Mako Rising - Ch. 1 Part 3

Qadira swung her right leg around to catch the captain behind the ankle and sweep his legs out from under him. Liam chuckled quietly to himself as he watched Qadira put her hands on her hips and glare down at Captain Markov.

“What did you do?” she demanded.

“I didn’t do anything! If Irene did plan this, it has nothing to do with me,” the captain protested as he clambered to his feet.

Qadira snorted indelicately. “Right, and I’m the new poster child for the Space Mormons!”

“I haven’t even heard from the woman in two years,” Markov insisted. “And don’t call the pioneer religions Space Mormons, it’s rude.”

“Doc, why are you here?” Qadira asked.

“Jameson is dead and we need a new pilot,” Liam explained.

Qadira punched Liam in the arm. “Dammit, you know I don’t like to hear sad things when I’m being snarky! What the hell happened to Jameson?”

“He got shot by a sexy librarian-looking woman right as we showed up to recruit him for General Siderus’ new mission,” Liam told her.

Qadira growled something that Liam assumed was a vile curse in Arabic. “And that didn’t tip you off that Irene was gunning for you?”

“Jameson was in a bar fight when he got shot. At the time it just seemed like bad luck,” the captain said.

“You survived a nine year war against killer robots, participated in the final assault that secured our victory over those robots, made a lifelong friend and ally out of the most brilliant and famous military mind of our generation, were awarded the first personal FTL ship as payment for your service, and somehow you still think your bad luck comes from anywhere but the one woman who has been your only stumbling block for the past decade?” Qadira raged.

“It seemed logical at the time,” Markov asserted stubbornly. “I wouldn’t have suspected sabotage until we arrived just in the nick of time for your rescue as well!”

“Then why are you arguing with me about whether or not Irene is behind this?” Qadira shot back.

“I…you…Liam, help me out, here!” Markov turned to Liam beseechingly.

Liam shook his head. “She makes a good point, captain. If Irene isn’t behind this, I’ll eat my stethoscope. The bitch of the matter is going to be convincing her to come with us now that we know Irene is involved.”

“Come with you? Oh, hell no!” Qadira shook her head fervently.

“Qadira, you’re the best pilot I know and General Siderus himself needs us for this mission,” the captain explained.

“I don’t care if Mohamed and Moses need me, I am not going up against Irene Ackley again! Why? Because I am not a complete and utter idiot like you!” Qadira growled.

“We need you,” Markov said stubbornly.

“And I need you to go to hell,” Qadira answered just as stubbornly.

“Qadira,” Liam interrupted their argument before it got too out of hand. “Walk with me.”

Qadira glared over her shoulder at the captain as Liam led her away down the corridor. “I’m not going with you!” she said as soon as they were out of Markov’s hearing.

“I know. That’s not why I pulled you aside,” Liam told her.

“It’s not?” Qadira stared back at him suspiciously.

Liam shook his head. “I just wanted to say a proper goodbye without you and the captain hissing and spitting at one another.”

“What do you mean a proper goodbye?” Qadira asked, still obviously suspicious.

“Well, Jameson bought the farm before the mission even started, which means we’ll be relying on Ursula to watch our backs.” Liam sighed.

“I see what you’re doing and it is not going to work, old man!” Qadira insisted.

“I mean, if we had a top-notch pilot on our side to get us out of all the crazy shit the captain and Ursula get us into, maybe we’d have had a chance. But as it is? No, I don’t think so.”

“Shut up, Doc! If it’s going to be such a suicide mission, then don’t go! I’m not going!” Qadira shouted angrily.

“I know you’re not going, but you don’t go as far back with the captain and General Siderus as I do. They saved the whole human race. That deserves having a good physician on hand to patch them up if they manage to survive this shit show. Besides, it’s not like I have a wife or a family that I’ll be abandoning if I buy the farm.” Liam shrugged forlornly.

“Dammit, Liam! I swear to Allah, if you guilt me into doing this I will end you!”

“Why would you feel guilty if I died? I mean, sure there are those four times I saved your life on my operating table and then the time I cured your little sister’s cancer, but is that really worth leaving your cushy test pilot job here on Saturn?”

Qadira jabbed her knee at Liam’s groin, but he had already started twisting away. He expected as much from her. “Fine! I’ll go, but if we die I am going to make sure you and the captain rot in hell!”

*

“Boy, fetch me another bourbon!” Wilson Sherman barked at his gangly nephew. They were tuning the engine of a Nebula class freighter. Nothing fancy, but the ship’s captain had paid up front so there was no use bellyaching about the work being boring. It kept the booze flowing and it was good practice for Andrew. The lad knew next to nothing about engine repair even after nearly two years of living with Wilson here on Blue Cardiff.

Andrew gulped nervously. “But Uncle Wilson, you told me to stop giving you alcohol twenty minutes ago!”

“Nonsense! That doesn’t sound like me at all!”

“You said you were seeing double and couldn’t tell which particle regulator was the real one,” Andrew explained sheepishly.

“Now that sounds like me.” Wilson guffawed drunkenly. “I’m sure I can see just fine now, so fetch me another bourbon!”

“But Mary disapproves of your drinking,” Andrew objected softly.

“Who?” Wilson asked after a particularly potent hiccup.

“Mary. The girl I was telling you about.”

Wilson stared at his nephew blankly.

“We’ve been talking about her for almost an hour!”

Wilson shook his head. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”

“Uncle!” Andrew groaned. “I love Mary, but she won’t go out with me because she still has feelings for her ex-boyfriend!”

“Where’s my bourbon, boy?” Wilson asked as he returned to his repairs.

Wilson continued working. With a few modifications the Nebulas could be turned into proper starships, but this captain didn’t have the credits for that kind of work. A shame, really. Tune ups were so dreadfully dull that Wilson always ended up drinking on the job to keep it interesting. Not that he got much other work out here on Blue Cardiff. It was a pretty planet, but there weren’t enough mineral deposits to warrant a major colony. They made damn good bourbon, though, and that’s what mattered to Wilson.

“Um…uncle?” Andrew called fearfully from the front of the shop.

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, don’t panic if we’re out of booze! Just run to the store and buy some more! You know how I hate details,” Wilson muttered irritably.

“Oh, I’ve heard how you hate a great many things,” a man’s deep voice that was much too calm and confident to be Andrew’s answered.

“The hell?” Wilson looked up from his work to see a burly man with a gun pointed at him.

“Mazrim Krane sends his regards!”

*

“Hurry now, God knows what Irene has in store for Wilson. Knowing him, he’ll be passed out drunk and won’t even notice when the assassin arrives.” Captain Markov pressed Liam and Qadira to move faster. He did not want to arrive too late to save one of his friends from Irene.

Markov saw the door to Wilson’s repair shop was ajar. He raised a hand to halt Liam and Qadira behind him. He drew his gun and the others did the same. Markov kicked the door all the way open and quickly scanned the room for danger.

“Captain? What the hell are you doing here?” Wilson slurred heavily.

A large man lay dead in the middle of the shop with at least eight holes in his chest. “Obviously not saving you,” Markov answered. He holstered his pistol as Liam and Qadira filed in behind him.

“Saving me? Hah! That’s a laugh. When do I ever need saving – don’t answer that!” Wilson hiccupped before taking another drink.

“What happened? And don’t leave anything out,” Markov ordered.

Wilson shrugged. “Not much to tell, really. Fella came in, told me that Mazrim Krane sends his regards, and then when he turned to shoot Andrew first I pulled out my gun and shot him full o’ holes. I only missed a couple times.” He pointed to the fresh laser burns on the wall behind the dead man. “I ain’t a great shot, but he was close enough for it not to make any difference.”

“Shit,” Markov growled. “Irene again.”

“Well duh, but how come you’re so certain?” Qadira asked.

“Mazrim Krane is one of her aliases,” Liam explained. “And who is Andrew? You don’t seem the type to take on an apprentice, Wilson.”

“My goddamn nephew. Been looking after him since I left the Mako. Well, as good as I can look after anybody, that is. Say hello, Andrew.” Wilson waved at the scrawny lad shivering in the corner. Sharing the room with a freshly dead body obviously did not sit well with young Andrew. The boy was about twenty, with light brown hair and eyes. He was also ghastly pale and skinny to boot.

“H-hello,” Andrew stammered.

“Hello.” Markov turned back to Wilson. “How about coming back on as my mechanic? I’m putting the crew back together and –”

“Sold!” Wilson exclaimed jubilantly. “Anything to get me off the goddamn rock. Andrew has to come too, though. And he gets at least a half a share of the rest of the crew’s pay.”

“A quarter,” Markov countered.

“A third?” Wilson asked hesitantly.

“A quarter. Unless he has some of your talent as a mechanic,” Markov said firmly.

Wilson shrugged. “A quarter share it is, then. He’s a good lad, though. You’ll probably like him a lot more than I do.”

*

“You’ll tell me where the diamonds are hidden,” Ursula said calmly. She let a little spark slip down her fingers into the man she held against the wall’s cheek. He squirmed and whimpered, but remained silent. “A brave boy? That is really too bad for you, isn’t it?” She let a full stream of electricity stampede down her arm that sent her victim shaking like a leaf in the wind. When she released him he dropped to the floor, quite dead. She turned to the surviving thieves. “The first one of you who talks gets to live. The rest fry.”

“There’s a hidden safe under the dresser!” one of the would-be robbers shouted.

“Good boy,” Ursula stroked his cheek before electrocuting him. The others tried to bolt in a wild panic, but she stretched out her hands and sent bolts of lightning out in an arc that filled the little room. Five more men collapsed, corpses with charred flesh where Ursula’s freakish gift from the machines had scarred them.

Ursula pushed over the dresser to reveal the concealed safe. A carefully aimed lightning bolt destroyed the hinges and she easily pried the door off the safe. The diamonds she had been hired to retrieve were the only thing inside. Ursula smiled. Another happy customer and another slew of dead people who should have known better than to cross the girl who could shoot lightning out of her fingers.

“The diamonds are worth more than the payout for this job, you know,” a familiar voice told her from behind.

Ursula grinned. “Captain Markov taught me that the object or person retrieved was always more valuable than the reward to retrieve it.” She turned around to see the closest thing she had ever had to a mother. “Otherwise why would they pay you to get it for them? No one wants to lose money on a deal.”

Irene chuckled and sat down on the table in the corner of the little room. “Yet another reason why your adopted father has had his entire life savings stolen more than once. By me.” Irene was fairly tall for a woman, and when she wanted to she was a master of disguise. But today she came to visit Ursula with her hair its natural brown and her eyes their normal blue. No false noses or fake wrinkles or distractionary moles.

“There was a time in my life when I would have given anything to get Captain Markov’s credits back from you,” Ursula warned, sitting and crossing her legs in one of the chairs set up for the interrogators.

“And sadly that time has long past. I did so enjoy your blind devotion to Markov. He needs someone to believe in him.” Irene smirked.

“I still believe in him,” Ursula growled. “I just don’t believe in the rest of the universe.”

That brought a smile to Irene’s face. “And why would you? Especially after all it’s done to you.”

Ursula frowned. She could tell when Irene was trying to manipulate her. “I don’t like to dwell on the past.”

“And why would you? The past is so dreary! Your precious captain is coming to call on you once more, isn’t that exciting? I want you to go with him.”

“And why the hell would I do anything that you want me to do?” Ursula asked.

Irene’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “I’m one of the two people in the universe that you respect.”

Ursula snarled at Irene. “Even if that were true, I’d never betray Markov for you!”

Irene stood. “And that’s the point, dearie. I need someone truly loyal to him to keep him alive through this mess he’s gotten himself into. Can I count on you to do that for me?”

“You can count on me to zap you into itty-bitty particles before you reach that door,” Ursula threatened.

Irene laughed. “No I can’t.”

Ursula tensed. Sparks materialized between her fingertips as she charged her powers.

And then Irene walked out.

“FUCK!” Ursula screamed as she blew a hole in the wall with the energy she had accumulated.