We spent a fairly quiet four
hours in jump. For most of the jump
Sonja and her young charge kept to themselves.
Sonja sat quietly at the table breaking down and cleaning one of her
pistols with the careful caress of someone who’d had to rely on those same
weapons to keep breathing. Faith sat huddled,
knees to chin, arms wrapped around her legs, trying to not be where she
was. She spent long minutes staring at
her kneecaps. Sonja had changed out of
the black leather armor and now wore brown cotton hip huggers and a loose
fitting spaghetti strapped halter top.
Her skin was alabaster white and was in stark contrast to the black
tribal like tattoos that covered both of her upper arms and crossed over her
upper back. Her gun rig was sitting
close by on the table. As she broke down
one of her long barreled pistols she was a site to behold. I drank it in like a fine wine.
She didn’t
even look up when she said, “Looking at something Mr. Cole?”
I smiled as
I approached the table, “Nope.”
I slid two
bowls of stew across the table towards her and Faith. I put another bowl on the deck for Tiberius
and sat in a lounge chair where I could keep my eye on both of them. I watched Sonja clean her pistol while Faith
slowly spooned the food around the bowl.
Sonja ignored us both which was pretty much how spent most of the jump.
With nothing else to do I spent
most of my time sitting in the cockpit reading the latest news dump we’d gotten
while on Brimstone. I alternated that
with staring out at the streaked points of light that was an FTL jump. The initial jump was nothing more than a
diversion tactic just in case someone figured out where we were heading and
tried to set up an ambush at the drop-jump coordinates. If they knew where we were going they might
be able to jump there ahead of us or give warning to the sector we were
screaming towards. Standard operations
for a drop jump were to exit FTL at the edge of the sector, let the scans clear
and then proceed from there. This kept
you out of crowded shipping lanes and gave who ever controlled the sector a
minute to scan you. It was considered
polite. It also allowed the Confederates
to narrow the area they patrolled, or mined, when they were hunting someone. I didn’t care if they beat us but I didn’t
want to drop into the middle of trouble.
The best scenario would be for me to jump one way and they jump
another. The second jump would take us
to within a day or two of the final destination. I’d fly into the sector under main drive
power and be able to actively scan the sector with ease and know exactly what
we were getting into.
From the
galley I watched the countdown on the FTL drive tick to zero and then cut in
the main drive. The Black Domino shuddered slightly with a strong vibration through the
deck plating that dissipated quickly to a background hum. The cloud of ice that was an FTL jump
dissipated quickly. I watched on a small
monitor mounted on a console next to me.
I ate a bite of the stew. The
drive purred quietly as normal space returned.
Scanners showed static for an agonizing several seconds before finally
clearing up. Flying on visuals isn’t bad
but it limits the big picture of a sector severely.
“Ah hell,”
I growled, “Two battleships off our port bow.” I leapt out of the lounge chair,
dropped the bowl into the sink and raced to the cock-pit. Behind me, Sonja cursed.
“You bastard!”
Sonja hollered as she followed me, “You set us up.”
“Like hell
sister. I want the money; if I was going
to set you up I’d have waited until after I got paid.”
“Unless
they’re paying you more.”
“Confederation’s
not really in the business of paying low-life’s like me.”
Sonja
lapsed into silence. I suppose I
couldn’t really blame her for thinking I’d turned them in. She knew next to nothing about me. I was sure if I dug a bit I’d find there was
much more than met the eye in regards to my two passengers.
“Have they
seen us?”
“Yep, and
they’re angling for an intercept.”
“Will they
catch us?” Faith said
“It’ll take
a few minutes for the FTL drives to recycle but I have a few tricks up my
sleeve.”
Settling
into the pilots chair I steered the Domino
away from the battleships which had already completed their turn and were
bearing down on us. A moment later and
they had begun pounding away at us with their cannons. Scans showed three missiles en route. I cursed and dove away from the incoming
firepower. The battleships were Hammer class with at least one small
wing of fighters a piece. I waited to see them spew from the battleships hangar
bays.
“They’re
over confident,” Sonja announced from the co-pilots seat, as if reading my
mind, “They should’ve launched fighters.”
I rolled
the Black Domino and shot straight
down relative to the battleships positions.
One missile stuck to our tail with stubborn doggedness. I slapped a red button on the console in
front of me and two red lights flashed.
“Counter
measures?” Sonja asked.
“Yep.”
“Will they
work?”
“Haven’t
let me down yet.”
Silence
lapsed in the cock-pit and scans showed the missile disappearing in a cloud of
debris resulting in a nice explosion.
The Battleships had dived to match my trajectory.
“Another
missile’s locked on,” Sonja was studying the tactical display on the console in
front of her chair.
“The one we
dodged earlier.”
“Probably,”
She responded.
The nav-comp
beeped at me, “Course laid in, FTL drive’s recycled.”
This was where
things could get dicey. In order to
survive a dog fight a pilot needed to keep their ship juking and jumping. Tactical schools always taught to never stay
on a straight line for obvious reasons.
In order to get to a speed that’d allow you to cut in the FTL drive,
though, a pilot needed to keep their ship in a straight line and at full power. For most ships it’d take no more than thirty
seconds to build up the power in the main drives, for a ship like the Domino it would take slightly less. With two battleships and a torpedo on our
tail, however, I wasn’t sure we had that kind of time.
I leveled
off and poured on the speed. I dumped
the rest of my counter measures and watched as the distance between the
Battleships and us countdown. In a
straight drag race there was no way the Domino
was going to out distance a battleship on full power but I already had close to
a thousand kilometers on them. I had a
slim chance which was only a tad better than no chance at all.
“We’ll be
in tractor range in forty seconds,” Sonja said.
“We can
jump in twenty, twenty five seconds at the most.”
“That’s
going to be close.”
“Yes
ma’am.”
I watched the time tick down helpless
and nervous despite my exterior calm. My hands hovered over the instruments in
front of me. The ship rocked as the
occasional blast rocked us. The
battleships were taking potshots at us but they were far enough away that the
gunners were just wasting energy and ammo.
Of course a lucky shot could still kill us and since the battleships had
energy and ammo to spare it didn’t hurt to try.
I wanted to fire back but any energy drain would result in a prolonged
chase; something I was desperately trying to avoid.
Three…two…one…the computer beeped,
I grabbed a handful of levers, yanked them towards me and we were free just as
Sonja took a deep breath to announce tractor range. I sighed loudly and sat back. I wiped at the sweat that had started to drip
down my brow.
“That was close.”
Moonshadow
was one of the busier ports on the Frontier and while the Confederation had an
outpost in orbit they had little true presence in the sector. Fort Wayne was made up of about two thousand
troops and home port to the Reliant a
corvette designed to scare and chase their enemies away. They weren’t big but a ship like the Reliant
could do a fair bit of damage to a freighter like the Domino. I tried to stay away from the sector as the
regional government might have actually been worse than anything the
Confederation could field. When we
drop-jumped into the sector the Reliant was
in port along with another Confederate cruiser.
“They here
to see you?” I asked.
“Think they
could’ve gotten here ahead of us?” Sonja said.
“Not
likely, they’re probably here for a quick stop over for supplies.”
I could
almost hear Sonja scowl and I laughed a bit, “Where do I drop you Sister?”
“Highridge.”
I nodded
and entered the coordinates into the computer.
I sent the information to flight control planet side. There was always a chance Sector Control had
been notified by the battleships that had chased us, but news travelled slowly
on the rim. Information was sent at
regular intervals via FTL packets but it took time to compose and send. I had cut our trip short and taken two more
jumps to get us to Moonshadow. I was
fairly certain we’d be fine. As time
slipped by and we waited I did my best to hide my growing nervousness. I ran my eyes over the information the scans
had given us, everything still looked normal.
“There is no way they’re just going
to let us waltz into their space without a challenge.”
“Aren’t you the pessimist,” I said.
Sonja was about to make a snide
comment but the comm unit beeped, I held up my hand to silence her retort and
flipped open the channel.
“Domino here,” I said.
“We’ve received your course and
have approved it. We’re sending you the
authorization codes now.”
“Thank you very much. Domino
out.”
The channel went dead and the
computer chimed as it received the authorization codes from Sector
Control. I sat back with a little smile as
the navcomp took over flight details.
“See what did I tell you?”
The scowl Sonja sent my way was
classic and I couldn’t suppress a satisfied smile as the Domino navicomp set us on the course flight control had sent me. With the Domino’s
autopilot taking over the approach routines I sat back and rolled a cigar for
myself. Faith was still asleep in her
cabin.
“Something
I don’t get?” I said after a moment.
“I think
there are a lot of things you don’t get,” Sonja replied.
I laughed
as I placed the finished cigar between my lips and lit it slowly. I nodded at her as the cigar got lit. Tiberius sauntered into the cock-pit and sat
next to me. I let out a puff of smoke.
“Probably
right about that but this has got me puzzled.
Why are you involved in this thing?”
“Pay is
good.”
I nodded,
“That it is but I get the feeling this isn’t up your alley.”
“And what
would my ‘alley’ be?”
“You’re a
gunslinger, scoundrel, maybe even a bounty hunter same as me.”
“I have
more class.”
“Won’t
argue that, but you’re still the same as me.
Protection gigs are for the house Constables, local Sheriff’s the personal
body guard. You’re none of those.”
She sighed
and I watched an internal conflict play out over her face. Her steely gaze was fixed on me. I felt a little like I’d just had a full body
scan at the entrance to some royal palace.
I idly sat there chewing on my cigar scratching Tiberius behind the ears
waiting to see if she was going to let me pass through.
“I’m from
Brimstone originally. Spent ‘bout
thirteen years there before I left. I
was an orphan at an early age and a small family took me in when I was
four. Faith is my step-sisters
daughter. My step-sister is married to
the Mayor and he’s about to be deposed.
I’ve known Daemon a long time, thought I loved him once but I put that
behind me when he put his political career before me.” She paused for a moment
and I realized she had not taken a breath.
It had come out in one long nearly monotone sentence, she continued “Politics
in Brimstone change almost daily. Daemon
has his sites on the mayors seat, Faith’s father is in the way. Her father and my sister’s lives are forfeit
but I managed to talk Daemon out of killing Faith.”
“You can’t
save them?”
She
shrugged. “Probably not, Daemon has a lot of allies. An ‘accidental’ death means no money spent on
campaigning.”
I nodded, “You have family here?”
“I don’t
but Faith does.”
“So your
life on Brimstone is over?”
“I’m not
sure. I won’t go back to Daemon.”
“No, I’d
suspect not, he’s killing your past even as we speak.”
She nodded,
stood and took a step away from her chair.
I realized she had said as much as she was going to say, I could feel
her cold defensive exterior sliding back into place. I felt for her. I felt a sort of kinship with her, I had been
where she was. I had faced the cross
roads she was facing and there were no easy decisions, no easy roads that would
lead to redemption or consolation. Each
fork in the road brought its own pain, its own torment that only she would be
able to confront and work through. It
stunk, it hurt but she would heal. We
all do, at some point.
She turned
to me, “I don’t think I can live with what he’s done.”
“I reckon
not.”
She looked
at me, searched for word but found none.
She left.
I chewed on
the remains of my cigar and looked at Tiberius who whined lightly as she left. There was nothing anyone could say to comfort
her. Her family, as she knew it, was
being torn from her. She approached it
the only way she knew how, with a cool cold calculation. It was the same strategy that kept her alive,
the same strategy people like us needed to approach life with. Anything else would probably have paralyzed
her. The problem though was that most
people like us don’t forget or forgive easily.
We tend to settle scores eventually.
I almost felt sorry for Daemon, I had serious doubts he’d survive long
enough to enjoy his victory and I got
the feeling Sonja might the type of woman who’d take great joy in killing him
as slowly as she could manage for what he’d done to her family.
“Now there
is a complicated woman,” I said to Tiberius.
He put his
head in my lap and barked quietly as if agreeing with me.
We set down
on the outskirts of High Ridge thirty minutes later. High Ridge was really nothing more than a
small town that time and technology, such as it was on the Rim, had
forgotten. It was a day’s travel east of
Crescent City, the capital of Moondshadow.
I doubted many people from the city ever made their way to High
Ridge. The town consisted of about five
roads altogether laid out in a pretty straight forward manner, it would be
impossible to get lost. The buildings
looked to be made of real wood harvested from the surrounding mountains. They looked solid and well built. Most were two stories and one climbed to a
third story. It looked to be the saloon,
hotel and general store all in one.
There were four landing pads on the north side of town where I had set
down. It wasn’t much but it seemed
homely. I figured it was the type a
place a person could grow to like. There
was a homey feel to it, a sense of community that my life lacked. It was a shame that I’d have to leave so
quickly. I met Sonja and Faith in the
cargo hold. They stood in the center of
the hold, Sonja scowling at me as I walked up to them. Faith still refused to look at me. Tiberius and I lived a solitary life of
constant travel. Oddly enough it had
been nice to have someone else aboard for a change. We rarely took on taxi gigs, they didn’t
really pay enough. I made an exception
in this case because the money was good.
Having them hang around for a few more days almost sounded enticing.
“All packed
up?”
Sonja
nodded, she was wearing her leather armor with guns at her side once more. Any sign of vulnerability from our earlier
conversation were gone. She was once again
a cold and efficient gunslinger and bounty runner. Tiberius trotted over to Faith who smiled and
knelt to pet him. It was the most
animation I’d seen from her since she came aboard. I looked at Tiberius; I was pretty sure I’d
been cheated on.
“There is a
transport approaching,” I said
“That would
be our contact.”
I cycled
open a hatch on the side of the cargo hold.
It slid open letting in the bright light of Moonshadows sun. I felt a warm breeze rushing in. There was dust and sage on the wind. Tiberius, as much as he loved to be scratched,
loved planet fall even more and darted out of the ship and into the open. Faith laughed and stood.
“He likes
to be outside,” she said.
“We all
do. A ship is home but it’s always good
to visit a planet once in a while. Fresh
air is good for the soul.”
Sonja
picked up their bags and walked down the ramp just as the transport arrived. It pulled up about fifty yards from the Domino.
The door swung open and a short skinny man appeared. He wore old dirty denim pants and a homespun
shirt, his hair slicked back and spectacles framed his face. Sonja approached him. There was an ease to her step that told me
she knew and trusted the man.
“Nathaniel,
it is good to see you.”
Nathaniel
nodded and smiled when he saw Faith. The
smile faded as he fought to find something to say to her. Faith shook her head and embraced him.
“Uncle
Nate.”
Sonja
turned to me, “This is Nathaniel Gibson, Faith’s uncle. He will be looking after her.” She glanced
at Nathaniel, “Nate this is Captain Charlie Cole.”
Nathaniel
nodded at me and handed me a case, “This is the rest of what we owe you.”
“You?”
“It was
agreed that Jonah would pay half and the family would pay the other half of
your expense.” Sonja explained.
I nodded
and accepted the case. We stood there,
silence descending on us. It was an odd
and uncomfortable moment. I almost
wanted to ask if she was interested in crewing with me. I’m not one to get too curious about the
cargo I transported but even the limited conversations I’d had my passengers
had started questions forming in my head.
I wanted to ask a few to satisfy my own curiosity. I knew it would just get me into trouble I’d
more than likely be happier avoiding. Tiberius
was the one who broke it as he came bounding up to us barking loudly. I smiled.
“We had
best be on our way. The Confederates may
have tracked me here.”
“The
Confederates?” Nathaniel asked.
“I think
Daemon set us up.” Sonja said.
“Double-cross
is his families’ style.”
I looked at
Sonja and met her gaze, “Good luck.” I said and found that I meant it.
I turned on
my heel and marched back to the Black
Domino, Tiberius on my heels. He
bounded into the ship ahead of me and I cycled the hatch closed behind us. A few minutes later and I was airborne,
streaking low over the regions mountainous terrain. I didn’t have business on Moonshadow but
something was holding me back. I knew I
could have shot spaceward and left the little drama behind; my part played to
perfection. Instead I pointed the Domino over the horizon and plotted a course
to Angel’s Bluff, a smaller port of call that might have a need for some of
what I had in the cargo hold. A few days
in port might tell me why I had a nagging feeling to stick around.
