The Reaper Diaries: Supernova, Part 11
11 Feb 2016Michael Wolfe
“Well, that’s a hell of a good start.”The wreckage of two Lysenko Eagles and an Adder floated by our ships like metallic corpses. They had been no challenge at all, being back in the Hand of Blue, and Nova blasting away in her Cobra had only made the confrontation even more one-sided. My partner’s face came over the voice comms, a few strands of blue hair visible in the picture.
“So, how exactly does the system know where these targets are? They're not exactly pilots, are they?”
I shook my head. “The inquisition works in mysterious ways. I guess most have them have already been tagged with a micro-transmitter that reports back to us.”
“But- how?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. But a deal this important between the Empire and Lysenko would almost certainly attract the attention of the Chapterhouse. If I had to guess, I’d say that they already had sleeper agents in play, and it was just a matter of activating them and giving them a list of people to tag for us. Usually, the Imperial ambassadors don’t even know that they’re there.”
On the screen, Nova’s eyes narrowed. “So- this project wasn’t a total surprise for your pal Gideon?”
I shrugged. “If it was, I’m guessing that all he had to do was contact whoever was overseeing the negotiations.”
My partner shook her head. “Just like that? Haven’t you ever worried that they’ve tagged you or bugged your ship?”
I smiled as we rejoined each other in formation. Nova’s Cobra flew close by my port window. “Sure I have- but what’s the use in fretting over it? Worst case scenario is that they see me naked once a day when I get out of the shower.”
Over the comms, I heard a short sigh. “Well, some of us have a little more modesty than that!”
I chuckled as I linked our ships together for the next jump. “Odd thing to hear from someone who likes snooping so much herself.”
“Shush.”
“Hey, I'm just sayin'.”
My partner brought the topic back to business.“So, who's next on Santa's naughty list?”
I looked down at the display. “One Dr. Edwin Cox. Seems he’s a research lead, particle physics. Aboard a transport. No word as to escorts.”
Nova nodded. “Got it. One dead egghead, coming up!”
The hull debris of the blasted Hauler gently tapped together, floating in the vacuum of deep space. Neither it nor the researcher had stood a chance.
“This is almost too easy.”
Nova was hovering next to the wreckage, searchlights on, inspecting the wreck for anything worth salvaging. I was flying a lazy circling pattern, impatient to get on with the mission but seeing no harm in letting Nova poke around the debris. I commed back.
“I hear you. Every pessimistic instinct I have is tripping. Like something is bound to go extra wrong here in just a little bit because everything’s running so smooth now.”
Over the face cam, I saw her shake her head. “You can’t think that way. It’s a cognitive flaw of some kind to do so. Related to counting the misses and ignoring the hits or something.”
The Cobra’s search lights flipped off, and Nova hit the boosters to rejoin me. “But yeah. I’m expecting something to go haywire, too.”
I pulled up the next target along with the system he was in. Regina DuFrane, I read. Accounting. Bad day to be Regina.
“By now, Lysenko’s got to be on alert. Their employees keep dying horrifically.”
This time, Nova wasn’t even bothering to check for anything worth salvaging. We had closed in on another unarmed Hauler, and reduced it to scrap in a matter of seconds. It was almost sick, how well the job was going.
“I hear you. Best keep an eye on the emergency bands. If I were a bettin’ man, I’d wager that we’re going to start seeing some kind of escort around the targets.”
On the cockpit HUD, I saw Nova nod. “It would be the logical thing to do. So, who’s next?”
I pulled up the mission log, and-
That can’t be right. There’s no goddamn way.
“It, uh- it says that the next target is one Jim Cochran. He’s two jumps away, just boarded a company shuttle.”
I saw Nova’s Cobra level out next to me. “Then what are we waiting for?”
“Well- according to this, he’s a janitor.”
I saw Nova’s eyes widen. “A goddamn janitor?”
Shaking my head, I tried to make sense of the order. “I don’t know what’s going on, either. Wasting that accountant seemed a little off, but this? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“You can say that again.”
I sighed and programmed the destination into the navigation. “We just have to trust that the Chapterhouse knows what it’s doing. C’mon, darlin’- let’s waste us a janitor.”
As expected, Lysenko didn’t spare any kind of escort to safeguard a lowly janitor. Like the previous targets, the shuttle was destroyed easily enough- but the target list didn’t follow any kind of pattern that we could see.
After the janitor, it was an electrician.
After the electrician, it was a chemical engineer.
After the chemical engineer, it was a human resources assistant.
After the HR assistant, it was a security chief. That one had been escorted, but not heavily.
And after that, a goddamn cafeteria line cook.
Nova pulled up beside me, flying away from the wreckage of the ship carrying the hapless line chef.
“Chapterhouse or no, something is seriously fucked about this job, Matt. What the hell are we doing wasting cooks and janitors? It’s not any of them who are planning on blowing up a goddamn star system.”
I grimaced and shook my head. Following orders or not, Nova was right. This wasn’t like any job I had ever done- let alone one from the Inquisition.
“I hear you, darlin’. But listen up- there ain’t anything else coming over on the targets list. We’re supposed to head to their corporate headquarters. For what, they didn’t say.”
On my HUD, I saw Nova roll her eyes. “So, next we’re- what? Taking on an entire damn station?”
I hit the frame shift drive and listened to the steady hum as it spooled up. “Wouldn’t surprise me, darlin’. Wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Jesus. I think we’re late for the party.”
Our sensors had started picking up vessels almost immediately after existing which space. All around us, low-grade civilian ships were heading towards a central point- Lysenko HQ, a Coriolis-class station.
I had scanned six of the ships heading there before I gave up. “They’re all goddamn Lysenko ships.”
Nova came over the comms, agreeing. “That’s what I’m getting, too. Nothing wanted, nothing turning to engage us- like they’re all in a hurry to get inside. There’s a lot of signal, but it looks like there’s an absolute swarm of activity near the station itself.”
I shrugged and turned towards the base. “Well, our orders are to proceed to the HQ.”
It was all too easy to picture Nova’s eyes narrowing skeptically. “Being a damn lemming doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Me, neither, darlin’- but I want to find out what the hell is going on.”
We dropped out of supercruise not far from the station. As the sensors had predicted, there was a line of various ships waiting to get inside.
Ok, we’re here- so now what?
Nova must have been thinking the same thing. “And… what is it we’re supposed to do?”
We established face comms, and I could see the consternation in her eye. She hated the idea of hurry-up-and-wait.
“I don’t know. When something comes through, I promise to tell.”
Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Thanks.”
For, I don’t know- half an hour?- Nova and I just sat there, about five clicks away from the station, just watching the last of the Lysenko ships dock. Then, nothing. Not a sound, not a ship, no corporate security emerging to engage us- nothing. Like before, Nova and I just sat and waited, the only two ships not docked at the station. I didn't even try to count the minutes this time.
Then, an emergency transmission lit up our bands. And another. And another. All coming from the station.
I keyed the comm. “You getting that?”
A look of concern was showing in Nova’s eye. “Sure am. You think something’s going on in there?”
I shook my head. “Let’s have a listen.” I adjusted the comms to boost the signal, and-
<For any ship or extra-system authority that receives this: please send help to Lynsenko Headquarters! Unknown armed assailants have overwhelmed station security and are systematically executing Lysenko personnel! Please send reinforcements! They’ve sealed the main docking bay, and we don’t know how long we can hold out! We’re trying to evacuate the CEO and the board of directors, but we need- >
That was it. The message cut off from there, along with all the other beacons.
“Jesus.” Even Nova seemed a little spooked.
I grimaced and shook my head. “Whoever these people are, they know what they’re doing. Must have taken out their comms just now.”
A sigh came over the radio. “Yeah, and again: that the hell are we doing here?”
“I don’t know, darlin’, but we’ve got company.”
A Vulture-class ship and two Mk IV Vipers had just dropped nearly on top of us. Both Nova and I turned to face them. I sighted the Vulture, waiting for the sensors to do their work.
<CMDR JUDGE KINSEY>
<Expert>
<Zachary Hudson>
I keyed the comms. “We’ve got some Fed goons inbound. Look alive!”
As I hit was in the middle of deploying my weapons hardpoints, I saw a comm channel request from the lead Vulture.
The hell?
“Hold up a sec. They’re hailing us.”
I had engaged plenty of Hudson’s goons in the past. Usually, they went around the bubble acting like they owned the place. Hell, even if you were deep in Imperial territory, they would act you were trespassing on their back yard.
Well, I thought amusedly, the Feds did lose a good chunk of their territory to the Empire. Maybe they ain’t over it. But opening a comm signal instead of just making demands? That’s a new one.
Keeping an eye on the Vulture, I accepted the hail.
“Howdy, boys. Ain’t y’all a little far from Sol?”
A man’s voice crackled through the other end. “Not as a far as you are from Achenar. You on the job?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m on assignment, yes. Didn’t expect to see any of your lot out here, though.”
“Well, my contact told me that I might run into some Imp bounty hunters. Said to hold fire and wing up if we did. Good thing for you two- I normally let my beams do the talking when I see slavers.”
Slavers, huh? That’s the Fed term for us Imperials nowadays?
Nova spoke up, irritation in her voice. "He's the Imperial, not me."
Kinsey scoffed. "Yeah? And what are you?"
Through the facecam, I could see her narrow her eyes. "I'm the chick in the goddamn Cobra who's killed plenty of Vulture-flying assholes."
I saw the Vulture and the two Vipers turn to join Nova and myself in formation. They didn’t retract their hardpoints, but weren’t trying to sneak in behind us, either. So far, so good.
“Whatever, miss. I'm not getting paid to kill Imps or the people workin' for em. Not today, anyway."
I could tell that Nova was getting ready to retort, so I cut her off with something a little more cordial.
“So, what have you boys been doing out here?”
A tone of amusement colored Kinsey’s reply. “Killing Lysenko civvies. All types. Easiest wads of cash I’ve ever pocketed.”
I saw Nova shake her head as she replied. “And that doesn’t seem odd to you?”
Our Federation “friend” simply laughed. “For what I’m getting paid to take ‘em out, I’m willing to overlook a little oddness. Hell, I’m even working with Imps in a system that the Federation wouldn’t take if it begged for a charter. Don’t talk to me about odd, lady.”
I sighed. Well, if we’re going to be working together…
“The name’s Matt. This here's Nova.”
“Judge. These two are T.K. and Johnny. I pay ‘em extra to stay quiet. You'd understand of you ever met 'em.”
An uncomfortable, awkward moment passed. I looked over at Nova, who all the way from her Cobra shrugged and held out her hands.
Fine, I’ll say something else.
“Nice Vulture.”
“Thanks. I call her the Challenger. She’s my baby.”
I nodded. “Mine's the Hand of Blue. She’s my baby.”
“Fine-looking rig. Might have to get me that black paintjob after this.”
I smiled despite myself. “For reaping in asteroids, you can’t beat it.”
Over the comms, Kinsey chuckled. “It’s hard to beat a Vulture in general.”
“No arguments here, pal.”
Over the face-cam, I saw Nova roll her eyes. “If you boys are done jerking it to each other’s ships, we’ve got a goddamn corvette incoming. Eagles, too.”
I looked down at my sensor readings. Sure enough, a Federal Corvette and- twelve?- Thirteen?- Eagles were rocketing out of the starport.
Almost immediately, my mission log updated.
<Proceed to destroy escaping Lysenko leadership>
I shook my head and goosed the Hand of Blue towards the small fleet of Lysenko ships. “That’s our cue, darlin’. Let’s finish this thing!”
Judge and his help turned along with us, too. “Whatever message you just got, I did too. Someone on both our ends wants these bastards dead.”
Selecting an Eagle, I shook my head. If you’ve pissed off the Federation and the Empire enough that they’re both sending bounty hunters with orders to play nice and focus on you… then you’ve fucked up big time.
As we closed range, space lit up in fiery hot lines of lasers. Of course, it was foolish for the Eagle pilot I had targeted to play chicken with me in my Vulture- his hull was already being turned to slag even before we flew past each other.
As he sped past my canopy, I yanked the joystick back and hit the boosters. The only downside to fighting Eagles was the fact that they were about the only ship that could out-turn the Hand of Blue. I had to get facing him quick. I righted the ship, sighted the already damaged Eagle, squeezed the trigger, and-
“Scratch one.”
In the corner of my eye, I saw a bounty notification for… something. I wasn’t paying attention, because my shields were already being racked by cannon fire from another Eagle. And another. Hitting the boost again, I sighted the one that had first attacked me, bring him into view. I squeezed the trigger, battering his shields down in moments.
Over the comm, I heard Nova grunt in frustration. “There’s sure a goddamn lot of them, ain’t there?”
I finished off the Eagle in my sights, watching its wing rip away and cartwheel before finally exploding. “That there is. How you holding up?”
I turned just in time to see Nova’s autocannons pounding another Eagle’s hull into scrap. “Shields at fifty, hull looking good. Just as long as they attack you guys and not me, I’m happy.”
We both turned, joining formation to combine our laser fire, turning yet another Eagle into a flaming mess. “What happened to sharing the risk, darlin’?”
Nova flew uncomfortably close as she dodged the wreckage. “I dunno. What happened to chivalry, darlin’?”
Our Federation partner’s voice radioed over the line. “I hate to interrupt your little lover’s quarrel, but that corvette just started warming up its friendship drive.”
My partner’s voice came over the comm, indignation dripping from her every word. “We are not lovers!”
“Whatever, sweetheart. Just bring it down! Johnny, T.K.: keep those damn Eagles off of us!”
With that, I saw the other Vulture boost towards the corvette, already strafing it with long, continuous beam volleys. I hit the boost to join him, laying into the corvette with pulse lasers, watching the shields steadily deplete.
With the three of us focusing on the corvette, it should have been an easy kill, but it still had several escorts defending it. I’m sure that Kinsey’s friends were doing their best to keep them busy, but there were just too damn many Eagles for them to handle on their own.
And they all seemed to be focused on me.
Even putting pips to shields, they were still being worn down by the paper-cut effect of several smaller lasers hitting them at once. I scowled and finished my pass. Now the goddamn corvette was getting in on the action, the more powerful weapons were torturing my shields even with the boosters at max.
“I’m going to start getting hulled soon. How about a little help?”
Looking up, it looked like Kinsey was just finishing off the corvette’s shields. Thank God. Now we can start on that damn power plant.
Nova’s voice came over the comm.
“I’m a little busy right now. Too many of these damn Eagles.”
I scowled and hit the engine boost too late to stop my shields from collapsing. Goddamnit.
The corvette would just have to goddamn wait. I needed to help thin out these Eagles. Quickly selecting the nearest one, I swung my ship around, my hull steadily registering damage. The Vulture had been refitted with military-grade plating, but it wouldn’t last forever against a steady enough barrage, even from little guns.
I ID’ed the Eagle, already a little damaged. I laid into it with my pulse lasers and watched it come apart, flame and fluids leaking from the rear part of the ship. It started to spin uncontrollably, and erupted into a ball of flame.
Done. Onto the next one.
There was an Eagle chasing after Nova, so I sighted it and engaged it, trying to get it off her tail. It worked, and just as its shields went down, it spun around and started firing at me.
No, no, no, NO…
One of the more troubling weaknesses of the Vulture is the fact its canopy is goddamn enormous. It's amazing for the pretty view that it offers, but bad news in a shieldless jousting match… like this one. Autocannon fire from the Eagle left a trail of little cracked spider webs across my canopy glass, even as my pulse lasers finished it off.
<canopy integrity at fifty percent>
Yes, thank you.
Kinsey’s voice came over the line. “Commanders- this goddamn ‘Vette is about to jump. I am not in the mood to chase it all over the damn ‘verse! It just needs a little more pepper before the reactor is busted.”
Fine. Let’s stop the VIPs from escaping.
I turned and hit the boost, closing in on the damaged corvette. It was still doing its best to leave the system, but- turning to my left to target the powerplant- it was having a hell of a time.
You ain’t going anywhere. I approached from the bottom to give my lasers a better angle for nailing the reactor, and opened up, sending a non-stop series of pulse lasers into the stricken hull. I could already see atmo and fire escaping the gashes in the hull.
Just a little more…
Then a goddamn cloud of flak impacted against my canopy, sending the spider webs all over the glass.
Oh, shit.
I drained the last of my capacitor into the corvetter, not even bothering to check if the reactor was down. I had bigger problems on my min-
WHOOSH!
I could feel the sudden loss of atmosphere in the cabin as the glass was torn away, followed by a strange hot feeling in my belly. The glass blew outward and away, the mini-bridge of the cabin temporarily a hurricane as the air rushed into the vacuum of space.
Oh, SHIT!
“Nova, I’ve lost canopy integrity. I’m taking a breather until my shields come back online.” I was amazed by how calm my voice sounded, especially since my heart was threatening to beat out of my chest.
“Are you ok?” Her own voice was steady, though with an edge of worry.
“Yeah. I’ve got half an hour of emergency life support, and then it’s a breath-holding contest.”
WHAM!
Something impacted against the Hand of Blue’s hull, spinning me around.
<thruster failure>
“Ok, this is not looking good. I’m losing thrusters.”
There was radio silence for a moment, and Nova radio’d through. “I just wasted the Eagle behind you.”
“Thanks, darlin’.” I looked to my right, speed-reading the ship’s systems screen. “I ain’t got a system on the ship that ain’t damaged. I’m gonna have to set her down.”
“Where?”
I pursed my lips and shook my head. The only station in the entire goddamn system was Lysenko HQ.
“Any port in a storm, darlin’.”
I targeted the station and had to use my scope to align with it. Not just having it highlighted for me on the HUD was a real pain in the ass. Nova came over the comm again, worry in her voice.
“Lysenko HQ? You have got to be kidding me!”
My belly felt strangely warm. By reflex, I touched my glove to it, and re-gripped the joystick. I looked down, and noticed a red streak where I was gripping. I looked down, and-
Oh, fuck.
I gulped, in shock for a moment. A piece of flack from the cannon was… inside me, my flight suit having sealed mostly around it.
Oh, FUCK.
Mostly, but not all the way. And what wasn’t sealed was bleeding like a motherfucker, pooling between my legs and on top of the commander’s chair.
Just get landed, I told myself. One thing at a time.
My mind racing, I test-wiggled both of my feet. They responded. That’s good, right?
I retracted the hardpoints, put pips to engines, and boosted as hard and as often as I could. The goddamn corvette was making things complicated for my supercruise, and it was spooling too damn slow for my liking.
"Matt, check six!"
I felt the familiar ting-ting-ting noise of cannonfire racking my hell, knocking it around in space. I fought both my bleeding and my ship for a measure of control over both. It's really hard to dodge gunfire when your ship is steering like it had too much to drink. One of the hostile blips disappeared from the sensors.
"I got it, but there's one more still on your tale!"
I looked around me, head on a swivel. No sign of him. "So goddamn shoot him!"
Nova unleashed some extremely unladylike language at my suggestion, and then added: "The capacitors are drained and it's already hot as fuck in here!"
"Well, think of something!"
In the background of Nova's comm, I could hear the warning klaxons and computer voice reminding Nova that her ship's temperature was critical. Always hated that, I thought. I watched my own hull's integrity dip below twenty percent, my limited thruster control not doing me a single goddamn favor.
But right now, I'd take it over this.
Nova's voice crackled over the comm, sounding determined and angry. "Hang the fuck on. And try not to catch on fire."
I looked around me, having no idea what she was talking about. "What?!?"
Nova looked into the face view, sweat visibly drenching her face. "I was talking to myself. Now shut up and let me concentrate!"
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, I swear to God that I heard the unmistakable sound of Nova grunting hard against metal-on-metal collision sounds as the feed to the facecam went dead. Then... heavy breathing for a few seconds. I looked down at the scope, and the last Lysenko Eagle that had been tailing me was gone.
The camera feed kicked back on- and there was Nova, still breathing hard and drenched in sweat, but smiling faintly. She looked right into the camera and smiled a little wider.
"Boop."
I shook my head. "Did you just-"
She let out a nervous adrenaline laugh, trembling slightly. "Sure did. No lasers, no ammo, ship overheating already. So I used my last shield cell and rammed his ass."
I let out a laugh of my own, despite the fact that my breath was coming in shorter gasps. "Emergency supercruises, ramming tactics- you're goddamn crazy, you know that?"
"Wait till you try a Supernova."
Shaking my head, I opened a private channel to Kinsey. “Hey, listen- don’t tell Nova, but I’ve got a piece of flak in the goddamn gut and I’ve got to set down in the station. Ship’s busted to hell. How are you holding up?”
There was silence for a moment, and he replied. “All three of us have hull damage, but we should pull through. You go ahead. That last pass on the corvette did the trick- it’s dead in space. Me and my boys can finish off these Lysenko assholes.”
I nodded, the edges of my vision turning red. “I appreciate that, you corporate sellout.”
Kinsey chuckled grimly. “Any time, you pampered-ass slaver.”
The countdown to supercruise finally reached zero. Ok. Let’s do this.
Supercruise without a canopy window is… different. It wasn’t windy, exactly- but it was anything but tranquil. As well-versed as I was in emergency procedure, there was something seriously unsettling about hurling through a solar system in what is basically a convertible.
The Hand of Blue decelerated from supercruise right in front of the mail slot. Controls for my ship were still a little shaky- or was that my hands?
I tried to hail the station, but it was no use. Either comms were knocked out, or everyone in the control tower was dead.
Guess I’m crashing the party.
I sped towards the mail slot, recklessly heading to the nearest pad big enough to land on. I had tomaneuver my way through lots of parked ships, but none of them seemed to be manned. It was getting hard to breathe, even though I still had emergency life support active.
What a goddamn job this has been.
I pointed the canopy down, and skidded to a halt, shields rippling in protest against the crash landing. The pad’s emergency systems kicked on and mag-locked my ship. Even though I hadn’t been given clearance to land, they righted my ship and steadied it on its landing gear. I unbuckled myself and unsteadily made my way towards the pilot’s cabin, clutching my wound and leaving a trail of blood.
If I can just get to the damn first-aid kit…
I heard a loud crash beside my ship, but I didn’t have time to worry about what it might have been. I stumbled into the pilot’s cabin, walked across it, and opened the cargo bay access, lowering the ramp. I needed to stabilize myself and get to a damn med bay.
Let’s hope the docs here subscribe to the Hippocratic oath.
Gulping down air and hands trembling, I lifted my helmet off my head. It took more effort than it should have. Tossing it aside, I ripped open the first aid-kit, picked up a stim cartridge, loaded it into the gun, and shook my head in frustration.
Where the hell is Nova when you need her? She’s the goddamn pro at this, not me. I bit off the cap, spat it out, and pressed the tip of the gun against my neck. Pulling the trigger, I felt the needle quickly inject the cocktail of stay-alive drugs into my muscle, where they would immediately begin interacting with my system. I dropped the gun and unzipped the front of my flight suit.
Fuck.
The piece of flack was still embedded in my gut, and it was getting hard to stand. My legs feeling like jelly, I collapsed onto my ship’s bunk. It was getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open, even with the stim.
“Matt!”
I opened my eyes. There was Nova, running towards me through the Hand of Blue's cargo bay. She followed- I weakly shook my head in amazement.
That magnificent little blue-haired angel.
I couldn’t stay upright anymore, and watched the pilot’s cabin tilt ninety degrees as I slumped to my side and rolled onto my back. Just like before, Nova’s sweat-drenched face dominated my view as she gripped my head, worry dominating her features as she looked down at me. My eyelids feeling heavy, I again forced myself to smile, gesturing to the bloody mess in my center.
“I think it’s time to change my bandages, darlin’.”
She just gulped desperately, pursing her lips in helplessness. Nova was a hard woman, but- was that a tear welling up in her eye? She smiled bravely and picked up the medical kit.
“Sure is. Just… I might need some help on this one.”
I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting away, the afterimage of Nova's face burning a hole in my mind's eye. The last thing I heard was Nova repeating herself, her voice unsteady and ragged.
“Yeah. Gonna need some help on this one.”
Yep. Gonna need some help on this one.
The representative for the client I was talking to- some serious, twitchy-looking guy named Giles- was describing the job he had posted. He was droning on and on about the importance of recovering the salvage from the company ship that had been lost. For my own part, I was trying to remember the name of the outfit he represented.
Lyrastrasa?
Lyran something?
It was Ly-something. I remember that much.
I for damn sure remember the five mil payout.
And I heard the word “Anaconda”.
I nodded politely, digesting the information. No way I can clean out a 'Conda's cargo bay by myself. Which means I’m going to need help.
“Remember, use only this disk to download the ship’s logs. And be certain to retrieve the data core. I cannot stress this enough. It is absolutely vital to company interests. We will not consider the contract complete unless all three conditions are met.”
I leaned back and shrugged. “And you don’t mind if I sub-contract out on this one?”
The thin, gaunt man before me tightened is lips and drew in a sharp breath. “If you must. I would prefer that you have a partner by the end of today. Time is running short even now.”
I slid the data disk my way and slipped it in my pocket. Was this man actually sweating? I stood up and threw on my leather jacket.
“Don’t you worry about your ship, mister, uh-“
“Ramsey. Giles Ramsey. And remember that it isn’t just the ship’s cargo. It’s the ship’s logs, too.”
I patted the pocket that held the disk. “Got it.”
“And the data core.”
“My screwdriver is as good as packed.”
The wiry man stood, shaking his head. “I do wish you would take this a little more seriously, commander.”
I grinned and held out my hands. “Hey, the last thing you want in this business is a high-strung pilot. I’ll get your company’s stuff back. Me and whoever I partner with.”
Giles didn’t reply, just packing up his holo-materials back into his briefcase. “I hope so. Please remember the importance of time. Contact me the moment you have everything loaded.”
“Hey, for five mil, I’ll contact you before it’s all loaded!”
My contact didn’t smile or reply to my lame joke, just nodding slightly and brusquely walking away.
I shook my head and watched him powerwalk. Some people just need to learn to relax, I thought.
It’s not like the goddamn stars are going to explode if I don’t get the stuff.
“Partners?”
She smiled and drank her tea in a single gulp.
“Partners.”
I smiled, rather pleased with myself. I had a job, a partner, and a clear plan for maximum credits in minimum time.
My new partner was young, eager, and ready to make some money. I recognized the mercenary gleam in her eyes- well, the natural one anyway. The glowing red implant would take some getting used to, but I had worked with uglier.
Hell, I thought. You’ve seldom worked with prettier. Just be sure to watch yourself. She seemed impressed by that gentlemanly speech you gave just now. Make sure it wasn’t bullshit.
“So, what’s your life story, Nova? I always like to know a little about my partners.”
Nova shrugged and held out her hands. “Not much to tell. Normal childhood, got done with school, took a job as a waitress for a few years serving drinks and food to roughneck pilots. Always wanted to be one, so I took out a loan and headed to Pilot’s Fed academy.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Waitress to indy pilot? That’s… quite a switch.”
She looked down, smiling. “Yeah. It was a surprise for my friends and family, too.” Looking up, she added, “But there’s nothing that makes me happier than knowing that I’m my own woman, flying my own ship.”
I raised my cup of tea in salute. “Now there’s a motive I can drink to.”
My partner refilled her cup and returned the salute. She clinked her cup against mine and smiled. “To indy pilots everywhere.”
As we drank, I continued to look into her eyes. Though I was resolved to be a gentleman on this trip, I couldn’t help seeing what I was seeing.
Yeah, I thought. If there was ever a last face to ever see before I die, I could do a hell of a lot worse than hers.
