The Jade Runner, Part 15

Kit and Tara entered the cargo bay. Rex and Quinn turned toward them as they made their way across the deck to the loading ramp where the two men were standing. With a single look at Rex, Kit could tell he knew what she had just found out and was already coming up with excuses to try and placate her. Quinn simply appeared baffled by their presence.

“What’s up?” Quinn asked.

“Have you seen anybody yet?” Kit asked.

Rex said, “Just a liaison officer. The inspection team will be with us shortly.”

Kit ignored Rex, keeping her eyes on Quinn. “Do you know what we’re carrying?”

Quinn looked around the room. “Medical supplies.”

Tara laughed. “I wouldn’t give that shit to a stuck pig.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“These aren’t medical supplies,” Kit said, waving her arm at the crates filling the hold. “They’re narcotics and if one of those inspectors open up just one of these crates and realizes that, we’re all going to spend the next couple of decades rotting in some very dark holes.”

Rex shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Relax Kid. They ain’t going to open those crates and as long as you and your friends keep your mouths shut, they ain’t never going to know what’s inside them.”

Kit scowled at Rex’s cocky smile. “And how do you figure that? Are we bribing someone to make sure of it?”

Rex chuckled. “Bribery is a risky business. Fortunately, I’ve got transport papers from LX Pharmaceuticals that confirm we’re transporting an authorized shipment of medical supplies to the colony on Rasa. If any of these inspectors opens up a crate or box marked with LX’s ID code, they’ll be in violation of government contracts and in a hell of a lot more trouble than we’d be if we were found to be knowingly transporting illegal products.”

Tara stepped forward, getting closer to Rex. “It sounds like you’ve done this before.”

Rex nodded, tipping his hat’s rim in her direction. “I work for anyone with legitimate transport papers and I don’t peek inside the boxes. If these aren’t medical supplies, I don’t know it because I’ve got papers that say that’s exactly what they are.”

Kit said, “You know exactly what’s in these crates and you knew it long before you ever conned me into letting it on board my ship.”

Rex said, “Don’t get all high and might with me little Miss. If you care about what you were going to be transporting you would have come along to the pick up or at the very least have asked me before agreeing to do the job. The fact is you liked the money and didn’t give a damn what you were doing to earn it.”

Kit raised her voice. “You said this was a legal transport.”

Rex raised a finger to his lips and made a hushing sound. “You don’t want to attract attention.”

“I ought to drop kick your ass out the airlock if we get off this station,” Kit said.

Tara smiled. “Can I help?”

Rex shook his head. “I told you this was a legit job and it is. These papers,” he said, waving the papers in the air, “say so and that’s all that matters.”

“How do I know you aren’t trying to screw me and get your ship back?” Kit asked.

“You don’t,” Rex said. He tipped his hat back so his eyes were clearly visible. “You’re just going to have to trust me, because if you don’t and you tell those custom officers what you think you know, you’ll only be causing yourself trouble. Of course, I think you already know that.”

Tara said, “I vote we just tell them and take our chances on these people believing this scum bag set us all up.”

Quinn shook his head. “It won’t play out that way. We get caught here, confessing or otherwise, and we’re all done for. Trust me, I know how these things work.”

Rex nodded. “Listen to the man. You two little ladies should just go on up to the mess hall and fix us all something to eat. We’ll handle the big bad inspectors and all you need to do is keep your mouths shut until we’re off this station. Think you can handle that?”

Kit said, “This is my ship. I’ll give the orders and if you don’t like it I can leave you and your cargo right here.”

“Suit yourself,” Rex said, “but if you two don’t get your game faces on and change your attitudes, none of us will be leaving here.”

The bay doors opened and a small army of white coated inspectors walked up the ramp led by a man with an orange collar showing up through the top of his coat. He stopped in front of Rex and didn’t even glance at the others. Kit figured the two men knew each other and that made her even more nervous, but she kept the expression off her face. Tara put on a smile like she was welcoming old friends only the look in her eyes spoke of fire and brimstone.

The orange collar man said, “Ship’s manifest?” He held out his hand.

Rex handed over the papers. “Appreciate it if you can make it quick. These supplies are needed yesterday on Rasa.”

The man nodded. “Sure thing, Captain Rex.” He turned back to his army of inspectors. “Skip the cargo hold boys and give me a quick check of the passenger areas.”

The white army marched aboard and head for the stairs and elevator in equal numbers. Kit, Tara and Quinn stood off to the side and watched as the inspectors disappeared from sight. Each of them wanted to make Rex pay for his subterfuge, but it was only possible if they were willing to sacrifice themselves as well. Rex grinned at them, leaning comfortably against the ship’s frame at the top of the loading ramp. If he had nerves or a conscience, he had buried it so deep and so long ago that even he would have trouble recognizing it. Willing or not, they were all smugglers and that gave Rex every advantage.

The Red Zone

The Jade Runner, Part 14

Tara rode the elevator up to the control center fuming over the evidence of betrayal she found in the cargo hold. The doors opened and she stormed forward passing the ship’s library on her right until she stood in the doorway of the helm and navigation center. Kit sat with her back to the door, studying the controls and making course corrections as they approached the docking bay of a large orange station. The navigation chair sat empty and no one else could be seen or heard.

Waiting until the delicate maneuvers needed for docking were complete, Tara stood clenching and unclenching her fists. When Kit’s hands left the control and the ship sat docked in the bay, she asked, “So how much are they paying you?”

Kit spun fast in her chair to face Tara.

“What?” Kit asked, startled and confused by Tara’s presence and accusatory tone.

Tara planted her hands on her hips and shook her head, like a scolding mother. “I just want to know, how much was my life worth?”

Kit blinked. She had planned on telling Tara everything, but she hadn’t counted on Quinn telling her first. The timing could not have been worse. Kit said, “It wasn’t like that.”

“No?” Tara said. She stepped forward and glared down into Kit’s eyes. “What was it like then? Don’t tell me you and your merry band of petty criminals really thought you were doing me a favor?”

Kit looked up into the angry face looming over her. “I’m just trying to make things right.”

“For who?” Tara asked. Her hands twitched at her sides with a growing urge to wrap her fingers around Kit’s neck and squeeze. “For LX? For you and your shipmates? Cause you sure as hell aren’t doing anything good for me.”

“What else can I do?” Kit asked. “I never intended for you or anyone else to get caught up in my mess, but I can’t change what’s happened.”

Tara shook her head. “So you are the thief.”

Kit lowered her gaze. “I am, but it’s not that simple.”

Tara rolled her eyes and laughed. “It’s not that complicated, little girl. You either thought you needed the money or thought you needed the high. Either way, you didn’t stop and think about the consequences of your actions.”

Kit blinked. Tara’s words weren’t adding up to the reality Kit understood. “I’m not a druggie,” Kit said.

“User, dealer, or smuggler,” Tara said, “you’re all part of the same fucked up soup to me.”

Kit stared up into Tara’s eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t play stupid,” Tara said. “I looked in the cargo hold and I know you’re running narcotics for LX.”

Kit’s eyes opened wide. She glanced around behind her, looking out the window to the docking bay beyond. “I’m going to kill him.”

Tara read the truth of shock in Kit’s eyes. “You didn’t know did you?”

Kit shook her head. “I would never do business with LX. They killed my sister.”

Tara blinked as her mind raced to retrace their conversation with new understanding. “What the hell did you steal from them?”

Kit said, “The drug money you were convicted of stealing.”

Tara shook her head. “I wasn’t convicted of stealing drug money. I was convicted for stealing pharmaceuticals. They would never bring anything to do with their narcotics trade to the authorities.”

“But you didn’t steal them?” Kit asked.

“Of course not,” Tara said. “I found out about the narcotics they were slipping into hospital pharmaceuticals and they framed me for theft to discredit my claims with the authorities trying to investigate them.”

Kit nodded. That was exactly how Jade had got caught up in the mess that killed her. There was never enough proof for the authorities to do anything and now it was clear why no one would step forward. Those that even though about it, would end up like Tara did. Kit said, “I’m guessing their tactic worked?”

Tara nodded. “I don’t know for certain, but it’s a good bet the authorities I was working with will find their case falling to pieces without me to back things up.”

“Maybe we can do something about that,” Kit said, “but first we’ve got a more immediate problem.”

“What?” Tara asked.

Kit stood up and signalled for Tara to follow her as she headed toward the elevator at the back of the ship. “We just docked with a customs station and if the inspectors look inside our cargo and see what you saw, we’ll be spending the next twenty years digging ore on some miserable asteroid.”

Tara said, “You’re really not very good at this, you know?”

Kit glanced at Tara as they stepped inside the elevator. “At what?”

“Smuggling,” Tara said. “First of all, you should never go anywhere without knowing what you’re carrying in your hold and second, if you’re carrying illegal goods, it’s a good idea to avoid customs or at least have a plan for getting past them.”

The elevator descended through the ship toward the first level. Kit shook her head at Tara. “You’re starting to remind me of my sister. She always had a load of good advice too. And she had a penchant for offering it up right after the shit hit the fan too.”

Brightest Moment

The Jade Runner, Part 13

Tara closed her eyes. It was easy to trust a man with gray hair and honest, blue eyes. Her muscles tensed in response to the sensation of the cool liquid dripping onto her bruised and burning buttocks. She grabbed the edges of the black medical bed and pushed herself upward until a firm hand in the middle of her back pushed her back down. Turning her head to the side, she stared up at the man and tried to relax.

Quinn massaged the liquid into her tortured buttocks, gently kneading her reddened flesh. “I know it hurts,” he said, “but this will help.”

“I know,” Tara said, trying not to wince at his efforts, “I’m a— I mean, I used to be a doctor.”

Quinn added more ointment and continued rubbing it into her cheeks. “The pillory can change a lot of things, especially the way you see the galaxy and the way it sees you, but it doesn’t change who and what you are.”

“I’m not a thief,” she said.

“I know.” He nodded.

“How could you?” she asked, propping up on her elbows to get a better look into his face.

He kept working the ointment into her skin, avoiding looking into her eyes. “I just do.”

Tara considered her situation for a moment and decided she had nothing left to lose. “You’re hiding something from me, and so is the girl.”

Quinn closed the bottle of ointment and turned to put it back in the medicinal cabinet on the wall in front of the bed. “I’m finished,” he said.

She rolled off the bed onto her feet and smoothed her skirt back into place. Her panties laid on a nearby table, but she decided to leave them where they were. She stared at Quinn’s back until he finally turned around to face her. “It’s not that I’m not grateful. It’s just that LX did such a good job framing me, my own parents thought I was guilty and yet here I am with you and that girl both telling me you know I’m innocent. How could either of you possibly know that?”

Quinn said, “Because we know the real thief’s identity.”

Tara blinked in confusion. “I didn’t think there was a real thief. I thought it was all manufactured just to get me out of the way.”

“Out of the way?” Quinn asked. An eyebrow raised on his forehead. “Out of the way of what?”

Tara shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Maybe not,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it.”

She shook her head. “I’d rather talk about where we’re going and why.”

“Suit yourself,” Quinn said. “We’re headed for a system called Rasa to deliver some supplies they need. It’s nothing too exciting and nothing to be worried about.”

“So you’re privateers,” she said.

Quinn nodded.

“Good,” Tara said, “cause I was thinking you were smugglers considering your familiarity with a thief who apparently got a free ride on me.”

“Nothing quite so glamorous,” Quinn said. “Rasa is a remote system which means our delivery is going to take a few days, but we’ll get a nice load of cash out of it. With your share, you’ll be able to start over any place you like and if you stay off the core worlds, no one will even ask the sort of questions you’ll be wanting to avoid.”

“Why would I get a share?” Tara asked. She gazed into his eyes expecting to find secrets and mystery. If they were there, she couldn’t find them. “What are you people expecting me to do?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Quinn said. “We just want to help you out.”

“But why?” she asked.

“You got a raw deal,” he said. “Kit wanted to do what she could to make it right and I felt the same.”

Tara asked, “Are you the thieves?”

“I’ve never stolen anything,” Quinn said.

“Alright,” Tara said. “So why was that woman chasing us? Kit said she thought you’d stolen something from her and people don’t jump to those kind of conclusions without reason.”

Quinn said, “The person who used to own this ship didn’t always have ethical dealings. The woman back in the city thought because we we’re on this ship, we were in league with the former owner.”

“But you’re not,” she said.

Quinn wavered, swinging his head lightly from side to side. “It’s not that simple. We weren’t, but circumstances changed. We’re not doing anything illegal though.”

“Was that woman with the police?” Tara asked.

“No.”

“So what are these supplies we’re carrying?” she asked.

“Pharmaceuticals,” he said. “Rasa is apparently in desperate need.”

Tara’s hackles raised. “I imagine that means they could use an extra doctor too.”

Quinn nodded. “I would expect so, but you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Tara snorted a half laugh. “I’m going to get some rest. It sounds like I’ll need it.”

She left the medical bay and Quinn behind. A few doors down she found an empty room with a bed and stepped inside. She listened by the door until she heard Quinn leave the medical bay and enter the elevator. Alone on the deck, she made her way forward and found the stairwell leading down into the cargo bay. It could all be a coincidence and it was possible the girl and her gray haired friend were just trying to help, but her gut told her such coincidences were unlikely. When she saw the crates and confirmed what was inside, she knew the truth; Her saviors were nothing of the sort. They were smugglers and they were working for LX.