by M. D. Cooper
“Oh, Lana,” Grayson groaned, “in my condition I don’t think I could boil water.”
“I’ll take care of you then,” Lana said. “My turn.”
NEGOTIATIONS
STELLAR DATE: 09.26.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Equatorial Valleys, Jericho
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
Nadine spat dirt out of her mouth. This was the third time she’d fallen, and it was a certainty that her chest wound had torn open again.
“Stupid bitch,” one of their captors muttered as she pulled Nadine back to her feet.
“Next time cuff our hands in the front and this won’t happen,” Nadine replied.
The woman hit her on the back of the head, almost sending her sprawling again. “Maybe I like watching cocksuckers like you go down.”
Nadine was about to respond with something even less ladylike when Rogers stumbled to her side and nudged her. “Easy, now, we’ll sort this out.”
How? Nadine wanted to ask. This whole mission had gone from bad to worse to unmitigable failure.
“Remember,” Rogers whispered, “If they’re here, they have transportation.”
Nadine met his eyes and nodded. Rogers was right, she didn’t have her head on straight. These pirates showing up was an opportunity, not a disaster.
“Why you doing the death march, anyway?” Rogers asked the woman, getting a push in the back for his question.
“We set up in one of the adjacent valleys. You just fell for our bait camp. We use it to catch idiots like you who want to find out where we keep our stash. Also works for Maverick’s cronies. Every now and then they raid it and he thinks that he’s all high and mighty.”
“Huh,” Rogers replied as he trudged onward. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“Shut up, Rogers,” Winter grunted as he walked past.
Nadine had to agree, with Rogers…and with Winter too. Whoever these people were, they were no slouches.
They came over a rise, Nadine’s head swimming from the lack of oxygen—which was not something their captors had to worry about with their battle armor on—and saw another deep valley before them.
To the unaugmented eye, the valley appeared to be uninhabited, nothing but tall grass and scrub marching down toward a thick forest.
But Nadine could see IR and UV activity a kilometer down the slope. At least it wasn’t far.
Five minutes later they passed beneath a stealth canopy, and the scope of the operation became clear.
A bunker was set into the hillside, with rows of shipping containers sitting out front. Small prefab buildings were spread out before it, dark figures moving between them in the night.
Further back, Nadine could make out a shuttle.
Bingo.
The woman who had pushed Nadine earlier grabbed her by the arm and half-dragged her toward the bunker while Rogers and Winter were pushed in the other direction.
“Leave her alone!” Rogers cried out, and Nadine heard a blow and then he grunted in pain.
They led her down a series of half-rotten wooden stairs to the bunker and shoved her through the door. Once inside, they led her past a few doorways before pushing her through one into a well-lit room.
Someone—probably her foul-mouthed friend—kicked her in the back of the knees, and Nadine fell to the ground, lost her balance and slammed her face into the plascrete floor.
Pain flared in her knees and to add insult to injury, someone put a boot on the back of her head, holding her down. Her right knee stung—probably cut open—and with this new pain racing up her legs, she’d call this the worst day ever.
Nadine felt another boot hit her in the side and she gasped, feeling like her chest had been snapped in two.
She blinked away the tears and a pair of large black boots approached, stopping right before her face. The boot came off her head—though it just moved to her back sending new pain through her body—and she craned her neck, but her vision didn’t get further than the man’s waist. There she saw a thick belt with a silver buckle.
She could make out the profile of a woman in the silver metal, a queen—the crown gave it away. An emblem that pointed to just one man.
He snapped his fingers and the boot lifted off her back, allowing Nadine to take small, careful breaths as she straightened slowly.
The man bent over, resting his hands on his knees, his face centimeters from her own. He brushed her blue hair aside, his breath hot on her forehead. Handsome—as far as men went, anyway—he had long curly brown hair and at least five-day-old stubble. His eyes shone blue and there were thick slashes on the skin of both of his cheeks.
The Kingfisher—or so he liked to call himself. What his real name was, Nadine hadn’t a clue. No one did. Most people went out of their way to avoid the captain of the Barbaric Queen and its mates at all costs, but here Nadine was…caught in his net.
He studied her intently. “Where’s Captain Rhoads?”
Nadine’s eyes shifted away. “I don’t know what you’re…”
Kingfisher grabbed her ear and pulled hard, causing Nadine to rise up to alleviate the pain. “You want to see how fast I rip this from that beautiful little head of yours? We saw the Dauntless—or what was left of it. Seems you ran into some trouble before the lizards got to ya.”
“She’s not here,” Nadine said swiftly and twisted her head to pull her ear out of his grasp. “She was taken.”
“By who?”
“I don’t know.” Nadine met his eyes and refused to back down.
He sighed and stood up straight, walking away toward a wooden table. He leaned against it and said, “There’s a bounty on her, larger than the three of you, but you’ll make for some nice pocket change while we hunt her down.”
“You’re going to collect the bounty put on our head by the SSF?”
Kingfisher nodded. “Any reason I shouldn’t?”
“Where did you take Rogers and Winter?” Nadine asked in response.
“We’ve some nice cages out there. They stand a reasonable chance of not getting nibbled on by the wildlife too much, don’t worry. You’ll get to check out the accommodations soon enough.”
“You know what they want Rhoads for?” Nadine asked.
Kingfisher shrugged. “Don’t much care, so long as they pay.”
“Kylie Rhoads is carrying tech worth more than the bounty on her head ten times over.” Nadine gave a seductive smile as she spoke, straightening and adding a touch of authority to her voice. “I can help you get her,”
Nadine rocked back onto her heels and slowly rose to her feet—ignoring the pain that clawed at every nerve as she waited for Kingfisher to answer.
He stroked his face as he gazed at her. “What is she carrying?”
“I only speak in private.” She glanced back at the two women behind her. She didn’t want his people to overhear in case they got any funny ideas about cutting her out. Kingfisher had a ship, a fast one, and if they could use that to get to Kylie….
He waved his hand and the two women left, closing the door. Kingfisher strode across the room and sat in a high-backed—rather throne-like—chair. He really was taking this royalty thing a little too far.
“Glass of water?” Nadine asked. “And before I say anything, you take off these cuffs.” She twisted her wrists around her back holding them out toward him.
Kingfisher laughed. “You must have me pegged for a sap.”
“I have you pegged as someone who loves money and power. I can supply you with both. Now get these cuffs off me and please fetch me a glass of water.”
“All right, all right.” Kingfisher said as he rose and grabbed some water out of the chill unit. “But only because I’m curious where you’re going with this, and I don’t want to hear your raspy voice squawking at me. Not to mention, my chair is more threatening than you are right now—what happened to you anyway?”
“Bad day,” Nadine replied as Kingfisher poured the water in a pape
r cup. As he approached her, the cuffs fell away without him even getting close. Not bad tech for a two-bit pirate.
Nadine sipped her water, glad for the soothing relief. “Cold and refreshing. Thank you.”
Kingfisher returned to his throne and splayed his fingers on the armrests. “You want to tell me what you have going on? Where’s you’re captain? And what’s so special about the tech she’s carrying?”
“I’m sure you heard the rumors about what S&H Defensive got their hands on twenty years ago? Nanotech from the lost colony ship, the Intrepid.”
“Rumors and speculation. Who hasn’t heard those stories? Everyone looking to make it big within a hundred lightyears has dreamt of getting their hands on something like that.”
“Not just stories. Truth. The tech got liberated from S&H, passed through a few hands, and now it’s inside Captain Rhoads. It’s one of the reasons why she’s missing right now,” Nadine said and watched the uncertainty take hold in his eyes. “I saw what she could do with it. It’s powerful and deadly. What do you think the SSF was after when their fleet attacked The Futz. Things are nuts right now…why do you think that is? A man like you hears things.”
Kingfisher stroked his chin again, peering down his nose at Nadine as he considered her words. “And it listens to her commands?”
“She controls it fully like any other nano. Except this tech is golden age. Matter assimilation, nano cloud, the whole deal.”
“If it’s so strong, how come she’s not with you now? How come you need to search for her and she can’t simply free herself?”
“She was betrayed and overwhelmed. She’s technologically gifted not an all-seeing AI.”
Kingfisher tilted of his head. “Yet you got away and the Dauntless. How is it you weren’t captured but she was?”
“I’m sneaky,” Nadine said simply and Kingfisher roared with laughter.
“So you are. I can see in your eyes there’s more to this story, but for now I’ll play along. You tell me what you see happening after we leave this room and I’ll see if I let you live. Or if I decide to finish what this day has started with you.”
Nadine calmly took a breath. “I placed a tracker on Rhoads before it was too late. We were following, but things were nuts around The Futz—you saw what went on there. If you let me and my crew onto your ship, we’ll guide you to where she is. Then we rescue her and we’re in the clear.”
“In the clear, my foot. You want to rescue her. I want to sell her. Our end goals are polar opposites. For a pretty lady, you sure aren’t very bright.”
“You want to sell what’s in her blood. I want Kylie back to being just Kylie.” Nadine widened her eyes, appearing earnest and vulnerable.
“Uhh…you and Captain Rhoads? You’re…”
“An item, yes. Please imagine us naked, and in bed, and get it over with. Then maybe we can move on to the useful portion of this conversation.”
Kingfisher glared at her. “No reason to go rushing my fantasies, Devonire.”
So, he did know who she was. Nadine had begun to suspect he didn’t. “If you know my name, you know what my family’s worth. We can get Kylie, sell the nano tech, and I’ll reward you for leaving us unharmed. Is all of that really so hard to comprehend in that peanut-sized brain of yours?”
Kingfisher snorted. “My brain is much larger than a peanut! It’s at least walnut-sized. Now don’t bait me or we’ll see what breaks like a nut.”
Nadine backed down. Kingfisher was more complex than she had thought. Not a man to trifle with, but not without a sense of humor. “Do we have a deal or not?” She offered him her hand.
Kingfisher stared at it and rose from his chair. However, he didn’t shake it. Instead he paced across the room, mumbling to himself as he weighed the pros and cons.
Eventually he stopped in front of her, his stance wide and his arms folded across his chest. “I’ve reached a decision.”
“Good.” Nadine smirked. “Now if we could—”
He snapped his fingers and the two women re-entered the room. “I’ve decided I’m going to kill all three of you, but I’m going to start with you.”
“Wait a second!” Nadine’s eyes widened as the women pinned her arms behind her back. “We were working our way to a deal!”
“You were spinning your wheels. Sweetening the pot every chance you had. You were never going to work with me. Admit it. Probably try to steal my ship the first chance you got.”
Nadine scoffed at the notion, though more upset that he had seen through her so easily. Maybe his brain really was bigger than a peanut. “I most certainly was not. A Devonire does not lie!”
“You stopped being a Devonire the moment you became a junker. Your family abandoned you years ago. No one in your family will ever reward me. I think we both know that, don’t we?”
Nadine gaped at the man. He certainly understood a lot about politics for a space pirate. Maybe she had misjudged him. “We can work together on this. Reach a lucrative agreement for the both of us!”
“Junker scavengers.” Kingfisher ground his teeth together and glared at her with spite. “All you care about is money.”
“Oh, come on, you’re a pirate, for the stars’ sakes!” Nadine resisted the crew members as they dragged her from the room and back outside. She lost her footing on the stairs and fell down them before the women grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her back into the clearing.
Well, the day just kept getting better and better.
They dropped her on the ground between the bunker and the cages Kingfisher had described. Within their own enclosures stood Rogers and Winter. Both men grasping the bars.
Nadine struggled to her feet as a large woman stepped forward. The muscles in her arms were only dwarfed by the ones in her neck. She rolled her head, muscles snapping and popping loudly. The ferocity of her look was somewhat dampened by the two pigtails she wore—which also did little to soften angular lines of her face.
Nadine backed away, glancing at the cages holding Rogers and Winter. “Hey guys, negotiations seem to have stalled.”
“Let her go! You can’t do this to her!” Rogers called out. “She’s a lady, unlike you!”
The hulking woman bared her teeth and growled at Rogers like she was a wild predator. Nadine had a suspicion that maybe she was.
Winter shook his cage, the door ratting as he kicked the bars. “Let me out of here and I’ll show you what a real warrior can do to you. Pick on someone your own size.”
The woman only hissed and Nadine recoiled in disgust. “I’m not sure she’s capable of speech.”
Maybe they had crossed her with a somethingasaurus.
“Beatrice’s capable,” Kingfisher said as he walked out of the bunker. Nadine couldn’t believe the huge woman in front of her was named Beatrice of all things. “She just doesn’t find you worthy.”
He threw two long pieces of rope down on the ground. The large female warrior picked one of the ropes and coiled it around one hand. The other pulled it taught with a snap-snap sound that Nadine wished to never hear again.
“He’s not serious,” Winter said as he peered past the bars of his cell, over at Rogers and then focused his attention at Kingfisher. “You can’t be serious! Nadine!”
Kingfisher shrugged and spread his arms wide. “I like theatrics, what can I say? And dear old Beatrice, she likes a bit of sport before she kills for me.”
“And if I refuse to pick the rope up?” Nadine asked with her hands on her hips.
“I’ll shoot you. Beatrice will be disappointed, but it won’t be fatal, so she’ll still get to tear your body limb from limb while you’re alive, but she’ll be really sad about it. Don’t make her sad, Devonire. You won’t like her when she’s sad.”
Beatrice’s eyes blinked and she grunted deep down in her throat as she stared at Nadine’s untouched rope on the ground, a small pout on her lips
Nadine glanced at her caged crewmates. They wore worried expressions laced with grief.
They may have seen some hints lately, but they still didn’t know who she was, what she could really do. Nadine barely remembered herself but it seemed she was about to take a crash remedial course. If she survived, there was going to be no lie she could tell to reclaim her cover.
It’d be over.
It wasn’t like she had much choice. Dying to maintain a cover was pointless. There was still so much to do. With a heavy heart, Nadine picked up the rope.
“Let the game begin!” Kingfisher bellowed, laughing as his crew gathered, forming a loose circle around the combatants. With a hiss and a holler, the woman who intended to end Nadine’s life charged straight toward her.
KINGFISHER
STELLAR DATE: 09.26.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Equatorial Valleys, Jericho
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
Beatrice was fast, and Nadine was injured, though her nano had at least managed to seal her chest wound up once more—not that it would hold for long in this contest.
She dodged as the woman thundered toward her, but Beatrice swung out an arm and caught Nadine around the waist shoving her backward.
Nadine made use of the rope she held, and looped it around Beatrice’s neck twice. The pirate bellowed, and swung a fist at Nadine’s head, but she dodged and swung around on her rope, pushing off—and ignoring her aching knees—from the hard-packed earth to land on the other woman’s back.
Beatrice gagged, but didn’t succumb as one of her arms reached back and grabbed for Nadine her fist closing around her long blue locks.
Nadine squealed as she was pulled forward, but managed to wrap her forearm under Beatrice’s neck and squeezed. Despite her enhanced strength, she wasn’t getting anywhere with the move and added her other arm.
The brute roared and flung herself backward. Nadine disentangled herself and narrowly avoided Beatrice’s weight landing on her chest. It still knocked the wind out of her, and Nadine groaned as Beatrice flipped over and climbed atop Nadine.
