Wanted, Foul, and Worthy - Part 3

Part 3

The Battle of Wallach

Jude was losing the use of her arms, and yet the wire noose was still tightening.  She could even feel her eyes rolling back into her head.  She had thought people were dead by the time they reached this point, but she continued to hold on a few more moments.

All along, she heard the distant booming growing closer.  It seemed as though she could see billowing red explosions out of the corner of her eye, but that could just be the blood building up in her eyes; the sight of death tightening its grip on her.

Then an enormous blast exploded right next to her and she felt her body swing away from it.  Chunks of iron and cement knocked against her, and she felt herself falling.  The wire had snapped and she was tumbling toward the ground, but the noose was still tight around her neck.  She managed to land on her feet, but without much use of her muscles, she tumbled out of control, rolling end over end, every limb hitting the ground like it was being smacked with an iron bat.  She was pummeled mercilessly by debris, as if being shot with pellets, then smacked with a rough-hewn club.

By the time she came to a stop, it felt like she had been beaten half to death, and her skin had been scraped with claws.  Debris continued to rain down on her, but her first priority had to be to get the noose off her neck.  It had loosened just enough for blood to pump into her arms, but she still couldn’t breathe.  She stabbed her fingernails between her neck and the wire and pried it loose.  As it came off, a rush of air filled her lungs.  Like water pouring into a tub, she felt power returning to every inch of her body.

She also felt the pain more thoroughly.  Jude had a bionic resistance which had gotten her through vicious tortures, but this agony overwhelmed even those measures.It felt like a couple of her limbs were broken, as well as several bones in her torso, but she knew that at least her legs were intact because she could get to her feet.

Just as she did, she was beamed in the head with a metal fragment that sent her to the ground again, causing her to cut her lip and scratch up her hands.  Jude wanted to lay there and be buried under the building pieces.  At least they’d stop the feeling of every bit that landed on her.

But Jude knew that she had to move.  If the building didn’t crush her, and the explosions didn’t reach her, Dillon, if he survived, would catch her; and this time he’d just shoot her.  Rising to her feet, she looked around.  Already, several buildings had open faces where their walls had been stripped away by explosions.  The streets were filled with rubble, the air filled with choking smoke, and fighter craft and missiles could be heard roaring overhead.  She didn't know what factions were battling it out, but none of them were on her side.

Jude ran in the first direction she saw that led under a roof.As she did she took measure of which of her enhancements stillfunctioned andwhichdidnot.  Her legs wobbled, but kept her stumbling forward.  If it wasn’t for her cybernetics, she’d be crippled.  Her arms were weakened, but still worked, and the mechanisms in her fingers and forearm still worked.  That meant her holdout pistol was able to pop out of her wrist into her hand.  She’d have to test the bionic additions in her fingernails to see if they were still functional, but they felt okay.  As for her torso and head, she would just have to deal with the aches in them and keep her oxygen pumping to fuel what she needed.

The shaking ground and the trembling walls didn’t help, and Jude had to navigate across an open room like she was on a ship in roiling waves.  Nevertheless, she was still able to find her way through a door and down a corridor.  The screams of panicking civilians was deafening as they passed from room to room.  A series of booms resounded and a third of the roof collapsed, crushing some of the passersby.

Jude tried to take advantage of this by leaping through one of the holes.  Though the cybernetics in her legs were keeping her moving, the damage in the springs prevented the giant leap she typically counted on.  The result was her arcing through the air into a wall that seemed to punch back as it shook from another explosion.

She could feel the blood from her nose dripping onto the growing lumps on her lips.  The smoke-filled room now seemed to be keeling ninety degrees one way, then the other.  The blurred vision reminded her that she had an option to see better, so she blinked to bring up the infrared lens.  Targets appeared on all of the civilians.  She blinked again and it swapped to seeing radio waves.  She blinked again and it stayed on radio waves.  She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them they switched to the infrared.

All around her was panic and chaos.  Outside, soldiers and drones were crossing in different directions, firing and dying.  Inside, people were taking cover and saving one another from the rubble.  Only one figure was breaking this pattern; a compact figure who was up one level and past a couple walls, weaving in her direction.  Dillon.

On most days, Jude would be prepared to crush the likes of that weasel.  Most days, but not today.  Today it was time to run.

Jude headed for the outside, despite the battling armies.  She took a couple steps into the street before a rattle of shots in front of her feet caused her to retreat back to cover.  Looking both ways, Jude found that she was between enemy lines, caught in a crossfire.  Neither one seemed concerned about hitting a noncombatant, and the one on her right seemed to be actively aiming at anyone who wasn’t wearing their uniform.

Jude pointed a finger of her right hand in the direction of the more aggressive army, and a finger of the other hand toward the street.  She squeezed the right finger first and a holographic projection of her appeared on the sidewalk charging the trigger-happy soldiers.  She squeezed her other finger and… a few whiffs of mist puffed out.  There would be no smoke screen for her crossing.

Regardless, it was now or never.  Soldiers were shooting at her hologram, and it wouldn’t take long for them to realize they were hitting her without consequence.  So Jude dashed across the street as fast as she could, laser blasts whizzing by in both directions.  She made it through a door and continued moving.  This building was not as badly damaged, but the walls were rattling from the constant stress of the battle around it.  This had been one of the more makeshift colonies that had gone up fast during a franchise’s rapid expansion.  The buildings weren’t meant to resist strong storms, let alone a battle.

Jude headed toward the opposite side of the building.  She heard less fighting in that direction.  After dodging through a couple rooms, past some hiding people, she shot out a window and leaped outside to a narrow street.

She could hear machines and people moving on either side of her, but there were no explosions or laser blasts in her immediate vicinity.  Slowing for a moment, she started to feel the aches in her limbs that were building up.  Her pain resistance would be counted among her malfunctioning cybernetics.  Jude cursed at herself.  She wasn't used to being so weak.  She wasn't used to her body not being able to do whatever she willed it to do.

She still wanted more distance between herself and her hunter, so Jude began across the street, searching for another door.  A random explosion seemed to burst from the ground near her.  A stray mortar shot that happened to land in the middle of this street.  Cursing frustratedly, Jude staggered away toward an alley next to the building she had been inside.

Regrouping her strength and catching her breath, Jude blinked a couple times to get her bearings.  She felt a tear drop from the bottom as she did.  'No time for that,' she thought.  Her infrared came up and she took advantage of the opportunity to look around her.  The solid figure of Dillon was just beyond a couple walls.  She could tell it was him by his movements.  He wasn’t in formation with any of the armies, he wasn't running about panicking, and he was searching for someone.  Her.

Jude pressed up behind the cover of a dumpster and watched him.  He knew she was out here somewhere because he was heading for a side door toward her alley.  Jude decided to use this to her advantage.  With one hand she projected her image down the alley, just past the door.  The other hand held her pistol tight, ready to shoot Dillon when he turned to face her hologram.

The door swung opened and Dillon emerged.  He immediately spotted the 3D projection.  She was creeping away from him, peeking out at the street where the battle was taking place.The kicked up dirt all around helped sell the illusion.  He already had his pistols out.  He raised one slowly and took careful aim.

Jude took careful aim as well.  She had only one chance at the surprise, and she wouldn’t stand a chance in a firefight in her current condition; so she took a few moments to steady her hand from its shaking.

Dillon swung one hand back and fired, perfectly hitting the gun and knocking it out of Jude's hand.  The explosion of the pistol ran shockwaves down her arm and she fell back with a shriek.

Unarmed and helpless, she lay on the dusty ground as Dillon slowly approached.  Chuckling, he said, “Still using the projection trick, huh?  Aren’t you cute?”

Jude continued to writhe on the ground, dirt collecting in her wounds, and gathering in her red and brown hair.  She was taking stock of what still worked, and was finding little that did.

“What?  No snarky comeback, Red?  That’s new,” Dillon mocked, using the nickname she had had in the group when they had known each other.

Jude’s arm jolted uncontrollably.  Her back arched unnaturally and a pain shot up her spine.  Her cybernetics were malfunctioning and causing her muscles to spasm.

“Ooo, that views painful.  Too bad,” Dillon said.  “I raise you wish I’d kill you to end the pain.  But I’m not going to do you that favor.”  He snapped binders around one wrist and waited for the other to stop twitching.

Jude swiped at his leg with the free hand in a last ditch effort to free herself.  He easily dodged the blow and nabbed the offending hand, twisting it behind her back.  She screamed in pain as he pulled against its normal movement, nearly breaking the arm.

“You see, Jude, I’m going to sell you.  There’s got to be somewhere you’re wanted where I don’t warrant a bounty.  And if not, there are plenty of no wagers who would love to have an indentured servant with a face as pretty as yours.”

Jude spat blood at him.  Her face was covered in lumps.  “Well,” Dillon added, “I’m abso that’ll heal in time for your execution or your purchase.  Now get moving.”

Dillon pushed Jude along.  She had little choice but to stumble forward.  Lying down would only cause him to beat her, and she wanted to retain whatever strength she had left to run when the opportunity presented itself.  The battle was still raging all around them, after all.

Her eyesight was anything but clear.  Her vision glitched like a view screen trying to get reception.  She felt Dillon’s foot kick her forward several times as they moved back down the alley, through a small building, past a dead medic… Jude turned to inspect the late doctor’s supplies, but a jolt from a low power setting on Dillon’s pistol discouraged her.

Jude tumbled forward, losing her balance more and more rapidly, until finally one of Dillon’s kicks knocked her to the ground.  She was breathing heavily, and a first attempt to get back up failed.  Dillon rolled her over.  The pathetic look on her face revealed she might be spent.

“Fes,” Dillon sighed.  “Maybe I’m going to have to settle with revenge.”  He adjusted the setting on the pistol to a higher, lethal amount.  “Last chance to get on your feet, Red.”

Jude earnestly tried.  She knew he would shoot her dead right there in the middle of the street, and she’d be all out of options.  But she simply didn’t have it in her.  What little movement she was capable of was undermined by her malfunctioning cybernetics.  She faced her attacker apathetically.  Somewhere in the distance, another loud booming was growing in volume.

Dillon couldn’t help but feel just a little moved for Jude.  It didn’t change what he was about to do, but he did feel a little bad about it.  He raised his pistol…

And fate once again intervened in favor of Jude; this time in the form of a smashed up space ship careening through one of the buildings onto their street.  Dillon instinctively pulled Jude out of the middle of the road and they hid from debris behind a post.

The vessel fell apart as it tumbled, shedding debris into buildings.  Its pilot rolled to a stop not far from the pair who were taking cover.  The rest of the wreckage disintegrated into a heap.

Dillon’s ever watchful eye for valuables noticed among the wreckage some pieces of debris made of precious metals.  He approached them, appraising their remains by sight.  This was not a military ship, this was a treasure hunting vessel!

Dillon found that he had wandered near the body of the pilot.  The man’s facemask was split open like a cracked egg and his face beneath was banged up and half-scorched.  Then his eyes shot open.  Dillon almost fell backward.  That had to be some tough armor the man was wearing to keep himself alive.  It was probably worth a fortune.  He would have to be sure to take it after the pilot finally died.

Dillon turned back toward his prisoner.  She wasn’t going anywhere, and he needed to finish her off before she did.  Then the gasping voice of the man spoke.  “Help me,” he said.  Dillon did not react.  “You there, help me,” the man insisted before he tumbled into a coughing fit.  Dillon had clearly heard the man, but he continued forward.  Then the man said, “Help me and I’ll… I’lltell you where… you can find the… the treasure ofthe Mandrake Leonne.”

Now Dillon acknowledged the man.  He hurried back to him and said, “What do you know about it?  Was that what you were hunting next?  You have a map or something?”

The man muttered incoherently.  It came out like ‘Ocsasm.’

“You needs speak up, friend.  I can’t comprend you,” Dillon said.

The man quieted, smirked slightly and said, “I wasn’t born yesterday.”  Then he drew in a deep breath and winced in pain.  Who could tell how much time he had; so Dillon told him to hang on, and he ran back to the room where he had passed the body of a doctor.

More debris had piled up that Dillon had to climb over and pull aside before he came upon the boxes of medical supplies.  Dillon didn’t know what any of them did or how to use them, but he guessed that he could figure them out when he returned to the wreckage with them.

Balancing the briefcases and boxes in his hands and under his arms, Dillon stumbled out the door to the street.  There he spotted Jude lying next to the man.  His head was pointed toward her, and she was listening to something he was saying.  “Stay away from him!” Dillon shouted as he threw one of the boxes at her.  Jude ignored him and continued to listen to the dying man.

Dillon rushed them, throwing another small container as he did.  This time she reacted by turning her head slowly toward him with an expression of annoyance.  Dillon arrived and shoved Jude out of the way.  He yanked the man’s head toward him and looked into his helmet.  The pilot's face was ashen and his eyelids sagged over still pupils.  He was dead.  “What did he say?” Dillon asked.  Jude didn’t respond, so Dillon grabbed her and shook her violently.  “What did he say?”

Jude smirked through her dazed expression.  Somehow the bruising and lumps made her appearmore smug.  Dillon pulled his pistol and shoved it in her face.  “If you don’t tell me right now, I’ll kill you,” he said.

“But then you’ll never know where the Treasure of the Mandrake Leonne is,” she said.  And then, having spent the last of her energy, she slumped in his hands.

“No.  Don’t die on me, Red,” Dillon said.  “Don’t die.  We’re gonna find this thing togeth... Here.  How do we use this stuff?”  Dillon dropped Jude and scavenged through the medical containers.  His search would be in vain as he had no understanding of any of it, but Jude continued breathing.

To be continued...

Wanted, Foul, and Worthy - Part 2

Part 2

Past Debts

Nikos was musing on the thought of the Mandrake Leonne most of the way to Cleef.  It was said to be a metallic bouquet whose twisted handle ended in two spikes, and whose top bloomed outward like leaves.  Its value came from the combination of rare precious metals, some of which could only be forged from elements in a star; and whose craftsmanship was nearly unmatched in millions of years of intelligent life.  A glow was supposed to emanate from deep inside, and it was believed that a perpetual power source could be generated from within.

The relic was originally crafted by the Abnani, a civilization that had existed along the fringe of the Orion Nebula approximately 25 million years ago.  Little had ever been studied about their race as it was shrouded in mystery.  They were thought to have powers that seemed almost magical that other races only attained through technology.  They were also the first of their epoch to be destroyed by the Siguerans.

The creation of the Mandrake Leonne was said to be evidence of their powers.  Ancient texts of other civilizations spoke of the legendary item whose construction was believed to be impossible for any other species to make.  Its use was unknown, and only a few were ever constructed; all being said to have perished in the wars of the time but one.  There may have been updated information on the item's purpose, but Nikos couldn't care less.  He was interested in its modern day monetary value.

Cleef was not within the sphere of Abnani worlds, which was curious at best, and suspicious at worst.  Why it, or any clue of the device, should be here, Nikos did not know.  But he supposed he would soon learn.

He was getting close, so Nikos attended to his way onto the planet.  Patchcon was the primary corporation, so he brought up his forged credentials for their organization and plugged them into the electronic signature of the ship.  Instead of the Avoca, his ship was now the Gold Stallion, and he was an efficiencies director who made sure the workforce was lean and who recommended layoffs.  Most of his alternate IDs used this position; it caused a lot of employees to stay away, and those he approached always wanted to make him happy.  (Layoffs, of course, could be deadly, as a person’s employment was also their home government.)

The chromatic rip in space opened up and Nikos shot through.  He traded his grav-sails for solar sails and got his bearings.  The planet was nearby to the right, so he sent a hail with his accreditation.  Flight control responded by asking for his destination and work assignment.  Nikos recognized a small amount of fear in the flight controller’s voice; the pauses before speaking.  Just the reason he chose the pseudonym that he had.  “I’m here to blick an inspection at the Baulers operation,” he said in a polite, yet firm voice.“However, I seem to have been given improper information as the coordinates I have figures to be in the ocean.”

“Please stand by,” the controller said.  There was a pause while Nikos scanned the planet.  Just as he had heard, Cleef was made up of a major hub where Patchcon’s primary business was, and smaller organizations dotted other areas of the planet in random intervals.  All were connected by some form of road or rail to the main hub except those separated by an ocean, which were few in number.

At last the flight controller emerged from hold.  “We are sending you the coordinates for Burgos.  That’s the Bauler Conglomerate’s community.  You will be connected with their local traffic control center.”  Relief could be detected in the man’s voice, just the way Nikos liked it.  He wanted everyone to want to pass him on to the next person in line.

Nikos followed the coordinates toward the surface.  As the flames of re-entry enveloped his ship, he brought up everything his computers had about Burgos.  It didn’t take long before his interest was piqued by something he found.  Carolyn Hiser was the local administrator.  A bemused smile grew across his lips as he ran through recent information about her.

He remembered with fondness more distant information.  Back then he knew more about her than any of her employees.  Maybe even more than her husband, who, he hoped, had never learned what the two of them had been up to when she was on her “business trip.”

Going to Carolyn would be a risk.  She would likely see through his disguise, but that was only going to last so long anyway.  He would need access to information only someone in authority could provide, so the gamble for her support would be worth it.

After emerging from reentry and once his communication worked again, he called the local flight control station at Burgos.  They had already gotten word of his arrival and had a platform where he could land.  As he neared, he spotted a small scar in the ground just outside of town where signs of ancient ruins emerged as though trying to escape from their muddy prison.  They looked to be Huto to Nikos’ trained eyes.  Though not Abnani as he had expected, the Huto people had combined with the Abnani when both were defending themselves against the Siguerans.  The alliance had created an entirely new species scientists uncreatively called the Huto-Abnani.  As such, it made sense that the Mandrake Leonne, or information about it, had once been here.

He did not ask for his old friend.  He wanted that to be a surprise.  He just requested a meeting through the standard procedures under his assumed name, and then chuckled with delight at how he imagined she would react.

After landing he was reminded of another reason he liked this disguise; hangar personnel immediately got to work refueling and cleaning his ship.  He made sure to lock it up, however.  He didn’t want them to see what was really in there.

Administrator Hiser straightened herself in the mirror, fussing with her collar to make sure everything was perfectly even.  Just to make sure, she had a holoreflector scan done and she looked at herself from all directions as a 3D image.  No dust.  No wrinkles.  Nothing to cause an inspector to dismiss her as expendable.  Well, she thought, it was time to go.  Best not to leave the man waiting.

Carolyn headed down the hall and strode into the meeting room where the man in the white suit was waiting.  “Director Newburn, this is an unexpected pleasure.  If we had known you were coming, we would have had…”

Administrator Hiser was cut short as Nikos turned around to face her, his signature arrogant grin permanently splashed across his face.  Carolyn’s jaw initially dropped, then she subsided, turning momentarily to make sure the door had closed behind her.

“You view lovely, my dear,” Nikos said.

“Administrator Hiser, not dear, Nikos Kazakis,” she said.

Nikos tensed inside, but made sure not to show it.  Her wall was up, and he would have to break through it or he could be in some serious trouble.  “You will always be dear to me,” he said, stepping toward her.

Carolyn rolled her eyes and said, “Perpetually the charmer, aren’t you?”

Still a wall, but she was smiling, and she made a step toward him.  Nikos stopped.  The seminal rule in seduction was always to get them to come to him.  “It doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Is that why you left sans a goodbye?”

“What would your husband register of that?”

“Figuring he’s light years away now, I can’t imagine.”

“You separated?”

“He was transferred.  We didn’t have a say in it, so… But no one transfers you, do they?”

Nikos shook his head.  “No one controls my fate.”

“I credit that’s what I liked about you,” Carolyn said looking down at her hand stroking the table.  A sign of weakness, and an opening Nikos could exploit.

“Your spirit is no different,” he said.  “Wild, like a stallion.”

Nodding, Carolyn said, “I should have ciphered the name of the ship.  You always use that word.”

Nikos blushed.  Not on accident; providing a moment of vulnerability was part of the seduction process.  It worked.  Carolyn took a maternal step toward him.  “Why did you come?” she asked.

“Because I have something that's going to bling your spirits.”  Carolyn shot him a glance of ‘get real.’  She was never one for clichés, and a line like that wouldn’t work at a bar on her, let alone in an office.  He looked at her the same way in protest.  “Business before pleasure,” he said, and he walked away from her.  “More on the note, I have something to show you right beneath your nose.”

“Here in Burgos?”

Nikos stopped walking, as though her words had commanded him, and he turned to her with a smile and a nod.

Carolyn took a few more steps toward him and asked, “What do you know about this place?  We just do some manufacturing and a little mining.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.  You rule over a major metropolis.”

Carolyn chuckled.  Nikos’ intent to both provide humor and denigrate her accomplishments so as to undermine her self-confidence were both working.

“I’m talking about the ruins that your people found.”

“Yeah, but there wasn’t anything of value there,” Carolyn said.

“Wasn’t there?” Nikos asked.

Carolyn took several more steps toward him until she was only a yard away.  “What have you heard?”

Nikos was coy, looking her in the eyes as if to ask if she really wanted to know.  Then he took a step toward her and said, “Someone under your employ may just have found something… shiny.  Chances be, even something that would impress your critical eye.”

Carolyn smiled with pride and looked down.  Again, part of Nikos’ plan to undermine confidence so he could be the one to build it back up.  He touched her chin and lifted her face toward his.  “It’s worth millions.  And someone who works for you took it.  I’d like to know where they went.”

The faint smell of his cologne touched her nostrils the way his nose was nearly touching hers.  “We split the profits?” she asked.

Nikos nodded slightly.

Carolyn drew in a breath, then said.  “I’ll find out who’s been inside and have them all questioned.”

“And while they’re being questioned…” he asked.

“What kind of wine do you prefer?” she asked.

*          *          *

Carolyn’s fon snapped her out of a numbing daze.  Between the wine, the cozy bed, and Nikos’s warm arm across her torso, she was in a state of inanimate bliss.  But the noise was the alarm from her office, informing her that there was something she had to attend to.

Nikos barely moved, hoping that if he seemed to sleep, she would spare the reach and would just tap the device to go to speaker.  She did; but she kept it low, not wanting to interrupt Nikos’ slumber.

“We’ve categorized every employee that’s entered the ruins,” the voice on the other end said.

“Great.  Very good.  Send the list to me along with residences.”

“The list isn’t very long, Administrator Hiser.”

“Okay then.  Fine.  Send it to me please.”

“The problem is, the hand of people who went were an appraisal team.  After them it was locked down.”

“So were they from another world?” Carolyn asked.

“No ma’am.  They’re your employees.”

“Then send the list.  It shouldn’t be difficult to go through.”

“The vanda is, all of the appraisers were drafted into the Patchcon military.  When they required a minimum number of draftees, you said to send all non-essential personnel.  Appraisers were non-essential since the ruins had already been explored.”

“So they’re in Cleef.”

“No, ma’am.  Patchcon sent them on an invasion.  They’re on their way to Wallach Upon Tuco to attack Fencorp for a hostile takeover.”  Carolyn ran her hand through her hair in frustration.  “I do have a little info that might help,” the assistant said.

“Okay,” Carolyn said.

“You said that you wanted to know who chances could have left with something or some kind of information, so we queried people who know those workers.  One of them said that one of the appraisers, a Mr. Ferguson, had bragged about having aprended evidence of the coordinates of a valuable item.  Some kind of mandrake thing.”

“Evidence in the ruins?” Carolyn asked.

“Yes.  But it’s not there anymore because he destroyed the room that had the information.  Apparently he didn’t want anyone else finding it.”

“So now this Ferguson will be the only way to find out what that information was,” Carolyn said.

“Yes, ma’am.  But as I said, he’s in a war zone now.”

Carolyn heard movement from the other side of the room and saw Nikos was already half dressed.  “Nice work,” she told the assistant.  “It will be noted in your yearly bonus.”  She hung up and turned to Nikos.  “So you’ll be packing up and jondering off just like that once again, huh?”

“If that man is killed, or worse, my path to the Mandrake Leonne is cut.”  Nikos neither noticed nor cared about Carolyn’s longing and lonely expression.  He just said, “I had a lovely time, though,” and he hurried out the door.

*          *          *

The hotel was nothing to write home about; but then again, Jude had no home to write to.  It was in a dusty town called Wallach on a dusty planet called Tuco.  But this was where Fencorp had their home offices, and where they’d pay top dollar for the bounty on her prisoner.  Or at least the top dollar they could pay.  Each successive extradition had shallower pockets.

Her prisoner was across the room, his feet and hands bound.  He was free enough to feed himself, but moving at any speed was impossible.  Jude would not be able to sleep tonight as she would need to keep an eye and the end of her gun on him.  But the following morning should prove it all worthwhile.

The prisoner kept his eyes on her, as if in a staring contest.  He willed her to go to sleep, but she wouldn't.  At one point her eyelids began to lower, but the distant sound of a boom shot them back up.

Then Jude heard footsteps in the hall.  She had heard others earlier; they weren’t the only ones in this hotel.  But these footfalls were unique.  They were slow, meticulous, trying not to be noticed.  Someone was sneaking up on them.  Jude could tell that the prisoner heard them, too, but he was pretending not to.

Jude rose from her chair and approached the door.  She stood with her feet planted firmly on the floor, spread out boldly and confidently.  She blinked and brought up her infrared bionics.  There were three of them.  None were disciplined or even trained.  They knew enough to keep their heads down, but they were indecisive about where to position themselves, and they weren’t in any sort of formation.

Jude readied her pistol.  Somewhere in the distance, another faint boom sounded.  Jude tuned it out; not part of her immediate problem.

One of the hallway thugs knocked on her door.  “Who’s there?” she asked, making her position within the room as clear as she could.  No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she leaped with her cybernetic legs onto the door frame, turning around 180 degrees to look down on the room.

She jumped just in time, avoiding a barrage of laser fire that cut through the door and the wall.  Even the prisoner had to hop out of the way of the blasts.

After the volley, the attackers rushed into the room, two of them still firing.  Jude shot one in the back as she dropped down and kicked another in the head.  The third turned his gun at her and she ducked under it.  Grabbing his hand, she forced him to shoot the one she had kicked in the head, then she flipped him over and shot him in the face.

A moment later, a laser blast came out of seemingly nowhere, destroying Jude’s pistol.  Her head jerked up in the direction of the blast, and saw it had come from the window.  A man was there, crouched on the ledge, laser pistol in hand.  He looked somehow familiar, but Jude wasn’t sure from where.  “Smart people use the window,” he said.

Jude recognized the voice.  “Dillon!” she exclaimed, building a smile on her face as she turned her whole body to face him.  “You view… peachy neb.”

“However I look it’s no thanks to you.  Last time I vised you, Ferdo, Carres, and you were leaving me and Dierdre to die on Dovan.”

“Dierdre!  How is she?” Jude said, trying to buy time as she figured out a way out of this.  Somewhere in the distance, she heard loud thudding, like oncoming explosions.

“Same as you’re gonna be in a moment,” Dillon said, hopping into the room.  “I just wanted you to sav why you’re losing your life before I take it.”

“This really isn’t about me,” the prisoner said as he hobbled toward the door.  “So I’ll be goi…” Dillon shot the man dead.  Jude leaped at Dillon, her bionic legs kicking her ahead at incredible speed.  Dillon was equally fast to react, ducking under her and firing a wire around her neck.  She flew at the window and he helped her out of it with a kick.

Caught in a noose, Jude flipped over out the window and came to a sudden stop.  The wire tightened around her neck, digging into her throat and cutting off her breath.  Her hands grabbed for the wire but it only buried itself into her skin, making it impossible to claw out.  She tried to grab for the ledge but he lowered her down.  She was three stories up with no hope of touching the ground.

Helpless, Jude’s face was turning blue and she was beginning to lose consciousness.

To be continued...

Wanted, Foul, and Worthy - Part 1

Part 1

The Wanted, the Foul, & the Worthy

Wanted

The wind whispered softly down the long, dusty street.  Flecks of sand hitchhiked in the air and dispersed left and right, as though getting clear of the three strangers staring one another down.  Two were on one end, one was on the other.

They watched each other closely, none prepared to move.  The man and woman on one end were waiting for the signal from the figure on the other.  They had never seen this person up close, and knew nothing about him or her; just that he or she or it would be there at this time.

This was a nearly deserted colony.  Once a thriving mining settlement for the Somano Corporation, it had sucked its query dry and now its citizens had moved on to other locations on the planet or transferred to new mines off-world.  Those left behind were people who refused to move on and individuals who didn’t want to be found.

The figure on one end began walking forward and the other two followed suit.  The rhythm of their steps matched in the crunching dirt beneath their feet.  Their silhouettes grew as they neared until the details of their clothing and faces took shape.  The lone figure was a grizzled man, the kind you would expect on a bounty like this.

Peeking faces had spied them from a few windows, but the body language of the three individuals had warned no one to interfere, so the street remained empty.

They stopped before the door of a depressed cantina.  A perky sign with lively font described a once hopping meeting ground, but it was now a mostly empty hulk.  The lone man pulled a disk from his pocket and held it before him.  A holographic head appeared above it, revealing the face of their target.  The other two nodded.

They all drew their guns.  When the lone man nodded, they rushed inside.

A flurry of gunfire emerged.  It began immediately upon entry, as though they saw their target immediately, or it had been waiting for them.

As quickly as it had started, it had ended, and there was silence for a moment… but only a moment.  The window crashed open and a new man rolled out.  His foot caught on the bottom frame and he tumbled to the ground, rolling into the dusty street.

Quickly he got his footing again and rose up, hot pistol in one hand, the other clutching an ivory hewn item in the other.  It was an artifact of significant value he had looted fair and square.  Maybe it was from an ancient site located on a planet claimed by one of the more powerful corporations, but he had taken great pains to steal it; and it was therefore his by right of skill if not might.

This was Dillon, and he knew it was time to leave this rock before more bounty hunters showed up to reclaim his prizes and serve his head to their masters.  He took one look at the door to make sure they weren’t coming out, then turned and dashed down the long road toward one of their hoverautos.  He would hotwire theirs to get to his ship hiding in a cave in the desert.  He didn’t trust the old landing pads; they were too large a target.

The lone gunman that had led the assault on Dillon emerged from the building.  He was staggering, barely able to move.  Blood was leaking from his lips, but he had one last shot in him.  He took it, but the shot went wild.  Yet another in many misses to take down the infamous criminal.

Foul

The mansion stood atop the crest of the tall hill where marble rocks covered in moss and low trees rippled down to the wavering sea.  In the distance, streams of the emerald aurora borealis drifted lazily on the horizon while the soft light reflection of two moons evenly illuminated everything.

A single road led out of the walled-in, private estate, watched over by guards, cameras, and robotic security equipment.  Even the waterway approaches were protected in case of an unexpected amphibious attack.

The family who lived there was not used to such precautions; nor were they prepared for the sudden lavish lifestyle of privilege.  Though they appreciated the resources it brought, they found it lonely and isolating.  And most of all, the heightened security scared them.

Only Mauren, the father, understood fully the necessity of it all.  He had told the others it was to protect them from the poor of the planet who wanted to take their home from them, but the precautions were really a result of how he acquired the wealth.

He was presently enjoying that wealth by lounging in his hot tub, one of the water jets massaging his back.  He felt the cool breeze blowing against his hair as it contrasted with the heat soothing his body.  He took a sip of his drink and enjoyed the moment he had worked so hard to achieve.  This was the life.

Then he remembered, he hadn’t opened the window.

Mauren twisted quickly and reached for his towel, splashing a tsunami of water out of the tub.  As he turned, he found himself facing a well-dressed man with a sharp chin and a clean cut face leaning against a wall.  It was Nikos Kazakis, the man Mauren least wanted to see; the one man his security force was hired to keep out.

Nikos didn’t flinch at the man’s sudden movement.  In fact, he seemed pleased by it.  “Hello, Mauren,” he said.

“How did you get past my security?” Mauren asked.

“That’s the thing about security guards,” Nikos said.  “They go hither and yawn based on money, and I have more.”  A silence followed, during which time Mauren remained still, frozen in the pose reaching for his towel.  “Speaking of Electros,” Nikos said, wandering from the wall to a chair where he placed one foot, “where did you sell the piece you stole from me?  Looks like they paid you a might bit of plastic for it.”

Nikos had exposed a part of his hip that had been covered by his jacket, revealing a holstered, ivory handled pistol with gold trim.  Mauren couldn’t take his eyes off it.  This could be his doom.  Nikos made a clicking sound with his tongue and said, “Hey Mr. Lookie Lou, my eyes are up here.”

Breathing heavily, Mauren stared into Nikos’s eyes.  “I sold it to Flur Corp.  They offered more than I could refuse.  You’d have done the sa…”

Nikos clicked his tongue.  “Now Mauren, you know I can’t get to them.  They’re part of the Navarus Empire; and their spirits are about as blinged with me as mine are with you right now.”  This was the most frightening thing of all for him to say, for Navarus had a death warrant out for Nikos, and if he had a family, they’d be hunting them, too.

“My family had nothing to do with this…” Mauren tried to say.  Nikos only shushed him, and one of his hands moved closer to his pistol.  Then Mauren said, “Yes, I am a con artist who attaches himself to treasure hunting expeditions, as much as you are a looter of ancient relics.”  Nikos straightened slightly; both offended and a little proud.  His hand got closer to his gun.  Mauren continued, “I'm good at it, too.  One of the best.  That's why I know about another score, far better than that worthless piece of junk I took from you."

"Careful," Nikos said.  "That worthless piece of junk got your family this fine mansion."

"They call it the Mandrake Leonne.  It's supposed to be worth millions."

"Hundreds of millions," Nikos said, recognizing the name, but skeptical of its source.

"I know which corporation has it, and I know what planet where it was last vised.  You take me with you, and I'll show you where you can pick up its trail."

"Its trail."

"That's right.  If I knew exactly where it was, don't you think I would have gotten it myself?"

"Good point."

"So I'll get dressed, and we can hypo out tonight."  Mauren stood and began drying himself off.  His out of shape form was not pleasant to Nikos's eyes, which were used to always resting on the most beautiful things.  But they kept him in their peripheral vision while Nikos took another look at some of the decor around the room.

"You coming won't be necessary," Nikos said.

"You'll need me to show you where it is," he said.  "And I'm not going to give you the location.  You'll just shoot me and moze out to find it yourself."

"No, I really don't need you to come," Nikos said.  "Your furniture and the framework of the windows and doors all come from Patchcon, even some of the more expensive items.  That implies you have some connection with them.  You have a picture of you and your wife in front of the Marricone Tower in Lavau Upon Cleef, one of Patchcon's primary distributors.  But that's not where you learned about the Mandrake Leonne.  Patchcon has several operations that stretch out into the rural reaches of the planet.  Most of them have different organizations associated with them."

"And if you want to aprend which one, you're going to work with me," Mauren said, trying one last time to bargain.

"No, I'm not.  Your bath tub is lined with a special fusion mineral that only Baulers Corporate Conglomerate manufactures.  They're working with Patchcon in one of the outposts."  Mauren was staring at Nikos dumbfounded.    "I don't know the name of the outpost, though," Nikos said.  Mauren sighed with relief.  "But I can find out," Nikos said, and he shot Mauren.

Nikos strolled about the room, looking closer at the decorations, and various photos and holo-images, making sure he had read them right.  He turned to the door, his gun raised, when he heard small feet scampering to them.

It was Mauren's 10-year-old son.  He had one of his father's guns at the ready, but he hesitated when he saw Mauren's body lying back in the tub.  Nikos fired.  The gun in the boy's hands smashed to pieces and he fell back.  Nikos kept his gun steady on the boy.  His mother was crying from somewhere downstairs.

"No shame in this, boy," Nikos said.  "Some day when you're ready, you come blick me out.  We'll settle up then."  Nikos then grabbed a couple hand photos from the desks, and showed himself out the window.

Worthy

Jude pushed her prisoner toward the exchange point.  Chained both hand and foot, he cursed her as he stumbled forward across the metal ground of the space port.  Five individuals in the haphazard uniforms of Seeorg greeted her with formal smiles.  They were unloading their ship of deliveries to the planet and making room in a cell for their new guest to stay.  Two of them were balancing a group of crates overloaded on a magno-dolly that was sinking to the port's floor, one was pulling a large animal out of the pen where they would be keeping the prisoner, one was supervising the two events, and the last one was greeting Jude with a payment pad.

As they got closer, the prisoner became more desperate.  Despite their present polite demeanor, their plans for him were less than savory, and he spat violent curses at Jude as he tried to get away.  She pressed a button on a remote which sent painful shocks through the footcuffs, then sedatives through the handcuffs.  These made him much more cooperative and he continued forward by her guidance.

"Lovely," said the man who was greeting them, his chin pressed forward and his eyes on the prisoner.  "Your work is impeccable as always, Jude."

"You always come through with payment, so I always come through with the goods," Jude said.

"You're both fecal leftovers and you'll rot in..." the prisoner jumped then relaxed as Jude hit the button.

The man with the payment pad smiled smugly.  Behind him, the man pulling the animal down the ramp began to hit it and curse his own colorful phrases.  "We verballed 50,000 for the bounty," said the man with the payment pad.

"Plus 25 large for the speed bonus."

"That's... right rip," the man said adjusting the amount on his hand device.  Behind him, the animal squealed in pain as the man beat its legs with his electro-stick.

Jude's cybernetic eyes focused on what was happening on the ramp, despite the monetary dealings in front of her and the fact that the others were about ready to lose their payload on the dolly.

"Very good.  Now if you'll simply adjust his custody settings to my settings, we can conclude our business."

"Payment first," Jude said, her focus still on the man abusing the animal.

"That's not how we handle our affairs..." the man said patronizing.

"It's how you do it with me," Jude insisted.

The man drew a deep breath, then began the payment process.

The animal wailed in pain as the man on the ramp hit it full blast with its electro-stick.  Jude saw that it struggled to stand.  Its handler made it more difficult by hitting it repeatedly, counteracting what it wanted the animal to do.

"Let the fillygeld get up so it can move!" Jude insisted.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Jude in annoyance.  The one making the payment said, "That was rude."

"It is.  He shouldn't be hurting that animal like that," Jude said.

"I mean you.  Don't speak to my employees like that."

"I speak however I dango please."

"I can attest to that," the prisoner said.  Jude hit him in the back of the head and told him to be quiet.

"Do you want to be paid?" the man with the pad said.

Jude drew in a breath and looked at the large animal struggling to its feet.  She needed this payout.  Much more time without income would mean she'd be stranded without fuel.  So she nodded.

The paymaster began the transfer.  Jude grabbed the device to transfer the prisoner from her hip bag.

"Can't say I'm gonna miss you, you dirty malfas," the prisoner said.

The one on the ramp returned to the animal.  It winced, and he began hitting it about the head.

"Okay, that's enough," she insisted, putting back the transfer device.  "You're going to let that beast go."

"You mind your own geffaren business," the man on the ramp said.  The assistant to the paymaster put his hand on his pistol, ready to draw, and the two by the dolly turned their attention on Jude.

The paymaster stopped what he was doing and eyed Jude patronizingly.  "You want your money, or do you want to make a speech.  Either way, we're leaving here with our prisoner."  The animal handler now hit the beast in the back, shocking it into moving as it howled and cried.

Jude rolled her eyes as she placed a target tag on each one of them with her bionic eyes.  "Fine," Jude said.  And she kicked the paymaster into his assistant as she drew her pistol and shot the animal handler.  The two by the dolly scrambled for their weapons as their stack of crates came tumbling down.  The assistant pushed his boss aside and shot at Jude.  She fired and her laser blast knocked his shot into the paymaster.  She then shot the assistant in the face.

One of the others managed to get his gun out and Jude received the necessary alarm in her peripheral vision, so she rolled aside.  Her cloak-skirt flowed out above her, obscuring where exactly her body was and the man's shots went wild.  Jude fired and took out her target with a single shot.  The final one took cover behind the pile of fallen crates and drew her weapon.  Jude launched herself with her cybernetic leg and flew up above the woman.  The woman at the crates tried to follow, but was not a fast enough shot.  Jude was, and she hit her square in the chest, landing right in front of the last opponent.

Others in the space port saw what was happening and were contacting the authorities, but Jude's main concern was her prisoner, who was making a break for it.  Jude strode up to the animal as she pressed the remote.  The prisoner froze, shaking in place.  Jude released the animal from its bindings and set it free.  Then she caught up to her prisoner with ease and attached her leash.  He began laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jude asked, annoyed.

"You just gave away an epic bounty," he answered.  "Now there's no reason to keep me."

"You've caused enough havoc to be wanted other places.  Now get to the ship before I decide I don't want to make anything off of you."  Jude and her prisoner hurried to her ship and got away from the klaxon noise.

To be continued...