THE PRIZE: BOOK TWO - RETRIBUTION (34 page)

“How… how many funds would you need.” Penn handed him the voucher, and as expected, he saw the Var’s coffee colored skin turn bright red.

“One million imperial credits.” He spluttered. “I have nowhere near that amount in imperial funds.

“But you do in your personal account. You can make up the difference from there.” A slight sound made Var Dirkoff look around, seeing the Goth now had the flechette cannon pointed at him. With a somewhat shaky hand, he signed the voucher and handed it to Penn.

“I’m sure Director Markoff will be pleased with the way you have assisted the Emperor’s Hand. I’ll make a point of telling him when I see him next.”

“Please… please don’t mention it to him; you know how touchy he is about misappropriated funds.” The thought of having to explain to the Director why he hadn’t sent those funds back to the capital was even more frightening than the strange human sitting on the other side of his desk.

“To be sure. I’ll just tell him you were holding onto these extra funds for emergency purposes.”

“Yes… yes, that would be best for all concerned.” Var Dirkoff swore to himself as the human departed his office. Those credits would have set him up for life after he retired if invested wisely. Now he was back to square one with nothing to show for ten years hard work. Squeezing the slavers and pirates even harder wouldn’t put those lost credits back in his account. If he squeezed too hard, they’d all just depart, leaving him in a worse position of having no income at all. For a brief moment he considered attempting to retrieve those credits, but the thought of the consequences should he fail brought him back to sanity. Walking back to the ship, Penn picked up his new uniform and accessories, and with Class in tow carrying the heavy bags of gold credits, they made it back to the ship without incident. Not that he thought the Var was foolish enough to do anything, but that didn’t go for the rest of the low life scum on this station. He just wished he could blow the whole place to hell, but that would have to wait for a more opportune time.

“Where we off to?” Class asked as they boarded.

“To pick up a couple of long range imperial courier ships to start.” Class laughed hearing that.

Once aboard, Penn changed into his new uniform in preparation for landing, smiling to himself wondering what Ellis would say if she could see him now. Probably something pithy and to the point. They ghosted through the darkness towards the designated Nav point, their targeting systems searching ahead. At last the half mile long asteroid swam out of the darkness, barely visible in the dim light from the distant star, it’s surface pitted and cratered from impacts, and almost as black as the space around it. They docked at the habitat an hour later, and as expected, they had a welcoming committee waiting for them at the airlock, all armed and all pointing their weapons at the hatch. The hatch rumbled open, and for a moment, the IMPSEC troopers just stood there and stared in disbelief. Penn schooled his featured into his old look. Now was the time to play the cold-blooded assassin to the hilt, something he’d left behind him in the pyramid when he found Ellis. That other Penn, the one he’d faced at the end took all that anger and hate with him. Now the Empire was just something he had to deal with. Penn just stood there, hands behind his back, yellow eyes hidden behind the dark shades and just looked coldly at the blast rifles pointed at him. For a moment no one moved until a young officer lowered his weapon.

“Attention. Officer on deck!” A young Sub-Lieutenant stuttered, seeing a human wearing the mid-night black of a senior IMPSEC officer in the special operations unit. The twin silver lightning bolts on his collar stood out like neon signs, as did the senior Colonel’s tabs over his right breast pocket. No one was going to question his authority, or ask for his orders. The uniform was sufficient to quell any questions from anyone except the Director of IMPSEC or the Emperor himself. The trooper quickly lined up and came to attention upon command while the young officer saluted. Penn returned it in the usual off-handed way Var officers did, noting that the young officer in charge was an Oxian, the same as Marl Carras. He hoped Marl was doing better now, and a little wiser than when he’d walked into the pyramid with him.

“Carry on, Sergeant. You, take me to your commander. Now!”

“There are only the pilots of the courier ships here, sir, and both are junior officers.” The young man was straining himself to remain at attention.

“So, you are in charge of this station?”

“Um… yes, sir. I guess so.”

“Just as the Director suspected. Where is your commander?”

“I…I don’t know, sir.” Penn walked over and stood nose to nose with him.

“I think you do but you’re afraid to say.” The young man swallowed.

“I…I believe he’s at home on Telluria Prime, sir.”

“Just as I thought. Take me to the commander’s office. Now!” Penn spoke the sharp command softly, as he had no reason to raise his voice. The uniform did that for him.

The habitat was small, carved out of the side of the asteroid, and barely big enough to dock both ships, but the accommodations were spacious, clearly intended for a long stay. Penn wondered who everyone had pissed off to end up with this shitty duty. Once installed in the CO’s office, he had the young Lieutenant bring in the courier pilots, both even younger than him. Penn paced back and forth for a moment, looking each of them up and down with disdain. Both were Var from their facial structure and skin color, and probably the youngest sons of some low level Var who was sucking up to the Emperor or Markoff. The sick bastard did enjoy making the upper class dance to his tune.

“I have a special assignment for each of you.” He held out a data crystal to each. “You are not to discuss this with anyone, and you will obey all my orders to the letter. Understood?”

“Sir, yes sir.”

“Good. What is the status of your ships?” For a second they looked at each other.

“Both ships are full of fuel, air and water, Sir.” One answered.

“And food?”

“Sufficient for the crew, sir depending on the length of the run.”

“Load them with as much food and supplies they can carry.”

“Um… that would empty the habitat, sir.” Penn just looked at them, coldly for a few moments.

“Was there something I said that would lead you to believe this was a discussion, Lieutenant?” He said at length. Both pilots swallowed, trembling slightly.

“N…no sir.” Penn stared at them, his brow furrowing slightly. He walked carefully across the floor to look directly into the lieutenant’s eyes.

“Then why are you two still standing here.” His friend caught on quicker, turning and grabbing his colleague’s arm and literally dragging him out of the office.

“It would appear those two aren’t the brightest, and it’s not surprising to find them assigned to duty way out here instead of with a fleet. What’s your name Lieutenant?”

“Hassar, Colonel, Lieutenant Var Amraa Hassar.”

“Another damned Var. Every time I turn around one of you Tellurians is shoving his vaunted Var title at me. I am not impressed, Lieutenant. As far as I’m concerned, you Var come ten to a credit. Maybe Director Markoff is right and all of you should be taken out and shot.” The young man blanched, his pale coffee colored skin turning almost white.

“I resent…” Penn stalked across the room and got in his face.

“I don’t care if you resent what I said or not, Lieutenant, all I care about is results. So far you haven’t demonstrated to me you are competent to do anything except take out the garbage, and then only under strict supervision.” Hassar drew himself up to attention.

“W…what would the Colonel have me do, sir?”

“As I said, strip this station of any and all food and supplies and divide it between both ships.”

“B…but what about the people left behind?”

“There won’t be anyone left behind. You and the Marines will go with me on one ship, while the people on my ship go on the other.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, get to it. I want to be out of here within the hour.”

If the young man thought about asking where they were going, and on whose authority, these were forgotten as he rushed from the office to get the loading of the ships moving faster. While that was happening, Penn went aboard his ship and called on the intercom to get all the people together. While they were gathering, Penn took Class to one side.

“My friend, Class. I need you to do something for me without asking a lot of questions.”

“What do you want Class to do?” A typical response from Class. He didn’t get into the why and wherefore like humans did. Penn held out a data crystal to him.

“The courier pilot has the Nav coordinates of the planet. I need you to make sure he follows the flight plan to the letter and takes these people there. Don’t stop for anything, or anyone.”

“My friend, Penn. I wish to go with you on the hunt for my Major Ellis.” Class murmured, looking sad.

“I know you do, but getting these people back to Earth is just as important. I can’t take them with me, I can’t leave them here to the tender mercies of the locals, nor can I send them home by normal means.”

“We didn’t do so good landing on that planet the last time.” Class didn’t need to ask which planet Penn was referring to. He knew. “Nor do I wish to enter the accursed building again.”

“No one actually died, don’t you remember?”

“I do, but my death wasn’t pleasant.”

“I’m sorry about that, but as I explained. It was the only way to send you home.” Class sighed and shrugged his massive shoulders.

“But I mean, did you have to get me drunk and drown me? It was such an undignified way to die. Couldn’t have fought a battle so I could die a glorious death?” The look on Class face made Penn laugh.

“I’m sorry, buddy, but I thought it was the kindest way to send you home. Besides, I didn’t know if I could win if we fought. If that happened, Ellis would have had to send you home.” Class shook his head, looking mournful.

“No, that would not have been good.”

“No, it would have made her very sad to have to do that.”

“Then you did right, Penn, but I don’t think these soft humans can withstand crashing on that planet.”

“No crash, trust me. You’ll land as soft as thistle down, and you don’t even have to go to the pyramid. I have a house there now. You can go there and wait for me, or use the ship to come back.” Holding out the hope he could rejoin the search for Ellis sweetened the deal in Class’ eyes. He nodded and took the crystal. “That’s your clearance and authorization to cross Imperial space and jump to the planet.”

“I will go and do this for you, friend Penn while you continue the search for Ellis.”

“There one other thing I want you to do for me, if you can.” Penn explained what he wanted, and Class nodded, smiling.

“This I can do easily.”

“Go in peace, friend Class.”

That done, he explained the situation to the rest of the humans, but left out the part about the pyramid. The news brought smiles all around at the thought of going home again, and quickly packing what little gear they’d gathered, they followed Penn out of the ship and down the docking bay to the courier ship. They shook hands all round and Class led them aboard after the last goodbyes. Penn waited until everyone was aboard and turned to the pilot.

“The Goth is an IMPSEC agent, and he is in charge of this mission. You will obey him in all things. If you don’t he will rip your head off and use it as a kaf cup. Do you understand?”

“Y…yes, sir.”

“Good. Now get out of here and on your way as soon as you can.” Penn waited until the airlock closed and locked before turning to the second ship. Here Lieutenant Hassar and the Marine Sergeant waited for him, and from the look on their faces, both were dying to ask him questions. He killed that idea by simply looking them both in the eyes and frowning slightly. Let them wonder about the humans they’d seen, and where the other ship was going.

“You have the Nav coordinates of the next station, so let’s proceed.” Penn ordered as he settled into the rear command seat.

“Yes, Colonel. I checked and it should take us more than three cycles to get there.”

“I should hope so, anything more and you’ll be piloting a garbage scow for the rest of you career.” Even so, they weren’t departing fast enough to Penn’s way of thinking, but at last, he heard the docking clamps release and the pilot took them out of the dock on thrusters.

By this time, the other ship had vanished into the darkness and a jump point in another direction. The main engines came online and rapidly pulled away from the asteroid. As it turned out, Penn was preoccupied with getting away from the asteroid and it wasn’t until an hour later that the darkness behind them was lit by a small sun for a brief moment. The pilot probably wouldn’t have noticed it if his alarm systems hadn’t registered the explosion.

“Oh my… Sir, the station… it just exploded.”

“Really?”

“Yes, sir.” The pilot tapped a few commands into his console. “From the reading it appears that the fusion reactor on your old ship just blew. That triggered the one on the station, sir.”

“Connect me with that pathetic excuse for a Var, Jerkoff.”

“Don’t you mean…” The pilot started to say until he looked over his should at Penn. Penn’s expression told him all he needed to know. “Yes, sir.” With the compact nature of a courier ship, all the controls were within reach of the pilot, and it only took a moment for him to connect to the station. It wasn’t long before he was looking at Dirkoff’s pale face on the main screen.

“Are you aware of the recent explosion on P2638 Alpha?” Penn asked, brushing imaginary dust from his pants leg. From the Var’s expression, he could see that Dirkoff was hoping the explosion had included him in the conflagration.

“Y…yes, Colonel Penn.”

“It would seem that someone placed a bomb on my old ship in the hopes of removing me from this plane of existence.”

“I had nothing to do with it, Colonel.” The Var was visibly sweating now.

“I shall of course be reporting this to the Director.”

“Please! I know nothing about any bomb placed on your ship.” Penn would have been surprised if he did, seeing as he’d had Class arrange for the fusion reactor to overload.