Sky Hunter (28 page)

She had placed a call to Captain Dakad after
finally leaving Bellac and heard that Beryl had survived the
skirmish at the elevator hub. Apparently he was entirely made of
leather and nanotubes or something. It didn’t matter. What mattered
was to finish this before his people caught her. And that meant
staying out of their way for a little while longer.

She powered the cruiser down and sat quietly
for a moment, eyes closed. She wanted to cry. The head menders down
on Bellac would approve of that. It was probably encouraged after
shooting one’s lover.

“
Lieutenant?” a hesitant voice called
out from behind her.

“
Yes, yes, I’m awake. Welcome to
Skyranch Twelve.” She released the exit doors of the cruiser. The
plane was a fine piece of machinery and she had grown rather fond
of it over these past few hours. Groaning, she pulled herself up,
hid a gun behind the open flap of her flight suit, and stepped out
of the plane.

The deck seemed abandoned when she and her
passengers stepped through the lock. Banks of tranquil ceiling
tiles illuminated the main concourse but the corridors leading to
other parts of the orbiter were shadowed tunnels set to night shift
power conservation.

“
The lifts are this way,” she
said.

They headed to the left and she was not
surprised when she found their way barred by a security detail. Not
just any, of course, but Beryl’s squad. She turned to see more of
them step up from behind. They stood silently and looked about as
menacing as she had ever seen them.

Sergeant Rafe stepped forward, gun in hand
although not quite aimed at her. He glowered at her and then at the
five people that had travelled with her from Bellac. Slowly,
recognition seemed to come to him.

“
Sergeant,” Nova said politely. “You
may remember some of these good folks.” She turned to the huddle of
pale-faced visitors who were unable to take their eyes from the
soldiers’ guns. “You know Doctor Soren, of course. You’ll recall
meeting Doctor Luca Vidarron. And here is Sergeant Daphine Hayden,
Specialist Abrana, and Specialist Gosen.”

“
What is this?” Rafe
growled.

“
They’ve come to visit with the
colonel. Isn’t that nice of them?”

“
Giving you a choice, Whiteside. You
can turn around and get off this station with all these people,
never to return, or you’re coming below with us. What’s it going to
be?”

“
Below? Oh, you mean down where you’ve
got all that
mince
stashed?”

“
Somewhere there, yeah. I was thinking
you’ll boil down into a fine soup for the grow rings, like the rest
of the garbage.”

Some lights came on in the surrounding
corridor spaces. Beryl’s men looked around themselves when armed
soldiers and a number of the station’s pilots moved in to surround
the group, weapons ready.

From the direction of the lifts came a
curious collection of mechanics, two pilots, and several of the
surviving workers from the loading dock. Nova recognized the
nervous Bellac she had tackled in the stairwell and gave him a glad
smile. Captain Dakad hovered protectively near them but his eyes
were on Rafe and his expression seemed grimmer than usual.

Colonel Thedris stepped forward. “Lieutenant
Whiteside, I’m pleased to see you in one piece, I have to say.”

She nodded. “Is the shipping level still
sealed off, Captain?” she said to Dakad.

“
It is,” he replied. “Except for the
bomb squad and medics no one’s been down there.”

Rafe grunted something and shifted his gun.
Immediately, several security personnel moved forward and disarmed
him and his companions.

“
Colonel, these people, along with
those Captain Dakad assembled, will offer a deposition in support
of my charges. You will find a number of blue bins labeled as food
stuffs and destined for Magra on the docks. Each of those bins was
cleared for customs by Captain Beryl and his men under the direct
guidance of Major Trakkas. The bins contain
mince
in various
forms, brought into Shon Gat by caravan and from there to the
elevator depot.”

“
Trakkas? That’s quite the accusation,
Lieutenant.”

“
The deck hands that survived will
corroborate, as will the crew members from Rim Station where
similar smuggling took place. Captain Beryl used a systematic
method of intimidation and blackmail to gain cooperation from those
not directly involved. Doctors Soren and Vidarron are able to share
enough information for you to investigate personal files showing
evidence of physical assaults including rape and at least one
murder. These things probably also happened down at the Shon Gat
base.”

The colonel turned slowly to look over
several of Beryl’s people. Rafe took a threatening step toward Nova
and was immediately restrained. “He took a bullet for you,
bitch.”

She regarded him coldly. “He was doing his
job,” she said. “And now I’m doing mine.” She turned back to the
colonel. “Their smuggling operation caught the attention of the
Shri-Lan who inserted their own people among ours, including Nathon
Djari. That allowed them to hide explosive materials in the boxes
of
mince
as well as the climber that I was able to
disengage.”

“
What?” Rafe shouted, outrage and
disbelief clear on his face.

“
I believe that the siege at Shon Gat
was staged to let us assume that the militants had all been
expelled from the town. Once they were gone along with any
immediate threat of terrorism, the rebels were free to work out the
sabotage.” She raised her chin toward Rafe. “Aided by our own
people. As you probably guessed, today’s attack on Siolet and the
jumpsite was yet another diversion to scatter our forces and give
the Shri-Lan agents time to position the explosives around the
elevator hub and the lower level.”

The colonel looked over the small crowd
gathered here and saw several people nodding while others just
threw fearful glances at the disarmed guards. “How long has this
been going on?” he said to Rafe.

The men stared back at him, silent.

The colonel turned back to Nova. “And Major
Trakkas was aware of all this?”

“
Yessir, although I don’t know if he
was leading these men or if he was simply a…
beneficiary.”

“
How did you find all this?”

“
By accident,” she said. “But I will
also admit that I should have realized much sooner that something…
unusual was going on down at the docks. But—”

“
That’ll do, Lieutenant,” the colonel
said, ready to get over the shock of this revelation. “We will take
this from here. Major Eagan, have these men taken away and place a
watch on Captain Beryl’s hospital room. Contact Shon Gat and make
the appropriate arrangement for Major Trakkas and the ground crew.
Have all shipping records for the past year encrypted and delivered
up here.” He gestured to the others. “Each of you will make an
individual statement with full disclosure. You would not be here if
you weren’t prepared to do so, am I correct?”

There were hesitant nods all around, more
emphatic once Beryl’s men had been led from the bay.

He instructed his aide to make cabins
available to the arrivals from Bellac before waving Nova aside. She
walked with him to the impressive observation window looking out
over the grow rings. There was a narrow bench there but she knew
that if she sat down now it would be impossible to get up
again.

“
You’re looking a little peaked,
Whiteside,” Thedris said with a smile.

“
Been a long day, sir.”

He clasped his hands behind his back. “You
took some risks, Lieutenant.”

“
Yes, sir. I have regrets. I also
allowed myself to be intimidated by these men. I’m not proud of
that. I should have—”

He waved that aside. “Learn from it,
Whiteside, and move on. The only thing you need to analyze right
now are your odds of making Hunter Class. Which are pretty damn
good, from what I’ve seen.”

“
You’ll approve the application,
then?”

“
I’m signing off on those remaining
hours in the morning. You can leave for Targon on the next
transport.”

She sighed deeply. “I won’t let you down,
sir.” Her eyes wandered to the cruiser visible through the window.
“I’m wondering if I could… I mean, could I… um, take that ship?
Next transport isn’t for weeks.”

He looked outside. “Spoils of war,
Lieutenant? Promise you’ll wait a few days to get into top shape
before you go?”

“
Promise. Can I take Lieutenant Rolyn
with me as wingman?”

He nodded. “If Dakad concurs.”

“
Can I—”

“
Go to bed, Whiteside. That’s an
order.”

* * *

*

Dear Reader:

I hope you enjoyed Sky
Hunter. If you did, please take a moment to leave a review to help
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My
web
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at
www.chrisreher.com
includes more information about the
Targon Tales,
excerpts,
images,
as well as links discussing the
technology and scientific inspiration used in this
story.

Click here if you would
like to be notified about new releases.

Nova Whiteside continues
her adventures in
The Targon Tales
collection.

The Catalyst, Book
2

Lieutenant Nova Whiteside, on an apparently
routine, finds herself the target of an assassination attempt. Her
escape leaves her with no option but to rely on Seth, a former
lover, for help.
In trying to find who is threatening her life, they discover a plot
to destroy a distant planet - a world inhabited by creatures that
are the key to Nova's survival - and a conspiracy that threatens
the stability of the Union Commonwealth.

Only Human, Book
3

Captain Nova Whiteside is teamed up
with Tychon, a straight-laced Vanguard commander. In their pursuit
of a ruthless rebel leader to recover a dangerous, living weapon,
the line between their personal lives and their mission quickly
begins to blur.

Rebel Alliances, Book
4

Captain Nova Whiteside receives new
technology designed to change the dynamics of the Commonwealth
wars. Enemy factions conspire and so Nova finds herself aboard a
rebel ship where her value as hostage isn't nearly as great as her
value as a defector.
Also suspected of collaboration, her Delphian Vanguard partner
Tychon sets out to track her down. He discovers a puzzling piece of
Nova's past when a motley alliance of strangers comes to his aid
and their search leads him deep into rebel territory.

Delphi Promised, Book
5

An immense asteroid field is on its way to
deliver a torrent of pathogens into this galactic sector,
guaranteeing the destruction of any civilization in its path.
Cyann, astrobiologist and Human-Delphian hybrid, is eager to join
the research expedition dispatched to investigate. She is not
prepared when they are stranded among an alien species whose
motivations are enigmatic at best.

Please visit my site
at
www.chrisreher.com
for
more information.