Imposter's Gambit: A Space Opera Adventure (Delta Desperadoes Book 1) by Tony Peak

Author:Tony Peak [Peak, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2024-06-04T00:00:00+00:00

14

“My soul is in the sky.”

Pyramus, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

- William Shakespeare, pre-colonial Earth

Steelgrave exited Molly Zero and made for the ‘recreation’ module near the landing pad. He had to find a way to silence the other pirates, since he needed to examine the drop-off site, and hopefully, the guns themselves. Also, he hoped to get a lead on the drugs used by the Necros. If he asked Julia, she’d likely become suspicious.

He wasn’t into using, but he’d known a few narcotics agents in his bounty hunting career, and the crazed Necros had been on something he’d never heard of. If nothing else, he could turn the information anonymously over to MEC for a small profit. House Sentiri would want him dead afterward—but by then, he’d be far away from Pavo Dos.

He knocked on the module’s hatch.

The music lowered in volume, and the groaning stopped.

“Who the hell is it?” a voice called from inside.

“Ramen delivery,” he said.

“The fuck?”

The hatch opened. It was the man Steelgrave had fought in Noia; the same one who’d terrorized the farmer. The woman pirate was inside naked, with one of Malvado’s sex workers on a bunk, a ball gag in his mouth.

Steelgrave caught sight of the air vent’s interior location.

“It’s you?” the man asked. “Get the fuck outta here!”

“My mistake,” Steelgrave said.

He backed away as the hatch slammed shut and the music started playing again. Then he went over the module’s exterior air purifier unit, climbed atop it, and tucked the Starrio cig into the correct intake vent. Taking care, he lit the cig with Slushie’s lighter.

As the purifier hummed, the intake vent pulled air through the cig as if someone were inhaling it. The Starrio-tainted air would put them to sleep within the hour. It would keep them drugged up for at least two more, maybe longer. It would be enough for Molly Zero to take off and return before they awoke—if nothing went awry at Calamity Cliff.

After looking around to ensure he was alone, he texted Julia on his mobile.

Her reply was better than he had hoped:

I can send two thousand credits into that account you’re still using. Money up front as always, I see. I’m hurt that you don’t trust me after all we’ve done together. I’ll be far more put out if you don’t fuck up Malvado’s gun drop-off. Get it done.

Two thousand credits. Maybe it would be enough to bribe Slushie.

As he strode back to the freighter, Malvado stopped him. “So, what did that modded puta say? Will she fly that rusted turd? I don’t like Ori Jo being in there with her kind. Or with you.”

Steelgrave smirked without humor. “Slushie will fly. Why would you care who Ori Jo associates with?”

Malvado spat. “I might be a mean bastardo, but that girl needs to be somewhere else. Like her madre, Dame Nyx spare her soul.”

“Is that how you ended up working for Karl Bauer?” Steelgrave asked. “Trying to help these farmers, until the credits changed that?”

“Fuck you, you don’t know shit about what it was like here,” Malvado said.

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