“At least let me stay with them,” Jessica said.
“Only until this Reece guy returns,” Susan said, and her tone left little room for argument.
Jessica bit her lip and looked away, but she didn’t argue.
Russell and Adam extracted Aaron from the hold and carried him to the smuggling compartment. Grady followed along behind carrying Eric. Jessica brought up the rear, looking angry enough to chew nails.
When the camouflaged door was opened, the M71 medical bot looked up from Thomas’s prone form.
Thomas lay on a makeshift mattress on the compartment floor. There was an unused mattress on the opposite side of the bot. There almost wasn’t enough room for the bot to fit in as the ceiling was so low. As it was, the top of its head occasionally bumped the ceiling. Several crates were piled at the far end of the mattresses; their lids were open and medical supplies were visible.
They placed Eric next to Thomas and laid Aaron on the unused mattress and Jessica pushed her way through. She and the bot began immediately consulting on Aaron’s condition.
“We’ll let you know when you need to come back down,” Russell said, but Jessica just waved her hand in an angry manner.
Adam shot a warning look at Russell. Both men knew better than to mess with Jessica when she was like this.
As silently as possible, the two men walked down the corridor and out of sight.
Susan was on the bridge when Russell and Adam rejoined her. She was using the comm gear and looked out of sorts.
“I will not wait until tomorrow,” she said, and she still had that dangerous tone to her voice. “I . . .”
“Listen,” a voice burst out of the speaker, “there’s nothing I can do until tomorrow. We have our orders and no new inspections are to be scheduled.” It was a man’s voice, and he sounded tired and angry. Most likely he had been listening to ship captains bitching at him all night long.
Susan took a deep breath and continued in a slow voice. “As I was trying to say, this is not a new inspection. This is a re-inspection. Mr. Reece told me to call you and ask for him when we were ready to go.”
There was a crackle from the speaker and, after a moment, the man said, “I don’t know that it makes any difference. Hold tight and let me check.”
Susan took her finger off the button and looked sourly at Russell and Adam. Neither man seemed to have anything to say. “Everything okay?” she asked.
Russell shrugged. “I think so. Jessica’s not happy, but we got them stowed away like you said.”
Adam looked around and then motioned to the comm gear. “Is that thing still on?”
“Receive only,” Susan said, looking curious. “Why?”
“Any idea how these people found us?” he asked. “Are they bounty hunters that just followed us here from Pocal?”
Susan shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think they might have something to do with the Miram Union.” That wasn’t exactly true, and having to split hairs to avoid lying to Adam frustrated her. It wasn’t an outright lie, but it was close. She actually suspected that Eric and Thomas had been caught by some of the former volunteers of the Commonwealth army, Thomas’s description having raised that suspicion within her. Technically, that meant it had to do with the Miram Union, but she wasn’t completely sure the Unionists knew what was going on.
Adam looked sick at her words. “Well, how the fuck did they find us?” he asked.
Once again, Susan shrugged. “No idea, and my gut tells me we won’t know until Aaron comes around.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Russell asked.
“Then we start going and we don’t stop,” Susan said. “I mean it, we should be safe on the far side of the galaxy.” No one replied to that. A trip that long, even with the benefit of the wormhole technology, would take many months, possibly years. And in the end, they would be in place that they knew precious little about. It wasn’t an enjoyable thought.
They were spared having to dwell on the unpleasant thoughts by the man’s voice erupting from the speaker. “Captain Bateman? Are you still there?”
Susan depressed the button again and said, “Until you clear me, I can’t go anywhere.”
“You’re in luck. I was able to reach Mr. Reece and he’s still on the port’s grounds. He said he’ll try to swing by within the next three hours.”
“Three hours!” Susan burst out. “What kind of third-rate operation you running here?” she demanded.
“If you don’t like it,” the man said calmly, “I can put you in the regular queue of ships requesting a customs inspection. Currently, the wait is about four days.”
Susan had to bite her tongue to keep from cursing. She closed her eyes and counted slowly to five. Then she smiled and said, “No, thank you. We’ll wait on Mr. Reece.”
“I thought as much,” the man said and then added, “out.”
Susan released the button and sat there for a moment, her feet tapping the floor with nervous energy. Finally, she looked up. “Adam, is the ship ready to launch?”
“Well, all the preflight checks are done and the engines are warmed up. Not much else I can do until we get the green light.”
She nodded. “Russell, go to the cargo hold and make sure the transport’s smuggling compartment is sealed up tight. Also, get the carbines and handguns stowed.”
Russell nodded and began to move toward the ladder, but Susan stopped him.
“Oh, make sure to tell Terry to broadcast Reece’s arrival ship-wide.”
He nodded and climbed out of sight.
Seeing as how they had so much time, Susan made her way to the smuggling compartment where they had stashed Aaron and the other two. Jessica and the medical bot were both leaned in close over Aaron, ignoring the unconscious forms of Eric and Thomas.
“How is he?” she asked.
Jessica looked up, her brow still pulled down indicating her displeasure both with the current situation and Susan’s part in it. “I’m not sure,” she said simply.
Susan was confused. Obviously, the equipment here was not as good as that in the med bay, but still they should have a read on Aaron’s situation. “Is he going to live or not?” Susan demanded.
“I can’t tell,” Jessica answered in an honest and exhausted voice. She took a deep breath and the anger disappeared from her face, replaced by a tired tension. “I don’t even know how he’s lived this long.”
Susan swallowed hard; her worst fears coming to life. She had been able to dismiss the worst of her fears because they couldn’t come to fruition—they just couldn’t. Aaron couldn’t die. The man had survived a war and being made into a cyborg abomination. How could he die now?
“I’m ignoring the broken bones for now,” Jessica said, interrupting Susan’s panicked thoughts. “The shot to his side has damaged some of his internal organs.”
“But you can treat that!” Susan burst out, and she hated the sound of panic and fear in her voice.
Jessica caught it too, because she paused, looking up. “Normally I can,” she said slowly, “but I have to have access to the patient quicker. Technically, he should have died on the way here. But he didn’t, and it almost appears that his body is healing itself. I’m actually afraid to attempt to help, as I might interfere.” She hesitated and then stood up and moved away from where the medical bot hovered over Aaron. She leaned in close to Susan and said, “It might help if I knew what his special talent was.”
Susan hesitated at that. When they had been experimented on, they had been placed in groups of five. They each knew the other’s talents, except for the commanding officer. The commanding officer’s talent had been kept a secret. Aaron had chosen to tell Susan, but that didn’t mean he wanted the others to know, and she could understand why.
“Save his life and you can ask him,” Susan said quietly.
Jessica watched her for a moment and then nodded. “If he survives, then I might just do that.” She turned back to the compartment and her patient. “If his
condition changes, I’ll be sure and let you know.”
Susan nodded and then began to walk away. She paused. “Terry will broadcast Reece’s arrival. You’ll have to seal this door and come down to the cargo bay.”
“I’ll be there,” Jessica called out, not even bothering to look around.
It didn’t quite take Mr. Reece three hours to get there. He arrived at just over two and a half.
Susan was lying on her bed. She wasn’t asleep, couldn’t have slept, but she was trying to get some rest anyway. The fear about Aaron dying had lessoned some, but it was still there hiding in the shadows of her mind.
“All crew members please come to the cargo hold for customs inspection,” Terry’s voice called over the intercom.
Susan bolted upright, startled out of the gloominess of her thoughts. She hesitated a moment, blinking around at her room. Then she jumped up from the bed and sprinted out the door.
She stopped her sprint short of the cargo bay; she didn’t much like the idea of Reece thinking she was desperate to lift off. Although, most of the ship’s captains were probably a bit desperate. This delay had to be wrecking quite a few delivery schedules.
She was still breathing heavy as she casually strolled through the entrance to the cargo hold. The rest of the crew was already there and Reece’s men were inspecting ID’s.
Reece saw her and waved her over. “You’ve been a pain in my ass,” he said as she drew near.
Susan blinked in confusion and then she remembered the other “guards” calling Reece and it pissing him off. She shrugged. “Sorry about that, but you can’t turn around in the port without somebody demanding your ID.”
Reece nodded and he looked tired. “I know. This is a bad business. An assassination has turned the whole planet upside down, and you’re not the only captain who resents it.”
Susan was surprised. Reece was almost being friendly and she wasn’t sure why. That bothered her. “I appreciate you coming back,” she said slowly. “I understand the normal queue to get an inspection is days long.”
Reece nodded. “Probably won’t take that long, though. They’re bringing in a bunch more of us and that should speed things up a bit.”
Susan nodded but said nothing.
Another of the guards, this one wearing full battle armor, approached. He paused at a respectable distance and waited for Reece to motion him over. “Sir, all the ID’s are the same as before.”
“Go on and inspect the rest of the ship.” He then turned his attention back to Susan. “I believe the guards at the gate said you went looking for another crewman.” It didn’t sound exactly like a question, more like a simple statement of fact.
Susan nodded. “We did, and we would have liked to get some fresh supplies, but the whole damn planet’s shut down. Not to mention there was a building on fire right outside the port. Couldn’t even get near the city, so we decided our old supplies will be good enough until we make our next planet.”
“And the crewman you wanted to hire?”
Susan shrugged. “I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find anybody, and I also thought you guys might want to hold any spacer I found for a while.” She shook her head. “I really want to lift off.”
Reece nodded, seemingly believing her.
Susan reached out telepathically. Reece was tired, physically exhausted, and also numb from listening to ships’ captains complaining for hours. He was somewhat alert, but he didn’t seem to suspect Susan or her crew of anything.
“While my men are inspecting the ship, why don’t you open up that secret cargo hold and let me take a look.”
Susan led the way. She motioned Russell to join them and had him open the concealed door. The cargo hold, which only hours earlier had contained two tons of PG, was now completely empty.
Reece nodded and Russell sealed the door shut again. “And the others?” Reece asked.
“Others?” Susan asked. She glanced at Reece and realized he was very much focused on her. Not quite so exhausted after all.
“Yes, the others. Don’t lie to me and tell me that’s the only compartment you have. I want to see the others, and I mean now.”
Susan sighed. Reece was correct of course, the Long Shot had numerous smuggling compartments, some small and others bigger. “I have three more,” she said, quickly picking out the ones that she would show him.
It didn’t take long. Susan led the way and Russell opened the doors. The other three compartments were in the common area of the ship and Reece examined them, his alertness already fading again to exhaustion.
Once the inspection was complete and the three of them headed back to the cargo bay, Reece asked, “You worked for Bailey long?”
Susan shook her head. “No. This was our first and hopefully last time.”
“Problems?”
Susan glanced to Reece and reached out again telepathically. There was a sense of general interest, but not suspicion. “I guess it won’t hurt to tell you—you already know about our cargo,” she said. “We picked the PG up from a shady group, thought we were going to have a firefight right there in the spaceport.”
“Shady drug dealers? You don’t say?”
Susan smiled and found herself actually liking this man a bit. “Yeah, well, I think the only thing that kept them in line was the name Reginald Bailey.”
Reece nodded. “My employer had the same type of recognition. Until, that is, he was shot at his daughter’s wedding. Blew him away, right there in the middle of the temple.”
Susan felt the deception immediately, but she didn’t know what it meant. Reece was watching the ground, but his alertness had shot up again. She decided to tread carefully. “How’d that happen?” she asked. “I’d have thought security be tight.”
Whatever she’d said, or perhaps not said, must have been right because Reece’s alertness and suspicion died away. “Security was tight and someone still found a way to kill Mr. Woodson.” He shook his head. “Bad business.” He glanced at her again. “Actually, Mr. Woodson was gunned down on the temple’s lawns.”
Susan nodded. The deception suddenly made sense. He’d been testing her. The comment about Mr. Woodson being gunned down in the middle of the temple had been a test to see if she would accidentally correct him. Although it wasn’t much of a test. Richard had even mentioned to her that Woodson had been shot at the wedding. Any details she knew, she could have heard from him. Didn’t matter now; she’d passed the test.
Reaching the cargo bay, Reece’s men were already waiting for them. Reece excused himself and stepped over to speak with them; it didn’t take long. He returned a few moments later. “You’re cleared for takeoff. My men are notifying Port Control now. Shouldn’t be many ahead of you, so it shouldn’t take long.”
Susan nodded as relief surged through her. “Thanks for doing the re-inspection.”
Reece only waved his hand as he and his men walked down the cargo ramp.
Susan glanced at Adam, but he was already heading for the bridge.
Reece had been correct in his guess that not many ships were ahead of them in the line for liftoff. Port Control gave the immediate green light and within minutes of Reece’s departure they lifted off the ground. Shortly thereafter, they were free of the atmosphere and pushing for deep space.
As soon as they broke free of the planet’s gravity, Russell left the bridge to go help Jessica move her patients to the med bay; leaving Adam and Susan alone on the bridge.
“Where do we go from here?” Adam asked.
Susan hadn’t given this much thought. She’d expected Aaron to be here to make those decisions, but she didn’t want to wait around for him to get better. “Beta Leporis,” she answered after a moment’s thought.
Adam turned in his chair to look at her. “That’ll take a month!”
“We don’t have to go the whole way,” she replied, “but it gives us somewhere to start.”
Chapter 34
The first three days of the trip passed slow
ly. Eric and Thomas were treated by Jessica and released. Their bones were fused, but they were still in bad shape. Jessica had given them some shots that would make their bodies heal quicker, but now it was just a matter of time for them. Susan ordered them locked in the two cabins again. Neither man had much liked this, but they hadn’t grumbled . . . well, not too much.
The rest of the crew fell into a normal routine. Besides the normal ship’s activities, they pretty much stayed to themselves. They were waiting, plain and simple. Waiting to see if Aaron would live or not.
Aaron’s condition improved with time and on the second day, Jessica proclaimed that she felt confidant her patient would pull through. This news brought smiles and cheers all around and it seemed like a depression lifted from the crew. There were even a few jokes for the first time in days.
Susan was sitting alone on the bridge, watching the deep, gloomy blackness of the wormhole; for some reason she always felt it was depressing. She always preferred a star-filled sky. She was feeling better, relieved beyond words that Aaron would awake sooner or later and take back the burden of leadership. She didn’t like it, didn’t want it, and would prefer never to be in charge again. There were still worries, but somehow the simple knowledge that Aaron would still be around made those worries diminish. She might worry about them later, but not now. Now, she was simply waiting on . . .
“Med bay to bridge. Susan, are you there?”
Susan’s feet slid off of the console and smacked the deck. She reached over and pushed the intercom button. “Go ahead, Jessica.”
“He’s conscious,” was all Jessica said, but Susan was already sliding down the ladder before she finished speaking.
Susan was quite sure that she had set some kind of record for getting from the bridge to the med bay as she sprinted through the doors.
Aaron was lying on a bunk, looking frail. He’d lost weight, and his skin looked pale and a bit waxen.
Susan stopped just inside the doors and telepathically reached out. It was Aaron all right. He was tired, sore, and even hungry, but it was him. A sadness gripped her then and she felt like crying. It was strange; she hadn’t cried since she was ten or so, but the urge to weep came upon her and it was all she could do to fight it off.
Kill Shot: A Remnant of the Commonwealth, Book Two Page 24
