Voyages of the Solar Wind 1: A Fire in Heaven (16 page)

"Fifty four by my count, Dex. Hi, Mrs. Relway. Are we in time for the party?" Ri grinned at my mom.

"Hey, kids. You're just in time for the main event." Mom said. I peeked out at the enemy positions and did a quick count of the bodies.

"Impressive, mom! I clocked twenty-eight dead that Ri and I didn't blaze when we landed." I grinned at my mom. They didn't call her Grey Scourge for nothing!

She kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks, sweety. Not so bad yourself. I'm nearly out of 7mm. You got any extra mags, Dex?"

I grabbed a spare and handed it to her. "Two hundred rounds, mom. Make them count. I've only got one more spare." I warned her. She nodded.

"Dex, incoming charge." Ri said.

"Copy that, Ri. Let's light these fuckers up." I leaned out and fired as soon as I had shots lined up. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Fuck yeah! Then I looked over at Ri's side. Twelve down in the same amount of time. Yeah, she can out-shoot me any day of the week.

We ducked back. "Twenty more down, boss." Ri reported. She still had a habit of calling me boss during combat situations. Then my mom smacked me upside the head.

"Ow, mom! What the hell?" I shouted.

"What have I told you about the F-bombs, Dex?" I couldn't freakin' believe it! And now I'm even censoring my narrative. Sonuvagun!

"Seriously, mom? In the middle of a firefight?" I asked with a flat look.

"No excuse for bad language, young man!" She admonished me.

"Yes, ma'am. Ok, how many we got, Ri?" I asked.

"I can't get a good crosshair on them from here, Dex. Good news is they can't breach this wall without charging, and they can't sneak around. They have us outmanned and outgunned still, though. As soon as we're out of ammo, they have us.

"That's why we have backup on the way. We just have to hold out for another..." I checked my watch. "Nine minutes."

"He had a crew complement of over five hundred," said mom. "We're going to have to make every shot count."

"We got Harrana coming in, mom. She has two hundred crew on Blood Oath." I informed her.

"Harrana Bloodskull??? Dex, do you realize that she's on my target list too??? What are you doing cavorting with known pirates?" Mom doesn't get it.

"She's a friend, mom. Most pirates leave us alone on her say-so. Blood Dog isn't in her circle of influence, and she wants to take him down as much as we do. Ok? Hell, she hit Humanity Prime the other day on Mars!" Oh shit! I just told my own mom what time it was. I was doomed.

She calmed down a bit. "Ok, hitting Humanity Prime bought her a three day head start after this is over. I'm not going to give up, though!"

"I wouldn't expect you to, mom." I leaned out and shot down a would-be sniper before he could squeeze off any rounds. "Where's your ship, by the way?"

"Burning over that way about three klicks." She pointed. I could see the smoke from here.

"In that case, you're going to need a ride. We have a spare rack for you on Solar Wind, mom." I offered. "That wasn't Avenger, was it?"

"No, that was Steel Siren. I was the only one aboard." she replied. I'll take that lift, though. Hey, Ri. Is my boy treating you right?" She asked my sek'natha.

"Yes, ma'am. Now that he finally undensed enough to see that I've been in love with him since he first offered me a beer!" She leaned out and squeezed off two rounds. I heard two distinct screams.

"Ha ha, sweetheart. Did you just shoot off two guys' arms like last time?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Legs this time, Dex. Now they can't run." She grinned. I laughed and so did mom.

The pirates stopped shooting.

"Hello! Surrender now, and I guarantee we'll kill you quick and clean."

I looked at mom, and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's Blood Dog."

"No thanks, dad! Your ship is disabled thanks to my gunner, and you don't have enough men to take us down. YOU surrender, and we'll see that you get a fair trial before they hang your deadbeat ass!" I countered. Hey, I'm a free trader. I HAVE to have a counter-proposal ready.

"That's my boy!" Mom whispered proudly.

"That's my husband!" Ri joined her.

"'Dad?' Who are you, boy?" Blood Dog demanded.

"The name's Dex Relway, and I know you're Donal Stephos, dad! I don't give second chances to surrender. Either do it now, or you're done!" I had to buy us another five minutes for Harrana to show up and help us put this Dog down.

"Ha! You have steel in your spine, son! A chip off the old block!" He laughed.

"Yeah, I do take after mom on that count. If YOU had any steel in your spine, you would have stuck around to help raise your own son!" I had to get him angry. Get them angry, and they come at you stupid. They come at you stupid, they get dead.

Mom and Ri were chuckling at that. They knew what I was doing, since Mom had taught me that trick herself, and Ri had seen me use it plenty of times.

I smiled at them both, leaned out, saw Blood Dog stand up, and got him in my crosshair. Squeeze-fshew-SPLAT, and Blood Dog's back exploded as my railshot blasted through his chest and out the other side.

"Dexten Relway! Did you just kill a man before he had declined to surrender?" Mom was looking at me with her mouth open.

"Yes, ma'am. Do YOU really think he was going to surrender?" I raised my eyebrow again.

She shrugged. "Not really, no. Good shooting, son." She congratulated me.

The rest of Blood Dog's crew charged us, then. Still over four hundred crew members charging towards us and we leaned up and around the wall to take as many down as possible. We fired into the crowd and saw bodies dropping. It wouldn't be enough, though. We were going to have to pull back, and as soon as they got clean shots on us, we were dead.

We heard the roar and the 200mm Rails as Blood Oath opened up on the remaining Dog's Teeth pirates. Bodies exploded where they were struck, and the big cruiser's cannon weren't going to stop until the whole field was a mess of corpses. It set down by the Solar Wind, and Harrana led a team of her Elite Corsairs out to aid us. We were still firing for our lives, and now we had twenty more guns at our side, blasting the Dog's Teeth 'rats to bits. The last five surrendered, and Harrana executed them herself.

"Well Hells yeah! You saved us the best kills. I luvs ya, Dexypoo!" Harrana was grinning as she and her guys walked over to us.

"Luvs ya too, sweetycakes. I owe you big time, you know that, right?" Ri and I hugged our big friend.

Mom stepped forward. "Harrana Bloodskull, I'm Stase Relway. You might know me as Grey Scourge. If you know that name, you know you're next on my list."

Harrana blinked, then drew down on my mom.

"STOP! Harrana, put that smokewagon back in the holster. MOM! Put yours back too! Seriously! Harrana just saved ALL our asses, and I will NOT have one of my best friends and my own mom throwing down after a firefight like this!" I wandered back towards the Solar Wind, muttering under my breath about friends shooting moms and I should shoot them both myself.

Mom and Harrana fell in step with Ri and me. "I need a fuckin' beer. Mom, not a word about my f-bombs. Anyone else want one? We have a 'fridge full aboard."

"Sure, I can drink with my enemy, Dex." Harrana stopped dead at the look I gave her.

"NOT your enemy, Harrana. She's my MOM, for the Lords' sake! Now, we drink as friends or not at all. It's been a long day, our honeymoon got cut short, and now I have my mom and one of my best friends ready to kill each other. Seriously, GIVE IT A REST YOU TWO!" Yeah, I was slightly pissed off.

They just nodded and shrugged at each other. We walked up the boarding ramp, and Harrana ordered her men back to Blood Oath.

We sat in the dining area off of the galley, and I grabbed beers for all of us. "Ok, Beer Summit 2775 is now in session. Today, we are going to make peace between Harrana Bloodskull and Stase Relway. Rilar and I are presiding. Now, everyone drink and loosen up a little." I ordered as I handed everyone a beer and took my seat next to Rilar. I leaned over and kissed her lovingly.

When we broke the kiss, we looked and saw Harrana smiling proudly and mom smiling in an 'awwww' sort of way.

"Mom, would you like to tell Harrana what her Humanity Prime raid got her?" I asked.

"Three days' grace period until I hunt you down." Mom said to Harrana. Harrana nodded once.

"Ok, and how about for the rescue? We were severely outmatched until she showed up." I pressed it a bit.

"Total of one week. Seven days to get as far from me as possible." Mom conceded. Harrana nodded once again.

"Now, mom. You're familiar with Harrana's targets, correct?" I asked. I knew where I would go with this.

"Yes."

"And you know she doesn't hit anyone who doesn't deserve it, right?" I had her thinking now.

"Now that you mention it, Dex, you're right. But that still doesn't excuse the two mill bounty on her head." Mom was determined.

"Mom, listen to me please. Ok? Good. Harrana is bloodthirsty. Harrana is ruthless. Harrana is also one of the most honorable people I know in this entire galaxy. She sticks by her friends, and has a habit of helping out the little guys. How much are you getting for Blood Dog?" I had her now!

"Nothing. You're getting the bounty for Blood Dog, Dex. You shot him." Mom shrugged. "As for Harrana, I concede that she's a nice person... for a pirate. But you have yet to convince me not to take the bounty on her.

"How much was the bounty on Blood Dog, mom?"

"Five million. Why?" I was stunned. I knew it had to be a lot, but FIVE MILL? Holy SHIT!

"Ok, how about we split it like this. One mill for Harrana, one mill for us, and three mill for you, mom. And you retire someplace warm and sunny. You know I worry about you hunting down pirates half your age. Look what just almost happened here!" Harrana looked like she'd just won the lotto. She knew that no matter how this played out, she was getting a million credits.

Mom looked down and sighed. She knew I had a point. "How's Gurhin this time of year?" She asked with a smile.

"Perfect as always, Mrs. Relway." Rilar smiled at her mother-in-law. "You would be more than welcome there, and if you wanted to join the Peacekeepers, my father can put in a good word for you."

Mom laughed. "Me? A cop? I think I'd prefer just sitting on the beach in a swimsuit and drink a few thousand pina coladas."

"Are you going to actually retire, Mrs. Relway?" Harrana was shocked.

Mom looked at our pirate friend. "I might as well, Harrana. I'm getting too old for this shit anyway. Dex vouches for you, and three million is more than enough to retire on. I'll do it." She drank, and so did we.

"Harrana, can you extend your protection to my mom? I would owe you huge." I smiled.

"Hell, Dex. That million credits will cover any and all debts you think you owe me, and I STILL owe you and Ri for saving my life two years ago!" Harrana laughed. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to my ship and grabbing sky. I'll call in my order of Off Limits on your mom and head for the Badlands. I trust you to deposit my cut in my account."

"Go get 'em, Harrana. Free Horizons, sweetycakes!" I grinned.

"Free Horizons, Dexypoo, Ri, and Mrs. Relway." She gave us the traditional pirate greeting and farewell.

Harrana left the ship and we buttoned up to grab sky ourselves.

"Mrs. Relway, I'm so glad you're retiring. Dex wasn't the only one worried about you!" Rilar hugged mom.

"Thank you, dear. You make an honest man out of my son, you hear?" Mom was smiling with tears in her eyes. "And call me mom. You're my daughter-in-law now."

"Ok, mom. I've already started with making Dex even more honest than he already was." Rilar giggled, and so did my mom.

I looked at them both before heading to the bridge. Mom STILL had an athletic physique, in spite of her being 56 now. She wore her hair shorter than normal, and way shorter than mine, which I'd tied back in a tail again for this operation. The gray in her hair wasn't a detriment to her looks, either. Her hazel eyes and thin black eyebrows were striking when combined with her slightly lined face and sharp features.

Rilar had decided to let her hair grow out on her head and she was planning to chop her ponytail when her hair got long enough to style. I imagined her as I'd first seen her with her short white hair and how cute she'd looked. She'd adopted this more recent style for shock effect and to show that she wasn't one to fuck with. But now that everyone knew how dangerous she could be, she figured it was time for a change.

"You two go ahead and catch up. I'll grab sky and call in the kill on Blood Dog, then set course for Port Royal to get Jeka's signature on the forms." I nodded and smiled as I headed up to the cockpit.

The FTAA handled all pirate bounties for the CFC, and the recorded footage from my goggles was admissible evidence of his death.

For those who think I'm heartless for killing my own father, fuck you. He was never a father to me. He left mom to raise me alone on Heliott II. No way in hell would I give two shits, or even one shit about him. He was scum. If Harrana is one end of the honorable spectrum of pirates, Blood Dog was the other end.

As I reached the cockpit, I grabbed the com as I fired up Solar Wind and grabbed sky. I set course for Port Royal. "FTAA Administrator Jeka, this is Dex Relway."

"Go ahead, Dex. What's up?" Jeka asked. "Honeymoon over already?"

"Negative. Had to take a little side trip to New Haven. Blood Dog is dead, and I'm claiming the kill on him. I will have the footage for you when I land on Port Royal." I was a bit proud of myself.

"Holy... Are you serious, Dex?" Jeka sounded shocked.

"As a heart attack, Jeka. When we get the reward, one mill goes to Harrana, three mill goes to Stase Relway, and one goes to mine and Ri's joint account. Clearcut?" I specified everything for her.

"Diamond, Dex. You're going to have to tell me how the Galaxy's second most notorious pirate and the Galaxy's most famous pirate hunter got put on the same ticket as you for taking down Blood Dog! But until then, Jeka, out." She cut com as I entered the slipstream for Port Royal. Another long cruise, and I was tired as hell.