Alexander Outland: Space Pirate Read online

  “Sure, Governor. It triples our capture risk but I have to admit it’ll probably speed up our estimated time of departure.” I handed the system tracker to Audrey. “What’s our safest escape route?”

  “The ventilation system, Captain.”

  “I like how you think, Audrey. However, everyone else is complaining. What’s the fastest route that combines the least risk of detection?” Audrey opened her mouth. “Better yet, why don’t you just lead the way and tell me about it as we go?”

  She nodded and strode to the door, but before she opened it she looked at me. “Oh, Audrey, headlights off, please.” Her eyes went back to normal and I checked the system tracker. Still no gray dots on this level. I nodded and she opened the door.

  Apparently not everyone in the complex was hooked into Nitin’s system tracker, because there was someone standing there with a big gun pointed at us.

  CHAPTER 29

  He was taller than me, but not by a lot. He wasn’t all that much larger than me, either. He was dressed as Herion

  Military, but unless he came from a family of midgets, this wasn’t someone who’d drunk his steroids as a kid.

  “You my mind-reading friend?”

  He grinned. “That’s me. Let’s get going.” I still figured him for an Aviatus double-agent, but there were other possibilities.

  I walked over and moved Audrey out of the way. “Where are we going?”

  “Out. You do want to get out, don’t you Captain Outland? Or would you rather they catch you all and put you into Nitin’s gas chamber?”

  “Oh, we’re all over the out part. What we’re concerned with is the out where part.”

  “Not to your ship. At least, not yet.” He motioned with his head and the gun. “Seriously, are you people always this slow to react?”

  “Sometimes we’re glacial. Sometimes we move so fast you can’t see us. It’s all down to our collective whim.”

  “Really, Outland, move it or die.”

  “That we understand.” I looked over my shoulder. “Let’s move and follow our new friend here.” Looked back at him. “What did you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t and don’t plan to.” He gave me another grin. “You’ll learn it later, when it’s safer to know. Right now, more moving, less talking.”

  Everyone filed out. Slinkie gave our mysterious friend a long once-over. My heart sank. Guessed the kiss hadn’t been as great for her as for me if she was checking this guy out. Decided I might just have to hate him.

  Slinkie didn’t do the stand up straight and toss the hair thing, though. She made sure she was on my other side, so I was between the two of them. She also didn’t talk. Decided I’d ask her why this guy unnerved her later. If, in fact, I didn’t find out that she acted like this when it was love at first sight.

  The telepath led us through the maze of corridors. We had to stop and hide a few times. I confirmed on the system tracker—every time he had us take cover, there were gray dots coming.

  We wound down and around, in and out, zigged and zagged, never taking an elevator. When asked why, his reply was curt and to the point. “You’re all really desperate to get caught again, aren’t you?”

  More stairs, more corridors, more hiding, repeat, repeat, repeat. I wasn’t positive, but it seemed like we were visiting every part of the complex. Why, I couldn’t say, but the good thing was we avoided any other guys in gray uniforms.

  Just when I knew all of us, Audrey included, were at the breaking point of patience, he led us into the maintenance section and we reached a door that indicated we’d breathe fresh air if we opened it. “As a warning, the air quality’s awful right now,” our telepathic guide said. “Recommend shallow breaths or scarves if you have them.”

  “Fresh out. What about gas masks?”

  “If you have them hidden somewhere, feel free.”

  “That bad?”

  “You ruptured the sewage tank, you tell me.”

  I sighed. “It was an accident, and not actually my fault.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s one of the reasons why I’m helping you.” He hit the button that raised the corrugated metal door and we stepped outside. It was nice to be out of the rat maze, but he hadn’t been exaggerating—the stench in the air was almost thick enough to see.

  We were actually on the outside of the complex and left without issue through the large door that, as I turned back, was labeled “Refuse Delivery”. Guess they didn’t want the trash people coming inside, which was okay by me.

  “Now where?” I had no clear idea of where we were, just that we probably wanted to put some distance between us and the Herion Military complex.

  Slinkie grabbed my hand and yanked, which pulled my head down towards her. “I want to get away from this guy.” Her whisper didn’t sound like she wanted to get away because she was afraid she’d throw herself at him. I started to feel better, horrible smells notwithstanding.

  “Sorry, you all need me around.” He gave her a look I could only think of as derisive. “I can read your mind, too, you know.”

  “I know. That’s why I want to get away from you.” Slinkie sounded angry and ready to fight.

  I wasn’t thrilled with having a telepath around, but so far he’d been a help and I wasn’t too proud to accept help, particularly if it was keeping me and my crew alive. “Ah, Slinkie, after all that’s happened, I think we might want to be more pleasant.”

  “He’s a spy, Nap.”

  “Well, duh, yeah, I know.” For some reason I didn’t mention the card he’d given me to her. Now didn’t seem like the right time. “So what?”

  The telepath grinned at her. “Slinkie doesn’t like spies, does she?”

  “No, she doesn’t.” She was giving him the vulture-look. I started to feel great. “She also doesn’t like people who claim to be helping but who won’t offer a name.”

  “I could offer a name. But I don’t like using an alias… unlike someone I could name.” His grin got wider. “Now, be a good girl, stop worrying, and let me work with Captain Outland here.”

  I waited for the attack. Normally, if anyone spoke to Slinkie in a manner even close to this condescending he’d be icing his groin for a week. But she merely glowered at him and looked away.

  This caused everyone else, even Audrey, to stare, myself included. The telepath shrugged. “I know how to talk to her.”

  “No. I think you know how to threaten her.”

  CHAPTER 30

  I kept hold of Slinkie’s hand and she didn’t object. Alternated between hoping this meant she’d liked our kiss and was open to a continuation and worrying. “For the record, I really don’t like anyone threatening me or my crew, Slinkie in particular.”

  The telepath still had his grin on full. “I know. One of your better points. Yeah, you do have them, hard as that is to believe.” He didn’t seem at all concerned. He was also leading us to what looked like a tankfloater. They were like autofloaters, only bigger, nastier and far better armored.

  He opened the rear door and indicated we should climb aboard. I shook my head. “I drive.”

  He laughed. “Fine. I’ll take shotgun.” He reached in and pulled a lasershot out of the back. “There’s weapons for everyone in here. I’d recommend you each grab at least one on your way to find a seat.” He moved around to the passenger’s side.

  The others all gave me nervous looks. “Nap, you sure we can trust this guy?” Randolph sounded as worried as he looked.

  “No, but I’m also sure you all weren’t tied up in that impregnable room for fun.”

  “He knows what we’re thinking,” Slinkie hissed. “I don’t want him around us.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t have a long range.”

  “I’d assume it’s long enough, Alexander. And, as we’ve always said, best to keep them close.” The Governor seemed to feel this settled the matter and he climbed into the tank. In that sense, it did. The Governor’s main motto was to keep your friends close and your enemies
closer. Which was one of the reasons he was on the Sixty-Nine. I assumed we’d moved to the friends side of the equation after all this time, but I wouldn’t bet money that he’d always thought of it that way. So, he wanted the telepath close enough to kill him if we had to, and I had no objection to that plan whatsoever.

  The others climbed in after him, Slinkie last and with great reluctance. “Nap, don’t trust him.” She was still holding my hand.

  I gave hers a squeeze. “It’ll be okay, Slink.”

  “Hope you’re right.”

  “When was the last time I was wrong?”

  “When you picked Herion’s system as our destination.”

  She had a point. “I mean about people.”

  “Don’t even get me started.” Slinkie let go of my hand and shut the rear hatch.

  I went to the front and got in. The way the tankfloater was built, the others were far back from us, so unlikely to be able to hear our conversation. No matter. If I needed them, I had no issues with shouting.

  “You have the starter transmitter for this?” The telepath rolled his eyes at me. “Just checking.” Hit the start button, it revved to life. “Where to?”

  He sighed. “Under the circumstances, I think you’d better head for Business Bureau headquarters.”

  “No.”

  “You need the protection.”

  “We don’t need it that badly. I want to go somewhere safe, not somewhere else we’ll have to crawl through ducts to escape from.” I wondered if he was agenting for the Business Bureau.

  “No, I’m not working for them. Just want to hole up with extra firepower.”

  “Not going there, know what the Bureaus are like enough to know if you’re trying to fool us. Pick another destination.” I drove off, in a sedate manner. No hurry, just out for a drive, me and my tank full of people and weapons. At least this guy stole well. “So, who are you and who are you working for?”

  “I don’t want—”

  “Look. I have at least one person back there who is now both armed and ready to kill you. Don’t make me want to let her do it. You seem like you could be a decent guy, maybe even on our side or at least not working against us or trying to kill us, which, for our luck, counts as decent. Trust me when I say that Slinkie’s got a gun pointed at your head, and the others probably do as well.”

  “If they shoot me, then you won’t know who I am.”

  “I can live with the mystery.”

  “Probably not. Right now, you need me more than I need you.”

  “Doubt it. You didn’t help us because you’re a humanitarian. You helped us because we’re more useful to you alive than dead.”

  “You need my support at least as much as I need you.”

  I considered this, hopefully at a lower level of my mind than he could read. I tried to focus on Slinkie’s body in my upper level mind—maybe it would distract him. Always distracted me.

  He was about my age, maybe a little younger. In order to infiltrate Herion Military, he had to have been here at least ten years, since they recruited young. He also had to have papers that either showed him as a Herion native or legitimate Herion immigrant. He was also likely working for the Aviatus government, since the card he’d slipped me was hard to come by. I hadn’t had a lot of time, but the short examination I’d given it showed it as genuine. I could and would put it through better tests, but the working assumption was this guy was a spy for Aviatus, working Herion. Why, was the question.

  Aviatus and Herion weren’t in the same solar system, and while they weren’t enemies, they weren’t friends, either. They were politely neutral to each other—each one was the head planet of their system, each one had its own views about how things should work, but neither planet intruded on the other. Aviatus was in Beta, Herion in Gamma. Their quadrants didn’t even really connect that much.

  So, why have an Aviatian spy on Herion? Deep on Herion. This kind of in-depth infiltration indicated decades worth of intrigue and espionage, and the Governor had never indicated it existed. He’d indicated a lot of intrigue and espionage, but not between these two particular planets. I didn’t think it was time to doubt him.

  I wondered how the hell we blocked anything from this guy, too. Telepathy was great in theory. When it was sitting in a tankfloater with you, it wasn’t so fabulous. I wasn’t really driving anywhere, other than away from the Herion Military complex, and towards somewhere that wasn’t the sewage plant.

  Something in the back of my mind sauntered up and knocked. This guy had never shown up on Nitin’s system tracker.

  I slowed the tankfloater and pulled up against a curb, legally and everything. Checked. Yes, legal parking area. I looked at him. “You’re not actually Herion Military at all, are you?”

  He looked uncomfortable and didn’t answer.

  I couldn’t help it, I grinned. “In fact, you’re helping us because, point of fact, you’re stuck here and unless we help you get off-planet, you’re totally and completely screwed.”

  CHAPTER 31

  He looked like he was going to argue, then his shoulders slumped. “Yeah. Fine. Like you’d give away your main strength just because someone asked?”

  “No, but give away your real name or you’re walking home to Aviatus. And that’s a long hike from here.”

  “Fine. Tanner Lauris.”

  “From Aviatus?”

  “Yes. Can we keep moving? Really, we want to get far away from Herion Military right now. Specific members of Herion Military in particular.”

  “Nitin and Lionside?” I started off again. Tanner might not have had my trust, but he had a point. Moving away was still the best plan.

  “Lionside’s a patriot and a decent guy. Nitin….” Tanner shuddered. “The farther away from him all of us can get, the better.”

  “What’s his game?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on. You’re a telepath.”

  Tanner heaved a sigh. “A limited telepath.”

  “Want to explain what that means?”

  “Only if you have a better destination than wherever until the charge on the tank dies.”

  “Not so much, no. I assume the hotel we spent money on is out.” He nodded. “And you said no to the ship.”

  “Only if you want to go back into lockup. The ship is for when we’re ready to leave at that moment.”

  “I’m ready to leave at this moment. And there is, currently, no ‘we’ in leave, at least, not in terms of you.”

  “You really care about S—ah, Slinkie?”

  I noted the slip. Clearly, he knew, or thought he knew, things about Slinkie, like her real name, that I didn’t, but now might not be the time to question him about them. “Yeah. She’s my Weapons Chief,” I felt compelled to add.

  “If you care about her, bring me along.”

  “She doesn’t like you.”

  “Many times, people don’t like the things good for them.”

  “You saying you’re good for her?” I’d just gotten her away from Lionside. Like I needed to bring along another option?

  “Her longevity. Damn, are you jealous.”

  I was, that was true. “So, back to your mind-reading abilities. I don’t care for them overmuch, and I doubt the rest of the crew wants you reading their minds.”

  Tanner fiddled with the lasershot. Not in the “going to fire” way, but in the “I’m so embarrassed” way. I took another, longer, look at him. He wasn’t my age. He was, maybe, twenty-five, and that was a big maybe. The uniform made him look older. But there were no lines in his face at all, very minor crow’s feet around his eyes, and his hands hadn’t seen a lot of years, either. The Governor was big on age-spotting, go figure, and he was adamant that hand, knees, and crow’s feet gave it all away. No crow’s feet usually meant surgical alterations of some kind. But hands and knees were hard to cosmetically alter. And Tanner’s hands were young.

  “Aviatian’s Nest, why did they send a kid out here? For whatever they sent yo
u out for, I mean.”

  “I’m not a kid. I’ve been in active duty since I was fifteen.”

  “So, less than a decade.”

  He shrugged. “Just under. Yeah, fine, I’m twenty-four. So what?”

  “So, you’re trying to run the show and you don’t have the experience to do it.”

  “I do, actually. But, there’s a lot going on. Makes it harder to handle things efficiently.”

  “You’re stranded here. I don’t call that handling things.”

  “The armada needs to be stopped. And you’re the man who’s going to do it.”

  CHAPTER 32

  “Why does that seem to be everyone’s opinion? I don’t actually want to stop the armada, I want to avoid it.”

  Tanner sighed. “Look, I’ll give you some information. As a goodwill gesture.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “The Business Bureau doesn’t actually have merchandise they want taken off planet. They’re planning to hire you to get rid of the armada.”

  I let this sink in. “So, let me guess… Lionside wanted to have me do the same as, what, a patriotic gesture to a planet I’m not from?”

  “No, he was planning to appeal to your survival instinct. Stop the armada or evacuate Herion.”

  Made sense, in a way. “So, what does Nitin want?”

  “Audrey.”

  “Yeah, but why? I mean, aside from the obvious. Herion Military should be trying to recruit Randolph, the guy who made her, not steal the finished product.”

  Tanner didn’t reply. He pointed. “Go that way. We’re heading out of the main city center for tonight.”

  “You expect me to keep that appointment with the Business Bureau?”

  He shrugged. “Why not? You’re going to have to stop the armada, might as well get paid for it.” I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes. He didn’t seem like he was kidding. Tanner looked at me and smiled. “I told you, I’ve been in active duty since I was fifteen. Why not get paid for what they’re going to force you to do?”