Evolution: Age of Expansion - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Ghost Squadron Book 3)

by Sarah Noffke

  Eddie remembered the immature whiskers and fin spray painted on the side of the ship. It gave the vessel personality—about like Knox.

  “Mateo was in charge of the Defiance Trading Company, right?” Eddie’s tone shifted. He knew Mateo had died. Worse, he knew Knox had watched it happen. Now, hearing this kid speak of his former boss like this, it sounded like Mateo had been more than just the boy’s employer. A mentor, or perhaps even a father?

  Knox nodded. “Yeah, but he wasn’t a bad guy, I can tell you that much.” His tone grew defensive, like he expected accusations to follow. The boy’s walls were going up again.

  Eddie took a long drink and belched. “I didn’t say he was.”

  “Well, I get that it was a shifty operation. He wouldn’t have sold guns to Felix under normal circumstances, but we needed the money. Things were changing. Deals had dried up recently.”

  “It’s because there are other groups doing what Defiance did. Groups operating inside Federation space,” explained Eddie. “How’d you get mixed up with them anyway? You mentioned your father before.”

  Knox took a quick drink to cover his expression and wiped his hand across his mouth. “Yeah, after my pops disappeared I didn’t have anywhere to go. I was just a kid then.” His voice trailed off, memories reflected in his eyes. Eddie found it amusing that Knox thought he had been just a kid back in those days. He still looked like a teenager even now.

  Knox cleared his throat and continued, “I was living on the streets trying not to starve to death, and every day I’d line up for rations from the Food Bank. It wasn’t much, just a slice of bread usually, but I’d get my rations and go off to eat. I didn’t like to cram it all in my mouth at once like the other kids did, because once it’s gone, it’s gone. You learn to save some of it, even just the crumbs.”

  Eddie nodded but said nothing.

  Knox took another swig. “I was about to take my first bite when something slammed into the back of my head. I still remember the shock of it. The confusion. I fell to the ground and my bread dropped into a dirty puddle. There was blood running down my neck, but all I could think about was how my bread was ruined. Can you imagine that?” He laughed, surprising Eddie, then shook his head. “Anyway, I rolled over and saw some bigger kids towering over me. They were pissed that I’d dropped the bread, since that was the whole reason they were there in the first place. They started beating me, one after the next, pinning me down so I couldn’t fight back, until a voice yelled for them to stop. They ran off when they saw it was a grown man and he was heading our way. I pushed myself up and tried to stand, but then I saw the one who had yelled at us. He was huge, like he’d never gone a day without eating a mountain of protein. You want to talk about terrifying? He had a long scar over his eye, and snarled when he got to me. I thought he was going to kill me.” Knox laughed again, a fond look on his face.

  “What happened next?” asked Eddie.

  “He yelled at me. Can you believe that? He yelled at me right after I got my ass beaten.” Knox took in a big breath and puffed out his cheeks, his voice suddenly much deeper. “What the hell is wrong with you, kid? You can’t just sit there like that! You need to stand up! Fight back!” Knox looked up at Eddie with a smile, but let it quickly fade into a frown. He pushed off the bed and exchanged an empty bottle for a full one.

  Eddie realized he still had half a beer, so maybe this guy could outdrink him after all. “That was Mateo?”

  Knox nodded. “Yeah. He took me in and cleaned me up to start with, but then he taught me how to fight and he gave me my first pistol. Later he taught me how to fly. Not anything professional like how you all flew those ships… He just taught me the basics, but it was enough for me to start with. After we pulled that Black Eagle, he started teaching me how to fix her. We’d been working on her for a few months when the deal went down and…” The smile on Knox’s face had vanished and now there was only the grief and anger. The expression had appeared quickly after the end of the story, and it made his eyes narrow with pain. “I’ve never had much, but now I have nothing and it’s all because of Felix and the Brotherhood. I wanted to kill them when I saw what they did. I wanted to mow them down.”

  “I would have felt the same way,” Eddie agreed.

  Knox deflated. “I ran away instead like a fucking weakling. What would Mateo have said if he had seen me doing that?”

  Eddie shook his head. “He would have said that you were smart. You were outnumbered, but you’re alive to tell the tale. Sometimes you fight, but sometimes you run so you can fight another day.”

  Knox nodded reluctantly. “I did manage to shoot two Brotherhood soldiers on my way out.”

  “Did you kill them?” asked Eddie.

  “Nah. I guess I could have, but Mateo had always taught me that if you didn’t have to kill someone you shouldn’t. I just disabled them.”

  “You must be a pretty good shot to pull that off,” said Eddie, impressed. Going for the chest was the easy option.

  “Axel taught me to shoot. That was why Mateo made it so I was the only one who did his runs. He’d always take an hour to help me train whenever I stopped by.” There was a new lightness in Knox’s eyes now, the anger suddenly gone. “You’ll like Axel. He’s a good guy, about like how Mateo was. Gritty as hell, but I think that’s part of the charm.”

  “Mateo sounds like he was good at his core,” said Eddie, giving him a kind smile.

  “I never much cared for what we did at Defiance, but I was indebted to Mateo so I did what he told me to do. He might have supplied criminals, but he wasn’t one of them. I know that’s not enough to justify his actions, but…”

  “I’ve done some pretty questionable things in my past,” said Eddie. “Many out there are just trying to survive, like Mateo and his crew. However, when I had the means to do better, I tried to do better things. That’s what you have to ask yourself right now… Are you ready to do better?”

  “I’m ready to bring down those assholes. I’ve seen enough to know that bullying others in an arms war is reckless. They all want the bigger gun, and it never ends. I’m fucking tired of bullies,” said Knox with real venom in his tone.

  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Eddie, taking a long sip.

  The two men continued to drink long into the night.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Omega-line Q-Ship, Gun Barrel, Planet Ronin, Behemoth System

  Knox watched Eddie as he checked the radar.

  Julianna kept peering at the boy. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him so much as she had trouble reading him. He appeared to have a natural curiosity, which meant he catalogued everything he observed. It was a quality not many people shared or even noticed, but this boy seemed to possess it—and that was something to be watched.

  “These fucking boots pinch my toes,” Julianna said as she flew the Q-Ship closer to the surface. The land was brown, mostly, a long stretch of desert bordered by mountains.

  “Over there is the town.” Eddie pointed to two rows of shanty buildings with roofs covered in piles of dust and dirt. “Is that the building where Axel is located?” he asked Knox, referring to a barnlike structure on the south side of town.

  “That’s it,” Knox confirmed.

  “Doesn’t look like such a big deal,” said Eddie, blowing out a breath. “I kind of agree about the boots, and this shirt is pretty scratchy too.” He pulled at the collared button-up shirt he wore that had red, white, and blue stripes.

  “And it provides zero protection, so try not to get shot,” said Julianna with a commiserating look. She was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt as well.

  “Wasn’t that why we dressed in this get up? To avoid getting shot?” asked Eddie.

  “You’ll blend in with the locals,” Knox offered. “Mostly.”

  Eddie spun around. “Mostly?”

  “Well, your clothes look pretty new,” Knox observed. “That’s not usually the case in Gun Barrel, due to the dust storms.”


  Eddie nodded slowly. “That makes sense. I’ll roll around in the dirt once we get there.” His eyes drifted to the window and he watched the sun as it towered over the horizon, beating its heat against the town. “Why do they call it ‘Gun Barrel,’ anyway?”

  “Because the main road is as straight as a gun barrel,” explained Knox.

  Eddie pursed his lips. “Huh.”

  “What a literal place,” said Julianna. She had Pip cloak the ship before she landed it behind some caves on the north end of town. This area was significantly less populated, so it was the obvious choice. She couldn’t help but notice that Knox was observing her and took in everything she did, so for the second time today she noted how inquisitive he was.

  Eddie got to his feet once the ship had settled. “Yee-haw! Who’s ready for a hootenanny?”

  Julianna sank back, giving Eddie her trademark, “What the hell is wrong with you” expression. “What did you just say?”

  “Yee—”

  “I heard what you said, but where did you learn it?” asked Julianna.

  “I saw a special on the Earth’s Old West. I kind of get why Gun Barrel chose to model their town after it. Cowboys were awesome.” Eddie picked something up from the other side of his chair—a cowboy hat, which he placed on his head.

  Without a doubt he looked like a tourist, or maybe a cartoon character. Julianna and Knox started laughing.

  “We’re trying not to draw attention to ourselves. Blend in, remember?” Julianna said. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. Currently the winds were low, but she’d heard that could change dramatically at any moment.

  “I am blending in. Don’t they wear cowboy hats like this?” Eddie asked.

  Knox nodded. “Actually they do, but that hat makes your head look big and it is obviously brand new. It hasn’t been worn in. Most of these people have been wearing the same hat for years, maybe decades.”

  “First of all, I can’t help it if my head is big. I’ve just got a huge brain,” said Eddie, pulling his hat lower.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” said Julianna. She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

  “And second,” continued Eddie, “this was my only option. It wasn’t like we had a worn-out Stetson just sitting around. I had to act fast.”

  “Fair enough, but that doesn’t change the fact that you look silly,” teased Julianna. She opened the back hatch and took a look at the oppressive desert that stretched before them, then stepped out and walked some distance from the cloaked ship so she wouldn’t give its placement away should anyone happen upon them.

  After the group had gone several meters beyond the perimeter of the cloak Knox looked behind him, only to jerk back. “Whoa, the ship disappeared!” he exclaimed. “Where did it go?”

  When Julianna turned Eddie shot her a big wink and spun to face Knox, his arms out in alarm. “What? What did you do with it, Knox? You were the last one to step out.”

  The color drained from Knox’s face. “I promise I didn’t do anything. I just followed you!”

  Eddie looked at Julianna with a serious expression on his face. “Do you think he hit the D-button on his way out?”

  Julianna agreed with a nod. “It appears so.”

  “Great, now we’re stuck forever on this planet. Damn it, Knox, never step on the D-button!” Eddie groaned in feigned frustration and shook his head.

  Knox’s frightened expression diminished as he stared at where the ship had been and then at Eddie. Something was computing. He slowly walked back to where the ship had landed and reached out to touch its invisible surface, understanding dawning on his face. “The ship is—”

  “Cloaked,” supplied Julianna. “And you’re right, Eddie’s a real jerk. You’ll find it strangely endearing…maybe. That’s what I hear from the crew, anyway.”

  “Aw shucks, Jules,” said Eddie drawled. “I hope one day you’re endeared as hell to me. It would swell my cowboy heart.”

  “I think I’m going to puke on my boots,” said Julianna, and ambled toward the main road. The other two laughed as they followed her.

  The road wound at first but finally straightened, just as Knox had described. Brown buildings bordered both sides, and it seemed to go on well into the horizon. Julianna stopped to survey the last stretch.

  Eddie halted at her side with his hand resting on the pistol in his holster and peered out from under his cowboy hat, squinting and measuring up the town. It appeared quiet. A bit too quiet.

  A tumbleweed rolled out from between two squatty buildings, continuing straight across the road and knocking into a pair of posts with a couple brown horses tied to them. A sign above the building read Saloon.

  Eddie’s mouth pulled to the side, and he looked at Julianna as if he were asking permission.

  “No,” she said plainly.

  “But don’t you want to taste their version of whiskey or bathtub bourbon or whatever their specialty is?” he asked.

  “Their specialty is death to your insides. You don’t want the drinks here,” Knox cut in. Then he swiveled his head over his shoulder, looking unnerved. “Something isn’t right. There should be more people out right now, since the winds haven’t kicked up yet.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Julianna.

  “I think we better get out of here,” said Knox, glancing in the direction of the ship. He looked scared. Focused, but scared.

  Eddie kept his attention on the long main road, but reached out and placed a hand on Knox’s shoulder. “We aren’t backing out now, kid. We’ve come all this way. Stay close to us.” He looked at Julianna for confirmation, and she tipped her head.

  They strode forward, sand and small pebbles crunching under their boots. In a nearby window of the General Store Julianna spotted an older woman, but she ducked the moment their eyes met. That couldn’t be a good sign.

  Aerial surveillance scans complete, said Pip.

  Please take your time with any updates. I don’t get the impression at all that we’re being watched by an enemy, Julianna replied, her tone overflowing with sarcasm. She flexed her fingers over her pistol as they moved forward.

  Don’t worry, the locals all appear to be inside.

  Because?

  Because there are six Brotherhood soldiers stationed around Axel’s building.

  Julianna skirted over to the opposite side of the road from where Axel’s building stood and Eddie followed at once, taking his cue from her crouched position. Without Julianna having said a word, he sensed her caution.

  They’re camouflaged to blend in, unlike you in your plaid shirts.

  Hindsight, thought Julianna.

  She stopped moving when she reached a trough roughly three buildings down from Axel’s place.

  “You wanna tell us what’s going on?” asked Eddie, sinking beside her and looking over his shoulder. He kept his head low.

  “The Brotherhood are here, six soldiers on Axel’s building. I’m getting positions now,” she said.

  “Dammit, they beat us here,” hissed Eddie.

  “Brotherhood? How do you know that?” asked Knox, staring at the empty road.

  “She has Pip in her head,” explained Eddie, retrieving his second pistol from his left ankle.

  “Pip?” asked Knox.

  “He’s an AI,” said Eddie. He handed Knox the gun. “Take this and watch your ass.”

  Julianna held up two fingers and pointed to the roof, then indicated two more soldiers on either side of the building. Eddie, understanding at once, nodded. She pointed to another trough roughly twenty yards down the street.

  When she had received confirmation, she ducked and sprinted down the wooden boards of the sidewalk. The gunfire started immediately and dogged her footsteps, nearly catching her boot several times.

  She jammed her back to the trough and waited for the pause in the gunfire. In unison she and Eddie sprang to their feet and fired over their respective troughs, Julianna shooting at the north end of the building and Eddie toward the roof. She sa
w Knox using the weapon Eddie had supplied in her peripheral vision.

  Two Brotherhood soldiers fell from the top of the building and another dropped flat onto his chest from the alley’s shadow with a bullet in his forehead.

  Julianna slid back behind the trough and reloaded, taking steadying breaths. When she finished, she lifted up enough to survey the scene: Three bodies, not a bad start.

  A moment later Eddie and Knox ran to her position, crouching to avoid enemy fire.

  Eddie slammed into the wall beside her breathing heavily, sweat on his face. The two exchanged a look as he reloaded his pistol, and he grinned. “What do you think, did we nail them all?”

  It would appear so, but you might have one playing possum, suggested Pip.

  Did you just make that reference?

  I believe I did.

  I don’t think I even know you anymore.

  Or are you just starting to really know me?

  Why don’t you make yourself useful and download all available data from the network drive once we’re inside?

  Did you mean to say please?

  I did, with all my heart.

  She shook her head. “Pip says we might be in the clear. You take the south end and I’ll take the north.”

  He nodded, lifting his pistol parallel with his cheek.

  Soundlessly, guns at the ready, the veteran soldiers slid out from behind the trough, and Knox trailed Eddie. His form wasn’t bad, Julianna noted, observing his posture and how his eyes meticulously scanned.

  She fetched up against a building with boarded-over windows and toed the body of the Kezzin in the opening of the alleyway, which didn’t budge. After a short breath she slid out, ready to shoot, but the alleyway was empty. There had been two soldiers here so Julianna looked up, her gun following her gaze.

  From Eddie’s relaxed demeanor she guessed the other two targets were dead, so she jogged over to him. Two Brotherhood soldiers lay in front of the building, and two more reposed in the alleyway.