Black Star Renegades by Moreci Michael

Author:Moreci, Michael [Moreci, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781250117830
Google: NJknDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B072QWRZ29
Goodreads: 34964896
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2018-01-02T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

At twelve stories tall, the Koga Club dwarfed Kyysring’s skyline, protruding from the ground in all its phallic glory—there was no way the likeness was unintentional, Cade was convinced—and easily visible from anywhere in the city. From its top floor, as advertised, gamblers could drink in the entirety of Kyysring’s cityscape and beyond, for whatever that was worth. Even from its best view, Kyysring would never be guilty of leaving a favorable impression on anyone with working eyesight. Beyond the city center and its patchwork architecture that looked ready to tilt over with a strong enough breeze, there was the spaceport to the south and nothing but miles and miles of wasteland in every other direction. That was it. Perched above it all, on six reinforced stilts, the disk-shaped casino looked like a giant arachnid plotting its attack. Funny, Cade thought, that Kyysring’s biggest building appeared to be ready to destroy the city or defecate on it. As he double-checked the charges in his rusty old sidewinder, he understood the difficulty in deciding which option was even worth the effort.

“What’s with that sidewinder of yours?” Kira asked as she concealed her own sidewinder in the back of her pants. They were positioned across the street from the Koga, huddled behind a watering hole’s six-foot-tall garish neon sign. “Does it actually fire, or do you just threaten people with tetanus?”

“Why don’t you stand over there,” Cade said, gesturing to a spot just a few paces ahead, “and I’ll test it.”

Kira nodded and grinned, pleasantly. “Nice one. Sometimes I think there might be hope for you yet.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Provided you don’t totally screw this thing up. So this buddy of your, this Mig?” Kira asked, sharpening her focus. “You sure that’s him inside?”

“Mig lived with my family when we were kids; there was a time when he was just as much my brother as Tristan. Believe me, I’d spot that runt anywhere.”

Kira clicked her tongue and eyed the sidewinder. “That thing works, for real? Something tells me you might be needing it pretty soon.”

Cade rolled his eyes. He studied the Koga from where they stood, allowing himself a moment of hesitation before charging inside. The Koga was exactly like the drone fighting pit—forbidden to minors, mysterious—but without the luster. It was the apex of Kyysring’s desperation and exploitation—people riding their last bit of coin pushed through the casino’s double doors thinking they had nothing left to lose, but the Koga had the power to strip anyone of their notion of what rock bottom truly was. Theft, gunrunning, and all manner of garden-variety crime—these were nothing compared to the horrors committed by the kings of Koga as they forced their debtors to do their dark biddings. The way they changed people, the way they pushed them into doing things they never could, or would, until they were broken shells of something resembling human beings. Cade was hard on Kyysring, but the Koga was something different; one false move in that casino could spell very, very bad things for him and Kira.

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