Ep.#13 - Return of the Corinari (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes) Read online

  Table Of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The Frontiers Saga Part 2: Rogue Castes

  Episode #13: Return of the Corinari

  Copyright © 2019 by Ryk Brown All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  They were late.

  Gisal was a desolate world. Hot, dusty, and windblown, with days that lasted weeks, its surface was all but barren. If it were not for its vast, underground aquifers, there would be no reason for humans to have any interest in the hellish little rock. Other than its hidden water, the only other thing the moon had going for it was its lack of proximity to other, more habitable worlds.

  Gisal was about as far off the beaten path as one could get. Even with jump drive technology, it was still considered too far out of the way for most. For this reason, it was a favorite meeting place for questionable transactions, between equally questionable parties. Gisal had no government, no law enforcement, and no infrastructure. In fact, the entire world had no more than a few thousand people scratching out a meager, isolated existence. Gisal was a world where one went to be forgotten.

  Marcus stood leaning against the only tree that could be seen for kilometers in any direction, its scraggly branches providing little shade. The heat drained him, requiring frequent sips from the bota bag built into his desert jacket.

  “This has got to be the ugliest moon in the galaxy,” Corporal Vasya commented as he approached from Marcus’s right. “I can’t believe people actually live here.”

  “Calling it living is a bit of a stretch,” Marcus grumbled, stretching his injured jaw. He looked at his watch. “Jesus.”

  “Are you sure you’re up for this?” the corporal inquired, noticing Marcus’s obvious discomfort. “You recently took a beating, remember.”

  “That was two weeks ago,” Marcus snapped.

  “Ten days, and you wouldn’t think so by looking at you.”

  “I’ve had worse,” Marcus insisted, his attention returning to the scorched horizon.

  “Why am I not surprised,” Vasya replied, glancing at his watch. “They’re overdue.”

  “I suppose that’s expected,” Marcus replied. “They want to show us who’s boss.”

  “Not a very smart way to do business,” Vasya argued.

  “Buyer arrives first, then the seller shows up when he’s satisfied that the buyer ain’t setting up a trap.”

  “And if the seller is setting a trap?” the corporal wondered.

  Marcus looked at him with one eye. “Then he doesn’t make any money.”

  A small glint of light on the distant horizon caught the corporal’s eye. “You see that?”

  “That would be them,” Marcus said, still leaning against the lone tree.

  The two men watched as the distant object grew closer, slowly changing from a mere glint of light into a shape with a trail of dust behind it, and finally into a large cargo hovercraft. The bulky vehicle slowed as it approached, coming to a stop and then settling onto the parched, hard-packed surface as its engines spun down.

  “A little large for what we ordered, don’t you think?” Vasya pointed out.

  “A bit,” Marcus agreed, still leaning against the tree.

  “I guess you were right,” Vasya added, as he reached down and activated the power cell on his sidearm.

  As the dust from the cargo hovercraft was blown clear, a large door opened on the side of the vehicle, and several men stepped out, making their way across the blower cowlings and jumping down to the ground. Four men in all, they fanned out, taking up security positions on all four sides of the hovercraft. Once in position, four additional men appeared in the doorway, three of whom Marcus recognized.

  “This ain’t good,” Marcus said under his breath, finally standing up straight.

  “Mister Taggert,” Dinesh Koren greeted, jumping down to the surface. “I’m surprised you’re still walking.”

  “I could say the same about you, Dinesh,” Marcus replied. “I’m a bit surprised to see you here. Usually the chief asshole has his junior assholes handling such things.”

  “Your arrogance is in line with your reputation, I see,” Dinesh commented. “Yes, it is true that I do not personally handle such routine transactions. However, I wanted to see the expression on your face when Mister Shek here took you into custody.”

  “Is that right,” Marcus replied, casting a menacing glance at Mister Shek. “You some kind of bounty hunter?”

  “A marshal, actually,” Mister Shek replied, “for the Crispin Provincial Authority. I have a warrant for your arrest.”

  “For what charge?” Marcus asked, playing along.

  “There are many. I can read them, if you like, but I suspect Mister Koren doesn’t have that kind of time.”

  “So, this is how you do business?” Marcus said to Dinesh.

  “Not usually, but it is rare to find so high a bounty on a man’s head, for so long a time.”

  “Higher than what you would’ve made selling us the guns?” Marcus wondered.

  “Oh, I still intend on selling your employer the guns,” Dinesh insisted, looking at Vasya. “That is, if you still want them.”

  Corporal Vasya looked at Marcus and shrugged. “Sorry, old man.”

  “Did you really think we would not find you?” Mister Shek wondered.

  “I was beginning to,” Marcus admitted. “I mean, it was nearly a century ago.”

  “You and your terrorist friends slaughtered thousands of innocent people,” Mister Shek continued.

  “We were rebels, not terrorists,” Marcus argued. “It was Dengal and his hoodlums who did the slaughterin’.”

  “I expect the judge will see things differently,” Mister Shek insisted, stepping forward as he pulled a pair of restraints from his belt pouch.

  “You just made a big fucking mistake, Dinesh,” Marcus declared.

  The head of the man next to Dinesh suddenly blew apart, its contents spraying across his leader’s face. A split second later, the two guards on the near side of the hovercraft at the bow and stern also lost their heads, their bodies falling unceremoniously to the parched surface.

  Vasya had his sidearm out in a flash, firing two quick shots, ending the lives of Dinesh’s other guard, as well as that of the Crispin marshal’s.

  At the same time, the heads of the two guards on the far side of the hovercraft exploded. Dinesh looked around, stunned at how rapidly his fortunes had changed.

  Marcus smiled. “What kind of a dumbass doesn’t carry a gun to an arms deal?” he wondered, as he slowly drew his own wea
pon, activated its power cell, and pointed it at Dinesh’s face.

  “My men will avenge me,” Dinesh warned, his expression still confident.

  “I doubt it,” Marcus growled, pulling the trigger.

  The energy pulse drove straight through Dinesh’s head, blowing its backside out, spraying blood and brains across the hovercraft’s cowlings. Dinesh’s body stood there for a moment, a surprised look on what was left of his face. Finally, his knees bent and his body dropped straight down, falling to one side as it hit the ground.

  “Damn!” Marcus exclaimed. “That was more fun than I thought it would be!” He looked at Corporal Vasya, who had already holstered his weapon. “That was some nice shootin’, Kit. We could’ve used a few dozen like you a hundred years ago.”

  Corporal Vasya just smiled.

  “Inside!” Marcus yelled toward the hovercraft. “Come out with your hands where we can see ’em, and we won’t burn you down!”

  After nearly a minute, a man appeared at the doorway, his hands held high. “Don’t shoot!” he begged. “I’m just the driver!”

  “Come down outta there!” Marcus insisted.

  The driver stepped down, his hands still high over his head.

  “That thing full of guns?” Marcus asked.

  “I don’t know,” the driver replied. “It’s full of crates, but I don’t know what’s in ’em. They just hired me to drive ‘em out here. You can take whatever is in them. It don’t matter none to me. Hell, take the whole damned ship. Just don’t kill me.”

  Corporal Vasya stepped up and patted the driver down. “He’s clean,” he announced.

  “Anyone else on board?” Marcus asked.

  “No, no one.”

  Corporal Vasya climbed up onto the cowling and entered the hovercraft.

  “How much do they pay you?” Marcus wondered.

  “Not enough,” the driver insisted. “Not half enough.”

  “The cargo looks good!” Corporal Vasya yelled from inside the hovercraft.

  Marcus pulled out his comm-unit and held it to his mouth. “How do we look?”

  “Looks clear for at least one hundred kilometers in all directions,” Lieutenant Rezhik reported over the comm-unit.

  “Send in our ride,” Marcus replied.

  “Understood.”

  The driver looked about nervously, taking note of all the dead bodies. “You two do all this by yourselves?” he wondered.

  “We had a little help,” Marcus replied, smiling.

  The driver flinched when a blue-white flash appeared in the sky only a few thousand meters above them, accompanied by a clap of thunder. He watched in amazement as a massive, box-like spacecraft fired its four engines, arresting its fall and settling into a momentary hover before touching down a few hundred meters away.

  “You can lower your hands now,” Marcus told the driver as Corporal Vasya joined them again.

  “You sure?” the driver wondered. “I don’t mind holding them up.”

  “Take this,” Marcus told him, handing him a credit chip. “Give it to the people working for that asshole,” he explained, pointing at Dinesh’s lifeless body.

  The driver hesitated at first, then took the chip from Marcus’s hand. “What is it?”

  “It’s a credit chip,” Marcus explained. “It contains payment for your cargo. Give it to them, along with a message.”

  The driver looked unsure. “Uh, what message?”

  “Tell them that if they ever try to cross me, or any of my people again, I will hunt them down and kill every last one of them. Them, and their families. Understood?”

  The driver swallowed hard. “Yes sir.”

  Marcus handed him another chip.

  “What’s this for,” the driver wondered.

  “For your troubles,” Marcus told him, as the loading crew from the boxcar passed by and climbed up onto the hovercraft. “It’s going to be a bitch scrubbing the blood off your dust skirt, there.”

  * * *

  “Welcome back,” Cameron greeted, as Nathan and Jessica came up the ramp to the Aurora’s command deck. “I hope you enjoyed yourselves.”

  “Oh, it was a hoot,” Jessica replied.

  “Did the boxcars make it back?” Nathan asked.

  “They did,” Cameron replied, as she turned to walk with them. “Abby and Deliza are being briefed on the Tekkan fabrication systems by the specialist who came with them.”

  Nathan looked surprised. “I wasn’t aware they were sending someone along with the equipment.”

  “Not exactly someone,” Cameron explained. “It’s an android named Ross. According to Abby, he’s quite pleasant, and very knowledgeable. Apparently, he is a physical avatar for the AI that controls the Tekkan fabrication system.”

  “Interesting,” Nathan replied.

  “Ross is confident that the Tekkan engineering AI’s will be able to improve upon our jump missiles, as well as their ability to penetrate shields. He also believes that their fabrication systems will be able to produce the improved versions in half the time that it takes our current fabricators. He even suggested fitting them with an automated, quick-change warhead system.”

  “That would give us a lot more flexibility in combat,” Jessica stated.

  “That’s all very interesting,” Nathan commented, as they reached the door to his quarters, “but for now, I’d like a shower and a nap.”

  “Of course,” Cameron replied.

  “Perhaps we can continue our conversation later, over dinner?” Nathan suggested.

  “Sounds good,” Cameron agreed. “I can’t wait to hear the details of your visit to SilTek.”

  Nathan smiled, then turned and entered his quarters.

  Cameron looked at Jessica. “What was that about?”

  “Long story,” Jessica replied, also smiling, as she headed for her quarters.

  “I’ve got time,” Cameron insisted, following Jessica down the lateral corridor.

  * * *

  General Telles and Commander Kellen watched as the boxcar’s engines spun down, and the main ramp to the massive cargo bay hanging in the center deployed. The first man off the ramp was Lieutenant Rezhik, followed by Corporal Vasya and Specialists Deeks and Brill.

  “Gentlemen,” the general greeted. “I trust all went as planned.”

  “Not exactly, but we were successful nonetheless,” the lieutenant replied.

  “We wouldn’t have been, had it not been for Marcus,” Corporal Vasya added. “He smelled the ambush before we even got to Gisal.”

  General Telles looked past his men, as Marcus came down the ramp, leading the line of men carrying crates off the boxcar. “You’ve looked better,” he greeted.

  “Why does everyone say that?” Marcus grumbled.

  “I am told we have you to thank for these weapons, Mister Taggart.”

  “It was a team effort,” Marcus insisted. “I was just the dumbass who took point.”

  “We appreciate your efforts,” the general told him, “as do the people of Orswella, I am certain.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m taking a few weeks off after this,” Marcus insisted as he moved past them.

  “There are a lot of stories in that old man,” Corporal Vasya insisted.

  “Of that I have no doubt,” General Telles agreed.

  “How are things here?” Lieutenant Rezhik asked, changing the subject.

  General Telles took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “There have been casualties.”

  “How many?”

  “We have lost eleven, and four more are recovering from serious injuries,” the general explained as he watched the line of crates being carried by. “There have been tens of thousands of civilian casualties as well.”

  “There are still that many Dusahn around?” Corporal Vasya w
ondered.

  “It’s not the number, it’s their level of preparation,” the general explained.

  “You cannot flush them out and destroy them?” the lieutenant asked.

  “It is difficult to do with only a hundred men,” the general replied. “Especially while trying to police this world. As expected, there are those who seek to take advantage of the chaos. Now that we have these weapons, we will be able to arm the Corinari enabling them to take over general security, while the Ghatazhak concentrate on the remaining Dusahn operatives.”

  “Any chance we can hang around and help?” Corporal Vasya inquired. “This little mission has been the most excitement we’ve seen in months.”

  “Your mission on Sanctuary is equally important, if not more so,” General Telles reminded the corporal.

  “Yes, sir,” Corporal Vasya replied.

  “We will be on our way just as soon as the weapons have been unloaded,” Lieutenant Rezhik assured the general.

  “Meanwhile, get yourselves something to eat,” General Telles suggested. “Orswellan food is quite interesting.”

  “It has to be better than the slop Neli keeps feeding us,” Corporal Vasya joked.

  * * *

  “What I don’t understand is why she didn’t hit him first?” Vladimir exclaimed as he carved another piece from his dollag steak.

  “They gave me a sedative,” Jessica explained as she refilled her glass of water, “just as I was dying in the simulation.”

  “They had already done their research,” Nathan added. “They were probably expecting her to lash out.”

  “Nathan dropped the general with one punch,” Jessica told them.

  “He deserved it,” Cameron agreed, picking at her salad. “They had no right to put you guys through all of that.”

  “In retrospect, I understand why they felt they had to,” Nathan said, pushing his plate away from him. “It turns out they have a lot of useful technology, including weapons.”

  “I thought they didn’t make weapons,” Cameron said.

  “That’s what they’ve been telling everyone,” Jessica told her.

  “They’ve only recently begun making weapons, and only in secret. They haven’t yet sold any. We will be the first,” Nathan explained.