Smugger's Virtue (Lathos Galaxy Chronicles Book 2) (6 page)

"Matt Britton, you have a visitor," said the guard as he approached Matt’s cell. Matt had been lying on his cot and reading one of the books he was allowed to have. He had waived his right to an attorney, and General Weathers had left earlier in a huff, so Matt had no idea who could be coming to see him now. He looked up and was surprised to see the general coming towards his cell. He was even more surprised by who was with him. As soon as she entered, Matt jumped to his feet, ran to Xandra, and kissed her warmly.

"It’s so good to see you!" he said when their lips finally parted.

"I’ve missed you so much," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes and then kissing him again.

"This is not a conjugal visit," said General Weathers from the other side of the force field. "I’m standing right here."

"Thank you for bringing me, General," said Xandra.

"I still don’t know what you see in him," the man said firmly. "Take as much time as you like. I’ll have someone waiting to take you back to your room when you’re done, but remember there are monitors in these cells. Try not to do anything that would be embarrassing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to talk to a room full of politicians."

"What’s he talking about?" asked Matt as he watched the general walk away.

"He’s going to try and convince the General Assembly to keep me here on Earth while he sends a ship to contact Lathos and check on my story. He seems to think that if they can be made to question my story, it might buy him some time to get rid of Ragen without either of us having to go back to Lathos with him."

"Brian Weathers may be a pain in the ass, but he’s a smart man," said Matt.

"He’s been nothing but nice to me," Xandra scolded.

"Either way, I’m glad he found a way to keep you away from Ragen. If anyone can figure out how to keep you safe now, it’s him."

"Even if he does, it still won’t get you out of this cell," she pointed out. "At some point I’m going to have to go back to Lathos and convince my father to submit an official request that you be released. You wouldn’t be in this mess if you weren’t trying to save my life."

"Your life wouldn’t have needed saving if you weren’t with me in the first place," he reminded her.

"I was exactly where I wanted to be. My only regret is that now you’re in here and I can’t be with you."

"Xandra, this was going to happen to me eventually anyway. You’re a smart, beautiful woman. Take the chance General Weathers is giving you. Let him find a way to get you away from Ragen once and for all and start a new life for yourself. The truth is that I would have gotten bored with you eventually anyway. You deserve better than a common smuggler."

"Don’t do that, Matt," said Xandra, and Matt could tell by her tone that she was hurt. "It won’t work. I know you’re trying to find a way to get me to distance myself from you because you think it’s for my own good. I told you back on your ship that your past doesn’t matter to me. Like it or not, I’m in love with you, and that means I’m going to do everything in my power to be with you, even if that means risking my life to get you out of there."

"Okay, fine," he said. "The truth is that I do love you and the thought of not getting to be with you is killing me, but there’s another thought that’s even worse. If you try to go back to Lathos as long as General Ragen is around, then you’re going to be killed. I can’t live with the thought of that happening just because you were trying to help me."

"And I can’t live with the thought of you spending the next thirty years of your life in prison, or worse, knowing I could have tried to help you and didn’t."

"Will you look at the two of us?" said Matt, rubbing his thin beard as he sat down on the cot. He turned his blue eyes on Xandra as she sat next to him. "All my life, all I cared about was myself. All I ever wanted was to make a quick buck, have some fun, or preferably both at the same time. That was my entire reason for being on Lathos and at that party where we met. You only cared about finding your own excitement and escaping your miserable existence. We both had selfishness down to an art form, and now here we both are, willing to sacrifice ourselves for the other one."

"I’d say we’ve both come a long way in the past few weeks, but the truth is that I feel like I’m right back where I started. I selfishly want you in my life because you are exciting and you make me feel like I’ve found a part of me that’s missing.

"My father helped to start a revolution on Lathos, not because he wanted power but because he wanted a better life for his people. He hasn’t always made that happen, but he’s always tried to put their needs above his own. I want to believe I’m following his example by trying to help you, but in reality it’s all about me and wanting to be with you."

"I guess I’m the same way," said Matt. "My father spent his life in service to his people. His final act was ensuring the safety of others. I’m telling everyone that I’m willing to give up my life if it means you get to live yours, but the truth is that I’d let Weathers and Ragen blow each other to bits if it meant we could be together."

"So where does all of this leave us?"

"I don’t know," Matt admitted. "Just promise me you won’t do anything until Weathers has a chance to talk to the GA."

"That’s an easy promise to make," she said with a smile. "I don’t think I’ll be given the chance even if I wanted it. I just hope Ragen doesn’t decide that he’s going to do something foolish first."

"I have this voice in my head that always tries to guide me when I’m confused or in trouble. As surprising as it sounds, that voice is telling me right now to be patient and that this isn’t over yet."

"I hope your voice is right," she said right before giving him one more kiss. "For now, I think I better leave before I rip that jumpsuit off of you and give the guards watching the monitor one hell of a show."

"I love you, Xandra," said Matt as he hugged her close.

"I love you too," she whispered in his ear. She lingered for another few moments and then was gone.

Only a moment after she had left, the guard announced that Matt had another visitor. Assuming Xandra had forgotten something, he jumped to his feet but was disappointed when he looked and saw the towering form of Ilyea Kurt standing in front of his cell. The guard dropped the force field and the big man stepped inside.

"Is that any way to greet your best friend?" the man chided as he rubbed the scar on his face and grinned at Matt.

"Ilyea, what are you doing here?" asked Matt. The man was standing there with an amused look on his face eyeing Matt like he was an animal in a zoo.

"You’re something of a celebrity. Earth has put out a call throughout the galaxy asking for anyone with information about crimes you may have committed to come here and testify. The message even reached me in my humble outpost."

"I’ve been there, remember?" said Matt. "It isn’t that humble."

"My point is, when I heard what your General Assembly was looking for, I asked myself, who knows more about what you do than me?"

"How much is the GA paying you?" Matt asked in a deadpan.

"Not a cent," said Ilyea as he casually began pulling small items out of his pockets and piecing them together. "I just needed a reason to come and see you. The authorities here think I’m a legitimate businessman."

"Ilyea, I didn’t steal from you. I stole for you."

"I know that," said Ilyea as he continued connecting pieces from his pockets. "The guards don’t know that, though. They think I’m down here to make sure you’re the man I have information about."

"What are you building?"

"The security on this planet is awfully trusting. They have devices that scan to make sure you aren’t bringing in a bomb, but they don’t take into account that you might be carrying the components to make a bomb, if they’re assembled correctly, of course."

"There are security cameras that watch what we’re doing," said Matt urgently.

"I know," said Ilyea with a smile. "I’m counting on it."

"Sir, step away from the doorway!" said a guard with a particle weapon pointed in the big man’s direction.

"Whatever you say, officer," said Ilyea. Instead of moving away from the force field, however, he jammed the device he had been building against it. By now several guards had assembled in front of Matt’s cell. When the device made contact with the force field, it sent an energy pulse of some sort into the hallway and away from the door to Matt’s cell. All of the guards there were thrown backwards and rendered unconscious.

"Okay, so it wasn’t really a bomb," said Ilyea as he stepped out of the cell. He picked up one of the guard’s weapons for himself and handed another to Matt. "I just didn’t think they would have come running like they did if they knew I was making a forced energy emitter that can focus existing energy waves. Those guys are going to have one hell of a headache when they wake up. Now come on, I’m sure more guards are on their way by now."

Matt took the weapon Ilyea offered and stepped through the threshold. When he saw a guard round the corner he leveled the gun and fired a blast that sent the man instantly to the floor. Ilyea gave him a surprised look as they ran down the now-deserted hallway.

"These weapons are only designed to stun," Matt explained. "Here on Earth we believe in treating our prisoners humanely."

"What a foolish concept," said Ilyea as the two of them hurried along. "I guess in this case it’s better than having to blast holes in the wall though." Twice more they encountered guards they had to stun before Ilyea pulled Matt down a small side corridor. It was clear to Matt this hadn’t been a spontaneous decision, so he was happy to allow himself to be led.

The corridor twisted and turned until they came to an access panel that Ilyea slid back and entered. Once inside, there was barely enough light for Matt to see that his large companion barely fit in the passage. They moved along in silence for a few minutes until Ilyea opened another panel and they emerged outside the prison wall, where a two-person ground transport was waiting.

"If squeezing my big ass down that tunnel isn’t enough to prove we’re friends, then I don’t know what more I have to do," said Ilyea as he worked the controls that allowed the transport to hover above the ground. In seconds they were moving away from the prison without any pursuit.

"How about telling me the real reason you risked your neck to break me out of a maximum security facility?"

"Please, if that’s Earth’s idea of “maximum security,” then I might as well move my base of operations here. The climate’s nicer and the women are better looking."

"Stop avoiding the question," said Matt. "What’s in all of this for you?"

"I need you to go back to Lathos and make sure that everyone there knows Kellenar Ragen is planning to assassinate Maxall Torin. With Torin in power, the sector runs smoothly. I can do business safely and in peace. If Ragen takes over, then he’s going to try and bring all of the other planets in the system under his rule as well. The war that would result would go on for years, and I won’t make any money.

"Torin knows what Ragen is up to, or at least he suspects, but he doesn’t have any proof. Without it he can’t risk moving against Ragen or the remainder of the military not loyal to him will rally to his side. You need to go and give him the proof he needs."

"How am I supposed to do that?" asked Matt incredulously. "All of Lathos thinks I kidnapped Xandra. No one there is going to take my word over that of a decorated revolutionary hero."

"Matt, I’ve worked with you enough to know that you are the most resourceful smuggler in the galaxy. That’s why I risked my neck to break you out. Besides, we have something else that just might help," he said, pointing into the distance.

"That’s my ship!" said Matt.

"Technically it’s my ship now," said Ilyea. "The government seized it when they arrested you. It’s too old and outdated to be of any use to them, even with the upgrades I made, so they put it up for auction. I paid a little more than I would have liked, but it’s worth it."

"I don’t understand how my ship is going to help prove Ragen is a traitor."

"Not the ship," said Ilyea. "It’s what’s beside the ship. Or rather, who’s beside it." He landed the transport and when Matt got out, Xandra stepped into view. "I ran into her as she was leaving the prison. I gave her the coordinates of where I had the ship docked and told her to meet us. She might be able to help the Lathonians believe you about Ragen."

"Matt, this is perfect!" said Xandra with a huge grin. She seemed to be enjoying all of this. "Now we can both go back to Lathos. When my father sees the two of us together and hears what I have to say, he’ll have to believe that you’re innocent. Then I can make a public broadcast about Ragen."

"Xandra, are you sure that you’ve recovered enough from everything that’s happened to be able to make it all the way back to Lathos?"

"You were right when you said the doctors here on Earth are the best in the galaxy," she said, still smiling. "They checked me today and said I’m back to one hundred percent healthy. It’s as if nothing ever happened."

"I’m glad to hear it," he said and took out the particle weapon Ilyea stole from the guard at the prison and shot her. Her gray eyes went wide with surprise and confusion and then snapped shut. Matt caught her as she collapsed and laid her gently on the ground.