Mako Rising - Ch. 1 Part 5

“Why am I coming with you again?” Liam asked as he glanced around the heavily guarded space station corridor. They were in orbit around Dartmax where the bio-weapons had been developed and subsequently escaped.

“General Siderus told me that Doctor Monroe is not much of a people person,” Markov explained.

“You warned the crew about that already, but I’m probably just as bad if not worse than this Selandra woman!” Liam had to step lively to avoid being run over by a jogging soldier.

Markov chuckled. “I know, and that’s exactly why you’re here. I think the two of you will get along swimmingly.”

Captain Markov led him into a sterile white laboratory occupied by a single woman in a long lab coat. She was of average height, had her blonde hair pulled back, and her green eyes were hidden behind safety goggles. Doctor Monroe was bent over a microscope, meaning even her bulky lab coat could not conceal the fact that she had a delightfully curvy backside. Markov nudged Liam with his elbow when he caught him staring.

“What?” Liam whispered. Markov just shook his head.

“Captain Markov, I presume,” Selandra said without looking up from her microscope. “The rest of the staff has learned not to enter except by appointment.”

“That’s correct, Doctor Monroe,” the captain answered. “What can you tell us about the situation?”

“Straight to business, perhaps you won’t be a complete waste of time after all. Siderus spoke very highly of you, which is rare for him.” She finally stood and turned to get a look at them. She nodded towards Liam. “A member of your crew?”

“Doctor Liam Lafayette.” Liam inclined his head politely.

“My first officer aboard the Mako Rising. He also served with General Siderus in the AI Wars,” Markov said.

“A reunion, then. Lovely. Well, McDonalds-Wal*Mart made a royal mess out of Dartmax, as you know from the briefing documents. Unfortunately, what is being kept secret is much, much worse.”

“Worse than an escaped bio-weapon that forced the evacuation of an entire planet and killed thousands?” Liam asked skeptically.

“It’s not just a bio-weapon,” Selandra said tersely. “I should know, I helped create it. It’s a plant-based organism designed to seek out and destroy technology, particularly metal. It was developed at the end of the AI Wars as a potential solution should Siderus fail. Obviously he did not and the plants proved unnecessary.”

“But you didn’t destroy them,” Markov observed.

“Of course not! This is a new species! The scientific knowledge we’ve gained from study alone has been invaluable! Besides, what if the AI were to return? The research still exists to recreate them, multiple corporations are known to possess it, so the plants were kept should they become necessary once more.”

“Very well,” Markov allowed grumpily. “Continue.”

“The entire reason Siderus called you and not one of his military flunkies is because of the very confidential information I’m about to share with you. You alone he said he trusted to handle this while he makes preparations for the worst,” Doctor Monroe said ominously.

“Out with it!” Markov growled.

“The plants are sentient.”

*

The crew was gathered around the Mako’s mess room table to hear the news Selandra had for them. They were taking it about as well as Markov had feared.

“You sneaky, sciency bitch!” Ursula shouted. “This is what they do! They poke and they prod until this!” She held out her hands and created a ball of electricity in each palm.

Qadira put a calming hand on Ursula’s shoulder. “Just how sentient are we talking here? Kindergarteners? Teenagers? Wilson after a bottle and a half?”

Doctor Monroe rolled her green eyes at Qadira. “Little girl, don’t ask technical questions that you cannot hope to understand the answers to.”

“Hey! What was that about me?” Wilson lurched to his feet, finally realizing he’d been insulted, but Liam pushed him back down into his seat.

“Little girl?” Qadira asked icily. “Honey, you look like you’re barely in your forties! That means at twenty-three I’m hardly a little girl!”

Markov saw Selandra’s nostrils flare angrily. He knew from General Siderus’ files that she was only twenty-eight. He also knew that Qadira was deliberately lashing out at their newest crew member after Selandra’s snide remark.

“Enough,” Captain Markov cut in. “You two can argue on your own time. How smart are these plants? Dumb it down for us, Doctor Monroe.”

Selandra clenched her teeth irritably. “The plants do not experience life the same way we do. They grow incredibly fast for flora, but that is still a glacial pace compared to how fast animals move about. Initially we had no idea they capable of thinking or feeling.”

“Typical mad scientist bullshit,” Ursula muttered.

Doctor Monroe ignored Ursula’s comment. “It wasn’t until we observed them appearing to utilize strategy to destroy the machines we pitted them against that we – I, really, since none of my colleagues believed me – began to suspect they were more than just mutated blackberry bushes. We had created them to seek out technology and digest it into sustenance, we never dreamed that the primary instinct we instilled in them would evolve and manifest into a nearly religious worldview about maintaining a natural balance in the universe. During our first conversations with them, the plants explained at length how they believed machines to be the root of all evil.”

“Wait, you can talk to them?” Liam asked.

“Of course. Once I noticed their development of strategy, I isolated those root clusters that showed the most promise and bred them extensively, providing a generous helping of genetic modification along the way, of course. You see, my early sentient plants were much, much more effective in combat tests than their regular counterparts. As such, I was given free rein to enhance them to their fullest potential,” Selandra explained.

Ursula popped her knuckles savagely at the mention of “potential.” Markov put a hand on her shoulder to let her know it would not be appropriate to kill Doctor Monroe just for using the same language as the men and machines that had experimented on her. She relaxed, at least as much as Ursula ever relaxes in the company of a scientist.

“And then they escaped and killed thousands?” Qadira asked snarkily.

Selandra glared at her. “Eventually, yes. But that was after I left the project. McDonalds-Wal*Mart disliked the fact that I created a communication device for the plants. Well, device isn’t really the word. I modified a species of parrot that the plants can use as a mouthpiece via a rather grisly process.”

Qadira arched an eyebrow. “You think the process is grisly. You?”

“I admit, it was not my proudest moment, but it was the only way I could find to communicate with the plants without subjecting a human to the process. Regardless, the higher-ups in the corporation didn’t like the idea of their weapons talking back or thinking for themselves so after all of my incredible results I was fired. I have no idea what happened after that, but within two months the incident occurred that led to the plants’ complete overrunning of Dartmax. Captain Markov likely has more details on the incident, as the plants’ creator I am viewed somewhat suspiciously by the military commander of this operation.”

“The plants started attacking the labs they were held in,” Markov told them. “They were designed to overwhelm any kind of technology that might be used against them, so it was quicker than you’d think. Fire, cold, explosives, everything they did on Dartmax only drove the plants deeper into the ground where their roots could spread further and pop up in a completely new area. There are varieties that spew acid, strangle people in their sleep like a python, and some are giant Venus flytraps. All of them have thorns and are difficult if not impossible to kill.”

“So what’s our first move?” Qadira asked.

“We go down and have a chat.”

Mako Rising - Ch. 1 Part 4

“Wilson! Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the captain bellowed at his drunk mechanic.

“These particalizers are in piss-poor shape. They need to be replaced. And that was just a heinous job somebody did on your alignment tubes. What evil genius swindled you out of your money for those shitty excuses for repair work?” Wilson stumbled and nearly fell over as he reached for his bottle of booze and missed.

“I did all that,” Markov growled.

“Ha!” Wilson let out a loud bark of laughter. “Oh Jesus, you’re serious? I’m surprised the Mako is still flying with you mucking about back here!” He successfully grabbed his bottle of bourbon and took a long swig.

“The Mako is one of the best ships ever built and I know how to take care of her, goddammit,” the captain said.

“Then why is the Yarkov Coil out of balance?” Wilson bellowed.

“What?” Markov stared at the area of the engine Wilson was gesturing wildly towards.

Wilson rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “This!” He attacked the coil with a wrench. “See?”

The intercom clicked on and Qadira’s voice came through. “What the hell did you just do back there? The Mako is purring like a kitten all of the sudden, it’s fantastic!”

“I fixed the Yarkov Coil!” Wilson shouted back smugly as he handed the wrench to Andrew and took another swig from his bottle.

“Alright, good work. Keep it up, just don’t let it go to your head.” Markov turned to leave.

“Too late!” Wilson shouted after him. “I’m a God-damned genius!”

*

Ursula sat on top of the bar with her combat boots resting on the stool in front of her. She took a sip of her drink, which was a locally brewed liquor that could also function as jet fuel if one found oneself in a bind. No one said shit to her for sitting on the bar and ever since she rescued the owner’s daughter from that serial killer she drank for free here. It was one of the main reasons she came to look for work on Vertraxin so often.

“I love your tats,” a drunken local leered at Ursula’s tits. In his defense, there were tattoos there, but it wasn’t a good enough excuse for her.

Ursula smiled. This was going to be fun. “Smell this.” She held her glass under the young man’s nose.

He took a whiff and whistled. “Honey, you’ve got horrible taste in booze! Let me buy you something nice.” He put his beefy hand on her knee and waved to the bartender.

Ursula threw her drink in this face.

“What the hell, bitch!” he shouted.

Sparks zipped back and forth between the fingers of Ursula’s right hand while her left held the man’s collar so he couldn’t escape. “What did you call me?” Ursula asked quietly.

“I…I…” Words proved too much for him. His eyes grew wider and wider as he stared at Ursula’s electricity filled hand.

“Do you know what will happen to your face if just one of these sparks touches it?” Ursula asked just as calmly as before.

He shook his head fearfully.

Ursula’s grin widened substantially. “You’ll burn.”

“Enough of that shit,” Markov’s rough voice cut in as he grabbed the soda dispenser and doused the lad’s face.

“You could have taken it off of the cola setting, bro!” The local wiped his eyes and blinked rapidly. Ursula let him go.

“Yeah, but you probably deserved some of that. Beat it.” Markov jerked his thumb over his shoulder. The kid didn’t have to be told twice.

“I been waiting for you.” Ursula grinned at the captain and swung her knees back and forth idly.

“That should probably worry me, but come here and give me a hug any way.” Markov wrapped his long arms around Ursula for a quick hug. “How’ve you been? Killed anyone?”

“Yes, but they were all bad!” Ursula laughed. “Now come on, let’s blow this popsicle stand, I’m bored!” She grabbed the sleeve of Markov’s jacket and towed him out of the bar.

*

“Uncle, are you sure this is a good idea?” Andrew asked nervously as he peered over his Uncle Wilson’s shoulder.

“How could it not be? I’m utilizing the engine extracts from the Mako, that will make her run more efficiently, and I get an unlimited supply of free booze! Win-win!” Wilson chortled.

“But your…um…still, as it were, doesn’t seem structurally sound,” Andrew noted cautiously.

“Nonsense, boy! I once built an entire space shuttle out of scraps I found in the trash.” Wilson banged his newest addition to the engine room with the heavy wrench in his hand and the whole thing crumbled and began spewing chemicals all over the floor. Wilson frowned at the flailing hoses. “Clean that up,” he told Andrew dismissively before reaching for his whiskey.

Andrew rolled his eyes and did as he was told. He closed all the valves Wilson had connected to the still first so that it was stop spraying him, but he was still covered from head to toe in a variety of substances that one should never be covered in.

And then he saw her.

Andrew had never seen a girl like her. Not when he lived on Blue Cardiff with Uncle Wilson and certainly not when he lived with the Galactic Missionaries of the Light where all the women dressed in long, bulky dresses. She was tall to begin with, but the heavy combat boots she wore made her stand nearly at eye level with him. The fact that she shaved her head bald should have been disgusting, but instead it made her seem exotic and alien in a way that Andrew never suspected he would be attracted to. She had bright blue eyes and a plethora of tattoos. Andrew felt himself immediately become ensorcelled.

“H-h-h-hi!” Andrew stammered and then finally got the word out at an excessively loud volume.

The girl stopped and turned on her heel. She looked Andrew up and down, wordlessly crossed the engine room, snatched Wilson’s bottle of whiskey out of his hand, and then walked out taking a long pull straight from the bottle.

“Who was that?” Andrew asked his uncle. He was so enamored that he almost forgot to be flabbergasted that someone had taken alcohol from Wilson without him putting up a fight.

“Ursula.” Wilson said it like a curse. “I need a drink.” He disappeared into his liquor cabinet.

Shrugging, Andrew decided to follow Ursula. The Mako Rising was the largest ship Andrew had ever been on, but that wasn’t saying all that much and it still felt cramped compared to the sprawling compound of the Galactic Missionaries of the Light. Ursula was busy picking the lock of one of the sleeping quarters and didn’t seem to notice Andrew’s approach.

“Uh, I think that one’s locked,” Andrew told her. “I’ve never seen anyone use that one.”

“’Course not, it’s my room,” Ursula told him matter-of-factly as she continued picking the lock. It looked like a complicated process with lots of wires and little hooked pins. “Nobody goes in my room.”

“I…see?” Andrew tried to nod like he knew what she was talking about.

“No you don’t, you probably don’t even use the piece of shit lock they have on your quarters. You look like the trusting sort, you’ll probably die soon so don’t bother telling me your name.” Ursula finished whatever she had been doing and her door slid open. She grinned, it was an enthusiastic, nearly feral looking grin.

“Oh, how rude of me! I’m Andrew, Wilson’s nephew.” He held out his hand.

“Don’t let her touch you and don’t do anything she says,” Doctor Liam warned as he passed them in the corridor. He continued on his way without stopping.

Andrew glanced down at his outstretched hand, but could not think of a graceful way to retract it. He decided the doctor was just having some fun with him, Liam seemed to have an odd sense of humor. He smiled at Ursula, but she didn’t shake his hand.

“You don’t have red hair, so I suppose you’re fair game,” Ursula said cryptically. Andrew had no time to ask what she meant, she threw herself at him and kissed him violently on the mouth. Before he knew it, he was being dragged into Ursula’s room and slammed up against the wall as she continued kissing him, biting his lip, and digging her fingernails into his neck.

She kept on kissing and biting him, down to his chin, and along his jaw until she reached his ear. Then an unexpected shock zapped Andrew right on the ear where Ursula had been kissing him. “Ow!” he screamed. “What was that?”

Ursula only grinned and kissed his forehead. Another shock bit into his neck. Andrew wondered if his second scream was a bit more of squeal than a scream, but hoped it hadn’t been.

“What’s happening?” Andrew demanded. “Is there a damaged circuit in here?”

That made Ursula chuckle for some reason. “Something like that.” She put her hand on his thigh and that was when Andrew saw the bolt of lightning come zipping out of her palm and burn a hole in his pants.

Andrew screamed.

*

Qadira glanced down at her stopwatch. “Pay up.”

Liam grumbled to himself. “What kind of idiot lets himself get drawn in by Ursula that quickly?” He transferred twenty credits to Qadira’s account.

“Double or nothing that he runs screaming out of her room with his clothes on fire?” Qadira offered.

“No bet,” Liam answered.

Ursula’s door slammed open and Andrew bolted from the room trailing smoke from at least half a dozen spots on his clothing.

“Smart man.” Qadira chuckled.

“Qadira!” Ursula stuck her head out into the corridor. As always, Qadira broke out in a minor sweat when Ursula hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, but just like every time before nothing bad happened. Ursula liked Qadira for some unfathomable reason. “And Liam.” Ursula favored Liam with a sloppy salute.

“Good to see you, Ursula.” Liam returned the salute, but much more cleanly executed. “How have you been?”

“Out of my mind, as always. Want a drink?” She held up a bottle of what looked like Wilson’s favorite whiskey.

“Of course,” Liam answered.

“I’ll abstain, but I would love to keep the two of you company.” Qadira followed Liam into Ursula’s sparsely decorated quarters.

Her rock-hard bed took up one wall and a small table with four stools were the only furniture she had. Qadira was fairly certain Ursula had secret compartments all around her room, but it was best not to pry into the things Ursula decided to keep secret.

“I thought you might say that.” From a blank looking spot on the wall Ursula produced two glasses, an exquisitely carved pipe that looked like a dragon, and a bag of hashish. She set everything down on the table and poured generous helpings for herself and Liam.

Qadira filled the pipe and held it out for Ursula to light with her special gift. “Thank you, my dear. So, did the captain tell you what kind of suicidal venture we’re on this time?”

“Killer shrubs or something.” Ursula shrugged. “Irene is involved so I’m sure it will be exciting.”

“Have you seen Irene lately?” Liam asked.

“No. And it hurts my feeling that you would ask me that.” She pouted at him.

Qadira grinned and laughed right alongside Ursula at the frightened look on Liam’s face. “She gets you every time!”

“Well she usually kills the people who offend her!” Liam grumbled. “I always wonder if today’s my day.” He shivered and took an extra-long drink.

“Oh Liam.” Ursula refilled the doctor’s glass before topping off her own. “You’re so delightfully dreary. That’s why I almost like you!”

Qadira snorted back a laugh. “So close.” She held her index finger a hair’s width from her thumb.

“And yet you treat our little pilot here like your long lost sister, why is that?” Liam asked.

Ursula leaned back on her stool. “You’re a doctor so I can’t be a hundred percent sure you haven’t been doing experiments on me the whole time I’ve known you. That means I might have to kill you one day and I really, really hate killing the people I like. Plus, Qadira is so much more fun that you! She buys me boots and looks so damn hot in a little black dress!”

“Well, how can I compete with that?” Liam clinked his glass against Ursula’s and the two of them drank.

“What the hell are you three doing?” Markov growled from the doorway. He was waving his hand in front of his face to clear away the smoke from Qadira’s pipe.

“It’s my welcome home, come join us!” Ursula announced happily.

“Absolutely not. Liam, are you letting our pilot get high?” the captain asked disapprovingly.

Liam gave Qadira a considering look. “Letting is a strong word when it comes to Qadira. I’ll admit to being present while it happened. Is happening, if you will.”

“I expect this kind of behavior from the two of them, but I’m disappointed in you,” Markov told Liam as he left.

“No you’re not! You’ve known me too long for that to be true!” Liam shouted after him.

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.

Mako Rising - Ch. 1 Part 2

“This is not a safe place,” Liam warned as they passed another leaking pipe. “I’ve counted sixteen major structural integrity issues since we boarded the station.”

“Studied up on your engineering while you were vacationing on the intellectually bristling New Sahara, did you?” Markov chuckled.

“Har har,” Liam grumbled. “Anyone with half a brain can tell that this space station is one forceful sneeze from a large nosed man away from complete collapse and everyone inside’s death. Including our own, I might add.”

“Noted,” the captain said as he led them deeper into the grimy corridors of Praxis VII.

“Why are we here, anyway?” Liam asked, delicately stepping around a pool of human urine.

“I told you, we’re recruiting Jameson. If your recruitment is any indication of how the rest of them will go, I want some more muscle on our side. No offense,” Markov added.

Liam rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t going to take any until you said that. I know we’re here for Jameson. I just don’t know why we’re not getting Ursula first. She’s worth five Jamesons. He’s a complete and utter idiot, remember?”

“I do indeed.”

“Then why not get Ursula first?” Liam asked again.

“Ursula is territorial. She can, with difficulty, be integrated into an established group, but if she’s there first then it’s a no go. She’ll fry everyone who pisses her off because she thinks the whole ship is her turf.”

Liam sighed. “Yes, I’d forgotten just how crazy your pseudo-daughter was.”

“She’s a good girl. Deep down.”

“That’s what you said about Irene,” Liam muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Markov asked.

“Nothing!” Liam answered quickly.

The captain snorted. “It was not nothing, I heard you say Irene’s name. Are you never going to let that go? I’ve moved on!”

Liam couldn’t quite keep down a sharp bark of laughter. “No, my friend, because you have used up your three strikes. She has made a proper fool of you three times now, and by extension me. So if you think that I am ever going to let that go, you are sorely mistaken.”

“Fair, I suppose,” Markov admitted. “Now quit griping and come along. Jameson should be just a little further down this way.”

*

Former Corporal Nicolas T. Jameson enjoyed this part of his job. Mercenary work just allowed certain latitudes that military life did not. For example, he had a smaller man hoisted up over his head and was in the process of hurling him into the mirror behind the bar. Back in the AI Wars, behavior like that would have earned him a court martial, but in his current line of work he was being an exceptionally vigorous employee.

Once the other man hit the mirror, two of his friends came at Jameson with knives. He took a long scratch along a forearm while he broke the one on his left’s nose and kicked the one on the right in the balls. Jameson grabbed the poor bastard he’d kicked by the ears and spun him around, hurling him over the bar to join to join his friend. The man with the broken nose came at him again, so Jameson grabbed a bar stool and broke it over his assailant’s head.

“Who wants a piece of me now?” Jameson asked the bar, his hands raised triumphantly. Silence answered him, bringing a grin to his square face. That grin curdled into a sneer when he realized the silent bar had nothing to do with him. Everyone was staring at the door, slowly making way for whoever had entered while he was fighting. The crowd eventually parted to reveal a tiny woman with horn rimmed glasses and her brown hair up in a tight bun. She had a respectably long skirt on, wore matching heeled boots, and a sharp looking suit jacket. “Who the fuck are you?” Jameson asked with all his usual grace.

The little librarian pulled a gun out of her extra-large purse and fired a shot directly into Jameson’s groin. When the small caliber bullet hit his pelvis he felt it explode into a thousand tiny pieces of shrapnel and go flying up into his torso and down his left thigh. Groaning, Jameson toppled over sideways. This was why the captain always nagged him about wearing body armor at all times, especially when he planned on getting into bar fights, Jameson’s subconscious reminded him. He reached for the gun strapped to his hip. Miss Sexy Glasses fired another exploding round into his elbow, leaving him with a bloody stump for his right arm.

“This is Izo’s territory now,” the librarian said calmly as she slid her gun back into her purse. “Shenanigans like this will no longer be tolerated. All of you go back to your drinks or go home.” She turned and left while Jameson continued to bleed.

*

Markov drew his gun and tried to follow the woman with the glasses, but she just winked at him and then disappeared into the crowd. Liam grabbed his arm and tugged him back.

“Dammit, I need your help getting him back to the Mako Rising if I’m going to have a chance in hell of saving him! Revenge can wait!”

Grinding his teeth, Markov listened to his first officer. Liam was right, saving Jameson came first. But if only they had arrived thirty seconds sooner! They had entered the bar just in time to see that woman slide a gun back into her purse and then turn to leave.

“Captain! Doc!” Jameson gasped when they knelt beside him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Why does everyone ask me that?” Markov asked with a smile as he held Jameson’s one remaining hand.

“This is not good,” Liam whispered.

“Listen Jameson, we need to get you back to the Mako, alright?” Markov asked, scooping Jameson up into his arms. It was difficult because Jameson was heavier than Markov with all his muscles, but he dug deep and found the strength for his old war buddy.

Jameson winced. “Whatever you say, captain.”

Markov ran as fast as he could with Jameson in his arms and Liam providing first aid along the way, but Jameson bled out halfway back to the ship.

“He’s gone,” Liam said solemnly. “The shrapnel tore open just about every artery down there. He never had a chance.”

Markov set his dumbest, bravest friend down gently. Jameson’s blood was all over his clothes and he was breathing heavily from running with that much weight in his arms. “He’s got family at the Saturn shipyard, doesn’t he?”

Doctor Lafayette nodded. “A sister. Married to a welder, I think. He never mentioned any other relatives.”

Markov sighed. “Then that will be our next stop. Qadira is a test pilot there now. We’ll take Jameson home and pick up your little buddy.”

*

“Hah! I told you she could make that sharp of a turn! Thomas? Hey!” Qadira Jones, test pilot, shouted at her ride-a-long engineer.

Thomas was unconscious, strapped into his seat beside her. Qadira rolled her brown eyes. While she didn’t really consider it a successful test flight until a passenger passed out, having her only victim lose it this early in the route was hardly any fun at all. She hadn’t even gotten to the really scary part yet!

Qadira flew the rest of her test run without incident. This model was the smallest and cheapest starship she had ever flown, other than short range fighters that didn’t have FTL drives, of course. It was nothing like the Mako Rising, but at least it wasn’t a big, clunky cargo ship. Those were so boring to fly! Qadira turned the as yet nameless little ship back and headed for the shipyard.

An explosion somewhere down in the engine room threw the ship into a gut-wrenching spiral. Qadira cursed, kept a firm hand on the tiller, and evacuated the oxygen from the engine room to prevent a fire. A second, much closer but smaller explosion destroyed the escape pod and Qadira cursed again. Still spinning out of control, Qadira checked the engine readings. They were completely dead, adrift with no thrusters. The reactor had not been damaged though, just the conventional drive. Unfortunately, she was hurtling directly for one of Saturn’s moons.

“Mayday, mayday. This is Qadira Jones, test pilot on vessel 715B. An explosion has disabled my thrusters and I am drifting uncontrollably on a collision course with Titan. Our escape pod was damaged in the explosion and we require immediate assistance,” Qadira added, but she knew there was no chance of anyone reaching her before she hit the moon.

Taking a deep breath before she tried something truly drastic, Qadira took a final moment to consider spacing herself and Thomas with a couple extra oxygen tanks and praying that the rescue team found them before they ran out of air. If Thomas weren’t unconscious, she might have tried it, but as it was she would basically be sentencing the poor engineer to death.

“Well shit. I always wanted to try this.” Qadira warmed up the FTL drive while she calculated the exact position they would be in thirty seconds from now. The computer started the calculations and Qadira held her breath. As far as she knew, no one had ever performed a moving FTL jump and lived, but there were no other options given her predicament in this very obvious yet thorough act of sabotage. If they were even an inch out of position when the FTL went off they would most likely end up inside a sun or an asteroid if they even came out of the jump at all. Qadira shivered. The Quran didn’t offer any specifics on what happened to people trapped inside the cracks of the universe.

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” a familiar voice broadcasted over an open channel.

“Captain?” Qadira gasped. “I…what…?”

“Finally got you speechless. It’s about damn time. Power down your FTL and prepare for mag-tow, you maniac,” Captain Markov ordered.

“Yes, sir!” Qadira answered happily. “Saved by your flying, I never thought I’d see the day, sir!”

“Well remember this the next time you open your big mouth about my piloting skills,” Markov said.

“What in the hell are you doing here, anyway? And when did you develop such a fantastic sense of timing?” Qadira asked as the Mako Rising’s mag-tow grabbed her ship and pulled it away from Titan.

“It’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll fill you in when we dock. Liam and I jumped into orbit just in time to hear your distress call,” Markov explained.

“Liam is with you? Hi, Liam! Irene’s not there, is she?”

“No, thank God!” Liam shouted over the comm.

“You’re sure? Did you check all the secret compartments? Last time she hid in one of the compartments!” Qadira insisted.

“Irene is not on board, nor have I had any contact with her since we last saw her,” Markov growled.

“You mean when she stole all your money and broke up your crew? That time?” Qadira asked cheekily.

“Yes, that time.” Qadira could hear the captain clenching his teeth on the other side of the comm.

Qadira wanted to laugh, but Irene Ackley was not a woman to be trifled with, as they had learned to their misfortune several times already. “Well if she’s not there with you then she is sure as hell close by. Having my ship sabotaged right as you jump into orbit has her name written all over it!”

Mako Rising - Ch. 1 Part 1

Chapter One

“You’ll find everything to your liking,” Captain Markov told his new business associate.

The greasy man with long hair and three days’ worth of stubble slit one of the packages with his intentionally menacing knife and snorted a bit of the product. “Holy shit, that’s good!” Jacobs exclaimed, blinking back tears from the potent drugs. Necrondan cocaine was all the rage among scum like Jacobs.

Markov started slowly counting off the seconds in his head. “Then we have a deal?”

Jacobs grinned insolently. “We might have if you’d have been smart enough to bring some guards. As it stands, the eight of us are going to be taking this off your hands and very generously letting you walk away with your life.” His pupils were dilated from the cocaine and he couldn’t seem to stop himself from chuckling.

“That is a shame,” Markov said evenly. He was not at all surprised by Jacobs’ double-cross. Unfortunately for Jacobs, his time was almost out. The extra chemicals in the drugs would be taking effect any second now.

“Yeah, it…woah.” Jacobs swayed a bit. “That really is some good shit you gave us. I…I…um, what the hell?” Jacobs toppled over in a heap.

One of Jacobs’ smarter guards drew his gun, but Markov had already tapped the button on his wrist that set off a small explosion inside the crate of cocaine. White powder flew everywhere while the guards coughed and fired their guns in random directions. Markov had already stepped behind the small boulder to his right. Touching a second button opened a door in the “boulder” with a gatling laser and heat vision goggles inside. Donning the glasses, Markov could easily see where Jacobs’ seven guards stood. He leaned around the boulder, still using it for cover while the crooks fired wildly in every direction, and proceeded to mow them down one at a time with his ungodly enormous weapon.

Markov let the cloud of cocaine disperse before he removed his heat vision goggles. He strode forward to where Jacobs lay gibbering in the dirt. All the other thugs were dead. “David Jacobs, you are under arrest for selling illegal drugs, rape, murder, running an unregistered brothel, theft, arson, extortion and just about every other damn law they have on this rock. By the power vested in me by the Google-Exxon Corporation, you are under arrest. And if they ever let you out of prison, which would have to be some kind of miracle, remember this: don’t ever let a man you’re planning to rob choose the location for your deal to take place.”

Captain Markov had hauled Jacobs back to the Mako Rising, thrown him in a cell, and flown back to Masonberg to collect the bounty. Sheriff Ford had greeted Markov warmly, Jacobs was not the first criminal he had brought to justice.

“Boy, I don’t know what I’d do without you sometimes.” Ford smiled as he authorized the transfer of credits to Markov’s account. He was middle aged, with a bushy moustache on his lip and most of his grey hair gone from the top of his head. “If every bounty hunter were as honest as you, why I’d practically be out of a job!”

Markov nodded politely. “Thank you, sheriff. I know you don’t always get the support you need out here.”

“Bah.” Ford waved his hand dismissively. “Them corporate big wigs are all the same. Don’t matter which of them owns this planet, we aren’t worth their attention.”

“That can be a blessing sometimes,” Markov told him.

Sheriff Ford laughed. “Ain’t that the truth? Say, it’s about quitting time. You up for a drink? I’m buying.”

“Then how could I say no?” Markov followed the sheriff out of his office and across the street to Masonberg’s best bar, at least according to Ford.

Masonberg was the hub of activity here on Kardulon, but that was hardly an impressive feat. Kardulon was not rich with minerals, exotic flora or fauna, nor did it have much natural beauty to offer. Perhaps that explained why filth like Jacobs could make a living selling drugs here, nothing else for people to do. It had been colonized because other than being dusty and ugly, it was quite similar to Earth’s gravity and atmosphere. Google-Exxon owned it at the moment, but it had changed hands several times over the years. Perhaps the best thing about Kardulon was that it had been untouched by the AI Wars that ended four years ago.

Ford’s favorite bar was called the Dust Bowl and like most of Masonberg’s buildings it was a sprawling one story building. At least the air conditioning usually worked there, unlike a lot of other places Markov had been on the planet. The Dust Bowl was crowded, the locals tended to start drinking as soon as their shifts ended at whatever job they had to scratch out a living. Country music played at a reasonable volume, pretty girls in tight shirts carried pitchers of beer to the tables, and it didn’t smell too awful except in the darker corners.

The bartender waved to the sheriff as he entered and Ford sat down, leaning his elbows on the bar. Markov took the stool beside him and did a quick scan of his surroundings, more out of habit than an actual worry for danger. Everything appeared to be as it should be in the Dust Bowl.

“Couple pints of porter, Mac,” Ford told the bartender. Mac nodded and got to pouring. “Will you be staying a few days or jetting off as usual?” He asked Markov.

“I’ll leave in the morning, I imagine,” Markov answered. “Only so much work for a man like me on a quiet planet like this.” Mac set their beers down in front of them.

“Cheers to that!” Ford picked up his glass and clinked it against Markov’s. “Quiet is the life for me. You starship pilots are crazy if you ask me. If’n you had any sense you’d settle down somewhere quiet, I know you got enough cash to live like a king on a place much prettier than Kardulon.”

Markov chuckled. He never asked Sheriff Ford’s opinion of his life style, but he got to hear it every time he came to visit. Out of the corner of his eye, Markov noticed several male sets of eyes turning towards the entrance. Hopefully it was just a gorgeous woman, but Markov remained wary just in case.

“And you laugh. Just like you always do. I never understood why you quit the army, Markov. You’re a man who needs a war to fight.”

“I hear he got sick of his commanding officer and couldn’t stand to look at the ugly son of a bitch anymore,” a gruff voice said from behind them.

Markov turned to see his old commander standing behind him. “General!” Smiling, Markov leapt up from his barstool to embrace his friend. “What brings you all the way out to Masonberg?”

“You, of course!” Lexianna, who had been the reason for all the turned heads, said. Tall for a woman, with unbelievable curves, Lex had her hair bright red this time. She was, as usual, wearing a dress so tight that it looked painted on. “Now budge over, Garis and let me give Markov a hug.” Lex wrapped her arms tight around Markov’s middle and he found it difficult not to sneak a peek down at her magnificent chest.

“Sheriff Ford, allow me to introduce you to General Siderus and our good friend Lexianna,” Markov said.

“The General Siderus?” Ford gasped. When Markov nodded, the sheriff whipped his hat off and enthusiastically shook Siderus’ hand. “I can’t believe I’m meeting you in person! The man who finally beat the AI! And not just beat them, obliterated them!”

Markov and Siderus shared a familiar look. Destroying the AI had not sat well with either of them. Siderus did a good job of keeping a smile on his face, as he always did when he met a fan.

“Do you mind if I borrow my former lieutenant for a moment?” the general asked.

“Not at all, anything you want! Mac, anything he orders is on me!” Ford moved down the bar to boast about having just shook General Siderus’ hand.

Markov took his friends over to an unoccupied booth where they could talk privately. Siderus and Lex sat across from him. The general was not quite as tall as Markov and a year younger, but there was just a hint of grey in his dark hair.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t a social call,” Siderus said by way of preamble.

Markov smiled. “I knew it wasn’t.” A man like General Siderus did not have time for a social life.

“Still haven’t put a crew back together?” the general asked.

Shaking his head, Markov answered, “Nope. Ursula was on board for a little while after her last stint in jail, but she moved on like she always does.”

“Well, you’re going to need a crew for this one. I need you on Dartmax. There’s been an incident in their bio-research lab. I’ve already arranged for a scientist to meet you there, she’s an expert in her field…but she’s not that great with people,” Siderus warned.

“Dartmax…” Markov pondered. “That’s a McDonalds-Wal*Mart planet, isn’t it? Let me guess, they made a colossal blunder and came to you to keep it secret from the other corporations?”

“Something like that. You’ll understand when you meet with Doctor Monroe, but in the mean time I have other preparations to make. I need someone I can trust on this. Someone who will know what I would do if I were able to be there,” Siderus said forcefully.

“Anything, general,” Markov assured him. Obviously, Siderus couldn’t discuss the sensitive details here in a bar, but Markov wondered what could upset the general this much.

Siderus nodded. “Lex will transfer the pertinent data to your ship’s computer. I’ve already arranged for a rather obscene fee to be deposited into your account, with double that when you finish the job.”

“Then I’d best get started. Lexianna, a pleasure as always. General, I won’t let you down.” Markov stood and left for the spaceport.

Markov sat in the pilot’s chair of Mako Rising as he quickly scanned the data Lexianna had sent him. “Holy shit,” he breathed. Colossal blunder did not even begin to cover what McDonalds-Wal*Mart had done on Dartmax. A bio-weapon originally developed at the end of the AI War had escaped and destroyed the colony. Deaths topped ten thousand before the evacuation was completed. There was a detailed biology report for the plant-based organism, but it was well beyond what Markov could understand.

It was no wonder that General Siderus wanted Markov to help him out on this one. No one was going to understand the gravity of holding a new species’ fate in your hands other than the few officers there with Siderus at the very end of the AI Wars. Unbidden, Markov’s thoughts strayed to Irene, but he quickly reburied those memories.

Markov fired up the engines and announced his departure to the control tower. A half-hearted “go fer it” was all the clearance he received from the night shift docking officer. The Mako Rising climbed into the atmosphere and left Kardulon behind. While it was possible to make an FTL jump from within a planet’s atmosphere, it was generally a terrible idea. Faster than light creates a bubble around the engine and transports everything inside that bubble to the programmed destination. Using the FTL drive on the landing pad would have taken a large chunk of the pad with him. Markov punched in the coordinates for desert hellhole his old first officer called home.

The Mako Rising’s conventional engines kicked off and the FTL drive fired up. A ship needed to be stationary for at least thirty seconds to make an FTL jump, which was an eternity in a combat situation. The necessary calculations by the ship’s computer finished just as the FTL drive reached optimum power and Markov executed the jump.

FTL jumps are not fun. Unless of course you are one of those sick and twisted pilots who can’t seem to get enough of having your innards smashed into atoms, scrambled about, tossed into a crack in the universe, and then dumped back out halfway across the galaxy in a shape that is hopefully similar to the one you left in. Markov was mostly used to it after spending his early years in the military, but civilians had to be strapped in and sedated before travelling via FTL. Some of the kookier cults did not believe in FTL travel and launched themselves out into the stars with their passengers either frozen in cryostasis or on massive farm ships that would – hopefully – keep them in food and oxygen during their decades or centuries long flight. Unfortunately, a lot of them ended up falling prey to pirates now that FTL ships were small enough and cheap enough for individuals to own them.

Markov glanced out the window at the aptly named planet New Sahara. He shook his head. “You would settle in such horrendous place, Liam.”

*

“You can’t save him, doctor.” The woman tugged at his sleeve insistently. There were other patients to see. Patients who would be much easier to save.

“Honey, did you spend nine years practicing combat medicine on marines too stupid to quick hurling themselves at an endless horde of killer robots?” Doctor Liam Lafayette growled as did his best to quickly cauterize all of the boy’s internal wounds. He had been mauled by one of those damn giant lizards that came closer to the settlements as they got hungrier; and everything on New Sahara seemed to be starving these days.

“No,” she admitted. Liam could hear the disapproving frown in her tone of voice.

“Then kindly let me work,” he snapped. If he had been in any kind of reasonable hospital rather than a tent city in the middle of an unending desert the boy would have been in no danger at all, but if wishes were fishes no one would live on New Sahara.

The bleeding was bad, but Liam had seen worse. Back when the captain had been a lieutenant he had gotten half his guts torn out by a Screamer and Liam had patched him up right there in the field. He had had the best equipment the AT&T-Boeing corporation could buy, of course, but still. If he could save that stubborn son of a bitch then he ought to be able to save this sweet little kid. Liam wondered what the captain was up to these days. Hopefully he was avoiding Irene, but with the captain that was hardly a smart bet to make.

“Doctor,” the woman said nervously. She was supposedly healer of some kind, but her knowledge was rudimentary at best. This was her clinic that he had been working out of for the past three weeks. Middle aged and bossy, Liam kept forgetting her name.

“Dammit woman, not now, I said!” Liam was very close to closing up the last of the boy’s wounds.

“But doctor, the Marauders are back!” She insisted fearfully.

“Then tell them to wait!” Liam snarled.

A cruel laugh answered him. “That will not be possible, I’m afraid. You see, doctor, I’ve returned with more men and we won’t be frightened away by silly tricks with flashy chemicals. I want my protection money.”

“In a minute,” Liam told the Marauders’ leader calmly. Just one more…there! Now all he had to do was close the kid up and he would be right as rain…not that the boy had ever seen rain, but that was a tangent Liam didn’t need to pursue.

A sickening thud interrupted Liam’s pleasant thoughts at having just saved a small boy’s life. The lead Marauder had slammed his long, curved knife down into the patient’s heart. “I think now would be better for me,” the Marauder said through a crooked-toothed grin.

Liam’s nostrils flared. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Give me my money, plus an additional twenty percent for the insults you gave me last time we met.”

What Liam gave him instead was a blast from the cauterizing laser right in his eye. The man screamed as he died and Liam dove for cover, which was limited in a small tent. Drawing his gun, Liam fired at the shins of the men he could see from under the desk he taken refuge behind. A salvo of return fire greeted him and one blast ripped into his shoulder. Laser wounds hurt like hell, but they were less messy clean than exploding bullets. If he survived, that is. Plus, anything was better than drowning.

The unmistakable, yet utterly unexpected sound of a gatling laser spinning into action and firing in quick, controlled burst replaced the sound of the Marauders’ solar powered pistols. “Captain?” Liam called out when the gunfire died down.

“Who else brings a gatling to a doctor’s office?” Captain Markov answered.

Liam climbed out from under his desk with difficulty. “What the hell are you doing here, man? Not that I mind, naturally. Your timing is as impeccable as ever, but good Lord!” The Captain stood in the entryway of the tent with his favorite preposterously large weapon slung across his torso. Tall and thin, the captain had his blonde hair cut short just like he was still a marine, but at least he had a smile on his face. Those had been rare since the war ended and rarer still after Irene had double crossed them. Again.

“I’m putting the crew back together. General Siderus needs us,” the captain told him. “You’re my first stop.”

“No Irene?” Liam asked warily.

“No Irene,” Markov assured him.

“Thank God. Where’s the healer woman? Did she survive?” Liam looked around. The patients who had been able to had fled, the others had either fainted or were screaming in terror.

“I’m here, doctor.” Hana – that was her name! Hana stood shakily.

“There are sedatives in that case, give them to the screaming ones. Here are enough credits to make sure the boy gets a proper funeral. Take care of that for me, will you? I have to leave now with my friend. If you have any sense you’ll leave too. The Marauders aren’t the only gang around, others will be keen to move into their turf.”

“What the hell were you doing on New Sahara?” Markov asked as they left the sweltering tent for the unbearable heat outside.

“Can’t bloody drown on a desert planet, now can I!”

Superhero Story - 1

Superhero Story

Despite being rather thin, as a six-foot-two man who dressed like the poor college student he was, Lucas Pyke was not accustomed to being accosted by street thugs.

“Give me all your money!” The man had a black ski mask pulled over his face and he was wearing a bulky sweater with baggy jeans. In his hand was a switch blade.

Lucas cocked his head to one side. “What money? I think I’ve got some quarters in my pocket you can have.” He reached into his pants, pulled out seventy-five cents and held it out to the mugger.

“Your credit cards and your phone, then!” His assailant sounded agitated. He was of average height and was probably scrawny under his loose clothing, but it was hard to tell.

“I don’t have a credit card. Here’s my phone.” Lucas pulled his five year old flip phone out of his other pocket.

“Don’t you have anything worth anything?” The robber growled. He grabbed the phone and threw it across the street. It broke into several pieces when it landed.

Lucas looked down at his shabby clothing and shrugged.

“Come on, man! I’m desperate! You’re holding out on me, aren’t you!” The tough took an aggressive step forward.

“Easy there. I really don’t have anything of value. You probably ought to be doing this over by the frats and sorority houses. That’s where all the rich college kids live. Only the poor ones live in this part of the U District.”

“Shut up! I know what I’m doing!” A note of panic had crept into his voice.

Lucas couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. “No, you obviously don’t.”

“Why the hell are you so calm? I could kill you any second!”

Again, Lucas shrugged. “I guess I’m just a calm guy. That, and you don’t seem particularly violent.”

“Oh really? Would a guy who wasn’t violent do this?” He thrust the knife at Lucas and cut his left arm just above the elbow.

“Son of a bitch!” Lucas threw a punch with his right fist without thinking. The blow landed on the crook’s nose and staggered him.

The mugger threw himself as Lucas, but Lucas twisted away from the knife so he only got a scratch along his ribcage. The two of them fell to the dirty sidewalk, Lucas holding the thief’s wrists. They wrestled for a moment and then Lucas headbutted his attacker. His forehead hit the young man’s already broken nose and the knife clattered to the pavement.

Lucas kicked the knife away and stood up with some effort. With the quick, jerky movements that only adrenaline fueled desperation can give, the robber punched Lucas in the groin. Doubling over in pain, Lucas didn’t see which way the thug went.

Eventually, Lucas was able to limp home to the cramped apartment he shared with his best friend Virgil. He begrudged every step as he climbed the three flights of stairs it took to get him to their front door. Lucas fumbled with the keys, but got the door open finally, and was rewarded for his efforts with a flying-tiger tackle from a giggling blonde.

“We thought you were never going to make it!” Ellie hugged Lucas’ neck as she pinned him to the hallway floor.

Lucas could only groan in reply.

“What’s the matter?” Her perky grin instantly melted away to horror when she saw Lucas’ bloodstained shirt. “What happened? Oh my God, Maggie! Get over here, Lucas is hurt!”

After lifting being lifted up with far more tender strength than Lucas would have guessed Ellie possessed, he let her lead him into the apartment and lay him down on their lumpy couch. Lucas was starting to feel less like he had just been punched in the testicles, but what he had initially thought to be a scratch along his ribs was proving to be nearly as painful as the deeper gouge in his arm.

“Don’t you have any bandages or antiseptics?” Lucas could hear Maggie shouting at Virgil as she rummaged through their pitiful kitchen cupboards.

“He’s never come home stabbed before!” Virgil protested.

While the search for proper medical equipment continued, Ellie yanked the shoelaces out from one of her shoes and tied a quick torquinet around Lucas’ arm. She looked around the living room for a moment, then pulled off her t-shirt in one fluid motion and pressed it against Lucas’ ribs to staunch the bleeding.

Lucas did his best to look at Ellie’s pretty face rather than her bright green bra. He focused on the details, the curve of her mouth, the angle of her nose, the sparkle in her blue eyes.

“Quit blushing, it’s no different than when we go lap swimming,” Ellie scolded playfully.

“I’ll stop blushing as soon you do.” Lucas chuckled and instantly regretted it.

“Don’t do that!” Ellie put her other hand firmly on his chest to hold him still. She was now leaning over him and staring intently into his eyes.

Maybe it was the bloodloss that made him brave, but Lucas leaned his head forward towards Ellie—to kiss her, he realized after he had already started moving—and she was bending down closer to him!

But in a flurry of red hair and harsh language the kiss was aborted. Maggie pulled Ellie out of her way, barked at her to get back to keeping pressure on Lucas’ ribs, and got to work on her patient.

Maggie was a genius and her mission in life was to heal the sick. She had some huge government grant to build some kind of suit that sped up the healing process and even Ellie didn’t fully understand how it worked. So when Maggie knelt beside Lucas with a needle, thread, a bottle of vodka and a lighter he had no qualms about letting her operate on him.

She stitched and muttered and cursed, but when she was done Lucas was no longer bleeding from either wound. “Why the hell aren’t you at a hospital?” Maggie growled once she was finished.

“He took my phone and the apartment was closer than the Med Center.” The University of Washington had an excellent hospital, but it was on the other side of campus, which meant it was miles away.

“He took your phone?” Virgil asked, incredulous.

“And then he threw it away,” Lucas admitted sheepishly.

“Never mind that! What happened?” Ellie was still not wearing a shirt and her hands were covered in Lucas’ blood.

“Some idiot with a knife. I think it was his first mugging, he wasn’t very good at it.”

“Good enough to stab you!” Maggie snapped. Then her expression softened and her eyes lit up. “Hey! I know, you can test my suit!”

“Maggie! You can’t test your experiments out on Lucas!” Ellie protested, crossing her arms across her chest and planting her feet defiantly.

“Nonsense, I’ve got the green light to test it out.” Maggie waved her hand dismissively. “Meet me at my lab in the bioengineering building first thing in the morning. Oh, there’s so much to do!” She began gathering up her things to leave.

“But don’t you think Lucas needs his doctor here for the night, just in case something should happen?” Virgil put his hands on Maggie’s waist and kissed the base of her neck.

“He’ll be fine! So much to do…” She trailed off and bit her lip. Lucas and Ellie watched, thoroughly amused, as Maggie wrestled with her eternal struggle: her work versus Virgil. The two of them had grown up next door to one another and seemed to be each other’s only weakness.

“That can all be done in the morning!” Virgil turned Maggie around so she was facing him. “What matters right now is Lucas’ safety.” His voice was serious, but Lucas could see the little smirk at the corner of his best friend’s mouth.

“Fine!” Maggie threw up her hands, dropped her coat and purse, then grabbed Virgil’s shirt collar and dragged him into the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind them. She may not have been able to resist Virgil, but she certainly wasn’t fooled by him.

Ellie shook her head. “So you’re going to let her test the suit out on you?”

Lucas shrugged. “Why not? It’s Maggie, she knows what she’s doing.”

“I suppose…”

Lucas reached out from where he sat on the couch and took her blood encrusted hand in his own equally bloody hand. “Everything‘s going to be alright, I promise.”

Ellie rocked back and forth for a second, then smiled. “Okay, but I’m going to be there to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Now let’s wash your blood off our hands.” She gingerly pulled him into a standing position and they scrubbed their hands clean in the kitchen sink.

“Lucas Pyke! I see you peeking!” Ellie accused as they washed their hands.

The two of them were standing side by side at the sink and, truth be told, Lucas had been using his several inches of extra height to look down at Ellie’s chest. She was not an overly busty girl, but that did not mean she was anything but stunning while shirtless. “I was doing no such thing!”

“Don’t you lie to me! You’re a horrible liar anyway.” She couldn’t quite keep the smile off of her face as she chastised him.

“Maybe I did…a bit.”

“A bit? You’re lucky I didn’t catch you drooling!”

“Drooling? I’ll admit to peeking, but there was no drooling!”

“Well, if you are going to be a pervert, I’m going to put a shirt on,” she said with an exaggerated huff as she dried her hands and threw the towel at Lucas.

Lucas chased her into his bedroom where she was rummaging through his dresser. He leaned against the doorframe and watched Ellie pretend to make a scene.

T-shirts and socks flew in every direction as she dug though the drawers. “All your shirts are so ugly! No, this will never do! Nope. Oh no. Yuck!”

“They aren’t as bad as all that.”

Ellie smirked at him over her shoulder before returning to her rummaging. Then all of the sudden, she stopped. She reached down into the back of the t-shirt drawer and—her hand trembling slightly—grabbed a purple shirt with a photograph of the four of them from freshman year printed on the front. Ellie’s father had taken that picture when he came to visit them. He had given Virgil, Maggie, Lucas, and Ellie the shirts last year; right before he died.

Ellie cradled the shirt in her hands before throwing it back into the drawer as though it burned her fingers to touch it. Then she snatched a random shirt and darted past Lucas with tears welling in her eyes.

She was across the hall and into the bathroom with the door locked before Lucas had time to turn around. Lucas walked over to the door and could hear her crying. He knocked softly.

“I just need to brush my teeth. You can go on to bed, you need your rest.”

“I can stay up a while longer.”

“I…I just need to be alone for a little bit.”

Lucas stared at the door for a minute. He could hardly keep his eyes open. “Alright. Good night.”

“Good night.” She turned the faucet on so he couldn’t hear her crying any more.

With a sigh, Lucas sat down in the hallway, leaned back against the wall, and waited. Ellie and her mom were not close, so losing her dad had been devastating. It was the reason Lucas and Ellie hadn’t gotten together last year when they really, really should have. The long distance boyfriend had finally been gone. The crazy ex-girlfriend had been dealt with. Lucas had thought nothing could stop them.

And when Lucas drifted off to sleep, he dreamed that nothing had stopped them.

*

Ellie dried the last of her tears and gave herself a long, hard look in the mirror. “You were in his bedroom. His bedroom! And you still managed to screw it up.” She shook her head, blonde locks swinging to and fro.

When she opened the door she saw Lucas asleep on the floor. Ellie put her hands on her hips. “You stubborn idiot,” she whispered. “I don’t deserve you.”

She bent down to help him up, but couldn’t help herself—she kissed him on the cheek before waking him and getting him moved into his bed.

Lucas muttered some incoherent thanks and then Ellie went to sleep on the couch that Lucas hadn’t bled all over.

*

The suit was blue, skin tight, and covered Lucas’ entire body save for his head, hands, and feet.

“What if I have to go to the bathroom?” Lucas was in the middle of Maggie’s lab. Maggie was making last minute adjustments from her computer console before she powered up the suit.

Maggie rolled her eyes. “It’s designed to be used by people rendered completely helpless by their accidents or illnesses. Of course there’s a waste disposal system!”

“Okay, just checking. It’s very tight.”

Ellie ran her eyes up and down the length of Lucas’ body. “Payback’s a bitch, huh?”

Lucas shrugged and looked down at her chest. “Worth it, though.”

Ellie blushed.

“Alright you two, enough of that!” Maggie snapped. “It’s time to plug you in. Lie down on your back.”

Virgil helped Maggie haul an enormous power cord over to Lucas. They strapped the strange looking cord to circular ports on Lucas’ chest, shoulders, and thighs.

Ellie knelt beside Lucas and took his hand. “You’re sure that you want to do this? It’s not too late to back out.”

“Everything is going to be fine, I promise.” He squeezed her hand.

Maggie waved everyone back and then threw the switch. Electricity jolted Lucas. Energy coursed through him. His whole body burned…and it felt amazing! Lucas was sure that he could lift a car over his head with ease.

Then sparks began to fly from the power ports. Maggie swore and began feverishly entering commands into her control console. Lucas gasped. It was starting to hurt now. He could hear Ellie screaming.

And suddenly it stopped. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down over her computer. Ellie tore free of Virgil’s restraining grip and threw herself down beside Lucas.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Answer me!”

Lucas chuckled. “I would if you gave me half a chance. I’m fine. Better than fine, actually.” He could still feel electricity pulsing through his muscles and while he longer felt able to lift a car, he still felt bizarrely strong.

“Sorry about that!” Maggie called. “A slight miscalculation due to Lucas being so damn tall and skinny. I was designing this for old people with crippling injuries.”

“No worries, I feel great!” Lucas waited while Maggie and Virgil unhooked him from the power cables.

“Shouldn’t we take the suit off to make sure he wasn’t burned by all those sparks?” Ellie asked.

Maggie bit her lower lip nervously. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

Ellie put her hands on her hips and rounded on her friend. “What do you mean?”

“According to the last readings I got, the suit is rather more…attached to Lucas than what I would consider advisable.”

“And what the hell does that mean?” Ellie demanded.

“That we are going to have to be patient, that’s all. The bond between the suit and his skin should begin to weaken after a couple days. Then he can take it off.”

“Should?”

“Well there’s no guarantee, I have no data for this contingency, but I’m about as certain as I can be that there will be no lasting effects.”

“I’m sure everything will work out,” Lucas told Ellie. He put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

“Not to be crude,” Virgil interjected, “but, I’m not going to have to live with him for the next two days while he goes to the bathroom in that thing, am I?”

Maggie groaned. “Of course not! I told you, there is a waste disposal system. Lucas will attach one of the waste bags to the tube by his ankle when he has to go and then throw the sealed bag away. The suit takes care of hygiene afterwards.”

“How…practical.” Virgil grimaced.

“This is a miracle of human ingenuity and all you can think about is poop!”

“That and how beautiful you are.” Virgil put on his most suave grin.

“Why would you be thinking about those two things together?” Maggie raged.

“I’m always thinking about how amazing you are.”

Maggie punched Virgil as hard as she could in the shoulder. “Stop!” She punched him again. “Being!” Another punch. “So!” Again. “Charming!” Then she kissed him. Virgil held her close for a long kiss, because he had known exactly how she would respond. He had, in all likelihood, brought up the waste question again just so he could do this to Maggie.

When the kiss was over and the two of them had untangled themselves, Virgil announced that he and Lucas had an errand to run.

“We do?”

“Yes. Now put some clothes on, I won’t be seen with you in public like that.”

*

“A jewelry store? What do we need in a jewelry store?” Lucas asked, very perplexed.

Virgil looked at him as though he were the biggest idiot on the planet. “Jewelry.”

“But neither of us have any money!” Lucas protested as he followed Virgil inside.

“Yes…about that. I’m afraid I haven’t been one hundred percent honest with you about my finances these past few months.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve been saving up.”

“Virgil! I work two jobs and tutor sorority girls in math! Sorority girls!”

“I’m well aware of how much you despise stupid women, but not everyone in the Greek system is a moron.”

“All the ones I tutor are!”

“Learn to be more open minded, Lucas. And quit shouting. I’m here to buy my engagement ring.”

Lucas stopped and sputtered. “Your engagement ring? But I thought you and Maggie weren’t going to get married until after you graduated!”

“Yes, and we will be graduating in a little over a year. It is time to get engaged. We’d have done it years ago if she’d have let me. Damn stubborn woman.”

Lucas snorted back a laugh.

“What was that indelicate sound for?”

“You calling Maggie stubborn. You’re lucky you weren’t struck dead out of sheer irony.”

“I am not stubborn!”

“You’re being stubborn now.” Lucas smirked.

“No, it is not stubbornness when the other person is in the wrong. I am merely educating you right now.”

“You are so arrogant!”

“I am neither arrogant nor stubborn! If I were then how could I have won the love of the world’s perfect woman?”

“First of all, you could seduce anything with two legs.”

“That is ridiculous! I have never been with any other woman besides Maggie. Why would I want to be?”

Lucas ignored his protests. “And secondly, Maggie is the only other person I know as arrogant or stubborn as you, which is perfect because that is exactly what the two of you maniacs need, each other!”

Virgil regarded him for a moment and then blatantly chose to hear exactly what he wanted to hear. “As long as you admit that Maggie is perfect.”

Lucas rolled his eyes, but said nothing. The store owner had finished with the other customers and was ready to assist Virgil.

Virgil had already selected the ring he wanted, which the owner of course praised Virgil’s fine taste in choosing. The ring was quite sparkly, but Lucas had no other way to judge a ring so he was forced to assume that Virgil had indeed done a good job in picking it. Virgil came from a family with money and knew things like what made one engagement ring better than another. Of course, Virgil would not doubt have purchased an even more extravagant ring if he had been on speaking terms with any of his wealthy family members.

While Virgil was paying for the ring, Lucas noticed a nervous looking man wander into the store from the street. He stopped for a moment, stared at Lucas and Virgil, took a step back towards the door, and then muttered to himself before back and pulling a gun out of his coat.

“Everybody freeze! This is a robbery!”

“Christ, not again!” Lucas groaned. He raised his hands.

“Alright old man, put everything in this bag!” The gunman threw the owner a canvas sack.

“I think we can take him,” Virgil whispered.

Lucas scoffed. “You think we can take everyone! Just stay silent and this will be over soon. I cannot believe my bad luck, getting robbed twice in two days. Ellie will never let me hear the end of it.”

When the jeweler scooped up Maggie’s ring from the counter and was about to put it in the bag with the rest, Virgil protested. “Hey! That’s my engagement ring!”

“Not no more it ain’t, pal!” The thief, who hadn’t even bothered to wear a mask, growled. He was young and scruffy, with a glossy look to his eyes and a twitch in his cheek.

“Please, it’s for the girl I love!” Virgil, the romantic idiot that he was, reached his hand out to grab the ring.

The robber’s eyes bulged with panic and he swung the gun around.

Lucas actually had time to wonder why everyone else was moving so slowly as he leapt forward and tackled Virgil to keep him from being shot. Their attacker was so stunned by how quickly Lucas had moved that he didn’t even pull the trigger, he just stared, dumbstruck.

Lucas kicked the legs out from under the thief and then dove at him to slap the gun away. Again, Lucas felt as though everyone else was moving in slow motion.

“Please, don’t kill me! I just needed the money for drugs, please!”

“Shut up,” Lucas told him. “Mister, can you call the cops?”

“Of course, young feller. My stars!” The store owner wandered over to the phone still shaking his head.

After the police arrived and took the would-be armed robber away, they congratulated Lucas for saving his friend from being shot (they had less kind words for Virgil) and sent them on their way after taking down their contact information. Lucas, now without a phone, had given Virgil’s phone number as well. Virgil had, naturally, been allowed to keep his engagement ring.

*

Late that night while walking home from his job at the sporting goods store, Lucas saw a girl with long dark hair stumble hurriedly out of the bar he liked to go to on the rare occasions he had money to spend. She looked over her shoulder and Lucas recognized his ex-girlfriend, Ursula. He ducked sideways, hoping she hadn’t seen him. For once, Lucas caught a lucky break and Ursula had been looking back at the entrance.

Lucas heaved a sigh of relief until he saw the two gargantuan drunks stagger out of Earl’s and leer menacingly at Ursula. She yelped and scurried away down the street and around the corner.

“Shit,” Lucas muttered. Ursula may have been a horrible, crazy bitch, but she didn’t deserve what those two bruisers looked to have in mind for her. “Hey guys, wait up!”

They were both as tall as Lucas and each at least twice as broad. They glowered at him and then turned back to pursue Ursula.

“No, hey, wait a minute. I know that girl can be kind of a tease, but—”

“Shut the hell up, twiggy!” One of them roared without turning around.

“Listen, I really can’t let you two do what it looks like you’re about to do. So why don’t we head back inside and I can buy us all a drink?” Thank God that Earl’s was so cheap! Lucas had barely enough cash in his pocket to buy three well drinks.

“This is none of your business, buddy!” The red haired one shoved Lucas hard, but he managed to keep his balance.

“I don’t want a fight.”

“It sounds like you do, dipshit!” The brown haired one shouted as he threw a punch at Lucas.

Lucas leapt to the side and the brown haired man stumbled forward and fell on his face. His red headed counterpart stared at Lucas, shook his head as though to clear the fog of alcohol away and tried to punch Lucas.

This time Lucas dodged and had time to grab the drunkard’s shirt and throw him head first into the grimy walls of Earl’s. By now the brown haired man had regained his feet and dove at Lucas to tackle him.

Deciding to press his luck and see what he could really do, Lucas stood his ground, and as the drunk came sailing through the air at him, he twisted underneath his assailant and shoved upwards as hard as he could. The man flew several feet higher into the air before coming down hard in the middle of the sidewalk at least a dozen feet away.

Lucas whistled appreciatively. Then he glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed their little scuffle. No one had. He shoved his hands into his pockets and hurried off towards home.

Wondering just how he was ever going to thank Maggie for giving him this suit that had saved him twice in one day, Lucas strolled down the less than tidy streets of the northwest corner of the U-District. He was feeling quite content with life. That is, until he heard a girl crying somewhere off to his left.

Under normal circumstances, Lucas would have walked on by; maybe called the cops if he saw something that looked violent going on. He was not an uncaring man, but he was not particularly strong or intimidating and he did not carry a gun. He did not want to get involved if it meant he would likely make the situation worse rather than better.

But tonight did not feel like normal circumstances. Having thwarted two crimes today, Lucas peered around the corner to see if there was a third crime he could stop. What he saw made Lucas burn deep down in his gut.

A waifish Asian girl was being held up against the alley wall by a brutish looking man who was obviously enjoying raping her. The girl was crying and whimpering and trying feebly to keep the man’s hands off her. An even more brutish goon stood behind them, watching the vile show and the alley entrance.

Lucas had already stepped around the corner and started sprinting at them before he realized he was doing it. The man watching drew a gun from his coat pocket and fired at Lucas. Lucas dodged to the right, kicked off the wall, and flew the last ten feet or so to tackle the gunman. A quick jerking motion brought the man’s head up and down against the pavement. Lucas saw the man’s eyes flutter closed and heard the gun clatter from his hand; he wasn’t getting up any time soon.

The other man, the raper, turned away from the girl and pulled a knife out of his jacket. Lucas kicked him in the chest, punched him in the jaw, picked him up, and threw him into a nearby dumpster. The man had felt as light as a rag doll. Lucas looked down at his scrawny arms.

“Maggie, what have you done to me?” He asked himself.

A flurry of words in a language that Lucas didn’t understand brought his attention back to the Asian girl. Her skimpy dress was torn and her tears had ruined her makeup. She stepped forward as though to hug Lucas, seemed to think better of it, and then ran off quite a bit faster than Lucas would have thought her high heels would have allowed.

Lucas reached into the gunman’s pocket, dialed 911 from his phone, and left the phone on top of the unconscious man’s chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas spied an orange extension cord hanging out of the dumpster. This gave him an idea. He fished the other man out of the dumpster and tied up both men with the cord before leaving.

*

“I swear to God, if this is a crank call, I’m gonna kick somebody’s ass,” Officer Sam Avery growled as he slammed the door of their Seattle Metro patrol car.

Officer Charlene Monroe clicked on her flashlight and shined it down the dark alleyway. “I don’t think this is a crank call, but I’m not sure you’re going to be any less inclined to kick someone’s ass after you see this.”

“Jesus Christ,” Sam swore.

Charlene studied the scene. Two men, apparently unconscious, were tied together with an orange extension cord. One of them had his pants undone and partially pulled down to expose his genitals.

“What the hell do you think happened here?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Charlene answered. “But this is the second pair of very large, particularly nasty looking men that we’ve seen pulverized and left in the street.”

“You think they’re connected?” Sam scratched his head and looked around the alley.

“The people in Earl’s said those two guys harassed a girl and then chased her out of the bar. The guy here with his pants down would be in jail for date rape if his daddy hadn’t gotten him such a good lawyer last year.”

“Jesus, you’re right! I remember this little pissant! Do you think we’ve got some kind of defender of women running around the U-District?”

“That would make him a vigilante, Sam.”

“I know that! But he still saved two women tonight, how bad can he be?”

Charlene fixed her partner with a level glare. She may have been the youngest person on the force, but she had already acquired something of a reputation as a hard ass.

“Don’t look at me that way, I know it’s wrong! I was just saying…ah hell! Never mind.” However, Sam leaned down close to the tied up men and whispered, “You bastards got a taste of what you deserve.

*

After pushup number two hundred fifty-seven, Lucas gave up on tiring himself out enough to sleep. Even after the initial adrenaline rush from saving that girl in the alley, he had still felt brimming with energy. Energy and strength.  Lucas had never done more than twenty or so pushups at once before, but now he had done more than two hundred fifty and he felt like he could do at least that many more without feeling the least bit tired.

Lucas glanced at the clock. Three twenty-two. He grabbed his jacket and headed out.

“This is stupid and dangerous,” he told himself as he started down the street, but that didn’t stop him from walking down 50^th Avenue checking every dark corner and keeping an ear out for sounds of violence.

After about half an hour he came across a painfully obvious drug deal in process. Lucas approached the two men. They glared at him, but did nothing more. They likely hoped he would simply move along.

“I don’t think you want to do that here,” Lucas told them.

One, the dealer, growled, “Piss off!”

Lucas shook his head. “No, but I am going to need you to leave and never come back to this neighborhood. Please.” It was important to be polite.

“Listen, idiot, I said piss off!” He pulled a gun out of the waistband of his baggy jeans and pointed it at Lucas’ chest.

Lucas sighed. In a blur of motion he karate chopped the dealer’s wrist and the gun went flying. “Now, as I was saying. Please leave and never come back.” He turned to the would-be buyer. “And you, why haven’t you run away yet? Go on, shoo!”

While Lucas was shooing the customer away, the other man came at Lucas with a snarled curse and a knife. Lucas spun away to avoid the tackle and the stab. The drug dealer landed flat on his face with an oomf. The buyer turned and fled, finally displaying some modicum of good sense.

Lucas stepped on the remaining criminal’s wrist until he released the knife. Then, while pinning him with his knee, Lucas removed the man’s shoelaces and socks. He tied the dealer up with the laces so that his arms were behind a telephone pole and shoved the socks in his mouth.

“Phone, where is your phone?” Lucas dug through the jacket pockets full of drugs, which was tricky with all the squirming the tied up man was doing. Eventually he did find a cell phone and used it to dial 911 just as he had before.

“Have fun in prison!” Lucas called over his shoulder.

This was fun, Lucas reflected as he walked. It felt like he was doing some good. He had always been disappointed that he couldn’t volunteer more, but he had been working at least two jobs since he was fifteen. There just hadn’t been time.

Continuing his patrol around the University District, Lucas eventually came across a drunken frat boy dragging his crying girlfriend by her elbow. She had an ugly bruise over her left eye and she kept falling down. Evidently, she was drunk as well.

“Help!” The girl shouted at Lucas when she saw him.

“Shut up!” Her boyfriend turned around and backhanded her hard across the mouth. Lucas saw blood fly as the girl collapsed to the sidewalk.

Before the bastard had turned back to face Lucas he closed the gap between them and sucker punched the frat guy in the ear. It wasn’t honorable, but Lucas felt like if anyone deserved a sucker punch it was this asshole.

The punch sent him sprawling, but he staggered back up to square off against Lucas. Lucas kicked him in the groin. He stayed down after that.

“That’s what happens when you misuse your manhood,” Lucas lectured as he stole the groaning man’s shoelaces and tied him to a stop sign.

After dialing 911, Lucas checked on the girl. She was snoring softly. Lucas looked around. The cops should be here within a few minutes and no one else was around, but he still didn’t feel right about leaving the girl alone and unconscious in the street. He hid behind a dumpster until he saw the patrol car drive up.

Dawn would be coming soon so Lucas decided to call it a night and head home. He practically danced the whole way back, he was that giddy.

*

“What a weird God-damn night,” Sam muttered as Charlene carefully put the tied up frat boy’s phone into an evidence bag. “You really think we’ll get a usable print off the phones?”

“It’s the only lead we have. The drug dealer said it was a monstrously huge blonde guy and no one else has woken up from the beatings he gave them yet.”

“He sure does beat the shit out of the ones hurting women.”

Charlene nodded. “It must upset him more.”

“The Lieutenant sure as shit ain’t going to be pleased to hear about a vigilante on his turf.”

“I’m more worried about the media getting wind of it, actually.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Until he makes a mistake and gets someone killed he’ll be treated like a hero.”

Sam snorted. “And after seeing the bruises on that girl’s face you’re going to tell me that’d be wrong?”

Charlene looked over to where the EMTs were treating the girl they’d found. She ignored Sam’s stupid question. “The girl. He wouldn’t have left her alone like that. Shit!”

Sam blinked in surprise. He had never heard Charlene swear in anger before. “What? What is it?”

“He was here! He had to have been! He has to protect women, he couldn’t have left her unconscious where some other scumbag could have come along and raped her. Don’t you see?”

“Uh…”

“We could have caught him! He would have stuck around close by where he could make sure she was safe until he arrived!”

“Right…yeah.” Sam scratched his head. “Doesn’t really help us now though, does it?”

Charlene rolled her eyes in frustration. Sam was a good cop with great instincts, but his grasp of logic and strategy were meager at best. That was why he hadn’t been promoted to detective yet—that, and his horrible temper, actually.

*

“What’s got you in such a fine mood this afternoon?” Ellie asked as she dried the plate Lucas handed her.

Lucas shrugged. “I guess I’m just excited for tonight.” He was helping Ellie do the dishes after she made lunch for him. He had been starving after staying out all night and there had been nothing to eat for breakfast in his apartment except half a scoop of oatmeal one piece of toast. When he got paid tomorrow he would be able to buy some groceries…probably.

“I can’t believe they’re finally getting engaged! They’ve been dating since they were eleven, can you believe that! Ten years and I’ve been their friend the whole time. I feel like I’m part of it, you know?”

Lucas nodded. “Does Maggie know?”

“Oh, she totally knows! But she’s pretending she doesn’t.”

“Of course.” Lucas finished washing a bowl and handed it to Ellie. He glanced over at her. She looked incredibly happy. Lucas doubted he would have a better opportunity than this. “So, after Virgil proposes, I’m thinking that they will want some privacy.”

“Probably,” Ellie agreed with a little smirk on her lips.

“Perhaps the two of us ought to give it to them. We can go down by the fountain or get ice cream cones at Dicks or…something.”

Ellie bumped him playfully with her hip. “You mean like a date or…something?” Her grin told Lucas she was making fun of him, but her blue eyes stared intently at him, waiting for an answer.

Lucas pushed her back with his own much bonier hip. “Yes, actually.”

“God, you’re boney! I think I’m going to have a bruise.” She rubbed her side exaggeratedly.

Lucas stared down at her, waiting for her answer.

Ellie waited longer, her smirk growing wider.

“Oh God, please just say yes!” Lucas begged finally.

“On one condition.” She held up her index finger.

“Anything…within reason.”

Ellie snickered. “Fine, no pink tutu—this time. I want to buy you dinner at that Thai place you like so much in Queen Anne.”

Lucas grinned from ear to ear. He would gladly have worn the tutu, but he would never admit that to her. “Deal.”

“Yay!” Ellie threw her arms around Lucas in a ferocious hug.

Lucas hugged her back. It’s about damn time, he thought. Nothing can go wrong this time.

*