Smugglers love a sci fi.., p.1
Smuggler's Love: A Sci-Fi Action Adventure, page 1
Smuggler's Love
A Sci-Fi Action Adventure
T.D. Wilson
Greywalker Press, LLC
Copyright © 2024 by Greywalker Press, LLC.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact tdwilson@tdwilsonbooks.com.
The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
Book Cover by rebecacovers-Ira
Edited by Randall 'Jay' Andrews
First edition 2024
Contents
Title Page
Smuggler’s Love
Books By This Author
About The Author
Smuggler’s Love
Deimos Orbit
Mars Security Zone
Sunday, November 6
Earth Year 2140
Experience provided me a long career. My adventures took me places I couldn’t dream of when I was kid. Along the way, I found people; friends, allies, and plenty of enemies. I never expected to find love, love so innocent it broke boundaries. The kind of love poets opine about. I heard once that love is patient, love is blind, love is transcendent—well something like that. All I knew was love got me in a whole lot of trouble.
“Woohoo!”
Never had a single word from a woman filled me with more excitement and terror at the same time.
With hands steadier than a seasoned pilot of hundreds of flights, my girlfriend eased my ship tighter into the slingshot around Deimos. “I can’t believe you never let me try this before, Reese. This is amazing!”
My fingers continued their white knuckled grip on my chair. Fighting the increasing forces pressing on me and my wavering resolve; my jaw cocked at a weird angle. “My instructor made all his students do it at the end of their training; a final test before graduation.”
She turned her head. “You mean I can get certified?”
Her lack of concentration drifted our vector, shifting out of the slingshot window and closer to the moon. I stretched out my hand as an alarm chirped on the panel. “Eyes on the controls, Irina!”
She snapped her head forward. To her credit, she didn’t overcorrect. A jerk on the controls would have sent us into a spin and headed toward a certain impact with the moon’s surface. She tweaked the thrusters and our vector corrected. “I’ve got it.”
Our ship rocketed out of Deimos’s shadow, speeding into a high orbit around Mars. I took a deep breath, letting my tension ease. “Nice recovery.”
Irina flashed a smile, her green eyes wide. “Thanks.” She tapped the console. “You did great too, Gracie Mae.”
I soaked her in, hardly believing the events that had brought us together. Three months before, I was blackmailed by EDF Security to infiltrate the home base of the Almora Cartel run by Ulinda and Gideon Almora, Irina’s aunt and uncle. My instructions were to assist another undercover operative to disable the base’s defenses and allow Security to barge in. Once inside, I met Irina. Unlike her other family members, who either threatened to tear me to pieces or shoot me, she proved to be a sane alternative and, to my surprise, helped me complete my mission.
When the dust settled, I was arrested along with the Almoras, but Security released me, probably for services rendered, but with those hard assess, it’s difficult to tell. When I got back to my ship, I found Irina had stowed away onboard and we’d been together ever since. Keeping a low profile, we stayed closer to Earth while I taught her the ropes of being a transport pilot. This Mars run was the farthest out we’d travelled.
“Where is this delivery we’re making?” she asked.
“It’s called the Hideaway. My friend Kenton built it ages ago close to the Martian Polar Ice. It’s a secluded station with a strict client list and off Security’s radar.” Kenton Krieg and his longtime assistant, Annie, were two of the best friends a smuggler could have. Easy going, and as long as I didn’t bring trouble, they didn’t ask questions. I scored a room early on in my career and made sure to visit as often as possible. Friends were hard to make in this life and I valued them like family.
“Secluded, huh,” her voice turned sultry. “Are you planning a romantic getaway?”
I winked. “Maybe.”
“As long as I can get to Mars Station while we’re here, I’m all for it.” Irina’s mother had grown up on the station and Irina still had family there. I promised we would swing by to collect some things her mother had hidden away from her father’s side of the family.
I straightened myself and rubbed my shoulder where my harness had cinched. A white light flashed on the sensor panel and I checked the screen. “Looks like there’s another ship in the area.”
Irina turned. “I didn’t see it before we started.”
“Not to worry. They’re probably headed to the observatory on Deimos. I’ve made supply runs there dozens of times.”
The light on the sensor panel turned red and a harsh klaxon blared.
“Reese, what’s happening?”
I grabbed the controls. “Whoever that is, they just targeted us. Switch over.”
Irina tapped a button, sending primary control back to my station.
“They’re closing, brace yourself!” I slammed the throttle to maximum and vectored toward Mars. The acceleration constricted my chest, but the inertial dampeners kicked in providing a slight respite. “Irina, does the computer have a reading on that ship?”
She studied the sensor readout. “Mitsu-Renault Corsair.” She shook her head. “The transponder is registering. I can’t get an ident.”
I grimaced. Corsairs were sleek transports, but their cargo size was limited. Over the years, retrofitted versions became the ship of choice for mercenary groups—and pirates. “They’re not rolling out the welcome wagon. That ship is closing to weapons range.”
Irina’s face turned to a picture of concern. “Can we outrun them?”
I checked the sensor screen and shook my head. “We can’t make the atmosphere in time.” I pointed to a bank of four switches under the sensor screen and smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ve still got few tricks left to play. At this range, we can dodge cannons all day, but most of the Corsairs are fitted with a missile launcher. I need you to throw those switches when I tell you.”
She nodded, her hands trembling.
I activated the comm system and switched to the emergency band. “Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is the Gracie Mae II on approach vector to Mars from Deimos to any ship in range. We are under attack by pirates. Please respond.”
“This…EDF Sec… Repeat…mission.” A powerful hiss drowned the responder’s voice in the broken reply. I repeated the Mayday call and only the hiss of static returned.
“It’s no use; comms are jammed.” Another light flashed on the sensor panel. “He fired. I’ve got one bogey inbound.” The distance tracking numbers under the approaching missile ran like a waterfall. I counted down in my head. Three…two…one. “Now Irina!”
She flipped the four switches. Three quick bursts vibrated from the rear of the ship followed by a hollow clink as an object detached from the hull. Bright purple light filled the empty space behind us; the plasma flares erupted in their brilliance. The sensor screen dimmed and the lights in the cabin faded to a pale red. I idled the engines, letting our velocity carry us away, and prayed.
Seconds later, the cabin filled with the flash of the missile detonation near the flares, engulfing the decoys with an orange cloud of roiling energy.
I checked the viewport. Our ship continued its path, Mars getting ever closer. Two blips remained on the sensor screen. One angled away and disappeared. The second blip slowed then turned to follow.
“Holy shit!” I screamed.
“It tracked the flares.” Irina gave me a thumbs up. “That’s good, right?”
“Yeah, but we’re not up against pirates.”
“What do you mean? They just tried to shoot us down.”
I shook my head. “No. Pirates are after cargo. They use weapons that will disable engines or vent atmosphere. It might kill the crew, but the cargo has a good chance of survival. That missile would have vaporized us.” I glanced at Irina, her posture straight as a pencil and her face pale. “That guy is no pirate. He’s trying to kill us. I set my jaw and spun my seat to face her. “This was a hit, Irina, a good old-fashioned assassination attempt, and I’ll bet one hundred credits who ordered it.”
Irina shook her head. “No; Jacob wouldn’t do that. He may be rash and impulsive, but we’re family.”
How I wish I could forget that my girlfriend came from my ‘involvement’ in a raid on the Almora Cartel, and Irina was the crime lord’s niece. “Lest you forget, Irina, your family ran drugs, smuggled weapons, stole and sold illegal and dangerous technologies. That’s just the short list among their many vices.”
“And only my cousin and I escaped.” She pointed, “And I escaped with you.”
“Exactly, because if Jacob had come, he’d have stabbed me in the back.”
“You mean like EDF Security tried to do to you?”
“Apples and ora
She didn’t respond and chewed her lip.
“Irina, that kid is one neuron short of a complete psycho. I know he’s family, but your aunt and uncle were killers. Jacob might have been gunning for just me, but on the odd chance he knows you’re with me, I’ll go with your family’s familicide behavior.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Your uncle had your father killed.”
Irina disengaged the lock on her seat. She spun toward me in an ominous turn, her face contorted in a menacing scowl. “Reese, I know you mean well, but do not presume you know my family better than I do.” An unwelcomed harshness filled her voice and the muscles in her frame tensed. Her glare sharpened the tip of a spear aimed at my heart. For the first time since I had known her, she scared me.
“I know who my aunt and uncle are. I know Jacob. That sniveling worm talks tough, but he is a belligerent buffoon who only thinks about himself, and at his core he’s a coward.” She sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, my father broke the family rules and my uncle’s punishments were never kind.”
I searched her eyes, looking for the vibrant and caring young woman I knew resided there. “I’ve seen him kill people, Irina. He shot Marines invading the station and would’ve killed me had the idiot remembered to count the rounds is his pistol.”
She looked away, her tone remaining the same. “He did that to impress his father. Even with my uncle and aunt in prison, he still fears them. Any unsanctioned killing of family members would invite a reckoning. Uncle would have Auntie do it. He was always terrified of her.”
“She terrified me. She was half cyborg.” A cold shiver passed over me. I had witnessed the brutality her Aunt Ulinda had inflicted on two of my former business associates. “Your aunt didn’t have a sense of mercy and took pleasure in inflicting pain.” The mere memory made my stomach churn.
Irina’s hand touched mine and we gazed at each other. Her softness returned; her smile an offer of forgiveness. “I’m sorry, Reese. I get defensive about my family. You can’t choose family, and I’ve seen the best and worst of them. Now that I’m away from them, I want to do something better. My mother didn’t want to be defined by my uncle’s business and neither do I.”
“It’s, okay. I shouldn’t have gone there either. Near death experiences seem to bring out the worst in me.”
She folded her arms. “Do you always have to joke?”
I shrugged. “Eh, defense mechanism, I guess.” I tapped a button on the console and the sensor screen activated.
Irina froze, panic filling her eyes. “What are you doing? He might see us.”
“Calm down. We’re on silent running. The sensors are passive. If he’s still looking for us, his active sensors will give us heads up.” Still hurtling toward the atmosphere, I waited. No signals appeared. “Whew!”
“Is he gone?”
I nodded “Yeah. I think so. Along with the flares, we dumped a decoy. It broadcasts a duplicate of our transponder on a different vector and distorts targeting sensors. Poor guy’s trailing a ghost headed thousands of kilometers away.”
Irina secured her seat, while I adjusted my restraints and checked the reactor levels. All systems displayed green. “After we make our drop off, I’ll take you to see my outfitter. He sells the best countermeasures this side of the EDF military,” I chuckled, “maybe better.” I continued, “Ninety-nine percent of pilots like that zero in on their target, so sure their systems will hand them their prize that they never think to check—”
The sensor screen beeped.
Oh shit…
“…thermal sensors.”
A dot appeared on the screen, surrounded by a pulsing aura of a sensor sweep. The blip closed on our position.
“One of these days I’m going to learn to keep my mouth shut.”
“How did he find us?”
I started up systems, bringing the ship back to life. “He’s good. We idled, but the reactor is still active. His thermal scan found us after the energy from the missile dissipated. Strap down and get ready for a hard burn.”
I pulled my harness as tight as I could withstand, grabbed the throttle and shoved it to maximum. Acceleration forces pressed me deeper into my chair. I glanced at the sensor screen. Our distance to Mars flashed under our approach vector; the same for our pursuer.
Flattening my ship’s vector to the planet, I marshalled my thoughts. “Irina, we’re not going to make cover. We need to skip if we’re going to survive.”
“Skip?”
“Remember in last week’s training, we covered atmosphere re-entry?”
She nodded. “Yeah, you said we needed to enter an atmosphere like Mars or Earth at the proper angle to reduce heat and stress on the ship.”
“Well, this is the opposite. We’re going to flatten our approach and bounce off the atmosphere like a flat rock on water.”
“We’re going to what!”
I checked the flare stores and grimaced. “We’re out of flares and we need to generate a big enough heat source to blind his targeting system. When we bounce, the impact will generate a lot of heat.”
“Is that enough?”
“No. I’ll have to dump the remaining reactor plasma. It will ignite on the edge of the atmosphere and light it up like a new dawn. That should be enough to draw away another missile.”
She stared at me, those green eyes probing. “This can’t be that simple. There’s something you’re not telling me, Reese.”
I hesitated. “There are a few drawbacks.”
“I knew it!”
“In order for the targeting transfer to work, I’ve gotta kill the reactor. I need you to use the thrusters to keep us out of a flat spin and point us into a new re-entry vector while I restart it.”
“I’ve never done that before.”
“Learn by doing, Honey.”
“Have I ever told you that you’re crazy?”
“Third time this week.”
She deadpanned, “I don’t say it enough.”
I blew her a kiss and she returned it. The sensor screen flashed another warning; a familiar red light accelerated toward us. “New missile inbound! Ten seconds to impact.” I glanced at my control readout. “Eight seconds to skip. Get ready on the thrusters!”
Time slowed, every second lengthened tenfold. In the miasma of continuity, I plotted my next actions. Any miscalculation and we were dead.
Irina called my name; it stretched across the moments. Her fingers gripped the thruster controls, her face pensive and filled with doubt.
A sudden impact rocketed time back to normal. Waves of red flashed from the Gracie Mae II’s underbelly. I dumped the remaining plasma, pulled up on the controls and killed the reactor.
In the wash of our skip, the escaping plasma ignited, setting our impact point on the atmosphere ablaze in purple fire. The missile tracked to the massive heat source and exploded.
A purple and orange cloud of energy expanded like a balloon, sending waves of plasma in all directions. Too close to the blast this time, one of the waves hammered into the side of the ship and sent us into a spin.
Jostled by the impact, a buckle from Irina’s harness opened. Partially sliding out of her chair, her hands fell away from the controls. “Reese!”
Fighting the rising centrifugal forces and my harness, I reached toward her. I grasped her arm. “I’ve got you!”
Overcome by panic, her free hand flailed for the harness.
“Irina! Don’t panic. You need to concentrate.” I slid my hand to her shoulder and pressed.
She turned her head, focusing on the harness. She grabbed a free strap and used it to return to her seat.
Mars’ beautiful visage flashed past the cockpit again and again, always below the horizon. I fumbled for the reactor controls. “Irina we’re in a flat spin. You’ve trained on this. Get those thrusters working.”
She nodded and grabbed the controls. Quick bursts from the thrusters made the cockpit shudder.
I turned my attention to the reactor. I reset the controls from the emergency scram and started the restart sequence. Outside the ship, the whipping lights of the spin slowed. I smiled. “Great job, Irina!”
