To Love A Space Pirate (2 page)

The cargo bay door added an extra layer of precaution in case the ship was hauling hazardous material. The re-enforced rubber seal was about a foot thick and was almost as hard as concrete. It would take some time to get through, but she knew it would happen.

Everything went completely silent. The voices were gone, and the noise from the other side of the door ceased.
Maybe, they gave up and left
she thought to herself. Lizzy stood up and peered over the stack of material. The door was still intact. No blue flame was burning its way through the metal. She breathed a sigh of relief. A smile played at the corners of her mouth. Her little ship had scared off the would-be thieves! She knew she loved this ship for a reason even if it had left her stranded!

Elizabeth moved cautiously from her hiding spot and slowly walked to the door. The silence was eerie now. Without warning, a burst of energy slammed into her, knocking her backward. Her head hit the floor as she came to rest against a barrel. Smoke filled her lungs as she desperately tried to suck in some air. Her eyes tried to focus on the sudden movement that filled her line of vision. Huge creatures slipped through the destroyed doorframe.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

She heard the deep, rough voice as her eyes slid closed.

Chapter 2

Carden “Scar Face” Swien Looked down at the crumbled female.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” One of the men commented as the group moved in behind him. 

“What does it look like,” he said in annoyance.

“Looks like we got us a prisoner,” Harrow said as he slapped Carden on the shoulder. “This is even better! You can ransom the wench back to whoever owns this hunk of junk.”

Carden moved closer to the female who lost consciousness as soon as he spied her. The blast from the door could have killed her instantly! He squatted down by her side and lifted her head up with his fingers. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. “Fuck!” He didn’t like taking prisoners, but he would be left with no choice this time. They destroyed the outer door during their pursuit to gain entry and couldn’t allow her to stay on board after they cleared out the ship of its cargo. It was death he didn’t want on his hands.

“Want me to take her to the vessel, boss?” Harrow asked as he too leaned over the female’s form.

“No, I will do it. I want this cargo offloaded as soon as possible. Then we are going to blow this ship to pieces. I don’t want any trace of it left.” As he spoke, he ran his hands over the female’s still form. He didn’t want to move her if there were any protruding broken bones. Bad enough he had to move her without knowing if she had any internal injuries but it was a chance he was going to have to take. As gently as he could, he lifted the small form off the floor. He stood up and turned to face the rest of his crew. “Get the job done!”

“Sure thing, boss! You heard the man. Get in here and get this shit onto the ship!”

Carden made his way off the captured vessel and onto his star-cruiser, the Vanguard. He was quickly becoming irritated he now had to deal with the prisoner and a female to boot! Typically when he seized another ship, he would leave the crew behind to find their home with their tails tucked behind them. But this time, he couldn’t do that. He may be a thief, but he wasn’t a murderer, no matter what others thought of him. The problem he had now was how to get rid of the female. He would have to search the ship first and find out who it belonged to. He could ransom her back for a price but was it worth the effort it would cause and worth the risk? So far, he had escaped capture from the Galactic Council and their minions, and he didn’t care to go to jail.

The female in his arms moaned as he walked with her to sick bay. His ship wasn’t gigantic by any means, but it was large enough to house an infirmary and retain a medic. Every man on his vessel was there voluntarily and could leave at any time. No one was held against his will, ever. Periodically, he took a risk and ransomed a high valued official, but he never let his identity be known. Any credits he received from the payment went into an account with a false name that could not be traced back to him. He had way too many people depending on him for the support he gave them and couldn’t chance losing everything he had worked so hard to build.

He glanced down at the female in his arms and wondered who she belonged to. She was small in comparison to him and automatically assumed she was human. Everything about her screamed human origins. Her long, auburn hair cascaded over his arm as her head lay against his chest. A rogue curl tickled his chin which he blew out of the way. Long lashes fanned out over her high cheek bones making him wonder what color her eyes were. Humans were a fascinating lot, but far too often, they caused trouble.

Her lips were tinged with her blood and parted as she slept in his arms. He should have checked her head before he picked her up but his concern for her well-being overruled him. At the very least, she probably had a concussion. The blast from the door should have killed her instantly if she had been standing anywhere in the near vicinity when the explosion detonated. He could see a bruise beginning to form under one of her closed eyes. For some reason, the image tore at his conscious. He hated the fact he had been the cause of her injuries but how was he to know she had been hiding in the cargo bay?

Carden let his eyes run over her frame. She wore a blue jumpsuit with a strange symbol on her left breast. At first, he didn’t recognize the Triangle with the circle in it until it hit him. She was with Tarwick Industries! A smile played across his lips when he let the thought sink in. Yes, someone would be looking for her and the cargo they were in the process of stealing.

Tarwick Industries was well known in this part of the galaxy because of the humans’ endeavor to colonize planets. Their push to gain more power angered a lot of other races who had lived and worked in this galaxy for thousands of years. The humans only recently moved in and started their take over. Many resented the humans and their pushy ways while some greeted them with open arms. He and his crew despised the humans for the most part, and it was always a pleasure to take from them when the opportunity arose.

He didn’t dislike all humans, just the majority he had the unfortunate pleasure to come across. Of course, the ones he met were doing illegal things but still, they were human. The planet that housed most of them in this area was Keplar 1. When the humans arrived on the barren planet, most had been glad to see the strangers settle in the world where life would not be so pleasant to them. They figured the humans would eventually lose the battle to survive and return to their native home. Over a hundred years later, they were still on Keplar1 and thriving. The Galactic Council took the humans in and offered their protection in return for their obedience. As far as he knew, the humans were the Galactic Council’s favorite tenants. Others out there liked to buck the system and test the Council’s laws but not the humans. Over the years, they gained strength from the overseeing power and were now a threat unforeseen in the beginning.

Carden was originally from the planet Fulara, which was on the far outskirts of the Trion Galaxy. His people, the Kiots, were a proud, hardworking race who valued life above all other things. He grew up in a family of six who owned a large portion of land on the planet. His father was a farmer who supplied his people with most of the meat needed to survive in the harsh conditions the world threw at them during the winter time. For years, he labored alongside his father and brothers tending to the care of the big beasts they valued so highly. His mother passed away when he was in his teenage years, leaving his father to finish raising his four younger siblings alone. Being the oldest, Carden took on the role of a second father and did his best to help his father with anything that needed work. The farm took up most of his time, leaving him with little time for any pleasure until he saw an ad for a pilot’s position with a company on a faraway planet.

Tarwick Industries was recruiting young males for training to become pilots. The vast Corporation had a well-known reputation for paying their pilots a more-than-fair wage. The benefits alone the company offered would help him and siblings more than what his father could provide for them working the farm. For years, Carden hid the desire to contact the company until one day his father saw him reading a brochure he found on the street. Seeing the paper in his hand was all it took for his father to urge him to go for what he wanted to do. His father didn’t want any of his children to feel obligated to stay on the farm and help perform a job he had chosen to do. There would always be others in need of work who could help him work the farm and provide the meat for the Kiots.

A humungous weight lifted off Carden’s shoulders after his talk with his father. The next day he contacted Tarwick. Within a week, he was on a flight off Fulara and headed to Phurs, a small moon owned by Tarwick. The excitement he felt when he first landed on the moon was more than he could contain. He was immediately thrust into the highly detailed training provided by the company. His days were filled with classes and his nights were filled with studying and learning the flight paths the company strictly followed. By the time he finished his training, nearly a year had passed. Virtually every penny he earned he sent home to his father. He didn’t want his father to struggle by any means because of his choice to leave and seek out a new life. The guilt he felt sometimes overwhelmed him, so the money he sent home lifted the burden from his mind.

For years after his training, he worked every job Tarwick sent him on. He would be gone for months at a time on deliveries that spanned across the known universe. The starships the company used were the top-of-the-line for the most part. Periodically, smaller ships were used to make local deliveries which he hated to be assigned to fly. He enjoyed taking the longer, higher paying jobs where he got to see more of the universe. Everything was going excellent for him and his crew until the day came when they were attacked by a pirate ship.

The surprise attack came when his ship entered a wild zone. During his travels, he had avoided these so-called “Wild Zones” at all costs. He knew the trouble that lurked in these areas and refused to endanger his crew by traveling through one of them. When they entered Clyfs Sector, everything was going as normal. The ship was headed to a mining colony on a tiny moon called Sa. Their cargo was nothing spectacular just the regular building and living supplies for the people who lived and worked on the moon. The ship was hours away from making contact with the colony when his craft was fired upon. His worst fear came true when the rogue pirate ship caused his own to lose all power. The pirates stormed his ship in no time, killing whoever resisted. Carden desperately tried to save his crew, but the Pirates were stronger with the weapons they possessed. The entire event took less than twenty minutes and left him almost dead. But, the Pirates had other ideas for him.

A ransom was sent to Tarwick Industries for an enormous amount of credits. As the company and Pirates went back and forth with the demand, he sat in a dark, cold cell. Word finally reached him a month later that the corporation refused to pay the ransom and would chalk the loss up to bad judgment on his part. Any hope of a rescue went out the window along with any hopes of seeing his family again. For days, he lingered in despair over what the leader of the pirates was going to do with him. He was at the lowest part of his life and was ready to meet his end. The wounds he suffered during his capture weren’t healing as they should and left him with numerous scars over his face and body. He was in and out of consciousness as he waited to be summoned to the leader.

The dark cell left him nearly blind by the time he was dragged from it to face his judgment. The pirate captain sat in his chair looking at him with curiosity.

“Your employer refused to pay for you. Did you know that?” The hairy Bork barked at him. The male’s one eye stared him down until he answered.

“I know.” His body hurt. His eyes hurt. Everything hurt. “Just kill me.” He wanted it all to be over. If he couldn’t go home and Tarwick refused to pay, there was nothing left but death for him.

The Bork laughed. “So quick to die are you?” The giant of a man stood up and approached him.

In Carden’s weakened condition, he felt as small a newborn babe. He wasn’t scared of the imposing figure towering over him; he just couldn’t raise himself up to face his captor eye to eye. “No, but what is there left? No money is coming your way. Tarwick in not in the habit of dealing with pirates even though I had hoped they would.” In all his years working for Tarwick, he rarely heard of the company having to make deals with these rogue individuals who refused to work legally. But, something didn’t feel right about his case. His cargo wasn’t one highly sought after nor did he carry anything of big value.

“I too was surprised when the answer came back as a refusal. I wasn’t asking a lot for a Kiot and thought Tarwick would pay the sum without question. But, apparently your company does not feel as if you are worth it. Do you know why?” The Bork walked around him as if he was summing him up.

“No,” Carden said. A coughing fit racked his body, leaving his head spinning.

“Well,” the Bork started. “I am curious to find out why but I do not think that is going to happen. So, that leaves me with another problem. The cargo you were hauling did bring me a nice sum but I want more.”

Carden looked up at his captor. “I do not have anything I can give to you.” All his money went to his father each pay period.

“I do not want your money, Kiot. I have other plans for you.”

Fear trickled down his spine. “What plans?”

Bork laughed again. “I have need of your expertise and will allow you to live for the time being to prove your worth.”

“I would rather die than work for you,” he pushed out through clenched teeth.

“Oh, you stupid little Kiot, do you believe it would so easy to get out of my request? Yes, apparently you do. No, you will work for me to save your family.”

Carden’s head snapped up. His eyes glared at the one-eyed giant. If he had the strength, he would launch his body at the male and do his best to kill the bastard even if he was the one killed, but the threat against his family stopped him from acting out.

“Ah, I have your attention now. I will allow you to work for me. Your family believes you are dead according to your precious company, so you have nowhere to run. Tarwick will make sure you remain dead to protect their interests. Letting innocents fall into the hands of pirates and doing nothing about it would tarnish their image and would lead to a full investigation by the Galactic Council. Tarwick has too much money and too much power to let that happen. What I am offering you is a chance to get back at the ones who left you to die at my hands.” Bork stopped in front of him again. “I will have your injuries treated properly and put you under the leadership of one of my most trusted men. You will work for me until I release you if I ever do!” He laughed again.