Zeta Hack: A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure (Star Justice Book 3)

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “I see,” I said, and I resisted the urge to point out that the woman smoking in front of me was lecturing about people giving in to their addictions.

  “The laws allow the sale of drugs and weapons. The situation has created a dark underbelly to the station. I’m not able to remove our cancer through official means, and it is starting to become a problem in the district I manage. For a while, I feared I was just incompetent, since the crime rate in my district is much higher than the others, and I couldn’t make headway. All of my peers responsible for maintaining order in the other districts don’t seem to have a problem, and their advice to me was next to useless. I’ve recently found out that they are all hiring muscle outside of their official capacity.”

  “That must have been a frustrating discovery,” I said.

  “Quite the opposite. I am elated, and I intend to make use of their strategy.”

  “I get it,” I said with a nod. “I’m not sure we are the best choice though.”

  “Oh?” she raised an eyebrow.

  “We were just passing through. Our intent was to trade our rhodium, buy some food, take on some crew, and then return to the mining community that hired us with the food. We aren’t killers, just traders.”

  “Hmmm.” The woman nodded her head and squinted at me a bit. “I don’t have much use for traders at the moment.”

  I held her eyes and felt the beast inside of me growl with frustration.

  “What else are you offering?” I asked. “I am in a bit of a hurry to finish my mission.”

  “The obvious boon I’m offering you is your life. You should be thanking me.”

  “Thank you for not throwing me out the airlock,” I growled through a smile. “Those bank robbers definitely deserved to live, and I was in the wrong for killing them.”

  “That’s better. I think we’ll have a great working relationship, Adam.” The woman’s mouth matched my smile. She was quite beautiful, but I really wanted to rip free of my handcuffs and break her perfect teeth.

  “I’m all about following orders, but my original question still stands. If you want me to be enthusiastic, my team and I need to see compensation and an end to our term.”

  “Your team?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yeah. My two friends.”

  “Hmmm. Perhaps we should speak about the jobs I have in mind before we talk about the future.” The woman pulled out a small black cylinder and pointed it at the far wall of my hospital room. The wall became a screen, and I saw a picture of a handsome man with dark hair and a waxed mustache.

  “Do you know this man?” she asked.

  “Never seen him before.”

  “Good. His name is Huyan Kar. He owns three of the five clubs in District B.”

  “What do you mean by ‘clubs’?” I asked.

  “Places to drink and dance. I am not surprised by your question. You don’t look like you are much of a dancer,” she said with a chuckle.

  “No. I’m not.”

  “Huyan is connected to this man,” the redhead said as she changed the image in the wall.

  The new picture showed a skinny bald man in a Victorian-looking suit. He held a top hat in his hands and looked to be glaring in the direction of the camera. He wasn’t a good looking man, and the scars across the left side of his face weren’t helping. It looked like he’d gotten into a knife fight.

  “Byron Jacobs. We know he runs a bunch of gambling rings. He also has a protection racket.”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t arrested him,” I said.

  “Knowing someone is a criminal, and having enough legal proof to throw them out of the airlock are different things,” she sighed. “If I had my way, I’d just round them all up and use one bullet, but alas, my hands are tied.” The woman held a pointer finger up to the side of her skull and made a popping motion with her hand.

  “But my hands aren’t tied?” I smirked.

  “Nope, but killing these two isn’t really what I want. I have a bigger fish. Here,” the uniformed woman said as she flicked to the next picture. It was a regal looking blonde woman dressed in a fancy Victorian-looking dress cut low enough to show both hemispheres of her breasts.

  “This is Izetta Baccala. She’s the trophy wife of the parliament member who represents District B.”

  “So your boss’ wife?” I grunted.

  “You could say that, but I firmly believe she is the mastermind of a current criminal organization here. They are dealing in drugs, weapons, and flesh. Izetta has spies in my organization, then she coordinates with Huyan and Byron so that her hands are clean. I’m not sure how involved Senator Baccala is with all of this, but I’d be extremely happy to connect him with something.”

  “You are confident that Izetta is running the group?” I asked.

  “I’m confident enough to tell you she is, but not enough to arrest her. I have plenty of evidence, but none of it can be used within a legal process that would result in me pushing her out an airlock.” The redhead took the last pull from her cigarette, pursed her lips, and then slowly pushed out a stream of smoke while she held my eyes. “That’s your job.”

  “Get the evidence? Or push her out the airlock?” I asked.

  “I prefer the former, but the latter might still appease me enough to consider you having repaid society.”

  “How do you think I can do this?” This was a really stinky deal, and it felt like someone was ordering me to dig the grave they intended to bury me in. I had no doubt I’d get arrested for killing any of the three people she showed me. Then this woman could just execute me and tell her superiors that the case was closed.

  I really wished Eve was here so she could tell me what this woman was thinking.

  “You can start by working for Huyan or Byron. Then you can keep your ears open for anything having to do with Izetta. I’ll give you a wire, you record some conversations, and then we are done. After I have all the evidence on Izetta, I’ll want you to put an end to Huyan and Byron.”

  “You think these men will just hire me?” I scoffed.

  “They hire muscle frequently. You’ll just need to apply.”

  “Then my friends and I can go free?” I asked.

  “Of course,” the woman said as she flicked the filter end of her cigarette. It spun through the air and landed in a trash can a good two meters from where she sat. “These are criminals. Parasites who feed on the citizens of Queen’s Hat. The group you killed in the bank were working for Byron. They all deserve to be eradicated, but my hands are tied with a mountain of red tape, and I don’t want anyone to know who I am investigating.”

  “What is the pay?” I asked as I pulled my arms against the handcuffs a bit to test their tension.

  “I think you are misunderstanding my offer.” The woman crossed her arms and stared at me with cold green eyes.

  “I think you are misunderstanding how much I dislike being enslaved,” I growled.

  We stared at each other for almost half a minute. The pretty woman finally smiled and nodded.

  “I suppose I could allocate some budget for this. I’ll give you two thousand up front so you can work your way into their graces. Then I’ll give you ten thousand when you’ve delivered me the correct recordings of Izetta. Oh, I’ll also give you back your card here,” she said as she pulled the R-credit card out of her suit pocket. “You really should get this tied to an account. I could just spend this all, and no one would ask any questions.” The woman turned from the piece of plastic and bore her green eyes into mine. “Any reason you didn’t want to get an account set up?”

  “No reason, we planned on making our stay short,” I said carefully.

  “Ahh. Makes sense then. Do you know anything about tigers?” she asked as she slipped my R-credit card back in her pocket.

  “Tigers?” I asked after I swallowed.

  “It’s really too bad that I don’t have the security footage of the bank. There were all sorts of interesting eyewitness accounts about th
e robbery. They sound a bit strange, but I don’t have the footage, so I’m left to imagine the scene as they have described.”

  “I don’t know anything about that,” I said as I looked at my arms. “You mind taking these cuffs off?”

  “Do you agree to work with me?” she asked.

  “Yeah. We don’t mind helping people, but we are in a hurry. I’ll get my friends, you can give us the starting money, and we’ll--”

  “Ahhh. See that will be a problem,” the woman tsked and shook her head.

  “What will be a--”

  “I’ve dealt with your kind plenty of times.” She frowned.

  “My kind?”

  “Yes. Criminals. You all can’t be trusted. If I let the three of you go, you’ll just jump on that fancy spaceship of yours and blast off. It would make me quite sad.”

  “No, I gave my word I would help you. I understand that I violated your laws, I don’t want to--” I began to say, but the woman raised a gloved hand and cut me off.

  “No. I’m still not convinced you won’t leave either of them behind and run. You’ll need to do this yourself.”

  “If you want results, I need my friends. We won’t leave.” I was doing my best to control my anger, but I guessed the woman saw my frustration.

  “Results, huh?” She sighed and reached into her pocket. A second later she was lighting another cigarette with a match. Part of me wanted to plead my case again, but I could tell from her body language that she was thinking about it.

  “Very well. I’ll let you take one of your women. The other one will stay here as collateral. If you don’t finish the job in a week, I’ll throw her out of the airlock and then come after you.”

  “That is rather extreme,” I growled and tried to force the animal back into my stomach. I realized that the creature in my soul thought of both of my friends as my mates, and it wanted to kill this bitch for threatening them.

  “I keep granting you favors, and you seem ungrateful.” The woman sighed and blew out another plume of smoke. Perhaps the movement of her lips across the cigarette might have been considered arousing, but my dislike for the redheaded woman was making it hard to have any other emotion besides rage.

  “And you seem like a bitch,” I growled. “There is no need to threaten my friends or me. You’ve offered to pay me.”

  “Hmmm.” She smiled and shook her head. “I always seem to end up being called a bitch. Makes me think I might have poor people skills. Yet somehow I’m in charge. Which one of your women will you take with you?”

  I thought for a few moments about the task ahead. I realized that both of my friends were “hackers” in their own fashion. Eve could hack minds, and Z computers. If this were a tactical mission that involved shooting a lot of people in some sort of high security military base, Z would be the obvious choice, but this job seemed to be about winning the favor of some small time criminal bosses. Eve’s abilities would be invaluable. I hated to leave either of them alone in prison, but I felt as if Eve might have the stronger personality, and might weather the few days of imprisonment better. Then again, she’d spent most of her life in a glass tube.

  “Eve,” I said at last.

  “That’s the black-haired body mod woman?” the redhead in the uniform asked between puffs of her cigarette.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “I think I’ll let you have the blonde one instead. I just wanted to find out which one you liked the most. I’m not surprised. The one with the tattoos is somewhat annoying. She has no respect for authority.”

  It took everything I had to keep the tiger from taking over my soul. It told me that it could break free of my bonds. It said to me that it could kill this bitch. It told me that we could be free and that no one would ever hurt my women again.

  I almost believed it.

  “Eve will be able to help me--”

  “You’ve got a week, Adam.” The redhead uncrossed her long legs and stood from her stool. “I’ll have them bring the tattooed girl in, then you can get started. Oh, and take this.” She threw what looked like a transponder toward me. I couldn’t move my hands to catch it, so the small cylinder thudded on my chest. “I’ll expect an update every night.” She spun on her heels to walk out the door, and her red hair passed through the air like a wave of flame.

  I wanted to say something that would change her mind, but every word that wanted to pour out of my mouth was a curse. I decided the best course of action was just keeping my mouth closed.

  “One small detail I nearly forgot.” She turned her head to look at me as her hand touched the door handle. “You aren’t a member of my security team. No one knows you are working for me, and I’ll deny that you are. So make sure you are on your best behavior moving forward. If Huyan and Byron need you to do something to prove your loyalty, you better not get caught, or else you’ll end up right back here, lose a bunch of time, and your red-eyed sex toy will take a swim with the stars. Got it?”

  “Yeah,” I spat the only word I knew I could say without making my situation worse.

  “Awww. Am I making you upset? I’d be concerned, except I don’t really care about scum.”

  “You care about results,” I growled.

  “Ahhh, you understand now. Good boy” she said with a mocking tone. “Update me in eight hours.” Then she walked out the door, and I was alone with the beeping of the machines that were attached to my chest.

  Well, I was alone except for the animal that raged within my soul.

  Chapter 4

  Two guards brought Z into my room ten minutes later. She was wearing the clothes I had last seen her in as well as a pair of handcuffs around her wrists. She didn’t say anything when they unlocked the metal bands, but the malice in her blue eyes was more than apparent when she crossed her arms over her chest.

  The two guards were wearing light military plate armor with helmets covering the top part of their heads. They each wore stun batons on their hips, and one of them pulled the weapon from his belt when the other moved to unlock me.

  “You don’t need to worry,” I said to the one that looked ready to fight me.

  “Just following orders,” he shrugged.

  “I’ve got the card with the credits,” Z said as one guard unlocked me, “and an extra one of her transponders.”

  “Okay.” I slowly reached for the transponder that was sitting on my chest and put it in my pocket while I watched the man with the stun baton.

  I doubted the weapon would stop me from ripping his head from his shoulders and killing his friend.

  “We are in a security garrison or something. Bunch more out in the hallways,” Z said, and I wondered if she’d somehow learned how to read minds like Eve.

  “We are going to leave. Then you are going to wait a few minutes, exit out the door. Turn left, and leave the building,” the man unlocking me said after he finished. “You understand?”

  “Yeah,” I replied as I sat up in my bed.

  “Good riddance,” the guard with the baton said, and then they both exited the door.

  “What a bunch of assholes!” Z hissed as soon as the door closed.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she answered as she squeezed her arms around her shoulders.

  Our eyes met, and I saw her jaw tremble a bit.

  “Come here,” I said as I opened my arms.

  Z’s blue eyes filled with tears as she shuffled toward me. She pushed her face into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her slender shoulders. For a minute or so she sobbed into my chest while I held her. Her arms finally circled my waist, and she pulled herself against me.

  “I fucked up,” she gasped.

  “What? No, you didn’t.”

  “We couldn’t get you away in time. It’s my fault.”

  “No. How can you think that? I was the one who killed the men at the bank,” I said with a sigh.

  “You were protecting us. They would have hit Eve next.” She sobbed again and rubbed he
r face against my chest. “I took too much time with their computer.”

  “No,” I repeated. “This isn’t your fault, and we’ve got a way out. Did that woman tell you what we have to do?”

  “Yeah. Fucking bitch. I want to take one of those stun batons and shove it right up her--”

  “We have to focus on getting this mission done, or they will kill Eve. We need to move forward. We’ll have our revenge soon,” I said, but part of my mind knew that I was saying the words to cheer my friend up. I didn’t like this situation one bit, and I was terrified of what would happen if I didn’t get the job done in time.

  I was also terrified about what would happen if I did do the job. I didn’t know if this woman would still kill Eve, or even Z and me. She could easily turn this around and use us as the scapegoats.

  “Why is this shit so hard?” the blonde woman asked as she pulled her face away from my chest. “We wanted to help people, but they destroyed a whole fucking moon. What if they did the same to Jatal’s moon? What if we get back there and it’s gone? We aren’t helping anyone. We are just leaving a trail of dead. We’ll never be free of Elaka Nota.” Her voice trembled as she spoke and she leaned her face into me again.

  “We’ll figure it out,” I said. “But first, we need to free Eve. Was she in the same cell as you?”

  “No. Down the hall I think. I was in a solitary confinement cell. They opened the doors to give us food, but that was it.”

  “At least you got to eat,” I said. “That’s one problem out of the way.”

  “I was looking forward to the steak.” The woman’s sobs turned into a laugh, and she cleared her throat. “But I wanted to eat with you both. Instead, we all ate alone. Fucking bullshit. We saved that bank from getting robbed.” she wiped her nose with the back of her hand and then blinked some of her tears away.