Leslie dropped her eyes.
“Excellent,” Tenza said cheerfully. “We’ll depart Akalla starport tomorrow at oh-eight-hundred hours.”
“Your client sure is in a hurry to get off-world,” Leslie noted.
“So it would seem,” Tenza said. “Is that a problem?”
Matt traded looks with his wife. “No problem. We’ll be ready.”
The trio made small talk until their food arrived, at which time they took their fill of ribeye steaks and potatoes before retiring to their respective domiciles for the evening.
“I get why you took the deal,” Leslie said in bed before the lights went out. “I want you to know I’m behind you one hundred percent on this. I also want you to know that had you opted to pass, I’d have backed you then, too.”
Matt rolled over on his pillow to face her. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Leslie said. “We’re a team, Matt. We always have been. No amount of money will ever change that.”
Matt kissed his wife’s cheek then reached for the data panel to darken the room. The next morning, the pair arose and headed straight to the coffee pot to begin what promised to be an extra-cup kind of day.
“Pre-launch sequence is confirmed,” Leslie said from the bridge via intercom. “Fusion reactor one is online and standing by. Reactor two is standing down in support status for a shared workflow.”
“Copy that,” Matt said from the cargo hold. He’d just finished securing bins one through five for launch when the light above the debarkation hatch flashed with an alert sound.
“Client’s here,” Leslie said.
“Got it.” Matt walked to the hatch and tapped the access panel. A second later, the light over the entrance flashed green as the hatch’s locking mechanism released.
“Morning, mate,” Tenza sauntered up the ramp into the bay wearing loose-fitting trousers, a tailored shirt, and a Z-31 compact tucked conspicuously into a shoulder rig under his open jacket.
Matt flicked his gaze to the coat then back to the hatch as a second figure boarded the ramp. Tall and stocky, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest, the being wore a suit of gray body armor complete with a flowing blue cloak and a sculpted mask featuring a circular breather port below the chin.
No, not creepy at all.
“Captain Furyk.” Tenza gestured to his guest. “Allow me to introduce Rohaut Dumaul of the Yatoni Trade Syndicate. He’s the client I told you about.”
Yatoni Trade Syndicate. Matt returned his gaze to the alien. He’d heard about the Yatoni, but only through hearsay from his fellow pilots. The Yatoni were a reclusive race, hailing from the planet Yaton on the far side of the galaxy. Anatomically speaking, they were humanoid and said to be albino. However, no one knew for sure since that species were rarely seen outside their armor. Yaton was an ice planet with a benzene-rich atmosphere. That made survival on a world like Akalla impossible sans heavy enviro gear, which suits like Dumaul’s provided.
“Call me Matt. It’s good to meet ya, Mr. Dumaul.”
The Yatoni answered with neither a move nor speech.
Right. Matt frowned. “I presume you have the deposit Tenza mentioned at dinner last night?”
Dumaul reached into a pouch on the left side of his armor and came back with a data pad. He then swiped the device active and entered a series of commands resulting in a chime sound.
“You may check your account when ready,” Tenza said.
Matt keyed up his bank account via data band. Sure enough, ten thousand credit had been added to the balance. “Okay then. If you gentlemen will follow me, we’ll get you settled into your quarters before departure.”
Matt led his guests to the crew quarters on the Bonifay’s upper of two decks and showed them how to buckle in for launch. Afterward, he made his way to the bridge where Leslie was waiting at the nav station.
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“It went,” Matt said. “Tenza’s client is a Yatoni.”
“Really?” Leslie swiveled her pilot’s seat to face him. “What did he say?”
“He didn’t,” Matt said. “Tenza did all the talking.”
Leslie smirked.
“Let’s get this over with.” Matt moved to his chair at center-floor of the Bonifay’s egg-shaped bridge and buckled in, all the while giving a parting glance to the gorgeous coastal landscape beyond the viewport. I swear, when this is over, I’m coming home and going fishing for a whole month. He cleared his throat. “Take us out.”
The launch from Akalla took no time at all as the Furyks’ aging freighter slammed through the planet’s atmosphere en route to the stargate. Once there, Leslie entered the gate fee amount and coordinates for Joth into the system, where they were forwarded on to the Bith, the aliens who presided over the gate network. It took a minute, but eventually the giant ring went active, and the Bonifay was cleared to proceed.
“Otherside access achieved,” Leslie announced once they’d passed through the event horizon. “Gravity plating is holding steady. Reactors one and two are functioning well within the green.”
“Estimated time to Joth?” Matt asked.
Leslie checked her nav screen. “At present conditions, we’ll exit the Otherside in about eight hours.”
Matt nodded and rubbed his temples. He hated gate travel. Whether that was due to the nausea that always plagued him upon entry or the galaxy’s total lack of understanding as to how the gate system worked, he didn’t know. He just knew he’d never been comfortable with the process. Then again, when one made a living moving freight between star systems sans the ability for faster than light ravel, one made do with the means he had. In this instance, that meant an eight-hour sail through the Otherside. This was the slang term Akallan pilots had given to the weird state of alter reality that existed between stargates. No one actually knew what the phenomenon was.
As expected, the sail to Joth took most of the day. Once their trip through the Otherside had ended, Leslie guided the Bonifay free of the region’s stargate then laid in a course toward the brown and beige sphere ahead.
“What’s the weather report on Joth today?” Matt asked.
“Heat, heat, and more heat,” Leslie said. “Average surface temp checks in at just above one-sixty Fahrenheit with zero humidity.”
Matt winced. He did, however, take solace in the fact that they’d be landing near Joth’s capital city of Purlit near the planet’s North Pole, where temps were mildest.
Look on the bright side. You’re doing business in the Tretrayon System without having to set foot on Tretra, itself. Matt was fine with that. “All crews, this is the bridge. Be advised that we have cleared the Otherside and will be touching down at Purlit starport shortly. Furyk out.”
The thunder of re-entry rocked the Bonifay’s hull like a jackhammer as Leslie eased the freighter though Joth’s atmosphere toward the sweeping desert landscape below.
“And we’re down,” she said once they’d docked with their platform. “Welcome to Purlit starport.”
“Nice job, babe.” Matt unbuckled his safety belts and exited the bridge. Tenza and Dumaul were already waiting in the cargo bay when he entered.
“Mr. Dumaul must attend to business in the city on behalf of the Trade Syndicate,” Tenza said. “He’ll require transport to the Purlit commerce center uptown and assistance inside, as well as a ride back to the starport to board a ship bound for Yaton.”
“We only paid for two hours of platform time,” Matt said. “I’ll have to charge your client extra if we’re to stay any longer.”
Dumaul produced his data pad and entered another series of commands. A moment later, Matt got another chime from his data band. Five hundred credit had just reached his account.
“I’m presume that’s sufficient?” Tenza asked.
Matt nodded.
“Excellent.” Tenza spun for the exit. “Now, if you blokes will excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”
“Wait, you’re not going into the city?” Ma
tt asked.
“Sadly, no. My business resides elsewhere on Joth.” Tenza bowed his head at the Yatoni. “Mr. Dumaul, it’s been a pleasure. Safe travels home. Matthew, I’ll see you soon for drinks back in AC. Your treat.”
Matt keyed his data band’s comm feature as the Reeoli took his leave. “Les, it’s Matt. It looks like we’re gonna be on-world a bit longer than expected. I’ve gotta give Mr. Dumaul a ride into Purlit.”
“No problem,” Leslie said. “I’ll come down and help you unload the hovercraft from the drop chute.”
“Nah, I’ll handle it,” Matt said. “You just shore things up with the port authority to keep our platform. We’ll depart for Akalla as soon as I get back, then celebrate tonight with drinks at Spinnaker’s.”
“Copy, that.” Leslie was a fan of Spinnaker’s sangria. “Bridge out.”
The ride into Purlit was downright miserable. Between the oppressive heat and the desolate air, not to mention the grizzly sight of factories and bone yards at every turn, Matt wondered how anyone could call such a place home. Dumaul didn’t make the trip any easier. The Yatoni diplomat just sat there, speechless, staring off into nowhere, and wearing the same cold, dead expression across that solid gray mask of his.
When the pair arrived uptown twenty minutes later, Matt eased the hovercraft to rest outside the Purlit commerce center and killed the engine. “All right, we’re here. Now what?”
True to form, Dumaul gave no answer. He simply climbed off the hovercraft and started for the building, pausing just briefly enough to motion Matt to follow.
Fine. Matt frowned and hopped down.
The commerce center lobby was enormous and buzzing with activity. Naturally, there were humans everywhere. However, there were also representatives from various other humanoid species like the towering Yalteens and the purple-skinned Pikith. There was even a Calidvar at the security checkpoint.
Dumaul cared for none of this. He strode past the crowd with Matt in tow, then boarded a glass-walled lift which took the pair eight levels up to a conference room on floor nine.
“Nice place,” Matt said, regarding the room’s plush décor and floor-to-ceiling window showing a bird’s eye view of Purlit’s skyline. “I take it you’re expecting someone else?”
A chime binged from down the hall. Someone else had just stepped off the lift.
I’ll take that as a yes.
Matt held his stance in the back corner as the conference room door slid open and three figures entered. The first was a human security guard with snow-white hair and rugged features.
Matt’s eyes widened at the other two beings who entered.
Tall and green with massive forms and thick, scaly skin, the aliens resembled in many ways the turtles on Earth but with the ability to walk erect.
Matt had met the species in person only once. Every other encounter had been conducted via financial transaction to pay the Bonifay’s gate fees. Why are the Bith here?
“I demand to know the meaning of this!” Bith one was taller than the other and wore an ornate silver medallion across his chest. “Why have we been brought here instead of—”
The hum of the power-up sequence from Dumaul’s laser pistol cut short the alien’s protest.
“What the hell?” Matt blurted.
“How dare you. Do you have any idea who—” The shorter Bith stopped short when the guard leveled his sidearm at the alien’s head.
We’ll never be able to use the gates again after this. Matt lunged for his Z-31.
“Eh,” a new voice chirped.
Matt glanced out the corner of his eye.
A second armed guard with youthful features and chestnut-brown hair had the drop on him from the doorway. “Don’t even think about it.”
Matt released the pistol grip in his right hand and raised his palms.
“Are we good here?” the old guard asked.
“Indeed, we are,” Dumaul said, his voice drenched in a thick digital haze through his mask. “Per our agreement, you and your partner will receive the balance of your payment as soon as the Bith and I are safely off world.”
“Sorry, Tin Man, but that’s not gonna work for me,” the young guard said. “We brought this Bith to you, signed, sealed, and delivered as promised. I think we oughta be paid for that now.”
“Shut up, Ike,” the old guard muttered. “That wasn’t the deal.”
“Frex the deal,” the youngster snapped.
The kid’s Akallan.
“Do you realize what’ll happen if word gets out that we subverted a Bith escort detail for the purposes of a frexing abduction?” the young guard continued. “That’s capital stuff, man! Now I don’t know about you, but I did not go through all that to get left in the lurch, holding my junk in my hand while your armored pal, here, strolls out of this room with our only leverage.”
The old guard sighed. “Dumaul and I have spent months planning for today—months. He’s paid me on time for every step of that process. If he says we’ll be paid, we’ll be paid. Now shut your mouth and get ready to fall out.”
The kid shook his head. “Not gonna do it, Curt.”
In a single swift move that’d likely been practiced countless times over a decorated career, the aging guard swung round on his partner and leveled his weapon within an inch of the kid’s temple. “You listen to me, you spoiled little cuss. I brought you into this because your uncle, rest his soul, was a buddy of mine from the service. I owed him my life. I owe you jack. Now hear me and hear me good. You will do as you’re told and fall in line or, so help me gods, I’ll drop you right here and let Dumaul space your ass as soon as it suits him in orbit. What’ll it be?”
The young man gulped and returned to his post.
“Good boy.” The old guard returned to Dumaul. “What’s the play?”
“We stick to the plan,” Dumaul said. “You and your associate will escort the Bith and me through security and back to our hovercraft where Captain Furyk will return us to the Bonifay. We’ll depart the starport from there.”
“Frex that!” Matt guffawed. “I’m a freighter, not a kidnapper. I didn’t sign on for this.”
The comm light on Matt’s data band flickered.
“You’ll be wanting to answer that,” Dumaul said.
Matt felt a chill as he raised his wrist. “Go for Furyk.”
“Matt, it’s me,” Leslie said.
Her voice was calm, but Matt could tell something was wrong. “What’s happening?”
“Nothing that needs to go any further than it already has, mate.”
Tenza. Matt closed his eyes. “If you hurt her, I swear I’ll—”
“Now, now, Matthew.” Tenza clicked his tongue. “There’s no need for threats. I can assure you the commander is quite fine. You need only follow Mr. Dumaul’s instructions to keep it that way. Bonifay out.”
Matt glared at the Yatoni as the call disconnected. “What do you need?”
Security didn’t bat an eye when the caravan of beings strode through the lobby toward the building exit.
Why would they? We’re being formally escorted by two of their own.
Once outside, the bribed guards held position while Dumaul boarded the hovercraft’s back seat behind the Bith on the center bench and Matt in the pilot’s chair up front.
“I’ll transmit the funds as soon as I’m back on the Bonifay,” Dumaul said to the old guard. “You have my word.”
“I know,” the old man said. “I want you to understand something. All that stuff they said about your people in the news? I never bought it, not for an instant.”
Dumaul extended a hand. “Be well, old friend.”
“You, too,” the white-haired guard said. “Now go.”
No one said a word on the ride back to the starport, least of all Matt. He was too busy processing what’d just happened. Did he want answers? Sure, and given the chance, he’d get them from Tenza, one way or another. Just then, though, his top priority was getting him and Leslie out o
f this mess with their lives and company intact.
The group arrived back at the Bonifay twenty minutes later where Matt returned the hovercraft to its slip in the starboard drop chute.
“My sincerest apologies, mate,” Tenza said once Matt had emerged from the chute. “Believe me. It was never my preference for things to unfold this way.”
Matt studied his wife across the cargo bay. She was fine. “So, why did they then?”
“It’s complicated,” Tenza said. “Suffice to say, my friend—”
“Don’t call me that.” Matt cut him off. “Not ever again.”
Tenza looked mildly wounded. “Have it your way, Captain Furyk. You aren’t the only one among us with obligations to meet back on Akalla. I have debts of my own, you know. Debts that must be paid, on time, or these quaint little exchanges of ours stand to end on a rather permeant basis.”
Matt cocked his head. “Warball?”
Tenza’s cringe confirmed Matt’s suspicions. “How deep in the hole are you?”
“Deep enough that the repercussions, should I fail to pay, would be nothing short of grave for myself and my associates.” Tenza smirked. “Lest we forget, Captain. You are one of my associates.”
Matt was really starting to dislike this day.
“Move,” Dumaul ordered from inside the drop chute.
Everyone turned as the two Bith ambled into the cargo bay at gunpoint.
“Whoa, huh?” Leslie blurted.
“Inform the port authorities of your pending launch,” Dumaul said to Matt. “Once we’ve achieved orbit, you are to proceed to the stargate and request an opening.”
“Okay.” Matt shrugged. “Where are we headed?”
Dumaul motioned Tenza to cover the others while he retrieved his data pad and handed it to the taller Bith.
“What is this?” the alien asked.
“The gate coordinates for our destination,” Dumaul said.
Matt wondered why the Yatoni had given that information to the Bith rather than the flight crew, but he figured he’d know soon enough.
The tall Bith’s expression wrenched. “You cannot be serious.”
Dumaul nodded.
Salvage Conquest Page 24
