Rexx: Alien Adoption Agency #6

by Tasha Black

  Rexx fought the urge to pull her back down beside him and handed off the little one instead. They were in a train car, in his sight. He was being ridiculous.

  The bot came back with the hot water and Rexx dunked the milk cell in it, counting down until it was ready.

  As he waited, the door to the dining car slid open and a marshal with a white mustache strode in. He led a cuffed prisoner by the elbow, who he dumped unceremoniously into the first chair he found.

  The prisoner smirked, but made no comment. There was something familiar about him, but Rexx couldn't quite place it. Either way, he didn’t like the look of the man. It didn’t take the obvious shackles to mark him as dangerous.

  At least it explained the stop. They had taken on two unexpected passengers.

  Abigail moved back to Rexx’s side, instinctively placing herself between him and the other two men.

  The idea was adorable, and he loved her for it. He guessed he wasn’t the only one feeling protective today.

  “Sit,” he urged her.

  She obeyed immediately.

  The door slid open again and more passengers filed in. Lanny and the conductor were true to their word. They had awoken everyone to meet here.

  “It’s very early,” Tilden said to Verat in a scandalized tone as they took a table next to Rexx and Abigail’s. “Hello, dear. Hello, little Rio.”

  “Good morning,” Abigail replied.

  Rexx tested the milk and found it just right for Rio’s liking.

  “Oh, I’ll feed him,” Abigail said happily.

  “Who is that?” Verat asked, noticing the prisoner.

  “Oh, he looks like that terrible man in the newsfeeds,” Tilden said. “You know the one?”

  “The one that sells the laser mole remover?” Verat asked.

  “No, no, not that one,” Tilden scolded. “The one who was in charge of that hover bike gang on the newsfeed.”

  That’s it.

  Rexx new exactly who the prisoner was, and it only made him feel worse about him being on their train.

  “Oh, that makes more sense,” Verat said, nodding. “It does look like him.”

  The room was filling up. Rexx wasn’t sure it was a great idea for the marshal to have brought a prisoner into a crowded train car. But he was glad the man would have to get past a lot of other people to get to Abigail and Rio now.

  At last, Lanny and the conductor stepped into the dining car.

  “This everyone?” the marshal asked.

  The conductor nodded.

  “Okay, folks,” the marshal said sternly. “Listen up. This train is being commandeered by order of the Lachesis Sheriff’s Department.”

  There were a few quiet groans and some worried whispers.

  “Listen up, I said,” he barked sharply.

  There was silence.

  “I’m Marshal Sanders, and this here is my prisoner,” he said. “The Peregrine made an emergency stop for us to board because there are people in the highlands causing trouble, and we can’t risk boarding there. As an added precaution, due to this prisoner’s high-profile troublemaking, we’ll be commandeering the next to last car of the train for our exclusive use.”

  Rexx glanced over at Abigail. Their compartment was in the next to the last car.

  “Now, the good news,” Saunders continued, “is that you’ll all be permitted to stay on the train and continue to your destinations. Assuming there be no more nonsense. Now who is in the next to last car?”

  Rexx lifted his hand.

  The marshal glanced over. His eyes widened slightly when he saw the Invicta armor and he gave a respectful nod. “All right, who else?”

  But no one else raised their hands.

  “You telling me this thing is running under capacity?” he asked, turning to the conductor.

  The conductor shrugged.

  “There’s a passenger missing,” Lanny answered helpfully.

  “What do you mean missing,” Sanders demanded.

  “We got the transmission from headquarters that we would have to make the emergency stop, and empty a car for you,” Lanny explained. “So, we knocked on his door to ask him to clear out.”

  “So, he snuck off when I brought the prisoner on?” Sanders asked.

  “No,” Lanny said, shaking her head. “This was before we made the stop.”

  “Well, where did the train stop last?” Sanders asked. “Maybe he got off there.”

  “That’s just it,” Lanny said. “We scan all our passengers as they come and go. He didn’t get off the train at any station. But he’s not here.”

  Sanders scowled and shook his head.

  “Okay, you two with the baby, empty your compartment,” he shouted to Rexx and Abigail after a moment. “Everyone is to stay away from the back of the train until we get to the highlands. Do I make myself understood?”

  No one protested, which appeared to be good enough for Marshal Sanders.

  He began talking quietly with the conductor, who shook his head repeatedly.

  “Where are we supposed to go?” Abigail asked Rexx as he helped her up.

  Rio was already done eating, and fast asleep on her chest, which was a mercy.

  Lanny bustled over to them.

  “You’ll be doubling up with the King brothers, Duke and Earl,” she said apologetically. “Since their compartment is the closest to your car.”

  “Ya gotta be frakking kidding me,” Earl groaned.

  “We don’t have to sleep in a room with a wailing baby,” Duke protested. “We paid good money for our tickets.”

  Abigail glanced up at Rexx with a desperate expression.

  “We’re lucky any of you can stay on the train at all,” Lanny said. “We just have to make do.”

  “Stuff and nonsense,” Tilden said in a loud voice. “We’ll have them in our compartment, won’t we, Verat?”

  “Of course we will, and the little one too,” Verat said indignantly. “Putting them in with those rowdy farm boys. The idea!”

  Duke guffawed and Earl smacked him in the back. “She just insulted us.”

  “Fine by me, so long as I don’t get woke up by no screaming baby,” Duke retorted.

  “Move along,” Sanders called from the other side of the car. “Time’s a wasting.”

  Rexx put his hand on the small of Abigail’s back once more, and they threaded through the tables to the door to gather their things.

  “We’ll get our room ready for you,” Tilden called after them.

  “Thank you,” Rexx called to her over his shoulder.

  He was grateful his mate was so good at making friends.

  But he didn’t like the situation unfolding on this train.

  He’d spent years training his warrior instincts, and right now, they were telling him to be ready for something bad.

  13

  Abigail

  Abigail hustled down the corridor, wondering what could go wrong next.

  Thank goodness for Tilden and Verat. She couldn’t imagine staying with the King brothers for even a few hours, let alone a few days.

  “I’m gonna ask you to make this quick, folks,” Marshal Sanders said in a gruff voice from behind her. “I don’t like having this prisoner out in the open where he can stir up trouble.”

  “Scared of my natural charisma, eh, chief?” the cuffed man cackled.

  “Pipe down, son,” the marshal said mildly. “I’m just afraid they’ll start feeling bad for your sorry hide.”

  As repulsed as Abigail was by the idea of the outlaw, he wasn’t wrong about having some sort of natural charisma.

  Abigail glanced back and the marshal winked at her.

  The prisoner looked furious.

  She hid her smile and picked up the pace, Rexx falling in beside her.

  When they reached the compartment, Rexx waved his bracelet over the lock and the door slid open.

  “I’ll take him while you grab your stuff,” Rexx told her.

  She hurriedly packed up
all the baby’s things and then her own, which had hardly even been unpacked. It took about two minutes.

  “Sorry, sarge, but I gotta take a leak,” the prisoner was saying in a decidedly not sorry voice to the marshal out in the corridor.

  “Take your time, folks,” the marshal called to them.

  But Abigail had no interest in spending any extra time here.

  “I think I’m good,” she told Rexx, taking Rio back.

  He threw his few items into his pack while she watched, and they headed back into the corridor where the marshal waited with the prisoner.

  “That’s a pretty baby, pretty lady,” the prisoner crooned suggestively. “Don’t let ‘em grow up like me, a bad, bad, boy.”

  The marshal rolled his eyes. “Thank you, folks, that’ll be all.”

  They started down the corridor back toward the dining car.

  “I can’t wait to sleep in your bed,” the prisoner called out after them.

  Abigail shuddered.

  “You’re not sleeping in anyone’s bed, fool,” the marshal said. “That’s my room. You’re sleeping on the floor if you’re lucky. And it’s better than you deserve, with all the good people you’ve hurt.”

  Abigail reached the outer door to the car before she could hear the prisoner’s response.

  “I can see now why he wants the whole car,” she said.

  “Yeah, Muncy Reeves is trouble,” Rexx said.

  “You knew who that was?” she asked.

  “I’ll explain when we get to our new compartment,” he told her.

  “I hope it’s not too awkward,” she said.

  “They’re very sweet,” he said. “We’ll be fine. Glad you made friends with them and saved us from the King boys.”

  “Me too,” she giggled.

  “There you are,” Verat cried, reaching out of a compartment door and grabbing Rexx by the arm to drag them inside.

  The space had the same dimensions and layout as their old compartment, Abigail was sure of it. But everything about it looked so different.

  Tilden was busy placing pillows and blankets on two tiny fold-out cots on one side of the room. On the other side of the room, the ladies had removed the bedside lamp to make room for matching holo-readers.

  The whole front of the dresser was covered in old-fashioned paper notes with string connecting them. There was a map and there were photos of different things including people, cities, and newsfeed sketches.

  “Oh, don’t mind us,” Tilden said, looking up with a crinkly-eyed smile. “We’re mystery buffs.”

  “Like mystery novels?” Rexx asked.

  “Is this a real crime board?” Abigail asked at the same time.

  It certainly looked like one. Just like in the old fashioned holo-films they showed at the cinemasque back on Terra-8.

  “Well, not a crime board,” Verat said. “Not yet, at least.”

  “What Verat means, is that we’re not convinced there has been any crime committed,” Tilden said. “But we’re dying to know what’s in the last car. It’s one thing to tell us not to go back there. But what could be in it? If it was something normal, they wouldn’t try to hide it from us.”

  “We’re trying to figure it out,” Verat said. “We like our novels too, but this is a real mystery.”

  “Interesting,” Rexx said, heading over to the board to check it out.

  Abigail stayed where she was, while Verat made funny faces at Rio to make him chuckle.

  “Thing of it is,” Tilden said. “Is that it’s probably not even the biggest mystery on the train anymore. What do you suppose happened to the man in the compartment next to yours?”

  “Did you hear anything?” Verat added.

  “Did you meet him before he disappeared?” Tilden asked.

  “No,” Abigail told them. “We never saw him, or heard a peep. The conductor seemed to think he might just be sleeping off the drinks from the reception, but as far as I can remember, he was never there.”

  “That’s the trouble with these modern trains,” Verat said decidedly. “They’re so insulated and quiet, you don’t get to know a thing about your neighbors.”

  Abigail thought back to how she and Rexx had spent last night and felt a pang of gratitude that there hadn’t been a passenger next door to hear her cries.

  “Now, let’s figure out the bedding situation,” Tilden said, opening the wardrobe, presumably to grab some bedding.

  Before she had the chance, there was a loud thud from somewhere outside.

  “What was that?” Verat asked.

  “Stay here,” Rexx said, striding for the door to the corridor.

  14

  Rexx

  Rexx headed out to the hallway.

  He hoped he was wrong, but that thunk had sounded an awful lot like something hitting the side of the train hard.

  Rexx had spent enough time in a roll transport on enemy territory to know the sound.

  There was another thud, followed by a ping on the other side of the train.

  The space was already filling up with anxious passengers spilling into the corridors to investigate.

  Dyrk, the pretty boy Rexx had taken an immediate dislike to, came hustling in from the direction of the forward cars, his well-coiffed blue hair looking satisfyingly mussed.

  The King brothers were both looking around, like they were hoping for a fight.

  Dr. Twinnly staggered out of his compartment wearing a cardigan sweater in place of his tweed jacket. His eyes looked almost haunted.

  “What was that?” the mother of the teenaged boy demanded, but Dr. Twinnly would not, or could not answer.

  As they all began to buzz, the Iron Peregrine cycled into scenic mode once more, revealing the wooded topography of Lachesis.

  Though it might normally be a pretty spot, the moon was even more overcast than usual today. All that was visible now was ominous looking trees in a murky forest.

  At least, that was all that was visible to the other passengers.

  Rexx allowed the dragon a little closer to the surface, and the forest revealed itself to him fully. He could see the trees with their wet leaves and floating mosses, and the haze of mist lingering over the forest floor.

  He also saw a man on a stag-mount frown in concentration and hurl a fist-size rock at the train as it sped by.

  It hit their car with another thud that sent the gathered passengers into fits of squeals and shrieks.

  Another man, farther ahead along the tree line took aim with a rifle and fired at the train.

  The bullet hit home with a sharp ping.

  “Honored guests,” Lanny called out. “It is very important that we all remain calm.”

  “Remain calm?” Harla echoed sarcastically. “The train sounds like it’s falling apart.”

  “It’s true that we’re under attack,” Lanny said solemnly. “But the Peregrine has shields—”

  “Under attack?” Duke demanded. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Oh my God,” the mom moaned.

  “The train is being targeted by some rather unsavory individuals,” the porter said calmly. “This is precisely why we chose to avoid onboarding the prisoner in the highlands.”

  The crowd in the corridor began shouting over each other in their unhappiness.

  “The thing to remember,” Lanny said, her bright voice cutting through the cacophony, “is that you’re on the Iron Peregrine. This is no ordinary train. It has protective shields, and it’s moving too fast for the local mounts to keep up. As long as it stays powered up and keeps moving, we are in no danger.”

  She was right, of course. Rocks and powder-rifles were nothing more than a nuisance to a train with the Peregrine’s capabilities.

  But he still didn’t like the idea of someone out there in the dark, shooting at his family.

  15

  Abigail

  Abigail poked her head out of the compartment to find Rexx.

  There was chaos in the hall, with passeng
ers complaining and looking scared.

  “What’s going on?” Abigail asked. She couldn’t help but feel a bit of panic creeping into her own voice.

  “Let’s go to the dining car and give the ladies some space,” Rexx said. “I can tell you what’s happening.”

  “We just put Rio down for his nap,” Abigail said, glancing back at the built-in bassinet. It was lucky the ladies had one in their compartment, too. She guessed it was a standard feature.

  “What’s happening out there?” Tilden asked.

  Abigail stepped back so Rexx could enter.

  “There’s a reason we didn’t stop in the highlands,” he said. “I’m getting the sense the marshals were wise to make that call.”

  “You said you knew who the prisoner was?” Abigail remembered.

  “Muncy Reeves,” he said.

  “That’s what I thought,” Tilden said, nodding wisely.

  “The name is familiar,” Abigail said. “But I have no idea who it is.”

  “He’s the head of the Sons of Sirius,” Rexx explained. “They’re a no-account hover bike gang with big aspirations.”

  “They want to be the big shots of crime on Lachesis,” Tilden said.

  “What do they do?” Abigail asked.

  “Mostly petty mischief,” Rexx said. “But then one of Muncy’s crew ran off with his woman and he came a little unglued. He shot up a local saloon and destroyed a police gadabout.”

  “Sounds like good reason to be arrested,” Abigail said. “Was anyone killed.”

  “No, thank God,” Tilden said. “He’s a terrible shot. The trouble comes with what he said when they asked him why he did it.”

  “He claimed it was to free Lachesis from outside governance,” Rexx said.

  “Well, he didn’t say it that way,” Tilden said, looking a little scandalized.

  “Yes, he used some choice language,” Rexx said, the corners of his mouth twitching up. “And it seems to have struck a chord with some of the dissatisfied masses of Lachesis.”

  “That’s why they didn’t want to stop in the highlands?” Abigail guessed.