Justice Keepers Saga - Books 13-15

Chapter 4-1

A pair of binoculars showed Melissa an airfield at the base of a shallow hill. And it wasn’t much of an airfield. Just a square of pavement in the grass with a road leading off to a nearby town.

The ships that were parked there were fat, bulky machines that would drop like a stone if not for anti-gravity engines. One had its cargo-bay door open so that Ragnosian soldiers could haul out crates full of weapons and leave them on the tarmac.

Another team took those crates and loaded them onto the back of a rumbling truck. The invaders had been forced to use local technology to assist their ground operations. They had a base about five miles away from here.

After months of living as a terrorist, Melissa’s mind started dreaming up ways to immobilize those trucks and steal those supplies. She had to shove those thoughts away. They weren’t here for the Ragnosians. Not today.

Lying prone on a hilltop, Melissa passed the binoculars to Larani. “Bareo’s ship is that rust-coloured hunk of junk.”

Larani grunted.

Novol scooched closer, laughing as he peered through his own set of binoculars. “Now, that’s entirely unfair,” he said. “If you read the technical manual, you’d know the official name for that colour is ‘burnt brown.’”

Glancing over her shoulder, Melissa squinted at him. “Burnt brown?” she muttered. “Sounds like something a used car salesman would come up with.”

“Where is Bareo now?” Larani interjected.

“Same place he always goes when his crew is busy unloading cargo,” Novol said. “There’s a tavern down in Rodela. He stops in, has a few drinks, flirts with whichever waitress gets stuck with him.”

“Then that’s where we need to go.”

Rodela was a small village in southern Shalovka, a network of curving streets that intersected at odd angles. The white-bricked buildings were pressed up against each other without an inch of space between them. Most of those had bay windows on their first and second floors.

People were milling about on the sidewalks: men in tweed suits, women in dresses with ugly shoulder pads. A few of them glanced at Melissa and her friends, but for the most part, they were content to ignore the strangers coming through their town. And there were plenty of those. The Ragnosians had started using this tiny community as a drop-off point for cargo haulers. The airfield was brand new, built at gunpoint, or so Melissa had been told.

She wore a pair of overalls and a gray work shirt, her black hair tucked underneath a billed cap. Anyone who walked past would think she was a factory girl. At least, that was what she was going for. There was an auto plant two towns over that had resumed production now that they had people to work the machines.

Larani stood under a streetlight in a rumpled, brown coat, frowning as she watched a truck driving past. Melissa could guess what the other woman was thinking. That truck would be bringing advanced weapons to their enemies. Larani probably wanted to h****k it as much as Melissa did.

Standing with his hands in the pockets of his gray pants, Novol pursed his lips and exhaled through his nose. “Come on,” he said, jerking his head toward the tavern. “We should get on with this.”

The interior had a homey atmosphere. Square, wooden tables were placed in neat, little rows. She saw a buck’s head mounted on the wall, its dead-eyed glare fixed upon a man and woman who ate some kind of stew. There weren’t many customers at this time of day. Melissa counted only five.

One of them was a balding man with a thick mustache who stood next to the bar with a mug of beer in hand. This guy had a double chin and a large nose. Thick wrinkles lined his forehead. She was pretty sure that was Bareo.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Novol stepped forward and caught the other man’s eye. Her boyfriend gestured to a small booth along the back wall. Bareo gave him a stare that said “Get lost,” but when Novol refused to back down, he sighed and stormed over to the booth.

Larani was the first to sit down, sliding sideways to make room for Melissa. “You are the captain of one of those ships?” she inquired.

Bareo sat across from her with his hands on the table, scowling into his mug. “What’s it to you?” he muttered under his breath.

Easing herself onto the wooden bench, Melissa answered the old man with a warm smile. Maybe it was a bit too flirtatious? She was trying to imitate what Anna had done to charm General Heldoran. “We want to book passage off-world.”

“Oh, we do, do we?” Bareo spat. “And why is that?”

The benches weren’t large enough for three people; so, Novol sauntered over to the bar and began chatting up one of the waitresses. That was for the best. He would draw too much attention just standing around, and sitting next to Bareo would probably make the other man feel trapped.

Still, Melissa couldn’t help but notice the way that buxom blonde with the big, blue eyes giggled and swatted Novol’s arm. Seriously? she scolded herself. You’re gonna get jealous after you just flirted with the scummy ship captain? He’s playing a role, Melissa. Which is what you should be doing.

Seriously?You’re gonna get jealous after you just flirted with the scummy ship captain? He’s playing a role, Melissa. Which is what you should be doing.She had to force herself to pay attention to what Larani was saying. “We are no longer safe here,” the other woman insisted. “I’ve heard rumours that the Leyrians are taking in refugees.”

Bareo mopped a hand over his bald head, rough laughter scraping its way out of his throat. “You think you’ll find salvation on another planet?” he barked. “Unlikely. Trust me, woman; Leyria is the last place you want to be.”

“And why is that?”

“Never you mind.”

Melissa leaned over the table, holding his gaze. She arched an eyebrow to make her point. “Your people are going to attack Leyria, aren’t they?”

Bareo sat up straight, lifting his glass and downing half its contents. He slammed the mug down with a thump. “That’s no concern of yours. Stay out of our way, and you won’t get hurt.”

thump.“Could you transport us to Velezia?” Larani asked.

The man rubbed his chin, his beady eyes sizing her up. “It doesn’t matter whether I could or couldn’t,” he snapped. “Because I have no good reason to do so. Get out of here before I report you to the local watch sergeant.”

Larani opened her bag, retrieving something that she set down on the table. When she removed her hand, Bareo found a metal disk sitting in front of him. A multi-tool. They had uninstalled the programs that let them break through Ragnosian encryption. It would be better if the enemy didn’t get their hands on that. “I took it off a dead Leyrian soldier,” Larani said.

“And what am I supposed to do with this?”

Planting her elbows on the table, Larani rested her chin on the backs of her hands. She flashed a playful, little grin. “You could sell it and make a decent profit,” she said. “I’m told that your people are always looking for Leyrian technology.”

Bareo nodded. “That’s true.”

“Take us to Velezia, and the device is yours.”

“Why do you want to go to Velezia?”

“We have our reasons.”

Bareo held up the multi-tool, shutting one eye so that he could examine it with the other like a jeweler looking for flaws in a diamond. “All right,” he grumbled. “You have a deal. I’ll take you as far as Velezia.”

“Excellent.”

Melissa suppressed a wave of frustration. The cabin they had given her to share with Larani was unbearably small. A set of drawers had been built into one wall, a pair of bunks into the other, and the space between them was so narrow she couldn’t spread her arms wide. They had to walk single-file through it! Heaven forbid that one of them should try to leave the room while the other was coming in.

Melissa stood in the doorway with her mouth agape. “This is where we’re supposed to sleep?” Goodness, her voice was shrill. Some vestige of the Lady Melani was still with her, it seemed.

She rounded on their host.

Bareo stood in the hallway outside their quarters, smiling at her like a creepy, old perv. “This isn’t a luxury liner, princess,” he sneered. “You take what I give you or you stay behind. It’s up to you.”

princess,”Leaning against the wall with her arms folded, Larani nodded curtly. “The cabin is more than sufficient, Captain,” she said. “My young companion is unused to traveling in rough conditions.”

Bareo scrunched up his face, puzzled by her words. “‘Your young companion,’” he mumbled. “Lady, how old are you?”

areLarani opened her mouth to answer and then snapped it shut again, deciding that some things would have to remain a mystery. That was probably the smartest thing she could have done. Larani was in her mid-forties, but she looked like a woman fresh out of college. A Keeper’s accelerated healing granted them a youthful appearance right up until the end of their life. Which came about twenty-five years sooner than it would for anyone else. Everything was a trade-off.

Bareo jerked his thumb toward the cargo hold, where Novol was chatting with a guy in dingy coveralls. “Your pal over there can sleep with the men,” he barked. “I assume that’s all right with you.”

Melissa was about to say something, but Larani put a hand on her arm. “Yes,” the other woman replied in a smooth voice. “That will be satisfactory. Thank you, Captain.”

When he left, Melissa decided to check out the cabin she would be sharing with Larani. They had to decide who would be the first one through the door. She offered to let Larani go first, but the other woman was in no hurry; so, Melissa went inside and felt an immediate sense of claustrophobia.

She had to stand aside just to get one of the drawers open. Her first inclination had been to just keep her things in the traveling bag – why bother to unpack when you would be leaving again in twenty-four hours – but there simply wasn’t enough room for it. Not if they wanted to have any floor space. So, she pulled out the single change of clothes she had brought, the hairbrush and a few meal bars, and she stowed them in the drawer. The empty bag went in there as well.

any“You want the top bunk or the bottom bunk?” she asked Larani.

“I honestly don’t care.”

Sighing softly, Melissa stretched out on the lower bunk, folding her hands on her chest. “Bottom it is,” she muttered. “Speaking of sleeping arrangements, I don’t like the thought of Novol staying with the crew.”

Pausing just inside the door, Larani sniffed as she inspected their tiny cabin. “He’ll be fine, Melissa,” she insisted. “He’s a clever man who grew up in a city where thievery and assault were commonplace. He knows how to survive.”