Bounty's Call

by Max Jager

  The guards were thinning out much more significantly. That was a good sign, because it meant they were falling back to defend their precious prize. Jameson stopped flushing them out and spent more time following them. They would ultimately lead him to Arkus.

  "That was the last one," Madeira chimed in after Jameson toppled another guard going in through another tunnel.

  Jameson started. "Really?"

  "Yeah, Mathison and I have been keeping count. He figured there were probably thirty altogether. You cut that number in half before you even landed. That's number thirty right there that you just shot."

  Jameson glanced down, surprised at the guard with the smoking pulse wound in his chest. Arkus should get his money back from whoever leased these guys out.

  Well if that was the last guard, then Arkus was close. Very close. Jameson slipped his pulse rifle into a holster on his back, reaching for his handgun. He needed a lot more precision and caution to take down Arkus. Especially since he needed him alive and relatively uninjured.

  Injury would follow when it came time to make him talk.

  Stepping into another chamber cautiously, Jameson peered around the doorway into the darkened, empty space. He switched between his blueprints Mathison had sent him and found that there was a corridor just beyond this room that led to a tram system. That then cut through the mountain and up to the secluded hangar. There were no other ways around this chamber, either. Arkus had to be on the other side.

  At the next doorway, Jameson hesitated, stepping off to the side. Then, his body safely away from the door and flat against the wall, he carefully tapped the wall monitor to open the door.

  Almost instantly, pulse fire streaked through the doorway, bright blue bursts of light cutting up the far wall of the chamber. It didn't last long, Arkus's gun quickly overheating. Jameson shook his head, more and more surprised by the man.

  "You've gotten really stupid since you left the Fleet," Jameson called out from behind the side of the doorway.

  He heard Arkus grunt from somewhere in the next corridor, fidgeting with his weapon.

  "I didn't come here to kill you, if that's what you think."

  Arkus yelled back some curse. Then he opened fire again, but this foray was much shorter before he overheated again. That was Jameson's cue.

  Rushing out into the hall, he fired a couple of quick wide shots to distract Arkus. The technique worked, sending the cowering man running back up the corridor. He ducked behind a set of crates, firing off a series of shaky shots. Jameson dipped back, taking shelter behind crates of his own.

  "Jameson!" Arkus called out. "Now is not the time for this madness!" He fired several shots. Either he had a new weapon or had switched magazines.

  "You knew I would come for you eventually," Jameson called in reply. "What you and others did; I had to come for you."

  More than anything, Jameson was hoping to provoke Arkus into draining his weapon again in a fit of panic. He was obviously unhinged; all he needed was a little push to get Jameson another opening. There couldn't be more than ten meters between them at most.

  "It's time for you to pay up, Arkus. You can't escape my vengeance forever."

  He could hear Arkus breathing rapidly. Yes, he was still panicky, but he wasn't firing wildly.

  "Jameson! This is bigger than us right now! We need to get out of here! Away from Solomon and anywhere in Gibraltar!"

  "He has to be stalling," said Madeira. "Mathison, can you tell if he has more guards coming?"

  "Um, that's a negative," said Mathison. "If he's stalling, I can't tell why. His shuttle is toast, he's all alone…"

  Jameson frowned, shaking his head. What was Arkus's game at this point? Something still bothered Jameson; something Arkus had said…

  "If it's vengeance you want, I can help!" Arkus said suddenly. "I'll tell you where the others are! Watters, Zivit, hell, Atoa! I know where they all went after Peacemaker!"

  "Good. That will save me time torturing the information out of you."

  Arkus's rapid breathing was louder now than before. Jameson could hear his boots squeaking off the cement floor. It was easily a good thirty-meter dash to the next doorway down the corridor and into the tram depot. There was no way Arkus could run it. But maybe if Jameson could trick him into thinking that he could…

  "Damn it," Jameson muttered, trying to keep his voice intentionally loud. "Mathison, pulse me with a recharge."

  "Uh…Jameson, your ammo is fine."

  Jameson ignored the response, still fidgeting loudly with his gear. "I said pulse me now!"

  Arkus took the bait. Jameson glanced up as the middle aged man sprung from his hiding place, all out running down the corridor.

  Jameson chuckled, taking a careful moment to aim true. Satisfied, he pulled back on the trigger gently, squeezing off a single stun burst. The pulse of bright blue light struck true on Arkus's lower back abdomen, sending him sprawling across the floor in a grunt of pain.

  "Ohhhh, I see what you did there," Mathison replied.

  "Nice," Madeira added.

  Jameson leapt up from his shelter, covering the remaining distance before Arkus could recover. He quickly slipped a pair of zip-tie cuffs on the man, spinning him around on his back. There was a fresh bruise on his chin where he had collided roughly with the floor, but otherwise he was unharmed.

  "Great," he mumbled, still stunned. "You got me Jameson…now get us the hell out of here…"

  "Why does he want to get out of there so badly?" said Madeira.

  Jameson wanted to know the exact same thing.

  "We need to talk," he said, hauling Arkus to his feet.

  "Fine. We'll talk. I'll tell you anything. You have a ship in orbit? Let's go."

  Jameson felt a surge of fury flash through him. Without thinking, he reared back his fist and lay into Arkus. The hit knocked him on his back again. Madeira cringed verbally over their comm link.

  "Damn it, Arkus! Is this all you know how to do? Turn on whoever hired you? Did Axus matter less to you than Gibraltar? Our country we swore to defend and fight for?!"

  Arkus's groans suddenly turned to laughter. Hysterical laughter, actually. Maybe Jameson had hit him harder than he meant.

  "Oh yes…" Arkus slurred between laughing fits. "Our great beacon of freedom, Gibraltar. The spotless ensign to the galaxy of moral prosperity."

  His laughing died down and his expression turned dark. Jameson watched him closely, making sure he didn't try lashing out unexpectedly.

  "So you're still doing all of this for Gibraltar?" he spat. "I knew you'd want to kill us if you survived. But to think you're still a bleeding heart patriot…"

  Jameson reached down, hauling him up to his feet. "Enough! You said you knew where more of Axus's team is."

  "Oh, I'll tell you about Axus. But first you need to know some things about your precious Gibraltar. There's some secrets that you need to know, Jameson. Things that might make you reconsider this little nationalistic crusade of yours."

  Secrets

  Chapter 20

  Secrets

  * * *

  Gibraltar space

  Moab Star System, Planet Solomon

  Secret Bunker Beneath Aram Mountains

  * * *

  Arkus was still fairly loopy from the attack.

  He leaned forward in the chair Jameson had tied him to. Jameson had picked one of the storage chambers closer back down the tunnels towards the manor. It was secluded enough and easily defendable if Arkus had more guards coming unexpectedly. And most importantly, it kept Arkus planetside, where he most certainly did not want to be right now. If for no other reason, it would keep him talking.

  "Why are we still here?" he mumbled, swinging his head around. Jameson made a mental note to check for a concussion when they were safely aboard the Crimson.

  "To keep you talking," Jameson said, pacing in front of the man.

  "Jameson," Mathison chimed in. "Just get him back to the Crimson. I don't think he kno
ws much. I've scoured his hard drives and can't find any recent ties to Axus. He's bluffing."

  Jameson ignored Mathison. Part of him just wanted to savor this moment for what it was worth. Arkus was Axus's number two. He had to suffer in some measure for what he did to Jameson and Peacemaker. To all of his dead friends.

  "I wouldn't run off so fast," Madeira added. "He's freaked out about something. Arkus knows at least something worth our time."

  Mathison sighed. "Of course you take his side."

  Jameson tried to hide his grin, focusing on keeping a menacing appearance for Arkus.

  "I'll talk," Arkus mumbled again. "I've got nothing to lose. Nothing if we leave now. Get us off this planet!"

  "NO!" Jameson slammed the butt of his pulse rifle hard into Arkus's head. The man reeled back, but it seemed to knock him out of his daze from earlier. "We'll talk now. No more wasting time. You said you had some life shattering secrets to share with me. Talk. Then maybe I'll consider getting us off this planet."

  Arkus exhaled, resigned to his fate.

  "Fine. The first thing you should know about me is that I don't work for Draconia. I know that's probably what your superiors told you when they sent you hunting after us. They probably told you Draconia had turned us while we were inside the Fleet or planted us years ago. I'm no double agent. I didn't even want to be Intelligence. I'm a damn war profiteer from the Expanse!"

  Jameson cocked his head. He tried sizing up the man again, imagining him as some sort of arms dealer hiding on a backwater world in the Expanse. It was difficult, having always seen him as that sneering man in uniform tailing behind Axus back during their time on the Station. But there was something about the way Jameson had found him; tucked away and with a private guard to watch over him.

  It seemed to make sense.

  "I made a business out of selling equipment to both sides. Gibraltar, Draconia; it didn't matter to me. There was more than enough old Republic tech floating around the Expanse and both sides wanted it for their Fleets. And I sold indiscriminately to both sides. It kept the balance of power matched."

  "And why the hell does that matter?" said Jameson.

  Arkus looked him in the eye, a very serious expression on his face. "It matters because I didn't want a damn war. Everyone in the Expanse knows that if the MAD situation with the cannons fails, both sides are going to launch fleets across the Expanse. That means our homes and worlds turn into battle ground. The only people who didn't have anything to lose were the leaders on both sides tucked away safely on their Capitol worlds. Us? We were the front lines. No one understood this better than Axus.

  "That's why I joined him. He made a pretty hard sale, too. Eventually old hardware was going to dry up in the Expanse. The only real way to prevent war was to neuter the bigger dog pushing so hard for war. It just so happened that Gibraltar was that bigger dog. Axus told me he was putting together a team to shake things up for Gibraltar; keep them from going to war for at least another couple of decades. It wasn't a solution, but it was something. Maybe it would give time for Draconia to play catch up, I don't know. What I did know was that if anyone started this war, it was going to be Gibraltar.

  "That's why I blew up your damn Fleet. Killed your friends. Are you happy?"

  Jameson stood silently, uncertain of how to reply. So much of what Arkus had said felt wrong. Especially about Gibraltar wanting to start a war. Jameson knew that was false. How many meetings had he sat in on with high brass Admirals discussing ways to stave off war. But that was another matter.

  He knew Arkus was flat out wrong because of what he had seen from Axus.

  "You're lying," he finally said aloud. "Axus was always trying to start a war, not prevent it. I've watched him conspire with Draconia operatives. I know what they're planning at this very moment."

  Arkus was quiet for a moment, a smile starting to spread out over his face. "Axus is conspiring with Draconia because he needs their help," he said aloud. "Axus knows what Gibraltar is planning. Once we got inside their ranks…we knew destroying one of their Fleets was only the beginning of what we had to do. What he had to do."

  Jameson shook his head, trying to ignore all of this slander against Gibraltar. "Axus was that concerned about preventing war from spilling over into the Expanse? I find that hard to believe."

  "Believe it. No one was more concerned about it than Axus. He was especially worried about his precious little Kraven." Arkus chuckled to himself. "In fact, if you ever want to see something really interesting, you should visit there sometime. There's a small city called Chino you'll want to look into. It won't be hard to find…"

  Kraven? Axus was concerned about the Kraven Star System? Why?

  It didn't matter. Arkus was distracting him. But if Axus really was so concerned about that planet, it might explain why he had so strongly fought the Kraven Approach.

  "I've heard enough of your lies about Gibraltar," Jameson growled. "If they're as war mongering and scheming as you pretend, then why not tell me just what secrets you know?"

  Arkus shook his head. "I've said enough. I'll tell you where the rest of Axus's team has gotten to, and then maybe I'll tell you what I know about Gibraltar. But first we get off Solomon. We've wasted too much time and I was supposed to be on my way out-system an hour ago."

  Jameson shook his head, exhaling. "Why in the hell do we need to get off Solomon so badly?"

  "Enough! Freeze me if you want; stick me away, but we need to go now!"

  "Uh, Jameson," Mathison cut in.

  "What?!" he replied, irritated by the sudden interruption.

  "I just detected a masked ship drop out of Faster-Than-Light over Solomon. It's holding orbit right over you guys, actually."

  Jameson blinked, stepping away from Arkus. He didn't want to go too far, but he at least wanted to be out of earshot.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Shit," Madeira squeaked. "It just dropped a half dozen surface pods. They're headed right for you…"

  Jameson felt his breath go quiet, the silence of the chamber around them pressing in. He heard Arkus giving off several ragged breaths in the background, but in time Jameson tuned those out. Instead, he counted in his mind.

  Three…two…one.

  Several dull thuds reverberated throughout the room. They were distant; barely noticeable. Even Arkus seemed oblivious to them, if that was what he was so worried about.

  "Jameson, get out of there!" Madeira cried out. "Five guys with guns just hopped out of those pods and disappeared into the mansion!"

  Jameson spared a glance back at Arkus. He looked like he had fallen back on his daze. "Mathison, give me some stats," he muttered quietly.

  "Definitely Special Ops. Can't say who for, but they are trained and they are here on a mission. What they want is guesswork at this point."

  Jameson was fairly certain of what they wanted, but the why was what he wanted to know. And if Mathison was right, Jameson was dealing with some very, very dangerous men. If Jameson thought it was child's play to mow through Arkus's hired guard, these soldiers could take on a force ten times that size without blinking.

  "Keep quiet," Jameson commanded in Arkus's direction. "We're not alone anymore."

  Arkus sat up straight at the mention of that. He started shaking, a sheen starting to build up on his forehead.

  "Shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh—"

  "I said be quiet!" Jameson hissed. He gave Arkus a hard look; then turned back to the door. As much as he hated the man, he needed him alive. And right now Jameson was maybe the only person in the galaxy who would do whatever it took to keep him alive.

  Arkus seemed to realize this and managed to shut up. But there was no doubt that he was probably pissing in his pants right now. He had known; somehow he knew that these SpecOps guys were coming.

  It was more important than ever that Jameson question him properly. Something had changed.

  Jameson slipped through the chamber door, peering out cautiously into the corri
dor beyond. He listened again, but there was not a single sound. The air supply churned quietly, and that was about it.

  Turning back, Jameson covered the distance quickly to Arkus and undid the restraints. He wouldn't need them now.

  "Stay with me, stay quiet, and I promise I'll keep you alive."

  Arkus nodded, his face pale white.

  The two of them set out from the chamber, doubling back one set of corridors into a loop that wound past more storage rooms. Jameson wondered what the hell Arkus had decided was so important that he needed all of this tunnel work built to house it, but right now he was just glad to have the extra space to hide in. He couldn't guess for sure where the SpecOps soldiers were, but the more tunnel space they had, the longer it would take for them to find them.