part0022

Fresh gouges in the bronze-tinted docking facility glinted under the brightening afternoon. Not only had the dark, grit-filled clouds passed, but the rise of Azta—the planet Pardeep orbited—reflected more brilliance onto the surface of the dusty moon than the sun alone could. The light refracted off the edges of the scratches, old and new, highlighting the crisscrossing lines latticing up the tower like a bizarre spider web. Craze craned his head back, his eyes squinting and watering as they followed the contours of the building, which bulged out where the ships docked at the top. The repeated abrasions had dulled the surface, but it still had more of an albedo than the newly deposited dirt around it.

The drifts and rills had shifted, resurfacing the immediate terrain in new undulations of dust. The all-terrainer, parked against the facility for protection, sat half buried. Patches of its brown epoxy coating had been scoured off during the storm, revealing bare metal, and the window closest to the docking facility had been shattered. Craze took a step back.

Captain Kaesare could’ve found the transport and shot out the window before the gale of dirt had sanded her down to a bloody nub. She probably had the barrel of her revolver pointed at him right now, dooming him and his dreams to eternal obscurity.

Unholstering his stunner, he ducked behind a support out of sight from the battered vehicle. If the trigger-happy captain hid inside the armored car, he didn’t care to make himself an easy target.

Pauder slung his bazooka over his shoulder, nodding his chin at the evenly spaced buttresses ahead of and behind Craze. “There’s places against the building where she could’ve sheltered. She could’ve broken into yar old tavern, too. Wily thing.”

Craze’s thick thumb took the safety off his stunner. “I’d bet you ten bazookas she’s in your all-terrainer. If we go too far one way or the other, she’ll slip past us ‘n get back inside. We need to check your vehicle first.”

The old man clutched onto his favorite bronze medal and dropped his voice. “Ya take this side, I’ll get on the other. Then we spring on the all-terrainer, rip open its doors, ‘n fire our stunners inside.”

Craze crouched onto his hands and knees and crept into position. Staring at the doors of the vehicle, his pulse hammered and his mouth grew dryer than usual. He could hear Pauder moving, his strides shifting the newly deposited soil. A moment later came a soft pwing and click . Grunting and tumbling erupted from the back of the all-terrainer.

Clutching tighter onto his stunner, Craze crawled toward the commotion. Kaesare tussled with the old man in the dirt, the captain attempting to put the barrel of her gun to Pauder’s head. Caked blood stained her face, and her jumpsuit was shredded. She hadn’t dodged Pardeep’s wrath completely.

Craze skulked closer and took aim, waiting for the right moment. But realizing he had the stunner in hand instead of his revolver, he didn’t need to be so careful. His finger pulled the trigger, holding it down, sending out arcs of yellow energy that brought on yelps from Kaesare and Pauder. Then they both went still.

Powering off the stunner, Craze holstered it and stood, brushing dirt from his coveralls. “You didn’t see her comin’ for you, ‘n I bet you didn’t think I’d shoot you either.” Patting dust off Pauder’s shoulder, Craze retrieved some binds from one of the old man’s bandoliers and restrained Kaesare’s hands, hair, and feet with them. After pulling her off the old man, Craze considered leaving Pauder in the dust, thinking about it so long, the captain ended his musings by stirring with a moan. He carried Pauder inside the docking facility and propped him up against a wall then went back outside.

“Careful, you’ll call back the storm, ‘n I’ll just leave you out here. You know you deserve it for what you’ve done.” She did. He might lose a good friend because of her, and he’d not get the right kind of business if word got out about the gun play. Murder and shootings repelled tourists as assuredly as plagues.

She spat at him, thrashing, strands of her hair trying to break free to reach for him. He grabbed onto a few stragglers and pulled, knowing just how much that stung. Her cry bellowed loud and long. Craze shut his ear holes.

“A sound-proof cell for you,” he grumbled, tossing her over his shoulder. Stumbling to the side, he had to hold still for a moment, then jostled her for better ballast. He’d forgotten how substantial a Verkinn gal could be.

Her flailing didn’t help, especially when her teeth yanked his oxygen hose from the tank, but he wasn’t far. Forward he marched into the docking facility, even kicking up his heels with a couple of dance steps, and into the elevator, riding it to the floor just below the docking berths. The original planetlord had set up a cellblock, anticipating a civilization that had never risen. Not until now.

The prison deck echoed obnoxiously with rattles, bangs, and roars whenever a ship went out or came in, and it was situated high enough to be fatal to any Backworlder finding a way to jump. The rest of Kaesare’s stay wouldn’t be pleasant, especially if her part-Verkinn DNA had given her sensitive hearing.

“Since Dactyl is in stasis, Rainly is the one you impacted most. She’ll decide what’s to be done with you. ‘N no way about the hair. You’ll just strangle me.”

She was as endearing as ever. “You the one in a cell at my mercy, sweetheart.” Wheeling about on his heels, he left the room and sealed it. She could stay there and rot, safely tucked away from the sights of tourists, out of the path of the dawning new era.