The Queen's Hammer

by Sean Benjamin

  “We’re looking good, Captain. Shouldn’t be a problem getting out of here in less than three hours,” Holly reported from the logistics computer. “All loading is on time as of now. As long as we don’t lose some shuttles to mechanical problems or something, we’ll be good.”

  “Thanks, Holly.”

  Talk came to a halt as everyone watched Cottonmouth’s shuttle touch down nearby and then go to idle. The side hatch was pushed open and Llewellyn Terrant disembarked alone. For the first time since being in Flot 1, she was not in a Marbellan uniform, navy work overalls, or some other official garb. She had on casual, comfortable clothes and athletic shoes with no socks. Instead of her hair being pinned up behind her head per regulations, it hung around her shoulders. She wore a wide brimmed hat. She looked like she was a hiker out on the trail. An armed hiker with a shooter on her hip.

  Terrant walked toward the command post and then angled toward the three young Marbellan captains standing quietly to the side. She addressed the trio as she stopped in front of them. “Whose idea was it to disobey orders and leave Mistral to come here?”

  Roland Slate immediately spoke up with a tone of defiance and disdain. “I suggested it, and we don’t take orders from you. I can do as I damn well-.”

  The remainder of his reply was cut short as Terrant pulled her shooter and shot him. Slate was blown off his feet and landed on his back with a smoking hole in his upper chest. Nobody said anything as they absorbed the unexpected move. Predictively, O’Hare broke the silence. “Wow,” she said as she looked at Terrant. “Who are you, and what have you done with Terrant?” She waited a second and then added. “Disregard that. What the hell do I care about what happened to Terrant?” She turned to Hawkins. “I have no idea who this new babe is but I like her!”

  Terrant smiled briefly at O’Hare and turned to the two surviving Marbellan captains. “It may have been his idea, but you two dumbasses went along with it. You risked hundreds of lives just so you could get laid. The only reason I don’t kill you both is because of your wives. You’re fired.”

  “You can’t do that!” exclaimed Zoller.

  Terrant raised her shooter in their general direction. “On the contrary, I can do pretty much as I damn well please. You’re to be escorted to your ships so you can pack your trash, and then you will return here. You will be taken to another ship and dropped off at the nearest port. Once you hit the ground, make sure you vanish if you want to continue to live. If I see or hear of either of you ever again, you are dead men walking.” Terrant raised her voice. “I need someone’s death squad.”

  “Me, me, me,” exclaimed O’Hare. She was really enjoying this. She turned to a crewmember standing a short distance away. “Cody and his team are out providing local security. Get on the comm and get them up here.” O’Hare’s man moved toward the command post as she turned back to the group. “No way I let this pass by without helping.”

  Zoller tried to save his position as he faced Terrant. “Admiral, we-.”

  “I’m not an admiral, I’m a ship’s captain.”

  Zoller frowned. This was not going well. “Captain, we may have made a mistake, but this is uncalled for.” He looked over her shoulder at the other two pirate captains. “We wish to officially appeal this decision,” he announced to them in a formal tone. Blaise Tyr standing next to him nodded in agreement.

  Everyone, including Terrant, laughed. She shook her head as she replied, “What navy do you think you’re in? There is no appeal process here. No board of inquiry. No formal investigation. No review of your case by higher authority.” She smiled a grim, cold smile. “Welcome to Pirate Flotilla One. Don’t get comfortable. You won’t be staying.”

  Ten minutes later, Cody, leader of Nemesis’ death squad, climbed up the ridge from the camp below. He was followed by six others. They were on the ground in case some of the refugees resisted the evac order or needed prodding to move. They were heavily armed and ready for combat. Cody moved quickly to O’Hare. “Captain?”

  O’Hare pointed at Terrant. “You’ll be taking your orders from Captain Terrant for this mission.” She stepped back, watching Terrant closely.

  Cody turned to Terrant. She nodded her thanks to O’Hare and then addressed the squad leader. “Please escort these two fired captains to Python and Sidewinder. Use my shuttle. They are to retrieve their gear and return here. Turnaround time is thirty minutes. Just get their gear and return. No good byes. No parties. No hugs and tears. Any resistance, any interference from others, any anything, you are authorized to use whatever measures you deem fit to restore order and accomplish your mission.”

  Cody was all business. “Roger that, ma’am.” He turned to the two used-to-be captains. “Just to let you know, we are spring loaded to the kill position. We don’t give verbal warnings or fire warning shots. At the first sign of trouble, we start shooting people in the head. You two will be the first.”

  Terrant added her final thoughts as she looked at the two unhappy Marbellan officers. “I hope you try something. I need an example to let everyone know how serious I am, and Cody killing you both would accomplish that quite well.”

  Hawkins gestured at the man on the ground nearby. “Oh, I dunno. That dead guy there is a good start. Word will get around.”

  Terrant looked down at Roland Slate on the ground and nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. I wasn’t considering him. I had already dismissed him from my thoughts.”

  O’Hare laughed. “Yup, I think this new kid is going to fit right in.”

  Cottonmouth’s shuttle was sitting at engine idle. Cody’s team and their two charges loaded onboard and the engines spun up. The round trip took twenty-eight minutes and there was no trouble. Their wives in the encampment were contacted so they could depart with the men, and both women were waiting when the shuttle returned. Surprisingly, once the situation was explained to them, both chose to remain with their evacuation group. They had had enough of being refugees, and they saw good things coming for their band so had no intention of becoming eternal wanderers for the sake of two stupid men. After briefly arguing with the two disgraced captains, the newly freed wives turned around and walked back to their groups. The two outcasts were sent to Dragon under guard. They would be kicked off Dragon at the first suitable port. Or at the first unsuitable port.

  Terrant watched the little domestic drama play out without interfering. After it was over, she turned to Rafe and commented, “If I had known their wives didn’t like them, I would have killed them too.”

  Rafe shook his head in mock disappointment. “You are just way too nice.”

  “I will have to work on that.”

  The loadout continued. The people, their personal items, and all the camp equipment was moved in quick fashion. The pirates had had years of practice and were very good at evacuation. The camp below was soon deserted with only marks in the dirt and several tent poles to mark the location. And one unburied dead man. Soon the wind and time would erase those telltale signs.

  The last two shuttles were collecting the small command post from the ridge. As the remaining people were being loaded, Hawkins made sure to get next to Terrant. “I guess you’ll be staying with us.”

  “If you’ll have me.” She looked at him. “Is the squadron leader offer still open?”

  “Sure. I ran it by everyone since we talked a few days ago. No objections.”

  Terrant was surprised. “Not even O’Hare?”

  “Actually, she objected then, but she told me a few minutes ago, she was withdrawing that objection. I think you have a new best friend.”

  Terrant gave slight smile. “God help me.”

  The two captains walked toward the shuttle position. As Terrant broke off toward her own shuttle, Hawkins spoke. “Lew, those two used-to-be captains will sell you out as soon as they hit dirt. Coordinate with Shane and get your ships moved from Mistral ASAP. That location is the most important thing they got to sell and they will do it in a heartbeat.”

  Terran
t paused in her departure, turned, and nodded at Hawkins. “Good point, Rafe. I’ll get on it and keep you updated.”

  Hawkins nodded in reply and each entered their shuttles. Terrant considered the last order as she took a seat. It seemed obvious once Hawkins had said it, but she had not even thought of it. She reflected on her oversight. There were damn few rules now. And lots of enemies. Yes, she needed to make the adjustment if she and her ship were going to survive here. She could do that.

  The two shuttles made the rounds to drop everyone at the appropriate ship. The pirate formation departed ten minutes before Green Squadron would be in sensor range. Hawkins took his command chair and called Dietrich on a private channel. He found out O’Hare beat him to the comm by about three seconds, and she was talking to the Goth Admiral.

  “Admiral Dietrich, you did a good thing here. Thank you.”

  Dietrich was feeling at ease after a close call that ended well, so he loosened up a little. “Well, you could do a good thing for me if you are so inclined.”

  “What would that be?” she asked suspiciously.

  “If you were to meet Admiral Hochstadt again, cut her some slack.”

  O’Hare considered the suggestion. “For you, okay.” She saw Hawkins was on the net. “Well, I’ll let you boys chat.” She looked at Dietrich again. “I hate Goths, so if we meet on a future battlefield, I will still try to kill you, but I promise not to enjoy it.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Why do you hate Goths?”

  “I just do,” she replied in a near whisper and she was gone.

  Hawkins quickly picked up the conversation. “Like Killian said, thank you for all you did here. I owe you a big one.”

  Dietrich gave a slight nod at the compliment and then added. “It was the right thing to do.”

  “It has been my experience that everyone knows the right thing to do, but knowing it and then actually doing it are two completely different things.”

  “That has been my experience also.” Dietrich paused for a moment and then said. “Since you owe me one, you can start by sending a comm to all the damn planets that have barred us and tell them we had nothing to do with the Lorelei incident. Coming from you that would carry some weight.”

  Raferty nodded. “I can do that. The big ports will let you back in and the others will follow because they don’t want to be left out. I’ll get the comm out to the various spaceport authorities in an hour. I promise to say nice things about you.”

  “Thank you. That’s just a down payment. You still owe me one, and I’ll keep it in my pocket for future use.”

  Hawkins spoke quietly. “I’m in the process of doing you a favor now.”

  The tone made Dietrich a little uneasy. “I don’t recall asking for another favor.”

  “You didn’t and, quite frankly, you wouldn’t ask for this favor, but I’ll do it anyway.”

  Now Dietrich was more than a little uneasy. “How will I know when this favor is done?”

  Hawkins gave him a cold smile. “You’ll know,” he said. He was gone.

  Chapter 43

  Shane Delacruz looked across the table at the Agra 5 representatives and kept his tone even. “This seems too easy. I’m wondering how you see this all playing out.” He gave them a benign look. He did not want to insult anyone, but his guard was up.

  Ebenezer Palmer nodded slightly. “We get that. You have to be careful in your line of work. We hope you will consider coming here to live, but we aren’t doing this entirely out of the goodness of our hearts. The truth is, we get something out of this too. We are underpopulated and do not have the agricultural resources of our four sister planets. Not the same amount of good land or water. With the establishment of the Zeke base on Agra 2, we are the furthest planet out from the other four so will benefit the least from that. Simply put, unless we do something to make you all take notice of us, we stand to be the odd group out. With your people living here, your leaders and Captain Hawkins will have to pay attention. Captain Hawkins paying attention means the Duke of Black Hallow is paying attention which means there will be Zeke support if it is required. If there is a threat to your people here and only Zekes within range to help, they will help.” Palmer gave Delacruz a smile. “There is a new wind blowing, and we need to adjust our sails to take advantage of it. If we don’t, we could be left behind when all the changes happen.” He leaned toward Shane. “Your people here would be a new beginning for us. We can’t be just farmers and ranchers anymore. We can’t compete with our four sisters. We need to diversify to make life better here. You can help in that. You aren’t farmers. That is good.”

  Delacruz heard the ring of truth in the explanation. He was more comfortable with deals where everyone benefited rather than someone acting the saint. He was always suspicious of saints.

  Palmer continued. “You will be in a separate settlement of your own creation and will have seats on the planetary council based on your population. Our people will be standoffish at first. We are suspicious of outsiders by nature, but time will overcome that. I have told our population everything I just told you when I presented the idea of inviting you all here. We were always fifth best before the Grange came, and we suffered under the Grange just like everyone else. We are now in danger of being left behind by our four sisters. Our people know what is at stake.” He smiled at Shane. “If things don’t work out, your people will tell you and you can move on with no harm.”

  Shane smiled back. If nothing else, he admired the action being taken. Usually, people let events define them and their choices. This planet’s leaders were trying to get out in front of the coming changes and make the best of the shifting situation. He thought he could work with these people. Shane extended his hand. “I will run this proposal by my command. I will recommend approval. Hopefully, we will have a deal.” Palmer continued to smile as he reached for Shane’s hand. “That’s all we can ask.”

  Chapter 44

  Sherry Atwater walked out of her apartment building to her air car. As she approached, she saw a woman leaning up against it as if waiting for her. Sherry was new in town and had kept a low profile. She knew nobody here except for the three members of her team that came with her. Atwater was on her guard as she approached and then stopped two meters from the woman.

  “Your ass is denting my car.” Sherry could handle herself in a fight or a shootout and maybe this would be the start of a badass reputation for herself on Potenka.

  “I haven’t gained any weight so your car must be really cheap if my ass is denting it.” The woman was not intimated by the show of aggression. The woman then added, “Yup, it must be cheap. Just like you.” She smiled brightly at Atwater.

  The assassin’s first instinct was to pull a weapon and have at it. She looked around. No witnesses. She looked back at the stranger. She flexed her right arm to go into her jacket pocket and through it to the shooter in the holster on her waist under the jacket. At the last second, she didn’t. There was something to this mysterious woman. She was inviting attack while appearing to do nothing to defend herself. That meant someone else was defending her. Atwater looked around again. Slower this time. Still nothing, but she knew someone was out there. Probably more than one.

  She looked back at the woman and scanned her closely. In her mind, she flipped through cards with images on them. She stopped on one. “Commissioner Putinsky.” She gave an insincere smile. “To what do I owe the visit?”

  “You’re under arrest.”

  “The charge?” She was surprised. She raced back over her recent activities looking for a slip-up but couldn’t come up with anything.

  “Conspiracy to commit murder,” Putinsky answered in a formal tone. “We already got your three partners.” She stood up straight. “Hands on the car.”

  She moved to the side to get out of Sherry’s path to the car. Atwater again thought of the shooter on her belt. She looked at Putinsky. “How many men?”

  “Four. All with weapons on you right now and all list
ening to our conversation.”

  Sherry raised her hands and moved to the car to assume the classic position. Four men came in from four different directions. All had weapons aimed at the lone killer. She was searched, various weapons removed, cuffed, and lead off. As Atwater passed Putinsky she said, “Why didn’t you just arrest me straightaway?”

  “I wanted to see what you would do first.”

  Atwater stopped. “If I do something stupid, you kill me.”

  Catherine confirmed that thought. “That’s why it’s called stupid.”

  “You don’t play fair, do you?”

  “Fair has nothing to do with it, Honey. Learned that a long time ago.” She paused and then added, “As one of your competitors will find out tonight.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Bowie Wickersham smiled to himself. Colandra thought he was so clever. Got his wife out of town and put increased security around his house. His shuttle went between his house and his corporate building supposedly taking him back and forth. Yes, so clever. But Wickersham had put around the clock surveillance on both locations and had found out an air car was arriving an hour before the shuttle in the morning and departing an hour after the shuttle at night. He had the air car followed to a quiet country home in the opposite direction from Colandra’s estate. A little research revealed the place had been rented two weeks prior by Colandra’s mistress and she had moved in immediately. Wickersham had to admire Colandra a little. He was using the threat to his life to get his wife out of the way and set up housekeeping with his girlfriend. Surveillance had not seen him at the new place but had seen her outside the house while he was at work. She was a looker. Wickersham thought he would kill him and enjoy her. Maybe even share her with the team. An added bonus for a job well done.

  Such thoughts made the time pass as Wickersham and his men waited for the air car to return Colandra from work. Tonight would be the night. From high on a nearby hill, the killers had a superb view of the house and its surroundings. It was a lousy place for defense with too many covered avenues of approach through the woods and no neighbors to get in the way. Lots of ways to get into the house too. Colandra hadn’t even employed any security here. He must really want to be alone with his woman and had assumed the subterfuge involving his estate would fool everyone. Wickersham knew it had fooled one of his competitors as someone else besides his team had been watching the estate, but he had seen no such surveillance here. Good. The target would be all his.