The Hunted Assassin (5 page)

At several points along the perimeter, makeshift refreshment bars were put up, ironically near the multiple security booths on the level.

Panic began to set in. Jaxon was fearful that the carnage that had followed him all over the station the last few hours would trigger the station’s security officers to pounce on him at first sight.

Wanting to avoid the feared situation, Jaxon led Starr onto the packed dance floor, casually scanning the crowd for suspicious activities. His well-trained eye would certainly pick up on anything out of place. To his delight, he only found inebriated celebrations abounded.

As they neared the center of the dance floor, the rhythm quickly overtook Starr’s inhibitions, and she began to dance. Jaxon contemplated dismissing himself from the dance floor due to his rightful possession of two left feet but thought better of it. Being in the middle of the festivities was a perfect cover. Besides, Starr appeared to be having such a good time. He did his best to match her eccentric moves, dismissing the fact that he looked extremely uncoordinated. The image of a dancing squid filled his mind.

Then, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Odd behavior from several men clustered at the edge of the promenade. As he bobbed and weaved with the music, he coyly studied every detail of the group. At first glance, they appeared to be simply out of place civilians, dressed in khaki trousers and sport coats covering beige button up shirts. Not dressed in the expected black attire as he’d recently experienced. Then, one of them unmistakably touched the skin beneath their ear and appeared to speak to no one in particular.

Shit. They have hypo-comms.

He quickly changed position on the floor, steering Starr in various directions in the promenade, so he could get a better look at the perimeter. Just as he’d suspected, he found three other clusters of casually dressed men, evenly spaced around the rotunda.

Suddenly, Jaxon felt a firm grip on his shoulder, yanking him backward. Instinctively, Jaxon’s hand slipped into his jacket and rested on the hilt of his gun. As the momentum pulled him around, he fully expected to come face-to-face with one of the killers, but instead, came eye-to-eye with a very flamboyant man. Jaxon could only stare with bewilderment.

“Hey, man,” said the ostentatious fellow. “What are your intentions here with the lady?” He nodded his head in Starr’s direction.

Jaxon quickly realized who the man was. Clearly, he was Starr’s pimp. Jaxon smiled and slipped his hand into hers. “Hey, we’re just here for a good time. Everything’s cool.”

“Not from where I stand, Bud. The way I see it is that you need to close the transaction, or I need to move the merchandise along, you dig?”

Already expecting the shakedown, Jaxon wanted no additional attention drawn to him, so he quickly peeled an additional 200 credits from his wad and handed them over to the pimp. “I think this should cover Starr for the rest of the night. I’m just here to have a good time, and this should take her off the list, wouldn’t you agree?” Jaxon said.

The pimp took the credits and quickly stashed them in his pocket. “I don’t know. I think it should be more like 300,” he said, taking a step closer to Jaxon.

Jaxon quickly scanned the crowd to see if any unnecessary attention was being drawn, but there wasn’t.

“Hey, you’re the boss,” Jaxon said as he slipped an additional hundred credit note into the pimp’s hand.

“Right on, man. I knew you’d see things my way. You two have a good evening, and I hope you tip her well when your transaction is complete,” the pimp said before disappearing into the crowd.

Just then, the music set changed from a reggae beat to a modern ballad, and the movement slowed considerably. Starr slipped her arms around Jaxon as they began to wobble from foot to foot in sync with the beat. Jaxon placed his hands on her demure waist and moved her about the floor.

While they danced, Jaxon continued to survey the crowd, looking for an opportunity to escape. To the left of their position, two guards stood on either side of the restricted lift that led to the space dock. As they continued to dance, Jaxon contemplated how he could possibly get around those guards and flee. Ironically, his pleas were answered as a fight broke out a half dozen meters to his right.

Despite the rift between a handful of drunk celebrators, the band played on as security swarmed upon the ruckus, leaving the elevator unattended.

“Hey, you want to get out of here?” Jaxon whispered into Starr’s ear.

“You bet,” Starr replied, clearly excited at the prospect.

Jaxon took Starr’s hand and led her right up to the elevator doors. He quickly punched the call button then pulled Starr close and kissed her passionately. His thinking was that nobody would look twice at two amorous people in a passionate embrace.

As the seconds turned into minutes, Jaxon began to worry that the guards would return before the elevator arrived. Fortunately, his anguish was unfounded, as the doors parted a moment later. Jaxon backed into the elevator, maintaining his lip lock with Starr. As soon as the doors closed, Jaxon ended the kiss and quickly punched the call button for the space dock.

7

“Wow, aren’t you full of surprises?” Starr said.

The size of the elevator was twice that of the civilian elevators on the station, and it had walls and ceilings covered in polished aluminum. There were only three buttons on the panel: one labeled P for promenade, one labeled D for space dock, and one button that was ominously unlabeled and required an access key. Through all the years that Jaxon had been on the Taloo Station, he’d been to virtually every corner of its existence, including the space dock. He was surprised that he had not noticed the blank button before.

Jaxon’s thoughts were interrupted when Starr pushed him back against the wall of the cab and kissed him firmly. Her hands began to caress his arms and shoulders, before working their way beneath his jacket. Jaxon grasped her hands, stopping her before she found the holstered pistol.

“Don’t stop, baby,” she pleaded. “I’ve never done it in an elevator before, especially one that is so off limits.” She kissed him again and pulled her hands out of his grasp. She quickly dropped them to his waist and began unfastening his trousers.

“Starr, my dear. I think our time together is about to come to an end,” Jaxon said, putting distance between him and the prostitute.

“But, honey, you paid for me for the entire night. I was gonna give you the best time ever,” she whimpered.

“At some point in the next few hours, I’m sure I’ll regret this, but I really have to go. You should return to the festival and enjoy your free evening. Consider that my treat to you for not having to work tonight.”

As the momentum of the elevator slowed, Jaxon watched Starr’s expression turn to sadness. He felt sorry for her. Leading such a lifestyle that she’d be disappointed for not being able to turn a trick was unsettling.

“If I go back down there, Robbie, my manager, will just put me back to work. He’ll probably wonder what I did wrong to push you away so quickly.”

“That’s unfortunate. Can’t you give him the slip?” Jaxon asked as the doors opened at the space dock. He stepped halfway across the threshold and paused, his body blocking the sensors to keep the doors open for a moment.

Starr’s demeanor quickly transformed into fear. “What if I get back down there, and the guards’ve returned?” she asked, clearly more aware of the situation.

Jaxon contemplated that thought. If he took her with him, there’d be a good chance that she would be hurt or even killed without the proper training. He didn’t need to be looking out for another person’s life. As these thoughts passed through his mind, he caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision. He squinted and saw two security guards standing still in the distance. Luckily, they hadn’t seen him yet, and this new obstacle spurred him into action.

“Okay, new plan,” Jaxon said, stepping back into the elevator. “I have two buddies down there that are stranded away from the festivities tonight. How about you go down and give them a good time? I’m positive they’ll help you back down to the promenade level, er, after.”

Starr’s eyes perked up at the prospect. “Are they as handsome as you?” she asked.

“And more so,” Jaxon said. He peeled off an additional 200 credits and tucked them into her cleavage, leaving his hand nestled in her warmth for several seconds. “That is for you. It’s a little extra so you can give my buddies a night to remember. It’s a surprise, so mum’s the word on where you came from.”

Starr adjusted her outfit and straightened her posture. “Sounds good, baby. Do you want me to give you a signal when the coast is clear?” she asked then winked.

Clever girl,
Jaxon thought. Perhaps she’d do okay as a companion on the run. Before he could change his mind, though, she was out the door and walking down the platform.

Jaxon stepped out and stood behind a large support column at the edge of the bay. He leaned around and watched Starr seductively walk toward the guards. As she approached, she added a little bit more wiggle to her step and the guards did not seem to mind one bit. From his position, he couldn’t hear their conversation, but their body language clearly indicated that they were pleased. After just a few moments of flirtatious banter, they all stepped into the security shack. As Starr followed them in, she threw Jaxon a thumbs-up then closed the door.

Jaxon gave Starr long enough to get things rolling before he headed out into the docking bay, which just so happened to be on the opposite side of the security shack. He was also concerned with the numerous surveillance cameras throughout the bay and hoped that Starr was good at her job. The guards’ diverted attention would certainly be required.

After several minutes, Jaxon took in a deep breath and leaned against the side wall then strafed along the corridor until he was within a few meters of the security shack. He slowed his pace and noticed that on the adjacent wall to the door was a large window, giving a view of the entire docking bay.

“Shit,” Jaxon murmured quietly. Yet another obstacle to overcome.

Jaxon moved close to the window and peered in at the lower corner. He could see the heads of the two men as they sat with their backs turned toward him. Starr was writhing in front of them as she performed a pleasing striptease. Jaxon hesitated momentarily as he watched her seduce the guards.
She certainly enjoys her job,
he thought, as she removed her top and tossed it over the heads of the guards. As it landed next to the window frame, she caught the eye of Jaxon staring at her, and she winked. Jaxon smiled back then casually walked out into the docking bay to begin his survey of ships. He needed a ride off the station.

As he peered across the prows of several ships, he took in the enormity of the bay. It was massive, spanning several hundred meters in every direction. Jaxon guessed that he’d have his choice of more than seventy ships of all shapes and sizes.

He sprinted down the center of the dock, passing by several military-size frigates before he came to a dozen or so luxury yachts. Just what he’d been hoping for.

He stepped past the first two, being of Scottish origin, which he knew featured the obsolete Medcraft engines.

This third ship that he came upon was a Bradbury Max Elite. Its hull was highly polished and appeared to be pure titanium. He’d only seen the ship through publications, but was familiar enough with the specs and was confident that he could manage the helm.

Before boarding, however, he did a quick scan of the rest of the ships with intrigue and knew that there were none faster. He turned back and headed for the ramp of the Bradbury. But, before he took his first step aboard, he heard a voice coming from the other direction.

Jaxon froze and was tempted to pull his gun, but thought otherwise. He turned and saw a third security guard nervously walking in his direction.

“Dammit,” Jaxon mumbled.
I don’t need this right now.

“You’re not authorized to be here,” the guard said as he rested his hand on his night stick.

“Oh, there you are,” Jaxon said in a friendly tone. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Your buddies in the shack back there said you were somewhere in this area.”

The guard continued walking toward Jaxon slowly but eased up on his paranoia enough that his hand dropped to his side.

“Ha, foolish me—in such a hurry to join the party, I left all the party favors on my ship,” Jaxon said, motioning to the Bradbury behind him.

The guard stopped a few meters away. “I’ll need to see your papers before I can let you board. You understand,” the guard said.

“Oh, absolutely. I’m glad you guys are on the ball up here,” Jaxon said as he reached into his jacket and grazed the butt of his MP-96. By touch, he was able to reduce the power to 30%, assuring that any shot would be nonlethal, but certainly debilitating.

Jaxon took a step forward. “I’ve got your paperwork right here,” he said as he pulled out the pistol and fired it into the chest of the guard.

The look of shock on the guard’s face right before Jaxon pulled the trigger was nearly comical.

Jaxon quickly re-holstered before dragging the unconscious body to the far side of the dock. Then, he raced up the Bradbury’s ramp. As he rounded the corner toward the cockpit, he slapped a large red button on the wall, retracting the loading ramp, sealing his fate for certain.