Lost Galaxy: The Complete Series (Books 1-6) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 3
Van Dyke didn’t answer. He aimed the front tires at the Island and planted his foot down even harder. Bowman braced for impact.
The tires struck the rock and the vehicle launched into the air. It tilted at the top of its arc and started to drop. The wave of collapsing soil passed under the chassis and then the DuneBug bounced on all four giant tires on top of the rock.
Van Dyke dropped it into first gear and plowed up the ridge out of the wave’s path. He climbed a hundred yards and braked on the Island’s other side from where they started.
That low rumbling noise made Bowman look up. He surveyed the valley below and his throat went dry. The wave rippled to the end of the Island and groaned to a halt. The last showers of sand and dust shimmered down the slope into a crater hundreds of miles wide.
The sinkhole dropped away to a black void plunging out of sight. The crater stretched as far as Bowman could see in any direction with the Island perched at its very edge, alone in the whole devastated landscape.
“What is that?” Van Dyke whispered.
“The Pterans must have set off some kind of device that caused this.”
“Are you sure?” Van Dyke blinked down into the crater. “Why would they set it off here? There’s no one here.”
“Why else would they be this far away from the forward strike front? They didn’t end up here by accident.” Bowman swatted Van Dyke’s shoulder. “Let’s get back. We have to transport Akin and Sweeney to Ugawa. We can turn over the transponder to the Republican Guard and report what happened.”
CHAPTER
FOUR
Van Dyke burned onto the main street and skidded into the lot. A huge dust cloud surrounded the DuneBug so Bowman couldn’t see the boy for a minute after they parked.
He climbed out of his seat and collected his repeater from the floor where he dropped it. He almost walked away without saying anything, but he stopped himself at the last second. He shot Van Dyke a piercing look and then nodded. “You can drive from now on.”
Van Dyke’s face split into a huge grin under his goggles. Bowman didn’t want to hear whatever the boy had to say about that, not after the close shave they just had.
Bowman headed for his office. Now he had to deal with Phelps and her playmates. He relished that almost as much as he looked forward to taking a bunch of Pterans into custody. He couldn’t decide whether he’d rather have a bunch of captured Pterans in his lockup or Akin and Sweeney. One was as bad as the other.
He walked in to find Phelps sitting on his desk. She looked up from cleaning her sidearm and grinned. “Did you dump the kid’s body in the wilderness?” Her face dropped when Van Dyke strolled in holding his repeater. His goggles left two white circles of clear skin around his eyes. Grey dust covered the rest of his head and his clothes. “Oh,” Phelps grumbled. “What a shame.”
“Get your ass off my desk,” Bowman ordered. “You’re sitting on the sensor grid.”
Phelps didn’t move. “It isn’t like it works or anything.”
“Hey!” a high-pitched voice called from the other side of the room. “How long are you going to keep us here? We have rights, you know!”
Bowman turned around to see a tiny man in the lockup with Akin. He barely came up to her elbow and three of him could have fit inside one of her pant legs. He gripped the bars with long, spindly fingers and his hatchet features made a startling contrast to Akin’s fleshy ones.
“Welcome back, Sweeney. I’m sure the Provincial Constabular Authority in Ugawa was getting lonely without your charming company.”
“Constabular Authority Regulations state that you can’t hold a prisoner in custody for more than four hours without charging him or her with a crime,” Sweeney informed Bowman. “I demand that you lay formal charges or release me and Akin immediately.”
“You tell him, boss,” Akin snarled from the bench behind him. She pinched a large greasy handkerchief to her nose to stem the flow of blood staining her upper lip and mouth. “Bowman always was a bastard.”
“I love you, too, Akin,” Bowman said. “I just don’t know how I’m gonna live without you when you and Sweeney finally break your conviction limit and get thrown in Crystal Towers Prison for the rest of your natural lives. I might even cry myself to sleep.”
“Don’t you know the penalty for breaking regulations?” Sweeney interrupted. “You could get stripped of your rank and face prosecution yourself, so you better watch your mouth, smartass.”
“Sweeney’s a lawyer now,” Phelps cut in. “Did I tell you?”
“So I hear.”
Sweeney tugged back his sleeve and pretended to check the watch he wasn’t wearing. “I’ll give you five minutes to release us or the Constabular Authority will be hearing about this.”
Bowman returned the gesture. “According to my calculations, you and Akin have been in for less than two hours. In any case, the regs clearly state that we can’t hold a prisoner in custody for more than four hours without charging him or her with a crime as long as the Provincial Constabulary in question has the staff and resources to transport them to the nearest Provincial Hub. Get your facts straight before you open your mouth, Sweeney.”
Phelps chuckled. “He’s got some pretty good dessert recipes. If you ever feel hungry, Sweeney is your man.”
“That’s bullshit, Bowman!” Sweeney snapped. “You’re trying to manipulate me.”
“I’ll make you a deal. Once we get loaded up and on the way to Ugawa, I’ll pull up the regulations and you can brush up on the flight over there. That should make some light reading for you.”
“At least it will shut him up,” Phelps muttered under her breath.
Bowman went over to the locker and reloaded his repeater before he hung it on its hook. He waved Van Dyke over and took the boy’s weapon, too. “How about you get some first-hand prisoner handling experience this morning? You can take Sweeney up to the roof.”
“I’m warning you!” Sweeney squeaked. “Regulations state that no one outside the Provincial Constabulary is permitted to handle prisoners during transport and judicial proceedings.”
“No one except the bounty hunters that brought them in, right, Sweeney?” Phelps called over. “You love it when I handle you, don’t you?”
“You filthy animal!” Akin thundered. “I’ll twist your pin head off for that.”
She started to get off the bench. She looked truly hideous with blood dripping down her upper lip and tinging her teeth and gums red.
Phelps hopped off the desk and pivoted toward her. She released the slide on her sidearm. It snapped into place with an ominous click that echoed through the office. “The next time I punch you in the face, I’ll break more than your nose. Hell, maybe that will improve your looks. You need it.”
“Cool it, both of you,” Bowman interrupted. “Akin, you have a choice. You let Phelps shackle your wrists before we open the doors, or you can spend the rest of the month in the lockup.”
“You can’t do that,” Sweeney said.
“We aren’t having a conversation. If you want to get out of the lockup, you’ll do it. That’s my final offer.”
Akin and Sweeney exchanged glances and Sweeney gave her a slight nod. Akin snarled even more viciously at Phelps and Bowman and barged over to the bars. She extended her hands and stood still while Phelps shackled her with a pair of cuffs. They looked disturbingly like a set from Bowman’s own locker.
He didn’t question it now, though. Phelps kept hold of the shackles while Bowman unlocked the bars and waved Van Dyke inside. “Get hold of Sweeney and take him up to the roof. You won’t have any trouble with him. Just keep him away from Akin.”
Van Dyke scooted into the cell. Sweeney backed away and ended up wedging him into a corner where Van Dyke has no trouble catching him.
He grabbed a fistful of Sweeney’s collar and marched him out of the lockup. Sweeney yelped and protested, but he was too small to put up much of a fight.
Bowman went in next and locked both his arms through Akin’s elbows. She roared in a voice of thunder when he crammed her face against the bars, but she couldn’t fight him with the shackles on.
Phelps entered and took hold of one of Akin’s elbows. She and Bowman hauled the giant woman out of the lockup and followed Van Dyke up the stairs.
CHAPTER
FIVE
The party climbed the Headquarters stairs and stepped out onto the roof. The sun blistered the tarmac and deflected off a dozen spaceships lined up. They covered the whole roof and each one was in worse shape than the next.
Bowman led Akin over to the nearest ship and pounded his fist against the hull. “Wake up, Lucky! It’s time to go!”
“Who are you talking to?” Van Dyke asked.
Phelps rolled her eyes. “Please tell me we aren’t taking the Reflex.”
“Do you have a better idea?” Bowman waved to the other ships on the roof. “None of these will even get through the atmosphere.”
“And the Reflex will? Who are you kidding?”
“Myself, apparently. It’s the only ship spaceworthy enough to get us to Ugawa in one piece.”
She shut her eyes and shook her head fast. “Excuse me. Did you just say that the Reflex was spaceworthy enough to get us to Ugawa in one piece?”
“It better or Maro is out of a job.” He stuck his head around the ship and yelled across the roof. “Maro! We’re taking the Reflex.”
A disembodied voice floated on the breeze from somewhere out of sight. “Have a nice trip.”
“Wonderful!” Phelps groaned. “Can we take a different ship?”
“There is no other ship.” Bowman craned around the ship again and yelled even louder. “You’re coming with us. Get your toolbox, Maro...pronto.”
Silence greeted this order. After what seemed like a long, long pause, the voice came again… softer this time. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to! If you’ve been doing your job, the ship should be fine.”
“The ship won’t be fine,” Phelps muttered.
Bowman ignored her. “Take Sweeney upstairs and lock him into the restraints.” He eyed Van Dyke for a second. “Do you know how to do that?”
Van Dyke nodded and headed for the entrance hatch nearest them. He punched the control button to open it, but nothing happened. He pressed it again... and again.
It beeped each time the way it was supposed to when the door released, but the hatch remained as firmly closed as ever. Van Dyke frowned. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s the Reflex,” Phelps informed him. “That’s what’s wrong with it.”
Bowman rapped his knuckles on the hull again. “Lucky! Open this door so we can get inside. We have to load prisoners to fly to Ugawa.”
“I’m sorry, Jack,” a mellow voice replied from the control panel next to the hatch. “My internal control relays appear to be rusted again. I’m trying to open the door, but it isn’t working.”
Phelps groaned and covered her eyes. “I must be out of my mind riding on this rust bucket.”
“You don’t have to,” Bowman told her. “You can stay here and I’ll have the reward credited to your account.”
“Good morning, Phelps,” Lucky went on in the same unflappable tone. “It’s so nice to fly with you again.”
“Yeah,” she muttered. “So nice.”
“Who is that?” Van Dyke asked. “ Is someone inside the ship?”
“It’s an AI, dumbass,” Sweeney spat. “Don’t you know what an AI is or will this be your first space flight, too?”
Van Dyke turned beet red, but at that moment, a tall, gangly figure strolled around the Reflex. The man looked wrinkled and wizened at first glance. When he got closer, anyone meeting him could see he was actually little older than Van Dyke, but the sun and weather had beaten his features to leather.
He wore greasy overalls and a rag turban around his head. Wisps of white hair flew out from the sides and his blue eyes sparkled with a crazy kind of light. “What seems to be the trouble here?”
“The hatch won’t open,” Van Dyke informed him.
“Lucky's internal sensors are showing it already open,” Bowman added, “so you know what that means.”
Maro sighed and approached the control panel next to the hatch. “Dear oh dear oh dear. That isn’t good.”
“You can say that again,” Phelps grumbled.
“Open it, Maro,” Bowman ordered. “We can’t stand around all day.”
Maro raised his arm across his chest and nailed his elbow hard into the panel. A screech of reverb came from the speaker and the hatch slid open.
Maro shot Bowman a grin. “See? Nothing to it.”
“Great. You can come with us and make sure the ship doesn’t disintegrate around us.”
Maro’s happy smirk vanished. “I can’t do that, Bowman. I have to...” He waved behind him toward nothing in particular. “I have to…work on the...infusion...distributor...on the...”
Bowman grabbed the young man and led him through the hatch. “You’re coming with us. You need to make sure Lucky lands us on Ugawa.”
“Or even that he finds the damn planet,” Phelps finished.
“I can find any planet you like,” Lucky drawled. “Unfortunately, I’m less skilled at repairing three decades of battle damage and neglect.”
“Just do the best you can,” Bowman replied. “Maro here will handle the rest.”
Maro blanched, but he didn’t argue when the others boarded the ship. Van Dyke took Sweeney to the restraints in the very back of the ship. Van Dyke had no trouble at all holding the little man with one arm while he locked the restraints with the other. Sweeney squirmed and struggled as much as ever. He spouted every Regulation he could think of and even made up a few new ones just for the occasion.
As soon as Sweeney vanished into the ship, Akin started to put up a fight. Phelps and Bowman combined their strength to drag her into the ship, but even then, they only got as far as the hatch threshold. Akin pretended to trip, and when she landed flat on her stomach, she refused to budge.
Van Dyke hustled over with another pair of shackles. “What do you think you’re gonna do with those?” Phelps sneered. “We won’t get her into the restraints if she doesn’t walk there.”
“Maybe not. I saw this trick at the Academy.”
Van Dyke went to Akin’s ankles while Phelps and Bowman held her down on the floor. Bowman didn’t dare to let go of her in case she overpowered both of them.
Van Dyke snapped the shackles onto one of Akin’s ankles before she realized what was happening. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she bellowed. “You can’t do this to me!”
She kicked out and almost hit Van Dyke in the face. He reared out of the way and waited until her other leg hit the floor. He pounced and pinned both his knees on her calf so she couldn’t do it again. In a split second, he locked her feet together.
Phelps straightened up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. “Now what do we do—leave her here for the whole flight?”
“Now we drag her to the restraints.” Van Dyke took hold of Akin’s ankles. “You two get her arms.”
Phelps grimaced at Bowman. “How long is he assigned here?”
“Six months.”
She groaned again, but this was the closest she and Bowman got to restraining Akin. Bowman grabbed one of her arms and Phelps grabbed the other. Between the three of them, they dragged Akin spitting and cursing to the restraint block next to Sweeney.
Van Dyke unwound the restraints as far as they would go. He strapped them to Akin’s arms and legs while she still lay face down on the floor. Phelps and Bowman watched as Van Dyke returned to the winch control and started the motor.
It wound the cables up tighter and tighter. They stretched and then they started to lift Akin off the ground. She hollered and swore worse than ever, but she couldn’t break free. The arm straps cinched in tight and there she was, restrained in the block next to Sweeney.
Akin lunged against the straps and gnashed her teeth at Bowman. “I’ll kill you for this, both of you!”
Phelps raised her eyebrows. “You learned this at the Constabular Academy? Maybe I should train to be a constable.”
“The whole Academy would go up in flames if you set foot inside.” Bowman turned away. “Fire up the engines, Lucky. Where’s Maro?”
“He’s hiding from you,” Phelps teased.
“He’s hiding from Lucky.” Bowman returned to the hatch and extended his head into the burning sun. “If you don’t get over here now, Maro, I’ll file your whereabouts in the Provincial Authority’s records.”
Maro materialized instantly from behind the Reflex. “I was just coming. I was getting my toolbox like you said.”
Bowman glanced down at the mechanic’s empty hands. “So where is it?”
“I was just...getting it.”
“Get it and let’s go.”
Bowman stayed where he was and watched Maro cross the roof. Maro kept casting backward glances and grinning nervously when he saw Bowman still standing there watching him.
Maro got his toolbox out of a battered old shed in a corner of the roof. He smirked even more guiltily when he returned to the hatch and snuck past Bowman to enter the ship.
Phelps, Van Dyke, and Maro buckled themselves into the seats lining the ship’s main cabin. The AI would fly the ship and handle any other necessary operations. None of the passengers had to do anything... or at least they weren’t supposed to.
Bowman made a pit stop at the rear weapons locker to make sure the Reflex still had a full complement of repeaters and ammunition. He always left the ship fully stocked, but anything was possible on Novis. He wouldn’t even be surprised if Maro found a way to sell stolen goods and parts on the side, but he was smart enough to hide it from Bowman.
Bowman sat down in the forwardmost seat and buckled in. “Take us out, Lucky.”
“You bet, Jack,” Lucky droned. “It’s always a pleasure to fly with you.”
“Holy hell!” Phelps moaned. “Do we have to listen to this all the way to Ugawa?”
