by E. A. James
“Who the fuck are you?” they heard Bron say after he pulled open the heavy metal door. Kira winced hearing Bron’s lack of tact.
“We’re looking for someone—a group of someone’s actually,” the Roughneck captain’s voice responded.
“If you bring no business, I have no time for you.”
“I think you’ll make time for us,” the captain replied.
Kira and the others could hear a number of men enter the hangar. Their footsteps were heavy, echoing down into the compartment as they clanged across the metal floor panels.
“I’m losing my patience pirate,” Bron said firmly.
“Just hand over what you’re hiding, and we’ll vacate the premises.”
“Hiding? The only thing I’m hiding is my rising urge to kill you all where you stand,” Bron said.
“We saw them come down this way. They are not in any of the other buildings nearby—they have to be here, with you Bandurian.”
“I will tell you again and for the last time, get out of my hangar,” Bron’s tone sent chills down Kira’s spine.
The captain let out a bellowing, haunting laugh that caused Kira to shrink back slightly as the memory of their first encounter with him flooded her mind. Thor reached up and rested his hand on her shoulder.
“Do you think you are intimidating to me, Bandurian?” the captain mused out loud.
“I could never expect someone so mentally deficient to perceive the danger that they’re in,” Bron shot back.
The sound of rifle actions locking into the loaded position rippled through the room above them.
“Enough! We will not ask again,” the captain said ominously.
“No need to ask again, I’m done talking!” Bron said at a near shout in reply.
Kira’s breath caught in her throat as the sounds of weapon fire rang out. She tried to push herself forward, wanting to run to Bron’s aid. She cursed herself for involving yet another person in this mess. The feeling of guilt worked through her, propelling her forward.
Thor tightened his grip on her shoulder, pulling her back quickly. “No, wait,” he said firmly.
“But…” Kira tried to object, but another round of shooting rang out, muting the words as they came out of her mouth.
Kira, Dario, Alaria and Thor huddled together in the darkness, listening as a struggle took place just over their heads. The shuffling of feet eventually died out, and an eerie silence fell over the hangar.
Kira held her breath as she listened for movement, the guilt pressing on her chest increasing – she instinctively tightened her grip on her Phantom.
Finally, someone above them spoke.
“Why’d you go and do that?” a small, almost child-like voice said. “I had them right where I wanted them.”
Kira let out an audible sigh of relief when Bron responded, “I was doing fine on my own.”
As he spoke, the sound of heavy footsteps followed by lighter, quicker steps grew closer to their hideout and echoed down on the small group. Kira pushed herself forward, letting Thor’s hand drop from her shoulder, and waited for the floor panels to lift.
“Like hell you were!” the child’s voice rang out. “You’re lucky I was here to have your back.”
“Lucky! Ha! I’ve been cracking skulls long before you floated into the galaxy,” Bron muttered.
Just then, the panels above their heads lifted and the light from the hangar came pouring in. Hovering over them were two individuals—Bron and a Terran child. The boy looked to be in his early teens, although he carried himself with the authority of a man, still clinging to the butt of the rifle slung over his back.
“Can you believe this kid?” Bron asked, stretching his hand out to Kira. “He takes out three pirates and suddenly he’s the one who saved the day – sort of reminds me of you, Kira.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kira let Bron help her out of the compartment as Thor leaped up next to her. The two men helped the other two out, Thor lifting Alaria with ease and Bron tugging forcefully at Dario's arm.
“Thank you!” Alaria exclaimed as she emerged from the underground bunker. The excitement on her voice quickly faded as her eyes fell on the scenes around her.
The hangar was littered with bodies—at least eight Roughneck pirates were lying lifeless on the ground around them. The stench of blood and sweat permeated the air and the heat from the electric blasts and pulsating energy released during the exchange still wafted about.
Kira took in the scene quickly and then turned her attention to Bron and his young companion. “Thank you, you didn’t have to help us,” she said.
“My pleasure, I think that about puts us even Kira Winter,” Bron said, smiling. “Plus, I wouldn’t live on this desolate rock if some part of me didn’t enjoy the excitement of fighting for my life.”
“Me too,” the young boy piped up.
Kira looked at him with an amused expression and then glanced back at Bron, waiting for an introduction.
“This is Vinnie,” Bron said, wrapping his arm around the boy’s shoulders. “He’s a fiery little shit, but somehow, despite that, he’s someone you’ll never regret keeping around.”
“Hey!” Vinnie exclaimed, pulling away from Bron’s embrace.
“Vinnie was an orphan, dropped in Vandor and left to rot,” Bron continued. “I’ve taken him in, given him a job, and he repays me by saving my life from time to time.”
“Damn right,” Vinnie agreed.
Kira recognized the boy as the person who was busy at work when they entered the hangar. From a distance, somehow, he looked bigger than he did up close. Still, he stood nearly shoulder to shoulder with her. Hopefully, for his sake, he still had some growing to do.
“I don’t know about you all,” Bron said, turning around and walking back towards the workbench on the opposite wall of the hangar, “but I could use a drink.”
“Sounds good to me,” Thor said, following behind him. “What do you have?”
Bron reached up into the cabinet hanging over the dust-covered counter and pulled out a bottle of aged Bandurian whiskey.
“A little taste of home,” Bron said, turning back to the group.
"It's not my home, but I'll sure as hell drink it," Thor said, grabbing the bottle from Bron's hands and plopping himself down at the makeshift work table in front of the counter.
Kira, Alaria, and Dario joined him, all eagerly waiting as Bron rummaged around for glasses. When he finally found enough, he walked over and joined them, Vinnie on his heels. Thor took his time, pouring each drink slowly, careful not to let one drop go astray.
“To living to fight another day,” Dario said, grabbing hold of the glass in front of him and lifting it up.
The others quickly grabbed for their drinks, eager to toast. Just as Kira reached for the last remaining glass, Vinnie’s hand slipped in and snatched it away. Before she could respond with amused surprise, Bron took hold of the glass from Vinnie and shoved it in her direction.
A look of incredulity spread across the young boy’s face.
“One of us has to keep his wits about him,” Bron said with a shrug, causing the expression of disbelief on Vinnie’s face to turn to one of purpose.
“Maybe all of us, the Arcanum soldiers are still out there, searching for us,” Kira added.
“Tell me, Kira, how the hell did you find yourself mixed up with the Arcanum?” Bron asked.
Kira's eyes shifted to Thor, who was sipping slowly on the whiskey in his hand. He looked back at her and nodded as if consenting to her revealing the nature of their mission.
After taking a long drink from the glass in her hand, Kira recounted the events that led her to Bron’s hangar. She told of her mission to deliver Thor to Nico Rax, the infamous bounty hunter. She recounted their run-in with the Roughnecks and Dario and Alaria’s heroic stand-off with the pirates that lead to their rescue. She said all she could think of, not leaving out any of the events of the previous few days.
“I have a question,” Alaria spoke up. Her cheeks were flushed, and it was clear that the whiskey was already taking its toll on her. “How did we end up here?”
Kira laughed, setting her glass down on the table. “Alaria, that’s what I just got done explaining.”
“No,” Alaria said, shaking her head quickly. “Here—why are we here?”
“I think what Alaria is trying to ask is why you thought to come here. What is your relation to Bron?” Dario explained.
"Oh," Kira said, still laughing at the bright red color that was forming on Alaria's pale white cheeks. "I know Bron from way back. He used to serve as a mercenary, helping out the Terran Alliance on high-profile, covert missions. We worked together on a few occasions."
“Kira saved my life,” Bron added. “I was a dead man, surrounded by a small Zel’Dar swarm with no hope of escape, and she just swooped in and took them out. I’ve never seen so much tact and precision from a fighter pilot in my life.”
Kira blushed, feeling humbled by his words. “It was the least I could do. You were always right there at my side, never shying away from a fight. That’s a great feat, you know. Not many people can keep up with me.”
“And I’ll never be the same again,” Bron said with a laugh. “Don’t let this woman’s small size fool you. She’s a hell-raiser. I’m still shaking from the memory of the last mission we went on together—we went head to head with a fleet of Vorion and we had no business winning that fight, yet here we are.”
“Oh please,” Kira said, glaring at him. “You’re fine. You’re still breathing aren’t you?”
“Maybe, but sleep comes less frequently thanks to flying with you,” Bron said jokingly.
“I can fix that,” Dr. Marner spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him, chuckling slightly. “Really, I can.”
“We know you can,” Thor said, “but that was a joke.”
“Oh, forgive me, I’m afraid I’m not one for humor,” Dario admitted, looking down at his drink dejectedly.
“Dario is a very talented doctor and researcher,” Kira explained. “It’s because of him that we’ll be able to stay one step ahead of the Arcanum.”
“Speaking of which,” Thor said, swiveling around to face Dario. “Did you get it?”
“It’s right here,” Dario said, grabbing hold of the leather bag still hanging over his shoulder and lifting it gingerly to the table.
Everyone leaned in to watch as Dario reached down into the bag to retrieve the ever important item they all risked their lives to get back. They all pulled back in surprise when they saw what the contents of the bag actually were – a small black cat emerged from the bag.
“A cat?!” Thor yelled. “We went back to that ship for a damned cat?”
Dario set the small, black, furry creature down on the table and nodded.
“Are you kidding me?” Thor asked, slamming his fist down on the table. “You risked our lives so you could get your pet back?”
“This isn’t just my pet,” Dr. Marner said, stroking the cat. “This is Zola.” She mewed affectionately at Dario when she heard her name.
As he continued to pet the cat, he pushed it closer in Thor’s direction. Resting his thumb on Zola’s neck, he pushed back a clump of fur, revealing a small cybernetic implant.
“What’s that?” Kira asked, hunching in to get a better look at the small, metallic device.
“This,” Dario said, detaching the implant and lifting it up for all to see, “is the communication device I use to keep in contact with Thane. I figured with all the running around we’ve been doing, it would be best that I left Zola in possession of the most important piece of technology on our ship.”
Dario, still holding onto the small, metallic device, pushed himself up and began initiating the communication channels. “I’m going to check for any new messages,” he informed the group as he paced around behind them.
“You have to admit,” Kira said, nudging Thor with her elbow, “that was pretty smart of Dario to hide the communicator on a cat.”
Thor sighed, calming down and grabbing for the drink in front of him again. “I suppose,” he admitted.
“Nothing new,” Dario announced, returning to the table and taking his seat next to Alaria, who had reached out and taken the cat in her arms.
Zola purred contentedly as she nestled close to Alaria. It seemed like, for once, they had found a moment of peace. They all relaxed back in their seats, sipping their drinks and laughing, recounting stories of the lives they had left behind and the adventures they had shared.
The peace was short-lived, however, when the hangar’s alarm sounded, informing them with an ominous, shrill cry that someone was just outside. The group instantly fell silent as the alarm continued to ring out, followed by a heavy banging on the large metallic entrance.
Thor and Bron jumped up and prepared their weapons. Vinnie was up in an instant and positioning himself behind cover with his assault rifle trained on the entrance to the hangar.
Alaria and Dario followed suit, readying their weapons and finding cover.
A chill ran up Kira’s spine as the pounding on the door reverberated through her, causing her pulse to accelerate and her ears to ring.
“We know you’re in there!” a deep booming voice called out from the other side of the door. “We’ve come for what you’ve stolen, Bandurian!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kira, Thor, Alaria, and Dario all looked back and forth at each other nervously.
“Who is it?” Alaria whispered. “Roughnecks? Arcanum?”
Kira shrugged. “Whoever it is, they know we’re here.”
“They’re not here for you,” Bron said, pushing himself up and walking towards the pseudo office space he had set up in the front right corner of the hangar.
He grabbed hold of the screen connected to the camera hanging over the door outside. He spun it around so the group, following close behind him, could see who was there.
The rage-filled eyes of three large Vorion males were slicing through the screen, piercing into them as if they could see them all huddled around, looking back at them. Their scale covered faces and green skin shone in the lights of the market outside, and their massive, imposing frames consumed the image completely.
“We know you’re in there, Bandurian!” the largest of the three continued to yell. With his eyes fixed on the camera he pushed himself up, pressing his face closer, and the image of his grizzly countenance nearly filling the screen. “No more delays, our patience has worn thin.”
“What did you do?” Kira asked in a whisper, eying Bron curiously.
“We’ve come for our ship,” the Vorion man answered her question.
"Oh, that figures," Kira said, nodding and leaning back away from the screen. The reptile-looking man continued to stare through the screen with the same furious expression, and his intense gaze was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.
When it became clear that Bron was not going to answer their demands, the lead Vorion inched away from the camera slowly. He could be seen issuing orders to the other two in his company, and soon after he finished speaking, each of them dispersed and went off screen, leaving their apparent leader staring down the door to the hangar.
“Can they break in?” Kira asked Bron.
“Not without a great deal of difficulty,” Bron replied. “They’ll prefer to wait us out, but I’m not even sure they’re convinced we’re inside. It could just be bluster.”
“It seems like we’re not the only ones with enemies on Vandor,” Kira noted, crossing her arms over her chest.
Bron shrugged and began walking back towards the table. “It’s nothing. I’m sure it’ll just blow over when they realize that what they’re looking for has been chopped up and sold for parts.”
“Blow over?” Kira scoffed as she and the others slumped back in their chairs. “Seems more like it’s about to blow up. I think you’ve finally stolen the wrong ship, Bron.”
“I can t
ake care of them,” Bron said, grabbing his glass and refilling it.
The bottle passed around the table again. Despite the desire they all shared to once again create the jovial atmosphere they had enjoyed before, the nervous tension hanging in the air was too great to shake.
Vinnie was pouring over the security footage and keeping a close eye on the Vorion right outside their compound.
