The Reaper Diaries # 15: Redemption, Part 6
12 Nov 2015Michael Wolfe
It took a few days of running and resting, but I made it. 
I’ve got to say- urgent rescue mission aside- that I could see why so many people swore by Cobras. The one I had bought back in Eravate handled well, packed a punch, and was a solid choice for hauling. It had two tiny sleeper rooms for the pilot and co-pilot, and was just large enough to be bearable for long voyages. Under any other circumstances, the several days it took for me to get to Bagaiteru wouldn’t have been half bad. I hadn't planned on flying the Last Chance longer than I needed to, but I decided that I would miss her when this was all over.
Coming out of FTL travel, it was obvious how slavery could thrive here. The place didn’t have any government to speak of. All it had was two outpost-type space stations, and a few terraformable planets. One station was run by some mining corporation- which, depending on the outfit, could be either a legit business or a gang of total scumbags. And for a company to be operating all the way out here, well, it didn't take a genius to figure out what kind they probably were.The other station flat-out stated that it was run by the Bagaiteru Syndicate. They weren’t even trying to hide the fact that they were established here.
The sensors were also picking up Kumo Crew ships mixed in with the transports and cargo haulers that one would expect. So, the Kumos have sunk their hooks clear out here, too?
Well, they probably aren’t looking for you, so don’t fly stupid.
But don’t walk up and introduce yourself, either.
I checked the tablet I had, well, liberated from Walt, the old pervert of a slaver who had been kind enough to input his access code after being persuaded to do so by a little strong-arming. According to the tablet, Katie was still in the Bagaiteru system, but was now planetside. What? I thought there weren’t any habitable planets in this system! Maybe she’s in an outpost or something.
Still, the tablet was able to be plugged into my ship’s systems and integrated with my nav. The HUD pinpointed right where she was on my cockpit window, just like any nav point. Ok, we’re in business.
So, how do I go about this? Fly to the station first? Find out what’s what around here?
That would take time. And probably credits.
Don’t complicate things. You know where she is. Just go down to that planet and get her. Figure out the details once she’s strapped in and safe.
Yeah. I had messed around long enough. She was so close.
******************************************************************
Sure enough, there was an outpost on the surface. It looked like a mining setup, which made sense. Clustered around it were several terraforming towers.
How the hell did these guys get the kind of resources to start terraforming? Does the Kumo Crew really have that kind of cash?
According to the scanners, the atmosphere was chilly and light on oxygen. As long as I stayed near the terraformers, I could go outside for a stroll, but a breather and a heavy jacket were going to be needed. Anything further out than a few kicks away, and it became very hard to stay alive.
No need for fences or guards when running away means death.
The comms lit up. “Cobra- class ship, this is mining outpost 21-D. State your cargo and business.”
Well, I didn’t have any cargo. And my business was to kidnap one of the slaves. But that wasn’t going to get me landing clearance, now was it?
“Outpost 21-D, this is the Last Chance. I’m an independent hauler on assignment with the Crew. Requesting permission to dock.”
Silence for a few moments. “Last Chance, permission is granted to land on pad number two. Keep your nose clean while you’re here, pilot.”
“Copy that, tower.”
Ok, I’m in. Now let’s go kidnap a little girl.
For her own good, of course.
The interior of the outpost was as spartan as one would expect. The installation wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t tiny, either. I was going to have to rely on my stolen
tablet to find Katie. The trick was going to be doing so in a way that didn’t attract attention.
If I was going to pull off playing the role of the space-weary pilot, I would have to have a drink. This wasn’t too much a problem, since I needed one pretty badly anyway. I was so close. She was somewhere here, in the same damn outpost I had just walked into. I just needed to find her, talk to her in private, gain her trust, and take off without anyone noticing that the pilot that no one had ever seen before was leaving with some of the help.
Like I said, I needed a drink.
The station was fairly stranger-friendly, with every hall having signs pointing to different places. I made my way to the bar- even on a remote mining outpost, you have to have a bar. Even with it being early in the morning, there was a fair amount of people sitting and drinking. Maybe a cold one helped relax from a day in the mines. Maybe it helped get you ready for one.
“What’ll it be, stranger?”
“Whatever’s your best beer.”
The bartender nodded. “You got it.”
As I waited, I looked around. The bar sat a few levels higher than the landing pads, and had giant windows that gave a commanding view of the area. This place was almost pretty. It was by a lake- no doubt being polluted by the industrial runoff from the mine- and it wasn’t half bad for being an inhospitable waste. From where I could see, the mining was pretty labor-intensive. Trucks were coming and going at a steady rate, unloading the ore into the central processing station to be smelted and turned into shiny ingots of whatever it was they were refining down here.
Off in the distance, a Python that had been painted the red and black of a pirate gang was landing next to my ship, making it look mighty small in comparison.
Relax, Matt. Kumos probably come and go from here all the time.
The bartended returned with my drink. I slid the credits his way, and he returned to minding his own business. There were a lot of people here, so anything I did was going to be noticed. Sneaking was out.
I would have to do what had gotten me this far: lie my ass off and hope it stuck.
“Say, friend, it’s my first time here. Who would I talk to about taking any labor that ain’t working out off your hands?”
The bartender looked back my way and made a face. “Slaver, huh? Well, I just pour the drinks around here, but I can tell you right now that this ain’t no buyer’s market. We use ‘em up pretty fast around here. Always needing more meat to keep the ore coming.”
I nodded. “I appreciate the heads-up, but I always like to keep an eye out, you know?”
He grunted. “You want to buy, you need to talk to Smitty. I don’t know where he’s at, but you can usually catch him in the north commons. Short guy, likes to wear dusters. Can’t miss him.”
I raised my bottle. “Thanks.”
The north commons was a fancy way to describe a glorified lounge. It was a wide open area of the installation with pool tables, sofas, several tables and chairs, some arcade games, and some long-distance holophones.
In the corner, playing one of the arcade games, was a man matching the description the bartender had given me: short, mousy-looking man. Long, beat-up duster. He didn’t look like much. He must have been really into the game, since he was loudly cursing at it when he didn’t his way. Sizing him up, he seemed the type to get pushed around during childhood, and was making up for it with a permanent case of short-man syndrome. Well, he does buy and sell slaves for a living, so that must make him feel a little bigger, right?
I walked up to him. “You Smitty?”
He didn’t even turn his head to look at me. He just answered while playing, cigarette still dangling from his lips. “Who wants to know?”
I shrugged. “Just another guy in the cattle business.”
“Five k a head. Three if they’re shorter than me. How many you got?”
I leaned against the side of the game housing. “I ain’t selling. I’m buying.”
That got Smitty’s attention. He looked at me, confused and a tad suspicious. “Buying? Out here? This ain’t a buying kind of place, friend. You must have these wide open wastelands confused for a slum that could use a good culling.”
“So, you ain’t selling?”
He resumed his game. “Nope.”
I dug out some credit chips and placed them next to the game controls. “Not at any price?”
He looked dumbly at the chips, game suddenly forgotten. He hesitantly picked one up, flipped it around a few times, and cocked his head at me.
“Is this one here seriously a hundred k?”
I smiled. “It sure is, partner. And it’s all yours if you can take me to the one I’m looking for.”
His eyes narrowed. “So you’re here for someone specific are you? What are they, family?”
“As long as you get paid and I get who I want, do you really care?”
He looked at the credit chip. “100,000” was still projecting itself across the chip in orange numbers.
“I suppose I don’t. Who are you after?”
I pulled out the tablet I had taken with me. “Little girl. Katherine Taylor. She’s supposed to be around here somewhere.”
He peered at the picture, and nodded his head. “Yeah. I know the one. So let me get this straight- I hand her over to you, you fly away, and all hundred k of this is mine?”
I smiled as wide as I could muster. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”
He cocked his head, mouth slightly open. The sides of his mouth curled into what was almost a smile. “Well then. Let’s get your little girl, shall we?”
Oh my Jesus God. This was going to easier than I thought.
Completely abandoning his game, Smitty led me to a ground level vehicle hanger. We climbed into a sealed buggy with two seats and drove a few clicks outside of the station to one of the mines. From the window, I could see the lines of people going in and out of the mine entrance. They were all carrying bags of ore over their shoulders. Men, women, a few children- there must have been dozens of people. We pulled up to the entrance, and I started to unbuckle my harness. Smitty put his hand on my arm.
“Wait here. This mine's pretty dangerous, it's mostly slaves that get sent down there. I'll go in and get her. Mind you lend me that tablet so the foreman can fish ‘er out?”
Hesitantly, I handed over the device. It had been my only way of finding Katie, but if helped get her out of there faster, then so be it. Smitty disappeared into the mine entrance, and I was left to just sit in the buggy.
I’m so damn close. What’s this even going to be like?
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the door opened. Outside strolled Smitty, the mine foreman, and-
Her.
My god- it was her. Just like I remembered from Durius. Just like I had seen in my nightmares. Just like she had looked on the tablet. It was her. Katie.
I can’t believe it.
She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. She was wearing a dirty dress, and was as filthy as when I first saw her. Though she shivered from the cold, she wasn’t wearing a breather of her own, but didn’t seem to be affected by the thin air. Not even bothering with my own breather, I got out of the buggy and walked up to her.
Jesus Christ. There she is. Right in front of me.
I dropped down to one knee. She just stared at the ground. It was hard to even speak, my heart was beating so hard I could feel it in my throat.
“Katie?”
She looked up, very slowly. Making brief eye contact, she immediately looked down again, and nodded her head.
“Katie Taylor? From Durius?”
A scared look crossed her face before she again nodded her head while looking down.
I already knew that this was her. I couldn’t believe it. This was happening.
I reached out and took her hand into mine. It felt so small. And cold.
“I’m here to take you home. Right now. Are you ready to go?”
Slowly, the trembling little girl looked up into my eyes. Her face was still full of fear, but in her eyes I saw- hope?
Katie gaze drifted to slightly above me. Her mouth widened, and the hope in her eye vanished. A shadow covered her face.
I felt something cold and metallic press against the back of my head.
God-fucking-DAMMIT.
“I knew I should have just pushed you out the airlock and claimed your ship. But then again, the ‘verse needs idiots like you, doesn’t it?”
Squigly. That one-eyed son of a bitch followed me here.
He started laughing, followed by Smitty and the mine foreman. Smitty bent down, leaning in really close to my face.
“They got here right before you did. Told me to be on the lookout for some do-gooder who’s slumming around, looking to buy up a certain little girl. Said you’d probably try to bribe me, pay some ridiculous amount for her.”
He grabbed Katie by the neck and shoved her in my face. Kissing the credit chip, he bent over and sneered. “So here’s your little girl, and here’s my just reward. Been a pleasure doing business.” Chuckling, he released Katie, clapped me on the shoulder, and nodded at Squigly.
With one brutal motion, Squigly rifle-butted me hard in the back, sending me face-down into the cold soil.
“You embarrassed me something awful, Titmouse. Once word got out that I had given the man who threw old Walt over a high railing the hauling job to the Meat Locker, my name was garbage until I cleaned up the mess myself. Well, here we are. And you’re looking pretty cleaned up, if you ask me.”
He spat on the ground, the wad landing next to my face. “And the Meat Locker's bounty on you out is pretty good. But I don’t think it’s about that anymore. I think it’s time I gave you the last job you’ll ever have.”
Squigly looked towards the mine entrance, and then at the foreman. “Got room in there for one more, chief?”
Once again, everyone stated laughing at my expense. I looked up at Katie. She was still standing in front of me, staring at me and shivering.
The foreman picked me up and hauled me to my feet. “Reckon we do. How long you give him, Smitty?”
Smitty looked me up and down. “A few months. Maybe more if that silver spoon drops out of his ass before then.”
Both Katie and I were roughly led to the mine opening. The door leading into it was still half open. With one last kick to the back, I flew into the mine, landing on a pile of sharp, cold rubble. I looked up just in time to see the mine door close in front of me, locking us both in darkness.
I felt Katie’s cold hands wrap around my fingers, as she clung to me in fear. I wrapped my arms around her small, trembling frame. I picked her up and held her against me, my hand around her head. I wanted to tell her that it was going to be ok, but I just couldn’t find the worlds. Not with the roller-coaster I had just experienced. Not with any conviction.
Suddenly, the lights flipped on, and walking up to me were three burly mine guards, followed by a gaggle of slaves. Katie screamed and buried her head in my chest, as one guard grabbed me from behind, and another started to pull Katie off of me.
This is how it happened on Durius.
The guard behind me hit me over the end with a baton, and I involuntarily released Katie, head exploding with pain and the sounds of her tearful screaming as she was carried away.
It’s all happening again. For her. And for me.
I felt Katie being ripped away from my grasp, and I fell to my knees from the dizziness and the pain. I tried to get up and go after her, but another blow from the guard sent me face-down into the dirt. It took all my strength just to lift up my head to look at her.
Like her father, the last thing I saw was an innocent little girl screaming, and crying, and struggling to get away from some brute so that she could run to the only person on an entire planet who cared for her. I felt a burning sensation in my head, and the light began to fade.
I couldn’t protect you, Katie. I thought I could, but I was wrong. Just like your father. Just like Earl. I’m just another man who failed you.
My vision blurred, and the mine was dark again.
I’m so sorry.