Gunship (38 page)

“It belonged to the prisoner. He killed one of us with it. It’s yours now.” The bounty hunter waited to see what would happen next.

Crazy Ray took the knife from the man and held it up. He began to grin a manically gleeful grin as he watched the light reflect off of the blade. “Yes! Yes, this will do nicely. What a very thoughtful gift! Take this to Jamie for me.”

Crazy Ray handed the knife to one of his men, who carried it away. Then he turned back to the older Tether. “If you will accompany my man over there, he will see that you get paid, while your associate may follow these men with the prisoner.” Two men appeared with a gurney and placed Ty on it, strapping him down. The young Tether grabbed a battle rifle and prepared to follow them as Crazy Ray spoke again.

“I don’t allow anything but blasters on my space station and especially not in the detainment wing. It would be an unimaginable temptation to any prisoners who may have gotten loose or even to some of my detainers. You understand, I’m sure?” He grinned again at the bounty hunter.

The man glanced again at his mentor, who was in discussions on payment, then nodded and returned the battle rifle to its rack before following the gurney to the detainment wing. As he disappeared through the glass sliders, Crazy Ray sauntered over to the older Tether.

“Give him the full sum,” he ordered the disperser at the window. “You already know you won’t be getting him back, then?”

The old Tether nodded. “As is your right, since the cargo did not meet with your specifications.”

Crazy Ray patted him on the shoulder. “I’m not so sure he was cut out for this line of work anyway. Better to start fresh with a new one with more potential. I look forward to working with you again in the future!”

The Tether nodded and then headed back to his ship. It was time to leave before Crazy Ray decided to change his mind.

—————

The man at the foot of the gurney waved the Tether over while he entered the code for the detainment wing. He had heard stories of this place from others who had dropped off prisoners, and he was curious to see if they were true. As the doors opened, he pulled the prisoner’s gurney through. The other two men stepped through the door behind him, allowing it to close. A third man, well-muscled with a large mustache, requested his weapon and handed him a ticket to retrieve it when he left.

They pushed the gurney down the main hallway, passing other hallways and rooms as they went. The young bounty hunter could see that the wing was a massive self-contained living area. One hall appeared to open into a food court and several bars with live entertainment, another had living quarters of all kinds, while a third seemed to be an actual marketplace. He openly gaped at the area for sports, which included a full simulated rifle range, a stadium-sized field that could be converted for a variety of events, and, strangely enough, a small equestrian center. Stores, spas, theaters, medical centers, and even a bank were all present. The wing appeared to have everything anyone could want.

At the end of the hallway, a second set of glass sliders opened to them and then abruptly locked as they passed through. The area was strangely silent, and the young Tether felt a brief chill run up his spine as he looked through the reinforced glass into the rooms on either side. Some contained cells with prisoners; others were obviously torture chambers and featured all types of tools and devices, from the very basic to the very complex. The man behind him stopped and entered a code, opening a door to their right, where the medical lockdown facility was located. He gestured to the bounty hunter to help him move Ty’s body into the nearest medical chamber, where he wired him up for treatment then sealed him in.

“You want to look around?” the other man asked him. “I show you Boss’s favorite room.”

“Sure.”

The two men pushed the gurney back out, and the detainer directed him towards two open doors. He walked through the first one. In it was a large white room with a stand-up padded gurney to which a prisoner could be strapped down, either with his arms outstretched or by his side. The side walls were lined with tools and equipment. Above, several cameras hovered, featuring different look angles. A medical computer sat nearby. One of the men gestured to it.

“The Boss loves that machine. He says it brings him more joy than anything else.”

“What does it do?” the Tether asked hesitantly.

“It keeps you alive longer when the Boss’s man cuts on you. It tells him how much to cut and when to stop and what to fix so you will last a long time so the Boss gets a good show. I think the Boss will watch for several days when we put the Wanted Man #1 in here!” He and the other man laughed while the Tether shivered involuntarily.

“You want to see other room?” the man asked when they were done.

“I guess so.” The bounty hunter followed them across the hall to a smaller room.

It looked like the room he had just seen, but the tool selection was smaller and it had older-style equipment. He paced around it quickly and then looked back at the two men standing in the doorway.

“So this is the same kind of room?”

“No, no, it’s different. The one over there we show you is best room for best detainers to work in. This is trainee room. New ones come here to learn the trade.”

“And your boss, he sends prisoners here too?” the bounty hunter asked.

“No, he sends people here who don’t listen, people who can’t follow orders!” The two men laughed again as the bounty hunter turned to face them. “The new ones get trained and the people get trained and then they die. You understand purpose now, right?”

The bounty hunter did understand. He reached for his knives, but he was already too late. The first man shot him in the neck with a tranquilizer gun, dropping him to the floor. Then together they tossed him onto the table and removed his armor and clothes, then strapped him down and left. As they walked down the hall, talking, a thin young man wandered by them holding a shiny new bowie knife and grinning with delight. He stood outside the room and waited for his subject to wake up while he practiced slashing with the knife and tested its point on the tip of his finger.

—————

Crazy Ray was enjoying the show when his handheld indicated he had a message. Irritated, he looked at it, then activated the video screen. One of his security personnel appeared.

“Mr. Ray. My apologies, but I thought you would want to know you have Tethers arriving.” The man waited nervously for a response.

“Tethers? I had no message indicating any were inbound.” Crazy Ray paced impatiently, glancing back at the screen briefly as the prisoner let out another horrible scream.

“I know, Mr. Ray. They said they wanted to avoid any rescue attempts. They said they have Captain Reilly Campbell on board. We scanned them and confirmed.” The man gulped and waited.

Crazy Ray began to grin again. It really was his birthday!
Joby Ty and Reilly Campbell both in the same day! Wishes really do come true!

“Fantastic! Let me know at once when they set down! I must ensure an appropriate welcome!” He clicked off and turned on the mic in the torture chamber. “Jamie, dear boy! So sorry, but I must interrupt my viewing for now. I have another arrival to greet, but I am thoroughly enjoying your work! Who knew someone could get so creative with a bowie knife! Please continue to record the session and send it up to me when you are done. Ciao!” He clicked back off again and headed for the door.

Before he could cross the threshold, Welch stepped into the doorway. With everything going so right, he had almost forgotten his unwelcome long-term guest.

“Raymond! Why such a long face? Aren’t you glad to see me?” Welch flashed him his best political smile as Crazy Ray stepped around him with a scowl. Undeterred, Welch fell into step at his side while his men followed a few paces behind. “I heard that someone is having a birthday, and of course I just knew I had to stop by and wish you all the best on your special day!” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Well, you’ve done it then. Feel free to go back to your ship and stay there.” Crazy Ray tried to speed up a bit, but Welch matched him.

“What, and miss all the fun? I just heard you’ve got Joby Ty on board and that in a few minutes Reilly Campbell is also going to be your guest. Raymond! I thought we agreed to have no secrets between us!” Welch shot over an evil grin as Crazy Ray turned to face him.

“Apparently we have no secrets, since you know as much as I know!” Crazy Ray seethed. “And in our agreement, you told me I could have both of them for my purposes.”

“You can. When I’m done with them.” Welch leaned in to make his point. “Once I have my ledgers, then you get your turn, not before.”

Crazy Ray saw red. Who was this man to continue to meddle in his affairs? He couldn’t leave well enough alone, he had to keep poking and prodding and messing with everything. In a second, he had grabbed Welch and thrown him up against the corridor wall with a blaster to his head.

“Raymond, Raymond, Raymond, when will you learn?” Welch smiled as his men surrounded them and Crazy Ray’s security responded in kind. Crazy Ray felt cold metal slide along his rib cage and glanced down to see that Welch had positioned a ballistic knife perfectly to perforate his aorta. The bastard had slashed through one of his favorite shirts. He smiled with his usual maniacal smirk and stepped back. One of these days, Welch would slip up, and he would be there to catch him. He slipped his blaster back into the holster and straightened the collar on his white European shirt and vest combo. The slit in the vest and the shirt hung open, revealing a thin, bloody line where Welch had removed the upper layer of skin as he slid the knife into place.

Welch continued to grin as he stashed his dual ballistic knives on the back of his belt. Their men also lowered their weapons, but continued to watch each other and their masters. Welch laughed and started walking down the corridor again, pausing for a moment to look back.

“Aren’t you coming?” he called out to Crazy Ray. “It’s rude to keep a lady waiting!”

Crazy Ray mumbled a series of curses under his breath, then put on an angry grin. “Of course. I wouldn’t want the Captain to think me rude!”

—————

Tiny piloted the Tether ship onto the platform and set it down. She could already see security forming up in preparation for Crazy Ray’s arrival. That was strange. It looked as if there were two security teams setting up. Not good. She had hoped the intel was incorrect on this point, but it looked like she was wrong. Maybe Zain was hiding something from her.

“Captain,” she asked casually, “did Alton have multiple security teams on your last visit?”

Reilly rolled her head around to look forward. “What? No. He must have decided to try something new—maybe he’s holding team death match events now? Shirts versus skins?” she suggested, only partly joking, since Crazy Ray’s love for torture and blood was well known.

Marek looked out at the bay too. “No Enforcers either. Something’s up.”

“Maybe Ty got loose?” Reilly suggested hopefully.

“I don’t think so.” Tiny saw Crazy Ray coming through the sliders. “Get ready. Here he comes.”

Marek opened up the back doors and stepped out onto the platform while Tiny waited inside with Reilly. She positioned herself over the Captain with a blaster and looked outward, ready to receive their guests.

Reilly’s nerves got the better of her and she giggled just briefly. “You know you look pretty damn terrifying from down here!”

“Good!” Tiny muttered. “Now shut up! Oh, and I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Reilly asked, a bit concerned.

“For this,” Tiny responded, with a vicious kick to the ribs that left Reilly gasping and groaning on the floor as Crazy Ray walked up. He grinned at the show and nodded to Tiny, who solemnly nodded back once. Then he squatted next to Reilly and cocked his head sideways to look down at her.

“Captain Campbell! Tsk, tsk, tsk! I would say I hope you had a nice trip, but then I’d be lying, and no one likes a liar.”

Reilly strained against the bolts and leaned up as much as she could. “What the hell is this about? I thought we had a good transaction last time, I brought you some specialty items, you got to play with my cows, we both made lots of credits, everybody’s happy. So who’s the liar here?”

“Why, you are, of course!” Crazy Ray continued to smile at her as he reached his hand behind him. One of his men placed a folder with the photos from Vervian into it. He slowly pulled the photos out one by one and dropped them on the floor by Reilly’s face.

“‘I haven’t seen the miscreant in a long time, Mr. Ray!’” he mimicked. “I guess three days could seem like a long time. I know my detainers could make three days seem like an eternity. Pain can make seconds feel like hours, if done correctly.” This time the grin was diabolical as he contemplated what was to come.

While Crazy Ray ran through the deliciousness of watching Reilly get tortured to death, he held up his handheld so she could see the security video of her and Ty driving up to the compound and breaking in.

Reilly’s brain registered sudden shock. How did Crazy Ray get his hands on hard copies of the vid? A digital photo from the span was one thing, but the actual video could only come from the owner. She looked up at him as he smiled down at her startled expression. She blurted out the only thing she could think of.

“That video is a fake! I don’t know where you got it from, but somebody sold you a line of crap.”

Crazy Ray laughed. “He was right, all women are liars,” Crazy Ray said to himself before readdressing Reilly. “I doubt it. But if you insist, I’ll be happy to let you ask my source yourself!”

Crazy Ray got up and walked to the back of the ship and beckoned across the bay. As he strode down the ramp, Reilly could hear a new set of footsteps approaching. She hoped and prayed it wasn’t who she thought it was. Tiny stood frozen above her, expressionless.

In another moment, a man with red hair took a knee next to her and gazed down. He grinned too, a crazed light in his eyes.

“Hello, Reilly. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. We have so much to discuss!” Razam Welch quivered with delight at the sight of her. His plan was almost complete, and here was another missing piece dropped right into his lap.