Gunship (18 page)

“She?” Skeeter looked at Duv. “Is that the new crew member you were recruiting last night? Ty said she was pretty good at whatever she does, but the Captain said we have to make sure we give everybody a fair chance to show off their skills. That way we find the best candidates for the job.”

Duv went from pale to red as Ty and Chang began laughing.

“I love this kid!” Ty said, patting him on the shoulders.

—————

Word had gotten out about Reilly’s crew slots. The Iron BAR was full when they arrived with the usual crowd, plus some extra job seekers who were looking to buy drinks and get some inside information on how to secure a slot. The crew shouldered their way over to their table, and Shep stopped by with their mugs plus a tray loaded with drinks.

“I think you have a few extra friends in the house tonight!” he said with a wink as he left the tray in the middle of the table.

Ty started up a card game with Duv and a couple of locals while they waited for Commander Zain to show. Reilly sat against the wall and watched the people, while Chang decided to throw at the dart board but opted to use his knives in place of the darts. The place was loud and warm. The band was playing bluegrass tunes, and a few folks danced. She took a sip of her drink, but ignored the freebies on the tray. Tonight they were working.

Commander Zain was prompt and cautious. At nine o’clock on the dot, he edged in the side door and surveyed the crowd before slipping into the chair next to Reilly. Shep came over with his mug and promptly disappeared again while Ty shooed his card-playing buddies away, giving them the tray of drinks to take with them. Duv and Chang took up posts nearby so they could hear the conversation and prevent any interruptions. The music was loud enough to keep their discussion relatively private and out of range of any prying ears.

“Nice night. Everybody seems to be enjoying themselves.” The Commander continued to scan the room actively.

Reilly watched the band. “I never figured you as the social butterfly type, sir. And I know you didn’t track me down just to chat.”

Zain smiled a thin, tight-lipped smile. “I’m not. And I didn’t. So this is your crew now?” He nodded at Chang and Duv, who stood off to either side.

“They are, and whatever you tell me, they’ll know as well. I trust them with my life. In order for me to be able to do that, they have to be just as informed as I am.”

“Good. The more they know up front, the better prepared you’ll all be. And that means you are much more likely to stay alive. Since we’ve dispensed with the pleasantries, I’ll just get straight to it. What do you know about Razam Welch?” Zain studied her face as he asked the question.

Reilly was startled but kept her composure. “I know his brother is a nasty little bit of work, deals some in the black market. Big brother Razam was killed around five years ago during an inquiry while he was working for the government. I heard they never found the body.” She glanced discretely at Ty, who was steadily staring at the Commander as if trying to see into his skull.

Zain took a drink from his tankard, glanced around the room again, and then leaned forward. “You know more than that, Campbell, so you can quit the dumb act. I don’t have the time to waste, and neither do you, though I doubt you realize that yet. I’d bet, for example, that you already know that Errat is dead—”

Reilly bristled, leaning in to meet his challenge. “Okay, what the hell is this? First you want to set up this meet, but you won’t tell me why. Then you’re running around throwing warnings out to my crew in the john and putting us all on edge. What’s the game, ’cause I’m pretty sure I don’t want to play.” Reilly started to get up, and Ty along with her.

“Welch isn’t dead.” Zain said the words slowly, calmly, as he swept the room again with his eyes.

“You just told us you know he is dead and that you know that we know he’s dead!” Ty slammed his fist on the table in frustration. A few people nearby glanced over, met Ty’s gaze, then quickly turned back to the band. He leaned over and looked into the Commander’s mug. “Been adding a little extra of anything in there lately, sir?”

Zain glared at Ty. “Step off, Sergeant. Errat is dead. Razam is not, and I’ve got word he’s looking for you two.” He pulled out a handheld and punched in a code to access the information span, then turned it to them. Three separate bulletins were out, complete with recent video footage of the two of them at the compound on Vervian.

“Not a very flattering video. I think that one makes you look kind of chunky, Ty.” Reilly yawned and leaned back, while Ty pretended to look indignant. “You know this is not our first time out the gate, sir. Ty’s got at least seven or eight folks looking for him with bulletins out on the span daily. I probably have about the same. We’ve never had an issue handling those folks before, and I doubt one more will make a difference.” Reilly sounded more confident then she felt as she remembered the welcome they had received on Vervian.

Now I know why we’ve had so much trouble,
she thought silently to herself.

“I don’t think you two appreciate the seriousness of the situation, so let me help you out. Razam is very well connected, both within and outside of the government. And because most people think he’s dead, he’s been getting a lot done behind the scenes. That includes working to silence those of us who have been trying to sound the alarm.” The Commander unbuttoned his shirt under his jacket and pulled it open to reveal three blackened, rippled scars running from his shoulder down across his collar bone and his chest.

“Shit. What the hell happened?” Ty asked, stunned.

“I got in Razam’s business and he didn’t like it, so he sent some people to let me know. I sent them back in less-than-good working order. He sent more. The last one almost got lucky, and I got this great souvenir from the visit.” Zain pulled his shirt closed again. “This is the longest I’ve been in one place in months, and it’s the reason as soon as I walk out of here I’m getting off-world and on my way. But I wanted to fill you in on what you’re up against and make you an offer. First of all, take this. Don’t open it here; put it away until you are someplace secure.” He reached inside his jacket and passed a small envelope over to Reilly, who took it and stuffed it in an inside pocket on the short, Asian-style military jacket she was wearing.

Zain leaned in again. “Razam is incredibly intelligent, but he is also a psychopath. That disk has everything I’ve collected on him and his organization so far. I’ve been watching him move his pieces into place for some time, but I’m not sure to what end. There are still some missing parts. Most of what he’s done has been kept hidden in the noise, so no one even knows to look for it. I only know that whatever it is he has planned, he’s getting close to triggering it. And it doesn’t bode well for any of us.” Zain scanned the room again and took another drink before continuing. “I’m putting together a few teams, some of the best in the ISUs, to go after this guy. I’ve been trying to get an operative close to him for months, but so far it’s been impossible. We may have an opportunity to get someone on the inside, but it will take some serious effort. I need to get everyone I can for this mission. Right now, you have four of the best operators in the galaxy. I could really use that kind of experience on my team.” Zain paused for another drink while Reilly and Ty exchanged looks with Duv and Chang.

Zain continued. “Welch is making moves to consolidate his power. We think that there is a very real threat that he may try to coop the new AOC for his own purposes, but he doesn’t have the support he needs yet. If he gets it, though, the first thing he’ll do is take over the ISUs. A few of the senior AOC senators have granted me special powers to start planning for an event like this. Right now, I have a secret base set up with almost a full space wing training up for this scenario. No one outside of the wing knows its location, not even the senators who authorized it.”

Reilly and the others looked at each other. This was bad news. Special powers were rarely granted, and only for situations in which there was a clear threat to the galactic peace. The last time this had happened was when the rebellion had broken out and entire planets began to perpetrate genocides on each other, flinging half the galaxy into war.

How could one man pose such a threat?
Reilly thought as she realized Zain was talking again.

“I don’t expect I’ll get an answer from you now, and that’s fine. We still have some time. But don’t be too long in making up your mind on it. If Welch has you on the span, it will only be a matter of days before you start taking on trouble. If it comes to it, he has connections everywhere, and what he can’t buy, he gets through intimidation. You crossed him somewhere down the line, and you can bet he won’t forget. He’ll throw every asset he has against you. And you can’t imagine the assets he has.”

Reilly thought about the gear they had stashed in the ISU lockers that came from Vervian. Zain was wrong there. She didn’t have to imagine the type of reach and assets Razam had to exercise against them.

The Commander stood up. “You know how to reach me. Do it old-school. I can’t emphasize it enough; we could really use you all right now. Mark my words, this bastard is getting ready to unleash a world of hurt, and a lot of innocent people are going to be caught in the middle. I only wish I knew when, where, and how so I could stop him. Watch your asses in the meantime. I’ll be in touch when I can.” Zain stepped to the door and was gone.

Ty had his handheld up and was looking at the bulletins. He scrolled through, noting that the reward was for their capture alive and in good condition, not dead. This was a plus as it would make it harder on any bounty hunters, trying not to damage them in the process. Then he frowned.

“What?” Reilly leaned over to see what Ty had found. Their photos and video from the compound was up on another post. This one featured Ty as “Wanted Man #2” and Reilly as “Wanted Man #3” with a sizable reward for their return to a certain space station they had recently visited.

“Great. As if one psychopath wasn’t enough.” Duv peered over Ty’s shoulder.

“I don’t know what you’re griping about; it’s not your picture up on the span.” Ty grumbled back. It was obvious, though, that he was pleased to have moved up to the number-two spot on Crazy Ray’s wanted list.

“I’m griping because at least you all have the ‘wanted alive’ after your names. The rest of us have got nothing, and that means anything less than alive will do, which pretty much means dead.” Duv grabbed a drink and began to nurse it slowly.

“I don’t know why you guys don’t listen to me. I told you I could sense a lot of bad luck coming from that job.” Chang sharpened a knife on a small stone he kept in his pocket.

“What I want to know is does he really think the Captain is a man, or is he just too lazy to add the extra letters? Or maybe his goons can’t spell woman…” Ty wondered aloud.

Reilly spoke up. “Well, we’re stuck until we can get a crew anyway. We’ve been lucky with offloading a good portion of the cargo so far, but we still have a few more items to get rid of. I know I promised you all some downtime, but I think we’re going to have to start humping it again. Duv, I need you to get that crew list down to a manageable number so we can find the best ones and quick. But be discreet. We don’t want to advertise that we’re trying to get off-world in a hurry. Gunny, I need you and Ty to check out our ship and salvage whatever you can off of the old girl. Get it sold, best prices you can manage for a quick turnaround. We’ll need that extra cash for fuel, supplies, and general outfitting. Get Seth to help too. And no one goes anywhere alone or unarmed. If the Commander’s right, we’ll see action before we get off this rock.” They all nodded in agreement.

“What about a ship?” Duv asked. “Right now, we’re stuck until we get us some wings, Captain.”

“I’ve got that covered—working on something right now, in fact.” Reilly turned back to Ty again. “Marek is coming tonight?” Ty gave an affirmative thumbs-up. “Good, tell him to come see me and that he’s got a job if he wants it.”

Ty chuckled. “He wants it now, but he might not after I fill him in on the latest!”

“Well, fill him in. But we do need to keep this close hold. Let him know we’re gearing up to see some action, so if he’s not up for that, he might not want to come along for the ride.”

“Marek’s no coward. We served in the trenches together, and he can stand with the best of them when the shit hits. He’ll be with us,” Ty said confidently.

Reilly nodded. “Enjoy yourselves tonight, then, but go easy on the drinks. At least a couple of us need to be ready for trouble.” They all looked around the room again, but there were no threats, just people relaxing with friends.

“You know, I was just thinking that saying ‘No news is good news’ is a multilevel truth. If you get news, it’s almost never good, except for when you don’t get it,” Chang said as he finished with his first knife and started on the second one.

“Is it weird that I can understand what he just said and I’m not drunk?” Duv asked casually as Ty began dealing cards again. Ty nodded yes as he flicked him a card.

—————

Razam Welch was idly thumbing along his handheld and sipping a glass of wine when a message came in. It was from an underling on Roen. The man was useful at times, but he wasn’t well balanced, so he could only be used in very controlled operations. Razam sighed at the disturbance and clicked on his message, prepared to delete it. He read it and then read it again. A link at the bottom flashed, inviting him to a video conference. He clicked it, and after a few moments of static, it connected.

“Mr. Welch. I wanted to contact you right away. I came across your post today. It mentioned a reward for Captain Reilly Campbell. Is that offer still in effect?”

“It is. Do you know where she is?”

The man was obviously excited. “I sure as hell do. Payment upon delivery?”

“You’re sure it’s her?” Welch asked.

“I’m sure. I’d know that bitch anywhere,” the man growled, his eyes cold.

“When you have her, contact me for drop-off coordinates. One of my men will meet you there. Let me emphasize alive and in good shape, Macon. Trust me, you don’t want to screw this one up.” Welch smiled serenely back into his handheld.