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  “Guys?” she called. She received two affirmative responses in the form of their usual “Hai.” “Let’s go to the palace. Something isn’t right here!”

  The three small flyers turned away from the building and set course north by northwest, heading past the city’s boundaries out across the darkness.

  Inside the bar, the two Skaine goons watched them leave through the ruined windows.

  Ming reached into his pocket and pulled out his tablet, then hit three buttons and waited. When he received the video signal, he spoke.

  “Boss, we have a problem.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Allahnzo observed Ming on the video screen as he gave his report. The Skaine seemed to have a small involuntary tic in his eye.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, tapping a finger on his desk.

  “Almost positive. She hasn’t been seen in this area for a long time. We believed the last few rumors were false alarms or planted stories,” Ming answered. “However, this human has the coat of the known true stories, and the two males are similar as well.” Ming shrugged. “Plus, they took out three ships by jumping through the air from the building to the ships.”

  Competent foes. How annoying! “Where are they now?”

  “On a north by northwest course,” Ming replied as Allahnzo looked down at his notes.

  His head shot back up.

  “The Holy City?” Allahnzo asked, then forced himself to act calm and speak gently. “Are you telling me we have the fabled Ranger Two and two of her Tontos heading toward the Holy City right now?”

  Ming nodded.

  “Well, I guess I have to give it to Christina. She is having a last word.” Allahnzo started typing a message. “However, it won’t be the final word of our argument, not by a long shot.” He pushed send. “I hope we didn’t need those flyers.”

  “If we kill those three?” Ming blew out a lungful of air. “There are bounties on their heads that make the one on Christina’s look like a third-tier slaver selling an old Yollin in comparison.”

  “Really?” Allahnzo looked back up. “Well, then Ranger Two is now my number-one focus.” He saw that his message had received a reply, and read it quickly. “I’ve got to go. Meet me in the hanger.”

  Allahnzo shut off the video, grabbed his bag and tossed in his important books, and grabbed a coat. He hated going to the Holy City, because it was too cold to be enjoyable.

  However, he was willing to suffer a little chill if it meant collecting a bounty from the Skaine Underground that would set him up for three or four lifetimes.

  —

  The three ships were flying in a delta pattern toward the Holy City. A woman’s voice said, “Take the ships into evasive maneuvers as soon as you see… Oops, never mind.”

  The three ships started dipping, diving, rolling, and flying in evasive maneuvers as they tried to dodge the missiles that erupted from the four corners from the squared-off Holy City. Moments later, anti-ship weapons started firing as the three flyers sought to make it to the Holy City.

  One by one they were shot down.

  When the last ship was destroyed, Tabitha turned and offered the bag in her hand to Hirotoshi. “Want some? I added extra butter.” She licked her fingers as Hirotoshi took the bag from her. “Popcorn is always good with explosions.”

  She reached over and grabbed a rag. “I’m young,” she told no one in particular, “but I wasn’t born yesterday.” She tossed the rag into a bin. “Achronyx, which ship lasted the longest?”

  “Ryu’s ship lasted the longest and had the best parameters for escaping the onslaught of missiles and weapons fire.”

  “Ass Donkey Mule,” Hirotoshi spat.

  Tabitha snorted, looking over. “That’s it? That’s your epithet? Three different words for the same animal?”

  “You do it too, Ranger Two,” Hirotoshi replied.

  Ryu fixed his sleeves. “You both owe me laundry.”

  “Night’s not done, old man,” Tabitha smirked. “Achronyx, take out the missile emplacements.”

  “When?” Achronyx asked.

  “Now, would be ... good,” she answered, but the green X’s on the screen had already turned red by the time she had finished her sentence. “Somebody was locked and loaded.”

  “Thank you. I try,” the EI answered.

  “You think they know something is wrong?” Tabitha asked as the sleek silver ship rose through the darkness.

  “Oh, probably by now,” Hirotoshi answered, pointing to the screens on the far side of the bridge. Two of them were showing video feed from the walls. Multiple small figures turned to look in their direction as the large spacecraft rose from the miasma.

  “Give me a moment,” Tabitha said and closed her eyes. “I have a call to make.”

  —

  “It cannot be!” The princess kept her voice low. She doubted anyone had realized she had a video feed of what was happening outside the Holy City.

  While all her people had suffered in the four cities, the royal house was now down to just her and her retainers.

  Her father had taken the fight to those who had landed on the planet three seasons ago, and had died in the battle.

  At the very end the leader of the enemy had walked up, said two words, and shot her father through the head. She could still see his faded bloodstains near the throne when she was forced to sit on it and parrot the pre-scripted messages those who held her people in thrall forced her to deliver.

  The beautiful ship’s exterior was like a mirror, shining in the evening light. Three missiles tore out of the remaining emplacements, only to be ripped apart in the sky. They did not even make it halfway to the ship.

  This wasn’t the monster of her dreams coming to save them. Rather, it was a beautiful ship of metal—one she knew hadn’t been manufactured on her planet.

  For generations her planet had remained isolated, staying off the galaxy’s radar, but that had backfired on them. When they had been subjugated, no one noticed their communications had gone dark. Her people could not conceive or comprehend the evil that had befallen them. Raiders, drug runners, and slavers had come in and taken their planet from them.

  Four major bases, one in each city, housed the enemy, as well as one here in the Holy City.

  While those within the Holy City were hostage, the cities were in check. While the populace was threatened, the Holy City was in check. It was a stalemate the Princess could not figure out how to break.

  Her mom had tried to fight back, and Sis’talana had seen the enemy shoot the queen’s defenders. Then they had cut her mother’s hand off, which still clenched her blaster as it fell to the floor. A second sword then entered her back, erupting from her chest.

  Sis’talana had watched as they rounded up one hundred people from each city and slaughtered them, retaliation for the four of their people who had been killed in the invasion.

  The enemy allowed their people to go about their normal lives, as long as they obeyed the rules of the Torcellen.

  The one who was at the top.

  Now there was a silver monster rising from the mist. It shone like it came from the heavens, but it had risen from the darkness and it was heading toward her city swatting missiles aside as if it weren’t worried at all.

  —

  “Are you saying,” Allahnzo asked as his own ship veered away from the Holy City, which was now deemed too dangerous to approach, “that we shot down the wrong ships?”

  Allahnzo listened to the response from the Holy City’s Defense Prime, his features showing nothing. “Yes. And to compound the error, we’ve lost our missile batteries and now a silver ship is attacking us.”

  The Torcellan licked his lips as he took in the strategic situation. “NO!” he barked, rolling his eyes in frustration. “Holding the princess hostage is the only thing that keeps the cities subdued! Find her and move her to a safe location with another six or so from her service.” Allahnzo paused, listening. “I don’t care what you do with the rest,
although killing them is a waste. Just make sure it is a necessary waste. We shouldn’t haphazardly kill perfectly good and, might I mention, extremely profitable slaves. Not just every slave has worked for royalty. So, consider that, if you feel you need to kill them.”

  Allahnzo hung up the call. “Take us to Bah-aranteck.”

  —

  “Well, this is a pretty damned large operation,” Tabitha commented as Achronyx flew around the now-dark Holy City. “We need to find and keep the princess safe, then take care of the military.”

  “Two twenty-two,” Ryu remarked as he looked at the video feed of the movement inside the city. He pointed to two locations. “Drop off Hirotoshi here,” he moved his hand and pointed to the second location, “and me here.”

  Tabitha considered what he was proposing. “You guys kick the ants’ nest some more while I find her?”

  “Hai,” Ryu agreed. “I think we should have brought Kouki and Dio with us. Dio is going to be miffed he missed this.”

  “Hell, you almost missed this,” Tabitha replied. “Who thought this would turn out to be a large-scale Torcellan-led Skaine takeover?” She looked at Hirotoshi. “You? No?” Then she looked over at Ryu with a raised eyebrow. “You got anything?” She shrugged when he shook his head. “Me neither,” she confided.

  “Now that,” Hirotoshi commented, “would have been a good guess.”

  “It would have earned me ‘Queen of the Most Unlikely Guess’ for damned sure,” she agreed. “Ok, looks like here is where you get kicked out, Ryu.”

  A circular pattern in the bottom area of the ship started irising open and a moment later, Ryu, holding a sheathed katana in his left hand and a Jean Dukes pistol in his right, dropped into the darkness.

  She doubted the lights would stay off for long. She heard a few rounds hit the ship’s shields and the ricochets go whizzing off as the ground beneath her changed.

  There was a ding, and Hirotoshi dropped as well.

  “Any particularly good place for me to start?” she asked aloud. The scenery below moved quickly and they lifted farther from the ground. “Any good reason you are giving me a farther distance to drop?” Tabitha asked. “It’s not like I mind being the female here and jumping from a shorter distance. I’m not that into male/female equality, Achronyx.”

  A building came into view beneath them—a palace, built of a white rock something like Earth marble. There was a large outside patio attached to some large rooms, and lights from those windows spilled into the night. “I guess this is my stop.” Tabitha checked to make sure she had a proper landing spot.

  “It is,” Achronyx answered before Tabitha dropped and the ship lifted into the night. “I’m shocked she waited for me to answer before she left,” Achronyx commented to the empty ship.

  —

  Tabitha had Achronyx kick in the antigrav before she dropped to the rock paving in the patio. “Momma didn’t raise no dummy,” she whispered as she looked through windows with some rather sheer curtains into a large bedroom behind.

  She made sure her pistols were ready as she walked into the bedroom.

  —

  Ryu saw that the ship was heading toward the palace at the top of the city and smiled.

  If Hirotoshi were to win the bet, Tabitha would need to be in a building of at least three stories, which the palace was. He jumped sideways into a small niche just before lights flicked on all over the grounds.

  The Holy City was approximately two miles square, with multiple buildings, lawns, parks, waterfalls, and levels throughout. He decided he preferred to move across the tops of the buildings. Pushing off the two adjacent walls, he shinnied to the roof and grabbed the overhang, pulling himself up and over.

  —

  Hirotoshi bent his knees as he hit the ground. One second he was there, the next second, he was gone, speeding through the darkness toward a park which had a ton of trees. He reached them in plenty of time before the lights behind him were flipped on again.

  Easier to find the aliens with light, he assumed. About twelve Skaine came running out of an alley ahead of him and tramped down a small street with buildings on one side and the trees from the park on the other. They were heading toward where he had just been.

  He pulled his katana out of its sheath and ran to the trees the group would have to pass.

  After the last Skaine had gone by him, he slid out of his cover and caught up with the laggard. He used a two-handed grip and waited until his pace was perfect before swinging from the hip, continuing to bring his sword around and dodging the blood.

  He had taken out three more of them before someone glanced back, noticed the dead bodies, and realized one of the group wasn’t supposed to be there. His cry of alarm was only successful in slowing everyone down, allowing Hirotoshi to stab the next one, then twist in an arc and take out the neck, cutting it half-open as he finished his twist.

  He kicked the body away. Reaching into his vest, he pulled out two knives and threw them at the Skaine farthest from him, embedding them in the throat and the chest. He threw himself toward the ground, rolling, and came back to stab the guard in front of him and slam his fist into the one on the right.

  That left four.

  He crouched a bit and then pushed up, flipping backward to sail over three of the guards, pulling his Jean Dukes from the holster.

  By the time he landed he had already shot two in the skull from above, and then he took care of the last two. Their bodies were still falling as he made it back to the trees, and he ran toward the alley he had seen them come out of.

  He heard an alien scream and glanced toward the palace on the hilltop, wondering how Tabitha was faring.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Prometheus Major, Gate 033B

  “Do you think Aunt Tabitha is going to be ok?” Christina asked as she and R’yhek put away their gear.

  “She has Ryu and Hirotoshi with her. How much trouble can some …” he looked at her as he moved his duffel to his locker, “what did you call them? 'two-bit washed-up criminals’ cause her?”

  “Yeah, but I hate that she has to clean up my mistake,” Christina replied. “I’d rather accomplish that myself. At times, it feels like Dad is still protecting me.”

  R’yhek stood up and looked down at the woman he considered his human daughter. “It is what dads do, Christina.” He turned and headed toward the door when she called out.

  “R’yhek.”

  He turned, his mandibles double-tapping as he waited for her.

  “Thank you,” she told him, looking him in the eyes. “I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you today.” She walked over to the old barman and carefully hugged him. “I know… it’s what family does.”

  That’s what dads do, he thought to himself as he carefully hugged her back. And I couldn’t be any prouder of you if you were a Yollin female, little furry fireball.

  —

  “Is Tabitha going to be ok?” Ecaterina asked Nathan. The two of them were reviewing the business’ notes, figuring out where to go next.

  “Ranger Two’s been out of any major busts for a while. Hell, the last time they had major issues was cleaning up around her home.”

  Ecaterina looked up from her tablet. “You mean the whole damned planet, right?”

  “Mmmhmmm.” Nathan continued reviewing his device, but slowly realized his mate was quiet. He looked up. “What?” He reviewed what he had just said. “Oh, c’mon! It’s not like it was a running gun battle.” Ecaterina continued staring at him. “Well, not all the time,” he finished.

  “She called John in a couple times,” she reminded him.

  Nathan considered what he remembered. “I think she didn’t want to break her nails.” He shrugged. “She and her team made out like bandits. They bought up all the land on that planet with their loot. Cleaned up the planet, and now they are so filthy rich they can’t possibly spend it all. I’m surprised they are still in the business.”

  “Like you need money?” E
caterina pointed out. “I could retire myself, and I know you have about ten times more set aside in different accounts all over the place.”

  “If I should die, you won’t ever need to work,” Nathan replied diffidently. “One of these days the nanocytes will finally quit, and I’ll become an old grey man practically overnight.”

  “Well,” Ecaterina’s eyes brightened, “not tonight, I hope.”

  “What?” Nathan looked back down at his tablet, checking his calendar for appointments. “What’s tonight?”

  Ecaterina rolled her eyes.

  A note popped up on Nathan’s screen and his eyes flicked across the information before he called, “Prometheus, pull us away from the gate and head to three-dot-oh-one-four by two-two-three. When we are out of sight, gate us to Devin.”

  Across the table, Ecaterina had forgotten their previous conversation while she reviewed the note. “I cannot believe those motherfuckers think they will get away with attacking poor little Cheeto.”

  “His name is Ch’ehtoe,” Nathan answered, modulating his voice to sound like he was speaking a form of Cherokee from back on Earth.

  “Right.” She nodded and repeated in a heavy Slavic accent, “Cheeto.”

  Hopefully, Nathan sighed, she won’t realize that planet has her favorite restaurant. Surprising her is such a challenge.

  Ten minutes later, Ecaterina gasped in surprise when a note came across her screen. Nathan looked up. “What?”

  She flicked the note over to his tablet, and his eyes took the information in. Before he looked back to her, it dimmed out.

  On Ecaterina’s tablet were the words, “I’ve got this. Baba Yaga.”

  On Nathan’s tablet, the note said, “I’ve got this. Enjoy your anniversary. Bethany Anne.”

  Trust her to remember the small things, he thought as he tried to keep the little smile from playing on his lips.