Countdown

by John Walker

  “I said someone.” Pol shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be you. Does it?”

  Nina chuckled. “Are you trying to cheer me up by acting aloof?”

  “Is it working?”

  “I think you were more charming when we had a drink together.”

  “Do we have time to do that now?” Pol looked around. “Even if it only takes five minutes?”

  Nina took a moment to consider her duties. They had a lot to do but were on standby at the moment. “If it’s not alcoholic,” she said, “and you tell me when you’re leaving the Gold Empire to join our side.”

  “Who said anything about that?”

  “Come on, you want to be in a military that I’m not in?” Nina winked. “That doesn’t sound particularly rewarding.”

  “Shit. I didn’t think of it that way.” Pol gestured to the door. “Lead the way, ma’am. I look forward to sharing a juice with you.”

  “Absolutely, Commander. Let’s see where this goes.”

  ***

  Rita stood beside Zem near Dora’s ship. Oliver brought a Confed shuttle over with a dozen security guards. It didn’t take them long to arrest the various pirates aboard. They were temporarily housed in their own brig but the idea was to return them to the Morrigan as soon as possible.

  Other crew boarded the vessel to take over so they could get it home. Rita hoped they knew what they were doing. The damn thing proved to be the most advanced ship she’d even heard of let alone seen in action. She made sure to report that before people started throwing switches.

  “Noah’s on the shuttle,” Oliver said. “He wants to talk to the commander of this boat. See if she’ll cooperate.” He shrugged. “Before he does that, he hoped we might have a quick chat.”

  “Sure.” Rita nodded to Zem before stepping away. “It’s good to see you, Olly. What do you say we find something else to bring us together next time? I’d like to avoid another alien invasion if it’s all the same to you.”

  “I can be persuaded.” Olly put his arm around her. “You’re insane, you know that? Just going with this asshole. What were you thinking?”

  “That he’d either kill me quick or give me a chance.” Rita shrugged. “I had to save Alden. He was the only thing that would make the alliance work. You know that too. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “Maybe not.” Olly shook his head. “It was still reckless.”

  “I agree.” Noah called from the ramp of the shuttle. He hurried over to hug them both. “Oh…I’m glad to see both of you.”

  “Not a bad result, huh?” Rita smiled. “What do you guys think?”

  “We’re alive,” Noah said. “And that’s something considering. You coming along like that… incredible.”

  Rita shrugged. “I make an entrance. Both when we met back at that colony I was trying to rob and now. You know, it’s all about style.”

  Noah chuckled. “You’re ridiculous. So! You’re both Majors now. What’re you going to do with that?”

  “Oh, not me.” Rita held up her hands. “I’m out of that business. I’m taking the job with Erris.”

  “Really?” Olly lifted his brow. “You want to be with MerCon?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s more my speed now. I’m done with military life. That brief taste of it on Whitaker’s ship did me in.”

  “You go with our blessing,” Noah said, giving Olly a look. “Anyway, I thought you’d both like to know I’m planning on retiring after this is over.”

  “No way!” Olly nudged him. “You always said you were in for life! Admiral… potential marshal.”

  Noah shrugged. “I’ve seen enough to back out while I can. Besides, I could’ve been Admiral twice over and turned it down. I’ve missed a lot of things staying in the military the way I did. It’s time I see something else.” He gestured around. “But not before we secure all of this…and get home of course.”

  “What about you?” Rita tapped Olly’s nose. “Your lady might like it if you took a break from all this soldiering.”

  “Meredith…” Olly nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

  “I’m going to put you up for that promotion,” Noah said. “I promised. Could be a desk job for you if you need to but…I kind of think you’d be better off wandering around with the doctor. It’ll be a lot more exciting.”

  “And lucrative,” Rita said. “At least… for science…” She shrugged. “Okay, you’ll probably be poor.”

  Olly laughed. “Wow. You’re asking me to get out?”

  “Suggesting,” Noah said. “You gotta make your own call with that.”

  “What’s Zem going to do?” Olly asked.

  “I’m offering him a position too,” Rita replied. “Pretty sure he’ll take it, too. Which just leaves Borden. Though I have a feeling I know what he’ll get up to.”

  “More thieving?” Olly asked.

  “No… he and Hayes… maybe that Vic guy… they’ll get up to something. I suspect it’ll even be legal. The three of them have had enough of living on the wrong side of the law. Just an impression I’ve got. I know I’m done. I gotta get out of that life. Get into the real world. Have the option of returning home.”

  “What about the Ruby?” Noah asked. “The frontier might miss her.”

  “Oh, I’m sure there’s some asshole running around calling themselves that.” Rita shook her head. “Worry not, my stupid moniker will live on in infamy. What about that prisoner? Trenik? And Harcourt?”

  “They’ve become quite the friends,” Noah replied. “Seems they’ll keep working together. I think we’ve got our first set of ambassadors.”

  “Whether they like it or not,” Olly muttered.

  “We’d better get to work,” Noah said. “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the way home. I hope you’ll both join me on the Morrigan for our last trip together as soldiers.”

  “But not the last one as a family,” Olly pointed out. “Right?”

  “Absolutely.” Rita hugged them both again. “We won’t be apart for so long again. Promise me.”

  “I promise,” Oliver muttered into her shoulder.

  “As do I.” Noah drew back, looking her in the eye. They took a long moment of silence together before he gestured with his head. “Let’s get going. See you soon.”

  ***

  Torrence watched Rita walk off with Oliver. She turned her attention back to Zem and Dora. Ronnie came hurrying down the ramp to stand beside them with McCully in tow. They’d become quite the little team, not just on that mission but before as well. It was on the verge of ending. They wouldn’t be working together again.

  “This is it, huh?” Torrence asked. “We’re going our separate ways.”

  “I’m with Rita,” Zem said. “Which means I’ll be working for MerCon soon. Never thought I’d see the day they’d accept us there. Not after all we’d done. It’s crazy.”

  Dora added, “I put in a request to have Ronnie permanently assigned to The Bounty. We’re a transport ship that hits some hot LZs. I think I could use a badass engineer. One that’s pretty much not afraid of anything.”

  “Aw,” Ronnie said, “you think I’m badass?”

  “Nah, I just tell other people that.” Dora pulled the girl into a half hug. “I’d miss you too much if you went off to be on some boring Engineering team.” She turned to Torrence. “What about you?”

  “Back to the units.” Torrence shrugged. “Soldiering.”

  “You could come with us,” Zem offered. “We could see…”

  Torrence shook her head. “I saw a side of you I didn’t like. I thought…” She turned away. “But no. No, I think I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

  Zem nodded. “That’s a fair point.”

  Ronnie cleared her throat to break the tension. “So… we pulled this off, huh? Got Rita back… stole the cool pirate ship… I do have one question though. What about those twin guys? The ones that tried to board the vessel when we were leaving?”

  “Oh, we’ll deal wi
th them,” Zem said. “Even if that’s a final private job, I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my days.”

  “Good,” Dora replied. “They sounded creepy.” She turned to McCully. “You’ve been quiet, Ellie. What’re your plans?”

  “I’ll be lucky if I don’t get a court-martial,” McCully replied. “After following Whitaker’s orders, I wouldn’t be surprised. But if not, then I’ll try to serve on the Morrigan I think. With whoever’s in charge after this is all over.” She smiled. “I’m not ready to get out quite yet. I’m with Torrence in that regard.”

  “I’m heading over to the other ship now.” Torrence shook Dora’s hand then Ronnie’s. She saluted McCully then found herself standing before Zem, looking him in the eye. “We did work together, you weren’t kidding.”

  “If you ever change your mind, you’ll know where to find me.”

  “Maybe that’ll happen.” Torrence looked away. “When I’m over what happened to Nostros.”

  “He knew the risks,” Zem said. “He was a soldier. A badass one that charged into some shit danger. Probably saved our lives.”

  “At the cost of his own. One of us should’ve gone with him.”

  “You know better than to second guess a battle like that.” Zem touched her shoulder. “I know you’re pissed but you have to know, that wasn’t any of our faults.”

  “I’ll come to terms with that.” Torrence backed away. “For now, I’m glad we worked together. I really am. So…” She shuffled her feet. “See you when I see you.”

  “Indeed you will.”

  Torrence hurried to the shuttle Captain Markel arrived on. The soldiers lingering around were all privates, men and women she hadn’t met yet. She stepped aboard, intent on introducing herself when a pang of sadness gripped her heart. When tours ended, she always felt at loose ends…until the next assignment swept her up.

  Something told her this one would stick with her for a long time. The relationships she forged, the friends she made and lost, the sights she’d seen… no one could say she had a boring time. This had been the greatest adventure of her professional life.

  A shame it feels like it’s ending on such a painful note.

  A few days would be all the salve she needed. Then she could jump into the work again. Until then, she wanted to be alone. Just… acclimate. Accept. Embrace. After all, they’d just stopped a war with an alien race. No one said she had to be one hundred percent after such an event.

  ***

  Borden sat in the cockpit, tapping his knee. They’d been hovering around a functional buoy for the better part of ten hours. The system he’d taken them to had been a halfway point for merchant vessels, a stop off where they could take a break, initiate repairs if need be, or even lay low after an encounter.

  It worked great for them.

  “You okay?” Hayes asked. “What’s going on up here?”

  “I’ve got the comms open,” Borden said. “Waiting for any sign from our friends. Anything at all for that matter.” He looked over at her. “We could be at the end of a war… or the start of a big one. Feels weird, you know?”

  Hayes took a seat. “So… Erris paid me to come along but I’ve ended up hanging around with you the whole time.”

  “Sorry about that?”

  “I didn’t mean…” Hayes blushed before whacking him on the arm. “I like working with you. My point is that I have a job with Erris. She paid me to be a pilot. I can go to MerCon.”

  Borden nodded. “Sounds like a good deal.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “Legit, pays a lot, rules… but hey, if you’re okay with those, you’ll be fine.”

  “That’s just it. I… think I’d rather something… I dunno… less rigid?”

  “You want to be a crook?” Borden grinned.

  “Do you?”

  Borden had to think about the question. The last few days proved he had a heart still… which surprised him, in all honesty. He figured he’d lost that when he left the military. Then a bunch of potentially heroic shit happened leaving him in a position where stealing felt like an asshole thing to do.

  “Probably not,” Borden replied, “no.”

  “Cause… I was thinking… maybe we can freelance. Take some jobs from MerCon to help ends meet but be our own bosses. Fix this tub up. Do cargo runs. See the galaxy. Hang out together.” She shrugged. “What do you say?”

  “Yo! Vic!” Borden shouted. The man hurried up.

  “Is there a problem? Are we in trouble again?”

  “Nah! We’re fine. Just sitting on our asses still.” Borden gestured to Hayes then told him their plan. “What do you think? You want in? We could use a computer specialist maniac with a knife guy. And I don’t think you’ve got any other prospects lined up anyway. Not after everything you did.”

  Vic huffed. “Nice way to put it. Work on your pitch, huh?”

  “I’ll be doing the pitching,” Hayes said. “He’ll do the flying and other stuff.”

  “Yeah, I’m not good at selling things.”

  “No.” Vic took a seat behind them. “Hell, why not? I don’t have a ship, pretty much lost everything I own. I might as well earn it back a legit way for a change, huh?”

  “New team!” Hayes cried, putting her hand out palm down. The others stared at it. “You’re supposed to put your hands on top of mine.”

  “Why?” Borden and Vic asked at the same time.

  Hayes pulled it back. “Never mind. Christ!”

  The comm lit up, buzzing as a message came through. “Hold on!” Borden held up his hand. “That’s coming directly to us!” He dialed it in, working the controls until he heard Oliver’s voice clearly.

  “Pegasus, this is the Morrigan. Please respond. This is Oliver. Are you there?”

  “Holy shit!” Borden accepted the transmission. “I read you, man! What’s going on?”

  “We won,” Oliver said. “The worst part is over. I’d like to give you some coordinates to rendezvous with us. I think you’ve got some people who would like to disembark.”

  “I’ll say,” Borden replied. “We’ve been out here for hours. And do we have a story to tell you!”

  “We’ve got plenty of those,” Oliver said. “Is Lyson there?”

  “Lyson!” Borden shouted. “Your boyfriend’s on the line! He lived!”

  A moment later, Lyson stumbled onto the bridge. “Hello? Olly? Hello?’

  “Hey!” Oliver called back. “Good to hear your voice.”

  “Are you done? Are you safe?”

  “Yes, to both accounts! We have a lot to talk about. Borden has some coordinates. We’ll see each other soon, huh?”

  “Yeah… I can’t wait.” Lyson covered her mouth, her eyes glistening with tears. “Hey, Oliver? I… I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Oliver replied. “See you guys soon. Oliver out.”

  “Aww,” Borden turned to Lyson, “so touching!”

  “Shut up!” Hayes whacked him again. “That was awesome.”

  “Just… you know. Kind of predictable.”

  “I don’t care.” Lyson smiled. “If you knew what it was like, you wouldn’t be scoffing.”

  “No one’s going to put up with him,” Vic said. “Trust me.”

  “You never know.” Borden engaged the thrusters. “I’m charming.” He waggled his brows, getting them underway. “Strap in, boys and girls. We are about to hyperspace our asses back to civilization.”

  And into a future far brighter than any I’ve known for a very, very long time.

  ***

  Jerson Whitaker sat on a threadbare chair, staring at a fire raging in a tiny hearth. He felt ill from a lack of ether. Withdrawals racked his body, made his stomach cramp and his muscles burn. He’d lost his appetite, resorting only to water. All his resources had been depleted and he wasn’t sure how to procure more.

  My lines have all been severed. His plans were over. All his schemes, years in the making, had been shattered. To
rn apart by the Morrigan, her crew, and the traitors that stabbed him in the back. I should have known better than to trust Petrova again. That spineless worm! And Eliza! She was always a serpent.

  Even after granting them a great boon, a generous gift, they still kicked him in the teeth.

  The ingrates!

  Vengeance seemed out of reach but he remained ambitious. Eventually, he’d find a way back to civilization. Back to a place where he’d make an impression. And when that day came, everyone who crossed him would suffer. He knew this as he knew his own name. He would revisit all his suffering tenfold on his opponents.

  Wood creaked in the other room, a sound he’d heard a thousand times before. This was different. It caught his attention, made him look as two figures emerged from the shadows. Each wore black tactical suits… both held pistols on him. He stood, eyes wide as he gazed at their covered faces.

  The one on the left drew hers back first. Eliza Leavis. Then the other. Karl Petrova.

  “You didn’t think you’d get away that easily,” Eliza said, “did you?”

  “We figured you missed us,” Karl added. “And after all, we owe you thanks for the gift you gave us.”

  “Let’s just close this door.” Eliza pressed the panel, sealing them in together.

  Jerson shouted once for help… and that was it.

  Prequel available!

  https://dl.bookfunnel.com/1s4f3aod8w

  Lieutenant Noah Markel believed the war was over. In the war torn streets of a major city, he receives a final assignment, one that partners him with an unusual ally on the hunt for a delicate package.

  Want more? Check out the box set of my first series!

  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TXLRYHY

  On the eve of Humanity’s first great journey beyond our solar system, tragedy strikes. Hostile ships arrive, attacking the fledgling fleet and decimating it with ease. Only the intervention of strangers, benevolent aliens prevents the total annihilation of not only the starships, but the planet itself.