Gunship (25 page)

Immediately, he was able to see a way to speed up the process, a way that he could help but no one would know that he had. Provided he was smart and careful about it. His brain ran through the pros and cons and finally gave him a green light to proceed.

Seth pulled up his handheld and loaded eight decryption programs. In a matter of seconds, he had combined two of them and added a language translator to it, creating a ninth decryption program, then swiped his handheld over Reilly’s and added them to her overall list. He quickly deleted nine of her unused decryption programs so that there would appear to be no changes to the program library. Then he promptly erased the history registry for the previous three minutes, removing any indication that he had ever touched the handheld.

“I think that should be everything we’ll need to pick up for now. If you think of anything else I missed, just add it to the list, Gunny. I’ll get Duv and Ty to pick it up today when they head into town.” Reilly stepped through the hatch followed by Chang and stopped.

“Something wrong?” Chang asked, looking around the room.

Reilly looked around and then laughed. “Nope, just trying to make sure I didn’t forget anything.” She walked over and tapped on the page of the ledger while downing her coffee. Chang grabbed the empty plates off the table and took them back to the kitchen while Reilly continued to study the ledger. She was pretty sure it had been open to page 35 earlier, and now it was on page 37. She closed the book and walked back to her room, where she locked it in secure storage, then locked her room as she left. No more surprises. The uneasiness that had started on Vervian was now a warning siren screaming in her mind. Something was very wrong. What she needed was answers, and she needed them yesterday.

—————

Skeeter sat at the back of the bridge, wolfing down his egg and toast sandwich. Duv was already on his fourth cup of coffee and checking out the primary flight systems. The rest of the crew was always amazed that he could fly so precisely even when he was constantly hopped up on caffeine.

“Can you pass me that voltage meter?”

Skeeter leaned over and handed the meter to Duv, who was halfway inside a console surrounded by wiring. When he sat back up, he jumped. The girl in black stood next to him, looking down at Duv. She smiled politely as Duv slid out to close up the compartment.

“Oh. Hey. I didn’t expect to see you up here this early. I wasn’t planning on running any of the electronics tests until this afternoon when I get back from town. Did Chang get you settled in with a bunk?” Duv stood up and wiped his hands off on his pants as he closed up his tool kit.

“Yes, Gunnery Sergeant Chang put me in the port side NCO quarters on the second level. I’ve already unpacked and put all my gear up, so just let me know what needs to be done.” Tiny smiled and looked around at Seth again.

“Well, for starters, we have a bunch of weapons that need cleaning down in the cargo bay.” Reilly stood in the hatchway with her arms crossed.

Tiny turned. “I’ll get right to it, Captain.” She made a move towards the doorway.

“Actually, I have a better idea. Why don’t you arm up and ride with Duv and Seth into town? Ty needed to pick up some things, too, so you all can go together. I’m feeling like safety in numbers isn’t a bad thing right now. An extra gun will give anyone thinking of trouble another thought or so.” Reilly looked over at Skeeter. “Seth, can I borrow you for a moment?” She turned and started walking back down the hallway.

Skeeter looked at Duv, who shrugged and motioned for him to follow the Captain. As he left the bridge, he heard Tiny offer to go get Maude ready for the ride into town. Duv nodded, gulping down the last of his coffee with a promise to meet her in the cargo bay in ten minutes.

The Captain continued on to her room and waved Seth in. He looked around, fascinated. He had never been in her quarters on their last ship. This was a whole different side of Reilly that he didn’t know. While she rifled through some papers on her desk, he walked around looking at everything. A Death Adder unit flag adorned one wall, next to a large gear locker and a gun rack with some very impressive firepower onboard. The latest in FXU battle rifles was nestled between a 1700SZ sniper rifle and the FN4600 multiphased blaster with grenade launcher. He moved on to a set of shelves that held a variety of manuals and handbooks along with a few boxes of magazines, some ammo, and some random parts. The top shelf had several books, including a leather-bound book of poetry and a much older book of kid’s stories. There was a small, etched brass vase with fake sunflowers in it functioning as a bookend on the far side. Seth paused at a group of small paintings that filled a bare spot on the wall next to the shelves. Each was done in acrylic or oil paints and showed a variety of impressionistic landscapes: mountains, fields with flowers, a forest. He leaned in closer, then popped back in surprise.

“You painted these?”

Reilly smiled at his expression. “Yup. I know. Most folks have a hard time imagining me as a painter.” Her face grew wistful and solemn. “But as good as I am at my job, it’d be nice to have a job that allowed me to create…to enjoy some peace instead of always fighting. War and soldiering are a younger person’s game. Even then, the excitement and glory of it all fades pretty quick once you start taking fire and losing friends. I painted those several years ago. Haven’t had the time to do it since…” She shook her head. “But for right now, this work pays the bills, and up until recently the soldiering part had been…more limited.”

Reilly turned back to the desk and pulled out a few more folders, leaving Seth to continue exploring.

The bunk on the opposite wall was standard military, but Reilly had a quilted pillow tossed on one end. A few old photos were taped to the wall, and Seth noticed that there were some prints that Reilly had tacked up on the bottom of the upper bunk so when she went to sleep she could look up at them. He couldn’t really see what they were and didn’t want to be too nosy, so he wandered on. A red war rug hung on another wall and was accompanied by some coasters from various bars around the galaxy. A dusty shadow box with a flag and her final commendation hung inconspicuously in the corner. The desk was the last item in the room, and it was covered with various papers, books, and manuals. A couple unit photos were in frames on the desk, including one of Reilly with two other officers and Ty, and one of Ty, Duv, Chang, and Reilly on the day they bought their first gunship, the one that was now sitting scrap on platform 18. An old CD player sat at the edge of the desk with a folder of CDs.

“Does it work?” Seth asked, indicating the CD player when Reilly looked up.

“Yep. I picked it up a while ago. The guy had some CDs, too, so I got the whole lot. Reminds me of the one I had when I was a kid. Used to be my great-grandfather’s. I loved that thing!” She finally stopped rummaging and pulled out a manual on communications systems, which she passed to Seth. “I know you’re pretty good with computers, so I thought you might also want to try your hand at communications. And I have a project for you, if you’re up to it.”

Seth waited for her to continue as she took a sip from her coffee cup and sat back in her chair, kicking her boots up on the corner of the desk. “What do you know about secure communications systems?”

Seth’s mind blazed as she mentioned secure communications. “I know some stuff on them. How they are set up, how to do some workarounds, things like that. Nothing too high speed, though.” He stopped well short of telling the Captain he could build her one in just a few days.

Reilly drummed her fingers on her cup. “Do you think you could build me one that would be for my room? A backup system that is for emergency use only, one that would have a low-observable transmission signal and be small enough to put into a wall like this one here?” She rapped on the wall behind the desk.

Seth looked at her and then back at the wall. He knew what she was doing. The Captain didn’t trust the girl in black either. She wanted a secure comms system that Tiny wouldn’t know about. He paused for a moment, doing the calculations in his head.

Reilly watched him intently over her mug. “If you can’t do it, let me know. I just figured with your computer skills you might be able to do backup comms nodes too.”

Seth realized his expression must have had the Captain thinking that he couldn’t do it but was afraid to say so.

“No, I can do it. We have most of what I’d need here already. I can pick up the other stuff in town today. Just trying to figure the best way to set it up.”

Reilly looked surprised but also pleased. She nodded once and then looked at him. “Just one more thing, then; I need this to stay between us for right now. I know you and Duv don’t have secrets, but this one time, Seth, I need you to not tell anyone, not even Duv. Can you do that?”

He nodded slowly. Seth already knew he didn’t have a choice. Reilly must already suspect that Tiny was a threat. Setting up this system just verified that fact, a fact the Captain very much wanted to keep the dark-haired girl from knowing about. If Tiny found out that it existed, she would know that the people who put it together had done it to keep her in the dark. But if his brain was right, she was potentially the biggest threat they had faced in a while. Not telling Duv was going to be hard, but necessary. He sighed inwardly. All of the lies were really starting to bother him, especially since they were to the people closest to him. That and the fact that he was actually starting to get good at lying. In his mind, he somehow knew that Tiny was ordered to protect him, so she wouldn’t do anything to him. But she could hurt the rest of the crew if they knew, including Duv. The Captain was right, they didn’t need to know.

He looked back at her. “I can do it.”

Reilly swiped her handheld over his, dropping some extra credits for expenses. “Stop by later with the change.”

Seth nodded again and headed down to the cargo bay. Time to make some purchases.

Ty was in a foul mood. Rhonda had left in a snit after he told her he would be working that evening. Women. They always caused problems. And now this. He looked over to where Maude sat on the deck. Tiny was putting cargo straps in the back and getting the TORR ready for their trip into town. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was just something he didn’t like about her. Most people he could get a good read off of right away, but this girl was closed, she gave nothing away, she was always guarded. Even her facial expressions were very controlled, hiding her emotions. It wasn’t until he had gotten her angry that he had been able to read her at all. What he read concerned him.

He watched her as she worked, every movement purposeful and in tune with her surroundings. Like she was a conduit for the environment, could sense what was going on around her at all times. As if hearing his thoughts, she glanced over at Ty with a searching stare before turning back to her task. He scowled again. It just wasn’t normal, he could feel it. No other recruit had ever done as well at the crucible. Her shooting and tactical skills were incredible. And she enjoyed pissing him off. He snorted to himself. She was messing with the wrong guy. She’d find out soon enough if she kept pushing his buttons. Ty turned back to finish up what he was working on and stow his tools.

Duv finally appeared with a fresh cup of coffee in hand and fired up the TORR. He called out to Ty to let him know they were getting ready to leave. Ty gave him a thumbs-up and headed over to his locker, stripping off one of his favorite work t-shirts and tossing the sweaty, balled-up mass onto his top shelf. He threw a blaster on and cinched down his body armor plates while pulling a lightweight tac-shirt out of his gear locker to throw on over top. He slammed the locker shut and walked to the TORR as Skeeter came down the catwalk to join them.

Great, ninja Barbie goes to town with the family!
he thought to himself.
I just hope this isn’t the episode where she has a bad hair day and kills them all.

Marek and Chang paused as they got ready to leave, watching the new group dynamics with interest. Duv slid behind the wheel while Skeeter jumped into the back. Tiny finished with the last few lockdown straps and then gestured for Ty to take shotgun. He growled in her general direction, instead climbing into the back with Seth. Tiny shrugged and hopped up front as Duv turned Maude around and headed down the ramp.

Marek looked over the heads of the new crew members who were cleaning and reassembling the weapons from the day before. He winked at Chang and asked, “So how long y’all think before them two get into it?”

Chang looked after the TORR, watching the trail of dust kick up in the distance. “Too soon.”

Marek nodded. “Well, my money’s on Ty, then. That little girl is going to have her hands full with him. I’ve seen the sergeant fight before, and there’s nothing like it. He’s got more tricks than a dirty politician! Then again, there’s no such thing as a fair fight in our business. I just hope I get to see it when it happens!” Marek turned back to the newbies and began showing one of them how to reassemble a blaster firing pin.

“I hope you’re right. If Ty decides to fight her, he’ll need every trick in the book,” Chang muttered to himself. “I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig likes it.” He went back to labeling gear crates and stowing tac-gear.

—————

Roen’s marketplace was teeming with people when they arrived. The supply ships had landed over the weekend, so all of the merchants had new inventory to hawk. Locals mixed with ISU military police patrols and travelers who were taking on stores before continuing their journeys. Sidewalks bustled under the cover of tents while virtual salespeople advertised the latest goods. Musicians and food vendors set up stands on the corners or roamed with the crowds moving up and down the streets.

Seth noticed it also felt empty. The four men who had been watching them the last few times they were in town were nowhere to be seen. He wondered if that had anything to do with Tiny and then dismissed the thought. That would mean that either they knew what she was or they were waiting for her to arrive. This in turn meant that someone else had been orchestrating all of these movements. But was it to hurt them or to help them? Seth pushed the thought from his mind. Today, he just wanted to be a normal kid and forget about all the weird things that had been happening. He sat up as Duv pulled into a less-busy side alley and locked down the TORR.

“I’ve got the list of parts the Captain asked for. The shops are just around the corner, so I’ll meet you back here.” Ty jumped out the back of the vehicle while Duv frowned.

“Hey! No way are you wandering around here alone. It’s my ass if something happens to you and the Captain finds out I let you off by yourself.”

Ty rolled his eyes and waved his hand, indicating the slung battle rifle and the blaster on his hip. “I’m set. But if you insist, I’ll take the kid with me.”

“I see he is feeling stupid again today. Must not have been the alcohol after all,” Tiny remarked, leaning casually against the TORR.

Ty jumped at the opening, his anger from the previous day rushing to the surface. “You want to go, little girl? We can settle this right now!”

He stepped forward as Tiny stood to do the same. Duv jumped in between them, pushing them apart as they stared each other down.

“What is it with you two? We got work to do. You want to settle this later, back at the ship, fine. But for now, we get what we came for and head back.” He looked at both of them.

Tiny looked at Duv and back at Ty. Jackson was right, this wasn’t the place, and she had poked the bear enough to get her challenge. She would wait until they got back to the ship.

Tiny stepped away first, and Ty smirked. “That’s what I thought!”

She ignored him and walked over to stand by the front of the TORR. Duv shook his head and looked at Skeeter.

“You good to go with Ty? We can meet up afterwards and pick up that other stuff you wanted to get.” Duv looked at Ty and Tiny again.

Skeeter nodded, looking at both of them too. “I’ll go with Ty. The Captain had a couple of things to add to the list, so I told her I’d get them. Meet you back here?”

“Sounds good. We’ll grab some lunch or something then.” Duv walked off and Tiny followed him, glancing briefly back at Seth.

“C’mon, kid. Let’s get out of here. Damn women.” Ty spat on the ground, then started in the other direction with Skeeter on his heels.

—————

Two hours later, they were back at the TORR loading a few crates of parts and the comms gear Skeeter needed. Ty picked up his handheld as it beeped and let out a groan. “Duv and the she-witch are running behind. Something to do with a bad order and missing items; it looks like we got an hour to kill.”

Ty locked down the crates and re-secured the TORR’s defensive shield. Skeeter sat on the side of the TORR, enjoying the feel of the sun as he took in the bustling market view at the end of the street. Meanwhile, Ty paced impatiently, brooding moodily and muttering to himself. Suddenly he brightened.

“Hey Skeet! You want to earn some extra credits and have a little fun at the same time?” Ty had a gleam in his eye. He turned and waved Seth on as he started across the alley.

Skeeter shrugged and followed Ty. After a few turns, they found themselves in the gaming district. Ty walked down the street looking at the various booths, which sported electronic gambling machines, physical challenges like arm wrestling or boxing, and other nefarious-looking gaming dens. He finally turned into a seedy-looking establishment with a sign proclaiming “Rooster’s Perch.” The sound of gunfire could be heard emanating from inside, accompanied by hoots and cheers. Seth paused on the front porch, wondering if he should just go back to the TORR, but Ty grabbed his arm and pulled him in.

Seth coughed as he stepped through the door. The room was dark and smoke-filled. People were everywhere, some drinking, most betting and sitting along the walls. The focal point for the establishment was a diabolical-looking stage which featured a variety of targets that required rapid and sometimes trick shooting using modified laser blasters. At the front of the room sat a short man with two pet roosters tethered at his side. It was apparent that this was his place as the rest of the crowd gave him and his roosters ample room. The birds pecked at some scattered cracked corn on the floor or drank water from a gold-rimmed china bowl. The man watched the current shooter showing off his skills for the crowd and then noticed Skeeter.

“Oi! You there! Can’t ya read the bloody sign? No kids allowed—so scram!” He pointed towards the door while the crowd laughed.

“He’s all right, he’s with me, Rooster.” Ty stepped forward, and the short man grinned and stood to shake his hand.

“Joby Ty! Here to lose some more of your money to me, then? What’s with the kid? He’s not yours, is he?” The man looked aghast at that thought.

“Nope. I know his father…though I guess if I didn’t he could be one of mine!” The two of them burst out laughing at that.

“Still the ladies’ man, then? Bully for you! Women are too damn complicated to settle for just one.” Ty nodded in agreement as Rooster continued. “I got me a different one for each night of the week right now, ’cept for weekends, since I got one who’s trying to make an honest man of me. Poor lass, she really believes I’m a right proper businessman, too! But enough about me, what can I interest you in? Call the target? Best of three? Double draw?”

“Actually, I was thinking of Rapid Randoms, if you still run that.” Ty smiled as Rooster raised his eyebrows.

“Ha! She must be something else, this one, for you to be feeling that bold! Yeah, I still run it, just not a lot of folks take to it, big pot, lot o’ money to drop and lose for one game. You up for it, then?” Rooster leaned over and whispered something to a man behind him, who nodded and walked off. “Humphrey will get ’er set.”

“Let’s make it really interesting, then. High score wins, five hundred credits to buy in, and I let the kid shoot in my place.” Ty leaned in. “What do you say?”

Rooster looked at Ty and then sniffed his breath. “No, not drunk, maybe drugging it, then?” he muttered to himself. “Well, if you’re sure, I’ll put the call out, see who wants a go. Always a pleasure taking your money, though!” Rooster stood up. “Oi! You lot, listen up! My mate here is offering up five hundred credits for Rapid Randoms to anyone who can outshoot this kid here. Five hundred to get in, set it up with Humphrey if you’re game. Winner takes all.” He stepped down as the crowd laughed and began to murmur, looking Skeeter up and down before placing their bets.

A few moments later, six men had come forward and dropped their credits. Ty dropped his last and then turned to Skeeter. “You ready?”

“I’m not sure this is such a good idea.” Skeeter nervously looked around the room at his competition. All of them were big and several had prison tattoos and were well armed. Although there was no actual threat yet, his brain was furiously processing angles, cover, escape routes, and the like as he considered the possibilities.

“Relax! You’ll do fine, just focus like you did the other day on the course and think about all those credits you’ll pocket at the end. Rooster’s agreed to let you shoot last, so we’ll sit here until it’s your go so you can see the types of shots.” Ty pushed Skeeter onto a bar stool at a tall, round table up front. “Now pay attention, kid.” He pointed again to the shooting gallery, where the first competitor was getting ready to start.

A gong went off and the targets began to drop. Rapid Randoms was a game in which the competitor scored points by hitting the most targets but also could score points based on the complexity of the shots and the number of hits within the one-minute time limit. The laser could be shot directly at the target to obliterate it or bounced off of one or more mirrors in order to hit angled, hard-to-reach targets. Each mirror used added a point to the final target struck. There was some danger involved for both the shooter and the audience, since if the mirrors were used the wrong way, the laser blast could get bounced off the front wall and into the crowd.

The first shooter was a grizzled vet who had a good rhythm and moved through the targets rapidly. Most of his shots were straight on, but he did use a few of the mirrors to hit a couple of the closer-angled targets. The crowd cheered and catcalled as he worked his way through the course. The gong sounded and he handed off the gun to the next man, a middle-aged transport pilot who sported a healthy gut, indicating that he spent more time planetside than he did on an actual ship. The gong went off again and the computer generated a new course of fire, randomly dropping targets across the shooting range. The pilot fired wildly in the hopes of mowing down more targets in less time, causing the crowd to duck several times as stray laser rounds blasted overhead and into the ceiling.

Seth watched with interest as each shooter stepped up to tackle the course. The computer randomized most of the shots, but there were a few that repeated every course, along with the targets that moved on the variable-speed tracks in the background. He watched as some of the shooters used the mirrors to hit the angled targets, the best one using no more than four mirrors to bounce the laser along. In each of the far corners, a small mirror sat. A large mirror about the size of a dinner plate sat in the middle, with two offset angled mirrors to either side. Mirrors of various sizes were interspersed throughout the rest of the range between lines of targets rolling down vertical chutes or in lines across the back, popping up and down on horizontal tracks. A few targets bounced and rolled along the floor, and another couple flew out and away from the shooter. His brain took all of this in while Ty jeered and clapped as the shooters finished up.

“All right, Skeeter! Go show ’em how it’s done!” Ty grinned, giving Seth two thumbs up as he swayed on his stool.

Seth turned and walked slowly up to the front as the crowd giggled a bit. The last shooter was a dark-haired man in his early twenties who looked like some sort of mercenary. He had done the best so far and was giving the crowd a cocky smile as Seth stepped up. He looked like trouble, and Seth felt his brain kick it up a notch as he got closer to the man.