Starship Desolation (13 page)

L
ogan grimaced
and pushed back from the table.

“Where you going, boss?” Mia asked.

He ignored her and climbed onto the stage and pulled Slade away.

“Seems we have a taker,” the DJ said.

Mia and Gorth looked at Logan like he was crazy.

“What the hell has gotten into him?” Mia said.

Logan led Slade to one of the pleasure rooms upstairs. He locked the door behind them.

Slade was a little nervous, almost trembling, not sure what he had in mind.

“Relax,” he said. “If I wanted you, I could have taken you back on my ship.”

Slade was relieved and oddly offended at the same time. “Please, I remember kicking your ass, if I’m not mistaken.”

Logan glared at her.

“So, what, did you miss my charming personality? You bring me up her just to talk?”

“I’m trying to help you. But keep being a smart ass and I’ll be happy to throw you back to the wolves.”

“Did you suddenly develop a conscience?”

He scowled at her again. “Look, lady. I don’t really give a shit what happens to you. You’re just another piece of merchandise.” He was lying. Slade could see in his eyes that what he had done was eating at him.

“How many girls have you done this to?”

“Plenty.”

“Bullshit.”

He lifted his brow at her. “You think I’m some kind of amateur?”

“I think you’re a delivery boy. And you’ve never delivered a cargo like this before. That’s why you’re here. You feel guilty. Who knew scumbags could have a conscience?”

Logan’s eyes narrowed at her. “I don’t need to take this bullshit from you. Have a nice life.” He spun around and marched for the door.

“Wait. Don’t go.”

He stopped at the door with his back to her.

“You have to help me.”

“I don’t have to do shit.”

“Please.” Her voice was frail and vulnerable. It wasn’t a tone that often slipped from her lips. It was a tone that was hard to ignore.

Logan grimaced, mad at himself for letting Slade get to him. Pissed he had gotten into this situation in the first place. He knew he was going to regret getting involved with her.

He turned around and her big blue eyes were pleading with him.

“I can’t help you. You don’t cross Little Nicky and live. I’ve got my own problems, I don’t need any more.”

“Then why bring me up here?”

“Okay, fine. You’re right. I’ve never done this before, and I feel like shit about it, if you want to know the truth. I usually just run drugs for Nicky. But I needed the extra cash.”

“Help me get out of here.”

“If I do that, I’m a dead man. And I’ve already got one bounty out on my head.”

“Well, you can’t die twice,” Slade said, her voice filled with subdued optimism.

“You can’t leave. The minute you step out of the building, it will trigger your implant. You’ll be filled with unimaginable pain. You won’t make it past the sidewalk.”

“Then we take the implant out.”

“It’s not that simple. Remove it improperly, and you could become paralyzed, or even die.”

“We find the Doc, and force him to remove it? Problem solved.”

Logan cringed. This was all going to end badly, and he knew it. But he agreed. He had gotten her into this mess. He was going to get her out of it.

He pushed open the door and peered down the hallway. There was a fat old guy pulling a young girl into one of the pleasure rooms. They disappeared inside the room, and the hallway became quiet.

“Stay here,” Logan said.

He slipped out of the room and crept down the hallway to the Doc’s office. He put his ear to the door, but didn’t hear any activity inside. He pushed through and found Doc passed out at his desk. But as he stepped closer, Logan had that sinking feeling in his stomach that the Doc wasn’t just passed out. There was an empty syringe on the desk. Doc’s body was cold and lifeless. Logan grabbed his hair and lifted his head. Doc wasn’t breathing. He had OD’d.

Logan made his way back to Slade’s room and told her the bad news.

“Just do it,” Slade said. “I’ll take my chances. Just pull the damn thing out. I’d rather die than spend the rest of my life like this.”

Logan frowned, then pulled his mobile from his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“I know a guy who might be able to help,” Logan said.

The call connected. A young guy appeared on the screen. He was early 20’s, and he didn’t look too happy to be hearing from Logan. “What do you want?”

“I was just calling to see how you’ve been? Long time, right?”

“You only call when you want something. And you still owe me money.”

Logan grinned. “Silas, I don’t want anything. I just need some help… for a friend.”

“Logan, you don’t have any friends. Just people you use.”

Logan turned the mobile so the camera could frame Slade.

“Take my advice, Lady. You don’t want anything to do with this guy,” Silas said.

Logan turned the display back to face himself. “We’re in a bit of a situation.”

“Not my problem.”

“I can pay.”

“Bullshit.”

“No, really,” Logan said. “I’m flush at the moment.”

“Then why is there still a bounty out on your head.”

“Today was payday. I can either settle up with you, and compensate you handsomely for a very simple job. Or I can take all these credits and erase my debt with the Duke.”

“The smart thing is to settle up with the Duke. I’m not really looking to kill you over the 1000 credits you owe me.”

“As we both know, I don’t always do the smart thing. Call it a genetic defect.”

“You’re defective, alright.”

“Do you want the job, or not?”

“What is it?” Silas asked.

“She needs an implant removed.”

Silas cringed. “Those are risky.”

“We know that. Can you do it?”

“I’ve done them before.”

“Great. We have a deal.”

“We haven’t even discussed price,” Silas said.

“10,000 credits.”

Silas’s eyes went wide. “Okay. Bring her over.”

“No. You have to come here.”

“Where is
here
?”

“
Teasers
.”

“Oh, hell no!” Silas shook his head.

“What’s the big deal?”

“I got the shit kicked out of me there last time. And Nicky said he’d kill me if I ever showed my face there again.”

“What did you do?”

“Long story.”

Logan sighed. “Fine. 20,000 credits.”

“You couldn’t pay me enough to set foot in that place again.”

I
t was
the moment of truth. Sand dribbled from the exoskeletons of the creatures as they stood tall. Menacing pincer claws hung overhead.

Bailey barked and growled. He wasn’t about to back down from a fight. He squared off against one of the towering creatures.

“Easy, boy,” Walker said as he crept toward Bailey. He kept an eye on the creature as he inched closer. Walker’s heart was thumping in his chest. The arthropod looked ready to strike at any moment. Walker scooped up Bailey into his arms and slowly backed away from the creature.

At least six of the monsters had popped up out of the ground. They surrounded the team and took an aggressive posture. But they didn’t attack. After a few minutes of observation, they backed off and crawled into their burrows.

The entrails had disguised Walker and the others. Putting up with the smell had been worth it.

The sky was darkening on the horizon. A storm was rolling in.

“The rains are coming,” Gavin said.

“Let’s get moving,” Walker commanded.

They ran through the flatlands for another hour. It would have been time to take cover and get out of the heat. But the dark clouds had rolled in overhead, blocking the harsh sun.

“I say we keep pushing while we have the cloud cover,” Walker said.

Now Malik was the one who looked worn out. He was dripping sweat, huffing and puffing from carrying Gavin.

“Can you make it?” Walker asked.

Malik’s face tensed, offended at the question. “Yes, I can make it.”

Gavin climbed down from Malik’s back. “I’ll run on my own for a while.”

“I’m fine,” Malik insisted. The Saarkturians were stubborn and prideful. Walker could respect that. Reapers were much the same way.

“I’ll run just until I start to slow you down,” Gavin said.

“We’re wasting time,” Malik said. He took off running. But it wasn’t a long distance jog. He had broken out into a sprint.

Walker and Gavin followed. But they couldn’t keep up with Malik’s speed. Only Bailey could match him stride for stride. Walker figured Malik was running so fast to prove a point.

“Ease up so we don’t burn out,” Walker shouted ahead.

“I won’t burn out.”

Gavin was already lagging behind.

Walker turned on the speed, running full steam. He caught up to Malik.

“I should have gone on this quest alone,” Malik said. “I can cover twice the ground you can.” Malik ran even faster, pulling away from Walker like he was standing still.

“Okay, I get it,” Walker yelled. He slowed up. There was no sense in trying to keep up this pace.

Gavin caught up to Walker, and the two ran at a more leisurely pace.

“This is where it starts to get fun,” Gavin said. “This is where most of them live.”

Arthropods emerged from the sand in the wake of Malik’s blazing speed. A few became dozens. Dozens became hundreds. Hundreds became thousands.

Maybe it was the vibrations. Maybe it was the coming rain. But within minutes, the flats were crawling with these hideous creatures.

Walker and Gavin weaved their way through the menacing horde. It was a maze of claws and legs and exoskeletons. Clacking and clattering of pincer claws filled the air. The horrid screeches of the creatures was earsplitting. It was enough to make your spine tingle, and the hairs on the back of your neck stand tall. Especially if you had an aversion to bugs.

But they weren’t attacking. Not yet at least.

Malik finally slowed his pace and waited for the rest of the team to catch up.

“On second thought, I’d rather not be out here alone,” Malik said. “I think I’ve found something I hate more than humans.”

Walker almost laughed.

They snaked their way through the swarm. One wrong move and you’d find yourself trampled under the spiky legs of the creatures. It was unnerving, to say the least. But the creatures seemed to be more interested in the onset of mating season.

They kept splicing through the horde until Walker’s shuttle was in sight. Walker felt a weight lifted from his shoulders. He wasn’t entirely sure they would make it this far.

It was maybe three or four hundred yards away. The sky had grown dark and Walker could smell the moisture in the air. A wall of rain was fast approaching. Soon, it was pouring down on them.

The dry earth soaked up the water like a sponge. The once dry and cracked ground quickly became soft clay. The rain seemed to send the creatures into a frenzy. The clacking and chattering of exoskeletons and claws snapping were almost deafening.

The downpour was torrential. Walker and the team quickly found themselves trudging through a muddy slop. With each step their feet would stick in the sucking mud. It slowed their pace. But that wasn’t their only problem.

The rain had showered away their protective coating of bug blood. They were no longer invisible to the creatures olfactory glands. It wouldn’t be long before thousands of these monsters caught a whiff of their scent.

T
his was never going
to work
, Silas thought.

He strolled toward the entrance to
Teasers
. The bouncer was eyeing him. His narrow eyes burned into Silas. It was like some type of X-ray vision. Silas was certain the bouncer was on to him—that he would see through his disguise.

His heart was thumping in his chest as he drew closer to the door. Silas was wearing a black hat, red shirt, and a black trench coat. The brim of his hat was pulled down low.

He looked like a gunslinger from an old western. It wasn’t his style at all. Silas had gotten the costume from Gina—a makeup artist and wardrobe person he knew. She worked in the adult film industry. Europa City was the porn capital of the galaxy. Gina was pretty good with special effects makeup too. She had worked on a lot of low budget horror films, but they didn’t pay nearly as well as the more illicit stuff. The gunslinger costume was from the last film she had done wardrobe for:
Big Guns for Big Buns #2
.

Silas was sure the bouncer was going to clothesline him as he passed, but the big oaf just stepped aside and let him enter. Silas paid the cover charge and strolled into the club.

The music thumped. Girls twirled around poles in the most acrobatic of ways. It was distracting, to say the least. But Silas kept the brim of his hat down to avoid the surveillance cameras mounted on the ceiling. He strolled to the bar and ordered a drink, trying to blend in.
Teasers
was known throughout the galaxy, and it drew a crowd of all sorts. An outlaw gunslinger wasn’t really an unusual sight.

“You looking for some company?” A busty red head pushed up against him.

Silas’s eyes bulged. She had all the right parts in all the right places. There was nothing synthetic about this girl.

“Turn around,” Silas said.

She grinned slightly and lifted a seductive eyebrow. Then she spun around, prominently displaying her assets. She had a nice portfolio. Highly diversified. But that’s not what Silas was looking for.

“Lift up your hair.”

She clasped her hands together, scooping her hair into a ponytail. She lifted it up, revealing her neck. She didn’t have an implant. She spun around and stared into his eyes. “I’m here because I want to be.”

Silas looked shocked.

“I can make more money here in a night than I can in a month waiting tables. It’s a no brainer for me.”

“You can’t really enjoy this kind of work?”

She sighed. “I’ve got a little mouth to feed. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure my little man has what he needs.” Her eyes narrowed at him, quizzical. “Most guys just want to see me naked. What’s with all the questions?”

“I’m not most guys.”

She chuckled. “That’s what they all say.”

“What’s your name?”

“Jasmine,” she said seductively.

Silas smirked. “What’s your real name?”

She sighed. “Liana. I’m only telling you because you don’t look like a total creeper.”

Silas chuckled. “Okay, Liana. I’ll give you 100 credits to walk me up to the private rooms.”

“And then what?”

“That’s it.”

She squinted at him. “That’s it?”

“And you keep quiet about it.”

She pondered this for a moment. “300 credits and you’ve got a deal.

“Done.”

Liana grabbed his arm and pulled him across the club. She led him upstairs to the private rooms. Silas handed her 300 credits in cash.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else for your money?” Her eyes smoldered at him.

“I don’t pay for sex,” Silas said.

“You paid for me to escort you up here. The sex is on me.” She smiled.

“How about you give me your number?”

“I’ll only give you my number if you’re actually going to use it. I’ve met a lot of jerks. You seem like a nice guy.”

“I don’t know how nice I am, but I’ll call.”

She took his mobile and programmed in her number. She handed it back to him and kissed him on the cheek. “It was nice to meet you…” She still didn’t know his name.

“Silas,” he said.

“It was nice to meet you, Silas. If that’s your real name.” She spun around and sauntered away.

Silas watched her go. She had a nice saunter.

He crept down the hall and found Slade’s room. Fifth on the left. He pushed through and greeted Logan.

“What took you so long?” Logan asked.

“I got here as fast as I could. Chill.”

“Nice outfit,” Logan quipped.

Silas flipped him off. “Let’s see what we’ve got to work with.”

Slade spun around and gathered her hair into a ponytail. She lifted it up, revealing her neck.

Silas looked over the implant. “Looks like a Genomedyne 233-A.”

“Can you get it off?” Logan asked.

“Sure,” Silas stammered.

Logan arched an eyebrow at him. “Have you removed one before?”

“Two. One worked out just fine.”

“And the other?” Slade asked.

“The other doesn’t walk so good anymore.”

Slade grimaced.

“On the matter of payment,” Silas said. “I need that upfront.”

“You’re not inspiring confidence,” Logan said.

“Take it or leave it.”

Logan scowled at him, pulled out his mobile, and transferred the credits into Silas’s account. “Are we good?”

Silas checked his account balance. “We’re good.”

He pulled out a device from his pocket that looked like a high-tech screwdriver. It had a digital display, and the octagonal stem connected perfectly to the implant’s docking port, located in the center of the disc.

“Yup, it’s a 233-A,” Silas said. He made a few adjustments on the device. “Hang on. This might cause some momentary discomfort.”

“How does that work?” Logan asked.

“This is a third party device. Like a master key. It analyzes the system and calculates the appropriate interface retractions. If all goes well, the nano-tentacles will withdraw, and she’ll have complete control of her neural function.”

Slade took a deep breath.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Silas activated the device.

Slade’s body seized up with pain. She clenched her jaw and her fists balled up. Her whole body convulsed. The spider-like arms that held the disc in place retracted. Silas pulled the disc from her neck. A moment later, Slade fell to the ground, motionless.

Logan dropped to his knees. A look of panic washed over his face. “Are you okay?”

“I can’t move.” Slade could barely slur the words out.