they needed to take the threats seriously. It was necessary to have guards for both the regular cargo and illegal. They would be unloading both at the same time and mixing them together.
No planet checked every box of a shipment. New Reno, at times, could be lax, though that wasn’t always the case. How careless depended on the inspector or even if they even had one. Sometimes, the inspectors just went through the motions.
This was a problem everywhere and was why so much was able to slip through the cracks. Smugglers used these lapses to move cargo on and off a planet. There was just too much for a world to inspect. It made the Rossi’s job easier, but that didn’t mean it was stress-free. Far from it due to how little they did examine. It was a game of cat and mouse. They had to make sure the right boxes were checked and not the others.
He was working with the crew. All of them were here save Nicole and B113. The two wouldn’t be much help sin
ce they didn’t have arms and legs. At least not like a human did. The CATT did have robotic legs and paws which she routinely cleaned for no apparent reason whatsoever.
Outside, a truck had arrived to haul the cargo to the destination. Steve knew the man driving it from many of their prior visits to New Reno. Jason would make the second stop along the way to unload the smuggled cargo, no questions asked. There was a good chance that the people who were waiting for the shipment had made sure that Jason had been the one to get this job.
Steve walked over to the man as he exited the large truck.
“Hey,” Jason said.
“Hey, just a head’s up. This one is hot. I mean super-hot.”
“I’ve been there. Done that.”
Jason made it sound like no big deal. Steve knew he was a laid-back guy and didn’t want to lose his temper.
The Marine took a deep breath in. “Trust me when I say not like this. Two different groups are after it. A pirate and a rogue group from the Navy.”
Jason’s eyes shot up in disbelief. That really did take him by surprise. “Both. Wow.”
“And to make it worse,” Steve said. If it could get any worse. “It isn’t only the special cargo.”
Jason leaned in. He was just under six feet tall, so he had to lean up as well. “They want the parts for the Dragon Corp and the stuff for Kirk.”
Steve smiled. ‘Kirk’ was the way Jason referred to all the special clients. His style of being secretive. While an admirable attempt, it didn’t help much.
“Pretty much,” Steve said.
“Well, I’ll be,” Jason said. “All righty. Definitely, I do not like this. Are you riding along then?”
Steve nodded. “I am.”
The Marine wasn’t sure if anything would happen. Both sides had lost several men in the shootout, but Steve was sure they both had more in reserve.
“Good.” That seemed to relieve the man, Steve had a reputation for keeping people safe.
Steve’s thoughts drifted to the mission and the failed attempt on Drake. Cody was growing on the Marine.
The one good thing about Cody, besides being able to locate Drake, was that he was an expert with the forklift. Cody got the cargo on and off the Rossi faster than Steve did. The crew usually took turns with this task. This might be just a Cody job going forward, and the Marine was pleased with that.
Loading up, they took the crew minus Parker. She would man the fort and make sure the ship was secure. If anyone could do it, Steve was sure she could. She had learned a lot about the Rossi after working with everyone.
At first, she hadn’t appeared too pleased, but a quick talk settled it. Staying back turned into a moment of self-pride, that made Steve happy, and he was sure Rea too.
With the team in the truck, Steve rode in the front with Jason, while Aldis and Cody rode in the rear. Lindsey and Rea burrowed a car to tail behind them.
The trucker drove with caution through the mean streets of New Reno. Steve was thankful he didn’t have to drive since it let him keep a better eye out for the pirates and Beyer.
The truck pulled up to a restaurant. At the rear, they unloaded the vehicle. One of the boxes was opened, and the foul-smelling food was taken out. Steve didn’t want to know, but if they paid to have it smuggled, it was their business.
At least this part of the job went smoothly. No pirates, no Beyer. They would able to leave with barely a talk to the inspection crew of the planet.
Now more than ever, Steve wondered why Roberts had attacked them for this shipment. Maybe the kid had jumped the gun, and that was why Drake really laid into him. That was the only thing that made any sense now.
Leaving the restaurant, the truck drove on to the Dragon Corp. This was the part of the trip that Steve had worried about the most. He knew both parties were interested in the cargo.
Jason sweated as he drove the truck, but he tried to act cool. “See? No big deal.”
“Not yet,” Steve replied. There was no way that this was going to go without any problems. Just no way.
“You see that?” Jason pointed in front of them. A roadblock had been set up for construction.
“I do.” Steve knew for a fact that no construction was on the route they had planned. Not only did Aldis and Cody check it out, but Nicole had as well. There was no way this was a miss by all three. “That is one of them.”
Jason gulped. “You sure?”
“I am,” the Marine replied. “Slow down and let me out.”
Steve contacted Rea on the comms to let her know what was going on.
She replied, “Roger. Coming around.”
As the truck slowed, the car passed them.
“Take plan D,” Steve said.
“D. Gotcha.”
Once Steve was out, the truck turned left, and Steve walked down the street. Now, Cody and Aldis would have to protect the truck and the parts. Steve wasn’t sure if this part of the plan was terrible or brilliant.
Rea had said that they would never expect them to not have Steve stay with the load. He had argued against leaving it in their hands. It wasn’t that Steve didn’t trust them. The Marine had sparred with Aldis, who was okay. But that was it, he was competent in a fight. He really was a hacker, not a fighter or a soldier. The weapon in his hand was only as good as his next shot. Leaving it in their hands was a dangerous ploy, but it was the best plan they had.
The Marine stalked down the street toward the construction barricade. Rea and Lindsey would join him there.
It was clear to him they weren’t really construction workers. They didn’t move like them. Steve had seen men like this a million times. These were soldiers. Beyer’s men. Men with this type of training moved a certain way like Steve did and not that of an average person.
“Beyer,” Steve bellowed.
Sure enough, the Colonel appeared from behind one of the trucks that were feigning work.
“I see you saw through my trap,” Beyer said. “It appears I won’t be getting the parts from you. I’ll just have to attack Dragon Corp.”
That was fine with Steve. It wasn’t his job to stop him from attacking the Dragon Corp. His job was to get the parts to it. What happened after wasn’t of his concern.
“Well then, you can leave,” Steve said.
“I think I’ll just get rid of you the way to them. More efficient that way you know.”
“You aren’t man enough,” Steve said.
“I can take you,” Colonel Beyer said.
“Then you and me,” Steve said. He had been waiting for this for years. Steve wanted to beat the man to within an inch of his life. The Marine desired to make Beyer regret the way he threw him under the bus.
“Men, under no circumstance are you to defend me.”
“Colonel,” a few said.
“None.”
Steve turned to Rea and Lindsey. “We’re settling this.”
“Men,” Lindsey said shaking her head. “I’ll never understand.”
Steve took a stance to defend himself. If he knew Beyer, he would be the first to strike. He was an aggressive fighter who used several different forms of martial arts. Too many for Steve to worry about. He needed to just deflect, defend, and let the old man tire himself out.
Sure enough, the Colonel snarled at Steve and closed the gap between them. His move was telegraphed. Steve easily sidestepped it and landed a punch to the rips.
“Ah,” Beyer said. He recovered quickly and took up a stance, one better suited for boxing and brawling. Steve was okay with that. An old fashion street brawl was fun too.
Beyer continued his assault, throwing punch after punch. Steve bobbed and weaved around him. Beyer was older and no longer able to keep up with Steve. The Colonel had never been able to keep up with him.
“Give up,” Steve said.
“Never,” Beyer said. “One punch isn’t a lot.”
Steve groaned. He feared if he did Beyer’s men would attack. They had plenty of weapons to kill him. That is what
was holding him back. Just because Beyer had told them not to, didn’t mean they wouldn’t. They could just have orders to say whatever was needed to make others think they agreed. Just another was part of dirty tactics.
“Check the guys,” Steve said while looking back to Rea and Lindsey. They would circle around to keep his back safe. They wouldn’t be able to handle them all, but if they could keep a few off of him, that would make it better.
The main problem was that he didn’t know how many men were involved. If Beyer had a sniper, it didn’t matter, but Beyer wasn’t known for using snipers. He preferred a more intimate approach.
With Rea and Lindsey to make sure no one snuck up on the Marine, Steve went on the offensive. Just because the old man was only punching didn’t mean that the younger Marine was going to. He moved in and kneed Beyer before he could get another punch in. As Beyer bent over in pain, Steve elbowed him in the side of the head.
The Colonel continued to the ground where Steve kicked him in the ribs. He added a kick in the balls for good measure. The man deserved several kicks in the nuts for what he had done to Steve.
The Marine turned to face Beyer’s men. None of them had moved. Beyer lay on the ground unconscious. As much as Steve wanted to harm the man more, he wouldn’t. Steve was above that, better than the Colonel.
Finally, the one who originally spoke said, “We will go now. If we don’t leave here by nightfall, we can’t get back in time.”
“If you want that, you’ll need to kill him,” Beyer’s second in command said.
As tempting as that was, Steve wouldn’t. Killing was a last resort. He might begin to regret it, but instead, he walked away and waited for Rea and Lindsey to catch up.
Chapter Nineteen
Aldis couldn’t believe it. They were on their own, and they might have to defend the cargo against Drake. Rea radioed in that Beyer was there and that Steve was handling it. Whatever that meant. The hacker was sure that he didn’t want to be on the other side of Steve handling it.
The rear of the truck was dark and cramped. The crates of parts from Mars took up most of the space.
“This sucks,” Cody said. The pudgy man sat on the floor next to the large door as the truck drove on.
