“Yes, and my technicians have verified that its fuel tanks are mostly full, Colonel, so we’d be willing to pay almost 70 percent of the vessel’s value—”
“No,” I interrupted. “No, I’ll be keeping the ship.” I had no clue how to power a ship up, much less fly one. Grimes will know or he’ll figure it out...“And the rest of the salvage, we’ll load that up too.” Seventy percent market value? I knew I could get 90 percent or more back at Karma. Those deathballs had each mounted an F11 reactor...that was serious cash. Split 20 ways, we could all be rich for the rest of our lives...
Or I could buy some real equipment, a quiet part of my mind spoke. I could recruit good mercenaries, build up a real force...And why not? I’d just defeated a serious force. Who cared about my falling out with my old company...And who cared that I wasn’t really Colonel Neubauer? I had access to his bank accounts, didn’t I?
I began to chuckle as I considered it all. I didn’t even notice the Lotar flinch at my laughter. I was too busy figuring out the possibilities. I had a ship. I had money. Even paying off the survivors of the Argonauts, I’d have more than enough money to rebuild the mercenary company.
The Argonauts weren’t dead. We were about to be back…and better than ever.
# # # # #
SHELL GAME by Terry Mixon
“This is crazy,” Doug Dresden said with a shake of his head as he walked toward the main briefing room on the freighter they’d renamed Times Square. “The timing for this mission is ridiculous. Have we lost our minds? How the hell are we supposed to pull this off?”
Gina Dresden—the senior partner in Dresden’s Dragoons—privately thought they had lost their minds, but she’d never say that publicly. Instead, she grinned. “By doing everything on schedule. None of your usual bumbling around.”
Her brother smiled at that. “I think you’ve gotten the two of us confused. You’re the hot-shit pilot that’s going to be late to her own funeral.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Now isn’t the time to second-guess the plan. We’re committed, little brother. One way or another, this mission is going off on time.”
Doug sighed. “I know. We’ve put a pile of credits into this already. If we fail to complete our part of this mission, we’re broke. Worse than broke.”
She stopped at the hatch to the briefing room. “If we blow this, we’re dead. Every last one of us. We’re taking a huge risk in exchange for a payout like we’ve never imagined. It’ll give us the resources to play in the big leagues, but only if we live to collect.”
“Big like the Four Horsemen?”
“Let’s not get carried away,” she said with a laugh. “If we consider them as tier one in Human mercenaries, we’re looking to jump from tier five to maybe three. A huge jump, but we have to keep things in perspective. We’ll be more like their cabana boys and girls.”
“Only three?” Doug grumbled, more for effect than any real displeasure, she suspected. “I’d figure we could at least make the bench for the big leagues.”
She clapped a hand on his shoulder. “The escalating clauses in our contract might—might!—earn us enough to become second tier, but only if we clear the board. Don’t count on it. That’s a little unlikely.
“Frankly, I’ll just be happy to sucker punch those damned MinSha and survive to tell the tale. Remember what Mom taught us in basic. Focus on what you can achieve. Save the insane risks for when you don’t have a choice.”
“I’m changing your call sign to ‘Debbie Downer,’” he said with a mock glare. “And let me tell you, growing up with Mom as a drill sergeant was not how childhood was supposed to work. Besides, she always liked you best. Why else would I get all the crap duty back then?”
“Some questions answer themselves,” she said with a nudge. “Let’s get in there and get this show on the road. We have to hit the stargate right on the tick, or everything comes apart. Even a minute one way or the other will ruin everything. This has to be perfect, or we’re dead.”
She looked at her watch. “We cross into hyperspace in two hours. That’ll give us just enough time to make sure everything is perfect. Then we’ll have a hundred and seventy hours to get all our pieces in the right places to win this thing.”
“Don’t stress,” Doug said with a grin. “Our little brother will have everything humming along over on our doppelganger.”
* * *
“The power coupling is fried,” the Jeha engineering technician said. “I can replace it, but it will take time. You need to tell the captain so he can abort our slot at the stargate and reschedule for the next opening.”
Logan Dresden—though that wasn’t the name he was using at the moment—shook his head and quashed the stab of panic before it affected his normally laconic expression. Not that the alien would know what any human expression meant unless it was far better versed in them than he’d have expected.
“The captain won’t want to change our slot,” Logan said firmly. “We have all the MinSha escort ships that would need to alter their own times, and that would create chaos and expense he doesn’t want to be responsible for. The Cartography Guild would exact a stiff penalty for a change now that we are less than two hours out.”
The alien rippled. It might have been the equivalent of a shrug. “That does not change the facts in this case. The power coupling will fail unless it is replaced before we engage the hyperspace generators. I believe the captain would prefer the fine over disappearing into the void.”
He was sure the Pendal owner/operator of the freighter would agree, but that would leave Logan’s siblings hanging in the breeze. He’d have to make it work. Somehow.
The alien millipede didn’t have to worry about the zero-gravity conditions in engineering, not with the grip its many legs provided, but Logan used the provided handholds to slip a little closer to the defective coupling. It looked undamaged, but appearances could be deceiving. Just look at him.
Getting hired onto the freighter as one of the senior engineers hadn’t been a problem. Not once he’d arranged a few “accidents” and “indiscretions” to clear the roster. He’d had to prove himself over the last few months, but he really was a good engineer.
Most aliens worried about humans only when they came in the form of armed mercenaries. Logan was an unthreatening merchant engineer. He’d proven his worth and was now filling in for the chief engineer on this run.
It hadn’t even taken an accident to clear the way. The chief was off the ship birthing offspring, and it had been on the schedule long before Logan had come aboard. All the Human had had to do was make sure he was the logical choice to fill in as the top dog on this run.
Which did him no good if he couldn’t figure out a solution to his current problem. Operation Shell Game was far too advanced to call off. If Logan didn’t fix this, his family was going to stick their heads into a wood chipper.
“Why can’t you swap it out for one from stores?” he asked. “We have plenty in there.”
“This power junction also serves the special cargo area. We have strict orders that its power cannot be interrupted.”
“It has a second connection, but I take your point. We don’t want to risk the special cargo.”
Certainly not after the captain had made it clear that any damage to the special cargo would be worth all their lives. Logan had no idea what was in there—and with the heavily armed guards, he doubted he’d find out anytime soon—and it really didn’t matter.
The MinSha considered it to be critical to their operations in the Kregin system. That was enough. They wouldn’t tolerate a risk to the cargo.
That didn’t mean there weren’t other options for someone who thought outside the box.
He hooked his arm around a stanchion and pulled his slate out of a holder on his belt. It only took a few moments to bring up the diagram of power cables around the cargo deck. None of them were well situated to provide an impromptu backup, but one of them might work.
“Loo
k at this line to the port-side shuttle bay,” he said while holding the slate out. “We can splice a line here and connect it to the backup supply this coupling usually serves. It will take us an hour to get the new line laid and switch the system over.”
The Jeha tilted its head a little to the side. “That leaves scant time to replace this coupling. It is possible, but we will be ready only minutes before transition. If we make a mistake, the captain will be quite angry. The MinSha will be worse.”
Yes, they would.
“We’ll do it,” Logan said decisively. “Get as many people as you need and run the new line. I’ll set up a replacement coupling here. We can finish both jobs with time to spare if you hurry.”
The other being seemed less convinced but headed off without another word.
Logan hoped this all came together. He’d probably survive if his plan failed. His family and Dresden’s Dragoons wouldn’t.
* * *
Gina acted like a referee in the meeting. That seemed appropriate since every other group was subcontracting under Dresden’s Dragoons. She really didn’t want to think about how close to bankruptcy this mission would push them.
But if they pulled it off, the lion’s share of the reward would go to her company. If they met all the extended mission objectives, they really would be positioned to move up in the hierarchy of Earth’s mercenary companies.
Maybe, if things worked out just right, they’d edge into the group of companies sitting behind the Four Horsemen. Barely.
The opportunities that would open for them would be amazing. But only if they completed the contract, and for that to happen, everything had to go just right. One little mistake, and they’d all die.
She looked around the table without letting those thoughts change the scowling expression on her face. It was inevitable, but someone always wanted to improvise at the last second. Not this time.
Major Randy Greer of Greer’s Gorillas didn’t flinch at her expression. “What? It’s a good idea and won’t change the plan that much.”
“Not only was that part of the plan settled a month ago, but I seriously doubt swapping Young’s people for yours will improve our odds. Quite the reverse. Why are you trying to piss me off?”
“Everyone needs a hobby,” the bulky man said with a smirk. “But no. You’re just a side benefit.”
“Let’s get this clear right now: I’m no one’s side benefit.”
He opened his mouth to say something that would probably get him into trouble but closed it again and nodded. “That came out wrong. Pissing you off is a side benefit.”
The man was such a pain in her ass.
“We’re not changing the plan based on you getting your panties in a wad,” she said with a shake of her head. “Everything is already worked out, and you had plenty of time to raise an objection before we transitioned.”
“Technically, we have twenty minutes until transition,” the man said with an impudent grin.
“No,” she said firmly. “Any other last-minute changes I can reject out of hand?”
The rest of their impromptu mercenary council laughed and shook their heads, leaving Greer to flap in the breeze.
“Excellent. Let me spell it out in broad terms one last time. We’ll have a week in hyperspace to iron out any operation kinks—and before any of you testosterone-laden yahoos start waving your junk around, I know I said kinks. Grow up. If we blow this, we’re going to die. Got it?”
They all nodded seriously, even if most of them probably laughed inside like twelve-year-old boys.
“Our man on the inside of the other freighter has a control shunt installed on the bridge controls,” she said. “It’ll intercept the jump command and redirect the freighter to this system rather than Kregin. We’re transitioning at the same exact moment as they are, so we’ll appear in the target system where the MinSha expect the original freighter and its escorts.
“Once we arrive, we let them see us past the guard ships around the emergence point. The ships around the main planet won’t be a danger as we approach because they won’t see us as a threat.”
Queen gave her a shake of his head. “That’s taking a lot for granted, Gina. We have to plan on something going wrong. Surely they’ll communicate with us. If something tips our hand, they’ll blow us up.”
She shot a glance at Doug before she smiled at Queen. “You are such a Debbie Downer. We’ve taken steps to keep that from happening. We have an ace up our sleeve, so to speak.”
A Pendal in his brown robes and hood stood at her gesture.
“That would be me,” the alien said in a whisper. “I am here to make certain no one suspects a change has taken place. Just as this vessel has been modified to look precisely like the other ship, I am to masquerade as the original captain.”
“Meet Lestorra,” Gina said. “He’s not a pilot, by the way. I know we all think Pendal are always pilots, but our friend is an actor.”
That produced a wave of silence around the table that lasted until Queen laughed. “An actor? Are you shitting me? What are you doing?”
One of his fellow mercenary leaders slapped him on the back of his head in rebuke. “Don’t be an idiot. The ship is disguised as theirs, so the captain needs to match.”
“That’s right,” Gina said with a nod. “Lestorra already looks a lot like the target’s captain. We paid to have that similarity enhanced. Now they look like twins. My brother Logan got us a lot of video of official calls with the subject in them, and our man can mimic him, body language and voice.
“The MinSha are no better at discerning subtle differences in aliens than we are, so they won’t know any better. Even if they did, our man is trained to fool even other Pendal. We’ve got that angle covered.”
She motioned for the Pendal to resume his seat.
“Once we arrive in the Kregin system, we’ll let the MinSha escort us to the planet. Then we blow the panels hiding the drop ships and come down on their base like the wrath of God. The ground forces will secure it while we eliminate the ships in orbit.
“That’ll bring a response from the guard ships at the emergence point. They’ll make it part way to the planet, and our follow-up ships will jump into the system and give them the choice of surrender or death. They’ll be at a really bad angle to run for the stargate. Bets on what they choose?”
Queen shook his head. “That sounds so easy when you say it, but we all know the enemy doesn’t cooperate, given a choice. What do we do if it all goes to hell?”
She smiled widely. “Then we’ll get to see which of our companies is the baddest of them all.”
* * *
“Where are we with the backup power for the special cargo?” Logan asked over the com.
“The new run is in place, and we’re performing final tests now.”
He looked at the time remaining until they entered hyperspace. “I need to start replacing the power coupling right now. Tell me the backup power is good.”
“One moment. The power readings appear stable, and the connections are reading as solid.”
“Then I’m killing this coupling now. Close up the panels and get everything else ready. We jump to hyperspace in just over fifteen minutes.”
He killed the com and started ripping the bad power coupling out. This wasn’t just going to be close. It was going to be damned close.
At the five-minute mark, the captain called. “Engineer, what is our status? The pilot says he is seeing odd readings on the power grid supplying the hyperspace generators.”
“I’m aware, Captain. One of the couplings is questionable. I’m replacing it.”
There was a slight pause before the freighter’s commander spoke again. “We are pressed for time. Will your work be ready at the appointed moment?”
“No sweat, Captain. We’ll be ready to go.”
“See that we are. The MinSha will be greatly displeased with us if that turns out to be inaccurate.”
Logan ignored the abrupt disconnect.
The captain was usually a pleasant sort, for a Pendal, but he had to be feeling stressed.
The bad power coupling was being a stone cold bitch. It finally came apart when he used a spanner to beat it open. That made slipping the new coupling into place a tad more challenging, but he got it connected with a whole thirty seconds to spare.
Terrifyingly, there was no time to test the new run. If it failed, that could mean anything from a blown generator to a failure in hyperspace—a fate no one wanted to consider.
Logan said a prayer and engaged the power. It flowed through the coupling, and the readouts turned green.
He activated his com. “Bridge, engineering. We’re go for hyperspace.”
“You cut the work exceedingly fine, engineer. Rest assured, we shall speak on the matter at great length once we are in hyperspace. Bridge out.”
Fifteen seconds later, his gut twisted as they jumped to hyperspace. He double-checked the power readings at the coupling. They were solid. They’d make it.
He let out a shaky breath and started his people getting engineering onto hyperspace watch. Once they were busy, he made his way to the hyperspace generators.
There wasn’t normally a reason to look at them, but he had one more task to carry out before anyone came looking for him.
Logan opened the main control panel and looked at the complex circuits. Most people wouldn’t be able to interpret any of this, but he could tell at a glance that everything was in order.
After a glance around to be sure no one was looking his way, he reached behind the control circuits and disconnected a small device he’d installed at the start of this shift.
“Is everything in order?”
He managed to avoid twitching and used one hand to turn his body to face the Jeha he’d sent off to run the new power cable. “Everything is fine. I just wanted to be sure.”
Reading the expression of an alien was never a sure thing, but he thought the other engineer might not be convinced.
The Good, the Bad, and the Merc: Even More Stories from the Four Horsemen Universe (The Revelations Cycle Book 8) Page 4
