Renegade Magic (Star Renegades Book 1) Read online

  “I don’t think so, but I want to keep researching.” He looked down.

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Doc’s lips thinned. “I’m far from an expert on enforcer physiology, but from what I can see, the relationship between her blood and the pathogens is so symbiotic that I’m not sure she’ll be able to survive without them.”

  Well, that didn’t sound good. “Is she in immediate danger?”

  Doc shook his head. “I don’t think so. It will probably be months before all the pathogens are all gone.” He pointed to a different screen. “But I’m going to keep researching to see if I can find a way to replicate them because there is a possibility that these pathogens are the source of all the ridiculous power the enforcers fling around to terrorize people.”

  The source of their power? He had to be joking. The enforcers were feared throughout the universe for their seemingly unlimited magical power. They were second only to the king, from what he had seen. And in wielding the king’s power, they culled the universe of anyone they even thought might commit a crime someday.

  If this power was something that could be given and taken away, that would put everyone on a more level playing field. And one thing Cal loved was a level playing field.

  He centered his attention back on Doc. “Do you need anything from me?”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  The ship hummed beneath his feet as he moved into the hallway. Ty must have been slowing down.

  Cal hit the comm button on the wall. “Are we here already?”

  “Dropping into orbit, boss. Do you want us to land?”

  “Call ahead and make sure they’re ready to see us. I want to stop, trade, and then get out as fast as we can.” The enforcer was still locked in the brig, and those confounded cuffs seemed to be doing their job, but the last thing Cal wanted to do was be caught anywhere near a pirate colony.

  “Roger that.” Ty cut the comm from his end.

  Alanna came around the corner, rubbing her eyes. “Good morning.”

  “It’s a little early for you, isn’t it?”

  “Ty pinged me that we were landing soon, and I wanted to make sure our new friend in the brig got some food.”

  Cal shivered. He hadn’t even considered that. “Do enforcers eat?”

  “She certainly looked happy to see the plate. And it’s ‘Dania,’ by the way.”

  Cal cocked his head. “What?”

  “Her name. It’s Dania. She’s actually pretty nice.”

  “When she’s not threatening to execute you.”

  Alanna shrugged. “That’s kind of her job, right? And isn’t that why we’re taking her with us, to show her that we’re not bad people?”

  Why did they all assume this would be so easy? “I’m still not on board with all this. I want to cut her loose as soon as we can.”

  Alanna’s eyes widened. “Not on Cannis Proper, though, right? I mean…the pirates.”

  Cal shook his head. That would put the girl right into the hands of the slavers they’d tried to save her from in the first place.

  This was another reason he wanted to get in, trade, and get out as soon as possible. If any of the unsavories on this planet found out that they’d busted out of Midway Station with an incapacitated enforcer on board, the Star Renegade would have a target on its hull the size of Jupiter.

  Ty’s voice sounded over the comm. “We have clearance, boss. They’re waiting for us in landing bay twenty-seven.”

  Cal hit the button on the wall. “Okay, set us down ridiculously close to the door, like close enough that we could crash through the damn thing if things go bad.”

  “Expecting trouble?”

  “On Cannis Proper? Always.”

  Cal stepped off the landing platform while Ethan maneuvered the three floating cylinders of remanufactured transistors they’d procured from Carl out of the Renegade’s cargo hold. Above, Ty and Alanna watched from the bridge, ready to give Cal cover fire, if needed.

  It wasn’t that Cal didn’t trust Christopher Columbus.

  Well, no, that was exactly it. He didn’t trust Christopher Columbus at all. For one, that wasn’t even his name, obviously. Like all pirates, he’d chosen a new name to do business under.

  He was fairly certain that his first name was actually Chris, since he’d used that name years ago when they’d first met as teenagers. In fact, if smooth-talking Chris hadn’t been stowing away in the same cargo container, Cal may have never made it off his home planet to begin his illustrious life of crime.

  Christopher walked toward him and flashed a smile that had probably broken a dozen hearts. It was likely meant to put them all at ease, but Cal knew better.

  Chris wore an all-brown flight suit that looked far too much like military fatigues, with enough pockets bulging in his cargo pants that he could have been hiding dozens of weapons.

  Cal tensed. Under normal circumstances, he’d want Ty and his silver tongue down here to work out the negotiations. Today, though, Cal wanted his best pilot with his hands glued to the controls, just in case.

  “Espinoza.” Chris shook Cal’s hand, looking past him at the Renegade. “It looks like you’ve taken some fire recently.”

  Cal glanced over his shoulder at the scorch marks across the hull. “You know us, always begging people to use us as target practice.” All things considered, they’d gotten off Midway Station with minimal damage. The real question was, did Chris know they’d barely gotten out of there alive, and if he did, did Chris know who was in Cal’s brig?

  Chris laughed. “And we wouldn’t have it any different.” He waved at Ty and Alanna up in the window. “Ty tells me you have transistors?”

  Ethan pushed up one of the canisters. “Three full cases.”

  He opened the lid, and Chris barely looked inside. “Very nice. I’d like to have my techs sift through them. Do you want to invite your crew onboard for some breakfast while you wait?”

  So he could send spies into Cal’s ship to see what else they had, or find a helpless silver-haired woman in their brig? Not a chance.

  “You know our stuff is good. I’m not going to screw you.” The last thing Cal needed was Chris and his pirate buddies after him, too.

  Chris looked him over. “You guys in a rush for some reason?”

  Cal kept his expression placid. “We’re always in a rush. You know that.”

  Chris walked up to the second container and tapped on it. “Let’s see this one.”

  Ethan glanced at Cal, then complied. Thank goodness, he was keeping his mouth shut as instructed. Ethan’s sarcasm could get them killed in a trade like this.

  As Chris picked up a few transistors, Cal scanned the walls, checking each point that could hold a sniper. All but one of the spaces was dark, so at least eleven guns were pointed at them.

  The hairs on his arms rose. After Chris had gotten him off that merchant ship eight years ago, Cal had helped Chris get a job as a miner in the NGC 2899 Beltway. Chris wasn’t much for honest work, though, disappearing in the night a few weeks into the job.

  Two years later, Chris had used his pirate connections to smuggle Cal off of Europa Nine after Cal took the blame for Filluck Palogivan’s murder.

  He and Chris had a history of good trades since Cal had been on the run, but the guy was still a pirate. Most enforcers would disagree, but there was a big difference between a pirate and a smuggler. Chris was willing to cross lines Cal refused to even fly near in order to get what he wanted.

  “Do you have what we agreed to or not?” Cal asked.

  Chris pretended to keep rooting through the stuff and whispered. “I’m supposed to give you a fake one.”

  Cal tensed. Ethan glanced up to the dark corners. He’d been taken unaware by snipers one time as well. Once was enough to make you never forget.

  Cal held up a transistor like he was trying to sell it. “I take it they can’t hear what we’re saying?”

  Chris took it from his hand. “Nope.”<
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  Okay, good. At least he knew Chris was on their side. For a pirate, he was a good guy, most of the time. Sometimes, though, someone else was pulling the strings. Cal just needed to know what kind of strings were being pulled. “Is there any chance of us getting out of here alive with what we came for?”

  Chris smiled. “Nope.”

  Great.

  Just great.

  A bead of sweat formed on Ethan’s brow. “Boss?”

  “Relax.” Cal folded his arms. “I’m sure my old buddy Chris is telling us this for a reason.”

  Chris reached into the cylinder to grab another transistor, and as he did, a small metal octagon slipped out of his sleeve.

  He looked at Cal and then Ethan to make sure they noticed before he picked up a transistor. “Are you sure this is the same grade as in the first canister?” He walked back toward the first.

  Cal darted a look to Ethan and then to the tiny octagon Chris had dropped as Cal walked to join the pirate.

  “They’re all the same. My engineer checked them all before we landed,” Cal said.

  Behind them, Ethan palmed the octagon into the pocket of his jacket.

  Chris held the two transistors up together. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He waved to a dark hallway, and a woman in a brown leather jacket and thick, black pants walked out and handed Chris a box not much larger than a serving platter.

  Cal flipped the box over, and his trained eye instantly drew to the small re-soldered seal. The box was too light. This was an outer casing, a shell to what they’d agreed to. The priceless part was the brain, which they’d no doubt removed and re-soldered to make the unit appear intact.

  This was the type of thing you needed to worry about when dealing with pirates. Chris was usually honest with him because they gave each other repeat business.

  He wasn’t really sure who these people in the background were, or what they had over Chris, but it seemed none of them were in a good place right now.

  “It looks good, right?” Chris raised a brow.

  Cal glared at him, but Chris kept his face stony.

  Was Cal supposed to pretend he thought he was getting a fair deal? He could pick up an empty casing on any trading world for a fraction of the cost, probably because empty casings were frequently unloaded from the victims of bad deals like this.

  Ethan’s hand appeared on Cal’s shoulder. He looked into the case. “Wow, that’s a pretty nice one. Is that last year’s model?”

  “Two years back,” the woman said.

  Ethan whistled and then looked her up and down. “Definitely some nice goods there, boss. I can shine that up and we can get a fortune for it.”

  Part of him wanted to punch Ethan for eyeing up a woman who was probably packing enough firepower to take them both down before they could blink. The other part of him also wanted to punch Ethan for getting involved.

  Ethan nudged him. “Take the deal, boss.”

  Chris’s eyes darkened. “Take the deal, Cal.”

  There was ice in the pirate’s gaze. The men in the shadows shifted.

  Ethan had shoved the small octagon into his pocket. Did his engineer get a chance to see it? Was Ethan telling him that whatever Chris had given them was worth it?

  The woman flinched and then held her ear like someone was talking into a comm implant.

  She looked at Cal, then at the boarding ramp of the Renegade.

  Stars, this deal was going south fast.

  “We’re good.” Ethan took the box from the woman’s other hand. “Thanks.” He grabbed Cal’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  Cal glanced at Chris. His friend mouthed the word, ‘Run.’

  Yeah, Cal didn’t have to be told that twice.

  Above, in the observation window of the Renegade, Ty’s eyes widened. The ship’s engines came online as Cal and Ethan started to sprint.

  A laser blast echoed through the room. Ethan cried out, falling forward. The empty box sprawled across the floor as he hit the ground. Cal ducked a sniper shot, racing back to Ethan.

  The engineer pointed. “No, the box.”

  “It’s worthless.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  Alanna ran from the ship and grabbed the engineer’s arm. “Ethan!”

  “Hey, beautiful, I didn’t know you cared.” He coughed, wincing.

  Three shots blasted at their feet. How in the blazes were they missing?

  Across the room, Chris held a small device in his palm, tucked beneath his jacket. Red lights flashed—a particle beam disruptor. That’s why the pirates’ aim was so bad—Chris was refracting the beams. Maybe the guy was still an ally, after all.

  “Get the box,” Cal told Alanna as he put Ethan’s arm over his shoulder.

  As she reached for it, a blast got through, slicing a line through the arm of her jacket. She hissed but still clutched the box. “I got it. Let’s go.”

  The landing plank had already started to close. Cal ducked and slid the rest of the way in before dropping Ethan unceremoniously to the floor and hitting the comm button. “We’re in. Go.”

  The ship rumbled to life. Blasts hit their hull. Cal grabbed the side of the ship as Alanna knelt beside Ethan.

  “Get up there,” Alanna told Cal. “I’ve got Ethan.”

  Cal nodded. He really needed her on the bridge, too, but he didn’t have any idea how bad Ethan had been hit.

  He punched the door-release pad and bolted down the hall and onto the bridge. “Status?”

  “Same old, same old.”

  That was never good. Cal touched the blue button on his dashboard. “Doc, you have incoming. Ethan’s been hit.”

  “How bad?”

  “I don’t know. But send Alanna up here as soon as she gets him to you.”

  “Got it.”

  A boom jolted the bridge, and the ship rocked.

  “That didn’t sound friendly,” Cal said.

  Ty scowled at him. “These are freaking pirates. I don’t want to think about what they’re pointing at us. Did you at least make the trade?”

  Cal seriously hoped so. “Can you blast through the doors?”

  “Blasting.” Ty hit a round into the frame of hulking metal.

  Nothing.

  “What the hell?” Ty repositioned the weapons grid.

  “They must be shielding.”

  “Did you screw them or something?”

  Cal shook his head. “I think they found out about your girlfriend in the brig.”

  Ty cursed under his breath. “Then let’s hit them with all we got.”

  Risky, but better than being dead. “Go for it.”

  Ty slammed his fists down on several buttons. The ship rocked.

  Alanna ran through the door. “I see we’re doing just as well as ever.”

  “Cut the banter, people. Let’s get out of here alive first.” Cal checked the power levels, and Ty hit the door with another spread. “Can we get any more power?”

  “Not without an engineer.”

  Dammit! Why couldn’t he have taken Doc out there instead of Ethan?

  He cringed. Because then Doc would have been shot, and he was the only one who knew how to treat any sort of injuries.

  Cal couldn’t second-guess himself. He needed to trust that Ethan had brought the ship back up to full operational capacity, which was about a hundred and fifty times stronger than was legal for a ship this size.

  Cal closed off the power to the lower levels and sealed off the med bay, then the bridge. He stared at the compartment Dania was confined in, hesitated, then sealed her off as well.

  Alanna took her seat. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m diverting power from everywhere but the brig, med bay, and this room and transferring it into the weapons systems.”

  He signaled Doc. “You’re sealed in. Do not try to open your door until I give you clearance. Do you understand?”

  Doc cursed. “Got it.”

  Cal glanced at Alanna and Ty. “Go.”

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nbsp; Ty turned forward, and a blast of light flew from their ship. People outside jumped back, a few of them on fire. Ty hit the panel again, and part of the wall disintegrated.

  Cal pushed the controls, slamming the ship through. Metal screeched against metal until they were out in open air.

  “Check the hull integrity.”

  “On it,” Alanna said. Three small ships dropped down on them, firing. “Returning power to the shields.”

  Ty swept over the ships with another blast of fire, and the first attacker careened to the ground. The second backed off, while the third headed straight for their window.

  “You want to play?” Cal shouted. “I’ll play.”

  He ignited the engines, racing toward the other ship.

  “Hull integrity good, if anyone is still worried about it.” Alanna held on to the ends of her station.

  Ty grabbed on to the panel, screaming a creative expletive as the impact alarms shrieked through the bridge.

  Cal gripped the controls. “All power to the front shields.”

  “Done!” Alanna cried.

  The ship veered up, just missing them.

  “Punch it!” Cal called, and the Star Renegade blasted out of the atmosphere and into open space.

  “We have incoming,” Ty said. “Holy molten rocks, there are at least a hundred ships coming out from behind their moon.”

  Ambush. They’d definitely found out about Dania.

  “Alanna?”

  But his navigator already had a small circle of blue light dancing in the air before her. “Do you care where we go?”

  “Not particularly.”

  The stars around them flashed and elongated. Space evaporated into blinding white light before the ship jolted to a stop.

  “Ow.” Alanna clutched her head.

  Cal ran for her, grabbing her shoulders. “You okay?”

  She slumped onto her chair. “Never better.”

  Ty whooped, turning in his seat. “That was freaking awesome!” He stood. “Did you at least get what we came for?”

  Cal glanced at the door. Down in the med bay, Ethan was being patched up. The stars only knew how bad his injury was.

  “I have no idea,” Cal admitted. And it was the truth.

  They got…something. He just didn’t know what.

  Whatever Chris had slipped them, he hoped it was worth them all nearly getting killed.