“You what?” Jakes said, a strange expression crossing his face.
“I conducted polls for my company about how people ... um ... liked the alien waste ... we were manufacturing.”
“You fed people alien sh—”
“It was processed and very nutritious, Mister Jakes. Just because human … um ... waste is toxic to most civilizations, including our own, does not mean other waste is not useful to … um ... others.”
“So how did you end up on Terpsichore?” Jakes asked.
“I told you,” Holcombe said. “We were running out of supplies ... I thought it would be safe.”
“Marketing guys do not own their own moons, Holcombe,” Jakes said, stepping closer again. “Where have you been?”
“It was a party,” Holcombe said, sweat beginning to bead up on his head again. “There was a company party for our managing director’s retirement. I had managed to ... um ... produce some valuable information and they rewarded ... um ... me with an invitation. When they found out about the ... um ... invasion of Earth, most of the guests left. I … um … stayed. I was … scared.”
“And so you’ve lived in the lap of luxury for the last six years while humanity was ground up and fed to cattle?” Jakes said. “Do you have any idea what has been happenin’ out here? How many good people have given their lives to protect toadies like you?”
“I am truly … um … sorry, Captain Jakes. I did not know. I have received no transmissions for years. I had no idea. I only wanted to keep … um … myself and my son … um … safe.”
“About that,” Jakes said, turning back to the door. “That ain’t your son. If that boy is your son, your wife was seriously ugly.”
“There is no need for insults, Mister Jakes,” Holcombe said, stepping closer to the door. “He is my son, legally and emotionally. He was found and brought back to me by the staff of the estate. I have raised him as my own.”
There was a deep rumble as the ship moved away from the station. Jakes looked to Holcombe as the fat man began to twitch. He was nervous for more reasons than just his rescue, and Jakes wanted to know more. Connor stepped up and grabbed the fat man again. He hauled the man down the short corridor to the nearest window.
“I want you to see somethin’, Albert,” Jakes said, dragging Holcombe around and pressing his face to the window. “We decided the station needed a remodel after what those things did.”
“What about my … um … ship?” Holcombe cried.
“Well, I guess the ship wasn’t yours after all, now was it?”
Jakes watched as a bright flash burst the seams along the outer bulkheads of Holcombe’s ship. The explosion traveled through the ship quickly as Parker’s handiwork made itself shown. When the ship began to break apart near the stern, there was a massive eruption of fire, lasting for a few seconds as the flames used up the oxygen on the ship. The engines spiraled away from the broken hull and crashed into the station. Blinding light blazed from the station as the ship’s powerful M-space engines destabilized. Terpsichore station began to shake as the dome cracked.
Jakes could see wisps of atmosphere escaping into the vacuum, instantly crystallizing. A new explosion rocked the dome as the electronics control room overloaded. As they watched, the whole station broke apart. Flashes of electrical energy crackling along the hull told the story of the power plant beginning to overload. As the station began to recede from view, Jakes watched the domes burst and erupt in explosive coronas.
“What have you done?” Holcombe sputtered, pushing away from the window with surprising strength. “You illiterate savage! We needed those supplies!”
“Not anymore, Albert,” Jakes said, grappling with the larger man. “The war’s over and that place was a pit for rich guys like you to throw money into. I gotta tell you, there’s a better thing to throw money at now.”
“Dad!”
A new voice came from the door behind Jakes. Bric had emerged from the room while the two men were struggling. He ran to his father’s side, interjecting himself between the pirate and the man he called Father. Jakes balled his fists before a restraining arm crossed his shoulder. Melaina stepped around and blocked Jakes’ view of Holcombe and his son.
“It’s over, Connor,” Melaina said, pressing him back with the force of her glare. “You’ve made your point. I think we all need some rest. It’s been a hell of a day and you need to take a shower.”
Bric stepped back, pressing his father back into the stateroom. When they were fully inside, the door slid shut, leaving Melaina and Jakes alone in the corridor.
“Darlin’,” Jakes said, putting his hand at her waist to press her aside. “It ain’t over till I get all the answers I need.”
“It’s over now, Connor,” Melaina said, putting her hands over his and softening her voice. “And if you don’t stop now, I won’t join you in that shower.”
Jakes looked into her eyes for the first time. She held his gaze with her own. The pain from the attack on the station was starting to overcome his anger at the fat man. He closed his eyes and took a deep, painful breath. Releasing it, he opened his eyes and looked back at her beautiful face.
“How do you do that?” Jakes asked. “How do you pull me back like that?”
“I don’t hold you back, Connor. I never have,” Melaina said, pulling his head closer for a kiss. “I just bring out the best of what’s there.”
The kiss lasted until Jakes began to cough from the pain of his broken ribs. Later, it would take two showers to make him feel closer to human. Melaina joined him on the second.
Entr’acte
Connor Jakes stood naked in front of the monitor in the suite he shared with Melaina. He was wrapping a thick bandage around the blue and brown wreckage of his ribcage. The third shower, after he and Melaina had made love, hurt the worst. Examining his body, Connor began to wonder about Melaina’s suggestion of settling down and leaving the fighting to younger men. He had almost convinced himself when the tone sounded for an incoming communication. He tapped the key that turned on the monitor.
“Jakes,” Connor said
“Jon, please put some pants on.” The voice of Jack Cole boomed too loud in the quiet living room. “This isn’t the time for that kind of report.”
“I don’t report to you, Jack,” Jakes replied, taping the bandage but making no attempt to cover up.
“You should. I could help you, you know,” replied the spymaster. “I’m official now. Director of Intelligence services for the new Terran government.”
“Good for you, Jack. What do you want?”
“You were never this straightforward when you were Jon,” Cole said. “I think I liked Sandoval better.”
“I’m hanging up now, Cole,” Connor said, reaching for the controls.” Unless you have a reason for hacking my comms and calling me when I’m naked.”
“I do have a reason for calling and I’m going to ask you again to please put some pants on,” Cole said.
Connor looked around the room for a moment. Melaina kept the place neat and tidy despite his lack of concern for decorum. Jakes found the discarded shorts he had been wearing and slid them on. Turning back to the screen, he saw an image of a blue world orbiting peacefully around a bright yellow sun.
“We ain’t goin’ back to Earth, Jack,” Connor said, stepping close to look at the screen.
“It’s not Earth,” Cole replied. “It’s Aleinhelm, an alien world with nearly the same position and chemical make-up as Earth. A little heavier, but mostly alike.”
“What do you want me to do?” Jakes asked. “Blow it up?”
“Nothing so crude, Jon. We’ve received reports from the Tonal of a factory employing human slaves. Most of the fleet is still under repair. I need a small team to go in and take a look,” Cole explained. “Don’t engage. Scout the facility and see if there are still humans being kept in slavery and report back. We’ll take care of the rest.”
“In case you forgot, my team consists of two psych
opaths and a frog right now,” Jakes explained. “I ain’t exactly up to full strength.”
“Aleinhelm is one of the most criminal and illicit places in the galaxy, Jon,” Cole explained. “You should have no trouble getting new recruits for your happy band. I’ll send the file for you.”
“I don’t work for you, Jack,” Jakes reminded the other man. “What if I say no?”
“Say no then,” Cole said without expression. “We’ll send someone along as soon as we get the fleet back together. What’s the life of a few more slaves either way, right?”
“You’re a bastard, Cole,” Jakes said quietly. “Send the file and I’ll take a look at it.”
“I’m sending it now,” Cole said, reaching and tapping keys off-screen. “And Jon?”
“My name is Connor, Jack,” Connor replied. “What?”
“I’ll expect a report.”
The screen went dark, plunging the room back into night. Jakes stared at the screen for a long time before he reached for the console. He tapped a command into the ship’s auto-navigation system. The ship flashed acknowledgement and changed course.
“Connor?” Melaina said, coming out of the shared bedroom. “Did we just change course?”
“Sorry, precious,” Jakes replied. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“Where are we going?”
“I thought we might need to do some recruiting,” Jakes said, turning to look at the beautiful woman.
She was dressed in a filmy negligee he had found on board when the Corsairs had liberated the Sweet Liberty. Blue-brown light from M-space framed her body in an unearthly halo. She stepped closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her. The pain in his side made his breath catch as she circled him in a hug.
“Come back to bed, Connor,” Melaina said.
“Yes, sir,” Jakes replied, standing and stepping towards the room with her.
She stopped and looked up into his eyes. There was an understanding there that he had secrets she didn’t want to press him on. A brief smile crossed her lisp as she pulled away from him. She reached to the shoulder of the shift and untied a knot. The filmy cloth fell to the ground with barely a whisper.
“Do I look like a sir to you?”
Book 2
Paper Moon
1
“The Corsairs were started as a way to get rid … sorry, make use of some of the less desirable refugees, to be honest. What came next was as much a surprise to me as to anyone.”
Ronald Chang
Memoirs
The man stumbled along the side alley of one of the brick buildings lining the main public thoroughfare. A casual passerby might mistake the man for one of the reptiloid guards who patrolled the streets of the city, despite the shambling gait. Anyone getting a closer look would have noticed the poorly-fitted armor and the difficulty the man was having just walking. The suit was manufactured for a creature with shorter legs, as well as a tail. The tail armor especially seemed to be giving the man trouble. Finally, ducking into a dark side street, the man pulled the armor from his legs and stood up, releasing a groan as his back straightened and the raw flesh underneath was released from the armor.
He was wearing rags under the armor and not the padded, moisture wicking second skin of a guard. He was taller and stood upright, stretching the small of his back in a way the reptiloid would never be able to. He shed more of the leather armor in the shadows. Designed to cushion the already thick skinned creatures from physical blows, the armor sagged to the ground with a quiet whisper. The loss of the armor revealed caramel colored skin barely clothed in shreds of material. Dark bruises mottled his arms and legs where the light fell on him. The final piece of the armor, the thick-necked helmet, came off and revealed the male form to be human.
He was not tall by human standards, and slightly built. The effects of years of neglect and starvation were evident in the hollow places under his eyes and the exposed bands of his ribcage. He had dark hair, curly and long but unwashed, that hung past his shoulders. His beard was patchy and uncut. The man gave every air of someone attempting stealth but having neither the time nor the energy to maintain quiet. He glanced down at the alley he had come from, hearing the sound of something moving.
His name, as he remembered it, was Rene Malik. It had been years since anyone had used his surname, though in the long years since his capture he had tried to hold on to every shred of his former life. If one of the other slaves dared to call him by name, he would carefully and politely give his last name to them as well. One by one, the other memories of his former life had begun to fade, but he kept his name. Even the sound of his mother’s voice, long dead in the ground in Morocco, had begun to whisper more quietly in his head. He replayed everything he could remember every day to keep his sanity.
A stray sound in the alley prompted Rene to take up the chest armor and move deeper into the dark shadows. The reptiloids were stronger than humans, but smaller. Even emaciated and weakened by the years of servitude, Rene had to struggle to fit the armor over his chest. It pinched under his arms and weighed him down, but it was also the only thing that might keep him alive if the guards caught him. He finished pulling the armor tight and tied the straps as close as he could. Reptiloids had short, thin spikes on their back and the ill-fitting garment left deep ridges along his spine when he moved.
A shaft of light speared the darkness. Rene hugged the wall even closer, praying it was one of the shopkeepers looking for a stray rat to add to the menu, or a lost tourist. Sharp hissing floated down the street from the direction of the light. It was soon joined by more sounds of a search and the escaping air of the approaching guards. Closing his eyes and listening, Rene counted three reptiloids advancing on his position. He could feel his heart pounding in the tight armor. He tried to move further along the wall, staying in the darkness. The reptiloids were fast and very strong, but their hearing was poor and their eyesight bad over long distances.
A crack of metal on pavement erupted as the lid fell from a trash bin. Rene had backed into the bin without feeling the impact due to the armor. Two shafts of light flashed on, revealing his position. The hissing intensified as the creatures moved swiftly towards him. He knew his options were becoming more limited with every loping step the reptiloids took.
Taking the only option that gave him a chance, he ran to the center of the wide street. This time of night, Eridu was nearly deserted except for the few vagrants and late-night party-goers who had missed curfew. The red-brick buildings cast thick shadows across the darkened street. He was exposed if he moved, but still in near darkness as he came to a stop. The creatures flashed another light down the street, revealing him. He stood his ground, safe in the knowledge he could now make a stand.
Rene was thankful he had dropped the rest of the armor. His arms were free now and he could stretch his legs out fully and take advantage of the greater reach. Years of dreaming of what would come flashed through his mind. In the dark hours during the brief breaks between shifts, he would remember the training he had received before the fall. He set his shoulders and braced for the attack.
The first creature pulled a short baton from its belt armor. Firearms had been outlawed on Eridu since the corporation took over the government. Even the guards and police used batons. A snap, and the baton began to glow with green energy. Rene had felt the stun batons before and knew how much pain they could inflict. He held up his right arm and stepped back on his left foot. He scanned the street for the third guard but found no trace. In seconds he would be overwhelmed by the other two and needed to focus.
As the first guard came in close, raising the baton high to strike Rene over the head, he ducked under the creature’s arm and brought his fist up into its armpit. Wearing the armor had taught the human where the weak points were and this was one. The reptiloid let out a pained hiss and Rene brought his elbow down on the creature’s back. It wasn’t very effective against the thick-skinned creature, but it was enough to unbalance it. Rene b
rought his knee up into its stomach as it shrugged off the blow. A spin later and the guard was stumbling away.
Before Rene could react, he was struck a glancing blow across his right triceps with a stun baton. The armor absorbed most of the current, but he still felt pain race up his arm. Continuing the spin, Rene brought a fist up into the creature’s stomach. White teeth peeked out as the guard let out a snarl and lifted its arm. Rene was pushed away by the powerful blow, losing his balance. The creature pressed its advantage and swung the baton again.
Rene allowed the weapon to strike his upper chest. The armor again took the majority of the energy, leaving him with only the impact of the baton to contend with. He fell backward to the pavement. As he went down, he kicked out, catching the guard under the chin with his thinly covered feet. Hitting the scaled face of the creature felt like kicking a brick, but Rene could sense the creature’s bones through the pain. The reptiloid let out a short cry as his head flipped back, then its short, powerful legs carried it forward with murderous purpose. Rene brought his knees up to his chin and held them there. When the guard was close enough, he kicked out hard at its face. He heard the sharp crack of breaking bone as the creature reared back, howling in pain.
Rene had no time to rest, as the first guard roared out a challenge from behind. Adrenaline pulsed through his system, charging his muscles and giving him clarity he hadn’t felt in years. As the guard came near, Rene pushed himself up on his hands. Despite the heavier gravity of this world, he was able to launch himself off the ground, twisting in the air, and land on his feet facing the onrushing reptile.
Baton raised, the guard let out a cry of rage and vengeance as it came closer. Rene raised his hands, palms out to the guard. As it came close, ready to bring the baton down on his exposed head, Rene grabbed the armor straps holding the chest piece to the reptile’s shoulders. Twisting hard, he pulled the creature in closer and allowed the swing to miss his head by millimeters. He continued the move, throwing the guard into his bleeding partner. Both monsters went down. One of the guards dropped his baton as they fell into a heap. Rene recovered the device and held it up in a threat.
The Adventures of Connor Jakes: Masks (The War for Terra Book 1) Page 9
