The 28th Gate: Volume 7

Episode 1-2

Hunter slowed as one of the security personnel approached.

“Please state the nature of your business,” she called through the open-air canopy of the dirt cruiser.

“Freelance contract hunters,” he replied, flashing her our permits. “Our bounty’s in the back, heading for Mystix Corp.”

She glanced at a screen on her wrist, presumably checking our permit against those listed for the corporations on the planet. Though I suppose she might also have conducted a check against local bounty listings as well. “Name?” she asked.

“Fadar,” Hunter replied.

Her head snapped up, but she quickly covered the reaction. “Understood. Please pull over here for a moment.” She turned away and promptly began a hushed conversation over a comm connection.

Hunter shot me another glance. “I don’t like this.”

I nodded in return. I wasn’t terribly keen on the latest turn of events myself.

“What do you think?” Hunter added.

The question surprised me, by and large because I wasn’t used to his asking my opinion. Hunter rarely questioned my choices, mind you, and always followed through on plans I made. But once I set objectives for him, he tended to use whatever methods he deemed fit.

“It does seem a predicament,” I answered. “We have not, as yet, behaved in any way questionable. Nonetheless, it appears they intend to detain us, even if only to take custody of our charge.”

Hunter nodded and the expression on his face hardened.

“But this is your contract, my boy,” I reiterated. “Decide our course of action and I shall back you through it.” Knowing Hunter, I was amply aware that giving him free reign could be a calculated risk when I didn’t yet know what Hunter had planned. But I was willing to assume the risk—I wanted to see how he would handle the challenge.

Hunter offered another slow nod, then turned his gaze back to the road ahead of us with a hint of a smile. “You’d better hold on.”

Before the guard could stop us, the dirt cruiser leapt forward, accelerating with great rapidity through the checkpoint and between the grounded attack craft. We tore away from the city, though in the distance behind us I could hear the whine of the attack craft launching.

“I expect we shall have company soon,” I called over the rush of wind as he continued accelerating into the sparse forest outside the town.

“Just get us in the air. I’ll secure Fadar.”

Hunter barely slowed the dirt cruiser as the shuttle’s rear bay door began opening, and the ramp had only just reached the ground when we blasted into the craft. Then Hunter spun the controls hard, spinning the cruiser into the bay and dissipating our momentum. Following his instructions, I jumped from the craft and ran for the cockpit.

A moment later, we were in the air.

I kept us low over the forest as we soared away from HedGer Corp territory. A moment later, Hunter slid into one of the three passenger seats in the cockpit.

“Where are those assault craft?” he asked.

I pointed to the displays, which indicated they were still positioned near the checkpoint, circling within their own territory. “I do believe they declined to give chase after all.”

“Good,” Hunter grunted. Then he frowned. “What’s that?”

I spared a glance away from the foliage ahead and realized Hunter had spotted another craft on an interception course. I beamed when I recognized the modified heavy fighter as belonging to a friend of mine.

“My, what superb luck!” I told Hunter. “I haven’t had the occasion to introduce you to Juykes yet. You should like him.”

I paused, pulling up a communications channel with the oncoming fighter, and Juykes’s leering face appeared. “My friend!” I greeted. “What are you doing out—” The rest of my sentiment was cut short when our shuttle rocked from gunfire.

Gunfire originating from Juykes’s heavy fighter.

“Juykes!” I snapped over the comm line. “What in the gates are you doing?”

“Nothing personal, ol’ chum! Just here for the bounty. You understand.” The shuttle rocked again from another volley.

“But we already have Fadar for Mystix!” I snapped. “You’ve never been one to attempt theft like this!”

“Oh, you misunderstand, my friend,” Juykes replied, his grin widening. “I’m not here for the Mystix bounty. I’m here for the one HedGer Corporation just posted. But as I said, it’s nothing personal. So why not make this easy?”

Hunter growled a curse and shut off the comm line before I could respond. “Just take evasive action!”

“Hold tight!” I pitched the shuttle up on one edge and pulled hard to the south. From the rear bay I heard the scrape of crates sliding and then a cry when Fadar slammed into the port bulkhead.

“Here!” Hunter cried, highlighting a deep canyon ahead of us splitting the forest in two. “I’ll find us a cave.”

“A cave?” I murmured. My shuttle wasn’t as large as Juykes’s heavy fighter behind us, but I was unconvinced I would be up to the task of sneaking it into a rocky enclosure. Nonetheless, I pitched the nose down and we dove, sweeping into the canyons before Juykes could reorient his craft to follow. “I fear we shan’t have much time before he finds us again.”

“Next left!” Hunter instructed. “Then take a right.”

I shot him a concerned glance, but his countenance exuded absolute certainty.

“Next left it is then,” I replied, whipping the shuttle into an even narrower branch of the canyon. As we traveled upriver, the tall rocky walls became sharper and higher with vibrant striations of color marking the various layers in the surrounding stone.

“That’s it!” Hunter exclaimed and I quite nearly responded with a double take.

“But that’s—”

“Now!” Hunter cut me off, gesturing to an opening on the right. I might have called it a fissure rather than a canyon had I not seen the drizzle of water flowing along its base.

I knew it was within my rights to ignore him, to follow the wider flight path. Instead I followed his instructions, breaking hard before throwing our small craft into the divide.

Only a short distance in, the cliffs to either side rose high above us, their walls twisted into frozen undulations by eons of erosion so that they cast a strange light as they reflected the sun’s glow off their red and orange striations. It was strikingly beautiful, even amid the frantic flight, and also provided superb cover from above.

“There’s a boulder just ahead,” Hunter said, indicating it should be large enough to land. Though he rarely spoke the words, his tone told me he was suitably impressed by my handling of the shuttle through the narrow chasm.

I settled the shuttle atop the wide boulder with as much speed as I could manage and, without a word, we both turned to powering down the primary systems on the small craft.

“We just bought some time,” Hunter said, sharing a rough smile as he unbuckled his seating harness to stand. “Any idea what this Juykes will do next?”

I nodded as I considered the matter. “He is patient enough to wait us out, I’m afraid. He’ll lie hidden until we take to the air again.”

Hunter scowled. “This is why I said you need to mount guns on your shuttle. In the air, there’s nothing we can do to stop him.” Then he nodded to himself. “Alright. We’ll deliver Fadar on foot.”

“We will?”

“Sure. If HedGer Corp is offering a bounty on Fadar now, then we’ll just go back there. We’ll take your dirt cruiser up stream and find a way into the forest. From there it shouldn’t be more than a rota or two to reach the HedGer Corp city we just left and turn in Fadar.”

“If you believe that to be our best course of action,” I replied. I still didn’t like the turn of events, but I must admit I was curious to see how Hunter would continue to cope with the mounting challenges.

And I wasn’t convinced he had yet recognized the arduous nature of the path he had just chosen.

I was only two strides behind Hunter as we moved to the cargo area at the rear of my shuttle to find Fadar sitting crumpled against the port bulkhead, rubbing one shoulder. His hands were still bound, as were his feet, but otherwise Hunter had left him unrestrained. He stiffened when he spotted us and made an awkward struggle to stand for a moment before pitching forward and collapsing to the deck.

Hunter didn’t even break stride as he approached and hauled the man to his feet, aided by those impressive limbs of his.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Fadar whimpered.

“Already told you. We’re here for the bounty,” Hunter replied, letting go of the man and turning to push one of the crates away from the rear hatchway to clear space for the dirt cruiser to exit.

“But I already told you I didn’t do anything!”

“Doesn’t matter to me.”

“How could that not matter?”

“I’m just doing a job.”

“But I didn’t do anything! Whatever bounty you’re chasing is fake!”

Hunter pushed the last box away and then turned to Fadar. “Like I said. Doesn’t matter. We’re taking you to HedGer Corp and turning you in. You can explain your case to them.”

Fadar shot me a look. I just shrugged as Hunter opened the shuttle’s rear bay and we all loaded aboard the dirt cruiser.

It took more than two chrons before we found a ravine shallow enough for the dirt cruiser to scale, and then Hunter accelerated into the forest beyond. But after only a few subchrons, the cruiser’s pace began to slow once more. I glanced at Hunter, who wore a concerned expression.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I hear something,” he muttered. The dirt cruiser slowed to a halt, and he quickly flipped the switch to shut it down. The low hum of its power systems fell quiet, matching the eerie silence of the forest around us, broken only by the soft gurgle of water from the canyons behind.

“I don’t hear anything,” Fadar interjected from the back. But I gestured him to be still.

I knew better than to question Hunter’s hearing. “What do you think, my boy?”

“We have inbound. But it’s not Juykes. He was flying a Registvex heavy fighter. This sounds more like an assault craft. We need to find cover. We’ll push the cruiser. Hurry!”

We leapt from the vehicle and I met Hunter at the back where we began pushing the light transport toward a nearby stand of thick foliage.

“Hey, what are you guys—” Fadar started.

“Just keep quiet!” Hunter snapped.

A moment later we were safely under cover, and I finally heard the growing roar of the approaching assault craft. It rushed overhead, flying low to the trees, and continued on toward the south. A few michrons later, we heard it banking back toward us.

I shot Hunter a meaningful look. He scowled.

“They’re searching for us,” he whispered. “Must have been tracking the dirt cruiser.”

I nodded, pleased he’d made the connection.

He shot me a frown. “You could have said something.”

“I could have. But I wanted to ensure you would reach the same conclusion. And you did.”

“You still don’t want to take over this job?” he asked, and I was surprised to hear the subtlest note of hesitation in his voice.

But I shook my head with a reassuring smile. “I happen to think you’re doing just fine with the sundry challenges we’ve experienced thus far. So then, what shall be our next move?”

He scowled again. “We’re setting off on foot.”

As the light began to fade at the end of that rotation, Hunter gestured for another break. We’d been moving quite swiftly, though we’d had to pause more than a time or two so as to avoid the mounting number of craft searching for us from the sky above.