Maniacs The Krittika Conflict

CHAPTER 6



Another night had passed, and Mason awoke having slept for just a few short hours. It felt as if they had been on Krittika for weeks. He had spent a lifetime getting used to weeks of travel aboard a star ship. But that was life without outside influence. The situation they had landed in was pulling him in all directions.

It feels like we’ll never get off this world until some duty we’ve been chosen for is complete.

The sun was coming up, and he was the first awake. There was no sign of anyone being on guard duty. He suspected they'd all gone to bed having been content they were now safe. The Sheriff's trip had been weighing heavily on him all night. It was the final element to tip him over the edge. He hadn't met Michael Volkov yet but already knew he would hate him.

Mason lifted his bed up where it was hinged against the wall and pulled out his gun roll. He carried it out, dumping it in the back of Mily where she was laid up in the cargo bay.

"Going somewhere?" a faint voice asked.

He looked up and saw Hella's silhouette on the ramp.

"Jesus, do you never sleep?"

"Only when I need to."

He shook his head and lifted a box of ammunition from one of the side racks.

"Crew agreed, and you're going ahead with the job anyway?"

"We agreed not to do this as a crew. I'm going alone."

"Why?"

"Maybe because I can make a difference?"

"Not that you just want ten millions credits for yourself?"

He stopped to think. The prospect had not crossed his mind.

"No, not for the money."

"And yet when you asked me to join this crew, you told me you do what you do for money."

"Yes, I did, but maybe there's more to life than that."

"Then join the Army," Liu stated.

He turned around to see the crew were rising from their rooms, and Liu had stepped out to address him.

"What?" he asked.

"You always said you join the Army to fight for a cause, not for the money. Sounds like you've just become the perfect candidate."

"Hey, I just want to help these people. Is the idea so strange to you? Have you stopped being a cop for so long you've forgotten what that's like?"

His comments did shame Liu a little as he thought back to how vehement he was about not taking the job.

He climbed into the driver's seat of the copter, but Mitchell stepped out from his room to block his path.

"Move."

He shook his head.

"You're not the only one who's had the night to think this over, Max," Liu said.

Mason turned back in surprise.

"People are trying to push us around, poke us, and prod us. That's not how this crew works. Time we put the boot down."

Andrews staggered out of his room. He was still in his dirty clothes from the last two days’ of work and looked exhausted. It was obvious he had been listening to all that had gone on.

"Well?"

"Captain, the fact you were willing to go it alone against all odds is enough to convince me. We're with you, all of us."

Erin stepped out of her room carrying the rifle he had given her in her arms. She nodded in agreement also.

"If we take this offer, we're in to the very end. It's gonna get ugly, no doubt."

"None of us have ever expected this job to be a walk in the park," said Liu.

"We aren't going to let you do this alone," Mitchell added.

He nodded in appreciation.

"Like you all, I thought long and hard over this. Up till last night, I could have left this world and put it to the back of my mind. But Volkov sending the Sheriff here to talk us to death, well he just went and pissed me off."

"Poetic," replied Erin.

He smiled in response and then turned to Andrews.

"I want you to continue your work here. We may not be leaving anytime soon, but having the Lady up and running could really turn things around when things start to heat up. You'll have to go it alone, though."

"No problem. Give me today and maybe a bit of tomorrow, and I'll see what magic I can work."

"I need one to stay here and keep guard." He turned to Hella. 'You seem to like it, fancy the job?"

She nodded in agreement, "Whatever you say, Boss."

"I'm your boss now, but I'm not THE Boss. You can call me Max, Mason, Captain, Sir, but never Boss, you hear?"

She nodded in acceptance.

"Yes, Boss."

It’s clear she has a real problem with authority, but it’s a character flaw I can live with.

"The rest of you, gear up. The time for playing nice is over. Armour, rifles, let’s be ready. We're going into town to take this job."

The group leapt into action. Within five minutes, they were climbing aboard and raring to go. Mitchell was at the controls with Mason riding shotgun. He raced Mily forward.

"Hang on!" yelled Mason.

Mitchell brought them to a stop on the ramp where Hella stood.

"You need a gun?" he asked her.

"Managed so far without one," she replied dryly.

If it were anyone else he would assume arrogance, but she had already proved herself more than once.

"Well if you do, feel free to grab one. You'll find a few rifles and pistols in locker three, back towards the bridge."

"I'll be sure to use whatever is needed."

"Right, let's move!"

They raced off down the ramp and over the sun baked hard ground north towards the town.

"Think the offer still stands?"

"I thought you weren't in this for the money, Mitchell?"

"I didn't say I didn't want it, Captain."

Mason agreed. It would be a couple of years’ salary for each of them at least.

They rolled into town to find it was operating as normal. Several of the passersby recognised Mason and stopped to stare at him as they rode past.

"Where we heading?" asked Mitchell.

"I've no idea where Machesky can be found, so head for the Digger, and we'll go from there."

He turned back to look at the others.

"Town’s people are friendly, but there are plenty residing nearby who aren't, so keep your wits about you."

They pulled up to the bar to find the Sheriff's copter parked outside. As their engines fired down, they could hear a voice shouting inside the bar. Mason leapt off the copter and rushed through the doors without a weapon in hand.

"Who fired the gun?" he heard a voice yell. Mason passed into the dark room and found Alken with his hands around the barkeep’s throat and forcing his back against the bar. He shook his head in disbelief, feeling sorry for the poor man who'd taken two beatings since they'd arrived.

"Who did it? Who did it, Kaper?" he screamed into the man's face.

"I did!" Mason shouted.

Alken's head snapped around at the sound of his voice.

"Well, well. Back in town, looking for trouble again. Well, you've found it."

He released his grip on Kaper. He took a wide face on stance to Mason and pulled his coat back from around the pistol slung at his side. Mason could see the grip of the laser weapon was carved out of some kind of bone. It was a lavish and unnecessary show of wealth from a lawman.

Alken stood five metres from Mason, and he showed no attempt to close the distance. After the humiliation he’d had the night before, he was being sure to stay at draw distance. Mason could hear his people stepping up to the edge of the building outside and listen in. They were awaiting his next move, as they could see Alken from the windows.

"So, here we are. You just admitted to the murder of a man in town; a man who was in the employ of and undertaking Mr Volkov's orders. I'm the Sheriff, you're the murderer, and you've got a gun. Drop it and come quietly, or I'll have to do this the hard way," he said with a sleazy grin.

Mason wasn't intimidated and only carefully studied his opponent. He let Alken sweat a little. He hadn't seen Mason use a weapon, and that uncertainty was clearly unnerving.

"Not a murder. I put down a dog, and it seems to me, I stand before another one. You either pull that pistol or give it up."

Alken's eyes squinted as he frowned. He realised Mason wasn't joking and quickly reached for his gun. Mason's hand grabbed his own pistol in lightning speed, and it was aimed at the Sheriff before his gun was out the holster. Mason fired just a single shot. It hit the pistol and launched the smashed weapon out of his hands. The Sheriff cried in pain from the burn of the blast. He cowered down, holding his wounded hand. Mason slipped his pistol back into his holster, and Liu stepped into the room to join him.

"Glad I never met you when I wore a badge, Captain."

“You won’t get away this this, Mason!” screamed Alken.

Mason strode up to the Sheriff who cowered down as he approached. He grabbed him by the collar of his coat and hauled him towards the door. Erin was nearly thrown aside as the door flew open, and Mason rushed out, launching Alken out into the road headfirst. He landed hard and slid to a halt on the concrete ground. His cheek was badly scraped and bleeding from the abrasion, and he was almost knocked out cold by the landing.

“I see your face around town again, and I’ll blow your head off, you hear?”

Mason suddenly realised how quiet the street had gotten. He looked up to see the shopkeepers across the road had come out to watch, and all who were passing were frozen and fixated on him.

“Okay! Okay! We’ll take the job!” he roared at the top of his voice.

Applause broke out which echoed all around the buildings either side of the street. Kaper came out from the bar to join him.

“Thank you, Captain. You don’t know what this means to us.”

He turned around and responded softly.

“Ten million about?”

Kaper nodded.

"Well how about that?"

"Please, take a seat in the bar, and I'll get Nolan to join us."

He looked back and watched Alken scurrying off with his tail between his legs. He crawled onto his copter and tore off with all haste.

"Looks like you made a friend," said Mitchell.

"He's not the first last a*shole we'll meet here," he replied. "You stay out here and keep watch."

"Oh, come on, you know how good their beer is."

"But we don't," Liu said and stepped inside.

"We brought some back for you the other night," Mitchell protested.

Mason stopped beside him.

"I don't expect we'll see any trouble too quickly, but be ready."

Mitchell calmed down and took up position by the door.

"I'm a pilot remember, not a fighter."

"Well, you ain't got no ship to fly, and you can't repair engines for shit. So make yourself useful."

"Nice," he muttered.

Mason went inside, and Kaper was already pouring out drinks for them all.

"Should you be drinking when you could have to fight and shoot at any time?" asked Erin.

"Probably not," he said, taking a glass from the bar and sipping from it, "but this isn't the Army. Calming everyone down a little right now can't do any harm."

Two minutes later, Machesky rushed through the doors. He strode up to Mason and shook his hand.

"Thank you, Captain," he said and went around them one by one and did the same.

"We haven't done anything yet."

"Oh, but you have, Captain. Herschel was a leech, and Alken too. You've just dealt with two problems we never could."

He looked back to a young man who had come with him and was waiting at the door. Nolan gestured for him to come forward. He took the case and opened it, presenting it to Mason.

"One million credits. A down payment to show you how serious we are."

Mason reached down and placed a hand on the bag, but Nolan didn't release it. Instead he leaned in close to whisper to Mason.

"Just remember what its for, ey?"

He stood back and Mason responded at normal volume so that others could hear.

"We take money for a job. We do the job. Unless we die trying, we'll succeed."

Nolan nodded in gratitude and sat down at the nearest table, gesturing for Mason and the others to join him.

"You've seen what we face here. How do you expect to go about putting our problems to a stop?"

"Well, I haven't met this Michael Volkov, though I do intend to. But I can already tell you that he won't go easily. He's making a tonne of money off your backs, why would he ever want to stop? Men like him need to either be put in their place, to such an extent they never again step over the mark, or you kill them."

Nolan recoiled at the idea.

"What? What did you think you were paying us for?"

"To negotiate for us, to stop the people of this town being extorted."

"And what do you or we have to offer to bargain with for this? Money won't do it because he'll always want more. There is nothing you can bring to the table to make him stop."

Nolan looked at Erin, for she seemed the most civilised and understanding of them all.

"You think we hired you to murder him?"

"Murder? No, that isn't our business," replied Mason.

"He's right," said Erin. "This Volkov needs to either fear coming near you, or he'll never stop."

"How can we achieve this?" asked Nolan.

"You can't. You leave that to us."

He could see Nolan was getting more and more anxious.

"Yes, yes, but what are you going to do? If you just scare him a bit and then leave, what is stopping him coming back the month after?"

"Which brings us to the other possibility as I have already said. We aren't here to uphold the law or to negotiate a peace. We'll get you what you have paid for, however that has to be done."

"Captain Mason, I cannot endorse you killing Volkov, no matter what kind of man he is."

Mason sat back and thought for a moment before taking in a deep breath. He leaned over the side of the table and picked up the case full of money. He threw it over at Nolan who almost fell off his seat to catch it.

"I thought you understood what has to be done here, but if you want to carry on as you always have, then you can keep your master and your money."

He was taken aback by the sentiment and was still in shock. Mason could see now that Nolan had expected from the very beginning that he could simply hire some muscle to intimidate Volkov into changing his ways. Mason stood up and pointed his finger at the businessman.

"You need to get your head screwed on right unless you want to keep living under his thumb." He turned to Liu. "Come on, let's go."

"Mason!" Erin called out to him.

He looked at her and shook his head. Erin looked back to plead with Nolan.

"You are letting your only chance walk away."

"All right!" he shouted.

Mason stopped, waiting for him to continue.

"You know these situations. I don't. I still can't condone bloodshed though, not unless it is in self-defence."

"Then I think you can't have spoken to the rest of the town’s people anytime soon. When I dragged Alken out of the bar not fifteen minutes ago, those people were waiting for me to finish him off. If I'd have put my gun to his head and pulled the trigger, it would have been met with applause."

"And that is how you do business?"

He stormed up to the table.

"Let me be absolutely clear. If we take that money, we do it my way. I don't know your trade, and you don't know mine, so what'll it be?"

"Captain Mason!"

The cry was loud and came from outside the bar. It was a deep and booming voice. An authoritative tone that told him it wasn't going to be anyone friendly.

He looked at Nolan and saw the fear in his face.

"That’s... Sergeant Hunter."

"Who's he with?"

"The militia. One of Volkov's men. He won't be alone. Alken must have summoned him."

"In the last twenty minutes? How far are they stationed from here?"

"Two hours’ drive. They must have been passing by."

"Just our luck," he replied sarcastically.

"Kaper, this place got roof access?"

"Yes."

"Show Liu the way."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"What are you doing, Mason?"

"Nolan, that sergeant has come here to cause trouble. Just like always. It's time to take a stand. Only question you have to ask yourself, is do you want us to take this job or not?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Probably not."

"Then do whatever you have to."

"What was that?" Mason asked for clarification.

"You do it... your way."

Mason smiled in response. "Well, okay then."

He paced up to Erin. She held her rifle close but was obviously worried.

"Never shot at a person, have you?"

She shook her head.

"First time for everything. I need you to cover me from that window. You don't fire unless they do first. Stay inside and keep yourself safe. Got it?"

She nodded in agreement. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna go and see what all the fuss is about," he replied confidently.

He adjusted his gun belt and stepped up to the door, pulling it back slowly so as not to cause anyone to react. He stepped out to see four militiamen. They all wore dark green jackets and matching short peaked caps, with sun protectors hanging down over their shoulders. Metal insignia was pinned to their chests, but he couldn't make it out. Besides this, none of their equipment was uniformed with a variation of weapons, webbing, and bags.

The first thing Mason noticed was that two of them held Mitchell between them as a prisoner.

"Sorry, Boss."

"Not your fault."

The militiamen were coated in dust and looked weary from travel. He could see Alken skulking in the background under the shade of one of the shops.

"You are Captain Mason?" one of them asked.

"Sergeant Hunter, I assume?"

"That's me. Sheriff Alken here tells me you've been causing some trouble. We don't like trouble in this town or any other in our district."

"Glad to hear it, Sergeant. Me and my boys here had some engine troubles and only came for parts."

"Were that the case, you'd have already have been on your way by now. I'm thinking you were paid to be here."

Mason couldn't deny it; for despite it not being their intentions, it had been the way it worked out.

"Word is you killed a man here in town, an offence punishable by death, but I also hear no witnesses have yet been found. Pack up and leave this world, or I'm sure those witnesses will come forward. Neither of us wants any trouble here."

"Yeah, Sergeant, that's a real good deal, but how about this one? You give me my guy back, and I won't blow your head off."

"Now, Sheriff Alken said you'd be one to make threats like that, and yet his head still sits atop his body."

"For now," Mason answered calmly.

"Okay, let's try this again."

He grabbed Mitchell, pushed him to his knees, and held a pistol to the side of his head.

"We've already got one of you. We'll take him with us and try him for the unlawful killing of Herschel, then we'll come back in greater number to take however many of you are stupid enough to still be here."

Mason squinted as he tried to get a read off the man and see how serious he was. Everything he was seeing told him he had to act.

"Sorry, Felix."

"For what?" Mitchell replied; sounding confused.

Without hesitation, Mitchell snapped his weapon from its holster and fired from the hip. The laser hit Hunter square in chest, but he got a shot off as the impact struck. A laser from the pistol clipped Mitchell's ear before striking the ground in front of him. The Sergeant was launched off his feet and disappeared from view. The other three men lifted their weapons to respond, but one was struck a second after Mason had fired. The laser came from the roof and hit one of their shoulders. He was incapacitated and immediately on the ground in pain.

Mason fired the next shot and took out the leg of one. Liu struck the last in the face, killing him instantly. The doors of the bar flew open, and Erin rushed out to Mitchell's aid. Mason was ahead of her and got to the bodies to see Hunter was gone. He saw the Sergeant vanish down a narrow corridor between two of the buildings in front of him.

"Help him!" he yelled as he gave pursuit. He took the bend he had seen Hunter disappear down and could tell by the speed he was making, the laser had made little effect. Mason guessed he must have been wearing the same torso body armour they wore, expensive gear for the average militiaman.

He heard a tussle around a bend and rushed as quickly as he could. As he took the bend, an arm struck out from the corner and clotheslined him. It sent him into a roll, and he crashed down into the dirt with no finesse. His pistol flew out of his hands in the fall. He tried to get to his feet, but Hunter kicked him to the ribs hard. He rolled over onto his back from the impact. His armour saved him from broken ribs, but it still hurt like hell.

"Guess you're not all that, Captain," said Hunter disdainfully.

Mason rolled over and got to his feet as quickly as he could. He reached for his knife, but his hand found an empty sheath. Hunter lifted the weapon and brandished it with glee, having ripped it from him during his fall.

"Looking for this?"

Hunted lunged at him with the knife with lightning speed. Mason leapt back and pulled in his stomach to avoid the strike. He stabbed again and Mason parried the strike and grabbed the knife hand, trying to get a lock. Hunter skilfully twisted out, and the knife was thrown from both of their hands. Mason realised he was fighting a skilled opponent, more so than he had in a long time.

He punched forward with a quick jab, but Hunter moved up and under the strike. He drove a knee in, took a standing grapple, and forced him back into the sidewall. Hunter's elbow struck Mason's face and crunched his neck. He recovered quickly with a punch to Hunter’s face and a second into his ribs. The Sergeant came right back at him with two furious rib shots. As Mason responded with a hook, the Sergeant took hold of his arm and launched him over his shoulder so he landed on his back.

Two laser pulses rushed overhead and struck the wall beside them. Hunter looked up. Liu was rushing towards them with a gun in his hand. He turned and fled rapidly as Liu arrived at Mason's side.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Got into a fight.”

“Looks more like you got your ass kicked!” Liu shouted and rushed past.

“Thanks!” snapped Mason.

Liu got to the edge of the building and saw a vehicle rush off into the distance. The Sergeant was at the controls and already two hundred metres out. Liu lifted his rifle and took aim. Liu fired a single shot that zipped past his head. He fired another, but the vehicle was beyond his range, and he couldn’t see if it had struck its target or not.

“Get him?” Mason asked. He was hunched and nursing his ribs.

“No.”

“Well, I guess we both failed.”

“He’ll go right to his boss with this. We’re gonna have a whole world of trouble bearing down on us.”

“That was always gonna happen once we took the money. Now it’ll just be sooner rather than later.”

“Nolan really thought this could be settled with a stern conversation. He must have come from one polite planet.”

“Liu, when you work with scum on a regular basis, we can forget there are some good people out there who are oblivious to the more ugly sides of life.”

“You’re right, and even if we can take this Volkov character down, they’re gonna have to learn to fend for themselves.”

“One thing at a time.”

He went to go back to the bar, but Liu stopped him.

“Volkov has numbers on his side, you know if any of the people in this town will fight with us?”

“Even if they would, how useful are a bunch of untrained civilians?”

Liu knew he was right. They turned and paced back to the main street. Mitchell was being led into the bar. He was able to walk, despite the pain. They followed them through and sat down at the table they had been talking at before the fight. Nolan sat there with a tall drink and looked astonished.

“Is there really no other way?” he asked.

“Sometimes, you just have a fight on your hands whether you want one or not.”

“And if we just forgot it all and continued to pay everything Volkov asks of us?”

“It’s too late for that,” Liu said. “Now you’ve insulted him and brought into question his authority, he’ll want to make an example of you all.”

“What does that mean?” asked Kaper.

“It means that a few a*sholes wanting to take your daughter for a bit of fun will seem like nothing compared to what they have in store now,” he replied.

“Why have you brought this upon us?” Nolan asked.

Liu could see Mason was at first silent in shock, and then the anger began to build in his eyes, so he stepped in to calm the situation.

“You didn’t ask to be robbed in the way you are, but you did recruit us to solve it. You recruited a team of - I hate to say it, hired guns to solve your problem. You can’t have thought for a moment this was going to end peacefully?”

“I hoped,” replied Nolan wearily.

He turned to Mitchell who was getting bandaged up by Erin and Kaper’s daughter. He was knocking back spirits and grimacing at the pain. Liu stepped over and snatched the glass away from him, the bottle too.

“Hey, I need that!”

Liu shook his head. “Same old same with you.”

“That’s not fair. I’m in pain!” he yelled.

Mitchell looked to Mason for help, but it did not come.

“You’re not the one that got shot!” he shouted again.

“No, we’re the ones who saved your ass. We got a big problem to deal with. None of us can afford to get drunk, no matter how bad they are hurt.”

“I told you I wasn’t cut out for this shooting stuff. I’m a goddamn pilot.”

The room fell silent until Nolan finally broke it as he took another sip.

“Maybe we hired the wrong people.”

“No,” replied Mason. “You hired the only people who would take this lousy job. Now man up, and deal with it.”

He strolled back to the door and looked out across the street where they’d recently shot the militiamen. A few of the town’s people were now back on the street, but they avoided the bodies like the plague. Liu joined him.

“They want the problem solved, but they don’t want to get their hands dirty.”

“Are you surprised?”

“I don’t care who they were, Liu. They don’t deserve to just be left out there that.”

“Maybe we should cut our losses now, and get the hell out of here?”

“Too late. We took the job and started it. We’re in this now till it’s done.”

“And if it costs us our lives?”

“You’re one cynical bastard, you know that?” replied Mason sharply.

“You know back when I was a cop, before I was a detective, I saw this kind of thing all the time. Maybe not on this scale but the same thing, some thug muscling the locals about for money, or whatever. More often than not, we would try and take them down and fail. If the victims are too scared to help, then what chance do you have?”

“Well then, I guess it’s time they got their act together.”

He turned around and paced up to address Nolan.”

“There are three bodies out in the street there. Get them sorted.”

Nolan looked at a loss for having been told what to do.

“On your feet!” Mason ordered.

Nolan almost jumped out of his skin and stood up. Mason grabbed his shoulder and led him out towards the door.

“Look at them!”

“They’re dead.”

“Not the dead, your people. Passing by like the bodies are litter on the sidewalk.”

He shoved Nolan forwards.

“Get it sorted!”

Nolan looked sheepish, and Mason could see he was desperate to find an excuse not to, but Mason’s eyes told him not to try it. He staggered over towards the bodies and called over a few people by name to help him.

“It’s a start,” Liu said.