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Chapter 5

Her head was pounding, and she rubbed at her temple. One too many Bend Me Over And Fuck Mes. She was really going to have to seriously consider maybe doing something about her drinking.

"I'm going to have to drink more. That's all there is to it. If I drank more, it wouldn't be such a shock to my system," she mumbled out.

"Oh, my Sweetness. Thank all the Gods. I thought perhaps you had perished," someone said.

No doubt the same someone was stroking her hair. Slowly she began to remember what had happened. She instinctively moved her hand towards the inside of her shirt.

"Forget it, Qwah."

She heard a bunch of clanging sounds and looked up in time to see a pile of weapons; all hers, cascade onto the floor.

"You keep weapons in the damnedest places, but a really thorough check turned them all up."

"I feel so cheap and used." Drew got to her feet and suddenly realized she was naked. She looked at the large greasy guy talking to her from behind the laser bars. "Do I know you?"

"No, but everyone's heard ah ya, and from what I been told my bosses made you who you are today."

His attention turned to Zarco. "Just so you won't be too shocked, the explosion which will be rocking our ship presently will be your ship and crew blowing into a billion tiny space particles."

The ship rocked violently, and the greasy guy laughed. "Sorry you had to miss the fireworks, folks." He laughed again as he left up the stairs.

Drew looked around quickly. Stasha had been spared, as had Facto and Fitz, though they had probably all been saved for a fate far worse than being blown up on a ship.

"Ever notice that when a bunch of naked people are standing around they never quite know where to look, or where to put their hands? It's hell not having pockets."

She looked out the bars at the pile of weapons and her comlink. No way of getting them, they were just out of reach. She looked up at the ceiling and found the monitors. "Well, at least they're not sloppy."

She had been in better positions in her life. And she had felt better. She held her throbbing head and leaned against the back wall of the cell.

She looked Zarco up and down and smiled. "Now I know for certain that I ain't your wife, because that I would not have forgotten," she said, pointing.

"This really sucks. I'm not even one of you Royal fucks, but I'll be tortured just the same, and I don't know shit. I'll die a horrible, cringing death and all because I let my greed get the better of me. Van has always told me that my greed would be my undoing. It fucking pisses me off when he's right."

She started pacing back and forth across the cell, throwing her arms around flamboyantly.

"At least I won't die stupid like that poor shlep that was just down here. He's so stupid he doesn't even realize the trillions and bezillions of iggys he could get ransoming you Royal dicks off to the highest bidder. That's what I'd do if I were him. I'd get rid of whoever hired me and go after the gold myself . . ."

"Why you mercenary little wretch," Facto swore, "you would sell out your own people!"

"Hey man, whatever greases your weenie. Ethics really don't matter for shit now since my plan to swindle you out of all your trillions and quadrillions will no doubt die with me."

"So what's the plan, Qwah?"

The greasy guy reappeared outside the bars with a little weasel-faced man. Drew smiled and turned to face them.

"Boys, stick with me and we'll all get out of this very, very rich," she rubbed her hands together.

"Now, first . . ."

 

"I can't believe you!" Zarco looked as if someone had stolen his last breath. "You aren't Taralin. You are nothing more than Salvager trash."

"Right on both counts," Drew said with a smile.

"I denounce you!" Zarco swore.

"Ooh! Does that hurt! Listen, Kingy, baby. At least I'm saving your Royal asses. That's a lot more than they would do. You don't really think that the Lockhedes intend to let you live? They'll use you to get control of your country, and then once they have it, what the hell do they need you for? You'll just be so much excess baggage. My way, you get to live. You get to keep your country. And a whole lot of hungry smugglers get to get rich. Look at it as a political move to help keep the space lanes clean. You know, Kingy, helping to make space travel safe for decent folks."

"I'd rather be dead." Zarco spat venomously.

"Sire, however mercenary and disloyal you may find the Queen's plan, it will save us and the kingdom from the hands of the Lockhedes," Facto said.

Drew leaned against the wall of the cell, and appeared to be counting. Suddenly the ship rocked violently, followed by a few moments of silence. Then the motors seemed to kick back on with a sickly-sounding grind.

Drew smiled at the others. "Phase one."

 

Jaco was commander of the Lockhedes on this mission. Till now, he had been quite pleased, as everything had gone according to plan. He had been reluctant to use the smugglers, but they were the only people he could find that knew how to dock a ship without being detected, and their price had been more than reasonable. Besides, this way no one could trace the King's disappearance to the Lockhedes or their government. Not and make it stick, anyway. The wreckage of Zarco's ship would be found, and Zarco and his staff would be considered dead. He could extract the necessary computer codes from Zarco and his staff, and then the take-over would be easy.

"I told you, Jaco. A piece of cake."

Erik Rider sucked on a big cigar, puffing the cabin full of smoke.

The ship lurched violently.

"What the hell is that?" Erik demanded of the ship's Captain over the comlink.

"One ah the motors has gone out," the smuggler answered. "We'll be some slowed, but it shouldn' be no trouble."

"Don't let it be," Erik ordered.

One of the greasy smugglers walked right into Jaco's quarters without knocking.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jaco demanded.

"The prisoners 'ave come to."

"It's about time!" Jaco got to his feet.

"Coming?"

Erik hesitated for a moment. He would really rather not deal with Qwah's wrath, but it was all going to have to come to a head sooner or later. He nodded and got up to follow Jaco.

The prisoners were each pacing their own path through the cell, looking at the ceiling instead of each other.

"So, the mighty King," Jaco laughed. "Brought to his knees for the love of a woman."

"Jaco!" Zarco hissed. "I will not grace you by making a comment."

"Oooh! Snappy come back," Drewcila mumbled.

"Here, put these on." He threw in a pile of white robes.

Drew had just grabbed one, and started to put it on when she saw Erik. "Erik! You fucking piece of shit!" She jerked her arms into the robe, which almost went to her knees. "You . . . you sold me out!"

"How's it feel?" Zarco mumbled.

Drew ignored him.

"How far into this shit are you, Erik?" Drew demanded.

"I've been in it since the very beginning." Erik looked at his feet."They brought you to me right after the operation on your brain. You understand, don't you, Drew? It's a big pay-off. Biggest of my life. The smuggling operation is bringing in a mint, but it's only a matter of time."

"Fucking smuggling." Drew hissed. "Kidnapping is one thing, but smuggling. Van Gar was right about you. God damned, rat-loving, Velcro wearing, roach eating, human."

"Why didn't you just kill us out-right?" Zarco asked.

"You truly are a stupid man, Zarco. The codes to shut off and turn on the computers that run your country are locked in the minds of you and your two top aides, both of whom you conveniently brought off the planet with you. The women are just to help guarantee that you will behave yourself."

"Did you really do that?" Drew asked in disbelief. "Did you really bring every man who knows the codes with you?"

"Of course not! Many competent men at the capital know the access codes."

"Not only are you stupid, but you're a shitty liar," Drew said in disbelief.

"It will be days before they give up all hope on you. In a few hours, we will land on an obscure little moon where one of my men will extract your memories, and thus your code key numbers, and leave you like your lovely wife. Of course, since that part of your brain has already been removed, Miss Qwah, and since you have no information we need, I'm afraid you'll just have to be terminated. Perhaps slowly, while Zarco watches."

Drew yawned, and stretched dramatically.

"Now wait a minute, Jaco, we had a deal . . ." Erik started.

Drew turned to Stasha. "How sweet. He just sold me out, but he didn't actually want me dead."

"Surely you understand, Erik. I can't let anyone live who knows what we're doing. I can't take the risk. Not when we are so close to reaching our goal."

"But you promised me you wouldn't hurt Drew. She's the best Salvager I've got," Erik pleaded.

"I'm so touched," Drew drawled out.

"Come on, man," Erik said. "Drew has no quarrel with you, give her a couple of iggys and she'll . . ."

"I'm sorry, Erik." Jaco pulled a laser. "But like I said. I can't let anyone live."

"No!" Drew tried to grab him through the bars, but it was a useless attempt. Erik hit the wall and fell down it, a small hole burned through his forehead. "Mother fucker!" she screamed.

Jaco smiled.

"I can't afford witnesses, but you can think about that for awhile."

"You bastard, you're going to kill us all."

"Down to every scum-sucking smuggler on this ship. When we land, they'll walk into what they think is a de-tox chamber, and they'll all be killed. Then we'll blow up their ship, and there will be no tracing us." He laughed and left the brig.

"You catch that, Jack?" Drew asked when she was sure that Jaco was out of ear shot.

"Loud and clear, Drew. Time for phase two?" A voice asked over the intercom.

"Time for phase two," Drew said calmly.

 

Jaco sat on the bridge and gazed out at space. He supposed he should feel guilty about the human. After all, without him, their plan couldn't have worked. But orders were orders. The ship rocked violently again. When the engines kicked back in this time, they really sounded sick. "What's wrong now?" Jaco asked impatiently.

But no one seemed to hear. Everyone seemed to be running around in a panic.

"I said, what's wrong?"

"We've lost all of our power. Something has drained it. Our air is going; everything. We'll all be dead in an hour," the Captain screamed in a panic.

Jaco saw something hanging in space in front of them.

"What's that?"

"It appears to be a ship. Wait, we're getting a signal now. It's a salvage ship, and it's been claimed."

"Is it operational?"

"Yes sir," the Captain smiled broadly."It looks like we've been saved."

"Start docking procedure immediately."

"Yes sir," the Captain said. "Cocky son of a bitch," he mumbled.

"What's that?" Jaco demanded.

"It's an old earth saying. It means good call."

Jaco made a noise and walked out of the cabin. In the hall he got on his comlink.

"Number One and Number Two, go and get the prisoners and go to the airlock. All other units, arm yourselves and go to the airlock. Kill anyone who gets in your way."

Jaco then made his way towards the airlock.

 

The cell was opened, and two uniformed Lockhedes ran in the cell. One grabbed Zarco, and the other grabbed Drew.

"The rest of you, come on," number one screamed. "We're all going for a little ride."

They led them down to the airlock, where Jaco and the rest of the Lockhedes waited. They were pushed roughly to the front. The smugglers arrived just as they were opening the airlock doors and found themselves facing a line of heavily armed guards.

"What the Hell?" Jack screamed.

"You'll be staying here," Jaco pronounced.

"Like hell you say. Our ship's lost all power. Soon there won't be any air," the Captain told him.

"Who knows? Maybe you can fix it," Jaco said with a smile.

"There's not a chance of that," Jack yelled.

"There's more of a chance of that than you'll have if you choose to fight us."

He pushed the prisoners out the now open airlock into the ramping tube.

"Move it," he ordered.

As they neared the derelict ship, the door opened as if by its own code. Jaco laughed.

"The idiots! I figured they'd forget to stop the door open sequence." They rushed into the ship. When the last of the Lockhedes were on board, the doors closed.

Jaco laughed again. "It's a little late now." He coughed."Too late for them." He coughed again.

Drew smiled.

"What have you done?"

The other men started coughing.

"What have you done!"

Jaco grabbed for Drew, but she moved easily out of his way, and he fell to the floor.

"People who deal in betrayal, shouldn't be too surprised when they get conned."

Drew kicked the dying man in the ribs.

Jaco looked up at Zarco with eyes that were growing dim.

"I've still won, Zarco. I've won because this woman will never be your queen. I have made her into . . ."

He spasmed and died as his men began to fall around him.

"Yes, yes? Go on," Drew said, "into . . . into what? I hate it when people don't finish their sentences. Well come on, boys and girls. We're burnin' photons."

Drew took off at a dead run for the bridge, and the others followed. She threw the dead pirate captain out of his chair, and turned the filtration system on high. Then she started powering the ship up. A voice came at them through the ship's comlink.

"Hey, Qwah! I thought you said that ship didn't run."

"Hey, what can I say? I lied." Drew laughed and flopped herself down in the Captain's chair.

"Come on, Qwah, you owe us. If it wasn't for us, you'd all be dead."

"And if it wasn't for me, you'd all be dead. I think that makes us about even."

"Damn it, Qwah. A deal's a deal. You do us outtah our part, and . . ."

"What, Jack?" Drew laughed. "This is a pirate ship. Do I have to get vulgar, or do you understand how much instant fire power I command? Not to mention my sterling reputation for dog fights. No. I'd say that in a fire fight you have a more than ninety five percent chance of getting fried. But if you're feeling froggy, go ahead and jump. I feel like a good fight. Besides, my hyper-power just reached the ready mark."

The ship took off with such speed that it sent everyone standing crashing to the floor.

"Ladies and gentlemen, take-off will be a bit rough, so be sure and buckle up. Oops! I'm afraid that I did that all out of order."

The ship stabilized, and Zarco and the others got up.

"Why did you do that?" Facto demanded, pulling the robe back down to cover up his privates.

"I said oops," she said. "Besides, you had it coming after the way you all treated me when you thought I was selling you out. I may be mercenary, I never claimed that I wasn't. But I'm a Salvager, and we have codes we live by, too."

Zarco fell on his knees beside her, picked up her hand and kissed it. "Oh, my sweet love, can you ever forgive me?"

"Oh, you're not going to start all that kissy-faced crap again, are you?"

"Forgive me also, Majesty. And thank you for sparing my miserable life." Fitz said, bowing deeply.

Stasha smiled. "I knew you could never really betray us."

Drew smiled and looked expectantly at Facto, coughing a little.

Facto shuffled his feet. "I'm sorry," he said flatly.

"But . . . How? I don't understand." Zarco looked at Drew. "This ship appeared as soon as their ship was done for."

Drew looked at him as if he were an idiot. "There was never anything wrong with their ship. The Lockhedes were in a big-ass hurry, so we needed to slow the ship down so that we wouldn't pass this ship."

She looked at Facto and Stasha. "Aren't you glad I gassed the ship now? We all knew their plans. I knew they wouldn't allow the smugglers on board, and knowing about the gas, the smugglers wouldn't want on board."

"Speaking of the gas, can I take this thing off?" Facto asked.

Drew bent over a screen and punched some buttons. "The air seems to be clear now," she watched Facto remove the clear hose from his nose, and then pull the filtration bag off his back.

"No, read that wrong."

Facto tried to cram the apparatus back on, and Drew laughed loudly. "Just kidding." She took hers off, and threw it on the floor.

"How did you know they would have filtration packs on board?" Fitz asked. "They aren't exactly standard equipment."

"They are on smuggler ships. Besides, they came and got us off your ship after they had gassed us, didn't they?"

She got on the ship's comlink and punched in a code.

"Hello Garbage Scow, do you read? This is Purple Cat."

"Great Gods, is that you, Drew? When we went past what was left of the Royal ship I thought you'd gone to that big junk yard in the sky. What the hell are you doing on the Purple Cat?"

"Now, that's a long story."

 

 

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