Star Trader Update - On the Trail of Ezekiel Watts: The Stall (7)

Shattuck – The Stall

            Shattuck caught a glimpse of the derelict ship at the mouth of the window as the ship he was on came speeding out. The captain of his ship cranked the vessel to the left, just missing the floater by a matter of feet. Shattuck went flying out of his seat. His head and shoulder took the full brunt of the impact against the bulkhead. He blacked out.

When he came round he was on the floor being attended by a member of the crew. His head felt like it had been run over by a Walh rock crusher that backed up and ran over it a second time.

            “How many?” the crewman asked as she held up two fingers.

            “Two, I think,” replied Shattuck. Everything sounded like he was in a very deep barrel.

            “Can you wiggle your fingers for me?” she continued.

            Shattuck obliged by doing what she asked.

            “How about your feet? Can you move them?”

            Shattuck flexed his feet back and forth. Thank God he didn’t seem to have broken anything other than his head.

            “Let’s get him to the sickbay,” she ordered and Shattuck was hauled up by several meaty hands.

            He would be sure not to put this part of the investigation in his onsite journal. If Lena got wind of this she would keep him planet bound for the rest of his natural life.

§

            “I thought I would check in before I catch the shuttle to the galnon station,” Shattuck said to Lena.

            “Where’s the picture?” Lena asked. She was standing in a plain box, indicating that her brother was not fully connected to the N.E.T.

            Shattuck looked at his bandaged head reflected in the blank monitor at the Trade Post’s communication station.

            “Their equipment here is limited,” Shattuck lied. If Lena saw him like this – bandaged head, two whopper black eyes and a nose twice its normal size she would go Stella on him.

            “What about your headgear?” she asked. He always traveled with his link to the U.N. No Ethinn connection, but it would have given her the standard vid view of him.

            “On the fritz for some reason I haven’t been able to trace just yet. I’ll work to have it up and running by the time I talk to you again.”

            Shattuck made the decision to call her so that she wouldn’t surprise him in the N.E.T. and see the results of the accident. It was his way of circumventing that. Another week’s travel to the mining colony and the swelling would be down. He could cover the rest. It would be logical to be wearing sunglasses and a hat on a planet where the sun blazed down on it for its full rotation.

            “I’ll give you a call when I get to Galnon Station #41. Don’t worry. Everything is fine,” he assured her.

            “Why do I doubt you,” Lena asked skeptically.

            “I have no idea,” Shattuck replied in all innocence. “I wouldn’t keep anything from you.”
            “Right…” Lena sighed. She knew something was up, but she wasn’t going to get it out of him this time. “Keep in touch.”

            “Later, Sis.”

§

            “They were taken,” the captain announced. When they landed earlier today and found that the galnon station was deserted the captain ordered all passengers to stay onboard until they could determine the cause.

            “There is a dead hydra and indications that the facility was raided,” the captain continued. “If any of you came to meet up with someone here I would suggest you check the slave markets on Galla II. We will take anyone back to the refitting station that wants to go. No charge for the return trip.”

            “Do you think the hydra will come back,” someone asked from the back of the group.

            “They know this station is here now. They can assume it is still unprotected. I would imagine there is a good chance they will raid it again,” the captain conceded with a nod.

            A murmur went through the crowd. The miners came a long way to be here, but the condition of ‘here’ had changed radically. No one wanted to risk being a slave.

            Within an hour the shuttle was headed back to the refitting station. No one stayed on Galnon Station #41. It would be labeled a dead world henceforth on the galactic charts. The miners would catch a ride to some other overworked claim. Shattuck was already lining up a ride to Galla II.

Star Trader Update - On the Trail of Ezekiel Watts: The Capture (6)

Watts – The Capture

Watts began the fight with a blaster in his hand. He was only able to take down one of the huge lizard like beasts before it was yanked away from him by one of the Hydra’s long whips. The huge beasts were extremely accurate marksmen with their whips and very strong in hand-to-hand combat. Watts managed to sidestep one over seven feet tall that was after him. He grabbed Lucas out from under a flying capture net and dragged the boy behind him away from the lizards.

There was nowhere to run. No means of escape. The shuttle that dropped them off here was the only form of transport. There were no planet runners. No cruisers. You could only hide in the caves so long without water. It wasn’t in Watts’ nature to give up, but frankly he couldn’t see any option.

He knew about the hydra. They were the slave traders of the verse, descending on any unprotected population they found, they captured them and sold them in the markets of Galla II. There would be better opportunities for escape on Galla - more resources at hand for a man of his talents. They just had to live through the capture and transport.

A net fell over Lucas. The kid struggled to get free. One of the hydra’s whips snaked out and took a bite out of his shoulder as it emerged from under the net. Watts reached out and grabbed the whip as it snaked back for another blow.

He wished to God he had a universal translator. He never owned one of his own. They were damned expensive so he always took jobs where they either spoke English, would loan him a UT or he had Arr with his incredible language skills along for the ride. If he had a UT now he could talk to the Hydra and surrender.

“Don’t,” Watts yelled to Lucas over the bedlam of the other miners being taken captive. “Give up. Don’t give them a reason to kill you.”

Watts’ had heard of captives being killed just because they had made themselves too much trouble to keep. Arr was captured by them once and almost died before Jake was able to save him.

Watts put a restraining hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “Let them take us. We’ll have better luck escaping where they are taking us. I’ve been there.”

It did not go unnoticed by the hydra that the black man had interceded to keep the young white boy from being hurt. Nothing escaped the hydra concerning leverage with their prey.

§

            “Just back off,” Watts yelled in anger at the hydra.

It was pushing him and Lucas into a cage the size of a shoebox. Lucas bulked at the sight of the dead body slumped in the corner. Watts reached around the kid and grabbed the foot of the dead guy, but before he could yank him out the Hydra pushed him again with the butt end of his whip handle.

“Back off,” Watts hissed as he turned on the hydra. “Let me get the body out.”

They would have to practically sit on each other’s laps to both fit in this cage. He agreed with Lucas. He didn’t want to make the trip with a corpse beside him. This cramped space was going to be agony enough.

The hydra reached in and with incredible strength yanked the body out onto the floor. Then he laid into Lucas with the whip handle. Watts tried to block some of the blows until the kid could crawl in. Lucas wedged himself into one corner to make room for the mercenary’s much larger frame.

            Watts hesitated as he looked down to the corpse at his feet. The guy has a hole in his neck about the size of a pencil. Damn! There was a driller lose in here somewhere. The poor bastard had been on Tuldavia without a set of nose plugs. Dumb, Dumb!

The hydra pushed him again.

“Get off!” Watts yelled and punched the beasts’ hand away.

A driller! Shit!

The huge green monster reached past the mercenary into the cage and yanked Lucas out by the hair. The boy hollered in pain and fear.

            “Stop!” Watts screamed at their captor. “Let him go.”

            The hydra pointed to the cage to indicate he wanted Watts in now – not later. Watts crawled in. He tried to make himself as small as a six foot four man could.

            “Put him in,” he said gesturing to the hydra for Lucas to be released. Driller or no, the kid was still better off with him then without him.

            To Watts it looked as though the hydra actually smiled as he shoved the boy in and slammed the door shut. It must have been a trick of the poor lighting down here. Lizards didn’t smile.

            All things considered, between that weird smile and the possibility of driller infestation, he sure as hell wasn’t going to get any sleep on this trip.

Star Trader Update - On the Trail of Ezekiel Watts: The Clues (5)

Shattuck – The Clues

            “Tuck, you need to come home,” Lena pleaded. “You’re burning up all your stake for the big one.”

            This was the third time she had contacted him to beg him to come back since he left over a month ago. Tuck looked exhausted. His eyes were red, his hair uncombed, his clothing a mess. He was a man obsessed. He wasn’t coming home until he found this elusive Watts character.

            Shattuck was following the last lead he showed her of a recording he found in Watts’ N.E.T. history. It had no delivery site that you could follow, but it was a conversation between Watts and Arr about the release of William Braden.

            “You don’t understand,” Shattuck said. “This is the big one, and I am so close, Sis,” Shattuck said. “I can feel it.”

            They were both hooked up with Ethinn in the N.E.T. This was where Lena always found him lately.

            “Where are we?” she asked. The room they were standing in was a shambles. It had obviously been tossed by someone.

            “In Watts’ home on Rigil 4’s second moon,” Shattuck answered. “I physically just left Outpost #68. I found another lead.”

            “What?”

            Before her brother left he confessed to her that he found his way in through the backdoor of the Braden brother’s trial records. They were accused and convicted of murdering innocents on a mercenary mission. They had abused Azar root, a substance used sparingly by the military to stay awake on long shifts of duty. Five of their fellow mercenary team witnessed against the Bradens, Tim O’Malley (deceased), Jake Harcourt (deceased), Daniel Douglas (now deceased), Arr of the Henu (whereabouts unknown) and Ezekiel Watts. Shattuck formulated the theory that Braden was tracking down the men who accused him and murdering them one by one. He wasn’t able to get a lead on Arr of the Henu, but he knew where Watts lived. Watts was the man to follow if you wanted to catch Braden and Watts was way out of Wade’s jurisdiction.

            “Watch this vid. It was one of many I found under the bed at Watts’. Whoever tossed the room thought they weren’t important enough to bother with. They were wrong. I’ve studied these until my eyes are bleeding,” he exaggerated and rubbed his red eyes for emphasis. “They are full of information.”

            Shattuck started the recording which showed a man in a kilt playing a ukulele. He was singing the Earther version of Happy Birthday with a backup chorus of no less than a dozen very drunk grown men.

            “That’s Tim O’Malley in the kilt. The time stamp on the recording is years ago. Each of the recordings I found were of Jake Harcourt’s birthday parties. The guys all got together each year to celebrate.” Shattuck explained. “Wait…Wait…” Shattuck flipped to a bookmark he’d placed in the recording. “This is the part I want you to see.”

            Shattuck narrated as the recording started of a group of drunken guys sitting around a room littered with limp party decorations and half eaten plates of birthday cake with runny, melted ice cream.

            “That’s Jake on the right of Tim, Douglas is in the big armchair, Arr there at Jake’s feet on the floor and you recognize Watts. Listen….Jake is telling them about a mission he and Arr were on during the past year.”

            Jake told the story of a mission that had turned into a nightmare. A whole colony of miners and their families had died on Galnon Station #41. When he was finished, Tim checked the bottle on the coffee table in front of him. It was empty. He stood up and retrieved a fresh one from the bar at the back of the room. He came back and walked around the room filling all their glasses. He filled his last and raised it.

            “To the families of Galnon Station #41,” he toasted.

            Everyone raised their glasses and drank.

            Shattuck stopped the recording.

            “I am running with a hunch here,” Shattuck explained. “I think when Watts said he was going to hide in the ‘deepest, darkest hole’ he could find, he was being literal. I think he has gone to Galnon Station #41. I have been researching it and it is being independently mined.”

            “Where in the verse is Galnon Station #41?” Lena asked.

            “It’s out a ways. I’m headed to Trade Post A8767 on the outer rim.”

            “Jez Tuck, that’s half way across the galaxy. You have to use a window to get there,” Lena said in a worried tone. “Tell me you’re not thinking of using a window. That’s downright stupid.”

            “I’m not going to use a window,” Shattuck repeated obligingly.

            “You’re lying. You have to.” Lena cursed under her breath. “You idiot! Haven’t I taught you anything? You could get yourself killed hurtling through windows.”

            “I love you too, Sis. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I am picking up some really good stuff out here,” Shattuck assured her. “Have you been reading it?”

            “Of course,” she replied with a sigh. It was good stuff. Probably the best her little brother had ever written. He seemed to be feeding off the danger. He had a mission. He was going to get to the end of this story.

            “Promise me you’ll be careful,” she begged him. “Promise me if you catch the slightest glimpse of this maniac Braden guy that you’ll call the officials. No playing like you know what you’re doing in a fight. Promise me,” she reiterated.

            “I promise.” Shattuck crossed his heart with his fingers.

            “Tuck..I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you,” Lena confessed.

            “You’d have a lot more money to spend on yourself,” Shattuck replied with a grin. “Don’t worry, Sis. I’ll be the bane of your existence until the day you die.”

Star Trader Update - On the Trail of Ezekiel Watts: "The Station" (4)

Watts – The Station

“Drop it!” Watts ordered in a hoarse growl. He had reached the limits of his patience. His tolerance of the situation was at an end. No more looking the other way. No more non-interference. No more mister nice-guy. He hated bullies.

“Now!” he roared. His voice echoed throughout the cavern.

He had been on this God forsaken rock for just under two weeks. He was miserable. His throat was raw from lack of liquids. His skin was cracked and bleeding in places he didn’t want to discuss for the same reason. He hadn’t had a shower since he arrived and could hardly sleep from the overpowering aroma of his own body. On top of all that, he had been turning a blind eye on what the rest of the men were doing to a young kid named Lucas.

Lucas was here when Watts arrived. No telling how long he had been here. The youngster was ill equipped, alone, and way out of his element. He had already become the Omega dog in this miner’s pack. He was the brunt of all their frustration - the receiving end of all their stupid pranks to relieve the boredom. Lucas’ hands were permanently bound in rags to protect them, or bandage them, from falls or collisions with the crystals of the floor or walls. The guys were pushing him constantly.

The men would come up behind the kid and flip the light off on his headgear. The device was so antiquated that Lucas would have to remove it in order to get to the switch with his bandaged hands and turn the lights back on. This was all done with his eyes closed because the other miners would direct their lights and laser pics toward the crystal to create as much refraction as possible to blind the kid. His shades were permanently attached to the outdated headgear and couldn’t be worn alone for adjustment of the gear. He was verging on a mild case of crystal blindness.

When Watts first arrived the kid was scavenging crystals from anyplace not claimed by another miner. A few days ago he actually claimed a small area on the tenth level and was working it with his barely operating laser pic. This morning he hit a small, but rich vein. He actually mined out a nice handful of semi-precious crystal. A few hours ago he couldn’t contain himself when he hit a deeper pocket of precious crystals. He let out a whoop that echoed through the whole level. The other miners had been watching ever since just waiting for him to pack up for the night.

Lucas set his force field screen over the front of his site. It too was ancient and probably couldn’t keep mice out much less a determined rouge miner, but the men knew they would have to deal with the kid before they invaded his site. The six men on that level ganged up on him the minute he turned away from the wall. They had not imagined the old black guy would interfere. He had stuck to himself since he arrived. Didn’t even associate with them above ground. They were wrong.

Watts picked up his own satchel heavy with crystal in one hand, tucked his laser pic in the side pocket of his pants and grabbed his mining pick ax with his other free hand. Throughout his mercenary career he always picked the jobs defending the underdogs. This was no different. When the gang descended on the kid and wrestled his picking pouch away from him Watts came in swinging. He took care of two of the miners before they could even turn to put up a defense. Swinging the heavy crystal bag he caught the third under the chin and sent him flying. The fourth guy was smart enough to raise his laser pic, but his aim was off. He missed Watts and hit his bag. The laser slit it open mid-flight into the next guy and exploded a rain of sharp crystals projectiles through the air. Everyone got hit. The fourth guy being the closest this side of Watts caught one right through the left temple.

Four down, two to go. Watts wrung an arch with his mining pick and took out the guy with the laser pic before he recovered from the assault of the crystal ‘rain.’

The last man didn’t think to take Lucas hostage. He thought Watts was in it for the crystal, not to protect the stupid kid.

“Drop it!” Watts ordered.

He stood transfixed holding the bag to his chest.

“Now!” he roared.

The man tossed the bag at Watts and held up his hands.

“It’s yours,” he relented.

Watts leaned down and picked up the pouch. He tossed it to the kid.

“Clean up this mess,” he ordered the last man standing, indicating the fallen miners around him. “And once you’ve done that, I don’t want to see any of you on this level again. Understand?”

The man nodded his head. The walking injured picked up the crystal impaled dead guy and vacated the cavern as quickly as their damaged bodies could move.

“That won’t be the end of it,” Watts warned the kid.

§

            Watts uncoiled the fresh bandages from the roll as he wrapped Lucas’ hand.

            “I really appreciate what you did for me down there,” the kid said. “I was thinking maybe you and I could partner up. I have a pretty good claim.”

            Watts sighed – just what he needed. He would end up being the kid’s bodyguard.

            He cut off the roll of bandage and started taping over the cloth. The cloth would never hold up to the cutting crystal, but the tape was pretty indestructible. Give Watts a roll of Tough Tape and he could repair just about anything. He never traveled without it.

            “I know you think I’m sucking you into a lot of trouble you don’t have to deal with, but look at it this way,” Lucas continued, “you already put yourself in the middle and those guys aren’t going to forget it. Team up with me and at least you get some good crystal and you have someone at your back.”

            The kid had a point. He may be physically weak, but he had a head on his shoulders. He assessed the situation to a tee.

            Unfortunately, Watt’s didn’t have the opportunity to agree. It was at that moment that the Hydra attacked.