Galactic Odyssey Ch. 03

*

We kept talking and Nora seemed like a nice girl, but of course I couldn't take anything she told me at face value. Given the circumstances, it was reasonable for her to fear for her life and she would say anything to build trust with me and get herself released.

If she really was Big George's wife - and all evidence pointed that way - the safest thing right now was to keep her locked up for a few more weeks until I was ready to make a move.

Through almost no fault of my own, I found myself with no good options. I couldn't really leave Nora with Stanley and make a run for it - that required money which I didn't have. Cashing in the ransom was a ridiculous idea that would only get me killed, and talking Stanley into releasing Nora wouldn't work either - there was no way he would pass on his imaginary payday.

After a lot of pondering, I decided that the best course of action was getting rid of Stanley. With him gone, I could drop Nora off on some backwards planet or station on the way and sell the ship to raise money for myself.

There was just one problem - how could I get rid of that moron without killing him? What I needed was a good opportunity - and in my experience, opportunities didn't present themselves on their own, you had to make them.

*

My plan was simple and I set it in motion an hour after lunch, when both Stanley and I were on the bridge. All it took was a small manipulation to a sensor, and in no time, we had alerts and emergency announcements blaring throughout the ship.

"Attention, contamination detected. Attention, contamination detected."

"Fuck," I said and slammed my fist on the console. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"What?"

"Looks like there's a leak somewhere, we've got cooling agent in the ventilation system."

Stanley looked at me, not understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"That stuff is odorless and highly toxic. One whiff and you're done," I explained. "You have to go down to engineering and plug that leak."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you hired me as a pilot, not as an engineer. Take an oxygen mask and try to avoid skin contact. At high concentration, It'll peel the flesh from your bones."

"Forget it, I'm not going down there."

"You're a fucking coward, Stanley."

"You do it," he said, panic in his voice. "I'm the captain, I'm giving you an order."

I sighed. "Alright, but that's going to cost you."

Holding his breath, he ran out of the cockpit towards the portside escape pods and I could hear the airlock bulkheads close. Each pod had an independent oxygen supply, it was no surprise that he would wait it out there until someone - me - had fixed the problem.

Bon voyage, idiot, I thought, while I hit the button that launched the pod into space. Good luck and godspeed, I hope you survive your own stupidity.

*

"What happened?" asked Nora when I brought her dinner. "I heard the alerts."

"Nothing, it was a false alarm," I said while setting down the tray on her bed. "Good news though, I'm going to release you."

"George is going to pay?" she asked, sounding sceptical. "That doesn't sound like him."

"Doesn't matter, in a couple of weeks you'll be free. I know someone who can help me sell the ship and disappear."

Nora was still suspicious. "But what about your partner? He agreed to let me go?"

"He's not my partner, he never was. And he left the ship, he had some urgent business."

"Did you ... did you kill him?" she asked.

"I've done a lot of stupid shit, but I have never killed anyone. Now that he's gone, I'm gonna drop you off and we go our separate ways. And if you could tell your husband that I had nothing to do with this, I would really appreciate it. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be stuck in that crate."

*

It was a solid plan - the only one that had at least a small chance of success - and it almost worked. My luck ran out just a couple of days before dropping Nora off on a sparsely populated agricultural planet. George's network was vast - either one of his many informers must have spotted our drive signature, or maybe it was just dumb luck.

They came out of nowhere and opened fire immediately, but his time, they didn't take any chances. With a few well-aimed shots, they blew up the engine and the jump drive - this freighter wouldn't go anywhere.

When they docked and entered the bridge, I already waited for them, on my knees, hands in the air. There was nothing else I could do - I couldn't fight them, I couldn't hide, and I couldn't run.

Again, they didn't take any risks - I saw someone take aim at me and then everything went dark.

*

When I came to, my head was hurting from the stunner beam and it took me a few seconds to realize that, first of all, I wasn't dead, and second, I was wearing a slave hood. I couldn't open my eyes, I didn't hear a thing, but at least my breathing wasn't restricted. Other than that, I was naked, but surprisingly unrestrained. When I explored my surroundings, I discovered steel bars in every direction - obviously I was sitting in some kind of holding cage.

I suspected the mercs were not allowed to harm me - most likely, Big George had reserved that right to himself and I had heard stories that he could get very creative.

Blind, deaf, and locked up, I couldn't do anything other than sitting around, trying not to think about what George would do to someone who had kidnapped his wife.

*

Suddenly, breathing became harder and harder as the oxygen level was reduced to a minimum life-sustaining level. Helplessly, I clawed at the mask using my fingernails in what I knew was an absolutely futile attempt.

Gods, how I hated this.

While I was desperately trying to suck air into my lungs, someone flipped me on my stomach and moments later, I was in handcuffs and leg irons, with a tight steel collar enclosing my neck. Due to the lack of air, I had no energy to fight it.

Now fully restrained, I could feel that breathing got easier and tugging on my collar signalled that they wanted me to sit up. In a situation like this, it was better to not make a fuss, so I complied.

To my surprise, soft hands caressed my boobs tenderly. Was this a woman? The caressing stopped and I winced as fingers firmly gripped my nipples and pulled up.

I struggled to my feet, with some help from the woman, who grabbed my upper arm, while still keeping a firm grip on one nipple.

Slowly, I shuffled into the direction I was pulled.

*

After a short walk on the concrete floor and up a small ramp, my handcuffs were removed and I felt the hood loosen. Grateful and with a sigh I pulled it off my head. I squinted my eyes and looked around. I was standing next to a pilot's seat of a small shuttle and my captor was dressed in a blue jumpsuit, wearing a comlink unit on her left forearm.

"Nora?! You escaped?"

She smiled. "I didn't have to, I'm a kidnapping victim, remember? These fine upstanding gentlemen are under the impression that they freed me, which is actually the truth, as far as I can tell. But no way in hell I'm going back to George."

"So now you're kidnapping me?" I asked.

She nodded. "Kidnapping you, saving you - it's a bit of a gray area. In any case, I need a ride. You know how to fly this thing?"

"Would have been a good question to ask before you dragged me out here."

"Don't be a smartass, it's in your own best interest. Who knows what my husband would do to you."

Of course she had a point. People who crossed George didn't live long - or at least they wished they didn't. I looked at the console, which had a familiar layout and all controls were in the place where I expected them.

"Should be easy enough. This is a light interstellar transport with all kinds of modifications. Not sure I know how to use the weapons, though."

"Does it have a ... you know, a thing so they can find us?"

"A transponder, you mean? That's unlikely. Being undetectable is kind of the idea when building ships like this."

"Very good," she said. "Then we'll take it. You can redeem yourself by flying the ship."

She touched her comlink and a brief bolt of pain shot through me.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"I owed you that one. It's so you don't forget that I'm the boss now."

I smirked. "Girl, that was a level one, nobody uses these. For people like me you need at least level three to make an impression."

"Just do as I tell you, okay?"

She tried to sound tough, but I could tell it was an act. Nora was a sweet girl and despite the episode with the knife, she didn't have the stomach to hurt anyone.

"How is this supposed to work?" I asked. "I hope you have money, because I certainly don't."

"This asteroid is one of George's distribution hubs. We have a few boxes with contraband in our cargo hold, as much as I could carry. We'll sell it somewhere, get new identities and disappear forever. And if can you figure out how these weapons work, then we'll blow up the other transports before George's thugs come back."

Not really convinced, I fired up the shuttle's engines and steered the ship slowly towards the exit of the hangar.