Orbit Guard Attached Read online

  Chapter 16

  The Soclaued

  Twenty-four hours later, Major Donji lay stretched out sound asleep. The arm of his cousin Haruto dangled from the top bunk in his quarters. At the small ping of the door key-pad, both leapt from the bunks in an intricate pas de deux, as they landed in mirror- image stances on the floor. The door whooshed open to reveal Colonel Reinegaard. He regarded them steadily, unsure what to make of the identical crouching positions they’d taken up on reflex, a meter apart in the center of the room. “Definitely cousins, I see,” the Colonel said with a shake of his head. “It’s time,” he said abruptly, “we received the meet coordinates,” turned, and stalked off.

  The Donji cousins strapped on an assembly of guns, knives, throwing stars and blades, and then silently followed the Colonel.

  The meet point was an absolute traffic jam by space standards. Nine different vessels hovered in position around the random coordinates that had been generated for the meeting. Each party seemed to have brought a lead ship and two, armed escort vessels. Major Donji certainly hoped no one got twitchy trigger fingers when onboard the Orbit Guard ship. They’d agreed this ship was neutral ground. He wasn’t keen on getting blown up just after getting Katyia in his life.

  The three Soclaued vessels looked like rough-hewn lumps of clay next to the sleek, high tech vessels that both the Guard and the Yakuza had arrived in. While the Orbit Guard vessels were far more heavily armed, the Yakuza vessels were sleek, fast and reminiscent of old Earth racing boats that had been used to transport drugs on the high seas for centuries.

  He and his cousin were on high alert in the largest cargo bay, where the three-party meeting was to take place. Hiro as a security escort for Colonel Reinegaard. The Colonel had also brought the Women’s Corpsmen’s commander, Captain Sedgewick, and Major Torrance. Haruto stood quietly aside, as a security escort for his group’s leader, Ishto Tanaka.

  The whole thing was a tricky mess. An invading species on new territory; a criminal organization intent on exploiting new resources; and the Guard, whose overwhelming job it was to keep the galaxy safe. Plus, did the Guard really want the Yakuza getting their hands on an enormous military grade secret like the new Soclaued material? No. No, it was certainly going to be a giant shit storm.

  The Yakuza representatives were the first to arrive. They entered through the pressurized lock and faced Colonel Reinegaard, then bowed to him. He bowed in return. Haruto Donji then stepped forward and made the formal introductions. Ishto Tanaka was revered within his organization for his ruthlessness and ability to overcome impossible factors. This would not be an easy negotiation if his reputation was true.

  Fifteen minutes later the Soclaued arrived. They were delivered to the cargo bay aboard what looked like a floating hand grenade of huge proportions. It had a lumpy exterior and just barely fit within the parameters necessary to dock with the pressure tubes. When they did connect, with a hard bounce to the side of the Orbit Guard ship, the impact reverberated through the cargo hold. Hiro supposed that if he only had two digits, that were really, just large claws, he might not be such a great pilot either. He and Haruto exchanged glances. Then he saw the raised eyebrow Colonel Reinegaard had quirked at Ishto Tanaka. Ishto Tanaka gave a slight smile in return.

  When the depressurization door swished open, the first overwhelming wall of stench caused them all to gasp and step back. Then three, large, lumbering piles of bristly hair stumped into the bay. Hiro’s first thought was that they were like Chewbacca from the Star Wars movies, except bigger, stinkier, and with weird claw-hands. Oh, and then there was the large muzzle with double rows of shark teeth. “Abominable snowman meets Chewbacca!” Katyia would later dub them.

  Colonel Reinegaard stepped forward and extended his hand in greeting. Now that took some guts, thought Major Donji. His own hands hovered over his laser blaster, and he forced himself to relax slightly.

  A huge, hairy vice swallowed the Colonel’s hand, then released it. “Welcome aboard the Orbit Guard vessel, Valiant,” Colonel Reinegaard stated evenly. “We look forward to a positive relationship with the Soclaued. I believe you know Ishto Tanaka,” he said, gesturing towards the Yakuza leader.

  Ishto Tanaka bowed slightly, but only just, to the hairy lump.

  After a small silence, in which the lump’s mouth worked furiously to form words, “We accept welcome,” crunched out from between the yellow teeth. Katyia would really not like these guys, thought Hiro. Their teeth alone would send her up a wall. Motioning to refreshments on a crate parked in the middle of the bay, the long afternoon of negotiations and patience commenced.

  After all was said and done, Hiro’s lasting impression of the afternoon was of how quickly one got used to the stench. The Soclaued just seemed to be a very friendly, if slow moving and not overly-intelligent, race. They were miners. They just wanted to dig and eat, and provide for their people. It was all pretty straight-forward. The hard part would come with the Yakuza.

  While the consensus had been that this was Orbit Guard controlled space, and the Soclaued fell under the jurisdiction of the Guard by the ‘New Species’ covenant that was in place, Major Donji knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

  The Yakuza, on the surface of things seemed willing to back off. Haruto Donji knew they wouldn’t. The Soclaued materials represented too much of a good thing. The potential of the armor plating would prove to be too much of a lure, of that, Orbit Guard could be sure.

  Though Haruto would later find out that he had, perhaps, underestimated the strategic thinking of Tanaka. Who was really thinking that it might be time for the organization to branch out into another legitimate business venture. Contrary to popular belief, the Yakuza did indeed have several legitimate businesses. Perhaps some of those were involved in money laundering enterprises, nevertheless, there were some that were not.

  Having a liaison to the Orbit Guard through Donji’s familial connection, would be a large boon when garnering contracts for the new military-grade armor. The potential for its uses were off-the-charts! It would also, of course, benefit the organization in its more traditional ventures. That went without saying.

  Haruto Donji had honor. Ishto Tanaka believed he would be the right choice for such a straightforward business. His family held manufacturing capabilities with several large plants in Japan. It would be a perfect fit. It was said in his inner circles, that the Donji cousin in-charge of the manufacturing plant near the Sea of Japan, was overly ambitious and reckless. Perhaps it was time for that weak link in the Donji family, to be supplanted. Haruto Donji had been a reliable, fierce, and honorable warrior. A reward might be in order. Many would seek a normal life after the rigors of a decade fighting as a Yakuza general. Haruto had earned it.

  Captain Sedgewick had turned out to be a big hit with the Soclaued. She’d been raised in farm country and found them to be amiable, and to her, and her alone, adorable. How she felt that, Hiro had no idea. They just made him wince. By the end of the afternoon, Chloe was covered in Soclaued hair and smelled like a sewage hatch. On the other hand, she’d conquered the lumbering Soclaued and was now held in very high esteem by Busqua, the leader of the negotiations.

  Major Donji would find out later from Katyia, that the Colonel had had to sleep in his own quarters that night and the next. It seemed the blue chemical showers weren’t up to the challenge of removing ground-in Soclaued residue. The stink had permeated her hair and skin for two days. Chloe hadn’t seemed to even notice the scent that wafted from her. Katyia assured Hiro that Chloe knew she stunk. She just wasn’t going to admit it.

  Having the Colonel in his own quarters, on the other hand, had caused her to be even more unpredictable in her training sessions. Hiro had thought about cancelling her sessions once he got close enough to take a whiff. He took one look at the thunder cloud on her face, and proceeded, breathing consciously through his mouth, to avoid the odor that swirled around her.

  The Soclaued and Orbit Guard had agreed to a reciprocal agreem
ent. The Soclaued would mine the asteroid field, and the Guard would pick up and distribute the end-product. Literally. Great piles of Soclaued dung would be ferried back to Earth on contracted mining vessels.

  Colonel Reinegaard had graciously asked Ishto Tanaka to submit the names of his companies that would be interested in the rights to ferry the material and to contract with the Orbit Guard Command for manufacturing rights to the new product. Hiro knew that would never actually come to fruition, but it allowed the Yakuza general to agree to something and not lose face. It would not end there, he knew.

  Chapter 17

  Hijacked

  It had been several months since the confrontations at the supply cache and the formal meeting of the Soclaued. Major Bergstrom’s Tiger Guard had been in charge of the protection of the first shipment of Soclaued ore to be ferried to Earth. Chloe had come up with calling the alien poop ‘ore’. No one really needed to know that their ship’s armor plating was really ‘shit’ in the truest meaning of the word. Bad for marketing, she’d laughed.

  Katyia’s medic crew had been sent on the mission with Tiger Guard and though she’d enjoyed it, she was happy to be back on Frontier Station. She’d missed Hiro Donji terribly. They were spending more and more time together and she knew that would never end. He was the first, and she was sure, the only man she had ever completely trusted.

  In one way, it had been hard for her to be assigned to someone else’s Guard. Her medical corps had been attached to Major Donji’s unit since the beginning and it had been hard learning to deal with Major Bergstrom’s out-going personality. Katyia’s distrust of men, her less than warm personality, and abilities as ‘the Reliever, had made it slow going for him to gain her cooperation. On the positive side, it also meant that Major Donji was now, not her immediate commanding officer. Which, she supposed, was a blessing.

  In the past, relationships between junior and senior officers had been taboo. With the new rules of women in the Corps joining the Guard, times were changing. You couldn’t throw a bunch of women into the frontier of space and expect them to choose amongst their ‘own rank’ for a partner. Love just didn’t work that way.

  Katyia had kissed Hiro goodbye a week ago, and was on her second trip from the Soclaued base with Tiger Guard. They were to accept and protect the second large shipment of ore to Earth. The loading had gone well and Katyia was glad to be away from the smelly asteroid loading station. Orbit Guard was going to have to come up with a way to mitigate the stench that hauling the ore entailed.

  This load was even larger than the last one, and a special barge had been sent from Earth to push this load back. Tiger Guard were deployed in several fighter vessels accompanying the ‘wagon-train’ of cargo barges.

  Katyia’s team was located on one of the middle barges. She’d set up a utilitarian med bay in one of the empty living quarters off the small mess hall. They were running with only a dozen hands per barge. While Captain Sedgewick, her commanding officer, and Johanna, her roommate and engineering assistant, were on the fighter escort ships.

  Most of the barge hands were newly-contracted miners. They’d signed on for a life in space once they’d heard that a mining background was needed, but that they didn’t have to actually mine, themselves. For some, it was like a dream come true. Adventure in space, and an escape from the back-breaking grind of actual mining. Orbit Guard seemed like a dream for all of them, she thought, remembering her own elation at the chance to use her skills and escape Moscow at the same time.

  This run had been as peaceful as last time. Only a few accidents such as a crushed finger that had been caught in between two huge connectors on one of the barges. And the occasional bout of space sickness from the new recruits.

  Loading at the Soclaued base had gone well, and now heavily weighted and on their way, time was passing slowly. Katyia had heard from Chloe that once again, no one would come near after the loading stop on the Soclaued base. She was anxious to get to Earth and had purchased something called, ‘Skunk Debunk’ that was supposed to help her erase the Soclaued stench easier next time. It was supposed to be waiting for her in supply, where she’d had it Fed Exed. Having people avoid her because she reeked, was getting old it seemed!

  Midway through the afternoon, Katyia stopped working on the Soclaued anatomy study that had been given to her, and went forward to grab a bite to eat. It was the morning of the third day out from the asteroid belt and literally, they were in the middle of nowhere. Traffic to the med bay had trickled to almost zero. She felt comfortable that nothing drastic would happen while she was gone.

  Pulling out a fruit juice pack, and a protein steak, she nodded to a couple of off-shift miners and settled in to enjoy the view from the single, space-side port-hole. Half-way through the fruit juice pack, an enormous whump caused her to jam the slender straw, hard, into the soft palette of her mouth. “Ouch!” she muttered. “What the hell happened?” she asked one of the miners, checking the fingertip she’d just pulled out of her mouth for blood.

  “Don’t know ma’am,” he replied. “But it can’t be good!” and sprinted towards the door. Katyia followed, but cut a hard right, back toward the med bay.

  Claxtons sounded, the blaring noise annoying as nails on a chalkboard. Just then, another horrendous wrenching sound reverberated through the echoing chamber of the huge cargo hold she’d entered. The tearing of metal screamed in her ears, and suddenly she felt the barge beneath her seem to slowly list in space. “All hands, prepare to be boarded? All hands, prepare to be boarded!” shrilled the speakers.

  Oh shit, Gods of Vodka, thought Katyia, the barge line had been cut! Pirates!

  Freaking pirates! That had been the biggest concern at the briefing before leaving dock. Colonel Reinegaard had emphasized the necessity for minimal information being leaked about the asteroid mine or the Soclaued product, location or uses.

  If the barge line had been broken, that could mean the barge she was on was floating in space with no engine attached. Shit, shit, shit! she thought. What now?

  For starters, she needed a weapon! Scrambling up the slightly tilted deck of the barge, she managed to make it to the medical bay. Two of her fellow Corpsmen huddled against one of the exam tables. Pointing to the supply closet to the side, Katyia snapped, “Get in there! Secure yourselves and stay quiet! Understand?” she barked. Both women nodded, and leapt into action, slamming the door behind them. Katyia grabbed her service weapon, a standard issue laser gun, that she’d been issued upon her promotion, and headed back towards the door.

  She’d just cleared the threshold of the medical bay when two men in sharp-looking uniforms, cleared the side of the first container of ore. No ordinary pirates in those fancy uniforms, Katyia thought. Spotting her, they aimed and fired. Laser fire sparked off the bulkhead behind her. No cover and no place to run to as she needed to lead them away from the women in the med bay. In a surprise move, she sprinted towards them. Both whirled to get behind the corner of the container, as she dove towards the opposite side of it, firing her weapon.

  More, bad news, Katyia thought, as she realized she was boxed in. The containers had shifted with the breaching of the barge. The small cubby she’d taken cover in, was blocked at the far end. Clicking the transmit button on the comm unit she wore at her collar, Katyia stepped out from behind cover, and stalked towards the corner where the two men had sheltered. Might as well go out swinging she thought, the familiar fire burning in her gut. Laser weapon firing, she rounded the corner, took out the first figure in her sights, then ground to a halt. Several more uniformed assailants had joined the first two. One of whom was no longer squirming at her feet. Good, ya little walrus turd. Hope you’re dead, she thought.

  “Well, well, you must be the famed Katyia Rustalov,” said a slender man as he walked towards her. His Asian features reflected nothing of Major Donji’s honor or politeness as he stopped in front of her. “Don’t harm this one,” he said, motioning towards Katyia, “We may need her.”


  “Who are you?” demanded Katyia, trying to decide if she had time to draw her hidden long knife. No, she thought, too many of them. Wait till a better time.

  “I, my dear Lieutenant, am your lover’s cousin. I am Michael Donji, heir to the Donji manufacturing empire,” he stated grandly, with a flourished bow.

  Katyia snorted! “Heir? Empire? Seriously? Does anyone even say that anymore?” she queried. “Never heard of you. Guess you’re not that important after all!” she sniped back at him. “Here I thought you were at least going to be something interesting like Yakuza,” she continued in a snide tone.

  Crack!! The figure backhanded her across the side of her face. Katyia straightened her head. Cracked her neck back into position, and licked her tongue over the blood she could feel running down her chin. Grinning she slobbered her tongue around on her teeth. As a kid, she’d done that in the mirror after her father hit her, making horrendous faces at herself. The blood on her white teeth had always been a very scary looking image. She hoped it worked on this ass hat, as Chloe would have called him.

  The conceited walrus turd took a small step back. Katyia continued to grin at him. “Feel better, ass hat?” she asked, spitting blood at him. He skipped back again, trying to dodge the volley. “Your cousin Hiro, and your other cousin, Haruto, would never hit a woman. So, your ‘empire’ as you call it, certainly isn’t up to either of their standards. Your parents would be proud!”

  “Restrain her,” he snapped. “I have no idea what Hiro could possibly see in you. Perhaps you are the fighter he never was,” he said with derision. “Put her aboard the cutter!”

  Katyia could hear sounds of a battle raging outside the barge. Two soldiers remained aiming weapons at her head, while two more proceeded to take her laser pistol and restrain her hands. Pulling her along beside them, they hauled her towards the temporary landing they’d created to board the barge.