Chronicles of a Space Mercenary 0: Tanya (18 page)

Tanya spent four hours reconnoitering before she actually approached Starfire, but there was no one anywhere near. She only knew how she
felt once that exterior hatch closed behind her, and that was profound relief.

“Full alert.”
Tanya ordered. “Prepare for immediate departure.”

The crash seat would serve
well this day, because she was going to see what her little ship could give her. She would need to see what it could do with Adjudicator on her ass, and the fact that Adjudicator
would
be on her ass simply went without saying. It would be a race to the death, and if Adjudicator caught them or even got close to her, she and Starfire would cease to exist. It was as simple as that.

Tanya only followed launch protocols as long as it took Starfire to reach five hundred meters, and then she gave the little ship everything it had. There would be a stiff fine waiting for her the next time she visited, but Tanya wasn’t quite sure there would be a next time visiting here and if there was the fines could be paid; if she didn’t get the hell out of there quickly such things as fines would suddenly become immaterial.

Vertical takeoffs from gravitationally strong bodies, such as planets, could get hairy. Not only did the pilot have the thrust from the
acceleration of the ship
crushing them into their seats, but also the added pull of the planet’s gravity. Tanya felt as if she was being compacted into her crash-seat as Starfire literally vaulted into the sky.

She nearly blacked out instantly as her vision tunneled down to a mere pinpoint of consciousness and the black abyss tried to close in around her, but she held the stick forward as much in defiance of her physical limitations as it was to once again remind Jason of
what
he had created.
Forward was up as Starfire ascended straight into the sky, and away from the lurking predator above.
In her darkened sight, Tanya
envisioned raptors that always fly above their intended prey, effortlessly circling
on the thermals
above and just waiting for the right opportunity.

The crushing gees diminished as Starfire gained needed velocity and escaped the majority of the planet’s
gravity
. Tanya began to focus on her screen
as
she saw exactly what she had expected; Adjudicator was back there burning hard, but it was an uneven competition. By rising at a slight tangent she had put some extra distance between them, and Adjudicator would not be able to use her photon cannon to good effect through the curvature of the planet’s atmosphere. She was
still burning hard but following
the contour of the atmosphere, until Starfire had gained the desired velocity. Then Tanya let the planet slingshot them off into space under full burn.

Even so, she was within Adjudicator’s maximum extended range as the massive ship cleared the atmosphere for a clean shot as the big ship showed its full potential thrust capacity. But being within range and making the shot was not the same thing, and the odds were extremely long at this range.

Tanya expected an attempted shot anyway, and the sweat of fear poured out of her for the first time in her life as it occurred to her
at
what complete mercy she and Starfire were to the targeting abilities of
that
photon cannon aboard Adjudicator. But the shot didn’t come, and when finally clear of
the gravity well behind
hit jump.

They were gone but not forgotten as Adjudicator slowly but inexorably crawled up her wash, her computers sniffing the jump trail, and finding it. Tanya had not meant for it to be difficult.

Chapter 47

“Your domicile has been kept available.” The air near her ear spoke as the strange orange gravity field set Starfire down on the deck inside the Kievor Trade Station. Tanya was startled by the voice but she was sure she didn’t flinch. More of the Kievor’s amusing little games and nothing further.

“I'd like something a little larger.” Tanya said just to throw a monkey
-
wrench into the Kievor’s arrogance, as cost was no longer an issue. “I'd also like to buy your silence.”

“Your domicile will be modified. As far as purchasing our silence, you would not be able to afford it as you have insufficient funds.” The Kievor said. “However, we do have a small service that might notify you when someone has paid to know your location.”

“Is there anything you don't have an angle
on!
” Tanya said, not a question, though she was now in a better mood than sh
e had been
for a long time. In fact, she was feeling buoyant, but she had to be sure. She had to be positive. “Once I have agreed to the terms of this service, is there
any way at
all
for anyone else to circumvent the process of notifying me when someone has paid you to locate me?”

“Not at all.”
The Kievor said. "It would not be fair to offer the locating service if we did not also offer the notification service. A being has a right to a fair fight."

“And a lucrative self-perpetuating business on top of it for you,” Tanya said, “I agree to your terms.” There was no response. Apparently they had come to terms and the interview was finished. Then the air spoke again;

“Notifying Tanya Serensen that the details of her exact location have just been purchased.
Deducting five credits Kievor from . . .”

“Yeah yeah.”
Tanya said, cutting off the rest.

“Would you like to purchase the location of the being which purchased the details of your location?” The Kievor now asked. Tanya could see where this was all going and she had to give the Kievors their due; they were on top of their business.

“No. That’s quite all right.” Tanya said, but there was one thing she did want to know. “How many of them are there?”

“One being purchased the details of your location,” the Kievor said, “if you would like a more detailed description of . . .”

“Yeah, yeah.”
Tanya said, cutting off the rest.

“There were three humans aboard the personal yacht Adjudicator when it docked here. It is in Dock 47,589 at present, and is also where the human who purchased your details still remains. There are three humans aboard but of those only two are alive. One is in a freezer.”

“I’m not paying you for the last part of that assessment.” Tanya snapped as she pondered what she had just learned, that it was possibly just Jason and Felone, and what the implications of that meant. She was not discounting the possibility that other ships could be bringing in more reinforcements but the air was once again quiet and
she was not answered. The person in the freezer must have been the one Simian that had been reported to have escaped.

“Nice way to treat your people.” Tanya said to no one, but what she was thinking was that they shouldn’t have killed that lone survivor, because without him it was possibly just the two of them. Tanya was suddenly greatly looking forward to that.

Tanya wondered idly, as she contemplated murder, if they had been smart enough to enquire of the Kievors whether or not they were also informing her of
their
presence. If they hadn’t known to ask, they might not know. It really wasn’t worth asking the Kievors and having to pay for it, Tanya decided. They were coming for her and they were probably coming now, but she had chosen her battleground and if she didn’t know the Kievor Trade Station as well as she had known the warrens, she was at least positive that she knew it better than Jason and Felone. Tanya would no longer be the rabbit. Already fully prepared when Starfire touched the surface of the dock, she now burst from her ship on the run.

Chapter 48

The Kievor blast rifle felt reassuring in her hands as she ran, the safety free and the capacitors charged, the thought giving her a smile which undoubtedly added an air of insanity to her look as reptiles of all natures made way for her as she left the dock and entered the Trade Station proper. Her boots slapped the trans-metal floor und
er her feet as her eyes scanned
everywhere. At the moment there were no
mammals present at all, but that didn’t mean a lizard co
uldn’t have taken a contract
on her.

She ran straight to a lift, stood with her back to the wall, and continued scrutinizing the flow of aliens who were now leaving a wide margin around her. Then the lift arrived and she was inside and the door was materializing closed behind her. Magic, as far as Tanya was concerned. She punched random numbers into the now human keypad which
was already
there when she entered and the lift was off. Barely felt, it plunged downwards.

The lift doors opened almost immediately, Level 287, and Tanya cautiously made her way out into the crowded passageway. There were few lizards present here and even those seemed to be moving quickly about their business. Mammals tended to congregate together on Kievor Trade Stations for mutual protection and company because they were so outnumbered,
mostly
putting aside their various racial differences in light of the extreme differences between themselves and lizards as separate groups.

Tanya had stumbled onto one of these mammalian enclaves. Mammals were just as aware of the destructive capability of the blast-rifle as were lizards, and many variously shaped eyes were turned in her direction. It shouldn't really have been a surprise to see a human of her diminutive size carrying such a large weapon. Since humans were actually quite small compared to most of the races, and Tanya was a very small member of the human race, it shouldn't seem odd that she would want a weapon that would help compensate.

But it must've been the look in her eyes, or possibly because she was carrying the blast-rifle leveled and at the ready that forced attention,
because they made way for her just as quickly as had the lizards. One shot of the blast-rifle in these enclosed quarters would kill dozens, without a doubt.

Tanya didn't want to kill dozens of innocents, but she wouldn't hesitate for a moment. Jason wouldn't hesitate for a moment. The simple fact was
,
nobody would hesitate. Tanya was quite sure that many more innocent civilians were killed aboard these Trade Stations than were the actual combatants themselves, and a visit to a Kievor Trade Station could be deadly in many ways. Everyone knew this and they made room for her. No wonder the Kievors had such a
n
available
supply of ships, nor was it any wonder why they didn’t mingle!

Still, it wasn’t as dangerous as a human ghetto. The tax-free zones were breeding and training grounds for those humans who were considered the most dangerous and highly volatile. In fact, the unpredictability of humans was the most salient factor regarding what
made
humans so deadly.

Like the bullied child, normally meek and quiet
as he contemplates why the Universe so hates him and then
who decides he won’t take it anymore and so walks amongst
those of his
peers
who had once bullied and beaten him
with
flashing
l
aser pistols filling both hands- and who is later labeled a cold-blooded murderer when he was only doing what his nature instructed; standing up for his life. Humans were
capable of incredible reverses of mood and behavior.
It is what makes us survivors.

The Kievor Trade Station was like a home away from home for many, Tanya included. That was why she had returned here; there was no place more like the warrens than this place, and no more fitting place to meet her adversaries. For the most part those who visited the Kievor
Trade Stations were just your average working class toughs, though comprised of many various alien races.

In fact, the bulk of the visitors to the Kievor Trade Stations were the ships’ crews of the working vessels which most often docked here. The Kievor were first and foremost a trading empire, and the amount of trade that went on here every day was larger than the mind could encompass. Not even on a monthly, daily or much less even an hourly basis; it would simply be impossible. Only the Kievors and their incredible technology could keep track of all that went on here, but how they did it a mystery to all.

To Tanya this would now be home. Until either she or Jason Cormach were dead.

Chapter 49

The reptile was beginning to make her nervous. Tanya was sure she had caught a surreptitious glance in her direction just out of her peripheral vision, but when she looked over at the reptile, just a flick of her eyes, its right-side eye was already swiveled forward again as if contemplating the drink in front of him.

That observation in itself shouldn’t have been odd; she was used to odd looks. Everybody looked at her oddly, no matter what
they
looked like, because she was by far the more peculiar with her diminutive size and utterly false affectation of incompetence. She knew the ruse served her
well, but she was feeling edgy nonetheless, as if all was not as it had should have been.