Voyages of the Solar Wind 1: A Fire in Heaven

by Michael Erickston

  She picked up her com unit and answered. "This is First Officer Rilar. Who's speaking, please?"

  "Ri! Glad I caught you. Is Dex there?" Jeka asked.

  "Yeah, I'm here, Jeka. What's going on, and why didn't you call me on my com?" I asked.

  "Your com is dead, Dex. You probably forgot to charge the fucking battery again!" She laughed, and I pulled my com out of my pocket. Shit, she was right!

  "Shit, you're right, Jeka. Sorry about that. Ok, what's up?" I apologized.

  "Just wanted to let you know that the Gurhin City Peacekeepers contacted me with the news of Mr. Nieman's death. Am I reading this right? He had his HEART RIPPED OUT?" Jeka was chuckling incredulously.

  "Yeah, Ri said she would do it, and I even gave him a chance to get out of it. He didn't listen, so she took care of business." I shrugged, and Jeka laughed.

  "Remind me to never piss off your wife, Dex." She said.

  "Never piss off my wife, Jeka. There, you've been reminded. Anything else, or can we start our honeymoon now?" I like Jeka, but she does have a way of calling at the worst times. I think it's a knack.

  "Just one more thing, then you two can fuck each other senseless for a week or two. SES has retracted the kill orders on you, so you're in the clear." She explained, and General Keldor laughed.

  "Umm, Jeka, my parents and little sister are here." Rilar blushed at Jeka's language.

  "Oops! Sorry, Ri. I'll buy you a few dozen beers when you get back. Sooorrrryyyyy!" Jeka was embarrassed enough for all of us. She really is a sweetheart.

  "No prob, Jeka. Thanks for the updates. Now, I'm going to go swimming with Dex. Rilar, out." She cut the com and turned to her family, who were, in order: General Keldor was grinning and laughing. Ambassador Bidar was trying to find a hole to crawl into out of embarrassment, and Shilar was looking at me and licking her lips. Oooohhhh NOOOOOOO!

  "Shilar, you're my sister, but if you even think about it, I'll tear your limbs off one by one." Ri's the jealous type, so you really don't want to fuck with her.

  Shilar stopped ogling me, and I silently thanked the Lords of Haven for Rilar.

  "Mom. Dad. Sorry about that. Jeka can get embarrassing sometimes with her language." She blushed.

  "I've heard worse, sweety. Don't worry about it. And Dex, show my daughter a honeymoon she'll never forget, will ya, son?" Keldor said.

  "Will do, sir." I saluted, and he returned it even better. Generals are like that.

  "Honey, we have to go get the bikes and take them back to the ship to get our clothes bags. Then find a hotel so we're not imposing on your family." I smiled.

  "Dex, you're family now. You can bunk with Ri in her quarters. Hell, you've earned it." Keldor told me. "Just go get your shit and bring it on back."

  "Yes, sir!" Man, how does he do that? Oh, yeah. He's one of the best damn Generals the Confederacy ever had, and he's my father-in-law! That's how.

  We left and jogged to where we'd left the hoverbikes. We made great time back to the hangar, and Ri turned a LOT of heads in the little bitty pieces of string she was wearing.

  Up the ramp and into our quarters. Grabbed the bags and we were riding again back to her parents' house. That was when my dense mind picked up on the fact that I still needed to call my mom!

  When we got in, I plugged in my com to the charger and let it sit for a while. Then I changed into some swim trunks for our jaunt out her backyard to the beach. Yes, the General and his family have a beach house. I love my in-laws!

  We ran along the sand and splashed in the water. I pulled her to me and kissed her lovingly in full view of quite a few of her people. Some were smiling, others were glowering, but nobody said shit. They knew who she was and more importantly, who her father was. NOBODY wanted to piss of General Keldor unless they wanted to lose a few limbs in the process.

  When we got back inside, we were beat. I checked my com and called my mom. She knew Ri as my partner and best buddy, but now we had some huge news for her.

  "This is Stase Relway." I heard mom's voice.

  "Hey, mom. It's me. Rilar and I have some news for you!" I grinned.

  "Oh, you finally got together? She's in love with you, you know." Mom. Oh hell, mom!

  "YOU even knew? Seriously, mom. You could have TOLD ME!" I was banging my head against the wall again.

  "Mrs. Relway, are you in a gunfight right now?" Rilar heard it just before I did. The crackzap of PuNCH weapons in the background of mom's com.

  "Sort of, yes. I was going after Blood Dog..." She sounded flustered, and I couldn't blame her.

  "Mom, where are you?" I asked. "We can help."

  "New Haven, Dex. Old Stone Cemetery." Mom replied.

  "We're on our way, mom. Hang on!" I shouted as I grabbed the com and Rilar and headed out the door.

  Chapter 3: The Last Privateer

  My mom, Stase Relway, also known as Grey Scourge, had earned that nickname during the war. She was a privateer that harassed Hegemony shipping lanes and took a lot of plunder in supplies and gold. After the war, she became a merc who makes her living going after pirates. One of those pirates is a man known only as Blood Dog. I'm one of the few people that knows his real name, though.

  Blood Dog was born Donal Stephos and started his pirate career early. He hooked up with a young woman and married her, promising to go straight. That had lasted all of two years until she gave birth to their son. Donal, not wanting the responsibilities of being a father, took off for parts unknown to resume his life of piracy.

  As far as I know, there's only one other person in the galaxy who isn't a member of Blood Dog's crew that knows his true identity. That would be Stase Relway. My mother. The reason? Donal Stephos, AKA Blood Dog, is the man she married, and my father.

  Being born on Helliot II and raised by my mother the Privateer made me tough and smart when it came to battle tactics. It also made me one helluva pilot.

  ^V^V^V^V^

  Rilar shouted a quick "We'll be back later!" to her family as I pulled my bikini clad lovemate out of her house and we jumped on our hoverbikes. There wasn't time for grabbing anything, and we needed to get back to the hangar bay ASAP!

  We roared through the streets of Gurhin City toward the spaceport, and I thought of the danger mom was in and we were still half an hour away!

  We shot into the spaceport and into hangar bay 23. I hit the remote switch for the hatch and ramp and it barely got down as we rode up into our ship and back to the cargo bay. We stowed our bikes and started for the cockpit.

  The SS Solar Wind is a heavily modified Sparrow class light freighter with firepower comparable to a Confed MilSpec cutter.

  We sprinted up to the cockpit and did the systems check in record time as I fired up our baby. We set course for New Haven and grabbed sky like my mom's life depended on it, which it probably did!

  Blood Dog might be my father, but he has no familial ties to us. He doesn't give a rat's ass about his own flesh and blood, much less the woman who bore his child. That makes him dangerous beyond reason, even to those he said he once loved.

  We broke atmo and I got on the com. "SS Blood Oath, this is SS Solar Wind. You there, sweetycakes?" Yeah, we would need some serious backup on this one.

  "Harrana here, Dexypoo. What can I do for.... or to you today?" Harrana was always flirting with me. I grinned.

  "Gonna need a hand on New Haven, Harrana. Blood Dog is there and has my mom pinned down in Old Stone Cemetery. Can you provide backup?" I was really hoping she could.

  "I'm forty-five minutes out, Dex. We're on our way."

  "Harrana, you're a life saver, babe! I'm gonna owe you big time for this. Solar Wind, out." I cut the com and engaged slipdrive.

  I turned to Rilar. "Let's get ready, baby."

  She grinned. "Hell yeah! Let's go Dog hunting!"

  We sprinted to our quarters and got loaded for bear. I grabbed my twin Confed Navy PuNCH pistols with dual TacDraw holsters and gunbelt, and a NanoMark King Cobra 7mm Scoped Rail Rifle that wo
uld take down a tank if needed. I dressed for battle as well. No leather jacket this time. I put on my old Confederate Navy nano armorweave jacket and leggings. I zipped it up all the way and closed the zipper flap. It would stop a rail shot if necessary, but I would wake up in the middle of next year. I also grabbed my old HUD Goggles that I hadn't needed in forever. I calibrated them to my rifle, so wherever it pointed, I would see when I depressed the trigger halfway. I tested it out, and it worked like a charm.

  Rilar likewise grabbed her old nanosuit and readied herself. She calibrated her HUDs to her favorite twin 5mm Railpistols from NanoMark. She looked a helluvalot sexier in hers than I did in mine. It was the first time I'd seen her in this oufit since we pulled Harrana's ass out of the fire a couple years back, and I had to grin.

  "Ri, you always made that look good!" I said as I lifted my goggles up to my forehead.

  "Mmmmm, thanks, sexy. You're not too bad yourself." She winked at me.

  We were still checking the loadouts for our weapons when the five minute BEEP sounded. We made sure we had full magazines and capacitors, and sprinted back to the cockpit.

  We dropped from slipstream and I got on the horn immediately.

  "New Haven Control, this is SS Solar Wind. Requesting emergency landing clearance at Old Stone Cemetery. Whether you want me to or not, I'm touching down there. This is a rescue and anti-piracy mission. Solar Wind, out." I had already nosed down and plotted a course to Old Stone.

  "Solar Wind, this is Control. You are not authorized to land there." Came the idiot's voice over the com.

  "Bad copy there, Control. If you tell me one more time that I can't rescue my mom and bring down Blood Dog, I'm going to find you and kill you after this is over. Clearcut?" I've seriously had it with morons who think they're so much better than us space jockeys. I'd like to see HIM run a blockade blindfolded!

  "D..Diamond, Solar Wind. Please proceed with your mission. Control, out." At least the dipdunk finally wised up.

  I spotted them on the way down, and Rilar sent a few well placed rounds into the SS Dog's Teeth on the first flyby. Blood Dog had landed his ship there, and we strafed it and his men on two flybys. We landed behind the wall behind mom, and sprinted down the ramp before it was even fully lowered. I already had my rifle up and blasted three pirates before they could react. Rilar blasted four more in quick succession, and the pirates' charge at mom's position quickly retreated.

  "I clock at least fifty hostiles, Ri. You?" I asked as we slammed our backs into the ferrocrete wall on either side of mom.

  "Fifty four by my count, Dex. Hi, Mrs. Relway. Are we in time for the party?" Ri grinned at my mom.

  "Hey, kids. You're just in time for the main event." Mom said. I peeked out at the enemy positions and did a quick count of the bodies.

  "Impressive, mom! I clocked twenty-eight dead that Ri and I didn't blaze when we landed." I grinned at my mom. They didn't call her Grey Scourge for nothing!

  She kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks, sweety. Not so bad yourself. I'm nearly out of 7mm. You got any extra mags, Dex?"

  I grabbed a spare and handed it to her. "Two hundred rounds, mom. Make them count. I've only got one more spare." I warned her. She nodded.

  "Dex, incoming charge." Ri said.

  "Copy that, Ri. Let's light these fuckers up." I leaned out and fired as soon as I had shots lined up. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Fuck yeah! Then I looked over at Ri's side. Twelve down in the same amount of time. Yeah, she can out-shoot me any day of the week.

  We ducked back. "Twenty more down, boss." Ri reported. She still had a habit of calling me boss during combat situations. Then my mom smacked me upside the head.

  "Ow, mom! What the hell?" I shouted.

  "What have I told you about the F-bombs, Dex?" I couldn't freakin' believe it! And now I'm even censoring my narrative. Sonuvagun!

  "Seriously, mom? In the middle of a firefight?" I asked with a flat look.

  "No excuse for bad language, young man!" She admonished me.

  "Yes, ma'am. Ok, how many we got, Ri?" I asked.

  "I can't get a good crosshair on them from here, Dex. Good news is they can't breach this wall without charging, and they can't sneak around. They have us outmanned and outgunned still, though. As soon as we're out of ammo, they have us.

  "That's why we have backup on the way. We just have to hold out for another..." I checked my watch. "Nine minutes."

  "He had a crew complement of over five hundred," said mom. "We're going to have to make every shot count."

  "We got Harrana coming in, mom. She has two hundred crew on Blood Oath." I informed her.

  "Harrana Bloodskull??? Dex, do you realize that she's on my target list too??? What are you doing cavorting with known pirates?" Mom doesn't get it.

  "She's a friend, mom. Most pirates leave us alone on her say-so. Blood Dog isn't in her circle of influence, and she wants to take him down as much as we do. Ok? Hell, she hit Humanity Prime the other day on Mars!" Oh shit! I just told my own mom what time it was. I was doomed.

  She calmed down a bit. "Ok, hitting Humanity Prime bought her a three day head start after this is over. I'm not going to give up, though!"

  "I wouldn't expect you to, mom." I leaned out and shot down a would-be sniper before he could squeeze off any rounds. "Where's your ship, by the way?"

  "Burning over that way about three klicks." She pointed. I could see the smoke from here.

  "In that case, you're going to need a ride. We have a spare rack for you on Solar Wind, mom." I offered. "That wasn't Avenger, was it?"

  "No, that was Steel Siren. I was the only one aboard." she replied. I'll take that lift, though. Hey, Ri. Is my boy treating you right?" She asked my sek'natha.

  "Yes, ma'am. Now that he finally undensed enough to see that I've been in love with him since he first offered me a beer!" She leaned out and squeezed off two rounds. I heard two distinct screams.

  "Ha ha, sweetheart. Did you just shoot off two guys' arms like last time?" I raised an eyebrow.

  "Legs this time, Dex. Now they can't run." She grinned. I laughed and so did mom.

  The pirates stopped shooting.

  "Hello! Surrender now, and I guarantee we'll kill you quick and clean."

  I looked at mom, and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's Blood Dog."

  "No thanks, dad! Your ship is disabled thanks to my gunner, and you don't have enough men to take us down. YOU surrender, and we'll see that you get a fair trial before they hang your deadbeat ass!" I countered. Hey, I'm a free trader. I HAVE to have a counter-proposal ready.

  "That's my boy!" Mom whispered proudly.

  "That's my husband!" Ri joined her.

  "'Dad?' Who are you, boy?" Blood Dog demanded.

  "The name's Dex Relway, and I know you're Donal Stephos, dad! I don't give second chances to surrender. Either do it now, or you're done!" I had to buy us another five minutes for Harrana to show up and help us put this Dog down.

  "Ha! You have steel in your spine, son! A chip off the old block!" He laughed.

  "Yeah, I do take after mom on that count. If YOU had any steel in your spine, you would have stuck around to help raise your own son!" I had to get him angry. Get them angry, and they come at you stupid. They come at you stupid, they get dead.

  Mom and Ri were chuckling at that. They knew what I was doing, since Mom had taught me that trick herself, and Ri had seen me use it plenty of times.

  I smiled at them both, leaned out, saw Blood Dog stand up, and got him in my crosshair. Squeeze-fshew-SPLAT, and Blood Dog's back exploded as my railshot blasted through his chest and out the other side.

  "Dexten Relway! Did you just kill a man before he had declined to surrender?" Mom was looking at me with her mouth open.

  "Yes, ma'am. Do YOU really think he was going to surrender?" I raised my eyebrow again.

  She shrugged. "Not really, no. Good shooting, son." She congratulated me.

  The rest of Blood Dog's crew charged us, th
en. Still over four hundred crew members charging towards us and we leaned up and around the wall to take as many down as possible. We fired into the crowd and saw bodies dropping. It wouldn't be enough, though. We were going to have to pull back, and as soon as they got clean shots on us, we were dead.

  We heard the roar and the 200mm Rails as Blood Oath opened up on the remaining Dog's Teeth pirates. Bodies exploded where they were struck, and the big cruiser's cannon weren't going to stop until the whole field was a mess of corpses. It set down by the Solar Wind, and Harrana led a team of her Elite Corsairs out to aid us. We were still firing for our lives, and now we had twenty more guns at our side, blasting the Dog's Teeth 'rats to bits. The last five surrendered, and Harrana executed them herself.

  "Well Hells yeah! You saved us the best kills. I luvs ya, Dexypoo!" Harrana was grinning as she and her guys walked over to us.

  "Luvs ya too, sweetycakes. I owe you big time, you know that, right?" Ri and I hugged our big friend.

  Mom stepped forward. "Harrana Bloodskull, I'm Stase Relway. You might know me as Grey Scourge. If you know that name, you know you're next on my list."

  Harrana blinked, then drew down on my mom.

  "STOP! Harrana, put that smokewagon back in the holster. MOM! Put yours back too! Seriously! Harrana just saved ALL our asses, and I will NOT have one of my best friends and my own mom throwing down after a firefight like this!" I wandered back towards the Solar Wind, muttering under my breath about friends shooting moms and I should shoot them both myself.

  Mom and Harrana fell in step with Ri and me. "I need a fuckin' beer. Mom, not a word about my f-bombs. Anyone else want one? We have a 'fridge full aboard."

  "Sure, I can drink with my enemy, Dex." Harrana stopped dead at the look I gave her.

  "NOT your enemy, Harrana. She's my MOM, for the Lords' sake! Now, we drink as friends or not at all. It's been a long day, our honeymoon got cut short, and now I have my mom and one of my best friends ready to kill each other. Seriously, GIVE IT A REST YOU TWO!" Yeah, I was slightly pissed off.

  They just nodded and shrugged at each other. We walked up the boarding ramp, and Harrana ordered her men back to Blood Oath.