Paradox Slaughter: A Roak: Galactic Bounty Hunter Novel

by Jake Bible

“Nothing to mention until you pay me,” Roak said, ducking his head under the water and marveling at the feeling of suds running down his neck, his chest, his entire body.

  “With the amount of water you’re using, I think payment has been made,” Zxixwell laughed. She wrapped a towel around her bright red hair and left the rest of herself uncovered. “Join me by the pool when you’re done.”

  “Will do,” Roak said.

  He waited for a few minutes after she left then called Hessa.

  “Progress?” Hessa asked.

  “Yeah,” Roak replied. “We…hit it off.”

  Hessa groaned. “I don’t want to know.”

  “I don’t want to tell,” Roak said and filled her in on all the non-sexy stuff. “I’m going to dry off and join her by the pool. Then we’ll see what I can work out. By the way, she has more modifications than are on record.”

  “Not surprising. Be careful.”

  “I plan to.”

  Roak reluctantly left the shower. The water turned off automatically when he was out of the stall. A warm blast of air come from everywhere at once and Roak was almost completely dry by the time he found a towel. He was getting dressed when the door opened and Cet pointed at him.

  “You. Come on,” Cet said then turned and left.

  Roak grabbed his suit jacket and threw it over his arm as he followed the Gwreq through the house and out to the pool grotto.

  Zxixwell was lounging again, her sunglasses on, and a large tumbler of something in her hand. But instead of being in the sun, she was seated under the cave portion of the grotto provided to that section of the patio. She’d gotten dressed, too, although it was another see-through sundress.

  “Sit,” Zxixwell said and all romance was gone from her voice. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

  “Not at all,” Roak said as he sat. He smiled up at Cet who was right by his left shoulder. “Whiskey. Neat, no rocks.”

  “Funny,” Cet said and stayed right where he was.

  “Huh,” Roak said as he returned his attention to Zxixwell. “So, what’d I do?”

  “The sample you gave me is coded,” Zxixwell said. “It has a copyright stamp on the molecules. Did you think I wouldn’t notice that?”

  “I didn’t know it was there,” Roak said.

  “Are you shitting me?” Zxixwell asked, lowering her sunglasses so she could glare at Roak. Her eyes were silver again and mesmerizing. “Who doesn’t look for a molecular copyright stamp when trying to sell corporate refuse? You knew you were stealing from a trash field, one that’s used by WAG Corp exclusively, and you didn’t think to check if the trash was coded? You’re an idiot.”

  “I didn’t pick through any trash field,” Roak said. “I got the being from an acquaintance.”

  “Then you need better acquaintances,” Zxixwell said and laughed.

  She raised her sunglasses again and Roak found it slightly easier to breathe. He was impressed by the biotech, but not impressed enough to change his philosophy on implants and physical enhancements.

  Zxixwell sighed. She shook her head then drank deeply from her tumbler.

  “Get him his whiskey,” she ordered.

  Cet snapped his stone fingers and a glass of whiskey, neat, arrived in seconds. Roak took it, sipped, then stared at Zxixwell until she roused herself and spoke again.

  “If I can’t reverse engineer the sample, then what you are offering is worthless,” Zxixwell said. “I need the original source. That is nonnegotiable.”

  “We might be able to come to an arrangement,” Roak said. “But the price went up to twenty million chits.”

  Zxixwell choked on the sip she just took from her tumbler.

  “You are one crazy SOB,” she said when she could breathe again. “I tell you that you’re in deep shit and you tell me to pay you more? Who taught you how to negotiate? A stim junkie?”

  “You want the original, you have to pay more for him,” Roak said and instantly regretted his choice of words.

  “Him?” Zxixwell asked, locking on to the slip-up. “Oh, the source is more than just sentient, it has an identity. You realize that this complicates matters even more. A sentient being that can self-identify is a little outside the norms of galactic law, Mr. Scorp. I could be accused of genocide if the original is the only one of its kind.”

  “Only if you kill it,” Roak said.

  “Did you think we would pamper it with treats and give it sponge baths, Mr. Scorp?” Zxixwell sighed. “No. That is not how the business works. The original will be studied intensely until it yields no new information. Then it will be vivisected, studied some more, then fully dissected once it expires. If it is singular, and the Galactic Fleet were to find out, then Tanji Corporation could get into a lot of trouble.”

  “Then don’t get found out,” Roak said.

  “I’m afraid I will have to pass on this deal, Mr. Scorp,” Zxixwell said. “But I thank you for an exhilarating afternoon. That scarred body of yours is certainly one of a kind in this galaxy. Stimulating, to say the least. Cet?”

  “You’re gone,” Cet said and grabbed Roak by the arm and lifted him to his feet.

  “Gonna need my weapons,” Roak said as he was half-carried around the pool to the gate. “And my sample.”

  “We’ll be keeping the sample, Mr. Scorp,” Zxixwell called after Roak. “No hard feelings, I hope.”

  “Plenty,” Roak said as he twisted out of Cet’s grip and shoved three fingers into a surprisingly soft area just under the Gwreq’s lower right armpit.

  Cet cried out and fell to a knee. Roak slammed the heel of his right hand into Cet’s nose then chopped Cet in the neck with the flat of his left hand. Roak’s right knee came up as Cet’s head dipped in pain. There was a crunch and Roak wasn’t sure if the noise was the Gwreq or his kneecap after his leg exploded with pain. But Cet toppling over onto his side settled that.

  Roak estimated he had two seconds before he was killed.

  He stripped Cet of his weapon, spun about, and shot two Gwreq guards before they opened fire on him. Roak ran sideways, blasting away with the large pistol in his hand, sending the remaining Gwreq guards diving for cover as plasma blast after plasma blast flew across the pool.

  “You slagging bastard!” Cet yelled as he struggled up onto wobbly feet. “You are dead!”

  Roak shot him between the eyes just before he dove into the pool. The flashes of return fire lit up the water as Roak dove as deep as he could, turned his body, aimed up at anything resembling a being’s shadow, and fired until the pistol ran out of charge.

  Lungs burning, Roak swam into the grotto and took cover in the shaded darkness of the artificial cave. He launched himself at the surface and came up out of the pool, gasping and coughing. Roak tossed the useless pistol at a Gwreq guard that came running into the grotto and the guard ducked, giving Roak enough time to pick up a very heavy metal alloy chair and throw that too.

  The chair bounced off the Gwreq like it was made of foam. The guard grinned and took aim, but a scream from Zxixwell out on the patio got his attention and he turned and sprinted that way instead of shooting Roak.

  Roak was torn on what to do. He figured there had to be another way out of the grotto, and finding that other way out was the smart choice, but Zxixwell’s continued screaming, followed by the sounds of plasma blasts and shouting from the guards, had Roak more than curious.

  After a strangled cry from one of the Gwreqs, Roak made his way cautiously to the grotto opening and the patio.

  There was a yellow blur whirling about the poolside and Zxixwell was curled up into a ball on her lounge chair, still screaming. Only two Gwreq guards were left and they were busy trying to shoot the yellow blur. Completely occupied, the guards didn’t see Roak sprint over to a fallen Gwreq and snag the being’s plasma rifle. Roak aimed, fired twice, and the remaining Gwreqs fell into the pool, dead.

  “Yellow Eyes!” Roak shouted and the yellow blur stopped.

  Yellow Eyes was standing over Z
xixwell, his arms waving crazily around her body as she screamed.

  “Knock it off,” Roak said as he reached the creature and pulled him away. Roak jabbed Zxixwell in the shoulder with the barrel of the rifle and she screamed louder. “I mean you too!”

  Zxixwell didn’t stop screaming so Roak made an executive decision. He slammed the butt of the rifle into the back of her head, knocking unconscious.

  “Ouch, man,” Yellow Eyes said. “You could have gagged her.”

  “No time,” Roak said. “Pick her up. We have to move. Fast.”

  “Me pick her up? Why me?” Yellow Eyes asked.

  “Because I have this,” Roak said, pointing the rifle at Yellow Eyes’ face. There was the sound of shouting and boots running from the other side of the villa house. “And because I’ll be needing to use this in order for us to get away.”

  “Fine,” Yellow Eyes said as he picked up Zxixwell and sort of half-cradled her, half-tucked her under his arms. “Damn, man, she’s dense. You get all sexy with this lady? You gotta be bruised to all the Hells.”

  “Shut up and run,” Roak said, leading them away from the pool and out the back gate towards the trail that would take them to the landing area. “Come on.”

  “I am, I am!” Yellow Eyes snapped as he followed behind Roak.

  The shouting got louder then chunks of the ground began flying up into the air as ActivAri Villa security began firing at Roak and Yellow Eyes.

  “OW! They shot me in the ass, man!” Yellow Eyes said.

  Roak stopped, motioned for Yellow Eyes to keep running, then aimed and returned fire at the security guards. They dove to the ground and covered their heads, dropping their weapons immediately. Roak grunted with disgust and sent a few more plasma blasts at them to keep them down then turned and followed Yellow Eyes.

  Except Yellow Eyes was already gone. Roak didn’t even see a yellow blur up ahead.

  “Freak is fast,” Roak said then realization hit him.

  He’d left the sample of Yellow Eyes behind. It wasn’t the worst thing, since getting Zxixwell was the goal, but he wasn’t too keen on having that kind of evidence hanging out to be analyzed by, more than likely, Galactic Fleet authorities. Roak wasn’t too worried about the sample being traced back to him, but he had no idea what kind of alarms and red flags it would raise with the GF bureaucrats that had been paid off by WAG Corp. Those executives would be getting a comm call within the week.

  “Shit,” Roak muttered as he kept running, headed to the landing area.

  Then he saw what was ahead. Boots on the ground had been switched out for gears on the ground, and six heavy security bots rolled across the trail, blocking Roak’s escape. Roak knew that if he even raised the rifle in his hands a centimeter, those bots would open fire and tear him apart.

  He dropped the rifle, fell to his knees, and held his arms up slowly over his head then just as slow, lowered them to lace his fingers behind his head.

  Then he was doubled over and throwing up all over the floor of his ship. The pain in his head was excruciating and all he could hear was a loud buzzing and all he could see was the fuzzy shapes of crates and boxes in the cargo hold. He vomited until his stomach was empty and his arms couldn’t hold him up any longer.

  “Got ya, man,” Yellow Eyes said as he helped Roak up before he collapsed into his own sick. “Phew. You need to look into adding probiotics to your diet. That puke is rank, man.”

  “I make sure he is properly fortified,” Hessa said, offended.

  “Just saying that puke stinks, but it shouldn’t stink like that,” Yellow Eyes said as he basically carried Roak to the lift.

  “What the fuck…?” Roak mumbled.

  “Moltrans on the go,” Hessa said. “Sorry. I was still dialing it in when Yellow Eyes reached me and you weren’t with him. I checked the scans and saw the security bots. They were going to shred you, Roak. So I rushed things.”

  “I was surrendering,” Roak said.

  “They were still going to shred you,” Hessa insisted. “I could tell by their power levels.”

  Roak groaned as the lift took them up away from the cargo hold.

  “Zxixwell,” he snapped.

  “Med pod for you first,” Yellow Eyes said.

  “Zxixwell,” Roak growled. “Where’d you put her?”

  “The brig,” Yellow Eyes said. “I didn’t know you had a brig, but you do.”

  “She is currently unconscious and resting,” Hessa stated.

  “Yeah, she’s about to wake the fuck up,” Roak snarled.

  20.

  “Time to talk,” Roak said and slapped Zxixwell across the face as she sat on the cot in the ship’s small brig. “Stop pretending to be asleep.”

  “Stop slapping me, asshole,” Zxixwell said and opened her eyes.

  “Hessa! Can you counteract her biotech?” Roak shouted as he turned away from Zxixwell’s gaze. Damn silver eyes…

  “I can,” Hessa replied over the comm.

  Zxixwell’s eyes widened as they returned to a normal gray. She swiped her hand over her wrist, but her holo interface didn’t come up.

  “You don’t smell as good with the pheromones turned off,” Roak said as he crouched in front of Zxixwell, just out of kicking range. “Nope. What I’m smelling now is pretty damn ordinary. I smell fear.”

  “Really? Why in all the Hells would I smell like fear?” Zxixwell said. “Oh, could it be because some psycho has kidnapped me and thrown me in the smallest, crappiest brig I’ve ever been in? Yeah. Might be that.”

  “Bishop,” Roak said and waited.

  Zxixwell cocked her head and waited too.

  They both waited.

  “Bishop…?” Zxixwell asked after a minute of silence.

  “Where is he?” Roak asked.

  “I don’t know because I don’t know who in the Hells you are talking about,” Zxixwell said.

  “I think you do,” Roak countered.

  “Why would you think that?” Zxixwell asked.

  “Roak,” Hessa said over the comm so only Roak could hear. “Bio scans show she believes what she is saying.”

  “Doesn’t mean she’s telling the truth,” Roak replied.

  “About what?” Zxixwell asked, hearing only Roak’s side. “About this Bishop? Who is he? Is it a he? This some weird religious thing that only happens on Ballyway? Because no one told me there would be kidnapping involved. I signed up for the all-inclusive package, but this shit is not cool, Mr. Scorp. Way not cool.”

  “Roak,” Roak said. That got Zxixwell’s attention. “You’ve heard of me.”

  “Yeah. I’ve heard of you,” Zxixwell said and sighed. “Your face didn’t trigger the security protocols. It should have.”

  “My face doesn’t trigger any security protocols,” Roak replied. “Special perk of being me.”

  “I’d say that’s the only perk considering that half the galaxy despises you and the other half only tolerates you because you perform services that others won’t,” Zxixwell said. “Still, I didn’t get to be CEO of Tanji Corporation by believing all the crap beings spew in this galaxy.”

  Zxixwell relaxed against the wall of the brig, tucking her legs up under her on the cot.

  “Bishop? This a guy?” Zxixwell asked.

  Roak nodded.

  “Human guy?”

  Roak nodded again.

  “What’d he do? Try to kill you? Steal from you? Hurt someone you care for?”

  “Yes.”

  “Which one?”

  “All of those.”

  “Yeah, but why are you hunting him? That is what you’re doing, right? Hunting the guy?”

  “He betrayed me and stole my chits,” Roak said. “I don’t think kindly of beings that betray me and steal my chits.”

  “You’re not alone there,” Zxixwell said and rubbed at the spot where Roak slapped her. “You got anything to drink? Maybe something to smoke or snort? I’m still on vacation time and need a little bump, if you know what I m
ean.”

  “I have water,” Roak said and snapped his fingers. A bot rolled over with a pitcher of water and a plastic tumbler. “Drink up.”

  “Gee. Thanks,” Zxixwell said, her voice thick with sarcasm. But she did take the pitcher and tumbler, pouring herself some water. She downed the water and poured more then set the pitcher back on the bot. “Ahhhh. That’s better.”

  “Good. Tell me about Bishop,” Roak said.

  “Listen, Mr.… Listen, Roak, I have no idea who this Bishop guy is. I have never heard of him before,” Zxixwell said.

  “She’s telling the truth,” Hessa said over the comm. “Or she’s the best liar I’ve come across which would be saying a lot considering the time I’ve spent with beings that come into your life, Roak.”

  “Let’s try this,” Roak said. “Wrenn. Tell me about him.”

  “Wrenn?” Zxixwell replied. “Another name I don’t know a damn thing about.”

  “Now she’s lying,” Hessa said.

  “I know,” Roak replied.

  “Then why ask me?” Zxixwell asked.

  “Wasn’t talking to you then,” Roak said.

  Zxixwell looked confused. “You talking to ghosts then? Because you don’t have implants, so if you weren’t talking to me…”

  “Wrenn. You know that name. Tell me what you know,” Roak demanded.

  “Crime boss,” Zxixwell said, exasperated. “And a huge pain my ass.”

  “Keep talking,” Roak said. “Why’s he a huge pain in your ass?”

  “I inherited the guy,” Zxixwell said. “My predecessor had dealings with him. Dealings tied up with so many threads, and we’re talking very expensive threads, that I couldn’t cut the scumbag loose, even if I wanted to. Which I did, for the record. I didn’t want a damn thing to do with that guy.”

  “Truth,” Hessa said.

  “Tell me about the threads,” Roak said.

  “Tell me about the yellow thing,” Zxixwell countered. “Tit for tat. I’ll tell you what I know about Wrenn and how he’s connected to Tanji Corporation and you tell me about that yellow thing back at the resort.”

  Zxixwell looked about.

  “Better yet,” she continued. “Let me meet him. Does he talk? Does he understand galactic common? You let me have a conversation with the being and I’ll tell you everything about Wrenn.”