Chapter Five
Crime doesn’t pay…
Poof! Kaelen and I appeared in Uncle Zarek’s quarters. He grabbed my sterilized armor belt off the bed and gave it to me. “It cannot protect you if you are not wearing it.”
“Yes, sir.” I quickly put it on and pushed the activation button.
Snikt. Schlik. Schlik. Schlik. I shivered as it encased me all the way to my neck.
It felt so freakin’ weird. My eyebrows rose as Kaelen began pulling weapons off the walls.
“I don’t think we’re gonna need the swords or the war hammers, sweetie. ”
Kaelen shrugged. “It is better to be prepared.”
“What’s going on?” Dad asked, placing Jaxor on the bed as Kaelen handed him a sword.
“We got a case. Someone just stole a prototype starfighter.”
“Anyone dead or injured?” Dad got his notepad out.
“Don’t know.”
Pencil in hand, Dad asked hopefully, “Do we have a witness?”
“Don’t know.
Dad scowled. “A description of the suspects?”
“The thieves killed the soldiers guarding the ship.” Kaelen took a laser pistol off the wall and handed it to me.
I slid it into my holster. “Please tell me they had security cameras.”
“Unknown,” Kaelen declared.
Dad tapped the notepad against his leg in exasperation. “How long ago did this happen?”
“Forty minutes,” Kaelen replied.
A sigh broke from me. “They could be halfway across the galaxy by now.”
“There was only enough fuel for a test run,” Kaelen answered.
His voice was a tad sarcastic as Dad queried, “And how far is that? Out of the solar system, all the way to Tanith or just a jaunt around the moon?”
“They did not say, but I will find out.” Using two fingers, Kaelen typed away on his communications bracelet’s keypad.
“A direction would be really helpful in setting up a grid search,” I commented dryly.
A muscle in dad’s jaw twitched. “No wonder the Shadow Thieves Guild is always robbing them blind.”
“We need to hire a couple of dispatchers who know what questions to ask.”
Dad nodded. “I’ll add that to the to-do list.” He jotted it down on his notepad.
Jaxor bounced on the bed and held out his arms. “Momma!”
I picked him up. “Crap. We need someone to watch the kid.”
Xylar zoomed into the room and took the baby from me. “Jaxor comes with us.” He fastened an armor belt around his son and triggered it. The armor covered the baby from head-to-toe.
To my surprise, Jaxor gurgled happily. Dang, he liked it. “Bringing a baby to a crime scene isn’t a good idea?”
“Askole mothers do not leave their children, ever.” Xylar put Jaxor into an armored baby carrier and attached it to my back.
Dang, the little guy, was rapidly putting on weight. I peered over my shoulder as Jaxor grabbed my ponytail. “On Earth, we don’t take our babies into battle.”
“You are no longer on Earth,” Xylar shot back.
Dad activated his armor. “Relax, we’re just processing a crime scene. The suspects are long gone.”
“As bad as the Alliance’s security was, they could still be in the area, laughing their asses off.” I stuffed bottles of milk and diapers in my side pockets.
Uncle Zarek teleported into the room and handed out communication bracelets.
“These have been modified to aid in processing a crime scene. You can collect samples with a simple tap of this icon.” Uncle Zarek touched a star symbol.
“The scanners can analyze everything from fingerprints to blood types to chemicals and air samples.”
“Can we track suspects and their escape vehicles with this and if so, how far?” Dad fastened the bracelet on his left wrist.
A holographic map of the galaxy appeared mid-air.
“ You can track them anywhere in the galaxy except the Bamberger asteroid belt.” With a tap on his keypad, Uncle Zarek highlighted a doughnut-shaped section of space filled with all shapes and sizes of asteroids.
“The intense radiation from the dwarf planet Gonggong distorts our sensor readings.”
Xylar bared his teeth in a gruesome smile. “The Sasnomm used Gonggong as a base after the Tai-Kok destroyed their world.”
“How long did it take for the radiation to kill them?” Call me curious.
“After eight months their ability to fight was severely impaired and High Commander Zayn easily destroyed their base,” Xylar stated proudly.
Hmm. Genocide seemed to be a theme with these aliens. “What happened to the Sasnomm’s children?”
“The Tai-Kok ate them,” Xylar snapped. “We do not massacre the young.”
“Good to know, because that is a deal breaker.” I fumbled with the latch on the communications bracelet. Dang it! It wouldn’t lock.
Kaelen reached over and quickly secured the bracelet to my left wrist.
“Thanks.” To my surprise, the bracelet merged with my armor. How cool was that.
The door slid open to reveal Captain Zan and Qa’a, in his humanoid form.
“What is the captain doing here?” I asked rudely.
Kaelen’s eyes narrowed. “An excellent question.”
“He insists on going with us,” Qa’a answered, flashing his rather terrifying teeth in a gruesome smile.
A brilliant orange glow popped into existence in the hallway and spun rapidly. I shielded my eyes. “Where is your armor, Captain Zan?”
“I do not need armor.”
Bolts of green lightning crackled wildly around the walls.
My eyebrows rose. Was he that stupid? “Have you ever ridden the Devil’s wind before?”
“Devil’s wind?” Captain Zan repeated with a frown.
I pointed at the growing vortex. “It’s like going from zero to warp five in ten seconds flat. Think you can handle it?”
“Yes.”
Should I tell him about the slime? I took one look at his arrogant expression and smothered a laugh. Nah. Why spoil all his fun.
There was a glint of amusement in Uncle Zarek’s eyes. “Captain Zan has had few dealings with the Katanic people.”
“Okey-dokey, then.” Things were about to get interesting.
Qa’a morphed into his true form and wrapped his tentacles around us.
Captain Zan’s hand dropped to his laser pistol.
“I wouldn’t do that Captain, unless you want to be dumped in the void,” I warned and triggered my helmet.
Alarm flared to life in his eyes. “Void?”
The orange light spun faster and faster and faster until it became a vortex. Slurppp! We were sucked inside. The horrific, twisting funnel of energy rocketed us across a weird black void.
Horror, shock and fear flashed across Captain Zan’s face.
“Yippee-ki-yay! Ride ‘em cowboy,” I shouted gleefully.
Jaxor waved his arms happily and babbled something.
Dad yelled, “Yee-haw!”
“Death awaits our enemies,” Xylar bellowed.
Not to be outdone, Kaelen roared his battle cry.
Qa’a brayed like a drunken donkey.
Captain Zan’s mouth worked but no sound came out.
Strange shapes emerged out of the blackness. The shapes turned into dark, wraith-like creatures.
Oh yay, the Executioners were escorting us. I glanced over at Captain Zan. His worried gaze was locked on the flailing tentacles inches from his face.
Jaxor grabbed one.
“No! Bad baby. Let go of the tentacle.”
The Executioner tugged it out of his grip. “No harm.”
The violently rotating walls abruptly began to collapse.
A choked groan broke from the captain.
The vortex spat us out on the tarmac of the badly damaged spaceport. Bolts of lightning danced and pulsed over the smoldering wreckage of three spaceships.
I shuddered as the world spun wildly around me. It was hard to breathe, and once again I was covered in goopy green slime.
Jaxor gleefully played with the goop.
Captain Zan fell to his knees and vomited.
A giggle escaped me as slime dripped off his nose. “Told ya. Unless you enjoy slime baths, you need armor.”
Captain Zan shot me a hostile glare.
Kaelen tapped an icon on my bracelet and poof! The slime on my armor was incinerated.
“Thanks, sweetie.” I retracted my helmet and watched the captain dry heave. “Do you need a medic, Captain Zan?”
“No!” He shot to his feet. “I do not.” He promptly vomited all over his once shiny black boots.
Males and their stupid pride. I yanked out my healing wand, jabbed it against his neck, and triggered it . “You’re welcome.”
“Your father failed in his duty to teach you manners,” the captain rasped.
“And you don’t have a clue about how to catch bad guys, do you?”
“You think you do?” Captain Zan growled.
“Yes.” Dad stepped between us. “We are here to enforce the law and bring the lawbreakers to justice.”
“Captain Zan let me introduce you to my father, Major Drake Ryder. On my world, he outranks you. Show some respect.”
Qa’a added, “Major Ryder is a hunter who never fails to capture his prey.”
“My father’s arrest rate is ninety-two percent,” I bragged.
Captain Zan cocked an eyebrow. “What happened to the other eight percent?”
“They were killed resisting arrest.” Dad extended his hand to the captain. “How about we go find the bastards responsible for this and get your starfighter back .”
“I would like that.” Captain Zan shook his hand.
I let out a breath of relief. Disaster had been averted. For now.
Qa’a transformed back into his humanoid form. “Begin your investigation. The Executioners will search the spaceport while you gather evidence.”
“Yes, sir.” Dad saluted him.
Wiping the gunk off his face, Captain Zan angrily surveyed the blackened corpses littering the ground.
“Wow. It looks like the suspects hit the Alliance soldiers with napalm,” I said.
Kaelen scanned the dead. “They were killed by Elektron grenades. An explosive favored by Bjarke mercenaries. It makes identifying victims difficult.”
Bjarke mercenaries? I mentally drew on Kaelen’s knowledge.
Huh? Bjarke males had bright purple hair, were over seven feet tall, heavily muscled, and not too bright.
To my surprise their armor was pieced together crap and their ships resembled space junk.
“You think the Shadow Thieves Guild hired mercenaries to steal the ship?”
“Yes,” Kaelen answered.
My gaze fixed on a large male in a tattered cloak loitering by a hanger with a symbol of a rising sun on the side. Huh. He sure seemed interested in our crime scene. “ I didn’t think Bjarke mercenaries were smart enough to fly an experimental spaceship.”
“They are not,” Kaelen replied. “Most Bjarke ships are old, poorly maintained and prone to crashing.”
Captain Zan interjected, “If they are behind the theft, they hired a pilot.”
Hmmm. My Spidey-sense was tingling. “How far was the ship tracked on radar?”
“The attack took out the control tower’s power system, and they were unable to track the ship,” Captain Zan responded.
God, could it be that simple? Could the mercenaries have simply moved the prototype into another hangar?
Jaxor let out a wail.
“What’s wrong kiddo?” The sensation of hunger hit me. “Jaxor needs a bottle and the stench of death is a bit strong here.”
Xyler bared his teeth in a snarl. “He needs to become accustomed to the smell of death.”
“And you’re an ass, and a piss poor father. He just lost his mother on a Tai-Kok slaughter ship. He needs love not more violence,” I snapped.
The angry Askole took a step towards me.
Dad got in his face. “Enough! Lexi’s right. The kid needs some TLC.”
“I do not know what this TLC is,” Xyler spat.
I gave him the one-fingered salute. “That’s quite obvious.”
“You can feed the child in the security shuttle.” Captain Zan pointed to a bright blue ship that looked like a golf cart had mated with a Lear Jet.
“Thank you.” I trotted over to it.
“Me hungry,” Jaxor whined.
Mentally stroking his back, I stepped into the security shuttle and fell in love with the control console. Wow. It was loaded with all sorts of goodies.
“Hungry!”
“I know. I know.” I detached the baby carrier and retracted Jaxor’s helmet. “You are an inpatient little dude.”
“Me empty.”
“And you’re talking so good.”
“Me smart.”
“Yes, you are.” I pulled the bottle out of a side pocket and popped it in his mouth.
Jaxor’s tentacles wrapped around the bottle, and he gulped the milk down.
I played with the controls on the shuttle. Huh? The big dude was still watching the guys examine the crime scene. I mentally scanned him and snorted. He was very drunk and caressing the butt of his gun like it was a woman’s ass.
A big smile curved my mouth when I zoomed in on him. And looky there. A purple braid protruded from a tear in his ratty cloak. He was definitely a Bjarke mercenary and he had to be the lookout.
Now the million-dollar question was: Where had they hidden the prototype?
It was the size of a U.S. Air Force Strike Eagle fighter jet.
So, it had to be hidden in one of the larger hangars.
Like the one the mercenary was guarding.
Using my cool new scanner, I checked the surrounding hangers.
Damn. No starfighter. Hmmm. Bet they were using some kind of jammer.
The hangar the mercenary was guarding had a bunch of windows. Once Jaxor finished his bottle, I’d do a quick recon. If the starfighter was there, I’d let the guys know and we could retrieve it.