Slave World 2 - The Ties That Bind (29 page)

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Sandy began hastily, tripping over her words. “We have no idea how long this mission is going to take or what we’ll be up against. I just don’t want to see you… I mean… Dammit, James, we’ve got the start of something good here and I don’t want to see it shot to hell over a wild goose chase. She could be dead for all we know.”

Wroth eased back in his seat, taking a deep breath.

“Don’t you think I’m worried about you too? Look at it this way; if the roles were reversed and that was you out there, wouldn’t you like to know that someone was at least making the effort to find you?”

“Yes, but—”

“And if that was the case you know damn well I’d be the one doing it and the Colonel would have my back come hell or high water because that’s just the kind of man he is. We’re going to find his lady friend, and until we see a body that says otherwise, she’s alive.”

Sandy gazed down at her hands with a rush of mixed emotions, she’d never been in the habit of admitting she was wrong about anything, let alone sitting quietly while being openly reprimanded. She knew exactly why James had called her Snake again; it wasn’t a slip of the tongue, but a conscious effort on his part to let her know what a cold-blooded bitch she was acting like again. Maybe not cold-blooded, but self motivating, and when he’d made the comment about not being forced to choose between her and the Colonel… That one had struck home, deep, much deeper than she would have thought possible. All that was overshadowed by the fact he would come looking for her if the roles were reversed, and so would Burke. Not for her, but out of loyalty to his friend.

“Fine. I’m in this for you, but not him, understand? And after we find her, I’m done.”

“Fine,” Wroth replied tightlipped, followed by a few tense moments of dreary silence.

“I hate Burke and everything he stands for.”

“I think you’ve made that pretty clear already, now tell me something I don’t already know.”

She almost did it; she almost told him what it was like to be forcibly uprooted by the Colonization Authority, and spend her thirteenth birthday crammed into a ship of misery like a tin of stinking, prepackaged fish. She almost told him what it was like when the financial backing of a fledgling colony suddenly stopped, and the hired security forces were withdrawn. She almost told him how things had degenerated to nothing short of anarchy and rampant lawlessness. She almost told him about the death of her brothers as they fought to set things right again. She almost told him everything, but didn’t.

“I can’t fly that ship, it’s…why the hell don’t you do it? You’re the computer expert.” Wroth chuckled, holding his hands as if warding off an attack.

“Not just no, but hell no! You’re the one that goes joy-riding around the galaxy all the time, I take commercial flights and let someone else do the work for me.”

“Dammit, James, I can’t do it! I don’t know how to fly it; I’m self-taught!” Sandy’s voice turned soft and pleading. “I’ve never flown anything like that before.”

James reached for her cheek, running his finger lightly across it.

“You’re the only one who
can
do it; Burke is a terrible pilot and I’m not much better. You have to do it for Margo; she means the world to him, and so much more. Did you know he emptied his Fleet pension account to hire us?”

“Bullshit. What about all this? Isn’t he rich? I mean look at this place.” She waved her hand across the view screen motioning to the ground below.

“It’s not his, it all belongs to that shithead brother of his, and Don fucked him good and proper when their parents died. The Colonel’s never had much since I’ve known him, but now he does and it’s been taken away from him. He’s never loved a woman like her before, and trust me, she’s all he has. Nathan would spend the rest of his life looking for her if he had to, and I’ll be right beside him if that’s the case. He needs her, Sandy, and we… I need you to help get her back.”

A distant look crossed her face as a long held belief about Burke vanished in an instant; she barely even knew the man she professed to hate for so many years.

“I never knew that; I always thought he was… alright, I’ll fly the damn ship, even if it kills me, for you.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. This should be a milk run anyway and I’ll be right beside you the whole time; we go in, kill this Alex fucker, get Margo, and get the hell out. No sweat, right? We’ve been in worse situations before, and came out of it in one piece.”

“I still can’t believe his AI tried to kill him; that sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen. And what about his girlfriend; the AI wanted her sexually? That’s sick. I don’t even want to think about something like that happening to me.”

“Imagine how the Colonel feels? You’re right though, it’s not supposed to happen but it does more often than people think. AI are, well, they aren’t human and do some weird shit when they become self-aware. That’s why we’re going to help him get her back, kiddo.”

“Would you stop calling me that, you make it sound like I’m ten years old?” Sandy made her best attempt at imitating his voice in a goofy, bubbly tone. “Hey sport, hey kiddo! Want to play some fucking ball, or what? Stop talking to me like you’re my grandfather all the time.”

Shit! Sandy bit her lip, immediately regretting the last part, it was too close to the mark to ignore.

“Sorry, didn’t know it bothered you that much.”

“It doesn’t,” Sandy replied a bit too hastily. “Let’s just drop it, okay? You give the Colonel your wish list for the mission yet? I still need to.”

“Sure, no problem. Yeah, lots of nastiness planned for the bad guys on this one. I can only guess at what we’re going up against, so my gear is pretty standard for droid or bot action. The way I see it, is the Colonel and I will handle the heavy weapons, so you just stick to what your good at. Just come loaded for bear, and I think we’ll be fine.”

“Maybe I should just cum instead?”

“You’re sure full of piss and vinegar today.” James chuckled, as the mischievous gleam returned to his somber expression.

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just thinking about jumping you in the pool later, and our room after that.”

“Our room?”

“Yeah, our room.”

There was an odd pause while they looked into one another’s eyes, and unspoken words passed between them. It was like a slap on the ass with the icy hand of reality, a drastic shift had just occurred in their relationship, as it was suddenly elevated to a new and unexpected level.

“Lord protect me, I think I’ve created a monster.”

“You have no idea.” Sandy pointed at the view screen, growing excited. “Look, that must be Burke’s place! It’s…It’s…”

“My thoughts exactly; it’s a damn resort all by itself. Look at the size of that pool and holo court? How many rooms do you think that place has – ten, maybe fifteen?”

“I have no idea, but it’s going to be fun doing some recon after we hit dirt-side. I’d be willing to bet that every one of those rooms has a bed in it. Think you can keep up with me, old man?”

Damn, she did it again. The hell with it, what’s the point? Their age difference was the basis of damn near every joke and all the teasing between them since they’d met up on Tallin, so why change things now?

“Keeping up with you won’t be a problem, trust me. You still have baby skin between those legs of yours that needs some toughening up.”

“And let me guess? You’re just the man to do it. To tell you the truth, I think you’re full of shit. Remember what you said to me about making me bark like a dog and walking bowlegged? Hasn’t happened yet, and I can still walk just fine.”

That might not be completely true, but she wasn’t about to admit that she was still sore from the last time. Besides, it was a good kind of sore, the kind she wanted more of.

“I’ve just been taking it easy—”

“You two are acting worse than a couple of love-struck teenagers,” Burke said entering the cramped cockpit.

He looked more like a bad imitation of a bald, patch-work doll than a human, as his rough darkened skin peeled off in ragged sheets to reveal a lighter shade of healthy pink below. Of course, it would take several months for all his body hair to completely grow back in; he’d shaved it all from top to bottom to avoid the impression of a deceased dog with the mange.

Burke started to cough suddenly, covering his mouth with a crumpled handkerchief. It was the kind of wet, hacking cough that makes a listener cringe, and both Wroth and Sandy looked over their shoulders in time to see him push a bloody, phlegm-speckled handkerchief back in his front pocket.

“Just get us on the ground, Snake, and you can play grab ass with Wroth all you want,” Nathan wheezed, taking a labored breath. “I still need to call Donna and let her know I’m all right. I couldn’t get through earlier for some reason, and Don was supposed to—”

“Who said anything about us being love struck, you piece of walking beef jerky? We’re just friends, is all.”

Sandy’s cheeks flared, and her hand tightened on the stick, white knuckled. She gave James a dark sidelong glance that said more than word ever could.

“What’s that look for? Okay, we’re really good friends then.”

Her fist blurred, hitting him in the shoulder with a dull thump that made his body convulse from the shockwave passing through it.

“Ouch,” Wroth groaned, rubbing his shoulder. “Damn, that’s going to leave a bruise. Okay, you’re my girlfriend, is that what you wanted to hear? Now stop beating the crap out of me.”

Sandy’s coy smile beamed back at him.

“And you just remember where home is at, you know what happens to a cat that strays too much, don’t you?”

Burke gave a low whistle, shaking his head.

“I’m not getting in the middle of this one; you’re on your own, my friend, but don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”

“Yeah, well your day is coming; you just wait until we get Margo back, and we’ll see who gets the last laugh.”

“Take us in, Snake. I’m sure your ‘boyfriend’ is anxious for some quality time alone with you.” Burke turned with a heckling chuckle, as he left the cockpit. “Just remember that he likes it rough, and no always means yes.”

“Roger that, Colonel Sir, on the double!”

“You’re an evil man, you know that? I’ll get you for this!” Despite the harshness in Wroth’s voice, there was a playful grin on his scruffy face. Sandy’s hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You think Burke has a sauna someplace?”

“I’m sure he does. Why?”

“Because I know how much you like a sweaty girl in heat.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know any that don’t mind giving it up to dirty old perverts, do you?”

“As a matter of fact I do, and I think she started sweating the moment she laid eyes on you.”

The shuttle continued its leisurely descent and Cherise untied her makeshift safety harness so she could lean up in the seat for a better view. She looked so excited it was hard not to smile, despite my growing apprehension about what I would find and would happen when we finally landed.

“Look, Margo, there’s a town and people. Look at them all!”

“Yeah, I see them. Sit down, you aren’t going to be able to see any better by gluing your face to the view screen,” I said activating the digitally enhanced view, zooming in on the small city.

Cherise staggered back, and would have fallen in my lap if not for my hand stopping her, guiding her rump back in the direction of her seat where she stared happily enthralled by the vividness of panoramic view. As for me, my interest in the town was based on skeptical caution- in addition to my obvious concerns it looked too picture perfect, too tidy and nice for a colony city.

I would call it run of the mill for the most part; generic prefab buildings, with some of them cobbled together into patchwork metal structures surrounding the skeleton of what had once been a huge colony ship. The main roads were like spokes of a wheel radiating outwards and appeared to be paved, becoming hard-packed dirt on the outskirts that branched into endless fields of crops and penned in areas full of enormous herds of livestock. The really weird thing was, that I didn’t see a single grav effect or wheeled vehicle in sight, not one.

What the hell’s going on? There were people down there, I could see them, thousands of them and they were intermixed with an equal number of older model bots that I could only assume had been obsolete since before I was born. There were so many of them, and they couldn’t all be bipedal rogue AI, could they? Some of them, sure, but not that many or at least I hoped not.

I switched the magnification to normal as we drew closer to the ground, en route to a large clearing several miles away for the city proper.

“Look, Margo, they’re waiting for us to land!”

“This can’t be happening…”

I did a quick broadband sensor sweep, and by the computer’s count just before it faded with the last reserves of discretionary battery power, there were 746 droids and bots already waiting for us around the clearing. Hundreds more were arriving by the minute in the form of a snaking column from the direction of town, and there wasn’t a single human or other organic life form among them, not one. Things had just gone from bad to worse.