The Adventures of Connor Jakes: Masks (The War for Terra Book 1)

by James Prosser

  Melaina, we ain’t got the time for this,” Jakes said, standing in the middle of the room. “We’re behind schedule as it is.”

  “Don’t worry, this’ll only take a second. The outfits Holcombe recommended aren’t much. Bonnie is using one of mine. You should see it, it’s way too short for her. I think she pulls it off, though.”

  “Bonnie is trained for this kind of thing, precious…”

  “Don’t you precious me, Connor. I’m tired of staying behind,” Melaina said. “This mission is perfect for me. In and out and gone, right?”

  “That’s the plan, but what if something goes wrong?” Jakes countered. “I need someone flying the Liberty who can come back for us. The doc ain’t qualified.”

  “I’ll fly her.”

  Connor turned to the door to see Eli Mendel. He was standing with his hands clutching the sides of a guard uniform jacket. The leather armor was pulled tight over Mendel’s big frame, but he was not wearing the padded trousers that completed the uniform. Instead, he had on his usual pocketed military fatigues. He had an honest expression which made Connor want to slap him.

  “How do you figure you’ll do that from the planet?” Connor asked.

  “I don’t think this’ll work, Captain,” Mendel replied, letting go of the jacket and letting it snap apart. “I’m not even going to talk about the pants and what happened there. It might be better if I stayed on the ship. At least if something goes wrong I can come get you. I’m better with the shoot-em-up stuff anyway.”

  “That settles it,” Melaina said from the other room. “What do you think?”

  When she re-entered the room, both Jakes and Mendel had to stare. She was wearing a low cut indigo blue dress which ended just above her knees. She had pinned her hair up in a fair impression of a dancing girl’s style. The outfit was completed by royal blue high heels that turned her calves just right. Connor caught his jaw falling open at the sight.

  “I take it you like?”

  “I like,” Jakes replied, turning to Eli and pointing. “He just went blind.”

  “I didn’t see a thing, boss,” Mendel replied. “I won’t see anything for a while, I bet.”

  “Alright, let’s go, boys,” Melaina replied, stepping past both men into the corridor.

  Jakes threw a glance at Mendel that caused the other man to lower his head. Both men followed Melaina to the lift and rode in silence down to the airlock level. Mendel avoided looking anywhere near Melaina for the duration of the ride and only exhaled as they left. Connor caught up with her just before they reached the cross corridor.

  “Look, Melaina,” Connor began. “You ain’t done this kind of thing before. It could be dangerous. I just don’t want—”

  “What, Connor? You don’t want me to get hurt?” Melaina said, turning on him in anger. “You just want me to stay in the comfort and security of the ship. Should I make dinner and have it waiting with your pipe and slippers too? What are you, some kind of caveman?”

  “No, Doctor,” Holcombe said, coming around the corner. “He’s a chauvinistic pirate. I say the more the merrier. If you are wearing that dress, then by all means please come along. You’ll look fabulous on my arm.”

  “You stay outta this, Albert,” Jakes said, warning the fat man with an upraised finger. “Melaina is staying on board and that is final.”

  “My dear Mister Jakes,” Holcombe responded, stepping closer despite the warning. “I have told you several times that for the plan to work I will need to be seen as a … um … successful and somewhat … decadent businessman. Having Doctor Petros in such an … um … enchanting outfit, along with the lovely Ms. Estevez, will enhance my … um … reputation with these people.”

  “Your reputation as a one-armed man will be enhanced if you put your hands anywhere near Melaina,” Jakes replied. “Do I make myself clear?”

  “Perfectly, Mister Jakes,” Holcombe replied. “Crystal clear.”

  Holcombe paused to stare at Jakes for a long moment before turning and waddling back down to the airlock. Bric was waiting for him with a small valise in hand. The boy looked confused. When he looked up to see Bonnie walking towards them, he seemed to visibly shrink. The woman was dressed in a tighter red version of the dress Melaina wore, but Bonnie was taller than Melaina and the skirt rose considerably higher on her thigh. Connor had never seen the woman dressed like a female before and had to stop himself once again from staring.

  “I am never seeing anything again, am I?” Mendel asked to the air.

  “Eli, take care of my ship,” Jakes said. “I guess Melaina is coming along.”

  “You got it, Captain. Not a scratch. “You take care of Parker, alright?”

  “Deal.”

  As the pirate captain stepped closer to the airlock, he spotted Tuxor dressed in a full-length, skin-tight suit of black rubberized fabric with thin red stripes accentuating the bulky musculature of the amphibian. It made him much more imposing. The doctor had fashioned the suit to keep the Karisien’s skin moist, as well as to contain a few surprises. Tuxor flexed his back to stretch the fabric, making himself look huge in the tight corridor.

  Just behind the big amphibian, Rene and Parker were adjusting the fitting of their reptiloid armor. Padding had been added to account for the lack of thick back-plates. Rene had managed to find armor that was closer to his own size. Parker was the closest in size to the former owner of his armor and he seemed pleased with the fit. Each man had found the thick-necked armor helmets and fitted them easily over their heads, concealing their species effectively. Tails of the dead guards had been fixed to the back of the armor. The doctor had promised he could keep the tissue fresh long enough for their mission to succeed. In every aspect, they appeared to be what they planned.

  Jakes motioned for the team to step through the airlock. Tuxor and the guards moved first, ducking down to enter the small bridge into the slave ship. Melaina and Bonnie followed, each talking animatedly about their clothes. Jakes stepped through next. As he entered the slave ship, he noticed the doctor in the corridor. He had stopped to talk to Holcombe. Bric moved across his line of sight, blocking his ability to read the human’s lips. The discussion lasted only a few seconds. Holcombe moved away from Victor and towards the airlock. The doctor seemed agitated. As Jakes moved to seal the airlock door, he heard the chatter from the little creature’s vocoder.

  “Bad blood … not okay … I no compare with bad blood…”

  Filing the information away in his mind, Connor sealed the hatch and moved past the team. They would be undocking in a few seconds and Connor wanted to be on the bridge when they moved away. Holcombe stared hard at the man as he passed, but said nothing about his conversation. After a few seconds, he grasped Bric’s arm and held the boy back, whispering something to him. Bric looked pained as he heard the request, but nodded assent.

  Entering the bridge, Jakes took up a position behind the former captain’s chair. Bonnie sat and unlocked the controls. The other pilots waited until Sweet Liberty had moved away before engaging the thrusters. There were a few loud thumps on the hull as Mendel fired low-yield plasma at them. The appearance of having been in a fight was crucial to their next move.

  The ship lurched forward as it moved back on course for Aleinhelm. Far from being the sleek and elegant yacht they had just left, the freight hauler was bulky and unattractive. Jakes could feel the rumble of the engines beneath his feet. The slave disc section was a much more elegant flyer, but had no M-space drive. Jakes watched as the blue world grew closer.

  “Veles Livestock Six-Four-Seven,” a voice crackled from the comm. “You are precisely thirty-seven minutes late for your arrival. You will be fined twenty thousand credits for this infraction. Please keep on your predetermined course and speed.”

  “Aleinhelm Control,” the red-skinned communications officer responded. “We came under attack from a pirate at the exit point. We have recovered passengers from a private vessel. Please advise.”

  “Veles car
go hauler, can you give a description of the pirate vessel?”

  “Private yacht, Terran registry. Black pigment with blast marks on the hull.”

  “We have been searching for that ship, Veles cargo,” the voice on the comm said. “Did you track it’s outsource trajectory?”

  “There was no need, Control. Yacht has been destroyed,” the officer replied, looking over his shoulder at Jakes. Connor nodded to the man, who seemed visibly relieved. “We took a few hits and stopped to pick up a drifting life pod.”

  “You are still being fined, Six-Four-Seven,” replied the voice. “Next time, leave them to drift and stay on schedule.”

  “Will do, Control,” replied the man. “They are requesting access to Eridu and Veles corporate, Control.”

  “Did you get an I.D. on the castaways?” asked the voice.

  “Um … my name is Albert Wilhelm Holcombe, Control,” Holcombe said, shoving aside the communications officer and speaking into the console. “I represent … um … a new venture called … Loki Systems.”

  Jakes stepped to the fat man to move him aside. Holcombe was sweating heavily again and looked on the verge of passing out. Although they had decided on the plan, Jakes had left much of the details to Holcombe. The man’s greed and desire to retrieve some of his old life seemed to be keeping him on their side, but Jakes did not trust him.

  “Mister … Holcombe, please hold for ident-verification,” Control replied. There was a long moment when Jakes believed they had been discovered. The red-skinned crew began to twitch in anticipation. Jakes had promised them a swift death if they didn’t get past the control system. There was a soft noise from the comm before the voice returned. “Mister Holcombe, we show your employer to be Recyc. That company has been dismantled...”

  “My former employers had a … um … disagreement with the Ch’Tauk about existence,” Holcombe said, his jowls quivering as he spoke. “The war is over now and business must continue. Terra is looking for some ships, and I suggested Veles. They have sent me to—”

  You will be charged a transport fee, Mister Holcombe,” Control replied. “We’ve scheduled an appointment with our Vice-President of Terran Affairs for eighteen-hundred hours. Please don’t be late.”

  “Thank you, Control,” Holcombe said, visibly relieved. “I don’t suppose you could suggest a good restaurant? My ship’s head chef was killed by the pirates during the … um … attack.”

  “We’re not a booking agent, Mister Holcombe,” replied the voice. “Freighter Six-Four-Seven, you are cleared for approach and saucer separation. Proceed to Orbital Bay Delta-Nine.”

  “Acknowledged, Control,” said the comm officer, shouldering Holcombe back out of the way. “On course and preparing separation.”

  The bridge seemed to exhale as the crew went about their business. Melaina had stepped closer to Jakes, and now slipped her hand into his. Despite her brave front and desire to participate in the plan, she was scared. He gave her hand a brief squeeze to reassure her, and looked to Holcombe.

  “Nice goin’, Albert,” Jakes said. “I think you have a future in the piratin’ business.”

  “Oh, my boy,” Holcombe replied with a wide grin. “Businessmen are just pirates in better suits and I … mm … I am a very good businessman.”

  With that, the fat man waved to Bric and stepped off the bridge. Jakes watched as the two left. It took him a moment to realize that Melaina was squeezing his hand now and the feeling was reassuring. He really did not like that man.

  7

  “Trust is earned, we are told. I have found trust can be bought and sold just like any commodity.”

  Banu Rao

  The Life of a Hero (Unpublished Autobiography)

  “And here you can see our main showroom area where we can custom design your starship needs.”

  Connor watched as Holcombe strode around the circular room with Bonnie on his left arm and Melaina on his right. The man’s hand had strayed too low on the women’s backs for Connor’s tastes several times. He held his tongue again as he watched the fat man pat Bonnie’s bottom while nodding to the sales executive. Bonnie giggled as Holcombe pulled his arm away and pointed to the broad blue wall ahead.

  “So anything I can dream up, you can design? How marvelous!”

  Holcombe had been playing the part of a spoiled, decadent businessman for the last two hours while Jakes followed quietly as his “assistant.” They had stayed on board the freighter until the saucer section was detached, scanned, and flown away by the corporation. Parker had suggested they attach a tracker and follow the ship to its destination, but it had been Holcombe who pointed out the scanner. Any attempt to stow away would have been detected by an inventory and ident-chips implanted in the slaves. It had left Connor with just one plan he didn’t like. The sales executive waved a long-boned hand at the wall and a display sprung into view.

  “As you can see, Mister Holcombe, we are fully capable of creating starships to Terran specifications just as we did in the past. The Confederacy was a good customer, as I am sure the Alliance will be now.”

  The executive was humanoid in appearance. She was a native of Aleinhelm and seemed human in most respects. Her hands were a little longer than a human’s, and she had an extra set of bones running parallel from the tips of her eye sockets to under her hairline that made her expressions seem particularly flexible. Cascades of red-orange hair fell away from a widow’s peak, accenting deep yellow eyes. She stared at Holcombe’s excess with a practiced disinterest and stayed focused on the sale.

  “Confederate ships were so blocky, my dear,” Holcombe continued, waving a hand at the image and moving around an engine pod from a Mars class cruiser. “I was hoping we could work with your designers to create something a bit more spectacular. Those Ch’Tauk ships were quite dramatic, but also had no style. Maybe something closer to one of those Vadne ships. Those are quite striking.”

  “I am sure we can facilitate your needs. The Vadne design and build their own vessels, but we do have some designers who have studied their ships.”

  “Oh … excellent. I cannot wait to see what we come up with,” Holcombe replied.

  “Now that we have completed the tour, Mister Holcombe, I would like to ask about your company,” the woman replied. “Since we have no record of your company, I will need to ask about payment. For new companies, we cannot extend credit without references and some paperwork.”

  “Of course, of course,” Holcombe began, pulling away from the girls and waving Connor over. “My … um … assistant has the necessary credit applications and notes from the banks. I wonder, though, if it would be possible to … um … see the shipyards? I do so love the quality control associated with ship assembly. All bolts and rivets and such, you know.”

  “I will have to clear that, Mister Holcombe,” replied the woman, moving closer to Jakes to take the paperwork. “Assuming your information checks out, of course, the tour will have to be cleared with the chairman and arranged through his executive secretary. Feel free to explore the ship designs while I run the numbers. I’ll be back in just a moment.”

  Jakes handed over the documents provided by Holcombe before they left. The paper was thick and slightly yellowed, with a metal edge along the right side. Code was scrolling along the visible face as the saleswoman glanced over them. She smiled at Connor and took the papers from him. Jakes tried to elicit a smile from the woman, but failed as she turned away and exited to a side room. As soon as the door slid shut, Connor stepped close to Holcombe, grabbing an arm and forcing the man to look at him.

  “I swear, tubby, if you touch Melaina’s ass one more time I will kill you myself,” Jakes hissed through gritted teeth.

  “Mister Jakes, please. I am sure we are under surveillance from that delightful woman. If your coded documents don’t pass the … background check, it won’t matter if I‘m killed by you are not. We will be executed on the spot.”

  “They’ll work,” Jakes replied, glancing at Tuxor. “
Don’t worry about that. Just keep your hands to yourself from now on.”

  “My boy, I don’t think you understand where we are,” Holcombe began. “Veles is the entity which runs the most corrupt … um … government in the galaxy. They … understand … men who prey on excess. I have seen it before. I must appear to be a thoroughly disreputable man or I won’t seem … legitimate … at all.”

  “Connor, just let him be,” Melaina interjected, stepping closer to the two men. “It’s just for a little while and I don’t mind if we can get what we—”

  The saleswoman re-entered the room, her heels clicking as she walked closer. Jakes noticed a strange smile on her alien face. She held the paperwork in her hand tightly, as if she was afraid of what they contained. The paper seemed to tremble slightly.

  “Mister Holcombe,” the executive began. “Congratulations! We ran the check and it seems your credit is excellent. The new Alliance government has acted very quickly in restoring the former fiduciary glory of the Confederacy. We should have no problem…”

  “That’s wonderful, my dear!” Holcombe replied, gathering the two women in his arms again. “It will be a celebration of epic proportions tonight, and you are invited.”

  “We can begin processing your order as soon as you meet with the designers,” she said with an even bigger smile as she handed the paperwork back to Jakes. “Your request for an audience with the Chairman has been granted. With a credit rating like this, your appointment has been scheduled immediately. I can escort you there now, if you’d like.”

  “That would be delightful,” Holcombe replied with a wide grin. “Would it be acceptable for my … um … associates to accompany me? They get so lonely if I leave them behind, and I wouldn’t want them to get … lonely.”

  “Of course, if you could follow me?” replied the woman, holding an arm up and waving them to a side door.

  “I need to go.”

  The group turned to see Tuxor, standing with all four arms in the center of his tall chest and his legs pressed tight together. The girls let out a loud giggle and Holcombe turned a dark red. Connor stepped closer to the big alien and took his arm.