Bounty Hunter Blues

BOUNTY HUNTER BLUES

By 

Jose Villegas

     
    I ran out of the cantina with the dead man’s hand still chained to mine. At least, I thought he was dead, once the shooting started I didn’t stick around. 
    I’d gone there to lay low. Corporate Security was looking for me, and they’d put a bounty on my head so rich that it even had me tempted to try and collect. I figured that the cantina would be neutral ground, so I decided to order a couple of shots of the top shelf stuff. I’d just taken my first sip when somebody snapped a restraint on my wrist. 
     “Don’t try anything, Crow. Nobody’s escaped me yet,” my new jeweler told me as he showed me the matching bracelet attached to his hand. Some bounty hunters undergo cybernetic implants that contain all sorts of crazy things. I looked at his face and it squashed all thought of escape like bugs on a windshield.
     “Hello, Sentinel. Don’t suppose you’d let me go if I give you this other shot?” I gestured to the glass on the bar. Not even a hint of a smile. Sometimes a sense of humor is the first thing to go in our line of work. 
     “I’ll have to add attempted bribery to the list of charges against you. It pains me to do it though, I thought you were one of the good ones, Crow,” Sentinel said. He’s one of those hunters who believe in law and order. Idealism doesn’t leave as easily as humor I guess.
     Oh well, at least I was going to be taken in by one of the best. Sentinel’s a legend with the dead or alive set. He lost his hand in the last war, during the battle that made him a hero. But when he got sent home and applied for a job with Corporate Security, he was told that there wasn’t a demand for one-handed keepers of the peace. So he built a new hand and became a bounty hunter, determined to rid the galaxy of crime. And criminals, which everybody thought I was.
     “We’ll take it from here, Sentinel.” I looked in the direction the voice came from and I saw my chances of getting out of the bar alive shrink to almost nothing. It was Captain Savage of Corporate Security. I noticed he was still wearing the eye patch he’d earned last time we worked together.
     He’d lost his eye in a tragic dart accident, accident because I’d been aiming a stun dart at his chest and he ducked. Tragic because he lived and wanted me to pay for his disfigurement. The fact that he was a sadistic monster who’d been threatening innocent lives at the time didn’t seem to factor into his hatred of me.
     “Sorry Captain, but I’m taking him to the Security office at SajaCorp. Let them handle it,” Sentinel said. I could have hugged him, but decided to hide behind him. Savage and his boys had a lot of guns.
     “Then you’re aiding and abetting a wanted criminal. Men, take them both,” Savage growled as he started firing. I did what I do best when the firing starts, I ducked and tried to keep my skin in one piece. Of course, the cuffs weren’t helping matters any, until a stray shot hit Sentinel’s hand and it fell off his wrist. That’s when I got out of there, Mama might have raised a fool, but I’m not stupid. I ran out of the door and headed towards the docking area.
     A couple of months ago an old school friend, Jake, had called and said he needed to talk with me. When we met he told me of a conspiracy that led all the way to the highest levels of the Colonial Council. Of course, being the trusting soul I am, I asked him for proof. He showed it to me, and then he asked me to get it out to the public. He would stay in the belly of the beast and try to fix the problem from the inside. The next time I saw him was on the evening news. The talking heads said he was murdered because he’d refused to be the victim of extortion. The extortionist was suspected to be yours truly, and I have to admit, they framed me pretty good. I was now an assassin, and nobody asked why so much fuss was being made over a junior mid-level executive. I’d managed to get the information to a reporter friend of mine, but for some reason the bomb hadn’t been dropped yet.
     So now I was on the run, with a bounty on my head larger than some colonies make in a year. I got to my ship after taking the long way to the docks in case anybody was following. I ran to the cockpit and fired up the engines. As they were warming up I called Dock Authority to get permission to leave.
     Dock authority personnel are usually civilians, what some people call ‘rent-a-cops’. I don’t see anything wrong with that. As long as you’ve got the rent, they’re usually pretty competent. “Hey Maury, this is Crow,” I said when he picked up. “Think you can get me launch priority?”
     “I don’t know, pal. There’s a little commotion right now, what with the shooting in the cantina. In fact, there’s an order coming in right now for us to prevent anybody from leaving.”
     “How much?”
     “Oh, another three-fifty ought to be enough for you to have left five minutes before the order came through.”
     “Done. I hope your kids know I’m the one putting them through school.” If I’d had the time I would have argued, tried to appeal to his sense of honor and decency. But it’s hard to argue for something that isn’t there.
     I got the ship off-planet and into hyperspace in a matter of seconds. I was looking at the navigation charts; searching for someplace I could hide when I felt something cold and metal touch my ear. I figured that unless I’d suddenly started sprouting earrings it was time to put my hands up.
     “You didn’t think I’d let you get away that easily?” Sentinel asked as he sat down in the co-pilot’s seat, keeping his pistol pointed at me.
     “You’re alive, what a relief. I suppose you want your hand back?”
     “Yes, I would.” He reached down, picked up his cybernetic hand and shoved it back onto his wrist. I heard the click as the hand re-attached itself. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes, I’m going to collect the bounty. I just wanted to ask you a question.”
     “Well, I’ve always believed you should make life as convenient as possible for somebody holding a gun to your head. Besides it’ll make time go faster. Go ahead and ask,” I said. I wondered if I could convince him to head to the back of the ship, which is where I keep all the defensive measures.
     “Are you trying to make me laugh long enough for you to escape?”
     “Of course not, just long enough for me to get the upper hand. My turn. What happened to the goons in the cantina?”
     “I don’t know, I got out of there as soon as I realized you were gone. I managed to get on board a couple of minutes before you, and you walked right in.”
     “How’d you know where I was going?”
     He held up the mechanical hand, which raised my hand. Those restraints were starting to annoy me. “This has got a tracking device in it. When I released the catch and you took off, I realized you were going to leave a vapor trail off planet. So I called my contact and found out where you’d docked.”
     “Maury sold me out? What’s the galaxy coming to when four hundred credits doesn’t buy you security?” If I survived this, Maury and I were going to have a long talk. Preferably with him tied to a chair and me with a blunt object.
     “If it’s any consolation, he charged me seven hundred for that bit of information. Why did you kill that man? Were you hired to do it?”
     “I’m innocent,” I said. “Jake was my friend, and he gave me some information that needed to get out. But he told me he couldn’t do it himself, that people were watching him at the office.” I remembered the hunted look in Jake’s eyes that day we met, as if he expected us to be blown away at any moment. 
     “Oh, if I had a beer for every time I’ve heard that, I’d be drunk enough to believe that line.”
     “I’ve got the proof right here on this ship. In the storage lockers in the aft, there’s a copy in the one closest to the seat with the head rest.” I was telling the truth, the evidence was there. So was a gas vent that would shoot an anesthetic vapor that would keep him down long enough for me to get him to one of the cells where I keep my bounties during transit.
     “I’ll take a look,” Sentinel said. He stood up and released the cuff on my hand. “And don’t bother with the gas, I disabled your defense protocols when I boarded. Your ship is notorious among the profession for having a lot of surprises.”
     “I’m trying to prove my innocence, not trap you. You insult me by even thinking that I was trying to get the drop on you.” So the gas was out, I’d have to think of something else. I did feel a little pride knowing my ship was famous, though. I did most of the custom work myself. 
     “Yeah, I bet.” He left and went out the door. I decided to check on my netmail while I was waiting for him. Hyperspace travel lets you cover huge amounts of space in a short time, but it still gets monotonous. There was a new item that startled me, and I didn’t think it would make Sentinel too happy.
     He came back, sat down and stared out the canopy for a couple of seconds and then turned towards me. “The Council and the Corporations are going to test out new weapons by starting a war?” he asked.
     “That’s what the report says. That’s a hell of a way to run a field test isn’t it? Did you see the Corporate printouts on estimated casualties? And the Council’s agreement to buy from whoever comes closest sure doesn’t make me feel comfortable with the guys running the show.” I felt kind of sorry for Sentinel. He’d been hunting for years, and had always managed to make bounty hunting seem like a noble calling.
     “I’ve got some more good news,” I said. I showed him the newest message, which was from the hunter’s network. “The likeness sucks, that’s something at least.” I showed him the wanted poster with his name on it.
     “Treason? In the company of his accomplice, Crow Reskin?” Sentinel stood up and pounded the console, with his metal hand. The hand won that battle, as the console started to spark and smoke. “Lies! I’ll make them pay for this. No one calls me a criminal!”
     “You’re going to pay for that console. Those things aren’t cheap you know.” Sentinel at least had the decency to look sorry for wrecking it.
     “So what are we going to do? We must clear our names and make the galaxy aware of the travesty that is being planned,” Sentinel asked. “It’s our duty. Billions of lives are at stake.”
     “Don’t make this into some kind of crusade. I’ve done my part. I got it to someone I trust and it’s up to them to get the information out where it’ll do the most good,” I said. I tried to ignore the glare from the other seat, as I decided that I would go to the Vegas Colony, named after the old gambling capitol of Earth. It’s big enough and anonymous enough that I could get lost there.
     “They killed your friend,” Sentinel said. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you? When I started the hunt for you, I studied you. I didn’t think you were the type to just run away and hide, especially if you were in the right.” 
     “I’m not hiding, I just know when to pick my battles. Next you’re going to tell me one person can make a difference.” Vegas Colony seemed like a good choice. Bright lights, glitz, gold, I should be able to get along there.
     “There’s two of us, and if you don’t do the right thing now, will you ever be able to do it again?” Sentinel was looking at the chart now, reading over my shoulder. We were close to the lunar colony, Eagle. The center of journalism in the Colonies so, we’d have no problem getting the story out.
     “What do you think is going to happen if I decide to go along with this crazy scheme?” I asked.
     “We’ll clear our names. And you’ll be a hero, able to hold your head high anywhere in the galaxy. Don’t tell me you like the running you’ve been doing.” Sentinel looked like he was sincere.
     “I’ve been called a lot of things, but never a hero. I don’t know if I want to. There’s too much pressure when people think of you that way. Heroes are supposed to be something everybody wants to be. Like you, you sacrificed to save all those lives. Me? I’m just a regular guy trying to make it to tomorrow.”
     “Sometimes heroes are regular guys who try to make tomorrow better.”
     “And sometimes heroes are guys who, when they get a little fame, are offered money to sell things. I’m a bounty hunter because of the money. Do you really want to see me on the video-networks hawking soda and shoes? Or if that doesn’t convince you, do you really want the next generation to be like me?”
     “I want you to do this so there will be a next generation, Crow. They’re selling war, and need to be stopped. If you can’t see that, we might as well turn ourselves in. I don’t want to live in a galaxy where people don’t care.” 
     “Fine, we’ll do things your way. You do realize that we’re going to be high on Corporate bounty lists if this goes off without a hitch?”
     “Yes, but we’ll be heroes. I can live with a couple of bounties on my head.”
     “Heroes! I’ll make sure and tell the Corporate Security and Colonial Defense forces that. Scare them into not shooting us.” I punched in the coordinates and we dropped out of hyperspace. “With my luck, Savage will be waiting for us, with a whole fleet of ships. I think he’s in on it,” I said was we got within range of the colony and were hailed. I hate it when I’m right. I hit the answer button and a screen came out of the communications console. 
     “Well, well.” Savage’s smirking face appeared on the screen. “You two are under arrest. Surrender peacefully and we won’t turn you into dust.”
     “Sorry, Savage. We’ll have to talk about this. Please hold,” I said. I can’t describe the satisfaction I got from cutting him off mid-sentence. “Well, do you still think we should go down there and do the heroic thing?” I asked Sentinel.
     He nodded. “Do you have anything that will get us out of this?”
     “I might. Keep him on the line, on my signal make a run for the surface.” I got up and went to the back of the ship. I pulled up the trapdoor and got into the hidden gun turret that I put in as a last measure. Hopefully, it would distract them long enough for us to escape to the surface. 
     I started firing and we were close enough for me to see the rounds hit the other ships. The rounds were tipped with acid and were supposed to eat right through the metal of hulls, causing massive damage. At least that’s what the guy I bought the thing from said, and I hoped he was right. Sentinel didn’t hesitate at all, once he heard the cannon start, he pushed the thrusters for all they were worth and we entered the colony’s atmosphere. It got pretty hot in the turret, and I made a mental note to add some padding to the chair as I bounced around.
     We stabilized enough for me to climb out and head back to the cockpit. “I think it worked.” I sat down in the co-pilot’s seat and searched for a place to land.
     “I don’t know who was more surprised, me or Savage, when you started shooting. See, you do have the makings of a hero.”
     “Put us down there.” I pointed to the courtyard of a large building. It looked like one of the headquarters for one of the newsgroups. 
     “That’s not a landing pad.”
     “I know, but we need to get the story to somebody quick. At least if we land there, we won’t have to look for a reporter. They’ll come to us.”
     “Good idea.” Sentinel fired the landing thrusters and we put down on the grass of the courtyard. A large crowd had gathered by the time the boarding ramp was lowered. 
     I’d gathered up all the papers and the rest of the evidence into a folder before we touched down. I gave it to Sentinel and said, “Here, take this. All the evidence is in there, let the people know. I’ll see you around.” I climbed into the pilot’s seat and started the engines up. 
     “I guess I can’t convince you to come with me?” Sentinel asked, I grinned and shook my head. “Okay, I understand. If you ever need help, just call me.” He held out his hand and I shook it. He turned around and walked down the ramp.
     I was watching on my security camera and I heard one of the reporters say, “Hey, I know you!  You’re a fugitive from the law. What are you doing here?”
     “I am here to clear our names, Miss, and to bring you an important story. Here are the details,” Sentinel said. He really did look like a hero, standing in that crowd with his head held high.
     When I was sure they weren’t going to start shooting at Sentinel, I took off. I entered the coordinates for Vegas colony into the computer. I could almost taste the steaks off the buffet at the Lucky Stars Casino. I was getting ready for the flight through the colony’s atmosphere when the alarms started going off.
     A shot hit one of my main engines, and I didn’t have the power necessary to fight gravity. I went down fast, and managed to get the landing thrusters fired and land before I became a permanent part of the scenery. I had an idea of who shot me and I ran around the ship looking for something to use as a weapon.
     I don’t use guns or other weapons when I bring a bounty in. My uncle, who’s no doctor, had given me four crates of heavy-duty sedatives last time I saw him. You know somebody cares when they give you the best in illegal stuff. He told me that there was enough to put a whole battalion of soldiers to sleep for a week, or give two rocks stars a half-hour buzz. Take your pick.
     But that wouldn’t help if my pursuer wanted to put some new air holes in my body. I opened the ramp, and headed outside. Maybe I could find a rock, or a clump of dirt to fight with. Savage was waiting for me and met me before my feet hit the ground. 
     “That was a cute trick, Crow. You got everybody but me. Destruction of Corporate property is an offense punishable by extreme force.” He held a knife in his hand. Knife? If that thing was just a knife, a tiger’s just a housecat. “First, I’m going to pay you back for this.” He gestured at his eye patch. 
     I was, for one of the few times in my life, speechless. It looked like the only hell Mama Reskin ever raised was going to find his end at the point of this psycho’s little sword.
     I figured if I had to go, I was going to do it doing what I do best. By letting my mouth run and laughing. “Why don’t you put that down and fight me like a man?” I held up my fists. Maybe I’d get lucky and knock him out. “Come on, Savage. Last time you tried to use a weapon on me, you ended up half blind and twice as ugly.”
     “That does it, I’m going to make you scream.” He put the knife back in its sheath and lunged towards me.
     I grinned, because he’d fallen into my trap. I’d gotten him angry and an angry fighter makes mistakes. Maybe things were looking up after all. I dodged and threw an uppercut with all my might.
     And missed.
     He turned around and caught me with a right that drove me back up the ramp. Then he hit me with a left, and another right. Then he kicked me in the stomach. I went down as he reared back to hit me with another punch. He was thrown off balance, and fell forward. I got up and kicked him down the ramp. I staggered to the controls so I could close the ramp when I heard a shot. It missed me but the ricochet caught something else. No time to worry about that, I had to get the ramp closed.
     “Reskin!” Savage yelled as I pushed the button to close the ramp. As it was coming up, I heard something crunch.
     I went to see what had happened, and saw that Savage had been trying to crawl up the ramp when it started to close. At least, it looked that way from the half of him I saw. I turned around and went to open the ramp so I could push him out. I got to the controls, pushed the button and passed out.
     When I came to, I was in a bed. Even my toenails hurt, I felt so bad. I looked around and saw Sentinel sitting beside me. “What happened?” I asked, at least I think I asked. My ears were ringing so loud that I couldn’t hear much of anything.
     “You’re in the hospital. The sheriff found your ship a little while after you left. I was there when they brought you in. The doctors thought you might have brain damage. But, I told them you were too hard-headed for that to happen.” He grinned.
     “Savage? And please don’t tell me they brought him in alive.”
     “No, you got him. And don’t worry about your ship. I had it repaired, it’s waiting for you at Crazy Eddie’s Starship Repair.” 
     “Thanks, I owe you one,” I said.
     “Here, thought you might like to take a look at this,” Sentinel said. He handed me a data-viewer.
     I looked at the display and saw the headline, “Wanted fugitive turned hero in hospital.” I looked back at Sentinel and started laughing. Better a live hero that a dead regular guy, I guess.