Smuggler Ship Read online

  The freighter captain might be a leering asteroid humper. The last one certainly had been.

  Jelena hopped down to the dock and headed toward a robot at a kiosk renting out bicycles, personal wheelers, and thrust bikes. Erick sighed, having a feeling she hadn’t even heard him. He also had a feeling he wasn’t going to get his Asteroid Icy.

  3

  The hot desert sun beat down on Erick’s face and hands as he gripped the thrust bike’s handlebars. He could feel it scorching his pale skin and expected he would be pinker than the Asgard Nebula by the time they got back. He cast a longing look back toward the city and the space docks, but the Star Nomad and the other ships had faded from view.

  Also on a thrust bike, Jelena led the way toward the freighter’s crash site. The towering sand dunes outside the city hid the ship from view, but the trail of smoke hadn’t quite faded from the red sky yet.

  The imperial bombers had disappeared from the sight too. Erick reached out with his mind, trying to see through the dunes with his third eye. He wasn’t surprised to sense the freighter in a valley with the three bombers on the ground surrounding it.

  I think it’s going to be too late to do anything, he told Jelena, eyeing her back as she swooped up, over, and down the dunes. Usually when they were on thrust bikes, Erick would challenge her to a race or rush to the front, since he loved speed and the feel of wind against his face, but he didn’t think anything good would come from reaching their destination first. Or at all. And that made him wary.

  They’re still alive, she replied without glancing back. It’s not too late.

  Erick checked again, this time trying to sense people rather than ships. While Jelena’s affinity was for animals, his was for engines and machinery, so he always had an easier time identifying those things. But on his second sweep, he sensed twelve people in the bombers or climbing out of them. They all carried weapons. He detected a lone person inside the freighter, and yes, there was Jelena’s dog. Both had survived the crash, but he sensed intense pain plaguing the man. He’d definitely been injured.

  It’s also not too late to comm Leonidas and ask for help, Erick pointed out for the third time. He’d first suggested it while Jelena had been hastily putting down a deposit with the rental robot.

  He and Mom are busy with their clients. And I want to show them we’re responsible and brave and capable. They need to know it wouldn’t be a mistake letting me captain a ship. We can handle this. Just like we handled the fight at the used-ship lot.

  Uh, we handled that by fleeing while you covered our asses.

  While I bravely and capably covered our asses.

  I don’t think—

  Sh. Do you sense that? Jelena slowed her thrust bike to a stop between two dunes.

  The other ships? Erick knew they lay on the other side—the smoke continuing to waft up from the damaged freighter let him further pinpoint the position.

  No. Sand snakes.

  Even though his thrust bike hovered a couple of feet off the ground, Erick lifted his legs and looked from side to side. Where?

  The valley they were currently in stretched for a mile in either direction, reddish-brown sand scraped out by the winds. Nothing grew out here in the constantly shifting sands. A beige crab scared by their thrusters was the only thing moving, scurrying away from the bikes. At least, it was the only thing moving on the surface.

  When Jelena pointed to the north and Erick reached out with his mind, he detected the snakes. Two of them.

  The creatures were more than a foot in diameter and over twenty feet long, and they undulated from side to side as they traveled among the dunes. They could slither across the sand, but they could also burrow down and travel underneath it. The stories said their bodies could expand to swallow an entire shuttlecraft. Their harsh stomach acids digested the organic material and spat the remains of the ship out the other end. Erick didn’t know if that was true, but he was certain they could swallow people whole—that was documented in the sys-net entries for the planet.

  Unintentionally, he brushed their minds, and he shivered at the hungry, alien thoughts they held. One snake seemed to sense his mental touch and instantly responded, imagining eating a human—and enjoying it.

  Erick yanked his senses back, locking them down. Why Jelena liked to communicate with animals, he would never know. Half of the animals in the system would happily eat humans if they had the chance.

  It looks like they’re a few miles away, Erick told her, surprised she’d been casting her senses that wide and had detected them.

  Yes, but they heard the crash, and they smell blood. They’re coming to investigate.

  Sounds like a reason to turn around and go back to the city.

  Or a reason to hurry and help the freighter captain and his dog.

  Jelena flew halfway up the dune, parked her bike, and slid off.

  Do you have a plan? Erick asked, parking beside her. If they flew up to the crest, they would be visible to the people climbing out of their ships on the other side.

  Jelena withdrew her staff, and Erick wondered if giant snakes would be scared of Starseers the way the mundanes at the docks had been. Likely not.

  I thought you might have a plan. Jelena smiled at him.

  I’m just along to look at engines. And not get eaten by snakes.

  I didn’t know your range was so limited. She headed toward the top of the dune.

  Erick scowled after her. It’s not too late for me to comm Leonidas and tell him what you’re up to, you know.

  She dropped to her belly and didn’t answer, crawling on elbows and knees to the crest. Keeping her head and body low, she peered over to the other side.

  Sighing, Erick climbed up and joined her. It would be a lot easier to sneak up on these ships at night, but he supposed the bomber crews would have taken what they wanted and left by then. What were they after, anyway? Had they gotten word of a particularly fine cargo in the freighter? Or were they just picking on it because they could?

  Before, he’d been trying to sense life in the ships. Now, he used his mind’s eye to get a feel for the cargo inside the freighter as he looked down upon the scene with his normal eyes, making note of the people and ships below. The three bombers had landed in a semicircle around the much bigger freighter.

  One of the rear thruster housings on the freighter still smoked. Scorch marks raked the sides and top of the hull—its shields must have gone down long before it finally crashed. The placement of the thrusters reminded Erick of legs, and the green paint helped make it look like a big, blocky turtle with a small weapons turret rising from the “shell.” The turret appeared to have been an after-factory addition. It housed a good-sized star cannon. The weapon must not have done much good in the battle. If there was only one person in the ship, he had probably been too busy flying to get up there and man it.

  “They forced open the cargo hatch, and they’re going into the ship,” Jelena whispered, her words almost stolen by the wind sweeping across the dunes. She lowered her head as a man patrolling outside the ships turned in their direction. “They haven’t found the pilot yet. I think there’s one person in the corridors looking. And then… three people in the cargo hold? Bringing in lifting equipment and unclamping crates.” She looked toward Erick for confirmation.

  Jelena never had as much confidence in her skills as she should. She had more talent than he did, but she seemed afraid to use it half the time.

  “That’s what I sense.” Erick started to say more, but the wind kicked up. He squinted as sand scoured the side of his face. There wasn’t any protection up on the crest.

  “It’s a turtle,” Jelena said, longing in her voice. “Even better than a pterodactyl.”

  “I don’t think it’s for sale.” Erick spat out sand. “Or that we’d want to buy it after it’s crashed.”

  Should we get closer? Jelena asked, switching to telepathy again.

  Erick, pressing his cheek to the sand so they wouldn’t be seen f
rom below, counted people again and considered how they might do that. There were three men in the bombers—the pilots—and five walking around outside with rifles, all looking like they expected trouble. They had flown right over the city, clearly attacking the freighter. The other three men moved in and out of their prey’s hold, using hand tractors to lift out crates. Erick sensed machinery inside the crates, maybe large ship-rated weapons broken down for transport. Modern and valuable weapons? If so, he was surprised an old freighter manned by a single person had been asked to transport them.

  Do you remember Grandpa’s lessons on bending light around yourself to hide you from people’s eyes? Jelena asked.

  I remember. Creating camouflage, yes. I was pretty good at it.

  I know you were. Want to practice now?

  Erick snorted. It’s hard to do on a moving object—or person—if you’re thinking of sneaking closer.

  I am, and I’m sure you can do it. I, uh oh.

  Erick grimaced, also sensing the problem. Two of the armed men were jogging up the other side of their dune, heading straight toward them.

  One of the ships must have sensors that can detect nearby life, Erick said.

  Now would be a good time to practice your camouflage abilities.

  Jelena looked behind them. So did Erick. There was nothing but sand until the crest of the next dune, and their two bikes stood out. So did they. They couldn’t burrow under the sand like snakes, and there was nothing to hide behind unless they ran down and over the next dune. There wouldn’t be time for that, and Erick grimaced as he noticed their tracks leading up the slope to their spot. He hastily stirred the sand with his mind to brush them out.

  I’ll try to do it too, Jelena added, and hide the bikes.

  There was little other choice unless they wanted to attack the men, trying to subdue them before they called for help. Since neither Erick nor Jelena was going to kill anyone, and since they didn’t have stun guns or ropes for tying anyone, that wouldn’t go well.

  Erick closed his eyes, aware of the men almost to the crest. He formed a barrier around them, much as Jelena had for defense earlier, but instead of simply making it a transparent energy field, he fiddled with the way it reacted under the sunlight. He altered it, almost like angling mirrors, to make the interior of the barrier appear empty to anyone looking at it from the outside. It would—should—look like the sand all around it and nothing more.

  The two men charged over the rim, and Erick feared he hadn’t had enough time to refine his efforts. He held his breath as they stopped and frowned. They were only ten feet away, their jackets flapping in the breeze. One of those jackets was faded and patched but had the unmistakable military cut and black and gray colors of an old imperial flight jacket. The other man wore a simple brown duster. They weren’t wearing uniforms under their jackets, but Erick wondered if his earlier assumption had been wrong. Maybe those bombers hadn’t been acquired by civilians. Maybe this was some team of old imperial soldiers who couldn’t accept that the war had ended ten years earlier and that they had lost. If so, these were the last people Erick wanted to see acquire a cargo of state-of-the-art weapons.

  “There,” one said, pointing.

  Erick winced and almost dropped his camouflaging efforts in favor of reinforcing his barrier to repel blazer fire. The two men raised their rifles. Instead of firing at Jelena and Erick, they shot the thrust bikes parked innocently on the side of the dune.

  Clangs echoed from the dunes, shrapnel flew in all directions, and one of the fuel tanks blew up. Fire and smoke poured into the air.

  Erick gaped at the carnage.

  Crap, we’re not getting our deposit back, Jelena thought.

  Deposit? You’re going to get a huge bill. Did you put that on your parents’ business account? Erick stared at the men, half-surprised they hadn’t seen through his attempt at camouflage too.

  Yes. I think we’re now going to have twenty thousand fewer tindarks to barter with for a ship. She looked warily at the men with the rifles.

  One tapped an earstar. “Sarge? We got a couple of spies hiding out here somewhere. The good news is they’re not going anywhere unless they walk home.”

  Erick couldn’t hear the reply.

  “Right. We’ll widen our patrol. We’ll find ’em.”

  Erick let his shoulders relax an iota as the men turned their backs. They walked along the crest, one looking down one side of the dune, the other looking the other way. Erick kept his camouflage up.

  I guess I need to ask Grandpa for more training when it comes to camouflage. Jelena sounded sheepish as she looked back toward the smoldering remains of the bikes.

  Remedial camouflage classes, yes. Erick frowned at her, not sure the ramifications of the destroyed bikes had sunk in for her yet. This little side trip was going to cost her parents a lot of money. This was not the way to show she was responsible and capable.

  Bleakness found its way onto her face as she looked at the wreckage. Maybe she did get the ramifications.

  I can try to maintain my camouflage as we sneak slowly down there, Erick said, watching the vigilant men walking away. More patrollers waited down below. But tell me what we’re going to try to do. I could possibly disable the bombers if I had enough time, but all that would do is leave a bunch of angry men on the ground with us.

  He thought of the way one had called another “Sarge.” That further suggested these were ex-imperial soldiers, men still acting as if they were in a military unit. If so, they would be dangerous, and they wouldn’t cower in their ships if someone yelled, “Starseers.”

  Let’s get the man and the dog out, Jelena replied. If we get some inspiration and can find a way to stop those men from stealing the cargo, that would be good, but mostly we should focus on the rescue. The man is hiding in a secret compartment, I think, but do you sense that one man wandering through the ship? I bet he’s looking for the owner.

  I’ll take your word for it. I can’t split my concentration to keep the camo up and sense what people are doing.

  All right. I’ll lead the way. Jelena rose to a crouch.

  Erick shook his head, doubting this was a good idea, but he couldn’t fault Jelena for wanting to save someone’s life. And some dog’s life. Besides, if these were old imperial soldiers, and they were stealing weapons, it couldn’t be for any good reason. What if they were planning some new attack against the Alliance? A lot of people could die if a militant team of ex-soldiers got their hands on crates full of weapons.

  If he and Jelena were careful, maybe they could sneak in, find the freighter operator, sneak out, and Erick could destroy the cargo on the way out. Better that than letting unscrupulous people have it.

  He rubbed his face as he followed Jelena down the dune. How had they gone from being innocent shoppers to scheming vigilantes in under an hour?

  A pair of men striding about and looking very alert came out from between two of the ships. They looked up the dune, and Erick made his camouflage as perfect as he could. Even though he and Jelena were sneaking down slowly, maintaining it over moving targets was not easy.

  She took a roundabout route toward the freighter, skirting two of the bombers. The old imperial vessels had clear canopies with all four seats up in the cockpit area, so Erick could see the helmeted heads of the pilots as they passed close to them. Would the sensors in the cockpits see through Starseer tricks?

  Focus, he reminded himself. Focus.

  Jelena picked up speed when the big freighter’s cargo ramp came into view ahead of them, but she halted halfway to it. A man strode out of the hatchway, gripping a hand tractor and floating a massive gun barrel ahead of him. No question about the cargo they were stealing. Weapons.

  Erick glowered, tempted to trip him, but it was bad enough that the imperials knew spies were about.

  Jelena crouched, waiting for the man to cross the sand toward an open hatch in the side of one of the bombers. They weren’t going to be able to load a full cargo on the thr
ee smaller ships. No doubt, they were selecting the best stuff.

  There’s only one in the hold right now, Jelena told Erick silently. This might be our best chance.

  Wait, I’m not going to be able to camouflage us going up that ramp. It’s not going to look right if I try. He shared an image with her of the way he was manipulating things to make the spots where they stood look the same as the empty sand next to them. A patch of empty sand on a ramp would raise eyebrows. I might be able to manipulate one person, convince him that he doesn’t see us, but several people, all in different locations? I doubt it.

  Jelena waved for him to follow her to the ramp, but then ducked under it instead of trying to go up right away. The shadows would hide them so long as nobody came up to either side.

  A distraction? she suggested. Can we make something blow up? And then they’ll all run to check on it?

  I doubt they would all run to check. And what are we going to blow up in the middle of the desert? Sand isn’t explosive.

  I was thinking of one of their ships. If they’re imperials scheming something up, we’d be doing the Alliance a favor.

  Your stepfather was an imperial, Erick pointed out. He didn’t necessarily disagree with her sentiment, but he doubted they should willfully destroy property when they didn’t know the whole story.

  Leonidas retired from imperialing to marry my mom and run freight. Legally and without stealing weapons from anybody.

  There’s a pilot in each of those bombers. Are you feeling bloodthirsty today?

  Oh. No, I forgot the pilots were inside. Could one of the crates spontaneously explode?

  Let me think for a minute. Erick made sure none of the soldiers were nearby and lowered his camouflage. He checked around and inside the ship again.

  The soldiers were still patrolling, but more of them were up on the dunes now, looking farther out than the landing site. In addition to the pilots sitting in their ships, two men remained on guard in the valley. Then there were the two men in the freighter, one working on unclamping more crates and one poking in cabins and banging against bulkheads in the forward section. Erick brushed against the searcher’s mind to get a sense of his thoughts.