by C. R. Daems
To my surprise the XO entered with me. Colonel Quentin and Commander Wang were already seated. I braced to attention and saluted. “Reporting as ordered, Sir.”
“At ease, Reese. I’m glad Thalia and you decided to stay. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision. Hopefully as the years progress life will get easier as more people get to know you. Rank will help. For now I would like to publically apologize.”
I didn’t know what to do or say. Luckily I didn’t have to. Life returned to normal
I felt a tingle of amusement.
Two days later we entered Ossicwater space.
Chapter 29
Ossicwater had water everywhere. The colony was composed of five hundred islands. The largest, and the capital, was Union with a land mass thirty by fifty kilometers. Shuttles with pontoons were the main transportation between islands, of which only two had defense facilities. I doubted the raiders would bother with Ossicwater. It didn’t seem worth the fuel to drop shuttles.
The temperatures were tropical and the people lived simply. Wang, Iglis, and I again split up to provide more coverage. Wang stayed on Union; Iglis went to Longlee, the second largest island; and I went to Cresco, one of the smaller ones. I found it had a rain forest.
The community consisted of a hundred grass huts, which I discovered the people dismantled, during the wet season, in order to change islands. I found it restful and enjoyed talking with the people through an interpreter. They were delighted to see us. We were something new and provided a change from their routine lives. My tattoo was a novelty although everyone, including the children, had several.
They lived strictly off the land. I had brought several bolts of a soft but inexpensive cloth on the recommendation of our guide. It caused an improvised party. I learned the neighboring islands were similar to this one. They visited by boat and frequently found marriage partners.
“It’s like going back in time when men fought with spears and blowpipes,” Terril said as we retired for the night.
“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about being attacked with shard guns.”
“You’re going to disappoint a lot of Blacks, who count on you for training exercises.” Terril laughed.
* * * *
We left Ossicwater for Port Lost two days later.
The projectile Symath seemed to have a limit of eighty-five percent accuracy, so long as the enemy ship didn’t skip or change course. It became option number twenty in the system’s preset firing sequences. My gas attack and stolen SID remained a mystery.
We reached Port Lost four days later. The space station looked like a military-grade installation with a highly sophisticated defense system. I saw at least twenty spacecraft docked at the station. Commander Abboto said his boards indicated that most of the merchant ships were well armed, some like Light cruisers. I was told by Kollar that Port Lost was known as a port where you could hire militia for colonies, and protection for high-end merchants who traveled to outlying areas.
Wang, Iglis and I again went planet-side in hopes of finding some information that would lead to determining the raider’s next target. If they had another target, it had to be Port Lost or Lords Landing. I personally didn’t think it would be Port Lost, given all the armed vessels and their modern defense systems. Against everyone’s objections, I chose the spacer’s area. This time Valk had sent four well-armed Black Berets.
“Where to, Lieutenant?” Terril asked. I shook my head. It felt...strange being in charge of older people with far more experience.
“Pick a bar, Master Sergeant Terril.”
I felt like a little schoolgirl as soon as I said it. How else could she address me, or I her, in public? “We aren’t going to learn anything at a hotel.”
Terril looked around and pointed to a particularly rowdy one and signaled for the other three to remain outside. We were dressed in work clothes—dress whites and rank insignia didn’t seem a particularly good idea. Inside, about forty spacers were drinking, eating, and huddled in conversations. When we entered, most looked up and the noise level tapered off.
“Well, well. Look at what the wind blew in, crew from that new warship and not just any crew—a Black Beret. I guess the navy needs protection down here,” a burly black-bearded man said with a smile.
“No, I’m here to keep her out of trouble.” I hoped a little humor would help. I didn’t think the direct approach would work. He gave a hearty laugh. I can’t say I blamed him. Terril stood a good ten centimeters taller and was noticeably more muscular. I’d filled out but was still waif-like.
“Since you’re protecting her, maybe I can buy her a drink.”
“How about I buy you one? She gets nasty when she drinks. I don’t like breaking up fights, gets me all dirty.” I slid my credit card across the bar’s scanner. “What ya have, big guy. I’ll have a twister.” It was called a twister because it had your head spinning like a top. Terril and the big guy gave me strange looks.
“Okay, little lady, same for me.” Now he grinned. He’d obviously been drinking for a while; I hoped that gave an advantage. Several others joined me. I treated them to a couple of rounds each.
The big guy eyed me. “I understand why you were sent to protect her. For your size, you sure can drink.” He led his buddies and me to a table that had suddenly become empty. Terril leaned against the wall behind me. Abruptly, he came to the point. “So, what do you want to know? You came here looking for information.”
“Nadya. The Compton stopped here. What did they want?” No sense dancing around the topic.
All five laughed. “The lady was a lot better looking than you and more cooperative.” He winked. “But she used Dilut to counter the effect of the drinks. You and I know it doesn’t work on Twisters. The poison from the waterdogs in a twister offsets whatever’s in Dilut. Didn’t matter since she was good in bed. Are you?”
“No. She…” I nodded towards Terril, “…gets all nasty.” I heard a snort.
“I’ll tell you because it’s not nice to play Black Jack for a fool.” He stared at me for a moment then shook his head. “She showed interest in a shipment of weapons to Lords Landing. The followers of Daleus are planning to convert the followers of Wakila to the true way of God.”
* * * *
“I’m impressed, Reese. How did you manage to drink three Twisters? I don’t know how Black Jack managed. His friends were staggering and falling down after one.” Terril asked the question after we’d entered the shuttle.
“I took a drug called Thalia.” I felt a little dizzy for a while, but my head had cleared by the time we arrived at the shuttle.
“I thought I’d choke when you said you were there to protect me. I think that and the Twisters won the day. I know nothing else you could have said or done that would have loosened their tongues.”
* * * *
Wang, Iglis, and I shared our findings on the way back to the Tiger. We agreed that Port Lost wasn’t lost—every mercenary in the Universe stops there. It provided a place to relax and find employers, or other opportunities. All of the visiting ships bristled with weapons systems, as did Port Lost’s defensive system. You would need a fleet of Heavies to breach the planet. Wang and Iglis had found a lot about the kind of activities that supported the colony, but little towards clues pertaining to our raider’s next target.
“Did you enjoy
your tour of bars and houses of pleasure?” Wang asked after she and Iglis finished updating me on their findings. I had the feeling they thought visiting the fun side of town dangerous and that it was unlikely anyone would talk to the military.
“Met a lot of interesting people.” I batted my eyes. “Some nice man told me the followers of Daleus are expecting a shipment of weapons for their fight with the followers of Wakila. I also found how the Compton collects their information—a beautiful blond woman, who is sexy and uninhibited.”
“I hope you didn’t have to do the same for your information?” Iglis said with a grin.
“No. I only had to drink three Twisters.” I imitated downing a drink. Iglis and Wang sat there with their mouths open. Wang recovered first. She shook her head like an animal shaking itself free of water.
“Sex might have been easier. However you did it, that information may be what we were looking for. I’ll ask the Captain to leave tonight for Lords Landing rather than lay over for a day. You two try to determine who’s sending the weapons, when they’ll arrive, and what kind.”
When we arrived at the Tiger, Wang headed towards the bridge. Iglis and I spent our time combing through data on known arms dealers. Sometime during our search, I felt the engines ignite.
Much later we found what we were looking for. A merchant on the Laughing Lady had purchased military grade weapons from Tamerland for forty million credits. Part of the deal included a Tamerland Light cruiser, the Ocelot, escorting the merchant to Lords Landing. They’d departed two days ago.
“If that’s the target, we’re going to be late,” Wang said after checking with Commander Uchida, who estimated five days to Lords Landing.
* * * *
Corporal Owin entered his quarters, laughing. He looked at Sergeant Blackstone and laughed harder. “You’re never going to believe what just happened!”
“Quit laughing and tell me so I can laugh too.” Blackstone swung his legs around to sit up. Owin began laughing again.
“We’re going to get paid to kill dirty face. A guy called me aside and said he knew you and I didn’t like Reese. One thing led to another, and he agreed to pay us a thousand credits to kill her. The best part is that he can delay the call to security.” Owin stood there bouncing up and down with excitement.
“When do we get the credits?”
Blackstone stood when Owin produced two credit chips.
“He insists we do it tonight. He’ll send ‘Ready’ to me from Reese’s SID.”
“It means he or someone he knows was the person who tried to gas Reese. He managed to open her door and didn’t leave a trace. That’s a dangerous man. All right, tonight.”
* * * *
Five hours later, Owin received the “Ready” signal. It was almost 2400 hours and the hallways were empty except for an occasional sailor. The unknown man had provided them with navy work uniforms, which made them inconspicuous in the level two hallways. The security hallway was quiet and empty. Owin disappeared into a stairwell halfway along the corridor and Blackstone waited at the intersection.
* * * *
I felt exhausted when I finally left the Intel unit. I’d been up most of the night with Iglis, researching the details of the transfer. On the surface, the Tamerland escort seemed adequate. Tamerland Light cruisers had the latest technology and nothing even most Heavy cruisers would want to take on; however, the raiders were now running in packs, which included a Heavy and one or more Lights. I looked forward to a few hours’ sleep before my duty shift later this morning. The hallway was quiet as usual.
Thalia’s voice carried urgency. As I tucked and rolled forward, I heard a buzzing sound and felt the air move over my head, I came up a meter from Sergeant Blackstone. He held a stun-stick. They were nick-named Buzzers, because of the sound they produced. My metabolism exploded as Thalia worked her magic. Checking behind me, I saw Corporal Owin. Buzzers were dangerous weapons used for crowd control. They delivered a strong electrical charge and were capable of causing severe burns and even death, if the contact lasted more than a few seconds. The Buzzers were keyed to an individual and went inactive if dropped or in another’s hand.
They had me trapped between them. An amateur with a buzzer would be dangerous. These two weren’t amateurs. Blackstone lunged at my chest. I twisted sideways and blocked with one arm, driving my palm into his face with the other. Blood splashed over my hand as it erupted from his nose. As he stumbled backwards, his buzzer whipped back against my arm. Instantly it went numb.
I turned and dropped just as Owin swung at my head. Driving my foot into his groin produced a satisfying WOOF sound as he doubled over. As he did, his Buzzer hit my leg. Pain shot through my leg a second before it went numb. My arm was still tingling as Thalia worked to revive it. I leaned against the wall in order to remain in a standing position. If I could have moved, I might have made it by one or the other. Blackstone recovered first. Owin rested on his knees, moaning, but held his Buzzer in front of him.
Blackstone stepped forward and swung for my head. I went down on my good leg, using the momentum to whip my numb leg around. It met his ankles, and he went airborne. My luck had deserted me. His stun-stick struck my hand as he fell. My arm had recovered somewhat, my leg was still partly numb, and my hand to forearm was dead. If I got through this, I’d have third-degree burns everywhere the clubs had hit me. Blackstone lay on the floor but still held his buzzer. The two Buzzers sounded like a swarm of angry wasps. Even if I could jump, I couldn’t jump over Blackstone without him striking me hard. Owin had recovered and approached me with caution.
“You’re going die, you ugly bitch. I’ll make sure it hurts.”
There appeared no way to escape. I couldn’t knock the club out of his hand because a cord fastened it securely to his wrist. This time he was swinging it back and forth as he approached. I waited, timing each swing. With my adrenaline at maximum, he appeared in slow motion but no less dangerous. I had nothing to lose; they had time on their side. When the Owin’s Buzzer passed me, I stepped in. My arm blocked his from coming back, and I drove my elbow into his skull. I heard a dull crack as bone ruptured and felt the skull cave in. Blood oozed from his ears, nose, and mouth. Before I could get out of the way, the force of my blow spun him around and his buzzer struck me across the waist. I slammed into the wall, barely supporting myself on my good leg. My body exploded with pain for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Thalia shut it down. The pain subsided but the nerves in one leg and arm and my torso were numb.
Blackstone was back up. He grinned, knowing I was easy prey.
I couldn’t believe she remained amused. Blackstone swung low, hitting my thigh. I collapsed on my back. He laughed as he raised the club and swung down towards my head. I blocked the blow, striking his forearm with my good arm. Sliding my arm down along his, I clamped my hand onto his forearm. I could feel the strength flow into my hand as my fingers dug into his arm. I jerked him towards me. His club glanced off my ribs as I drove my fingers into his throat. I felt his blood splash in my face and smelled the stench of his bowels emptying as he died on top of me.
I felt Thalia’s laugh just before my world went black.
* * * *
“You’re a mess, Lieutenant.” Doctor Echart and a short plump female doctor stood looking down at me. Someone had undressed me. I had burn marks on every part of my body.
Thalia continued to dampen the pain, but the burns remained raw.
“I guess you don’t want me to treat you. You should be unconscious with those wounds.”
“Some salve and bandages would be nice, please.”
* * * *
I sat in one of the empty shuttle bays waiting for the inquiry to begin. This was
getting to be an annoying activity. I understood there had to be an investigation any time a death occurred on the ship. I was glad it wasn’t Gebauer. He would have worked out some way to find that I’d lured two innocent Scorpions with an offer of sex and killed them. Of course, I had no way to know what was going to happen here.
Commander Riddler banged the table with a mallet. He sat in the middle with Colonel Quentin on this right and Commander Birkoff on his left. I knew Quinton but had yet to meet the Shark Commander.
“This is an official inquiry into the deaths of Sergeant Blackstone and Corporal Owin on the night of Apra 6, in the Eden year 1202. This inquiry is being taped and all witnesses are reminded they can be prosecuted for false statements and for withholding information.”
The people known to have information concerning the incident had been seated in the front of several tables facing the three judges. A large audience sat or stood well behind us.
“Sergeant Buckner, I understand you were the first man on the scene. Is that true and what did you find?”
“I found Sergeant Blackstone and Corporal Owin lying on the floor dead. Two stun-sticks lay nearby. Lieutenant Reese was on the ground in shock.”
“Thank you, Sergeant Buckner. Doctor Echart, can you tell us how Sergeant Blackstone and Corporal Owin died?”
“Sergeant Blackstone died from a strike to his throat, which crushed his larynx and tore an artery. Corporal Owin died from a crushed skull.”
“What was the condition of Lieutenant Reese?”
“She was unconscious when she arrived in the medical ward. She had multiple burn marks similar to those caused by a stun-stick.”
“Thank you, Doctor Echart. Lieutenant Reese, would you tell us what happened?”
“I was tired when I entered the hallway and not paying attention...” I went on to recount the highlights of the fight. Valk was called next. “Master Gunnery Sergeant Valk, I understand that you’re a Master in the art of Si’jin and that Lieutenant Reese studies under your supervision. In your expert opinion is Lieutenant Reese capable of performing the acts she described and are Sergeant Blackstone and Corporal Owin’s injuries consistent with Lieutenant Reese’s explanation?”
