Soldiers of Fortune (16 page)

              "You know the reality of the situation," Doc said, picking up on the cue. "We can't afford to burn fuel just
looking
for work. We need something definite that pays."

              "He's right. In the shape we're in now, we're going to have to do some things that we may not like if the money is good," Jason said, continuing the charade. "For now, just stay alert and stay ready. Twingo, get her back up to full operational status; the call could come in at any time. Other than that, let's split into normal watch shifts and get to it."
I hope at least someone is listening if we're going through all the trouble to playact.
In his pocket, the com unit discreetly closed the open channel that had been transmitting their conversation to an outside party.

              Despite the contact from the mysterious man, it was another five days on Oorch before anything happened. Jason had begun to worry that they were just going to run the clock out and be forced to leave empty-handed. But, on that fifth day the com unit chimed. It was a text-only message giving planetary positioning coordinates and a local time. He knew what it meant; where to be and when to be there. He had been in the galley eating at the time, so he activated the ship's intercom from there; "Gentlemen, we're wheels up in thirty minutes. Prepare the ship for flight."

             
Kage must have already been on the bridge, Jason had no sooner finished speaking when he could feel the main drive starting up. During startup, if standing in the middle of the ship, the engines created a disorienting effect as the coils formed gravimetric fields before the shielding was at full strength. He wolfed down the remainder of his sandwich in two bites before jogging up to the bridge to prepare. "Crusher, Lucky," he said as he walked onto the bridge, "get to the armory and get ready. I have no idea what we're flying into, so I want you armed to the teeth." The two marched off the bridge eagerly as Jason began going through his preflight checks.

             
Eleven minutes after he received the message, the
Phoenix
rose easily into the early evening sky and flew north to their destination. It was a three hour flight since they were required to keep their speed subsonic the entire way, but it gave the team a little more time to get ready for whatever would be meeting them. It turned out their destination was another open field in the unsettled grasslands of Oorch. Jason had to assume there was not satellite surveillance of the planet given the casual way their contacts conducted business out in the open. It seemed they were more concerned with being away from the cities than from electronic eyes above them.

             
Jason eased the gunship around and gently landed at the designated site, not at all surprised they were the only ones there. He kept the engines running and had everyone stay at their stations, it seemed to be the usual games, but he was taking no chances.

             
Thirty-five minutes after they had landed, a pair of the unique VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft, of the type that had met them earlier, descended and landed behind the
Phoenix
. Jason jumped out of his seat to head back to the cargo bay. "Be ready to get us out of here if I give the word," Jason said as he left. He jogged back to meet up with Crusher and Lucky, who were already at the rear pressure doors waiting for him. He nodded to the pair, opened up the doors, and lowered the rear ramp. Waiting for them at the bottom was the man who had approached them at the spaceport, a contingent of well armed guards, and two men with their heads covered. What made it strange to Jason was that their hands and feet were unbound; these apparently were not prisoners.

              "Very good, Captain," the man said as he approached. "We didn't have to wait on you. That is very good indeed."

              "We're nothing if not punctual," Jason said. "Am I to assume this is a passenger charter?"

              "Something like that," was the reply. "This ship has facilities in which to secure two passengers?"

              "We have a brig, but it's only a single cell," Jason said, frowning.

              "Not a cell, these two are not prisoners. Their faces are covered for your protection. You will have no contact with them nor will they interact with any of your crew. Two of my men will accompany them, as well as their administrator, to provide for their needs and insure their privacy."

              "We can accommodate them," Jason said. "Where are we taking them?"

              "You'll find out once you're airborne. Once away from Oorch you will maintain com silence and be given your destination by one of my men. The imperative part of your job is to get them to their destination without attracting any undue attention, I've checked your ship's registry; you won't have any trouble getting to where you're going. You'll be paid five-hundred thousand credits for this task," the man finished, looking around the interior of the cargo bay. Jason whistled softly.

              "That's a lot for a passenger transport," he said. "We're not taking them to the other side of the galaxy are we?"

              "No," the man smiled humorlessly, "It is well within range of your ship. As I said, I suspect it is much faster than its appearance would indicate."

              "She'll get the job done," Jason said. "I never got your name."

              "Nor will you. Do this right and you'll be well compensated. Mess up, and you'll beg me for a quick death."

              "Oh please," Jason scoffed as Crusher growled at the threat. "We're doing this because you're paying us. We could care less who you are or why you want these people moved. You can take your melodramatic threats and shove them. As you can see, we're far from helpless." The man looked like he was about to push back but stopped as one of the hooded figures raised a hand. That was all it took for the man to back down and assume a more submissive posture.

              "So you say, Captain," he said. "Just remember your instructions." With that he turned and walked back off the ship, leaving only the hooded men, two armed guards, and one well-dressed man that was slight of build and appeared to be somewhat distressed at the aggression that had been on display. He came forward and offered his hand in greeting.

              "Hello, Captain," he said in a servile tone. "My name is Dowarty, I'm the administrator for... um, them... and I'll be handling the details of their care."

              "Very well, Dowarty," Jason said, wiping his hand on his pants. "If you and your charges will follow me, I'll show you to berthing and you can get them settled. You two," he said to the armed guards. "I'm not going to try and disarm you, but I expect a certain level of respect on my ship. You threaten any of my crew, or the operation of the ship, and you'll be put down. My deal is to keep them safe and anonymous, I don' think you were part of the bargain."

              "Stay out of our way, and there won't be any trouble," one of the guards said indifferently. Jason just nodded and led the group out of the cargo bay after raising the ramp and closing the rear doors. He led them up to one of the crew berthing bays, one that remained unused since they only normally had six crewmembers, and showed the guards how to operate the door. He crooked a finger to Dowarty, indicating he should follow them out. He showed the sniveling little administrator where the galley was, how it worked, and a host of other things he would need to know for the flight.

             
After returning Dowarty to berthing, he went up to the bridge, stopping to give Twingo the assumed-to-be-bugged com unit to be incinerated. The crew and the ship were ready as he walked onto the bridge and hopped into the pilot's seat. "Computer," he said, "I want our new passengers closely monitored. If any one of them raises a weapon, threatens any of the crew, or tries to access any part of the ship other than the galley or the starboard berthing bay I want them incapacitated. Non-lethal only."

              "Acknowledged."

              "Ok, let's get out of here," he said to the bridge crew as he fed power to the main drive and lifted off the surface of Oorch. Soon after, the
Phoenix
meshed out of the system towards their first "dummy" jump-point. Once in slip-space, Jason keyed the intercom, "Passenger Dowarty, please come to the bridge."

              A few minutes later, the administrator shuffled onto the bridge, "Yes, Captain?"

              "We'll be needing our destination now," Jason said.

              "Oh! Of course," Dowarty pulled out a small tablet computer and began searching through menus. Jason rolled his eyes as he waited. "Here it is... set your course for Solic-2. Your coordinates for landing will be provided once we achieve orbit."

              "Of course," Jason said evenly. "That will be all." The Solic System wasn't too far away, and it was still considered part of the Cluster. This was the good news. What wasn't good news was that Solic-2 was fairly notorious for having an overreaching, almost abusive approach to local law enforcement. He was beginning to see why they had needed an unknown ship, but he couldn't imagine why any criminal operation would risk even having a presence there at all. Solic-2 and Solic-3, both habitable worlds, were closely aligned with the ConFed government, but their small populations disqualified them from membership or from having a seat on the council. They were sympathetic to the ambitious ConFed Council, however, and ConFed fleet ships navigating the Cluster often congregated in orbit over the two worlds.

             
This instance was no exception; no less than four ConFed cruisers were in orbit over Solic-2 as they made their approach. The specifications for the ships began to scroll across Jason’s right-most multi-function display, and they were impressive. The third largest class of ship in the fleet, cruisers were a potent mix of firepower and speed, the type of ship that would be dispatched to make the ConFed’s presence felt. The ships that patrolled the Concordian Cluster, making stops and waving the flag at various worlds of port, naturally gravitated to the planets with the most sophisticated and developed settlements. That and a predilection for treating ConFed captains like celebrities.

             
This wasn’t uncalculated on the part of the leadership of Solic-2. The planet had become wealthy due to the heavy deposits of rare elements found in its crust, but fielding and maintaining a fleet to protect that wealth was difficult and cost prohibitive despite the lucrative ore trade. So, they created an environment that brought their protection force to them; no organization or planetary government in its right mind would risk raiding, or illegally mining, on Solic-2 when a ConFed cruiser or destroyer could make orbit at any time.

             
The
Phoenix
slid into orbit squawking clean codes that identified them as a micro-freighter. They declared no freight needing to be inspected and awaited their turn to begin entry. The decaying orbit they were in let the gunship slide under one of the ConFed cruisers at fairly closer range, so Jason asked Kage to train the optical sensors on it and project the image up on the main canopy. The tiny spec of light resolved itself into a sleek warship as the sensors zoomed in on the ship that was flying above them in a parking orbit.

             
“That’s one big ass ship,” Kage said. “Hope we never have to tangle with one of those.” Jason snorted.

              “It’d be a short fight if we couldn’t run.” The DL7 was a uniquely powerful ship, but there was no feasible way it could go toe-to-toe with the weaponry a ship like the cruiser could bring to bear. Luckily, the comparatively tiny gunship could outrun nearly all the larger mainline ships.

             
After another three orbits, they were cleared to land and swooped in for an uneventful touchdown at a smaller spaceport that was outside of an industrial district. Judging by the number and size of the cargo haulers coming and going, Jason figured it must be one of Solic-2’s logistical hubs. Not wanting to risk a misunderstanding with the security guards on board, Jason called down to Dowarty over the ship’s intercom. “Dowarty, we’re on the ground,” he said brusquely. “You’re clear to disembark whenever you’re ready.”

              “Thank you, Captain,” Dowarty’s voice came over the bridge speakers. “We’ve alerted our contacts here to dispatch transportation. I’ll inform you when we’re ready to leave your ship.”

              “None too soon,” Jason muttered after the intercom had clicked off. He let his breath out noisily. “This isn’t working,” he announced to the bridge crew, which was everyone.

              “No kidding,” said Crusher.