| |
by A R Knight
The Lucky Star failed its own name. The station drooped around Earth, spinning like an unbalanced top and showing its age in every conceivable way. From its docking systems, which forced Viola to manually take control every couple of minutes to course correct, to a landing pad coated in a sticky substance that Puk identified as decades-old spilled fuel.
One week out of Eden's orientation, a slog-fest that was everything Viola dreaded about corporate life, and this was her assignment. Sure, a little safer than hooking up with mercenaries under a hail of laser fire, but she still itched for the bite of adventure. This wasn't what she had in mind.
“I thought signing up with a company like Eden meant better things,” Puk said. The little orb, Viola's ongoing experiment, floated over her shoulder. “Instead, I think we've only managed to get worse.”
“We're not staying here,” Viola said. “Just a pick up. In and out.”
“Every time you say something is going to be easy...”
“You say one more word and I'll shut you down and leave you on the shuttle,” Viola snapped. No time for Puk's sarcasm. They needed to get off the station with Captain Morris as soon as possible. Eden would take any additional delay of the Humanities Hope out of her pay. That ship had a strict schedule for its run to the edge of the Solar System, and as copilot for the venture, it was Viola's responsibility to get Morris in the pilot's chair.
Outside of the Lucky Star’s docking bay was a long strip that wound around the station and eventually came back to where they were. A ring around a centerpiece full of the sort of entertainment that Viola didn't want to see. The type of greasy, derelict trash that haunted human progress like cockroaches haunted kitchens.
Around her, stalking the hallway, were shifters and sellers. People pressing their luck or begging for it. The finest clothes smashing together with the scuzziest of scoundrels. What mattered on the Lucky Star was the amount of coin in your account and your willingness to spend it.
“Where did they say he should be?” Viola's eyes crawled over one neon sign after another.
“The Fool's Chance,” Puk said. “According to what I can find, it's to our left. And we'll know it by the line out the door.”
“People wanting to get in?”
“Drunks thrown out,” Puk replied.
The bot was right. Five minutes of pushing through crowds led them to The Fool's Chance. Seven or so men and women, avoided by other walkers, stumbled around outside the entrance with delight dying a sober death in their eyes. Their collective hangover made Viola wince. For once, she was glad she wasn't here to get a drink.
“Your comm,” said the man at the door, a scrawny sleaze sporting a pair of stun batons.
“No,” Viola replied.
“If you don't have enough coin, you're not getting in,” the bouncer said.
So she held up her comm, the small device on her wrist that tied everything Viola was to everywhere that was important. The bouncer bent over and adjusted a ring with a sheet of green glass in the middle over his left eye. After a moment concentrating on the scanner, he stood up and nodded.
“Guess that means we’re good,” Viola said to Puk as they walked in.
“Good to know Eden gave us enough,” Puk said.
The Fool's Chance was a far cry from the bars Viola had seen before. Rather than pulsing music and dark corners, The Fool's Chance was as bright as the Sun on a tropical day on Earth. Light penetrated everywhere, to the point where Viola felt blinded. Until someone slapped a pair of dark glasses into her hand.
“They're free,” said another man just inside the entrance with a whole basket of the glasses. “You've got to wear them if you want to stay in here.”
Viola slipped on the glasses and flinched as they molded themselves to her face. A little bar appeared in her vision, telling her that the glasses were syncing to her comm. The bright light dimmed to a normal level, and then further. Hit the deep dark shadows that she expected to see.
In the upper right corner of Viola’s vision, her coin balance appeared, a set of numbers too large by half. At least for her normal account. Eden wasn't taking chances with this mission.
“Why?” Viola said before she could stop herself. Obvious questions gave the asker away.
“We can see if you're doing anything stupid,” the man said, bored, as though he'd given the explanation a thousand times. “You know exactly how much you've got to spend.”
“How nice of you,” Puk said.
“We've already deducted the cost of a flight back to Earth,” the man shrugged. “Means you know just how much fun money you've got.”
“Thanks,” Viola said, moving towards the bar. “Let's just find Morris and get out of here.”
With her eyes adjusted, The Fool's Chance spread out into a series of tables around a long and looping bar. People clustered around each of them, the tables sporting different types of games. Skill, luck; both were represented in equal flair. Bots motored along the floor passing out drinks and occasional calorie tubes, the kind of thing that kept people standing who didn't care how.
And over at the bar, leaning sipping a nearly empty glass, was the man that fit the description. No uniform, but the thing about Morris, the thing that made him so valuable to Eden, stood out.
Captain Morris wore a link around his neck. It looked like a steel bar turned into a necklace. On its back was an open port. A hole with metal prongs.
“They say that's what makes him the best pilot,” Puk said. “He's one with the ship.”
“Right now,” Viola said. “I don't think he's one with anything.”
As Morris rubbed his eyes with his hand, Viola saw a pair of stiff bouncers come up behind him, both wearing identical black shirts and cargo pants stuffed with stun batons. And before Viola could even think of doing anything, the two men hit Morris in the back and knocked him off the bar. Grabbed him by the wrists and dragged him towards a red-lit door.
“I’d be surprised,” Puk said. “But given our luck, I expected nothing less.”
#
Viola slid up to the bar and took a seat, tracking the bartender with her eyes until she got his attention. The man, sporting his own pair of sunglasses and a couple of cocktail shakers, made his way over.
“You just punch in your order,” the bartender said, glancing down at the counter. On it was a display screen showing dozens of different drink options and their associated cost. All them looked wonderful. Viola didn't order any.
“What happened to that guy?” Viola said, nodding towards the red-lit door.
“Morris?” the bartender said. “Talk to Kassana. She was his dealer.”
The bartender nodded down the length of The Fool's Chance, to a square table where a woman led a game with virtual cards. Alongside Kassana sat a gambling triple threat. One guy in the deluxe finery that suggested an expense account over and above reasonable limits. The second sucking his way through a series of drinks, quenching his dwindling pile of virtual chips with a barrage of booze. And the third had hands and eyes that twitched with every move, trying to find a secret way to win with every play.
“Like to join in on the next round?” Kassana said to Viola as she stepped up to the table. “These lovely gentlemen would be happy to make some room.”
Kassana spoke with the silky smooth slide of a showman. Selling the game with her voice. Not that her outfit wasn't up to the task. A shirt and pants combo playing out with glowing lines that changed shades with every hand. A few strands of the lights played through her hair too.
“If only I had the time,” Viola said. “I need Morris, and I hear you're the one to talk to.”
Kassana paused mid-deal. The cards stopped on their float through the screen to each of the players hands.
“Gentlemen,” Kassana said. “Break time.”
The gamblers looked up to Viola, bits of fevered anger showing in their eyes as their addictions went unscratched. But warning glares from nearby bouncers staunched any other aggression.
“Morris played a bad hand and didn't have the coin to cover it,” Kassana said as soon as the table emptied. “Shame, because he’s a fun player.”
“And if we canceled the debt, Morris would go free?” Puk said.
“Of course,” Kassana replied. “Except, and don't take this the wrong way, you two don't look like you've got the money.”
“Eden's willing to pay whatever it takes,” Viola said. “We just need to get him out of here.”
It was one of those things that Viola knew was a mistake as soon as she said it. A change came over Kassana's face, the abiding pity morphing into the guise of a hungry predator.
“You want to get Morris out?” Kassana said. “Then let's go talk to Gard.”
“Gard?”
“The manager. He makes a strong first impression,” Kassana said.
The two of them, with Puk floating behind, went to the red-lit door. Kassana stuck her comm up to the scanner and the door slid open. They walked down a branching hallway to a lounge covered with screens and people watching them. In the middle of the mess stood a manicured man whose bald head was covered in an intricate tattoo. It took Viola a moment to understand the design, but she didn't see the Milky Way etched out with playing cards on a man's skull all that often.
“It's not your break time yet,” Gard said as Kassana walked in. “And since Morris didn't pay out, you're pretty far down on the day.”
“I won't be once you talk to these two,” Kassana said. “They're here for Morris. And they say they've got Eden's coin.”
“They show you proof?” Gard said. Kassana glanced at Viola.
“Show the man,” Kassana said.
Gard bothered to look at Viola for the first time. Viola knew he saw a young woman in a standard pilot set. Comfortable jumpsuit with the jacket full of pockets for tools. Not a winner.
She saw a frosted glare surrounded by heaps of skepticism and the kind of gaudy fashion funded by pride. Without those sunglasses, Viola bet she would've been blinded by the sparkles coming off Gard's suit.
“Puk?” Viola said.
The bot projected their account balance. The nice big round number Eden had authorized for the trip. Enough, so they'd been told, to get Morris off the station. Gard saw the amount and laughed.
“If you're really working for Eden, you can get double that no problem. We've got a fee here, a big one, for people that play without covering,” Gard said. “Pay that too, and we'll talk.”
“You can't be serious,” Viola said.
“From an analysis of his vocal patterns,” Puk said. “I gauge the likelihood of him being serious at 95%.”
“Your bot's annoying,” Gard said. “But it's not wrong. Double the coin. Then you get your boy back.”
“I’ll have to talk to Eden,” Viola said.
“Take your time,” Gard replied. “Morris isn't going anywhere.”
Looking down the hallway, Viola noticed a pair of bouncers coming back through, another man in tow. The same one that'd been at Kassana's table pounding drinks. At a fork in the hall in front of them, the two bouncers turned right, dragging the drunk after them.
“When you get the coin, you just come back and find me,” Kassana said. “We'll get it all taken care of.”
They passed by the branch and Viola glanced down the hallway. The two bouncers were shoving the drunk man into a room. Along either side were sets of doors. It seemed likely Morris was in one of them.
“What're you thinking, Puk?” Viola said.
“The odds are terrible. But that's never stopped us before,” Puk replied.
“What are you two talking about?” Kassana said.
#
Viola burst down the fork, towards the two bouncers, Puk following.
“What are you doing?” Kassana called. Her voice caused the bouncers to turn around, one slapping a panel on the side of the hall and closing the drunk's new home.
“Take them out,” Viola said. “Gently.”
“I can use my toys?” Puk said.
“Just this once.”
The bouncers moved to meet them, but as they closed, Puk armed itself. Brought out the small laser embedded in its right side and fired once, twice. Bolts just powerful enough to overload a man's nervous system. Each shot hit its target in the face, and they fell to the ground. Viola knelt down and grabbed one of their stun batons, flipped a small switch at the base to turn on the electricity, and then zapped the bouncers with a light tap. Just to make sure.
“You two are insane,” Kassana said. “Gard's going to kill you.”
“Puk?” Viola said as Kassana turned to run. “She keeps moving, you stun her.”
“Please,” Puk said to Kassana. “Run.”
The card dealer stood still, her hands raised. A good call. Viola grabbed one of the bouncers' wrists and pulled out her multi-tool. Flipped out the las-cutter, a two centimeter long super-hot beam, and, with a bit of precise slicing, cut the bouncer's comm off its owner. Then she slapped the comm against each of the scanners in the hallway in turn. Opening one door after the next until she found Morris. He was lying on the floor, still stunned from the batons. She'd have to carry him. Unless...
Behind her, the drunk man wandered out of his cell. Two other inmates did the same, looking at the downed bouncers. And then they ran.
“At least it's a distraction,” Viola said. She looked at Morris, his tired jacket going with the standard issue forest green Eden pants. “Puk, get in here. Bring her.”
The bot and Kassana entered a moment later. The card dealer had a look of permanent fear on her face. Like she could see her career draining away.
“You've got to have adrenaline here,” Viola said. “Where?”
The chemical would kick-start anyone who'd been stunned. Jolt the body back to life. If they were going to run out of here, Viola needed Morris standing.
“It's back with Gard. Where they keep all the emergency stuff,” Kassana said.
“Then I guess we're going back.”
Viola led the way, holding the stun baton. Down to the branch in the hallway and then to the right, towards the lounge with the monitors. Everything was deserted, except for two people watching the screens. And on those screens, Viola saw why.
Out in The Fools Chance, chaos reigned. The people that'd skipped out of their cells were running around, trying to avoid Gard and the other bouncers. Knocking things over, throwing punches, and ruining games.
“Nice work,” Puk said. The comment caused the two monitors to turn around, one started to raise his voice, and then he noticed Puk's laser.
“That's right,” Viola said to the man. “The adrenaline? Where is it?”
The monitor pointed to a slot underneath the main wall of screens where, separated by a slight gap, sat a sealed box. Viola looked for a scanner, but didn't see one. Just a number pad. But without the code, there wasn't going to be a way to crack it. Not before they ran out of time.
“Either of you know the number?” Viola asked the monitors. They both shook their heads.
“Oh, I do,” Kassana said. “All the dealers get it. In case we need a fix.”
“Mind spilling it?” Viola said.
“If we make a deal,” Kassana replied. “You get me off the Lucky Star, to anywhere else. And give me some of that Eden coin.”
“Done,” Viola said. It wasn't her coin. And she could drop Kassana off at Eden's own station, where the company's reps could take care of the dealer however they chose.
“Seven-seven-five-two,” Kassana said, and Viola punched in the numbers. The box cracked open, revealing a bundle of adrenaline as well as a bevy of other drugs. The kinds of things that would keep people awake and moving long after their bodies wanted to shut down. Other, more illicit numbers, filled out the safe. Good to see the Lucky Star living up to its dubious reputation.
Viola grabbed the adrenaline and ran down the hall. Behind her, Viola heard Kassana reach into the safe and pulled out some clinking phials before following, feet pounding on the metal floor.
#
Viola inserted the needle into Morris's chest and pressed down on the plunger. A second later the man's eyes shot open and he gasped a loud, angry breath. And then his hands wrapped around Viola's throat.
“I’m from Eden,” Viola coughed. “Here to get you out. Let go of me.”
Morris looked at her sideways, his eyes narrowing. Then he let her loose. Viola stood up and stepped away, rubbing her neck.
“That how you treat everyone that helps you?” Viola said.
“Might be why he was drinking alone,” Puk said.
“Always a little jerky when I wake up from a stunning,” Morris said, standing up. Then he caught a view of who else was in the room. Puk, he ignored. But Kassana...
“Now Morris, darling,” Kassana began. “I was helping...”
“You were helping?” Morris took three steps, towering over Kassana. “You were helping who? Yourself? Let me show you my appreciation.”
Morris cocked back a fist and Kassana threw her hands over her face.
Puk flew in between. “With all due respect, Captain Morris, there will be time for revenge later. Our odds of getting out are going down with every second.”
The blast of logic seemed to tone Morris down, and he lowered his arm. “Fine. Let's go.”
Viola followed Morris out of the room, Puk and Kassana trailing behind. As they went by the bouncers, Morris bent and picked up the other stun baton. Halfway down the hallway, he turned and looked back at Kassana.
“She's not coming with,” Morris said.
“She helped us get you up,” Viola said. “We made a deal.”
“I didn't. She's the reason I was stunned in the first place,” Morris said, throwing fiery eyes at Kassana. “You tell them how you cheated me out?”
“I...” Kassana started. And ended as two more bouncers, carrying a limp, stunned escapee came around the corner. At the sight of Morris and the others, the bouncers dropped their prisoner. One started to bring his comm up to his mouth. Morris threw his baton. It spun through the air and struck the bouncer in the face.
The second bouncer didn't have time to react before Morris was on him, a blur of swinging fists and guttural growls. Viola stood and watched.
“He's pretty good,” Puk said.
“I bet he gets in a lot of fights,” Viola replied.
“All the time,” Kassana said.
Ten seconds later they were moving down the hall again, the two new bouncers unconscious in their wake, lying next to their prisoner. They went through the red-lit door and back into The Fool's Chance. Morris seemed to be ignoring Kassana for the moment. Viola figured the captain had reordered his priorities, but she couldn't really tell, because the only thing Morris was doing was grumbling about cheaters and rubbing his bruised knuckles.
The Fool's Chance wasn't going to give them another opportunity to talk. It was a mess, with shattered glass, turned over tables, and a sloppy melee between gamblers, bouncers, and what passed for the Lucky Star's general security. Gard was there in the middle of it all, his own fists flying.
Viola couldn't wait to get off of this station.
#
The four of them edged their way around the outside of bar floor, staying clear of the ongoing series of punches, kicks, thrown bottles and yells of outrage. The front door was getting closer. Viola started to hope that maybe, just maybe, they’d actually get out of here.
Until Morris paused, the captain’s eyes tracking back to the center of the bar where Gard had just jumped on the counter, hands directing security.
“Now that’s a fight,” Morris said, pausing to watch the flying fists and tumbling bodies.
“It’s not ours,” Viola replied.
“Not yet,” Morris said.
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll be quick. Just a few licks,” Morris said. Before Viola could protest, Morris waded his way into the fight, seemingly picking a target at random. The first man he came across was part of the Lucky Star’s security detail, a stocky man covered in branded black body armor. As the enforcer turned, Morris decked him. Kept on walking.
“He seems competent,” Puk said.
“He seems like a moron,” Viola said.
“Close,” Kassana added. “When he’s a little less angry, though, Morris can be a lot of fun.”
Morris ducked a pair of wild swings from another patron, then barreled into the man, hugging him beneath his shoulders and using the guy as a battering ram to get through the crowd. Slammed the luckless man into the bar counter and let him drop. Turned and took a swipe at a bouncer who, tragically, failed to notice the loose cannon captain running wild behind him.
“What he said about cheating earlier?” Viola asked, watching the melee. “What was that about?”
“I may have been under my quota,” Kassana said. “Morris was being annoying, so maybe I flipped some cards. I didn’t know it was his last coin.”
“Isn’t that illegal?” Puk said.
“You know where you are?”
“Point.”
Gard looked down from his post on top of the bar, noticed Morris beneath him. Shouted something that Viola couldn’t hear, and then jumped down to the floor. Morris was ready, flew in with a right hook as soon as Gard hit the ground.
Only Gard wasn’t slow either, his card-covered head ducking under Morris’s punch. Gard delivered a pair of jabs into the captain’s stomach, but Morris, either through the lingering supply of liquor in his blood, the adrenaline, or just pure rage shrugged them off, grabbed Gard by the shoulders and slammed him into the bar.
Gard rolled off the counter’s edge, kept his balance, and when Morris moved in for the follow-up, Gard kicked a chair into Morris’s legs. The captain tripped up over the plastic furniture and fell to the floor. Gard moved over to Morris, lifted up his foot, and fell over twitching.
“Get up,” Viola said, holding the stun baton in her hand. “We’re done here.”
Morris untangled himself from the chair and stood, looked at Gard’s unconscious form. “But I was having so much fun.”
#
They were ten seconds into the Lucky Star’s corridor, heading towards the docking bay, before the shouts started.
“I think they’ve caught up to us,” Puk beeped.
“Your bot is exceptionally competent at stating the obvious,” Morris said. Behind them, back towards the bar, Viola noticed more Lucky Star security coming their way. These armed with more than stun batons.
“Helps keep me grounded,” Viola said. “Puk, go get that shuttle ready.”
Puk zipped out in front of them, floating over the heads in the crowded corridor. Kassana, Morris, and Viola dipped and dodged through the panicked people. Dealers and dopers dove all over the place, their wide eyes unsure if they were the targets. Viola tried to keep Morris in front of her, make sure the man wasn’t going to dive off into another fight.
Stunning bolts shot through the crowd, knocking people to the ground. Viola held her focus, ducking and weaving at random. Fanning her jacket. Trying to be a hard target. They made it to the docking bay door, Morris stepping through and Viola right after. And then she heard the yelp. Even getting shot, Kassana’s voice kept that silky strain.
“She’s down,” Viola called to Morris.
“Who cares?” Morris said, glancing out at Kassana’s body. They only had a minute before security reached them.
“If it wasn’t for her, you’d still be back in that cell,” Viola said. “She made it even.”
Morris huffed. “You’re soft.”
“Until we get back to Eden, I’m the leader on this mission. Carry her.”
Was it reckless to risk Morris to save a card dealer? Maybe. But Viola did know that leaving Kassana here wouldn’t be doing the woman any favors. Gard didn’t seem the forgiving type.
Morris growled as a panicking gambler ran past the docking bay door. The captain reached out and grabbed the man. Held him in front of his own body as Morris stepped out from the docking bay. A series of stunning bolts slammed into the human shield, knocking the poor sap out.
Under the cover of the unconscious man, Morris moved closer to Kassana’s body, reached out and grabbed her with one hand and dragged the woman along the ground.
As soon as they were back through the door, Viola shut the docking bay entrance and, activating the stun baton, jammed the weapon into the door’s controls. She didn’t know if it would actually do anything, but it didn’t hurt to try. Puk lowered the shuttle’s ramp and they, with Morris carrying Kassana, pounded up it.
Viola slid into the pilot seat and kicked the shuttle off the ground, up and out of the bay. Back into the infinite bliss of space.
“So what are we gonna do with her now?” Morris said, taking the copilot’s chair.
“That’s up to her,” Viola said. “Where we’re going, she’ll have plenty of options.”
“Where are we going?” Morris asked.
“Back where you belong,” Viola replied.
Earth spread below them, and the Lucky Star drifted away behind the shuttle. As Viola punched in the flight path, she couldn’t hold back a smile.
Maybe this job wouldn’t be so boring after all.
-o-
A.R. Knight writes sci-fi and fantasy in the frozen north of Wisconsin. With a pair of cats keeping him company, he enjoys delving into adventures that are as much about the villain as the hero.
When he's not writing, he tends to travel anywhere he can, whether that's islands off the coast of Ecuador, the rainforest, snowboarding in the Rocky Mountains, or sipping scotch in Edinburgh. That's the nice thing about the writing life, you can take it anywhere.
Homepage: http://adamrknight.com
Mailing List: http://adamrknight.com/newsletter
