Politics Equals Death: From the Athena Lee Universe (Smuggle Life Book 2)

by T S Paul

  The car did ride like a piece of garbage, but the motor did its job well. Smoothly entering the city, they arrived back at the port. They parked a block away from the bay after doing a quick drive-by.

  The sun was still low in the sky and gave just enough light to make out what was going on. It was the best time to make a move. The people who worked overnight would be tired and ready to go, and the next shift was still waking up. Not everyone was a morning person like Steve. He would use that to his advantage.

  They had fresh clothes on, the current style of New Philly, doing their best to blend in. The last thing they wanted to do was attract attention for being outsiders, which was easy to do in the Empire.

  All the systems had different styles and enjoyed diverse food and music. Pretty much anything could be different traveling from planet to planet. New Philly was no different, and Steve wasn’t a fan of most of it.

  Only a few people walked the streets this early morning. That worked in their favor since it gave them some protection and let him spot everyone out of the ordinary. Just the way Steve liked it. Being able to see all the people around him, Steve wanted to observe anyone coming.

  The hulking male walked next to the smaller engineer as they slowly made their way to the bay. His gaze scanned the crowd around him. The few people here avoided him. His rippling arms had a habit of instilling fear. It was nice to see that he still put fear into people.

  Yesterday, the minions of the Governor had shown little hesitation when attacking Steve, and that was yet another thing that made the Marine feel uncertain. The actions of the men showed they were trained, not just window dressing. For a moment, it had bothered Steve. This morning, he felt better prepared for the type of men he might face.

  “I don’t think we stand a chance,” Lindsey said. She gestured to the bay where the Rossi was parked in.

  Steve squinted his eyes and saw the massive number of men and women around the Rossi. It would take a large-scale attack to get to the ship.

  “I don’t see much damage,” Steve said.

  “No.” Lindsey was taking in the Rossi. “Minimal. Should be able to fly but not leave the planet. To get off the planet, a repair would be required, and that wouldn’t take long.”

  Steve liked that at least, and he had gained a little respect, just a little, for the people who had attacked it.

  But that didn’t mean they would be able to get to the ship. It was guarded by too many people.

  “Can you get us to the ship?” Lindsey asked.

  Steve shook his head. There was no way he could, not without drawing too much attention and getting them both captured. That would defeat the whole point of the mission.

  “No.”

  A loud thunder roared about them, and a ship appeared. It landed in the next bay to the Rossi. It was a massive ship, armed to the teeth. If Steve had to guess, it was a pirate ship, one that fired first and asked questions later.

  “Impressive ship,” Lindsey said. She gave it a whistle with how much she liked it.

  “Better than me?” Steve asked. He flexed his bicep just to make her smile. The Marine knew that she liked to check out all the ships. It was in the nature of engineers to get all google-eyed at vessels and to see what they could steal to make their own better. Lindsey was no different.

  Lindsey laughed. “Tough to compare,” she teased him.

  The hatch of the ship opened, and a stream of men exited it. The last to leave was the only one Steve was familiar with, a certain someone he wanted to kill. That list wasn’t very long, but this man was near the top of it. Captain Jack Drake, Rea’s undead brother.

  “Is that…”

  “It is,” Steve said through his clenched jaw. His fist was turning white with the anger he held for the man. The warrior had to remind himself to breathe, to not rush to the man and fight him then and there.

  It really shouldn’t have surprised Steve to see him here. The way things had been going, it wouldn’t be a shock to learn that Drake was the one who had talked to the Governor and his aide about them. Maybe he had set this one up too.

  A car pulled into the bay next to the pirate’s ship, and a sleazy man exited. It was none other than Eric, Todd’s aide, a real slimeball. That punk showed no respect for life or those under him. Not that Todd did either. The leadership of New Philly was toxic, and that angered Steve. Nothing was worse than poison at the top of a chain of command.

  “That man,” Lindsey said. “We need to get both of them.”

  Steve agreed, but it wasn’t the time. Yesterday, Steve had let himself be distracted by his emotions, but that wasn’t going to happen today.

  “We have to take this slowly, and we need a solid plan.”

  Lindsey smirked. “Fine.”

  Steve contacted Nicole and Rea over their private communications channel. The CATT said it was secured and unbreakable. He sure hoped she was right.

  “We have a few problems,” Steve said.

  “Great,” Rea said. She sounded tired and like she had just awakened. It wouldn’t surprise Steve if she had. The Captain would have had a tough time getting any sleep and most likely had been up late. “What is it?”

  Steve relayed the news regarding the ship, about not being able to get to it and the possible damage. Then, he mentioned the real doozy, Drake, and Eric.

  “You got to be kidding,” Rea said. “Please tell me that he really isn’t here.”

  Steve was silent. This wasn’t what he wanted to tell her.

  He glanced at Lindsey for help. She mouthed at him, “All you.”

  “It's for real,” Steve finally said. “I don’t know what to say, boss, but he is here. It doesn’t bode well for us.”

  The radio was silent for several moments. Steve and Lindsey stood, watching the pirate and the sleazeball talk. They needed to move and get back to the car and soon. The longer they remained here on the street, the more likely they would be spotted, either by Todd’s people or Drake’s.

  It really didn’t matter who did see them. They would be in deep trouble either way. Steve didn’t want that to happen. He wasn’t going to lose a team member, especially not Lindsey.

  “Dodge,” he said, “what do you want?”

  “Follow them,” Rea said. “If they split up, take after Drake. Nicole will join you.”

  “Roger that.”

  Steve turned to Lindsey, “Watch them. I’m getting the car.”

  He walked to the car as fast as he could without sprinting. It was tough, but he made it and jumped in. He arrived back just in time to watch Drake get into Eric’s car and for the vehicle to pull away.

  Chapter Ten

  Following the Governor’s aide and the Captain’s brother was surprisingly easy as they rode through the city. The car did nothing to avoid being tailed. It was somewhat smug of them to do that, but Steve was grateful. He didn’t want to revert to using other methods to tail them.

  As it was, he kept his distance and relied on his stealth abilities to follow his targets.

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Lindsey asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy in a while.”

  Steve shrugged. He didn’t feel any different, but he probably was happier now than he had been in weeks. This was part of his element. It reminded him of the Marines, being out and tracking people, fighting the enemy. It was the best part of the job, and he missed it. The whole “be intimidating and make people scared of you” thing got old.

  “I am.”

  “Good,” Lindsey said. “I like happy Steve.”

  “Me too. Me too.”

  Halfway through the trip, Steve was certain he knew where they were going. Sure enough, they arrived at the capitol building where they had met Todd the day before. This was beginning to become extremely dangerous.

  Steve parked the beater vehicle across the street in the parking lot for a diner. It was no surprise that restaurants and bars lined the road by the capital building. He had always imagined a pol
itician doing business at bars and figured they would use a discrete meeting place. If the establishments on the street were any sign, at least here on New Philly he was right. Business was booming. That made the Marine smile even more. He loved the excitement of it all, the way it felt like they might get caught at any moment as if he was the lead in a vid.

  A few minutes after he arrived, Nicole jumped into the car and sat on his lap. The CATT stared up at him.

  “I don’t even want to know,” Steve said.

  Nicole purred, “I hacked into the building's security.”

  “Will they notice?” Lindsey asked.

  The CATT meowed. “I’m too good. They are clueless.”

  She taped the monitor that was on the dash of the car, and a video of the Governor’s office appeared. It had Todd, Eric, and Drake in view. Soon the audio started.

  “You can handle that many?” Todd asked.

  Drake nodded. “The cargo will be no problem.”

  Steve gritted his teeth. It shouldn’t have been any shock what they were talking about. Drake was a man of no morals and would be happy to transport slaves. Talking about that job was to be expected.

  “Good,” Todd said. “Very good. We have many, many more shipments. My planet is ripe with filth.”

  Drake laughed. “A great many are. They can be used to make their homeworlds richer.”

  Todd smiled, and his aide, Eric, did too. The whole thing made Steve sick to his stomach. The Marine couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing.

  “I’m going to kill him,” he said.

  “You can’t,” Nicole said. “Well, not Drake. The Governor and his aide you can.”

  Steve wanted to kill them all. He loathed men like this. They were the real scum of the Empire. They needed to be dealt with and as soon as possible.

  For a brief moment, Steve contemplated going into the building and fighting them with no regard to what it meant for his life, but his comm with Rea beeped.

  “Marine,” Rea said. “Do not, I repeat, do not enter that building.”

  “Captain,” Steve said, “they need to be dealt with.”

  “They will be,” the Captain said, “but return to us now. We have to plan our next steps.”

  “Roger.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Rea paced in the tiny kitchen and dining room of the safe house as she waited for Steve, Lindsey, and Nicole to return. This was tough for her, hearing that Drake was here or, rather, her brother.

  The more she thought about it, the more she tried to fight it, even though it was most likely true. Drake was her brother. He looked so much like her. He had reminded her of someone, someone she just couldn’t place. Now, it made all the sense in the world who he was. George had died and had been replaced with Jack Drake.

  Aldis walked into the room. They had all slept in their clothes. Clearly, Aldis didn’t think that was necessary. The hacker wore nothing but his boxers, and the flap was open. Not what Rea wanted to see. She wasn’t that close to her crew.

  She shielded her eyes. “Go put some pants on.”

  The lanky man looked down. “Whoops.” He quickly covered up and blushed. “Sorry,” he said as he dashed out of the room.

  Parker entered at the same time and glanced at him. “What up with him?”

  “Trust me,” Rea said. “You don’t want to know. It’s going to haunt me for days.”

  Parker shrugged. “If you say so. Any food here?”

  “Nope. We’ll get some soon.”

  “I take it that the mission didn’t go well,” the young woman said. Parker sat at the table with her arms crossed.

  “Not even a little bit.” Rea didn’t elaborate on it. She was only going to talk about this once. The less Rea had to talk about Drake being here, the better.

  She paced in the room as she waited for her team to return. It wasn’t long before Aldis came back, this time dressed. As he sat, he apologized profusely. It wasn’t enough to erase the image that had seared itself into her mind. The captain hoped to never see that again, especially in her nightmares.

  It was close to an hour before the others returned. Rea heard the car arrive, and she marched outside in a huff. It had taken them forever to get back, and they had ignored her attempts at contacting them. The group needed to plan a course of action.

  She threw the door open. “What took so long?”

  As they stepped out, both Steve and Lindsey carried bags.

  Nicole walked over to Rea. “Lindsey insisted on getting food,” the CATT said.

  The captain was about to really lay into them, but her stomach rumbled, and she wasn’t the only one who was hungry. Parker and Aldis had both complained about it more than once as they had waited.

  “My fault,” Lindsey said. “We passed so many places to eat that I had to get something. I made Steve stop.”

  “It’s fine,” Rea said, “but the delay made me worry that had you gotten caught or killed.”

  “Again, my fault,” Lindsey said. “I wanted to surprise you.”

  Steve carried several bags that were stuffed to the rim. “I did try to contact you. She stopped me. I even had Nicole help.”

  The CATT looked up in shock. She didn’t like being thrown under the bus, and it showed. Steve was going to regret saying that with the way Nicole could hold a grudge. She was going to make his life miserable for at least a week. She could do so many things to make him hate her more.

  “I did no such thing,” Nicole said. She rolled her eyes. At least that was what it looked like to Rea. “I was no part of this.”

  Steve groaned. It was obvious he wanted to say something but held his tongue out of fear of making Nicole even more annoyed. She was the only member that could take out their revenge with no consequences. She was the one everyone on the ship feared, even Rea.

  “Guess my comm device just suddenly went on the frizz and started to work right again after I stopped trying to contact the captain,” Steve said.

  “Must be a glitch,” Rea said.

  Both laughed. Everyone did.

  Once inside, they settled down to eat. They got enough food for the day but not much more.

  After eating, everyone looked at Steve and Lindsey. The Marine shrugged and stood up. “The ship can be flown but getting to it is going to be next to impossible.”

  “Figured as much,” Aldis said. “This better not be our last mission.”

  The table was tense. Many of the crew had a look of despair and were clearly terrified that this might be the last thing they would do together.

  “It won’t be,” Rea said. “I have faith. Tell them the rest.”

  Parker and Aldis stared at Steve, eager to hear. They weren’t going to like it, not one bit. Both hated the last job for different reasons, but still, they had truly despised it.

  “We saw a ship arrive. It was Drake’s. He’s here and working with Todd and Eric. He is going to do the job.” Steve informed the team.

  Aldis crinkled his nose. “That pirate. I want him dead.” He looked at Rea. “Sorry.”

  “No worries. I want him taken care of. Brother or not, he tried to kill us. He needs to pay for that.”

  “He does,” Parker said. Her face was flush, and she balled her hands into fists. She was angry, ready to kill. “It is no surprise that he is willing to deal in slavery. Just makes me want to kill him more.”

  She had a personal rage against slavers, just like the rest of the crew.

  “They will get what they deserve,” Rea said.

  “That is the real question. Well, I have a few,” Lindsey said. “How did he get here so fast?”

  “I wouldn’t be shocked,” Rea said, “if he lined this up for us and expected us to get caught, he had to be here to reel us in.”

  Steve nodded. “That’s my theory. He is doing two jobs. We’ll have both him and the Governor to deal with.”

  “Not good,” Parker said. She again appeared distressed by that news. “What is the other questio
n?”

  “What do we do?” Lindsey asked. “Take out the Governor? Drake? Risk getting the ship?”

  The table was silent. Rea knew what she thought they should do. It was easy to her, but she was the type of leader that would let her crew figure it out. She might guide them, but she would not dictate them.

  “The Governor,” Steve finally said. “We take him out. That gets us off the planet. Gets Drake running, and we can track him after that.”

  The crew looked at both him and Rea. She nodded. That had been what she wanted to do. She wanted to deal with Drake, but she figured he’d be part of their lives for the near future, and that meant they would have several opportunities to deal with him.

  On the other hand, Todd was an immediate problem and issue for many people. That meant dealing with him right now.

  “Agreed,” she said.

  “Good,” Steve said. “I want to kill him.”

  “Me too,” Parker said.

  Rea didn’t like hearing that, and she’d try to make sure neither of them killed him, but if that were the end result, she wouldn’t get in the way.

  “Sounds good to me,” Aldis said. “Let’s get the ball rolling.”

  “Okay. We need to find if anyone on New Philly is already trying to get rid of Todd,” Rea said. “And we need to find out more about him.”

  “We do,” Steve said. “I can kidnap that aide of his.”

  “Roger,” Rea said.

  “I can reach out to some underground contacts,” Aldis said. He glanced at Parker, who smiled.

  “He sure can,” the young girl said.

  Rea thought there was something to that, but let it go. “If you say so, you go with him.”

  “Okay,” Parker said.

  “Settled. Steve, Lindsey, and I will get someone on the inside. You two try to see if anyone is working against him. We need support if we are going to really remove him.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Parker and Aldis went back to the shop where they watched the illegal robot fights. The hacker was sure he’d be able to learn more here. At least, he kept saying that to Parker. She wasn’t as sure. They didn’t seem like the rebellion type to her.