Gunship (15 page)

The Enforcers could also have been a concern, but luckily he had the master code list for every model, thanks to an insider at the coding center kind enough to have made him a copy. Of course, having his family held hostage probably made that decision an easy one. Welch smiled as he remembered Crazy Ray’s fury at having his Enforcers taken over by someone else, something that was guaranteed not to happen. Welch was a firm believer in breaking rules, no matter the cost, to benefit his own goals. There was no such thing as a fair fight. Ensuring control of all the Enforcers he needed was just a single step on the ladder. Using Crazy Ray and his resources to track down Joby Ty and Captain Campbell was another. He wondered what they knew about him and his plans, or if they had just been “hired retrieval specialists” like his brother had claimed. The idiot had almost screwed up everything with his little stunt. But those loose ends were being taken care of, and once the ledgers were back in his control, Welch knew he could proceed uninterrupted with his plan.

He cued up the video feeds again from the hit on his compound and watched Captain Campbell take out the Enforcers in the field, and then later fearlessly launch a TORR off a cliff to escape certain death. He studied her every move, her reactions, her expressions. A woman like that could be a real asset to him, could help him to take his plans to the next level. Determined. Lethal. Unafraid. Calculating. He replayed the tape again, watching and memorizing. He needed to understand her motivations and her drive as well as find her weaknesses and her fears. He pulled up her records again on the mainframe.

A veteran, tough, decorated, non-compromising, and apolitical. Obviously not a lot of fears, based on the battles she had fought in and survived. Smart, financially motivated, but still enjoys the rush of living life on the edge. So maybe for the right price he could buy her and her crew. He went back to the feeds. There…in the field when the Enforcers attacked…he froze the screen. The look on her face as the third machine sprung from the grass behind the man…it was concern…and fear…and anger. A captain with a soft spot for her crew; now that was something he could work with. If she couldn’t be bought for the right price, then he was sure he could find other means to persuade her to come around to his way of thinking. He pulled up the rest of the records on her crew and smiled. In fact, he had exactly four good reasons she should decide to work for him. It certainly didn’t hurt that one of them was a kid, either. Nobody ever told Razam Welch no. In the end he always got what he wanted one way or another. He truly hoped she would agree to work for him. It seemed like such a waste to have to dispatch with any of her crew, especially since they too would be solid additions to his overall plan. But if he must, he must. Reilly Campbell would be working for him no matter what. Then again, there was always Plan C. Welch rolled one of the tiny implant capsules between his fingers, his eyes intense.

I win again,
he thought smugly.

—————

Duv woke up slowly. It was still dark in the room, but sunlight had started to filter in through one of the windows. He groaned and pulled the covers up over his eyes as his throbbing head reminded him of the numerous drinks he had downed the night before. Bits and pieces began to come to him, but he pushed them to the back of his mind, enjoying the warmth of the bed, the softness of the body next to him, and the arm lying over him.

Suddenly he was wide awake. Whose arm was lying over him? He glanced around the room, looking for something that might tell him where he was. It looked like the guesthouse all right, but he didn’t see his pack or the other bed that Skeeter should have been in right now. What he did see was his clothes, skivvies included, tossed on the floor along with some feminine-type clothing and undergarments. It occurred to him at that exact moment that he was naked and so was the other body in the bed with him.

Moving very slowly so as not to wake up his companion, Duv turned over to take a better look. He squeezed his eyes shut briefly and said a quick prayer—“Please don’t let her be ugly!”—then he cautiously opened one eye. There next to him was a pretty little redhead, sound asleep with a slight smile on her face. He did a double take and then smiled with relief that turned into a bit of macho pride, followed again by uncertainty. Should he stay put and wait for her to wake up? Or should he get up and head out to find the others? Should he leave a note? He realized that he couldn’t remember if her name was Heather or Hannah. He rubbed his forehead again. He hadn’t been this drunk since before he met his wife while at pilot school. His wife…Skeeter!

At that moment, she opened her eyes sleepily and then smiled at him. Duv froze. Now what?

“Morning, Sunshine,” she mumbled, snuggling up to his chest. “Did you have a good night?”

“Uh, yeah, it was great, and, uh, how was yours?” he said, unsure of how to extract himself from her hold without being rude. He wanted to run screaming from the room. Now that the alcohol had worn off, the full magnitude of his evening was hitting him. Not that she wasn’t good looking, but what if she had expectations now? What if she thought this was something serious? That’s all he needed was some gal hanging around the ship mooning after him. The Captain would have his ass. And how would he explain something like that to Skeeter? And…

“It was wonderful. And you can stop worrying.”

“What?” Duv was caught off guard by her words.

“I said you can stop worrying. You’re making me tense just looking at you! I didn’t come in here with the idea that this was a long-term thing. I know you got work to do. And I know you got a tough boss who expects a lot outta you. I’m not some young, silly-minded girl.”

“Oh.” Duv couldn’t manage anything else. His brain hurt just trying to process it all, but before he could think too hard on it, she reached up and kissed him, pulling him back down to the pillows.

“What I’m trying to tell you is there are no strings. If this works for you, it works, and if it doesn’t, then we go our separate ways, no hard feelings. But for right now, let’s just enjoy the moment, okay?”

“No strings?” Duv thought about that as his head blared warnings about explanations to his son and his crew while his heart or maybe just his hormones fought back, arguing that he had been working hard and he deserved to relax a bit. Another kiss sealed the deal, however, as he decided maybe enjoying the moment wasn’t such a bad idea. The redhead giggled as he grinned and pulled the covers up over them to block out the sunlight streaming through the window. Work could wait another hour today.

—————

After dinner, Skeeter went back up to his room. He knew Duv and the rest of the crew would probably be out until late, but he didn’t mind. He had been dying to try out the programs on his latest purchase, and now he could without interruption. He cued up the new edu-system and scrolled through the menu. After looking at all the programs, he opted to take the level one tests for navigation, logic, and astrophysics. The time flew by, and before he knew it, five hours had passed. He had aced most of the level one tests when the system flashed once and a new screen appeared.

INITIAL TEST SCORES HAVE BEEN REGISTERED WITH CENTRAL PLANETS EDUCATION SYSTEM.

BASED ON YOUR SCORES, YOU HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED TO ADVANCE TO LEVEL THREE COURSE WORK.

NEW COURSES HAVE BEEN EARNED.

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROCEED?

1 LEVEL THREE COURSE WORK

2 OPERATIONAL MISSION TRAIN-UP

Seth read the message again. He had never seen an edu-system register test scores that fast before.

“Guess things have really been moving along with the technology since my last edu-system,” he said to himself.

He’d have to tell Duv about testing out of the level two course work. He loved to hear about how Seth was doing with school and made a point to push him to keep up with his studies. Seth paused at the options. Level three course work or operational mission train-up? He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded cool, so he entered the second option. The screen went dark, and then a new screen came up.

STAND BY FOR HOLOPROGRAM ALPHA

“Whoa!” He couldn’t believe his luck. This edu-system had a built-in mini holo-projector. How had he missed that in the store? This system had to be worth at least double, maybe triple what he got it for. The projector spun up, and a miniature figure of a man in uniform walked into the light.

“Hello, trainee, and welcome to the pre-mission train-up program. This program is designed to help condition your mind for the operational environment. Each holoprogram will build on the next, providing you with a solid foundation of battlefield knowledge from which to draw during your missions. During the training, remain focused on the images and information projected by the program for best results. Stand by for initiation of program Alpha.”

The tiny figure disappeared. Seth looked at the holographic screen and waited. Nothing happened. He pushed a couple of the buttons, trying to advance the program or go back to the menu, but the screen still remained dark. After another few minutes of button pushing, he tried to turn it off, but again nothing happened. Frustrated, he tossed the edu-system down on the nightstand by his bed.

“Figures it would be a dud. That’s probably why it was marked so low.” He puffed his cheeks up and blew a blast of air out, pushing his too-long hair out of his eyes and reminding himself that a haircut was just one of many things his credits could have been better spent on. Twelve hundred credits out the air lock for a broken edu-system. He could hear Duv now, lecturing him on checking out tech before he bought it so he didn’t get skunked.

A small ringing sound caught his attention. He turned and saw the holoscreen was still active, but now a tiny, bright spot of light came from the center of it. He lay still, watching it as it slowly expanded to fill the whole screen. Suddenly, he felt like he couldn’t take his eyes off of it. The light jumped from the screen. Seth felt like he was in the screen, or it was in his head, he wasn’t sure which. He tried to turn but found that he couldn’t. Images began to explode across the screen. FXU battle rifle, tantalum laser rounds, phase-shift capable—40mm HEAT grenade launcher, dispenses high explosive, chemical immobilizing and tactical nuclear rounds—FN2000 sidearm, standard issue blaster, titanium or laser rounds, phase-shift capable, five rounds a second…the images and information increased into a nauseating array of weapons and specifics on each. Each one expanded out into its assorted parts and pieces and then crashed back together into a whole weapon, firing several rounds and then jumping to the next weapon. Tactical weapons turned into crew-served weapons which turned into battle tanks, fighters, spaceships, and then entire fleets. Seth felt like his head would explode. He tried again to tear his eyes away, but he couldn’t. As the last image flashed up, the screen collapsed in on itself. Seth felt like he was being pulled into it as his eyes were forced to follow the information flowing into the funnel-like hole that sucked down the screen. A series of numbers flashed along the walls of the funnel, and then it went dark.

Seth’s eyes rolled back into his head, as if he were having a seizure, then his body went rigid and collapsed. The screen reactivated and a green laser traced his entire body. The system processed the data and transmitted it, then turned itself off.

—————

On the other side of the planet, Commander Zain sat looking at the stats collected so far. The kid had absorbed more information than they had initially hoped for, and his test scores were off the charts. Zain looked at the man next to him.

“He’s out, sir. He won’t remember any of this in the morning except for completing the level one tests and falling asleep. We got good subliminal contact, though, and the feedback indicates we had a solid transfer. At least eighty percent retention. No one has ever retained that much before.”

“Any side effects, Doc?”

The doctor shook his head. “Unlikely. He might have a slight headache in the morning or some eye twitching, but nothing noticeable. He’s a very good candidate for a mission. Do you have one in mind?”

“I do. I’d like you to continue to perform the post-training health checks, but for security purposes, I’ll be running the mission-training sets in private.” The commander turned back to the screen, where a now-sleeping Seth lay flat on top of the covers.

“This is it, the one I’ve been looking for,” Zain muttered to himself. “Who would’ve thought it’d be a damn kid?”

“Will you need anything else, sir? If not, I’ll be on my way. I need to file my reports so we can track his progress.” The doctor’s voice brought him back to the present.

“No, you’re dismissed. Thanks for the help, Doc.”

“My pleasure, sir. Good night.” The doctor left the room, clipboard in hand and scribbling notes as he walked.

“Indeed it is, Doc. A very good night.” Zain turned back to the screen and began to type in the necessary codes for holoprograms Bravo and Charlie.

—————

Reilly woke up suddenly to the sounds of a busy street and people talking. It took her a moment or two to remember where she was as she sat up and examined her surroundings. Ty was gone, but the chair still sat in the doorway, silhouetted in the bright morning light. She checked the perimeter on her handheld and saw he had shut it down earlier, probably when everyone had started waking up and tripping it as they left the guesthouse that morning. The ledger still sat on the edge of the desk where she had left it. A virtual note on her handheld informed her that Ty had left to contact some of the local traders to see if they might be interested in any of the remaining items from the Vervian heist. She nodded to herself as she read it, stuffing the handheld into her pack along with the ledger and strapping on her blaster, which she had left lying on the desk. After a quick head call, she walked down to the kitchen for some coffee before heading over to the metalworks.

Her ship was still on the pad where they had left it, and now apparently it was the current talk of the town. As Reilly strode up, a group of local merchants, soldiers, and mechanics were slinging ever more outrageous tales of the square down she and Duv had done yesterday to land the shattered bird. They hushed as she walked up and broke off into small groups to continue their discussions elsewhere while one of the metalworks mechanics came up to greet her.