by R. E. Graham
The Only Hope’s crew had assembled beneath Riko’s home. Back when they first began piracy, they needed a safe spot to stash the goods before they were processed and dispersed. Riko had been kind enough to allow his own home to be used.
“He what?” Rhonda blurted out at the news of the Mayor leaving town.
Hern grew intensely angry. “That spineless bastard and his damned son!”
"Look, what's done is done," Mikhail said trying to calm his crew down.
“What if they rat us out?” Riko asked as he leaned against the wall of his basement.
The Captain shook his head. “I don’t think he will,”
“Well we all also didn’t think the poosh head would bail on us neither,” Hernando said seeming as if he was getting even angrier.
Nina and Jaymes seemed relatively calm compared to everyone else. Joker looked upset, but not nearly as much as Hern did. And Poli and Jax were murmuring something to one another.
“We can’t dwell on their choice. But we do need to keep this town calm. We can’t have a bunch of other people runnin’ off” Mikhail said standing up taller.
“Do you have a plan, Cap?” Rhonda asked as she was coming to her senses instead of fuming at the runaways.
“Right now, I think it is best for us to lay low and make our rations last.”
Hern rolled his eyes. “We wouldn’t have to live like rodents if that blasted kid didn’t get so fricken’ trigger happy!”
Mikhail held a hand up to ease the ship’s gunner from losing himself. Hern placed his hands on his head and raised his elbows up as he vented.
“Thing is, if they are heading for a relocator, then they could get caught while trying to leave Destiny,” Jax said as he picked at his thumbnail with his opposite hand. “That’s easy jail time right there.”
“Good, I hope they get caught and get strung up for it,” Hern said almost spitting as he spoke.
“I don’t understand,” Poli started. “Why are they running anyway?”
Rhonda turned to the young woman. "Because he's worried about the law comin' lookin' for who killed the Senator."
“There wasn’t time to talk about it while we were still in the air,” Mikhail said calmly, “But Lenny messed up bad.”
“If I ever see that little bug of a man again, I’ll twist his spine until it snaps,” Hern said as he turned away from the group and stormed to the back of the basement as he continued to fume.
“We need to keep this quiet,” Mikhail said to the group. “If the town gets twitchy, we will have more problems.”
Most of the crew nodded in agreement.
"What about Cavan?" Jaymes asked from the back of the group. "I looked into it on the stream, and there isn't a lot of information still."
“I heard that it was a government hit,” the Captain said as he looked around the room at his team.
“The Razors?” Nina asked with concern in her voice.
“No. Offworlders. The Mayor told me before he left that he heard it was an inquisitor.”
“Oh, great balls!” Hern exclaimed from behind a stack of boxes of food. All that could be seen were his hands sticking up above the brown boxes. “Now there’s an inquisitor. Fantastic!”
“If it was the government, do you think they linked it back to us?” Joker asked from the middle of the group. He wore his typical jacket with a custom sown picture of a nightmarish clown on the back.
“If they did, they would have already hit us,” Rhonda said to assure the room.
Mikhail nodded in agreement with his fellow raider. “If they knew, we would know it too. That’s for sure.”
“What are we going to do about the mercs then?” the overrider asked. “I heard that they want us to pay them back what they felt they were owed last time.”
“We will deal with the Razors. But we will really have to watch the rations to make sure things last as long as possible. Nina and Rhonda, I want you to speak with Patrix.”
Both the women responded with “Aye, Captain.”
Mikhail turned to Jax. “I want you and Jaymes to help organize the rest of the loot to give to the mercs.”
“Consider it done sir,” Jax said as he stood up and dusted off his pants.
“Poli, is the Only Hope all fueled up and ready?”
She nodded her head like a small child. “Yes Cap, but I thought we weren’t leavin’ for a while.”
“That is the plan, but things change. I want to be sure we are ready just in case.”
“In case of what?” the female mechanic asked as several of the crew got interested in the conversation again.
The Captain was used to all eyes on him, but right now they felt like they were staring at him for confidence in this situation. He acted as calmly as he knew how when he said, “We won’t have any problems for a while once we get beyond dealing with the Razors today. I just want to be prepared if things change.”
“Aye, aye,” Poli replied as she twirled a braid of hair in her fingers.
"Alright, we all have a lot of work and only a few hours to do it. Let's get going." Mikhail clapped his hands together, and everyone that was still sitting got up and headed off to do their duty.
“Hey Riko,” the Captain said over the dull roar of the room. He gestured with his head for the mech pilot to follow him over to the corner of the room.
“Yes Cap?” he asked as he leaned in close.
“I don’t want to alert everyone else, but I want you and Rhonda on standby in case things turn out bad later today.”
“Do you think the mercs will get violent?”
“I don’t know,” Mikhail said with a shrug. “But, I want you inside the Goblin just in case. Keep it powered down but warmed up. Don’t do anythin’ unless I signal you to.”
“Yessir,” Riko said as he nodded and left the basement.
Dammit, Lenny, we have an avalanche of problems now we have to deal with…if I ever see you again, I might just put a bullet in you.
Chapter 18
Cycle: 434 Month: 2 Rotation: 18
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Destiny
Location: Outside of Largo
The next couple of hours after the meeting in the basement were pretty hectic. It hadn’t been easy, but the pirates had been able to successfully bring out everything they could possibly spare to keep the mercs happy and position themselves to last several months without having to go on another run.
Just like the day before, a large cloud of dust extended up into the air signaling the approach of the Razors' convoy heading directly for Largo. Mikhail had one boot perched up on top of a crate next to him while his jacket rippled in the sandy breeze. His pitch-black sunglasses reflected the sunlight off of them perfectly, adding to his sharp appearance.
As the mercenary convoy of Chariots and the armored truck rounded the bend, Mikhail was shocked to see a sand-colored Sierra WarMech stomping up alongside the lead truck.
“Captain?” Rhonda asked from behind him. Her tone expressed her own shock.
Hern wasn’t handling the unwelcomed sight as well as the other two. “Why did they bring a mech? Captain?”
The Captain clenched his jaw and readied himself for the impending conversation.
They are trying to intimidate us. It’s not gonna work.
The lead truck pulled up and turned slightly before it came to a stop. Out hopped Captain Geeson with a massive grin on his face. He extended his arms and shouted, "Now that is a happy sight!"
Hern kept an uneasy eye on the Sierra which stopped its advance standing beside one of the combat vehicles.
The mercenary captain's boots crunched with every step. Unlike yesterday, he seemed to be in an excellent mood. "Captain," he said greeting Mikhail.
The pirate captain merely nodded in return. “I’m a bit confused Captain, why’d you bring the mech?”
Geeson looked over his shoulder and closed one of his eyes from the brightness
of the sky. "Oh, that? Think of it as a bit of insurance."
“For what?” Rhonda asked sternly.
“After your last run coming up short, the Colonel wanted to make sure you understood the arrangement,” Geeson said with a smirk.
Hern’s blood boiled but Mikhail stayed outwardly calm. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten the deal. We didn’t gyp you last time, the run was just small.”
“Meh, either way, you need to know your place pirate.”
Could Riko destroy the Sierra before it could get a shot off?
Mikhail stared into the mercenary Captain’s eyes and exhaled slowly.
It’s too dangerous…we’re too close to town.
“Show him,” Mikhail said reluctantly.
Rhonda knelt and opened up one of the plasti-crates on the top of the stack. Geeson lowered his own sunglasses to get a better look.
“This is top of the line food rations. Not that military grade poosh. Lots of different recipes,” she said as she closed the crate back up.
“What else you got?” Geeson asked as he looked back into Mikhail’s unblinking eyes.
It would be so easy…if only the town wouldn’t be in danger.
The pirate captain glanced over to one of the Chariots to see the gunner on top picking his nose. Then he saw the dust-covered WarMech again, towering over the convoy.
No…not today.
“We also brought some cash back with us. It is in a sealed bag so that it makes it back to the Colonel,” Mikhail said coldly.
“So, where is it?” Geeson asked annoyed.
The pirate captain took his boot off the crate he had been guarding and kicked it over to the merc. It slid across the loose gravel and stopped just short of the other man’s own boot.
Geeson chuckled to himself. “Good thing you all didn’t come up “short” again.”
Mikhail crossed his arms behind his back and extended his index and middle finger. No one at the meeting except for the pirate captain knew that he was signaling Riko to be on standby.
Not too far away sat the Only Hope. The mech pilot had rigged up a camera feed to send a signal directly to his cockpit where he sat ready to launch the Goblin at a moments notice. He recognized the motion by the Captain and gripped his joysticks tightly. His heart pounded because he too was wondering how quickly he could disable the other WarMech before it could do too much damage.
The mercenary captain bent over, the top of his butt beginning to creep out from under his pants causing Rhonda to look away in disgust.
“Thanks again Cap,” Geeson said as he chuckled to himself. “Oh, and we will be swinging back around in two weeks for another load.”
“Like void you will,” Hern blurted out before Mikhail held up a hand for him to stop.
“The deal is we give a forty percent cut of whatever we bring back,” the pirate captain said with a growl in his voice. “You’ve never come here except after a run.”
“Yeah, well the Colonel feels you may be holding back on us.”
“Maybe you don’t understand Tyler,” Mikhail said as he took a step closer to the mercenary.
The other mercs behind Geeson did not draw their weapons, but they did place their hands on them. Hern did the same and kept surveying the group of men and women hoping someone tried it.
“Perhaps you didn’ hear me clearly Mikky,” the merc captain said taking a step forward as well. “You seem to forget your place in this arrangement.”
“We aren’t your errand boy neither,” said Hernando as his body tensed up, preparing for a fight.
Mikhail and Geeson now were extremely close to one another’s face.
“Curious, did you hear about what happened in Cavan?”
“Enlighten me,” Mikhail said breathing heavily. Everything in his body told him to pull out his pistol and shoot the swine that stood before him, but he resisted that urge.
Leesa and Coral could get hurt…
He glanced up at the dirty Sierra and Geeson happened to notice. But the mercenary mistook Mikhail’s demeanor for fearful concern and felt emboldened by it.
"So funny enough, some numbnuts decided it was an intelligent idea to kill a senator. Guess it caught the attention of someone fancy because an inquisitor visited the big boss the other rotation. And you know they don't get called out for no small-time work."
Mikhail tried to exhale to calm himself as he said, “Oh?”
“Yeah. They say it was some stupid crew of pirates that did it, you wouldn’t know anything about it would ya?” Geeson asked with the smuggest smirk imaginable on his bloated and sweaty face.
“We’d been on a run to Noire, so no,” the pirate captain said making sure to annunciate the “Noire” part.
The mercenary captain took a step back from the conversation and picked up the plasti-crate with the cash in it. He turned back to his right-hand man and gestured with his head.
“Load up!” the other mercenary shouted to his team as they moved forward and began hefting the heavy crates of food and other supplies.
“That’s good to hear. I guess the lawman figured out Cavan had their own pirates. I swung by there, it wasn’t a good sight. Men, women, children…he killed them all. Destroyed the whole town.” He looked about at Rhonda and Hern then back to Mikhail. “Wouldn’t want anything to happen to any of you. You all do such a good job of bringing back loot.”
Rhonda stuck out her hand and prevented Hern from doing anything stupid. She shook her head and whispered, “This isn’t the place.”
"Have yourselves a wonderful day!" the merc captain shouted as he walked back to his team cackling.
He placed the container in the back of the truck he rode in and turned back to the pirates. “Oh, by the way, changed my mind, we’ll be back in one week for the next pickup. We’ll need a shipment at least as large as this one.”
“What?” Hern shouted. “Ain’t no way you bastards are comin’ back here in no week.”
Geeson's face looked surprised. "My dear Captain, your man here forgets his place. I see where he gets it from." The mercenary captain stepped back up to the group, and the other mercs did as well now that they had finished loading up their vehicles.
Mikhail looked around at the group and wanted so badly to start blasting. There would be no way they could take all of them fast enough before a full-on shootout broke.
Instead, Mikhail knew he only had one option. “I apologize for him speaking out, Captain. We are tired from our last run is all.”
Hern looked to his Captain in shock.
Rhonda shook her head again at the ship’s gunner urging him to settle down.
Geeson hefted up his pants at the belt and sniffed. “You know what, make it double what you just gave us.”
“Double?!” The words left the pirate captain’s lips before his brain could fully register the thought. “You can’t be serious. We already made good on our last pickup, what we gave is good for now.”
“I say when it’s good!” Geeson shouted at the pirates as to impress his team. One of the mercs smiled and looked at his buddy.
“What we have here is a failure of appreciation. You people seem to forget exactly what we do for y’all.” The mercenary captain opened his arms towards the town behind Mikhail and his people. “You get to continue to do what you need to so you can live in the lap of luxury here, and we don’t say nothin’ to the lawmen. That sorta arrangement don’t come cheap these days. Especially when inquisitors come knockin’.”
Mikhail didn't say a word, but he tried to control his facial expressions as well. Again, he glanced up at the mercenary WarMech. He reluctantly nodded his head, and Geeson grinned.
“Excellent! Alright men, load on up. We’re done here.”
Without another word, the mercenaries got in their vehicles, and they began to drive off. The two-story tall Sierra, however, stood motionless. Mikhail felt like the pilot was staring him down, almost asking for him to make a move. In return, the Captain just glared back at i
t and remained like a rock. Yet, he still had kept his two fingers extended.
Finally, the WarMech stomped off. It used its massive left arm to shove over a large stone, and it landed with a heavy thud.
Mikhail exhaled and slowly lowered his hands. Back in the Goblin, Riko had begun to heavily sweat in his cockpit. He let out a “Phew,” as the Sierra and the rest of the convoy headed back to their base.
“Cap, why’d we just let those beasts belittle us?” Hern asked angrily.
Mikhail continued to watch the convoy and the cloud of dust it left behind.
“Because,” Rhonda began as she tugged at the band in her frilly hair, “if we made a move the town could’ve been attacked.”
“And? We got the Goblin, we coulda taken ‘em.”
The pirate captain swung around and was still fuming at the conversation with the merc. “Nothing is more important than keeping this town and everyone in it safe. You got that?”
Hern fumed but nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”
“Good.” Mikhail turned his attention to Rhonda. “How much will we be able to spare for when they come back?”
“Don’t tell me we’re actually gonna go through with it!” the male gunner exclaimed.
“We have enough food rations to last us for two months. If we give them double what we just did, that will put us down to two, maybe three weeks tops.”
Hern through his hands in the air and began to curse in his native language.
Mikhail took a deep breath then looked to Rhonda. "We need to have a town meeting. They need to know about the Mayor, and we need to vote on what we're gonna do about the mercs."
That last part got the gunner's attention. "What do ya mean Cap? You say the word, and we can deal with ‘em."
“No, there won’t be any shootin’ just yet. But we do need to vote on what we are going to do going forward.”
Chapter 19
Cycle: 434 Month: 2 Rotation: 18
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Destiny
Location: In orbit
Inquisitor Cyrus sat at an empty station aboard the Silverbolt. He massaged his tired eyes. For what felt like an endless sludge of hours, three of the 12th’s intelligence officers and himself had been combing through the digital files and records the Razor Claws’ Colonel had sent them. Except for that one entry that led them to Cavan several rotations ago, they had no new leads.
