by Blaze Ward
Levi held perfectly still and centered it in his cameras, figuring he had the best frame.
“That worked, Command,” Jorge replied in a formal voice that would require some quick rewriting, but Levi knew was too good to pass up. “They’re striking their colors now.”
Levi let go a breath as general lights came on everywhere around the base, showing men in various stages of moving around in what had been the darkness just a moment ago. Some of them were pilots and crew who looked like they were getting ready to fly a suicide mission against the invasion, but nobody could do anything with a combat warship flying overhead.
Levi turned to head inside. He had three men with some level of trauma and they would need him.
28
Rob watched on a screen from the kitchen of Valencia del Oro as the last troop freighter lifted from the surface of 6725 Lacertae. That was the third one, and the base itself was as abandoned as they could get the place.
If someone wanted to die with honor in the flaming wreckage, Rob was all out of patience to deal with them today.
Jorge and Roxy were matching each other for martinis, toasting one another lavishly for a mission well done. Nigel had gone back to his machine shop to try some experiment after watching his toys in actual combat. Rob had stuck with coffee for now.
As the freighter got high enough, Queen of the Borders let loose with her Type-3 beams on the base itself. It was almost like using a blowtorch on an anthill, as Longbow had said, but Rob had to agree with the imagery. And it worked. The buildings imploded as the beams converted energy to heat and overstressed the walls.
The landing field was one puddle of dead starcraft after another, from one-man Starfighters up to gunships with a crew of ten. None of them had gotten off the ground in time. Captain Kedzierski had spiked them hard and fast. One gunship might not have been a threat to Queen of the Borders, but a handful would have been enough.
“Kid, you done good,” Jorge turned his attention this way. “That was about as suicidal a mission as I’ve ever seen the Service hand anyone. You shouldn’t have even survived, let alone pulled it off.”
“I had help,” Rob pointed out, gesturing to the two of them with his coffee mug.
“All we did was shoot people and talk,” Jorge said. “You did the heavy lifting.”
Rob shrugged. Maybe.
Before he could say anything, Longbow stepped into the forward hallway and started this direction. Naomi was with him, trailing a step as they came into the kitchen.
“You people are insane,” Naomi said, after she filled her own coffee mug and sat on the end of the round booth, opposite Jorge. “You really did it.”
“What’s that liar told you?” Jorge demanded with mock severity.
“Enough,” Naomi said. “Maybe too much. Probably nowhere near enough to completely understand.”
“You do realize that your world has changed and that you can never go back?” Roxy asked.
“Yeah,” Naomi turned to look at her. “But this was brass ring time, Mrs. Jones. Grab it and hold on, or forever regret it.”
“So you think the band will work out?” Rob asked, aiming his question at both Naomi and Longbow.
He shrugged. She fixed him with a hard stare.
“Are you going to blow our cover as a rock band with some future mission, Handsome Rob?” she asked.
“No, but I’m going to probably use you to sneak in places where people like me aren’t supposed to be,” Rob answered. “The Service will see a tour as a fantastic opportunity to do unto to others, with the chaos confusing events.”
“We have an album,” Naomi shrugged in turn. “A band. A tour would be frosting on a perfect cake at this point. What will you need from us?”
By us, she made it clear that she was speaking for the other civilians forward, crammed into the two spare cabins, while Naomi was bunking with Levi. They would surface eventually, but Raef had ordered them to remain indoors until she made it JumpSpace.
“Keep him happy,” Roxy spoke up. “Keep his ass in motion when he wants to slack off. Don’t ask too many questions about things happening around you. And make more music.”
“That I can do, Mrs. Jones.”
“And in private, you can call me by my real name,” Roxy said. “I’m not the real Mrs. Jones, but space is big and confusing. I’m Roxy.”
“Roxy,” Naomi repeated with a nod. “And the rest of you?”
“He really is Jorge Royo,” Levi said with a grin. “That’s an even better story than Roxy. Handsome is just an ordinary spy we picked up along the way.”
“Excuse me?” Rob asked. “I’m far from ordinary, Longbow. Wait until I get involved with your publicity team back home.”
“So we’re going forward?” Naomi asked. “I mean, most of my life is boxed up and stored in the cargo bay aft, same as everyone else. But we’re headed to Lincolnshire?”
“We are, young lady,” Jorge pronounced. “When we get there, that’s when the adventures start.”
Rob nodded.
He had been sent out to do the impossible, and somehow had managed to succeed. And he could come back to Ramsey with a rock band, an album to distribute, and a tour to plan.
The galaxy wouldn’t know what hit it.
29
Levi felt Naomi’s warm hands wrap around his chest from behind as she pressed herself up against him.
“It’s okay,” she murmured. “Just a nightmare. You’re awake now. You’re safe. I’ll take care of you.”
He found the cabin as it had been when he went to sleep. No monsters at the foot of the bed, dragging him off to Vishnu knows where. No nightmares, like Naomi had said.
He rolled inside her arms and touched foreheads with her.
“Sorry,” Levi said. “Didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“What happened?” she asked. “You haven’t slept this badly before.”
“Killing people brings the nightmares back,” Levi murmured, an admission he hadn’t made to anyone but his psychologist before this. The Service had one on staff, with his full history in file folders. It was a thick file by now.
“Was it bad?” she asked. “Down on the surface?”
“Roxy’s team caught them with their pants around their ankles,” Levi chuckled. “They were in the command room all by themselves because the guy on duty had taken a nap. Queen could had dropped us straight down, possibly.”
“I meant you, Levi,” she reached up a hand and caressed his face.
“I had to shoot three men,” Levi finally said out loud. “They had snuck up on my team and taken out the guys right behind me. So I attacked them.”
“You took out three armed men by yourself?” she pulled back a little in shock to look at him. “I thought you were a medic?”
“I am,” he laughed. “Only people that needed me were the ones I killed and a few others. Didn’t save anybody while we were on the surface.”
“So what do you need?” she asked, pulling him close against her chest.
He could feel her heartbeat echoing his through the shirts they both wore.
“You,” Levi finally realized. “Keeping me warm. I can face anything as long as I have that.”
She kissed him. It felt good.
He’d been by himself for decades, even when he wasn’t sleeping alone. Killed more people in the name of the Service than almost anybody he knew. Almost.
Nowhere near Jorge or Roxy, but that was about it. Most agents went their entire careers and never even drew a weapon.
He just wanted to play guitar and sing.
Maybe, finally, he could.
About the Author
Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe: The Jessica Keller Chronicles, The Science Officer series, The Doyle Iwakuma Stories, and others. He also writes about The Collective as well as The Fairchild Stories and Modern Gods superhero myths. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, Goodreads, and o
ther places.
Blaze’s works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors (Kobo, Amazon, iBooks, and others). His newsletter comes out quarterly, and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions-even ones about his books!
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Also by Blaze Ward
The Jessica Keller Chronicles
Auberon
Queen of the Pirates
Last of the Immortals
Goddess of War
Flight of the Blackbird
The Red Admiral
St. Legier
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Additional Alexandria Station Stories
The Story Road
Siren
* * *
The Science Officer Series
The Science Officer
The Mind Field
The Gilded Cage
The Pleasure Dome
The Doomsday Vault
The Last Flagship
The Hammerfield Gambit
The Hammerfield Payoff
* * *
Doyle Iwakuma Stories
The Librarian
Demigod
Greater Than The Gods Intended
* * *
Other Science Fiction Stories
Myrmidons
Moonshot
Menelaus
* * *
Earthquake Gun
Moscow Gold
* * *
Fairchild
* * *
White Crane
* * *
The Collective Universe
The Shipwrecked Mermaid
Imposters
About Knotted Road Press
Knotted Road Press fiction specializes in dynamic writing set in mysterious, exotic locations.
Knotted Road Press non–fiction publishes autobiographies, business books, cookbooks, and how–to books with unique voices.
Knotted Road Press creates DRM–free ebooks as well as high–quality print books for readers around the world.
With authors in a variety of genres including literary, poetry, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction, Knotted Road Press has something for everyone.
Knotted Road Press
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Can’t Shoot Straight Gang Returns
A Handsome Rob Gig
Blaze Ward
Copyright © 2018 Blaze Ward
All rights reserved
Published by Knotted Road Press
www.KnottedRoadPress.com
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ISBN: 978-1-64470-005-1
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Cover art:
ID 75378829 © Angela Harburn | Shutterstock.com
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Cover and interior design copyright © 2018 Knotted Road Press
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Never miss a release!
If you’d like to be notified of new releases, sign up for my newsletter.
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I only send out newsletters once a quarter, will never spam you, or use your email for nefarious purposes. You can also unsubscribe at any time.
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http://www.blazeward.com/newsletter/
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This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
