Echoes, Part 5
03 Jun 2017User4296
George Lucas, Leesti SystemAlliance Space
3291
"You lose," Kelso said again. "Hands where we see."
My father and I shared a glance before raising our hands into the air.
"Thought it seemed too easy," my father said with a shrug.
"But it work," Kelso said, giddily laughing like a child. "You fall right into it. Who take stranger to ship, huh? Ha!"
"You did," my father said while extending both arms further into the air.
Kelso tensed. "What you doing, huh?"
I looked up at his hands. A metal ring was on his thumb, and a small, barely noticeable wire ran down into the back of his jacket. If I could barely see it, then there was no way...
"Eyes," my father said next. Something heavy hit the floor as I squeezed my eyes shut.
The flashbang exploded a second later. My eyes snapped open, and I felt myself being pushed toward one of the stacks of crates in the small cargo bay. My body took over and I ran, covering the short distance before diving behind the pile of crates, drawing my revolver as soon as I landed. All around me, I could hear the confused yells and curses of Kelso's men, punctuated by the occasional gunshot.
My father was a split second behind me, and he joined me behind the crates. We both stuck our heads up to see what had happened.
The two guards who followed us in were both dead, and Smalls was taking cover behind a pile of crates on the opposite side of the room. Kelso was nowhere to be seen, but the door that led deeper into the Cobra was now open. Unfortunately, the victory was short lived, as two more gunmen were advancing up the ramp.
"I taught you to shoot, didn't I?" my father asked.
We both popped up from cover. My father opened fire on the ramp, catching one guard in the neck who then tumbled backward out of sight. I fired at the stack of crates where Smalls had hidden, but the round went wide, impacting into the bulkhead behind him.
"That thing has some punch," he yelled. "Don't be afraid to use it!"
I shrugged and adjusted my aim, this time at the side of the crate where Smalls was hiding, and fired again. The round tore through the crate and out the other side. Smalls cried out and fell out of cover, clutching at his side. A second round followed a second later, and that one blew his head apart.
We dropped back behind the crate, and my father nodded toward the open door. "Kelso can't have gotten far. I'm going hunting."
I nodded, struggling to keep my breathing under control.
"You need to hold it together," my father said next, then indicated the ramp. “Cover me.”
When we emerged from cover a second time, my father took off toward the door into the Cobra, while I kept my pistol trained on the ramp as I moved around the crates. Wherever the other guard had gone, he no longer had a clear view of the door, as my father reached it successfully.
I edged closer to the ramp. My heart was pounding in my ears, and my breathing shallow, until the other guard came into view. He was kneeling next to his fallen comrade, trying unsuccessfully to drag him away, and was only half paying attention to the ramp. His weapon was on the floor nearby. I trained the revolver on him and waited.
Finally, he looked up. "Wait," he said, holding up an arm. "My friend is still alive! Just... let us go, man, okay?"
My gaze passed between the two guards. I hesitated.
"That's it, man. Just let us walk away and-" he paused, suddenly dropping his hold on the other guard's collar. His other hand quickly darted for the weapon on the floor.
I squeezed the trigger.
***
My father re-emerged several moments later. By then, I was sitting atop one of the piles of cargo crates and staring at the ramp, where I had dragged the two bodies into the cargo bay. He approached me and looked around.
"Hey kid... You still alive?"
I turned toward him. "Just... letting my nerves calm a bit."
He studied me for a moment. "That wasn't your first fight."
I shook my head. "First time killing someone, though. In person, I mean."
Neither of us said anything for a long moment, and he joined me in staring down the ramp. He finally glanced back at me.
"Kid, space is dangerous. People kill each other, directly or indirectly, all the time. If you weren't going to do it, that Smalls asshole in the corner over there was going to kill you instead," he said, gesturing toward where Smalls had fallen. "You'd better learn that quick, or else you're dead. And I ain't going with you."
I looked back down at the deck.
He held up his PDA. "You need to see this." With a button press, the screen changed, showing a picture of Justus. Someone was speaking, and it took me a second to realize that it wasn't the man on the screen.
"We will arrange meet," the voice said. The unusual speech pattern identified the speaker as Kelso. "What we do when we get them here, huh?"
"Ye kill them, lad," Justus replied. "Ye have the men to do it?"
There was a rustle. Kelso must have nodded. "Ya, we have men. We have weapons, too, because of you!"
"That's the bait, and payment. Flash that at them when they arrive, and they'll be eating out of yer hand." He paused. "Keep whatever you don't use killing them." The screen on the PDA went blank.
"Justus? Why?" I asked.
My father shrugged. "Who knows? Let's get out of here, though."
I stood and followed my father down the ramp and into the empty docking bay.
***
Something beeped.
My eyes snapped open, and my pistol was up and in my hand. I pointed it around the room until my senses returned.
That's right. The hotel.
My father suggested we lay low on the station for a while, apparently worried that Justus would have people watching our Asp and prepared to follow us if we fled. "Give them some time to open a hole to sneak through," he had said.
I glanced over. The other bunk was empty. I pulled myself to my feet, still in my clothes from the day before, and tucked the revolver back into its holster at my belt. I heard a second beep, and I realized the sound came from my PDA, sitting on the bedside table. I picked it up.
One new message. I thumbed the "Open" button.
John,
By the time you get this, I'll be long gone. I took the ship while you were asleep. With any luck, I'll draw anyone pursuing us off.
Justus turned on us. On me. I don't know why yet, but I intend to find out. That said, I don't have time to babysit you during this - hesitation will get people killed. You have skills, but you aren't where I need you to be yet. You'll be safer away from me. You're also old enough to survive on your own, so you may as well start. Don't go back to the apartment - they'll be watching it.
I left you enough money for a transport ticket - maybe try the Imperial Navy. It's what your mother did.
Good luck,
Jack
I stared at the PDA, another betrayal in a line of betrayals. This one stung harsher than most, but for some reason, I wasn't really surprised. We had been at each other's throats for most of the past three years, and I always had a vague sense that he didn't really want me around. Still, this didn't exactly lessen the blow.
So that's why you suggested we stay here, I thought. You wanted the chance to slip away.
I dismissed the message from my screen and checked my credit account. Sure enough, a balance of 10,000 CR glowed back at me.
A knock at the door roused me from my thoughts. I pocketed my PDA and drew my revolver again, before slowly approaching the entryway.
A second knock. I keyed the door control, revealing a woman wearing a black pair of coveralls, the word "Service" stitched just above the breast pocket. She was pretty, and her red hair was stuffed up into a bun. Her blue-eyed gaze passed from me to the pistol pointed at the ceiling in my hand, and her eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter before she recovered and cleared her throat, looking back at me.
Apparently, guests appearing at their doors with weapons drawn happened all the time in this hotel.
"Sir, I need to service this room. You were meant to be checked out an hour ago." She paused. "Would you like to stay an extra night?"
Maybe with you, I thought. I shook my head.
"Sir?"
I winced and slipped the revolver back into its holster. "Sorry, no." I took one look back into the room. Of course, the only things I had were what I was wearing. I sighed.
"I'll, uh, get out of your way." I stepped out into the corridor.
"Of course, sir." She winked. "Long night of drinking?"
"No, I – no. Look, is there a place to book passage off-station nearby?" I asked.
"You can do that downstairs at the desk, sir. I hope you enjoyed your stay," she said, before disappearing into the room, dragging a cleaning cart in behind her.
I shook my head and headed toward the elevators, mulling over the events in my mind.
The Navy? Am I Navy material? I thought. It's not like I can stay here, though. At the very least, Justus has contacts here. If he wants to be thorough, he'll find me eventually. Unless Dad gets to him first.
It was a short ride down, and the lift eventually deposited me into the hotel's lobby.
What else can you do? You don't even have a ship.
I found myself in front of the front desk.
"Hello, sir," the receptionist said.
"I need a ride."
"Of course, sir. Destination?"
"Achenar."