Galactic Vengeance Read online

  Mare laughed into her cup. "You have him pegged, but you should have gotten your favor first. There is little chance of getting paid for any project you do for the little Commander."

  Nodding, Keenan returned with a wicked smile. "Perhaps the little turd had misjudged me. There are all kinds of tricks out there, and he will have to come onto my ship to retrieve his troops. Do you think he is brave enough to enter the Adamant?"

  Now the sergeant sat back and loosened the belt and first buttons on her pants to be more comfortable. "There isn't a brave bone in that short asshole's body. So, are you going to keep us, prisoners?"

  "How about just comfortable guests until the Commander pays the hotel bill?" Keenan shifted in his seat and reached above to open a small cabinet built into the wall above the table. From it, he drew out a bottle of whiskey and two tall shot glasses. He poured what would be a standard shot and half of the tall thin glass in front of her.

  She looked at it and then up at him. With an eyebrow raised, she put one finger on the top and tapped. He knew what she wanted and filled the glass to make a double shot of the rich, strong brew. He did the same in the other glass and picked up his.

  Drawing up hers in her work-worn hands, she raised the glass to him and nodded. "To paying the hotel bill."

  Smiling, Keenan tapped her glass with his. "To receiving payment in full."

  The bottle was half empty before they made it to his bunk. The lady was as good as her looks promised, using every inch of her body to meet him in every movement and whatever his mouth, hands, and cock demanded. The first time was fast, the second was better, and the third left them sweaty and falling asleep on the bunk.

  Not knowing what time it was when he woke up in the dark cabin, Keenan did not want to wake the warm body between him and the wall of the cabin. He slowly got up, grabbed some clothes, and, as he went out the door, set her long gun outside in the hall. He would have Poly pick it up and put it with the rest of the troops' weapons.

  He ducked into the first unused cabin and spent a short time in the shower to get the smell of sex off. Dressed, he made his way up to the bridge to find out what, if anything, Thea had learned from the men.

  What amazed him about Thea was she could spend two days and two nights without sleep, out drinking a crew at a bar, and beating them at some game, and come to the ship looking as if she had just stepped out of a woman's spa.

  Stumbling over the lip of the airlock door as he entered the bridge, Keenan held the large mug of coffee as if it were a lifeline. He blinked his eyes at the blue lights from the screens and slid down on his spine into his favorite seat. He looked over at Thea, who winked and looked like she had just slept for sixteen hours straight. That woman had recuperative powers that were unbelievable.

  "Rough night, Boss?" Bruno asked as he got up to turn the ship over to them. It was time for him to get some real shuteye.

  "Nope, just the opposite." Keenan took a gulp of the hot coffee, hoping the burn of the liquid would do something to jar him awake. "What did the fucking soldiers tell you?"

  "Nothing. The idiots know nothing. They had a doctor hide a small box in the kid, but none of them knows what it is, including the stupid kid. Who lets someone put a weapon inside of them without asking questions?" Thea shook her head while she ran her hand across a few light buttons to check their destination. "You know we're going to be several days out here before meeting that damn Commander, don't you?"

  "Yes, I told Poly to take the long way. Where are the fucking pills? I have a headache." He leaned forward to pull a drawer open. It was full of trash, and he pushed a few things aside and shut it again.

  "Here." Thea handed him a paste tab. They were a type of med that was attached to the body and slowly dissolved through the skin. They would disappear as the meds moved through the blood. Relief began fast.

  "So, what I did find out," Thea continued with her information. "The troop was sent out to obtain the weapon that was contained in a small container that was made from a natural element that was bone-like material. This was what convinced everyone that it was safe to put into a living body."

  "So why did they decide to even put it into Shutter?"

  "Because of being caught in the war. They lost their ride and were trapped in the middle of battles of people that no one knows who is fighting, and what they are fighting about." Turning her chair, she looked at Keenan. "I saw an OOW warship as we came into Duna Plus, but they didn't seem to be doing anything. Do you know what they were doing there?"

  "No, the Organization of Worlds usually only gets into a fracas when someone evil attacks a lot of helpless people that appeals to them. I didn't see anyone, in particular, making an appeal. Duna Plus seems to be in a bunch of battles, among a lot of people with no real central plan." Keenan sat back, at last, enjoying his coffee and his favorite chair."

  "Do you want me to keep working on the soldiers?"

  Looking over at the beautiful woman, Keenan had an idea. "You know what we need is an accident with our ship. One bad enough to shake everyone up and cause some injuries."

  "An accident with the Adamant?" Thea looked puzzled. She knew the strength and abilities of the great ship made it almost impossible to damage.

  "Yes, so that maybe a couple of the soldiers might get broken bones, and one might require Poly to perform an operation."

  Chapter Fourteen

  The ship Adamant was in a low orbit over the location marked as the headquarters of Commander Fra Ereck.

  "This is the ship Adamant to contact Commander Ereck," Thea repeated the broadcast over again and waited for a reply. She checked the dashboard and felt they had made the connection, but they weren't getting a response.

  "Ship Adamant, is Captain Keenan available?" At last, they got a response.

  Thea nodded at Keenan and threw up a picture on the main screen. It was just a soldier from somewhere below.

  "This is Captain Keenan. I need to meet with Commander Ereck. I have his package."

  There was static on the audio, but the picture was clear. The man looked at someone in the room and nodded. "Captain Keenan, land and discharge your package. Wait for further instructions."

  "Unacceptable. I need to talk to the Commander." Keenan waited for the response as they watched the man look at someone else.

  "Land, and we will have transportation waiting for you and our troops. We assume you were able to retrieve all six. Land at the orange light on the field outside of the town."

  "We will land." Keenan nodded at Thea, who cut off the connection.

  "Take her down, and I will go out and meet the short fucker."

  The landing was quick and stirred up a great deal of dust, just as Keenan wanted, as he preferred to make everyone on the ground uncomfortable.

  Touching the upper part of his face, Keenan could feel the blue healing patch that was in place. He could have cured the deep cut from the ship's accident by doing a slight pull from mother earth, but he needed to keep up the act of an injury.

  With Thea's and Poly's help, he had arranged an accident with the six soldiers in the small bay. They had all been down there for a daily workout. Poly had seen that there were some loose re-bars in stacks, and Thea put on the act of a strike from something.

  Everyone was thrown around the area, against the docked shuttles or walls, and even the ceiling. With two serious injuries from the metal bars inserted in their bodies and two more unconscious, Poly and Bruno were soon there to help.

  The ones with serious injuries were taken to the med area for Poly to operate and remove the metal bars and put them into doc boxes for healing. The others were revived and given medical attention with a couple of broken bones set in quick casts and the blue healing patches.

  The only person to walk out of the ship and down to the bottom of the ramp was Captain Keenan. There was the usual line of trucks and way too many soldiers with weapons standing around in the dust storm.

  One of the special trucks with a man on
top handling a gun that was built on the upper part pulled around to stop. Keenan had seen the truck before and was not surprised to see the unusually long truck pulling up in the distance. The big headquarters vehicle traveled slower.

  As usual, a couple of armed soldiers got out of the truck first, followed by the short Commander. Strutting up to Keenan with a deep frown and his hands on his hips, he started with a yell.

  "Where are my soldiers?"

  "Fra, there was a problem with an attack. We think it might have been fucking pirates. It was over fast, as our ship scared them off quickly, but there were injuries." Now Keenan pointed at the blue healing patch on his face.

  "What, you lost my people?" Now the little man was spitting.

  "No. We saved everyone. But some of your people are ambulatory, and you need to bring up medic trucks. I will ask my crew to help your people out once the vehicles and medics are present."

  "Let me see the soldiers." The Commander was so angry it looked like he was going to stomp his foot as he shifted in the dust.

  "Sure," Keenan turned and waved up the ramp. "Just come into my ship."

  The Commander looked up into the darkness behind the hole where the ramp had descended and looked around at his trucks along with his many armed men. "Get the medics here."

  He decided he would rather have the crew taken care of properly and not get into that ship that looked so threatening.

  When trucks pulled up with no markings, and some people, both men, and women dressed in green, got out with bags, leaving the back doors open, Keenan nodded. He gave a signal behind him, and his crew began to help the soldiers from his ship.

  The two that were still unconscious due to surgery were on floating cots controlled by the robot Poly. Two more that had quick set casts were being helped out by the big pale bald Bruno, and finally, Thea led out two soldiers that were smiling as they held onto the beautiful woman's hands. They didn't need help; they really liked holding onto her.

  The six were soon inside the backs of the two medical trucks, with a path made for the vehicles quick exit. The Commander turned and had a silly smile. "Well, I guess I owe you a thanks for your efforts."

  "No, the fucking agreement was that you would introduce me to your boss."

  The Commander threw up his hands and laughed. "Well, I will have to put that into his schedule. I'm sorry, but the Boss is extremely busy. I don't think he will be able to get around to being introduced to outsiders for a long time. I have to leave now, as I'm a busy person too."

  The Commander turned and was walking back to his smaller truck, evidently not needing to check on any messages on that big headquarters vehicle.

  "Too bad." Keenan let his voice carry so that the Commander and all of the soldiers nearby could hear him. "I was going to give your boss that important weapon. Well, no problem, I will keep it on my ship until he finds time to meet me." Now Keenan also turned to begin to step on the ramp.

  "Where is the trainee?" The Commander was pointing at the disappearing medical trucks. "Stop those trucks."

  Turning, Keenan smiled. "Oh, the trainee is on one of those trucks. But the weapon is no longer in him. It’s on my ship."

  "You bastard. I'll blow you and that ship out of existence. You will be just more dust on this field." Ereck raised his hands and was turning around and around.

  Raising one of his own hands, Keenan made a signal, and the Adamant went into stealth mode with a dark hole behind its Captain. "You fire one cannon at my ship, and we will send missiles across this area that will wipe out all of you. Think Fra, because you will be the first to die. Now take a moment and talk to your boss. There is an answer to your problem."

  "No, no, no, no." The Commander seemed to be almost in tears, but his face was so red it looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel on his forehead. One of the soldiers walked up to the Commander and finally got the man to listen. The Commander looked around suddenly, aware that everyone was looking at him. He straightened his shoulders and marched over to the long truck, going up the steps into the middle section.

  Deciding to copy the Commander's actions, Keenan walked up the ramp and went into the ship. But the ramp stayed down on the ground, and the ghost-like dark hole that allowed a view into the door lock was still left open. Now they just waited.

  Poly brought some sandwiches and water to Keenan, where he sat on a crate just out of range in the hallway of the ship. Here he could keep an eye out for the action in the dusty field with all the trucks and soldiers.

  The time was slipping past in the hot sun as it moved across the sky. Keenan was about to decide he would go ahead and move up to the bridge to watch the procedure on the screens when the side door of the big truck opened. A young woman walked over to the end of the ramp and came to attention.

  She held the rigid pose until Keenan came down the ramp to face her. "Sir." She held out a standard pad. "This contains a location. It is not to be shared and can only be looked at for one time and will destroy itself. Our Supreme Leader Grigor Macher requests your presence at your convenience."

  Walking down to the young female soldier, Keenan smiled and took the pad. "Thank you. My crew and I will leave immediately. Take care." He returned a nod to the soldier's salute and waited, but the woman looked up to him with a frown and determination. She wasn't the usual grunt and reminded him of Sergeant Mare Gilbert. This soldier, without any rank showing on her uniform, had a stance about her that reflected authority.

  "I'm to accompany you to your meeting." Now her words were not so polite. Yep, this female was used to giving orders.

  "What is your name, soldier?"

  "I am Sub-leader Sorchia Ment. May I come aboard now?"

  Noticing that her speech wasn't as polite and that she didn't add another 'sir' as she made her request, Keenan waved as he turned. He knew she was following.

  Going into the ship and up to the bridge, he handed the pad to Thea. Both Thea and Poly examined the information that came up, and he had to smile. The pad did go up in smoke, and Thea threw it across the room with a curse as it was burning. The extreme effort to hide the location from others was a waste because both Thea and Poly had the information. Poly had it archived, so it was in a permanent record file. They could pass that information on to as many people as they desired.

  "So where are we going, team?" Keenan asked as he slid down into his favorite seat.

  Reaching for glowing lights, Thea looked back at their visitor as she answered. "The asteroid belt in this system."

  "How long?"

  "Two days travel time so that you can get a good night's sleep." Again, Thea looked over at the female soldier standing with legs apart and hands gripped behind her back. The woman's body was rigid, and even though she was attractive, the grip of her teeth made her face stiff. Staring at the woman, Thea saw the two long thin knives on each hip instead of a gun. Something told Thea that the woman had other knives hidden elsewhere on her body. This was one dangerous soldier. Why had the boss allowed her on the ship?

  "Set the limited AI and navigator, and let's go. I need a drink after all that dust." Keenan turned and had to stop to stare at the soldier as she blocked the exit. "Coming?"

  With a quick motion, the woman stepped sideways. Keenan nodded as he left the bridge, heading for the galley. What he needed was whiskey, but when he got to the galley, he grabbed a juice from the cold cabinet. He knew his body needed help, and he didn't want to make even a small change or shift. As he turned, he almost bumped into the soldier who had silently followed him.

  "Looking for food or drink. Help yourself." He stood back to allow her use of the kitchen area.

  "Where is the weapon stored on this ship?" Her words were sharp.

  "Well, not in the galley. That small item is in a safe place. Now I'm heading for my cabin to catch up on some reports. You can use any of the cabins in the back that have open doors. Just register your palm, and you will have privacy." With this, Keenan moved around the indignant
woman and started down the narrow hallway.

  "I would like to see it. I need to ascertain that it is safe and still in its original shape." She was now following him.

  Without turning around, Keenan spoke over his shoulder. "You will see it when we pull it out to take it to Macher. Till then, it remains in a dedicated lockdown." Having reached his cabin, he placed his hand on the palm plate and watched the door slide open. He stepped in and looked back at the soldier.

  "If you come in, I am happy to share my fucking bunk. Otherwise, go find your cabin." He waited a moment, seeing her standing firmly in the hall. At last, with the frown, the Sub-leader turned and began to walk away. Keenan shrugged and palmed the door shut. He hunted out a bottle of whiskey and topped off the juice with it. Satisfied, he sat down on the edge of the bunk and drank with a frown of his own.

  This was going to be a hell of the next two days. He needed a shower and clean clothes after the dust from the field outside. He hesitated and then put a lock on the palm plate of the door. He also needed some downtime. But he was worried about the spy onboard.

  "Poly, keep an eye on the soldier."

  "Yes, Captain. Soldier breaking in Armory."

  "What?" Keenan stood up; not sure he heard the bot correctly inside his ear contact.

  "She inside now."

  Sitting back down, he wondered how much trouble or damage she could do with all their weapons. The one weapon she was looking for was not in that heavily barricaded closet. Well, let her wear herself out searching his ship for the strange small box.

  "Okay, Poly. Report to me if she gets into something serious or hurts herself."

  "Yes, Captain."

  It was time for that shower he had promised himself. For the rest of the afternoon, after getting refreshed and returning to the bridge, Keenan got short reports from Poly.

  Only Bruno was on the deck and explained that Thea had decided to get something to eat and some sleep. They would trade off later through the night.