Razer Edge

by Jake Bible

  Roak knew what to do and searched the Edgers for whoever was calling the shots. He’d have loved to have access to their single comm channel and hear the actual orders being given, but he got the gist of the operation from visual observation.

  Standing tall, directly behind the Edger forces, was a familiar face. The Urvein that had accosted Roak when he’d gotten food after first arriving on Razer. She stood there, her fur singed in places where close, but not quite, plasma blasts had nearly taken her out. She was barking orders continually while also firing a massive rifle from her shoulder. One-handed.

  The room was filled with so much smoke that Roak could no longer see targets, but he kept on firing. He had to. If he stopped, then someone would notice the guy in light armor that was missing a sleeve and the Lipian whore following him. If he kept his KL09 barking into the chaos, then he at least sort of appeared to be one of them.

  So Roak pulled the trigger until his KL09 powered down and he had to grab a fresh magazine off his belt. He had the magazine in and the heavy pistol powering back up when he heard the roar he’d been expecting.

  “You!”

  “Follow my lead,” Roak shouted back at Hail before lifting his hands into the air, making sure the Urvein could see the KL09 was aimed up at the ceiling and not at her or the other Edgers. The massive rifle took aim at Roak and Hail. “Don’t shoot!”

  “Why in all the Hells not?” the Urvein yelled, her voice a boom that rivaled half the weapons firing in the room.

  Roak kept moving, hands up, and eyes focused squarely on the Urvein despite the fact that plasma and laser blasts were still flying this way and that. He was counting on some of that luck that Hail had been so insistent was the secret to his success. As insulting to his skills as a bounty hunter as that claim had been, he hoped it was right. He needed all the luck he could get.

  “Not the enemy!” Roak shouted, letting the KL09 fall from his grasp.

  A couple of Edgers took notice and stopped firing at Binter’s people. They looked at Roak then back at the Urvein. She nodded and they slung their weapons so they could rush forward and take hold of Roak and Hail’s arms. Roak let them and held his breath as Hail started to fight. She stopped quickly though and didn’t end up dead on the floor, so Roak let the breath out and allowed the Edgers to push and shove and drag him over to their leader.

  Hail was relieved of her pistol and the Tonal Eight on Roak’s back was snatched away, lost from sight as it was passed from Edger to Edger. Roak waited for his Kepler to be snagged, but the blade was left where it sat on his belt.

  The Urvein had nothing but enraged conflict on her face. Her features were a scrunched up snarl of violence and mental calculations. One furry paw shot out and gripped Roak around the throat, but not hard enough to cut off his airway. It was a move to show that she was in charge, she was in control, and if Roak would like to argue the point, then he could argue with a snapped neck.

  The two combatants had a silent conversation that stretched eons, but only lasted a second.

  “I warned you to stay out of it,” the Urvein finally said, oblivious to the battle that raged around them. A plasma blast hit the wall only a few centimeters from her head and she didn’t flinch for an instant. “I thought you had more brains than this.”

  “I have news,” Roak said. “Bad news. For all of us. Get me to whoever is in charge and—”

  “And nothing, bounty hunter,” the Urvein snarled, lifting Roak up off the ground and pulling him in close. Her breath stank of meat and liquor, but her eyes were clear and bright. “I get to kill Roak. That’s one bonus I didn’t see happening today.”

  “Skrang,” Roak gasped, dropping the name the same way Binter had dropped it on him. “Skrang.”

  Confusion flitted across the Urvein’s eyes. Her lip curled all the way up to show him a canine tooth that could have pierced his armor. Her claw tightened, but she didn’t crush Roak’s neck.

  “What does that mean?” she asked.

  “Skrang,” Roak repeated. “Get me to whoever is in charge of your little coup and I’ll tell him—”

  “Her,” the Urvein snarled.

  “Her,” Roak amended. “Get me to her and I’ll spill everything.”

  “Spill it now or die here,” the Urvein countered.

  “No,” Roak replied. The Urvein had begun to squeeze and getting out even that one word was a struggle.

  “Then you die,” the Urvein said matter-of-factly.

  “The Skrang are on the way and we know why,” Hail said before Roak’s head could be popped off like a budding flower. “We also know what you’re after on Razer.”

  The Urvein’s eyes stayed on Roak for a second then looked past him and focused on Hail.

  “Good for you,” the Urvein said.

  “You’ll want to listen to what he has to say,” Hail continued. “This mess is worse than you know.”

  The Urvein shrugged.

  “The Galactic Fleet is probably on the way too,” Hail said. “You want to be in the middle of a Skrang and GF fight?”

  The look in the Urvein’s eyes changed and she focused back on Roak.

  “That true? GF and Skrang on the way?” the Urvein asked.

  Roak nodded, no longer able to even utter a single syllable.

  “Fine,” the Urvein said then turned to the closest Edger. “Keep fighting until they’re all dead. I’ll have reinforcements sent ASAP.”

  “Got it,” the Edger replied then returned to firing non-stop at Binter and his people.

  The Urvein dropped Roak, but grabbed him around the back of the neck so the man wouldn’t collapse. She turned to Hail.

  “You first, little lady,” the Urvein said as two Edgers moved out of the way of one of the exits. The doors slid open. “Now!”

  29.

  “How about you start talking as we walk,” the Urvein said.

  Roak and Hail were being led by the Urvein and eight other Edgers that had joined them in the passageway outside the climate control room. Other Edgers streamed by, all headed to get their piece of the massacre of Binter and his guards. Roak ignored every last one of them. The only Edger he cared about was the huge one that made the decisions.

  “You got a name?” Roak asked, his voice raspy from the rough treatment to his throat and neck.

  The Urvein woman laughed.

  “Roak, you won’t be alive long enough for my name to matter.”

  “Then no risk in telling it to me,” Roak replied.

  The Urvein grunted.

  “Cheev,” she replied finally.

  “Cheev. Nice to meet you,” Roak said. “You know who I am. This is Hail.”

  “Don’t care,” Cheev said. “She’s more dead than you, so telling me a Lipian whore’s name is a waste of breath.”

  “Companion,” Roak said.

  “What?” Cheev asked. “Companion what?”

  “They prefer to be called companions,” Roak said. “Not whores.”

  Cheev glanced down at Roak. “Are you kidding me?” She looked back at Hail who was only a couple steps behind Roak. “Is he kidding me?”

  “You can call us what you like,” Hail replied quietly.

  “Yeah, I know I can,” Cheev said and snorted. The snort sounded like a grav engine throwing a gear. “Companion… That’s a good one, Roak.”

  “I thought you Edgers were about freedom for all.”

  Cheev snorted again.

  There was a good-sized explosion from behind them and Cheev pressed a finger to one of her ears. “This is Cheev. Report.”

  She listened and growled then nodded.

  “Get after them. Hunt their asses down and wipe Binter off this station. I don’t want that Ferg popping back up. Midnight especially doesn’t want that Ferg popping back up. And try not to blow the whole Eight Million Godsdamn station up while you’re at it.”

  Cheev snarled.

  “Was that an excuse? I don’t care if they retreated into the shaft! Follow them an
d put every last one down! Now!”

  The snarl turned into a nasty smile.

  “That’s what I thought. I don’t want to hear your voice on the channel again unless it’s to tell me you’re holding Binter’s head in your hands. Got it?”

  Cheev took her finger from her ear and glanced down at Roak.

  “You’re little ploy is costing me people and resources, Roak.”

  “Not my ploy,” Roak replied. “Binter’s the one that wanted to make a play for the station’s main control room. I was just trying to get to my ship with the lady here.”

  “Your ship is gone,” Cheev said.

  “That’s what I’ve been told. Still…”

  “Won’t believe it until you see the empty hangar yourself? I can vouch for your ship being gone. That hangar is empty. Your ship blew the doors off the station. No point in docking there.”

  “Still…”

  Cheev laughed. The sound elicited a small cry of fear from Hail which only made the Urvein laugh harder.

  “Midnight? That’s your boss?” Roak asked.

  “None of your business who anyone is.”

  “Come on, Cheev. I’m about to meet the woman. It’d be good if I knew what her role is on this station. Not too much to ask.”

  “You don’t get to ask for anything, Roak.”

  Roak sighed.

  “Boss is a word for it,” Cheev replied as they turned a corner and came to a lift.

  “Is there another word for it?”

  “Several, but boss will do. Happy? Now you know her role.”

  “And her name is Midnight?”

  “Is there a reason you’re trying to push me into killing you?”

  Roak held up his hands in surrender. The movements elicited several threatening responses from the Edgers that accompanied Roak, Cheev, and Hail. Mostly those responses were expressed in the form of pistol and carbine barrels being pressed to the back and side of Roak’s head.

  “Leave him be. The bounty hunter is hobbled,” Cheev ordered. Then she addressed Roak. “I don’t consider you truly hobbled. I’m not that naive. You’re only not deadly when you’re dead. But you’re hobbled enough.”

  Roak shrugged.

  They stepped into the lift. Only two of the group of Edgers accompanied them. Each with their back facing the doors, their eyes and weapons still trained on Roak as he was forced to put his back against the wall of the lift. Hail was shoved next to him on his right.

  The doors closed and the lift began to move. Cheev scratched her cheek.

  “What’s with the armor?” Cheev asked without looking at Roak.

  “Sleeve came off,” Roak replied.

  “You need better armor.”

  “It’s Tillinian. Hard to find better.”

  “Try a set that has two arms. That’s better.”

  “I’ll look into that.”

  “I’m sorry, but are you two for real? How can you chat about armor when we’re going to be killed any minute, Roak?” Hail asked.

  Roak looked at her like she’d gone mad. She flinched then straightened her back and stared back.

  “Whore’s got balls,” Cheev said.

  “She does,” Roak said, his eyes still on Hail. “We’re chatting about armor because there’s nothing else to chat about, Hail. You and I won’t say what we know until we meet up with the boss. Cheev here could care less about deep conversation with us since she thinks we’ll be dead soon.”

  “I don’t think it, I know it,” Cheev said.

  “See?” Roak responded, his focus remaining on Hail. “Plus, chatting about armor, or whatever other boring, empty topic I can think of gave me time to activate the plasma grenade I tucked up my sleeve before the Edgers stripped me of all my weapons.”

  The vibe in the lift shifted instantly. It became cold, hard, still.

  “Yeah. That happened,” Roak said, his eyes never wavering from Hail’s. “You’d think that since I only have the one sleeve left, it would be an easy search to complete. But, heat of battle and the confusion of me giving myself up sort of distracted the morons in charge of checking me over.”

  “You’re bluffing,” Cheev said as she turned to face Roak full on. “A plasma grenade can’t fit up the sleeve of Tillinian armor.”

  “It can if I sliced the sleeve open with a Kepler knife,” Roak replied. “Burned out the first one I used instantly. Had to ask Binter for a second one. The Ferg didn’t even notice. But he wasn’t looking. He was busy figuring out how to use me then kill me when my usefulness was done. That and I’m very good at what I do.”

  The lift doors opened and the Edgers with their backs to the passageway never saw the attack coming. Cheev was so focused on Roak that she didn’t see it, hear it, or smell it coming either.

  All the Edgers spun about as the piercing cries of the Maglors’ attack echoed down the passageway and into the lift. Then came the blood.

  30.

  Sath was clambering over the shoulders of one of the Edgers, a blade stabbing repeatedly into the being’s face and neck. Then the Maglor launched himself off the dying Edger at Cheev. It was a good effort, but resulted in Sath being swatted into the side wall of the lift hard enough that more than a couple teeth came flying out of the Maglor’s mouth.

  Roak watched Sath’s attack with interest, but not as much interest as he had with Spickle’s attack. It was at that moment he knew he truly had underestimated the Maglors. Annoying as they were, the little guys could fight and they didn’t give up.

  Spickle came out from between the other Edger’s legs, his blade cutting a deep gouge into the Edger’s right thigh along the way. The Edger cried out, but he was already dead and just hadn’t quite figured it out yet. Spickle knew it and kept moving, coming up at Cheev’s legs, the bloody blade slashing and cutting so fast that the Urvein couldn’t block the attack.

  Blood poured from the insides of Cheev’s thighs. But even with the mortal wounds, the Urvein didn’t give up. She grabbed Spickle by the back of the head and threw the Maglor out of the lift so hard that he was almost three-quarters of the way down the passageway before he hit the floor.

  “That wasn’t nice,” Roak said.

  Cheev spun on him, a roar escaping her wide open mouth.

  Roak had to stand on his tip toes, but he was able to shove the smuggled plasma grenade into that wide open maw then slam a fist into the Urvein’s throat, causing her to involuntarily clamp down on the grenade and try to swallow.

  “Go!” Roak yelled and shoved Hail ahead of him.

  Cheev tried to snag the woman with a claw, but Hail ducked under the swipe and sprinted out of the lift.

  Roak dove the other way, grabbed Sath’s leg, and pulled the Maglor free of the lift just as the plasma grenade went off. The force of the blast, and the volume of the body it destroyed, shoved against Roak’s back, sending him and Sath tumbling down the passageway, both coated in Urvein. They didn’t go nearly as far as Spickle had been flung, but it was a while before they came to a stop.

  “Hello,” Pol said as Roak struggled up onto his hands and knees. “I have this for you.”

  Roak was about to get up and throttle the old man, but the sight of a Flott five-six concussion blaster with laser cluster spread being held out to him stopped the attack.

  “Thanks?” Roak replied as he got to his feet and took the blaster. “You want to tell me why I shouldn’t use it on you right now?”

  “Sure. If you tell me why you saved Sath and didn’t leave him in that lift to be obliterated by an exploding Urvein,” Pol replied. “Also, there are about three dozen Edgers about to round the corner there and shoot us all.”

  Roak made sure the Flott was powered, turned, and fired in the direction Pol was indicating with the point of his gnarled finger.

  The Flott did its job and that laser cluster spread wiped out half the Edgers with one shot. Roak squeezed the trigger again and almost the entire other half was killed.

  Two Edgers remained. They ope
ned fire and Roak flung himself back down to the floor. Roak felt the heat of plasma across the back of his neck, but it came from the wrong direction. The Edgers cried out and slumped to the floor as their chests were torn open.

  Roak waited, but there were no more blasts. He pushed up and looked behind him. Hail had a carbine up to her shoulder as she lay flat on the floor. Roak realized that his true luck was that she hadn’t shot him herself with the narrow angle the barrel was tilted at.

  “Oh, there are more coming,” Pol said and tapped the sides of his eyes. “A lot more. Might I suggest we retreat in the other direction?”

  “Your tech is back up?” Roak asked as he got to his feet, went and helped Hail to her feet, then grabbed Sath and pulled him up onto his feet as well. “How?”

  “Oh, I have been busy,” Pol said in such a smug and annoying voice that Roak almost shot the old man. “Give me a meter of tech and I will take a light year.”

  “I’ll bet,” Roak said and waved his hand in Pol’s face. “Don’t explain. I don’t care. Just tell me how to get us out of here.”

  “This way,” Pol said and headed back towards the lift.

  “That way is gone,” Roak said.

  “Not entirely,” Pol replied.

  Spickle groaned from his spot on the floor and Sath hobbled over to him, helping the other Maglor to his wobbly feet.

  “We save Roak,” Sath said.

  “Save Roak again,” Spickle replied, his voice weak, but still very much Spickle.

  “Hurry,” Pol said, almost to the mangled lift. “We do not have much time. It will be a small window of escape for us before this station is destroyed.”

  As soon as Pol reached the lift shaft, what remained of the lift car groaned then fell, leaving a wide open hole.

  “Ah, here we go,” Pol said. “Gentlemen?”

  Still shaky, but looking stronger by the second, the Maglors hurried as fast as they could to the edge of the empty shaft, looked down, then jumped.

  Hail shook her head, looked at Roak, looked back at the shaft, and said, “I give up.”