by Jet Mykles
“After all your talk about him being a hotshot.”
“Oh. That.” She grimaced. “He came a long way, Colonel. He deserves to handle a veeby.”
He turned toward the exit, extending an arm to indicate that she should accompany him. “Quite a different story from what you said in my office about a year ago.”
“I realize that, sir.”
“Could it be that I was right?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Yes, sir.”
Werner clapped his hands once and laughed. “Ha!”
Chapter Nine
The klaxon rang through the security offices. “Security breach, dock twelve. All level-three personnel summoned. Code ten.”
Code ten?! Beth shot to her feet, opening the top drawer of her desk. Code ten called for the Elite to come armed. Grabbing her limited-range laser pistol, she checked the charge and flipped the safety off as she headed for the door of her office. The door opened for her, and she grabbed her armored jacket as she rushed out.
Running along the corridor, she shrugged into her jacket and dug the ear comm out of the collar. When she tapped the switch to turn the thing on, a computer voice came on to fill her in on details:
“Apprehend Ensign Drake Ange. Shoot to stun, but permission to kill.”
Shock stumbled Beth to a halt. Drake?! Was he back? She’d known he was due to arrive any day, but she’d kept herself scrupulously busy so she wouldn’t think too closely on it.
The voice went on. “Suspected of smuggling contraband. Last seen leaving dock twelve. Whereabouts currently unknown.”
Contraband? What kind of idiocy was this?
She made her way quickly to dock twelve to join her fellow members of the Elite. Her coworkers crawled all over the veeby that was newly docked. She recognized it as the ship Ange and Smythe had flown away a month ago.
“Fox!”
She looked up as Major Cohen approached. The woman frowned at Fox. “Ange is one of your recruits, isn’t he?”
Fox saluted and nodded, relaxing when the woman waved her to ease. “Yes, sir, he is. What’s this all about?”
“Ange and Smythe returned about an hour ago. Ange left the ship alone shortly after dock. The attendants were delayed in boarding, and when they did, they found Ange gone and Smythe unconscious. When they revived him, he claimed that he and Ange had it out because Smythe found out about the stolen goods Ange had sneaked on board.”
“What? There must be some mistake.”
Cohen raised a brow at Beth’s outburst, but no more. “No mistake. His first flight out and the Krystanni couldn’t resist a little smuggling.” The woman sniffed, and Beth knew the racial slights running through her head, even if she didn’t voice them.
Beth shook her head. “I don’t believe it. There must be some mistake, sir. I don’t think that Dragon would --”
“Fox!”
The sound of her call sign preceded another blaring klaxon. Beth put her hand over her ear, cupping the comm as she turned to face the second-class ensign sprinting her way.
“Ensign Ange has been found,” said the computer voice in her ear. “He has stolen a VBY Emeriate flighter, class two. Name: Kitsune, belonging to one Elizabeth Holliday, call sign: Fox.”
Beth’s mouth fell open.
The ensign skidded to a halt in front of her. “Fox! Dragon’s stolen your ship!”
She was running for the corridor before she could think. Hopefully Major Cohen would forgive her breach of conduct. She and the ensign sprinted out of dock twelve and raced for dock nine, where the Kitsune was kept.
It was gone! Her beautiful, newly outfitted ship was gone.
Chapter Ten
Four years later ...
Beth flicked the comm switch. “Fox to Rainier Station.”
“Rainier Station. How goes it, Major Fox, sir?”
The cheerful voice was familiar. “Jetter?”
“Aye, sir.”
Beth smiled. One of her former recruits. Always nice to hear a friendly voice, especially after a failed mission. “Good to hear your voice, Jetter. Permission to dock?”
“Permission granted, sir. You’re in ... dock thirty-six.”
“Thanks, Jetter. Please notify Colonel Greer of my arrival.”
“Colonel Greer isn’t in station at this time, Major.”
“He’s not?”
“No. He left for Balour Station a few days ago.”
“Who’s in command?”
“Admiral Werner.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Werner’s back?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well. Please notify him of my arrival.”
“Done, sir.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sir. Welcome back.”
Werner was back? Wasn’t that off schedule? Shouldn’t he be on some planet or other romancing the various governments and selling them on the advantages of working with Rainier?
Cracking a yawn and fighting to keep her eyes open, Beth steered her X43 flighter for the opening dock door. “Home again,” she sighed when the tractor beam took control from her. Landing routine took up her thoughts as the small ship was brought to bay. Once she was grounded, she flicked open her seat harness and activated the top hatch.
“Fox!”
She had to smile, recognizing the voice. “What possessed you to come to the docks?” she asked as she dropped from the wing to the dock’s floor.
Pol came to a stop, primly smoothing creases from the arms of her coveralls. “I heard someone important was coming. Imagine my disappointment that it was only you.”
Beth smiled and briefly hugged her friend.
“Welcome back,” Pol said, holding her at arm’s length to study her. “You look like shit.”
“Well, thank you.”
They started toward the exit. “When was the last time you slept?”
“I think I got a few hours planetside before I started up.”
“And before that?”
A crewman came up, and Beth eyed him and his credentials carefully. Deciding he was legitimate, she gave him instructions for the flighter she’d rented.
Pol waited patiently until the man left, headed toward the flighter. She followed when Beth hefted her bag higher on her shoulder and again started for the exit. “Why didn’t you take a shuttle?”
Beth wouldn’t face her. “I wanted to fly.”
She felt Pol study her. “Something happen planetside?”
“No.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Beth sighed. “It might have been nothing.”
“What?”
Beth scratched at the skin just above the high neck of her plated flightsuit. “There was a man I didn’t know who offered to take me to the shuttle.”
“Emirate?”
“He wore a uniform.”
“You think he was fake?”
“He was too adamant.”
Pol sighed. “This is getting worse, Beth.”
“I know.” Beth’s eyes flitted from person to person as they walked down the crowded corridor. Her hand never strayed far from the small blaster at her hip.
“I guess planetside isn’t safer after all.”
Beth refused to sigh. “At least not on Telyrud.” Her home planet. It hurt not to feel safe on her own home planet.
They hired a private cart to take them to the sector containing their quarters. The little conveyance traveled the same lines as the larger trams, but would only hold three or four people.
Beth collapsed once the cart’s doors closed, dropping her bag to the floor.
A gentle hand stroked her hair. “Did you get any leads?”
Beth smiled, chuckling tiredly into her hands. “He was there. I missed him by an hour, tops.”
“Damn.”
Damn, indeed. For four years now, she’d pursued Dragon. Shortly after his theft of her ship, she’d requested reactivation. Werner had granted it willingly, giving h
er the primary objective of catching Dragon. At first, she hadn’t been in charge of the investigations. She’d just been put on flight duty. She was still considered one of the best pilots known. However, within months of his crime, Drake’s prowess at flying became legendary. He’d taken her modified veeby to heights Beth hadn’t imagined for it, always with her one step behind him. Then, two years ago, she’d exposed a smuggling ring that he’d supposedly been part of. The huge ring turned out to be entrenched in Rainier Station, something like the mafia of the old days on Earth. Exposing the ring had both made her and broken her. It gained her a promotion to major and a certain amount of acclaim. However, she’d been a target ever since. It had started small with seemingly accidental coincidences putting her life in jeopardy. Shortly after that, she’d received a warning that she should stop pursuing the various tendrils of the ring that still existed, or else the accidents would keep happening. Stubbornly, she hadn’t stopped. She hadn’t caught Dragon. Now she was paranoid in the extreme.
“Did you hear that Werner’s back?”
Beth sat up, taking a deep breath to stave off a yawn. “I did. What’s he doing here?”
“It sounds as though things went well with the Confederacy.”
“You think Rainier will change jurisdiction?”
“Could be. Anything could happen.”
Beth nodded. That was also somewhat her fault. Exposure of the smugglers and their firm hold on Rainier had weakened the station. Werner and the higher-ups had spent most of the last two years both rooting out the bad element and rebuilding. The press for the Emirate had been horrible, to say the least, which had adversely affected trade and tourism.
She stared at the swiftly passing lights as they zipped through the passage. “I should request a discharge.”
“What?”
“I should quit.” She shook her head. “I can’t do this anymore.”
She saw Pol’s frown reflected in the window.
“It’s not going to stop.”
“So you’re just going to give up on catching the Dragon.”
Beth’s gaze narrowed. Exposing the smugglers had been secondary. She’d done it hoping to remove his secure base. It hadn’t worked. He’d continued to elude her. Catching him and bringing him to justice was her only true goal. A goal she continually failed to attain.
“You won’t catch him outside of the Emirate,” Pol continued, squeezing her hand. When Beth said nothing, she sighed. “You’re tired. You’re worn out. Take the few days that --” A blipping sound cut her off. She reached up to touch the earpad tucked in her left ear. “This is Pol ... Oh, hello, sir.”
Beth glanced over.
Pol mouthed Werner. “Yes, sir, I’m with her right now.” Pol grimaced and tilted her head apologetically. “Yes, sir, I’ll tell her.” She tapped the ear bud, then reached up to the touchpad on the wall beside them. “He wants you to report in.”
Beth shut her eyes.
“I’m sorry. It’ll probably be quick.” The cart stopped and they stood. “You want me to take your bag to your quarters?”
“No.” Beth hefted the bag. Pol was one of the very few people she would trust with her things, but she was too used to having the essentials with her now. A few times in the last two years, she’d had to make quick getaways and hide for a day or two.
Pol walked with her to another cart that would take her to the security level. “Want me to go with you?”
Beth smiled and shook her head. “No. I’ll be fine.”
Pol slid an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug. “If you’re up for it later, call me and we’ll have dinner. My treat.”
Beth nodded.
They waited in silence until the cart came, and neither said anything as Beth stepped into it alone.
Werner’s office hadn’t changed much in all the years she’d worked for him. There were a few more images of him and assorted leaders that shifted through the slideshows in the digital frames, but the furniture and layout were all the same.
She stepped into his office and saluted, her bag still across her shoulder.
Werner got up and came around the desk toward her. His look of concern was touching. “At ease, Major.” He reached out and shook her hand. “Welcome home, Fox.”
“Thank you, sir. Welcome home to you as well. How was your trip?”
He waved the question aside and walked her into the room, gesturing her into a chair before his desk. “Never mind that. I know you’re tired. I won’t keep you long.” He perched on the edge of the desk. “But I’d like a brief rundown of this last mission.”
She let her bag slide to the polished floor at her feet and did her best to give him the highlights of her latest failure to capture Dragon.
When she was done, he shook his head. “Damn. I’ve begun to think he really is one of those mythical, magical beasts.”
Beth could only smile. She’d harbored that notion quite a bit herself.
Werner stood and Beth blinked in surprise. Had her eyes been closed?!
“You’re a wreck, Major,” he said, taking hold of her arm to pull her to her feet. “Go home and sleep for a few days. You’re officially on leave for two.” He picked up her bag and turned her toward the door. “I’d give you more, but --” He shook his head regretfully. “-- I can’t. There’s a deal that we’ve gotten wind of that the Dragon may be involved in, and I’d like to have you there.”
She stopped at the door, trying to assemble her thoughts as she took her bag from his hands. “I don’t need the time off, sir --”
“Yes. You do. Take it with my blessing. No, take it as an order. I need you on the ball for this one.”
“Yes, sir.”
He clapped his hand on the shoulder of her plated flightsuit. “We’ll get him this time, Fox. I can feel it.”
Chapter Eleven
Someone was in her bedroom. Keeping her eyes shut and her breathing even, Beth used every other sense to decipher the identity of the person.
The cologne cinched it. She barely resisted snarling. How had Darren gotten into her room?
She waited, feigning sleep. Her hand already rested under her cheek and the pillow, and a slow movement wrapped her fingers around the butt of a short-range laser pistol.
From the sounds of it, Darren was removing his clothing. He was being quiet, but he was supremely untrained, so she could almost see the clothing falling off and could easily figure out where he was in her darkened room. Judging from the colors she saw behind her eyelids, he’d left the door open with a light in the other room. She heard no one else and guessed by his actions that he was alone. What the hell is he thinking?
He finally came over and sat carefully next to where she lay on her side. He placed a hand on the mattress in front of her and another behind her and leaned in.
Without looking, she shot out with her fist. The loose blanket and sheets hindered her movement, making the blow lighter than she’d intended, but it was still hard enough to produce a satisfying crack to his nose.
He bleated, falling back from her.
She sat up and furiously watched him crumple to the floor, both hands clutched to his nose. No blood. Damn.
“What the fuck!”
She glared. It was a good thing she’d left the pistol beneath her pillow. She was angry enough to shoot him. “I told you to never sneak up on me.”
“Oh, come on, Beth ...”
“No. No ‘come on, Beth.’ You do not sneak up on me. Ever. How did you get in here?”
He sat on his naked ass in the middle of her carpet, cradling his face. It was an absurd sight for such a big, healthy man. “You gave me they key code.”
“I most certainly did not.”
He released one hand from his face to use it to lever himself to stand “Sure you did.”
“No. I would have remembered.”
He snorted as best he could and gingerly released his nose with his other hand. Just as she thought, he wasn’t bleeding. “You
hit me.”
“Not hard enough.”
“What? Damn it, Beth.”
The impact of what he’d done was sinking in. She wanted to believe this was just what he said it was -- a surprise from a frequent lover. But ... “How did you get in here?”
He tried getting angry, scowling darkly at her. “Damn it, Beth! I came to surprise you.”
“You should have called.”
“That would ruin the surprise.”
“I hate surprises.”
“I’m your lover!”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I can have access to your bedroom.”
“Not unless I say so.” Impatient, she shoved the blankets from her legs and stormed across the floor and out of the bedroom. The fact that she was naked didn’t bother her at all.
“What? Beth how many years have we --?” His voice pursued her, and she heard his footfalls to indicate that his body followed suit. “Hey, I’m talking to you.”
Her chest felt empty, that awful feeling when something wasn’t right. “And now you’re going,” she said, not turning back, not letting her voice show her panic. She opened the access panel to her security system and checked it. “How the hell did you get a key code?”
“You gave it to me.”
“I didn’t,” she informed him, changing the code immediately. When she was done, she turned. She put her hands on her hips. “I said, get out.”
His eyes roamed her naked body in what she supposed was meant to be a seductive manner. Unfortunately for him, in her present state of mind it did nothing but make her wonder.
“Why are you so mad?”
“You snuck into my room.”
“With the intention of making love to you.”
“That’s what you say.”
“What?” Shock registered; then his face softened. He held out his hands and stepped toward her. “Beth, honey ...”
She held up a warning hand. “Stay back. If I’d wanted sex, I would have called you.”
He stopped, but some of his glare returned. “Why am I always at your beck and call for sex?”
“You are more than welcome to get it elsewhere.”
