by T. M. Hunter

“So, Saul, what is it?”

His gravelly voice made my neck hairs stand on end. “The contents are none of your concern.”

I reached out to the blue cargo container, placed my hand on a horizontal stiffening beam, then yanked it away from the ice cold metal. A chill raced through me and I rubbed my palms for warmth.

“And if I want to check the cargo first?”

His tone didn’t change. “Then you just bought a container full of worthless goods, Mr. West.”

I glanced over at the tall, muscular beast as he smoothed out his maroon robe. We’d never met before this, so I held even less trust for him than those I normally did business with.

“And why’s that?”

“The goods will perish if the container is opened in less than prime conditions.”

I looked around at pale blue skies, warm and inviting. A white building glimmered at the other end of the empty landing pad. The conditions seemed more than prime, in my opinion. I backed up a few steps and snuck a peek at my ship. The entry hatch stairs called out to me.

“So, Aston, do you accept the job?”

“How much?”

“Seven thousand credits.”

I frowned. “Seems a bit low.”

“Payment will be made after delivery to the Enoel spacedock.”

I pressed my lips together and pondered my options. A job was a job and I needed the money.

“Deal.” I reached out to shake on it, but Saul merely looked down with contempt.

“The buyer will meet you when you arrive.” He turned and stormed off toward the white building. It wasn’t my most abrupt transaction. At least he’d spoken to me.

I lifted my sleeve and spoke through the cuff transmitter. “Jeanie, load the container.”

My ship’s computer responded. “Acknowledged.”

The aft bay on the near side opened. A mechanical arm grabbed the container as I walked toward my ship. Once inside, I started for the cockpit and chided myself. First, I had no idea what this cargo was and second, I hadn’t bargained to increase the price. Both were important in my line of work.

“Set a course for the Enoel system.”

“Acknowledged.”

Why hadn’t I pressed those issues? I reached for a glass bottle of Vladirian liquor from my chair’s side pocket. As I plopped down, I took a long drink of the pale yellow liquid.

The loud clunk of the container caught my attention.

“Cargo has been loaded into bay three. Course has been laid in. We are cleared for departure.”

“Let’s go.”

Mild vibrations and deep rumbling ran through my seat as the engines started, before belly thrusters lifted us off the pad. The forward viewscreen lit up with an enticing view of the spacedock. Without warning, the aft thrusters propelled us toward the blue skies above.

“Jeanie, let me know when we reach orbit.”

“Acknowledged.”

Hauling cargo isn’t my normal line of work, but I certainly do a lot of it. I usually find cargo by various means, then sell it for profit. Perfectly legal in most systems I visit, it exhilarated and made me feel guilty at the same time. The latter drove me to take jobs I shouldn’t, and sometimes for shameful amounts of pay.

Personal redemption was messy business.

The sky outside darkened as we reached the upper atmosphere. The thrusters cut off. “Low orbit has been reached.”

I took a longer drink and licked the excess from my lips. “Hyperspeed.”

We reached constant velocity a few moments later, so I stood from my chair and walked toward the back. “You have things under control, Jeanie?”

“Always.”

It would have been wise to use my down time to clean up, but it wouldn’t have lasted anyway, so I didn’t bother. A cot lay to my left and a small round table in the far right corner. Clothes and empty bottles rested all over the floor and metal storage lockers stood vertical at different spots around the room. I shuffled over and fell on the thin mattress, finished the bottle off, then dropped it on a stack of clothes with a thud.

“Wake me when we get there.”

“Acknowledged.”

I placed an arm over my face. “Dim the lights.”

Falling asleep was the second-easiest way to pass the time on long space flights, just behind drinking oneself to oblivion. The bottle I’d just finished wouldn’t do the trick, so I attempted the former. I almost did it, too. My eyes shot open and I sat up at metal being struck in a loud, repeated rhythm. It was the most horrific sound a space pilot could ever hear.

My worst fear came first. “Jeanie, has something struck the hull?”

“I have not detected any damage to the hull.”

Fear and reason never share the same bed. Damage to the hull at hyperspeed would have brought a quick end to my life. The pounding echoed around inside the confines of the ship as I attempted to guess which direction it came from. I ended up with the same fifty-fifty chance I started with.

“I’m checking out the cargo hold.”

I stepped inside the dim corridor onto metal floorboards which echoed with each step. In addition to our new cargo, I’d stumbled across some portable electronic readers recently. Those were in bay number two. I walked down to check out my new cargo. Bay three’s hatch creaked, then moved aside to reveal bright lights inside. The pounding was even louder as I approached the container.

I struck the side and received a high-pitched scream in response. I yanked my Mark II blaster out of its holster, rotated the container’s handles and threw open the lid against my instructions.

“Help!”

I climbed up on the bay’s support structure to look inside. My mind raced to process the images. A young woman stood naked at the middle of the container, save for a long mane of bright red hair. She covered herself and fell silent. I looked around the container and saw eight medical beds angled up against the two side walls.

My skin crawled at the sight of other unclothed beings. Various ages and genders were represented through each bed’s lid. I assumed they were alive, but it could have gone either way. Whatever this was, I wasn’t going to like it.

The woman cowered behind the far bed. Her dark green eyes were wide as she peered past the open lid. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“Aston West. I’m the captain of this spaceship. Who are you?”

She bumped against the lid and it hissed closed. She kept her arms crossed, then squatted and shivered. Cold air seeped out past me.

“Qae.”

I motioned at the other beds. “Who are these people?”

“My friends.”

“And what are you doing inside a cargo container?”

“I did not realize we would be sent so soon.”

I smacked the metal side, which reverberated in a hollow echo. “Why aren’t you riding on a passenger transport?”

“Property is shipped, not transported.”

I heard her, but she made no sense. “Property?”

“We were sold.”

I closed my eyes, then let out a troubled sigh and a muttered curse. Trafficking in sentient beings was illegal everywhere in the known galaxy. Punishment was severe, even if you’d been duped into participation as I had.

“Hold on to something.” I holstered my weapon, then grabbed a piece of the bay’s support structure and raised my sleeve.

“Jeanie, full stop.”

“Acknowledged.”

The ship jerked forward. My mind, on the other hand, still ran at top speed.

I could probably make the delivery with no one the wiser, but I wasn’t prepared to chance it. Not with my track record for misfortune. Plus, I still had some morals left, and all of them objected.

“What do you plan to do with us?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet.” I offered her my hand. “But let’s get you dressed and someplace warm.”

A little while later, we sat in my living quarters. Qae’s skin had warmed to where her skin was a light shade of brown. She now sported a white shirt and dark pants, both clean, out of my wardrobe. Both were far too large for her, but covered her bare skin and fit where it mattered.

“We need to figure out what to do with you.”

“What about my friends? Should we release them as well?”

“I’m not touching anything until we find someone who knows what they’re doing. The last thing I need to do is kill someone.”

She nodded with understanding. “So, what do you plan to do?”

Staying here in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t remedy our situation. There was one place I could think of for a shot at temporary safety.

“Jeanie, set a course for Iopeia. Let’s see Tabor.” I wasn’t certain he’d help me, but at least it would give me time to think of a better plan.

“Done.”

“Hyperspeed.”

#

Qae sat beside me in the cockpit as we broke through the high cloud cover above Iopeia. The forward viewscreen displayed bright blue seas below. Small islands formed random chains in the water, and waved at us with their lush, green treetops.

“It’s beautiful.”

I looked over as she sat at the edge of her seat and took it all in. I’d seen the scenery of Iopeia so many times, I took it for granted.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Larger pieces of land appeared, and settlements broke up the natural beauty of the planet. Tabor resided on the outskirts of the largest major city in this hemisphere. In all my visits to see him, I’d never entered the city and didn’t even know its name. Positioning coordinates were a wonderful way to navigate.

We banked to starboard and dropped toward a huge land mass with a few straggling islands around it. Tabor’s home was on one of the isles, connected to the rest of the city by a rickety wooden bridge which came into view moments later.

We descended toward a large, black landing pad just outside the front gate of metal rods and brick pillars. Four walls of his home were lined with tall, ornate stone columns and two-story towers marked the corners. The center of the complex was open, filled with a garden of every tropical plant and flower one could find on this planet or keep alive from another.

“This is where your friend lives?”

I nodded as our landing skids thumped down on the pad.

“He must be wealthy.”

I snorted. “Extremely.”

Tabor was a distributor of fine goods, at least as so he portrayed to those who didn’t know him. He and I met long ago, when I needed to unload some cargo which wasn’t exactly legal to sell. Tabor never had trouble finding buyers, especially when it meant taking his standard distribution fee. This particular situation wouldn’t make him any money, which was why I didn’t know how much help he’d be.

I watched the viewscreen as his front doors opened. It was time to head outside.

“Jeanie, lower the hatch and power down.”

The viewscreen flickered off and the lights dimmed as I made my way to the back with Qae on my heels. The grinding of gears echoed while the engines shut down.

We stepped outside onto the steamy pad. Tabor appeared soon after the gates opened. The hovering chair he rode in served as his only method of personal transportation. He clenched a light brown cigar between his lips along the side of his mouth, but pulled it out with his plump fingers as the chair stopped in front of us.

“West, you should have told me you were coming.”

Advance notice never mattered to him before. “It wasn’t planned.”

“I have a lady friend waiting.” He then ogled Qae with a huge smile of brown, rotten teeth. “Ah, but I see you’ve brought a friend of your own.”

I motioned between them. “Qae, this is my friend, Tabor Yurick.”

He reached out for her hand and kissed it. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

She looked at me in fear, unsure what to make of him. It was a fairly common first reaction upon meeting the man.

“Actually, she’s the reason I’ve come here.”

“Oh, Aston, you make an old man’s heart so happy. A gift for me?”

I thought I heard Qae catch a gasp in her throat.

“Hardly.”

“You dog! You finally settled down?”

I smiled despite the circumstances. “You know better.”

“Then what gives?” He clamped down on the cigar again.

“I think I’m in a bit of trouble.”

“And?”

“I figured you might know what to do.”

He gave me an evil eye a few moments as he thought up a response. “Space pirates,” he muttered for my benefit.

He pulled out the cigar. “What problem do you need me to solve this time?”

“I think I may have been duped into trafficking sentient beings.”

His brown eyes grew wide. “You can be put to death for that, West!”

Qae grabbed my arm and drew close. “Death?”

It wouldn’t be the first time a death sentence hung over my head, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. I frowned. “It’s not like I knew about it.”

He shoved the smoking stick in a deep cup embedded in the chair’s left arm. “And you came here? Got me involved?”

“It seemed like my best option. I wasn’t about to complete the delivery.”

“Maybe whichever court you end up in will pity you and make it a quick death.”

Qae spoke up on my behalf. “But he saved me.”

“I’m sure he did, sweetheart. I’m sure he did.”

I caught his attention once more. “I need some help figuring out what to do with them.”

“Them?” He frowned.

“Eight, including Qae.”

He shook his head and sighed. “Where are the others?”

Qae answered for me. “Still in the container.”

“Let’s take a look.”

I lifted my sleeve. “Jeanie, unload bay three.”

“Acknowledged.”

A shrill whine echoed in the air as the mechanical arm pulled out the container and placed it on the ground beside us. We moved closer and I opened the side. Clouds of vapor billowed out.

Tabor whistled as he peered inside. “Hard to believe this still goes on.”

“What are we going to do with them?”

“You can’t keep them here.” The left side of his mouth curled up as he ogled my guest. “Well, except for Qae. I wouldn’t mind having her around.”

She gripped my arm tight.

“Well, I can’t keep them either.” I didn’t touch the rest of his comment.

His chair backed away. “Then I’d say you’re in a fix.”

“You don’t know anyone who could take these folks in?”

He shook his head. “My contacts all know enough not to get involved in this.”

My face burned. “I told you…”

He held up his hand. “Yes, yes. You didn’t know anything about it.”

A hollow whistle bellowed from the gate, which startled Tabor. “Close that thing up, now!”

I lifted the side and re-latched it, then turned to him for answers. I followed his gaze to the wooden bridge, where a small hovercraft approached.

“Who’s that?”

“The law. Thank goodness for early warning sensors.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as the craft came to an abrupt stop next to the container. A man in a brown overcoat climbed out and towered over us.

Tabor came off far too calm. “Detective Eis.”

“I see you have visitors, Yurick.”

“Just an old friend.”

“Aston West.” I offered my hand, which he ignored. Common courtesy was a dying trait.

“And who is she?” He nodded toward Qae.

Tabor didn’t miss a beat. “My niece. Aston brought her here for a visit.”

The detective snorted. “Some family resemblance.”

“What brings you out, Detective?”

“Just a random inspection.”

“This is the fourth one in recent memory, usually when I have guests. I don’t call that random.”

Eis smirked. “Must be bad luck.”

“Aston and Qae were just leaving.”

I took the hint, placed my arm around Qae and guided her back toward my entry stairs. I raised my sleeve, but never got a word out.

“So, what’s in the container?”

I turned and swapped silent stares with Tabor.

“Let’s take a look, shall we?” He reached up for the side latches.

Qae caught everyone’s attention. “It’s my family. They’re all dead.”

Who knew she was good at deception?

Eis’ hand shot away at the last moment. “Why are you hauling dead bodies around?”

My heart pounded inside my chest. “Just doing a friend a favor.”

He glared at me with jet black eyes. “Open it.”

I walked past him and did so, then attempted to gauge his shock as he looked inside. He wasn’t fazed. “They don’t look dead.”

Qae spoke with confidence. “That’s the point of the beds, to preserve the bodies.”

“And where are you going?”

Tabor caught him off-guard. “Right here, Detective.”

“What?”

“They’re family. I plan to bury them here on the premises.”

“Do you have the necessary permits?”

“I haven’t had time, but don’t worry, I will.”

The detective turned to each of us. In the end, he pointed a long, bony finger at Tabor.

“Yurick, I’m going to catch you in something illegal if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Detective, how will you catch me if I do nothing wrong?”

“You’ll slip up and get caught. Count on it.” Eis growled deep in his throat, then stormed toward his hovercraft.

Tabor exhaled a deep breath as the detective finally hovered out of sight. “That was too close.”

I lifted the side wall and re-latched it. “Unfortunately, it means I can’t take the container with me when I go.”

“Yes, I know what it means.” Tabor frowned. “I’ll find a way to conceal them.”

“And somehow come up with a way to conduct a burial?”

He licked his dry lips. “That will be the easiest part of this whole mess.”

“What about me?”

Both of us turned to Qae.

I had a bad feeling I knew her answer, but asked anyway. “What do you want to do?”

She walked over and gripped my arm. “I want to stay with you.”

Exactly what I was afraid of.

“I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.”

She pouted. “Why not?”

Tabor chuckled. “Yes, Aston, why not?”

“There’s not room. My ship’s designed for one.”

Not to mention, I barely knew her. She also seemed attached to me based on the impression I was her savior.

“You wouldn’t even know I was around.”

I started to object, but the rumble of spacecraft engines filled the air and cut me off. The three of us looked up as a small shuttle descended.

Too bad Tabor didn’t have any early air warning sensors.

“Expecting company?”

Tabor shook his head.

Four small legs extended from the bottom of the short, oval vessel as it touched down. A clear bubble canopy gave me a glimpse of someone I hadn’t expected to see.

I frowned. “Saul.” This couldn’t be good.

The front of the pod split into three sections and a set of stairs dropped. In the same robe as when I’d last seen him, the beast stepped with purpose on his way down to the pad. His face was stone cold.

“Mr. West, we had an agreement.”

“That was before I found out what I was hauling.”

“Fortunately, I keep a close eye on the flight path of my containers, so I knew exactly when you stopped and diverted course.”

“More important, let’s get back to the fact that you’re trafficking sentient beings.”

He growled. “I instructed you not to open the cargo.”

“It’s hard not to when someone’s banging on the walls from the inside.”

“Impossible. The cargo was in stasis.”

“Your equipment must be faulty. Qae here woke up.”

He glanced over at her without emotion, then back to me. “The agreement is still in place. Deliver the cargo.”

“Sorry, not going to happen. I don’t need a death sentence.”

“Shame.” He reached inside his robe and pulled out an energy pistol.

I had no chance to grab my Mark II blaster from its holster, so I held my hands up in front of me. “I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

“You’ve made your choice.”

“What if I purchase them?”

Saul chuckled deep. “You don’t have enough to redeem all of them.”

He was right. People in my line of work didn’t end up with more credits than they knew what to do with. “What about Qae alone?”

Sad to say, I didn’t have any personal connection to the others. It made me more comfortable than I should have been with the idea.

He blinked. “Fifty thousand credits.”

Still more than I had by a long shot. “What about a trade?”

“I’m listening.”

“I have a container full of portable electronic readers.”

Saul bellowed out a hearty laugh. “You’re joking.”

Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it hadn’t been a joke.

Tabor interjected. “How much for the whole container?”

“Eight times the money.”

“Mind putting the weapon away? It’s not like you’re going to need one with a young woman, a drunk, and a cripple.”

Hesitant, the behemoth slipped the pistol back under the robe, but kept his hand on it.

“Good. Now let me ask you a question. ”Are you the seller?”

He shook his head.

“Ah, so you’re merely a middle-man like myself.”

I kept my eyes on Saul as he watched Tabor.

“So, let me ask what your distribution rate is. Industry standard twenty percent?”

“Yes.”

Tabor looked up into the clouds as he did the figures in his head. “Eighty thousand credits, then?”

He nodded.

“How would you like to make a hundred thousand instead?”

Saul tilted his head, a puzzled look on his face. “A hundred thousand?”

“Tell your buyer and seller the ship was destroyed en route by pirates. I assume, with the nature of your business, you keep no records of the ships which transport your goods?”

“You’re correct.” I could see the glimmer in Saul’s eyes as he considered the idea.

“Then, what do you say? One hundred thousand in hand for the redemption of all eight?”

“You have a deal.”

Tabor flipped open a small terminal in the right armrest of his chair and in moments, transferred the requisite amount into Saul’s accounts. The trafficker lifted off the pad shortly after.

“How did that just happen?”

“Greed, Aston. Greed.”

Qae caught our attention. “So, we’re all set free?”

Tabor turned to her. “Yes, dear. Free to do what you want, and go wherever you choose.”

She rushed to his side as she had mine earlier. “I want to stay with you. You redeemed us all.”

I would have felt jilted at being tossed aside like a sack of garbage, had the situation not turned out for the best. At least for me. I don’t know if I’d say the same for Qae. Tabor was fine on a professional level, but his personal quirks made me uncomfortable. She’d have to live with her decision.

“If you would, dear, go on inside. I’ll be in momentarily, so we can get you some clothes.”

Qae was all smiles as she jogged toward the manor.

“And what about your lady friend?” I asked.

“I don’t pay her to get jealous.” Tabor chuckled.

“I have to hand it to you. That was some bargain you pulled off.”

“I figured him for a distributor, interested in money above loyalty.”

I tried not to put much thought into his comment. After all, Tabor was a distributor.

“You could have just paid for Qae alone.”

“I saw an opportunity to gain the undying affection of a young woman by freeing all of them. Besides, I wasn’t about to be one-upped by a space pirate.”

Tabor winked and stuffed the cigar back in his mouth, then turned and started toward the house.

© 2009 T. M. Hunter
Original fiction debuting at Residential Aliens.

Did you enjoy this story? Then own the book!

Author T. M. Hunter brings together 11 short stories (including the one you just read) in Dead or Alive – An Aston West Collection, a new anthology from ResAliens Press. These space opera adventures feature Aston West, the lovable renegade and ornery hero in Hunter’s three novels, Heroes Die Young, Friends In Deed, and Seeker. For more, visit AstonWest.com.

Dead or Alive is available in paperback for only $9.95 from CreateSpace, or choose from a variety of ebook formats at Smashwords for $2.99.

Tags: science fiction, short story, space opera, T. M. Hunter

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