ARMS War for Eden Read online

  Harris lifted his hand carefully, exposing the top section of the charged pistol. “Nobody but me. You see, I’m willing to take the risk if it means getting to waste NE spies like you. And I would bank on the prosecutors not charging me seeing as how I’m doing DD intel business. Now where’s your boss?”

  Tawn leaned forward. “You find something out? She’s dirty, right? Just like I said?”

  Harris returned a confused expression. “You do realize I’m arresting you here, right?”

  Tawn pulled back. “Me? What for? I tried to warn you!”

  Harris nodded. “And I’ll make the prosecutors aware of that.”

  Tawn let out a sigh. “You’re a cop… we sold you illegal arms. I knew this job was bad news.”

  Harris stressed, “Where… is… Baxter… Rumford?”

  Tawn leaned forward. “I… don’t… know. She took off to drum up new business. She won’t let me near her contacts. Thinks I’ll steal them and strike out on my own. And just how would I do that? I have forty-nine credits in my account and I’m past due on my rent. Heck. I’ll be lucky not to have been evicted already when I get home. I almost don’t want to go.”

  Harris looked at her in disbelief. “I don’t think you’re grasping what’s going on here. You tried to kill an officer of the DD intel force. You might get spaced for this yourself. And if it was up to me, I’d walk you to the nearest airlock right now.”

  Tawn smirked. “Yeah, right. Look, I know what we’re selling. They don’t space you for that. Even with those repeaters I’m looking at six years at the most. I know the law says execution, but that’s reserved for treasonous acts. Selling a handful of weapons to the outer colonists is hardly treason.”

  Harris growled, “You stuck a transmitter in that cargo! I nearly got blasted three separate times before I got wise and dumped it. Sure enough, ten minutes after I purged, that destroyer was sniffing all around it. That tells me you and Red are both working for the NE.”

  Tawn half frowned. “I don’t know anything about a transmitter. I’m just the grunt help. She uses me for protection until a credit transfer is made and I move cargo once that’s done. That’s all I do… which is why I have forty-nine credits to my name.”

  “Where’s your boss?”

  “I… don’t… know. I already told you. And I don’t know anything about any transmitter, or where she gets her guns, or anything else. Wait… I can tell you this… about two months ago we had a deal going in that same spot where we made the trade. It was my first run with her and we got tagged by that same NE destroyer. We had transferred the cargo to the buyer’s ship and the destroyer vaporized him when he tried to run.

  “They questioned her for two hours before releasing us. I assumed it was because there was no evidence left, which got destroyed when they toasted the buyer. So they must have either turned her right then or she was working for them before we met.”

  Harris slowly shook his head. “You think I’m an idiot because I’m a stump?”

  Tawn crossed her arms. “You think I’m an idiot because I’m a slug? You think I want to be spending my days in places like this trying to find whatever grunt-work I can? I gave sixteen years of hard combat to the DD. This is my world.

  “Even though they seem to distrust us, these are my people. I would never in a million standard years do work for the NE. You know how many of my friends they killed with that insane war? Cut a fellow Bio some slack. You know how hard we have it out here.”

  Harris slowly lowered his shocker, slipping it back beneath his leather vest. “You really don’t have a clue, do you?”

  “Not about anything to do with the NE… no, I don’t. I’m just trying to keep myself fed out here. A year and a half down on the surface and not a single job prospect. Nobody wants to take a chance on a slug.”

  Harris scratched his left ear as he scowled in thought. “They really did screw us, didn’t they? Designed us for war. Made us mean and ugly for the sole purpose of scaring the enemy. OK, look, are you still working for her or did she dump you?”

  “She’ll be back in… forty-six hours. I’m to meet her at the ship for another deal. You say you’re working for DD intel? They need slugs?”

  Harris said, “Let me see your left hand.”

  Tawn held it out across the table. Harris slapped a tracking bracelet on her wrist and shoved her hand back.

  Tawn asked. “What’s that for? Am I being deputized?”

  Harris chuckled. “Are you that dumb? I just arrested you. You’re my prisoner until I get my hands on Red. That’s a tracker.”

  “And after that?”

  Harris smiled. “After that you’re the DDI’s business. What they do with you from there is up to them.”

  Tawn sighed. “When you have a prisoner, are they at least allowed to eat?”

  Harris shrugged. “Help yourself.”

  “Prisoners don’t get fed? Aren’t I your responsibility now? I would think they’d reimburse you for any expense.”

  Harris drew in a long breath. “You know, you’re starting to become a pain in the ass.”

  Tawn replied, “Hey, girl’s gotta eat. And I’m sure I’ve got some kind of prisoner’s rights to food or something. And I could use a shower if we have a chance.”

  “You think this is some kind of all expense paid holiday you’re on or something? You’ve just been nabbed for treason. I’d be more worried about contacting a lawyer than getting a shower.”

  “Do I get food or not?”

  Harris stared back at the pug-nosed Biomarine for several seconds. “Fine. But keep it under five credits. Order what you want.”

  Tawn gave a mimicking reply in a deep voice. “Fine. Order what you want. And five credits? What am I supposed to get with that? A roll?”

  Harris flipped open the menu. “Right here. Potato soup. A staple that’s been with us for five thousand years. Came with our ancestors from Earth. You can thank me later.”

  Chapter 3

  _______________________

  Tawn ordered the potato soup, nodding to the waitress as she collected the menu. “You still have my dog?”

  Harris replied, “Thought you said it belonged to Cletus Dodger. You laying claim to it now?”

  “Maybe. You have him?”

  Harris whistled into his wrist comm. The mechanical dog raced into the pub and slid to a stop in front of his new master.

  A manager approached the table. “No pets allowed in here.”

  Harris flashed his DDI badge. “It’s robotic. And bring me an ale.”

  The manager returned an indignant look before walking back to place the order. The DDI were not to be trifled with. More than once a business had been shuttered for an investigation and the manager was not interested in being out of a job… even if only temporarily.

  Tawn grinned. “I want me one of those badges.”

  Harris shook his head. “You need to offer a special skill before they’ll give you one. You do anything special besides rolling over for Red and playing spy?”

  Tawn shrugged. “I’m a level four marksman. Or at least I was.”

  Harris looked up with interest. “Level four? That makes you probably one of about thirty in the entire corps. Impressive if true.”

  Tawn half smiled. “And it’s twenty-eight now. Two of the others were lost in the Helm Engagement just before the truce.”

  Harris asked, “How’d you manage a level four? I thought those only went to snipers.”

  Tawn again shrugged. “Just aimed and pulled the trigger like everyone else. I did my last year and a half as a sniper.”

  “Hmm. I never heard of a slug or a stump getting sniper duty. We’re the ones they like to throw in the meatgrinder for hand to hand.”

  Tawn scooped up a fresh spoon of the soup. “Don’t I know it. Eight hundred ninety-six kills. Mostly on or around Baross IV. Can I see that badge again?”

  Harris shook his head. “It’s only to be pulled for official business.”


  Tawn laughed. “Like having your robotic dog in an eating establishment and ordering an ale?”

  Harris replied, “I just placed a treason suspect under arrest. I’d say that qualifies.”

  The potato soup and ale were finished and the prisoner marched back to the docking bay where they would wait just out of sight for Baxter Rumford.

  Tawn looked down at the dog from the bench where she sat. “You give him a name yet?”

  Harris replied, “Thought his name was Farker?”

  Tawn nodded. “It was. You want to keep that now that he’s yours?”

  Harris shrugged. “Sure. Just as good as any.”

  Tawn looked around the bay. “We really gonna wait here for another forty-something hours?”

  Harris leaned back on the bench, crossing his powerful arms. “What would you suggest?”

  Tawn returned a blank stare. “You aren’t much of a planner, are you?”

  “I do what’s needed.”

  “You don’t have a place where we can sit in comfort for the next day and a half?”

  Harris thought before standing. “OK. Come on. We have the Bangor in slip 27. Best I can give you is a cot.”

  Tawn sighed. “Sadly, I sleep on a cot at my place. Don’t have much for furniture.”

  Harris smirked. “Old habits, huh? I slept on a cot for five months after getting out. The beds in all those flop houses were no better than sleeping on the floor. Would still prefer a bunk on a troop carrier. I slept through half the Helm engagement in one, while half our hull was being filled with holes.”

  Tawn nodded. “I looked for several months to try to find one in surplus. When they drydocked those ships they shredded all the mattresses. Can’t say I was happy about that.”

  “Hmm. Wish I’d thought of that early on. The bunks in the Bangor would have fit one of those perfect.”

  Tawn asked as they walked, “How’d you get hooked up with the DDI?”

  “Truth is… I got bagged trying to do just what you’re doing. Only on a smaller scale. I acquired two Fox-40s in a card game and I was attempting to sell them when I got grabbed.”

  Tawn held up a hand. “Whoa. You had a couple 40s here on the station?”

  Harris laughed. “Goodness, no. That was planetside. But the guns were registered as stolen, so they had me on possession. One thing led to another and they offered me a job tracking down dealers. They’re wanting to keep an eye on the outer colonies, and specifically on any weapons heading to Eden.”

  Tawn winced. “Eden? They should have called that place Hades. What do they care about Eden?”

  Harris leaned in. “Not many people know this, but the Truce of Beckland was only signed because the New Earthers were out of titanium for their ship hulls. Their planet is almost void of the stuff. No titanium for hull alloys means inferior ships or no ships. And as it turns out, Eden is rich in titanium.”

  Tawn asked, “So why don’t they just go take Eden?”

  Harris reached up, scratching his neck. “They can’t do that without violating the truce. That would bring back war, which they need the titanium for beforehand. Right now Eden’s government has no interest in selling titanium to NE. They’re pacifists who migrated there thinking nobody would bother them on the desert planet. DDI thinks the New Earthers are trying to arm an insurgency on Eden, so they hired me to find out what’s going on.”

  They arrived at the Bangor, and after boarding they sat across from each other on a pair of benches in the cabin.

  Tawn scowled. “Where’d you get these benches? The license registration bureau? These are horrid.”

  Harris replied, “Hey, they came with the ship. If you’d rather you can sit on the deck.”

  Tawn shook her head. “I would assume the DDI told you not to tell anybody about what you’re doing, right?”

  Harris thought for a moment. “Well… yeah. If word got out the DDI was watching, the NE might take all their efforts underground.”

  Tawn smirked. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a moron?”

  “That’s been said before. Why?”

  “Because you just told me about the DDI’s secret investigation. What if I told that to someone who then told it to a NE sympathizer? Your operation would be blown. Are you so dense you don’t see that?”

  Harris scratched the back of his head. “I guess that wasn’t the smartest move, huh? OK, forget about everything I told you.”

  Tawn laughed. “I can’t forget that. But I tell you what… you take off this tracker and get me a job with the DDI and it won’t matter. I’d love to be smashing the heads of anyone interested in giving the NE war materials.”

  Harris stood, pacing back and forth in front of the bench where Tawn was seated. “OK, look, I made that all up.”

  Tawn squinted her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  Harris stopped, returning to the hard bench with a sigh. “That tracking bracelet… it’s just a cheap credit store, nothing more. I’m not an agent of the DDI, and the whole Eden deal… that’s a rumor I heard from a drunk. I just want my guns. I need those. I have bills just like you, only worse. I kind of borrowed money from the wrong people. I don’t pay them in a week and they come to collect the Bangor and break my kneecaps.”

  Tawn crossed her arms as she chuckled. “You’re in as much of a mess as I am… or maybe worse.”

  Harris replied, “What you said back there about slugs and stumps… you were right. The people don’t trust us. Nobody fought harder for their freedom, but we’re different physically. We were bred to fight and there’s no more fighting, making us obsolete.”

  Tawn chuckled. “OK, stop it. Now you’re just bringing me down. We just have to find a place where we fit.”

  Tawn asked, “Show me that DDI badge.”

  A black leather fold was retrieved from a pocket. Tawn opened it to reveal the badge.

  “The Sheriff Dry-cleaners?”

  Harris smiled. “It was nicely embossed with gold leaf. And they give me a 5 percent veteran’s discount. Just wish I had something to dry-clean.”

  Tawn laughed out-loud. “This is rich. I’m not saying it didn’t work, but tell me you haven’t used that elsewhere.”

  Harris shrugged. “I have. A couple times now.”

  “And nobody questioned it?”

  “They were too terrified to ask. Who wants to question the DDI?”

  Tawn returned a concerned look. “They are out there… DDI agents. They bust you trying to pull that scam and they will burn you.”

  Harris replied, “I’m just trying to survive out here like you. You’re running illegal arms to the outer colonies. How’s that any worse?”

  “It’s not. And we’d both probably be doing OK at it if it wasn’t for Baxter Rumford. You aren’t in need of a first mate are you?”

  Harris returned a stare before breaking into a chuckle. “The two of us working together? We can’t even feed ourselves. How are we gonna pull off any kind of business venture?”

  Tawn smiled. “We’re gonna stick it to Bax, that’s how. She owes you and she owes me. If we work as a team maybe we can at least get our pay.”

  “What are you suggesting we do?”

  Tawn leaned forward, placing her chin on her fist as she thought, rising up when she had an answer. “How about this… she’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully with more weapons to sell. You set up a deal with her. Tell her you have a buyer on Eden. When she shows to deliver the goods, I’ll turn my Fox on her and we leave with the cargo.”

  “So your plan is that we rob her?”

  Tawn shrugged. “Not like she doesn’t owe us. And if she’s been turning traders over to the NE for execution, she deserves a good kick in the gut.”

  Harris asked, “And how do we deal with her afterwards?”

  Tawn smiled. “You think she’s gonna go up against a stump and a slug when she owed them already?”

  “Sounds like a half baked plan.”

  Tawn laughed. “We got anything
else in the oven?”

  “We don’t even have anything else to put in the oven. If we do this, how do I know you aren’t gonna hang me out to dry just to get paid by her?”

  Tawn shook her head. “Robbing you does me no good. You’ve got nothing to take. You don’t own your ship and your credit store is as empty as mine. No… we take her down. You’ll have your arms to sell and I get half when we’re done.

  “After that, we go looking for a legit dealer. Not legit – legit, because this is still illegal, but you know what I mean. There are colonists out there with money and goods to trade. And there are weapons down on the surface to be purchased and sold.”

  Harris looked on with a scowl. “Working with a slug… not where I thought I would end up.”

  Tawn took off the bogus tracking device, handing it back. “This is yours.”

  Harris said, “Keep it.”

  Tawn looked it over for a brief second. “Doesn’t even work, does it?”

  Harris smirked. “Nope. Works great as a phony tracking device, though.”

  Tawn shrugged as she placed it back on her left wrist. “Maybe I’ll keep it then.”

  Harris said, “You have any food at your place?”

  Tawn laughed. “Yeah… no. You hungry now?”

  Harris winced. “That ale today is all I’ve had since yesterday. And you owe me a potato soup.”

  “You didn’t pay for that. You scammed the guy out of it… and your ale. With your phony badge. Say… if that badge worked once, it could work again. I’ll play the prisoner if you can get us a comped meal. I’m thinking the buffet at the Emporium.”

  Harris thought for a moment. “I am kind of hungry. That buffet’s like eighteen credits each, plus beverages.”

  Tawn grinned. “Yeah, but it has everything. And if we aren’t paying for it, who cares what it costs. Come on. We have a day and a half to kill. Let’s get us a free meal.”

  A short walk had them standing in line to get into the Grand Emporium Buffet.

  The attendant at the register asked, “Two?”

  Harris said, “Two for the Grand Buffet please. And two beverages, premium.”

  The attendant smiled. “Someone is eating well today. That’s forty-four credits.”