Dashel paused for a moment – then slowly set his rifle down on the sand, gesturing for the others to do likewise. They exchanged confused looks.
“Um, captain,” one of them said uncertainly, “we're not really going to surrender ourselves to this furball, are we?”
“Yeah, I mean, if you're worried about the woman,” another chimed in, “we've got clear shots right through her. We can make it quick and painless.”
“She's our best shot at securing this mining camp, and this planet,” Dashel replied. “We need her alive, so lay down your weapons.”
“No!” the first one spat in a hard, flat voice. “I heard what Ranel said on the command deck earlier! You've had sex with this human! And now you're willing to risk our lives – put us in a Pax Pain Chamber, to be tortured to death by Mosets and Vence – just because you have feelings for her! It's not right!”
“It's a direct order from your captain, and you'll obey it.”
“This isn't a committee meeting, you brainless skinks!” the Pax yelled, frustrated. “Do as I say, or I'll paint you all with her brains!”
This whole situation was falling apart fast. I wasn't prepared to wait and see how the power struggle between Dashel and his crew members ended. I craned my neck, eyeing the big, ugly, clunky piece of hardware the Pax was holding against my head. “Hey, that's a core-driller module from a Mark VII mineshaft probe, right? You've rewired the repulsor unit to decrease the recoil, and modified it into a handheld blaster?”
“That's right,” the Pax said smugly. “It's powerful enough to shoot through six layers of ore! And when I push the button, girlie, it'll tunnel right through your empty little skull!”
“Not without the firing pin, it won't.”
I snatched the long, thin metal piece from the device's barrel, jamming it deep into the Pax's eye socket. He screeched and dropped the core-driller, running away as he clawed at his bleeding face.
I calmly picked the core-driller up, sliding the firing pin back into place. The Pax were fast little suckers when they wanted to be – this one was already about fifty feet away and still going, about to disappear over a sandy ridge in the distance.
“He's getting away!” one of the Hielsrane officers said.
I took aim. “No he's not.”
Zap. A thick red beam lashed out like a striking snake, burning so hot it made the air around it shimmer. It struck the Pax right between the shoulders and he dropped without a sound, his fur crackling and blazing. His small body was putting off enough heat to turn the sand beneath it to glass instantly.
“Good shot,” the Hielsrane officer breathed. The other nodded slowly.
Dashel picked up his blaster rifle, marching over to them. “Gentlemen,” he said quietly, “now that Natalie has proven her worth to us beyond a shadow of a doubt – and to spare me the unpleasant task of having you both executed for refusing to follow orders – let's all agree that that will be the last time you question my decisions or my leadership.”
Both of them saluted, saying “Yes sir” in unison.
“I'm so pleased we agree. Now let's go make sure N-7 hasn't been retaken by the Pax, shall we? And please, keep an eye out for any more Pax scouts. I can do without additional surprises today.”
He turned to me and winked as we continued toward the mining camp.
14
Dashel
When we reached the camp, I was relieved to find that it was still under Hielsrane control. I'd assigned Lieutenant Commander Garaar to it when we first took it over, and he reported that even though there had been a handful of short skirmishes with the Pax insurgents, everything was still locked down tight.
Not only that, but Stal was able to confirm that the slaves were all in good health – though they were starting to get restless, just sitting around and waiting to see who would prevail in the fight for the planet. Tensions were high, there had been multiple attempts to break into the medical supply closets for narcotics, makeshift weapons were confiscated regularly, and more than a few fights had broken out.
Natalie went to her old sleeping area, and as I wandered around surveying the mining colony, I could see that Stal was right. The slaves were just lying around doing nothing – some were lethargic, others depressed and irritable. Since we had to remain focused on defending our position rather than running the mine itself, there was nothing for these people to do.
I'd seen this sort of thing before when visiting remote, under-resourced, nearly forgotten Hielsrane military outposts. When people felt useless, they tended to succumb to their own inner demons.
And under those conditions, things could become quite dangerous indeed.
But all of the mining equipment was still here – the Digger units, overseers' hover-skiffs, floating core-driller modules, and other pieces of machinery were standing around gathering dust.
I had a planet full of enemies who probably outnumbered my own crew by at least ten to one with not enough drop-shuttles to go around, several kilometers of tunnels filled with heavy-duty digging and blasting gear, and about a hundred able-bodied slaves in need of activities to fill their time.
I could work with that.
I went to the slaves' sleeping quarters and found Natalie sitting on what I could only assume used to be her old bunk. She was holding something, and as I got closer, I saw that it was a small picture of a smiling human male. When she saw me, she tucked it into the pocket of her space suit, straightening up.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“No one,” she answered a little too quickly. “So, how are things looking around here? Can you fortify this position and use it as a base to hunt down the other Pax?”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you
