The trader looked like he was giving it a lot of thought when he stepped to the counter. “That unit was only used for demonstrations and has never seen combat. For you and the honor of your clan it is now reduced to sixteen million credits.”
In a surprising display of carelessness Klutch threw the weapon down like it was sewage and turned to leave which I also did. His reaction to the amount got the trader worked up. He started coming down on the price but Klutch never slowed down. I caught up with Klutch and he looked at me shaking his large upper torso side to side.
“Those criminals insult me by assuming I am mentally deficient and fresh from the thought reprocessing institute.”
“Klutch, if it was a really good weapon I have a lot of credits to spend for modern firepower.”
The Tibor gave me a disapproving glance. “Commander it is not wise to get a reputation as a foolish trader with lots of credits. News like that will spread rapidly and we will be targeted by every crook on the station. It would be a very unhealthy choice.”
“Troop Master it is not my intention to appear stupid. I am ambitious in my pursuit of quality weaponry. I want all members of my crew to have superior firepower if it comes to a fight.” The Tibor still had a stern look on his face. “Troop Master I shall defer to your veteran knowledge on matters concerning trade and will be silent unless you think it wise for me to speak. If you determine you have made a good bargain, I will fund the transaction with a simple nod from you.”
That netted me a toothy smile and a slight bow from my Tibor associate. “Commander, I believe there would be better bargains if we went up a deck or two. The lower decks are full of criminals waiting to prey on the weak minded.”
“I’ll follow your lead Troop Master.”
20
It dawned on me this was the seedy part of town. Apparently, things on Earth were not any different from anywhere else in the galaxy. It was universal to watch out which side of the tracks you were on. With that thought in mind, I gave a casual glance over my shoulder and saw five of the furry aliens identified as Murlak a short distance behind us. I could not be sure but I thought the biggest of the five might be the one involved in the altercation earlier. I finally let the notion pass because they all looked the same to me anyway. At the end of the big glass tube was a large open market area and what looked like ten good old fashioned elevators that could hold at least twenty or more occupants at a time. Klutch headed for the side that had a large lighted display with a constantly flashing arrow that pointed upwards.
I glanced again over my shoulder, the Murlak were much closer, and now they had two Sitch with them. I gave Klutch an inconspicuous nudge with my elbow and nodded over my shoulder. He turned and leaned against the wall as if nothing was going on and he was just waiting for the elevator. I started to nod again as I was looking at him but he gave me an almost imperceptible shake of his shoulders. The doors on the elevator parted and a bizarre collection of races exited. We moved towards the elevator doors and the crowd quickly parted around us once they got a whiff of Klutch. We stepped in and put our backs to the wall of the big square box shaped lift. The Murlak shoved several confused and panicked riders away from the entrance to the elevator car and piled in with their Sitch.
When the doors closed behind them I saw Klutch reach up to his breastplate and I was glad I had turned off my olfactory sensors. The look on Murlaks furry faces went from angry to pinched and furious. The Sitch bulled forward with outstretched hands. Klutch and I drew our fighting knives and in a display of synchronized blade work, brought our knives up into a fast arc taking off both front arms of the two Sitch. We finished the arcs with a savage downward stroke that cut off their front legs. As both of the mortally wounded beast pitched forward, we put our backs against the elevator wall and kicked out driving the stumbling beast back into their masters. It looked like the tall Murlak was trying to get a weapon pointed in my direction, so I spun and slashed my knife down between his neck and shoulder severing his upper torso. The two pieces dropped onto the floor with the sprawled Sitch.
The Murlak in the front of the car on Klutch’s side had the same idea as he started pulling a hand held weapon up. Klutch would have none of it and drove his knife through the Murlak. He pushed off the wall again shoving his victim into his accomplice. It was unfortunate for the second gunner. Klutch’s knife was sticking a foot out of the first Murlaks back and it ended up buried in his face. The last two Murlak had looks of disbelief on their furry faces, but decided to go ahead and draw on us. I was still riding a tidal wave of adrenalin and my combat reflexes were peaking. Before either one of our opponents could raise their weapons. I drove the hilt of my knife savagely into the side of the first ones face knocking his corpse into his cohort’s firing line. Klutch brought his knife down with such force it cleaved the dead Murlaks upper body almost in half taking the gun wielders arm off in the process. The Murlak fell to the floor with the rest of the dead and dying. The screams coming out of the furry alien’s mouth were abruptly cut off by a jaw-dropping jump that belied the massive body weight of the Tibor. He came down with both feet square on the Murlaks face crushing its head flush with the floor as the elevator doors parted. The stench of a pissed off Tibor and the remains of the hit team came spilling out the front of the elevator. The crowd that was going to board decided they did not want anything to do with the party we were having and scattered in all directions. We stepped over the mess and swiftly exited the area.
“Commander, your skills with the Tibor fighting knife in combat are commendable. If I were your troop master, I would award you with the Tibor star of achievement for your actions.”
My Oolaran edged weapons training had served me well, but killing was not an achievement that I wanted to receive commendations for. I picked up my pace as we tried to blend in with the panicked crowd.
My breathing had returned to normal as we quickly put distance between us and the elevators. We were once more in a large open market area with booths and small kiosk everywhere. My implants gave me a heads up on Tria and Coonts. They were two levels above us now and had been stationary for several minutes in the same spot. I hoped they were doing better than we were. I glanced over at Klutch and he did not look happy. I felt like the encounter with the Murlak was my fault. Apparently bumping into another species was an insult and requires group interaction before the offending party can make amends. “I’m sorry I got us into that mess Klutch. I didn’t realize it was such a sin to bump into another race.”
“Commander you have inaccurately assessed the situation. I believe we were targeted from the time we entered the outpost. Someone was watching the docks and made a serious miscalculation when they determined us to be easy prey. I suspect they monitor the balances on credit vouchers and then decide the risk for a takedown. Their flawed judgment proved fatal to the takedown team. The weak and the stupid give up all wealth in the face of such numbers rather than risk injury.”
“Do you think they will try again?”
“I do not believe so. It would require putting together another team with better skills and heavier armament. They were sloppy from many easy takes. Their stupidity cost them their lives. We will be monitored, but they now know we are not weak and will be expecting trouble.”
“Commander, I have message traffic from Tria.”
“Link me in Justice.”
Tria came over our comms and sounded very concerned. “Commander, There is a disturbance at the lift transports. We have heard rumors of several deaths and critically injured among the Murlak in the lower part of the outpost. You should avoid the area. They are the same race as Eiger and could be of his clan.”
I remembered Tria telling me before we came here it was my destiny to raise a stink wherever I went. I was beginning to dislike the fact she was once again correct. “It’s too late Tria, a hit team tried to rob us. It didn’t work out for them. If you made contact with the Zaens, you should come down and shadow us to make sure we don’t
get blindsided by another team.”
“We’re on our way Commander, we will keep our distance and observe. I will advise you of any retaliatory actions coming from your flanks.”
Killing a bunch of aliens that were the same race as Eiger made me nervous so I called Justice, “If that destroyer shows up I’ll need you to come in close and pull the shuttles out in a hurry.”
“Acknowledged Commander.”
Klutch gave me a small nudge with his elbow. “Commander there is an Ilor booth just across the trading floor. I suggest we move to that location.”
“Lead the way Klutch, I’ll follow and let you do the talking. I will watch our backs. Tria and Coonts are on the way and will give us backup if things start going bad.”
I had forgotten all about Eiger being a Murlak. The way my luck was running at the moment, the guys we just put the whack on will probably be Eiger’s closest relatives or drinking buddies.
We worked our way over to the Ilor booth and Klutch started haggling over the mineral artifacts. At times I thought it sounded like it was going to be a fist fight. Klutch would start to turn away and leave only to have the Ilor quickly call to him before he could take three steps. While this was going on I spied Tria’s tall figure moving slowly through the market place. Knowing she had our backs calmed my fidgety nerves and stopped my pacing. I eased over to Klutch and beeped him on our discreet comms. “Klutch, sweeten the deal if we can meet at a private location. I don’t want to be trapped on this outpost and chance losing our cargo.”
The Tibor commed me back; “What do you propose Commander? I have an agreement for three hundred and eighty two million credits for all the mineral artifacts and alloys. We have about ninety more million in alloys and miscellaneous equipment. I was trying to trade for missile launching tubes and one hundred antimatter homing missiles.”
I liked the idea of missile launchers. “Tell them they can have everything for four hundred million but we want the launch tubes and two hundred missiles. Tell them if they deliver to a place of our choosing I’ll throw in a roll of 699 and one controller.”
Klutch nodded his approval and turned back to the Ilor trader. He relayed what the deal needed to be without saying anything about the 699. I was frowning to myself when the discussion turned heated again. Klutch was not going to give anything away.
Finally both sides went quiet, but I didn’t think a deal had been reached. I was starting to lose my patience when the Ilor with the biggest girth came closer to Klutch and was whispering something I could not make out over the crowd noise. Klutch turned back to me like he was considering something then gave me a wink with both of his big lizard eyes. He turned back to the Ilor and leaned in and whispered back to it and this time I caught the phrase 699 from him. That elicited the quick grasping of Klutch’s hand with both of the Ilor’s, followed by a very enthusiastic shaking of hands. The deal was sealed, and it was time to get the hell out of dodge.
Klutch turned to me and gave me one of his best toothy smiles. I jerked my head in Tria’s direction and headed that way. As Klutch came even with me I asked him if he gave away the farm. It was one of my Grand Father’s favorite euphemisms when it was time to file taxes.
“Commander if you are insinuating I might have lost the Legacy in a foolish trade you would be wrong!”
“Klutch, if I didn’t trust you I wouldn’t have let you make a deal. That doesn’t imply I don’t want to know what the deal entails. How’d we do?”
He gave me an expression that said he finally grasped my meaning. “The Ilor will meet us anywhere within fifty light years of here. They suggested an abandoned mining colony near a large asteroid field forty-one light years from this location. They do a good business there because they avoid the ten percent transaction fee Eiger levees on all sales on the outpost. They agreed to the four hundred million for the minerals and alloys plus the surplus equipment. We will also get the two missile tubes and two hundred and fifty antimatter homing missiles. When we meet, I will surrender one full roll of 699 and what’s left of the roll Coonts made your armor from along with two controllers.
“Excellent Klutch, when do we meet?”
“They gave me the coordinates of the mining asteroid and said to wait in the vicinity until they show.”
I was hoping Tria and Coonts had managed to complete their part of the mission. “Let’s go see how Tria and Coonts did on their end.”
Our part of the deal was done, and it went surprisingly smooth. I wondered if the Murlak had forgiven our little transgression. It was probably a good idea to exit the station in a different direction. We caught up with Tria as we made our way towards the elevators but I still had not seen Coonts yet. I cleared my visor and said, “Tria, what did the Zaen’s say about the battle suits?”
They were difficult to bargain with. They demand two hundred million credits for each armor suit and wanted half up front. That is fifty million a suit too much, and I refused to deal with them. I told them we could find them elsewhere. They said they would take two million off but still want credits up front. I tried to negotiate with them but they told me if I didn’t like it I should go beg the Murlak for a larger discount. They became arrogant and insulting and I found it difficult to not discipline them for their indiscretion.”
I felt my blood pressure go up several notches. Tria must have picked up on my reaction to the Zaen’s behavior and reached out and touched my arm. “Commander, the Zaens have to deal with pirates on a daily basis. Their comments angered me but mean nothing. I have heard far worse from my old crew mates.”
I nodded and blacked out my visor so she could not see the anger on my face. “I will make them a counter offer and see if this is still worth our time or we go elsewhere.”
Coonts finally appeared out of the crowd and said, “Commander, There are heavily armed Murlak moving around the perimeter of the market place. I do not know if they are actively searching for you or if it is a routine patrol.”
I looked down at Coonts and had to stifle a loud chuckle. Crisscrossed on his chest was a bandolier of .44 caliber ammunition and right in the middle of the bandoliers was Bill’s big 44 caliber pistol in a custom 699 holster. The oversized handgrip had been removed and a much smaller one was installed over the frame. I was wondering if I could find a sombrero on the outpost before we left. “Let’s give the Zaens one more chance. If that fails we load up in the transport and you drop me and Klutch off at our shuttle. Let’s separate and take two different lifts in case they decide to come after me and Klutch. If we run into trouble when we get out of the lift you can back us up.”
We headed to the elevators and we let Coonts and Tria go first in case they were waiting for me and Klutch. We gave them a couple of minutes and then crowded in with the rest of the aliens going up.
As we came out of the lift, I caught sight of Tria and she just shrugged. She nodded towards a small alcove with a couple of biped aliens standing in it. They both had large coal black eyes and fine scales that covered their exposed skin. They were hairless and had a reptilian look to them. As we got closer, I could see they had no lips around their mouths and a kind of V shaped flap of skin I guessed was a nose.
“Justice, will they know what I am saying word for word?”
“Yes Commander, the translation program is sophisticated enough to infer emotion in most cases depending on how quickly you speak.”
I walked up to the booth and just stared at them. I could see they were confused by my actions.
“Do you always make it a practice to insult someone who wishes to do business with you? My envoy came to deal with you in a fair and honest manner, yet you insult her! The Chaalt was my emissary and made you a very reasonable offer on merchandise I have need of. Instead of making a fair adjustment to the negotiations you treated my emissary with disrespect. By insulting my emissary you have also insulted me. Perhaps if you were to reconsider making a more favorable offer to me, I will forgive your arrogance.
The Zaen
’s coal black eyes narrowed. “We will have no dealings with you or your Chaalt. If you do not want to pay our price, then you can go somewhere else. We pay for protection on this outpost so if you do not wish to face the wrath of the Murlak you will leave immediately.”
That explained a lot about their attitudes, there was a chance the price on a luxury item like the armor was set by Eiger. I bet it was that way so no one would be better equipped than his pirates, who wore crap for armor. That meant Eiger was a cheap greedy son of a bitch. They probably did not deserve to be roughed up over somebody setting their prices, but I really wanted the armor. I know Tria was a pro and brushed off their insults. I on the other hand was a farm boy from Missouri and was taught to respect women. I looked at Klutch and could tell by the way the crowd was parting around him, he was giving off an odor that said he did not care for the insults any more than I did. He started to approach the booth with a big toothy smile. I held my hands up to stop him when I suddenly hear the Zaen’s babbling so fast I can’t understand what they are saying. I told Klutch to hold on a minute and I look over at the Zaens. The scales on both of them are roiling and one of them is pointing behind me so I turn and look. Up on one of the screens are Klutch and I working the hit team over in the elevator and it is not good television. Underneath the screen is a report if sighted warning.
I could tell the Zaens were on the verge of soiling themselves. “We meant no disrespect! You must accept our apologies for insulting your envoy! We will most certainly accept your offer and will give a generous discount for our misunderstanding. If you spare us we will fabricate fourth generation suits for one hundred and twenty million credits per unit!”
First of my Kind Page 26
