Learning the Hard Way 3

by H. P. Caledon

  “If she was just with me... ” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “Any backup plans on the menu?”

  Keelan glared at him, and Mike didn’t look too hopeful. Keelan understood him, because Keelan’s view of a good plan right then was to tear down the city to find his daughter. Not exactly the likes of Mike’s discreet and well-organized methods.

  “Keelan, we have to get back to the ship.” Mike held up a hand to prevent Keelan from interrupting, so Keelan focused on not growling. Mike gently grabbed Keelan’s upper arm and gave it a friendly shake. “You and your instincts are a danger to everything and everyone and especially me right now. We’ve trained her well. She threw the earpiece and is either on her way back to the ship, or she’s hiding. She knows you’re gonna come for her if she doesn’t make it back to the ship. But with a city full of lawmen, you’re either gonna get shot or caught, and what help will you be then? You need to keep her safe and her out of jail, and you can’t do that from Irgang.”

  Everything in Keelan still rooted for leaving Mike’s well-organized methods in the trash he’d just pulled Mike out of and going to look for his daughter, but Mike’s logic couldn’t be denied.

  “K, remember we’re thirty more people, looking for her,” Danny said.

  “We’re coming back to the ship now,” Keelan mumbled. “But if any of you feel you have even the slightest idea of where she is, you tell me immediately.”

  “Yes, of course!”

  Keelan kept glancing at the ramp as he and Mike emptied the items from the transporter and secured the cargo.

  Mike drove the transporter down the ramp to deliver to the varanuide, while Keelan stood in the opening of the ship and looked in both directions. But all he saw were humans and species and no Misery.

  Mike put his hand on his shoulder, and Keelan looked at him.

  “She’s hiding. We have to take off to not draw attention. Cecil Hallett isn’t stupid, remember that, and your profiles are connected. If he even gets to think that one of you are here, or me for that matter, he’s gonna come at us with everything he’s got.”

  “I should stay. Hide and wait for her.”

  “Keelan! We’re going into orbit so Danny can work a charter or whatever it’s called. The Chiromancers are our best bet right now.”

  “And then I can wait down here.”

  Mike shook his head. “What if we need to land on North Port? How fast can you run across the city without gaining attention from two or three ships of lawmen, borrowed form or not? Not faster than we can land. What help are you?”

  “And if she comes down here?”

  “Then the Chiromancers will win us the time we need.”

  Keelan shook his head, once again fully aware that he wasn’t thinking rationally and that he had to trust Mike’s judgment.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Darkness had fallen, and Misery sat curled up in a storm drain, which at that season was just used for a place to dump garbage. It was good insulation, though, which she needed because her clothes were still clammy from sweat and blood from the fight and run. All she had was a blanket she’d stolen from a street exhibition as she ran past.

  She hadn’t heard noises for a long time now, but she still didn’t dare to venture out, since she knew what caliber of mercs were after her. And Mike always said that unexpected backup saved most situations. Currently, the situation they’d need backup for would be to defend themselves against her, and she wasn’t too thrilled about that prospect. These guys went after people like her dad, so she had no hope of escaping unless the unexpected backup was Mike and Keelan coming to her rescue.

  After she had killed Cecil Hallett and Kleiman, she was pretty sure the rest were out for blood. She was also sure that Mike and Keelan would come for her, but she also knew they had to be careful about it because of the rise in lawmen activity her actions had caused.

  The thought of Keelan biding his time and waiting out the storm with her made her smile. Hiding was good, and he knew she was good at it, so he’d be waiting. He’d come for her again. Secure in her trust in Keelan and Mike, she snuggled under the blanket, determined to dream about her room on the Galaxie with soft bedding and the lingering scent of bath oil.

  * * * *

  Keelan stared into the cup of coffee he didn’t feel like drinking while Mike, with increasing agitation, looked through the information on a pad.

  “On the plus side, I know many of their procedures. Plus side and down side is Misery knows all of ours. Complete fucked up part! I didn’t get enough emergency contingency plans in place.” Mike looked apologetically at Keelan.

  “Six hours ago, you convinced me that Misery isn’t in trouble and that’s she’s clever and well-trained enough to hide and not run around scared. And now you doubt it?”

  “Not her. I’m angry with myself. Angry that I don’t have a neat plan to put in front of you.” Mike scooted down in the couch and continued moping.

  “You mean one the mercs aren’t expecting if they’re really after us? We don’t even know who saw Misery. News feeds said something about a dead guy, so we just know she plucked someone and that it’s not a good thing since the city is crawling with lawmen.”

  “Yeah, and collectors and buyers.”

  “So this Flannigan you talked about?”

  “A small fish, barely worth picking up if you stumble upon him. I’ll bet you he’s Hallett’s diversion. Hallett’s own crew might not even know he double deals. That’s what cost my team their life. He killed everybody in a so-called ambush, and I was too stupid to see it.”

  “Glad you learn from your mistakes,” Keelan said.

  Mike glared at him, but he must have seen that Keelan was being sincere, because he dropped the glare soon after. “Better late than never,” Mike finally mumbled.

  “I actually read about all that when I hunted you from Delta. Cecil Hallett had you thrown in there in the hopes that once you figured it out, you’d no longer be a threat.”

  Mike just nodded. “Don’t think my knowledge of him makes any difference here and now.”

  “No, but then it’s time to use what he doesn’t know.”

  Mike blinked.

  “Come on, Mike, how many books have you read?”

  “A lot... so?”

  “And you’ve never been inspired?”

  “Yeah... I repeat. So?”

  “I haven’t read a lot of books yet, but I’ve read a lot of rap sheets, and there’s a lot of inspiration on procedures and work techniques and—”

  “Hey!” Danny shouted and ran for his workstation while buttoning his pants. “There’s activity around the merc ship. They’ve been busy closing communications and managed to block two of our pathways. Good thing we’re in the paths.”

  “Did they find her?” Keelan exclaimed and stood.

  “They haven’t caught her. We’re following, just a minute. Keep planning,” Danny said, waving his arm at them.

  Keelan sat again. “As I was saying, there aren’t many cons with the same ways of working. There were a couple of guys in Irgang. They kept to themselves and no trouble there, but I heard of them. They could kidnap and extort almost everyone, and they only got caught when they hid themselves and their hostage in a building set for demolition. That’s the mistake they made. The building went down with them in it. No one died, but one lost a leg. Five weeks at the hospital and a one-way ticket to Irgang. In other words, they worked very differently than I do, so maybe we can push the blame onto someone else? If he doesn’t cooperate—”

  “Cooperate? Now you want us to kidnap someone?” Mike exclaimed.

  “Karlson. Trade him for Misery. Think Cecil is up for that?”

  “Uhm!” Danny held up his hand. “Jonas Kleiman and Cecil Hallett are the ones who got acquainted with a knife in that alley. Both are dead, and you are now wanted for two more murders. That’s what all the commotion is about down there. They’re trying to keep it out of the news and just brok
e into a morgue to collect the bodies.”

  A grin spread widely on Keelan’s face. “Good girl!”

  Mike looked floored. “They’re trying to keep you on the planet. Usual ways. If you don’t read about it in the news feeds and don’t see it on the VID, then it didn’t happen, and hopefully, the target makes a mistake because they thought they got away with it.”

  “Well, those twit heads obviously have no idea who they’re dealing with,” Keelan groused. “Stupid little mistakes in the belief you got away with it? Not in my profile! That way of thinking is for sport-killers and oops-murderers.”

  “Oops-murderers?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah.” Keelan held up both hands, knocking his fists together as if his hands were fighting each other while he sarcastically said, “You’re stupid, no you’re stupid, that was my beer you knocked over, mja, mja, mja, bonk, oops, you died... oops-murderer. Total panic, run, run, wonder if anyone saw me.” Keelan put his hands down and deadpanned Mike. “That was me at sixteen. I’m now on a level where I don’t really give a snowy comet because half the victims on my official list aren’t even mine. The death penalty doesn’t exist, and I’m unruly enough to soon be considered for a lobotomy, a silver bracelet, and a steady day as a mine slave.”

  “Yeah,” Mike mumbled, still looking floored.

  It finally occurred to Keelan why. He smiled and tossed a pillow at Mike who jumped and looked at Keelan.

  “What was that for?”

  “He’s dead, Mike. The fucker’s dead, and Misery exacted your revenge.”

  “Hope she said hi from me,” Mike said, managing a weak smile.

  Danny made a gagging noise. “Cause of death. She cut clear through his throat. And he’s missing his right arm from the elbow down.”

  “Yeah, could have been a mess if it was from the elbow up,” Keelan said.

  Mike and Danny blinked at him.

  “Your sense of humor is weird at the weirdest times,” Mike said and got up. He paced in front of the coffee table, and had it not been for the news that Hallett had just died, Mike’s uncommonly restless behavior would have tipped Keelan’s hard tried patience over the edge.

  “But your elegant plan is missing an important piece of the puzzle now, because we did agree that no one on Hallett’s ship knew about him working with Karlson, right?”

  “Yeah,” Keelan said, seeing the point. They wouldn’t get far if they kidnapped Karlson and tried for an exchange in case they caught Misery if none of the crew dealt with Karlson.

  Mike stopped to stretch and rub his face.

  “Go to bed, Mike.”

  * * * *

  It was barely bright enough for Misery to see light at the end of the storm pipe when she woke up from the cold. She was grateful for the darkness, because she needed to pee so bad she didn’t have time to really inspect her surroundings.

  She climbed closer to the opening and listened. No sounds, so she peeked out, not finding any movements, either. The pressure on her bladder increased from her moving around, and she hurried out, but a movement in her periphery made her grab her knife and turn to find a guy there. He hadn’t moved much, and it dawned on her she had completely overlooked him. He’d stood completely still and observed her, and she’d mistaken his bland colored clothes for garbage in the dim morning light.

  What scared her was that he’d let her see him, because his clothes were chosen to blend in. He had to be trained in hunting people if she could miss him. He had to be a lawman of some sort.

  “Misery Fall, I presume?”

  “Yup, and unless you want to end up like your colleagues, I’d advise you to keep pretending to be a stack of garbage until I’m long gone.”

  “My colleagues? I’m the team leader of the freight loaders on North Port. And if you’re talking about my former colleague, then I certainly hope he’s well. Especially since he’s now skipping around with you and your dad.” The man smiled and made a slow and considered move to make part of his disguise fall. It revealed a crutch.

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about, pal.” Misery backed up two steps as the man stood. Misery noticed that one of his legs was a prosthesis.

  “Yes, I choose to reveal a weakness. I only lost one leg. Mike took a serious injury to his arm. Some of our team came home in body bags. Orlani. Has he told you of that mission? About when we were tied to ladders and waited to find out who would be the next for them to torture to death?” The man didn’t even grimace as he leaned his weight on the prosthetic leg. He looked very sure of himself, but his eyes held vulnerability as he told his story.

  “Sucks with such an injury and a long cold night to sit still in,” Misery commented. “Good control of your facial expressions, but if you think I’m a friend of one of your old military buddies, then you also know that I know that even small injuries can hurt like a bitch if you don’t use the injured limb. When muscles and joints get cold. You must’ve sat there most of the night and not made a noise. With an injury like that, I can take you with one hand in my back pocket.”

  “Yes. And he never would have taught you so well if he didn’t trust in your loyalty to him in return.”

  “Have you been in jail?”

  The man’s smile fell and he blinked at her. “Not in a civilian jail.”

  “Too bad. In there you learn that loyalty is a commodity and your morals are dead weight holding you back. Mike did time in Delta Zeich. What do convicts do to the mercenary who dumped them in the same hell for a payday? Don’t make the mistake of thinking you know Mike anymore. And don’t make the mistake that you know anything about me or my dad.”

  The man smiled and nodded to himself as he debated the new information, and Misery hoped he’d hurry the fuck up, because she still had to piss, even though the adrenaline oddly enough helped keep the urge at bay.

  “I know Mike. And with what I’ve been able to follow of his and your dad’s friendship, then you have my loyalty on that basis alone. And for that reason alone, I’m sitting here all night freezing so I can help you evade the lawmen and be reunited with your dad and Mike.” The man took a step closer, and Misery’s instincts oddly enough didn’t urge her to run. “Just promise me you won’t repeat this to my wife, because she’s already angry about my military past. Mostly because the injured vet pension isn’t worth the sacrifice in her eyes, and it’s not enough to cover a decent prostheses now that the insurance no longer covers regenerative procedures for injuries of this caliber.”

  “Your wife?”

  “Yes. Thought maybe you’d come home with me and have a shower and get something to eat before we figure out a way to get you off planet. It’s not easy to disappear when you’re covered in blood.”

  Misery looked down herself and sniffed. She even still smelled of blood. “But I really need to pee now!”

  “You can cover yourself over there.”

  “Like I’d hide in a bottleneck and make myself even more vulnerable than I would be with my pants around my ankles!”

  “You’re the one who needs to pee, and I’m the one who needs to stay alive for long enough to prove that my loyalty toward Mike Matthews extends to you for him saving my life. I have a life debt to repay.”

  Misery looked him over skeptically.

  “You already know I can’t move that fast. I can’t walk or run anywhere before you’re done. Why do you think I sat and waited instead of chasing you?”

  Misery sighed, because it made sense. She backed up to a few slabs leaning against each other for cover, and she finished her business while trying to remember what Mike had shared about that particular episode. It wasn’t a lot, but she knew that he put it up there with his experiences in Delta and Cecil Hallett, putting it in the category do not talk about it.

  “So, who from that slum are you?” she asked as she reemerged from her cover and straightened her clothes. The man limped toward the pathway from the back yard while Misery contemplated alternative routes like fire escapes and rooftops.
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  “Jackson. Bramming Jackson.”

  “Spec Edit?”

  “Twelve.”

  “And the three others were named?”

  Jackson stopped to smile at her, shaking his head. Then he sighed and leaned on his crutch. “Two others. We were three who got out alive. Mel, Mike, and I.”

  “How did you get out?”

  “Two girls contacted the military and led them on our trail.”

  Misery looked at his injured leg. “Pull up your pant leg a bit.”

  “Visual confirmation?” Bramming smiled and revealed more of the prosthetic leg. “Can we move on? Either you want my help, or you don’t.”

  She smiled and walked to him, placing herself within reach of his crutch to show trust while she kept eye contact. He seemed to gauge the distance and smiled. Yeah, he knew exactly what she was doing.

  “My transporter is on the street,” he said and turned to limp on.

  “How did you find me?”

  “Mike told you what our team did, right? What our specialty was?”

  “You hunted AWOLs and deserters.”

  “Yeah. Never really learned much else. My job as a team leader on the freight docks doesn’t pay enough, and we can’t live here and have the kids attend private school on our earnings alone. I sometimes freelance to assist bounty hunters and mercenaries on Reeds. That’s how I knew that it was you guys here.”

  Misery turned to look at him.

  “And no. No amount of credits in the world can buy my life debt. Delivering you safely at home and shaking his hand might.”

  “So what’s your plan?”

  “My place, you need a shower and something to eat. Then we’re gonna go check out the spaceport and find some way to contact Mike. To arrive in a Galaxie seven hundred on a place like Reeds is not low-key.”