Page 9 of Relyn (Warriors of Etlon #6)
Relyn heard the cannon’s charger buzz to life almost at the same moment he pulled a knife from his sleeve and threw it right into the throat of the lead Adrastian.
“Down!” he shouted. Amazingly, the kid dropped into a puddle of ooze, just as the cannons went off and blew the back half of the shuttle clean off.
Lysh’s pistol fired a dud, so he pulled a knife and ran at the Adrastians with a high pitched shriek that did him more harm than good.
The second Adrastian pulled a laser pistol and fired off three shots, the third of which caught Lysh full in the chest, dropping him before his short legs could close the distance.
A roar of rage sounded from the wreckage of the shuttle.
Ketle was now well and truly pissed off.
This was actually the perfect time. The two remaining Adrastians were distracted by the rage machine that was working his way loose from the twisted metal.
The one managing the guns must have been told not to shoot more than once, otherwise they would risk damage to the cargo.
Relyn took advantage of this by speeding into their ship, ignoring the two outside. Ketle would make short work of them.
Relyn took a risk and shifted into an Adrastian, hoping it would buy him enough time to clear the ship before Grom or Ketle came aboard.
“Shut the fucking hatch!” Relyn heard a voice call from the cockpit.
“But they are still out there!” a second voice replied.
“They’re gonna be dead in a second. Leave them.”
“But he’s my cousin.” Something banged as if it had been thrown across the bow of the ship. “Oh,” the second voice said. “Okay, but what about the cargo?”
“Fuck the cargo.”
“She ain’t gonna be happy if we-”
Two Adrastians were sitting conveniently next to each other at the control panels. It was almost too easy. They didn’t even notice him until he was right behind them. In the form of an Adrastian, they didn’t even seem too concerned when they noticed him.
“Who are you?”
Relyn responded with a hard thrust of a knife into each of their skulls.
They were dead before they could slump over.
He shoved them onto the floor and shifted back into Balcore.
Through the viewscreen he could see that Ketle was standing over the dead Adrastians, his chest still heaving as he looked for more of a fight.
Relyn got on the coms and announced, “The ship’s clear.
Grom, come aboard and claim your bounty. ”
Three little stalks of ooze peered up from the puddle and rotated around, checking for danger. Grom slowly grew back into his bipedal shape and walked toward the ship.
Relyn headed to the hatch ramp and let Grom pass by him. Then he crossed over to the wreckage to examine the crate. It had survived unscathed. He activated the hover controls and navigated it around the smoking metal and guided it into their new ship.
Next, Relyn scooped up Lysh’s body and carried it into the ship as well. He had died trying to defend his crewmates and deserved an honorable burial. The Adrastians could rot for whatever carrion prey existed on this forlorn rock.
By this time, Ketle had calmed down somewhat, and after kicking the Adrastian corpses more than once, he stormed up the ramp and began poking into corners of the ship, looking for whatever treasures he could find. Relyn left him to it.
He joined Grom in the cockpit as they worked quickly to lift off and fly back to the ship.
“Rutra’s going to be mad at me,” Grom finally said after they were nearly in range of the Misery.
“Maybe. But think about it. This ship? Worth a couple of million,” Relyn said. “A hell of a lot more than 50 thousand credits. And they weren’t going to give it to you, no matter what you said. You came out ahead, and in the end, that’s all that matters.”
The rest of the trip was silent, except for some suspicious smashing noises coming from Ketle in the back of the ship. There was barely enough space to squeeze the new ship into the cargo hold. Rutra was there to meet them as they exited the hatch.
“This. This is not fifty thousand credits,” Rutra said as he put his hand on the side of the ship.
“It’s worth at least a couple of million,” Grom said coolly. “The bastards had no intention of ever paying us. They killed Lysh and blew the shuttle to pieces. The cargo is intact, though.”
Rutra seemed impressed with the news. A few other crew had begun to gather. “Tonight we drink in honor of Lysh, our fallen comrade!”
They cheered loudly. Honestly, they would have cheered any excuse to drink. It was one of their favorite activities, especially if someone else was providing the alcohol.
“I claim half the ship as my bounty,” Ketle announced. He glared at Grom, daring him to comment. “Minus the fifty thousand due the captain.”
“Half?” Rutra said, giving him the eye so hard it stuck out nearly three inches from his face area.
“The Sangrin killed two, I killed two, and Lysh killed one. Lysh is dead. I get half,” Ketle said. “That one-”
Relyn interrupted. “I’m afraid our friend is mistaken. He was hanging back in the cargo ship while we were negotiating. Lysh’s gun backfired. I killed one, and Grom killed two.”
“The fuck he did!”
“He went in to secure the ship. I went to secure the cargo, and you, my friend, beat the two Adrastians that you had already killed.”
“Is that true?” Rutra asked Grom. He nodded slowly, still confused at why he was getting credit for something he didn’t actually do.
“Then it’s settled. Fifty thousand credits for each kill. That means one hundred thousand credits to you, and as leader, Grom gets to divide the ship as he pleases.”
It was way more than Ketle could have expected if the mission had gone as planned, and he looked angrily between Grom, Relyn and the captain, before grunting and stomping off. Crossing the captain, once he’d made a decision, was a good way to get pushed out an airlock.
Hopefully Relyn’s calculated move had earned him a number of points with the captain.
He’d only come away with fifty thousand credits, but money had never been anything but a means to an end with him.
It would allow him to play Xeron and Threds for information, or it could even earn him a seat at the captain's table. Time would tell.