A New Life Part 3

Herbert hit the door switch and the ramp closed behind them as he followed Cain to the front of the Freelancer.

“Nyx I know, and other than my contact, I have two connections I can get in touch with. But with Nyx we have a very large problem.”

Cain cocked an eyebrow as he sat in the co-pilot’s chair,

You do know current events right? They are not exactly warm to the UEE, half of the population are pirate, the other half rebel, if they find out you were a Navy pilot…..well, goodnight.

“So your suggestion, Herbert?”

“I will do the talking, I will fly the ship, because it’s my ship anyway, and you can be my trainee. We’re looking for our load that’s missing and we’ll pay a finder’s fee in UEC to the person who gives us the location.

We find that, we’re one step closer to finding Marianna. I am more concerned about finding her than the load, she’s a good friend and a good pilot, and I’ve known her for a long time now.”

“Alright , we’ll do it your way.”

The came out of jump from the Pyro system without any problems,  for once Cain trusted someone else do the work. There was no real plan to their “rescue” mission  because there were too many variables at play.

Herbert had sent a message to his man, Mr Smith, who was attempting to make some overtures to the off market receivers as he referred to them.

They turned the ship away from the sun, towards the outer asteroid belt, toward Delamar and the Levski base. Smooth sailing again for clearances and landing, Herbert had travelled the routes before, and knew his way around several of the systems.

Landing on Levski, they dropped the back door again, and ignored the strange looks as they walked down the gangway. Empty freighters didn’t show up here, they left empty.

“Come on, first we need to meet Smith at Grand Barter, then we’ll have a better idea.

Cain followed him through the warren of rusty and battered metal tubes, ramps and stairways, the air was reclaimed and had a slight metallic taste to it, but Cain  didn’t speak on it.Off the elevator and into Grand Barter Market, he followed Herbert  into a small opened ceiling but walled diner, junkyard chic, the barely concealed  weapon of the doorman kept holstered  by the muttered “Smith”.

Smith was a small man, and painfully thin, but his eyes were cold ….and deadly, Cain surmised.

“Tea? Smith asked, they both declined and Herbert pressed for the info.

“Pirates had nothing to do with your missing cargo. It’s the rebels, they’ve confiscated it and taken your pilot as well. The sale of the cargo will pay for guns against the UEE, and the pilot, she’s to be a hostage.”

“What value is a pilot in a political struggle? She’s not UEE, she’s a long haul trucker! “Cain burst out, leaning forward. The  doorman moved and Smith stopped him with a glance.

‘She’s a freighter like you’re a trainee. She still works for the UEE and you used to. The only reason I’m talking to you is because I have a long standing business relationship with Herbert Marx, so shut up and listen.

Cain’s mind reeled, but his mouth stayed shut as Smith told them the goods and pilot were moved to Davien, to a safe location which he was still working on at this very moment. She would be used in a public, very public execution of a UEE spy, but they would need to stop it from happening.

“I can’t help you there, there are those on Nyx who want me out of Levski now, “ he smiled wanly, “ But they like the money I bring to the station, so it’s a ….symbiotic relationship. And if you leave now you can probably make it in time.My agent in the Davien system will relay the info to me, and I to you.”

“Herbert,” he paused, “ I would have warned you about the hijack and about her if I knew any sooner. If you didn’t already know. We’ll talk soon.”

Cains and Herbert left quickly, following the same warren back to the launch pad, but as they rounded the corner on the last tunnel, a group of four men stepped out of the shadows and into the dim light.

“He looks an awful lot like a UEE man, I’d say” hissed one man, pulling out a baton,” This is a freeman’s’ world boys, we don’t want your kind littering up our station….well maybe your corpses.” His white of his teeth showed in the gloom.

Cain did not hesitate, he drove forward, taking the man by surprise and shoving him back against the curve of the wall, the back of his adversary’s head thudding against the metal, at the same time wresting the club from his hand. He brought his elbow up smashing him on the chin before moving forward and using the truncheon on the solar plexus of the man next to him. He was aware of Herbert grappling with one and clubbed the third across the face. The cheekbone collapsed and the man screamed and he yelled at Herbert to run for the ship.

He stepped into the fourth, whacking the stick in his throat and Herbert broke free.

One was out cold, the other incoherent with the pain of a broken face, the third gagging as he tried to breath, and he kicked the winded one in the head for good measure and sprinted after the fleeing pilot.

He slipped on a spot of oil and smacked down on his bad shoulder, wincing in pain, but thankful at the same time that their attacker’s bullet missed. He scrambled to his feet, hearing the zip of air as bullets nearly missed hs head.

He turned the corner and yelled “Put the door up now!”, needlessly, as it was already rising as he leapt upward and slid down the closing ramp and into the hold of the Freelancer, the prang of bullets ricocheting off the hull. Before he could even regain his feet, he could hear the roar of the engines. He exhaled,laying where he was,

Was this his new life?