Wreckers: A Denver Boyd Novel by George Ellis (ebook reader ink .TXT) 📕

why you’re trying to compete for the Tracers contract,” he said.

“Nope. Only in it for the credits,” I lied. “Is there anything else?”

It was Largent’s turn to try and hide his anger. He was worse at it than me, which gave me a good deal of satisfaction. I even took a bite of my burger and leaned back in my chair a bit. A power move, if you will.

“And that’s why your father never beat me either,” he said, forcing a smile. “Never knew when he was out of his league. Well, that and he failed to realize one thing.”

“What’s that, Jack?”

“Business is war. And in war, there are no rules. It’s a pity you didn’t stay independent, for your mother’s sake. I’ll give you 24 hours to withdraw your bid for the contract.” Before I could respond, the screen went black. He had disconnected.

“Well the jerk store called and they were all outta that guy. Guess we won’t be sending him a Hanukkah card,” Gary said.

I’d forgotten to tell Gary to go to sleep before the beam. “Pretty sure nobody sends Hanukkah cards anymore, even if he were Jewish. Or I was, for that matter.”

News had traveled much faster to Largent than I thought it would. Suddenly, I had 24 hours before every Silver Star cruiser in the verse was on my ass. And that’s when I decided I hated Desmond as much as I hated Jack Largent.

Chapter 6

“So what did you do?” Batista asked, practically at the edge of her seat.

I thought about my answer for a moment, then smiled. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

Batista opened her mouth and then closed it again. She tensed her jaw. “That’s a good line.”

I heard that a lot. According to the books I’d read and news reports I’d seen, people used to quote the best bits of dialogue from movies and TV all the time. It was a way to sound clever. Over the last three hundred years, as fewer and fewer people watched classic entertainment, a lot of the best lines and turns of phrase had been forgotten. As one of the few people that was still watching 21st century entertainment, I had a wealth of seemingly original comebacks and witty phrases to choose from.

I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.

There’s no place like home.

You can’t handle the truth!

And about a million more. I didn’t feel the least bit bad about borrowing them, either. I was a wrecker, after all. Salvaging and re-using stuff was in my bones. As for the way things turned out with Desmond, it was better if Batista didn’t know the details. They would only make her more nervous about the fact we were on a collision course with the Tracer boss. For all I knew, he was going to try and blast us into a million pieces. Then a thought occurred to me. Having someone like Batista with me wasn’t the worst position to be in. She was tough, and Desmond, a notorious ladies man, wouldn’t mind being polite to her for other reasons. Of course, none of that would matter if he tried to shred the Stang once the Golden Bear got within firing range.

“He as handsome in person as he is on the news?” Batista asked, seemingly reading my mind.

I tried not to frown, and failed.

“Guess so,” she said.

“You should be so lucky to meet him in person,” I warned. She understood my meaning, glancing at the red arc on the monitor that indicated the edge of the Golden Bear’s firing range. She smiled and knocked on the metal dash.

“We’ve got armor and speed, and you’re not the worst pilot in the galaxy from what I hear,” she said, getting up and stretching her legs. I did my best not to let my gaze linger too long. “Gary,” she called.

“Yello?” he asked with a smile. I mean, I knew he couldn’t literally smile, but there was a happy inflection in his voice.

“No,” I said. “You don’t turn on when she says so. That’s not how this works.”

“Ah, pardon me good sir. I must have been confused,” he said, putting on a pretentious accent. “I thought as the Mustang’s on-board AI, I was supposed to serve at the pleasure of everyone on board.”

I glowered at the camera in the corner of the cabin.

Batista winked at the camera at the same time. “Gary, wake me up if things get interesting. I might just need my beauty rest.”

She walked out of the room. Either she knew something I didn’t about my abilities as a pilot, or the woman didn’t rattle.

“Way out of your league,” Gary noted.

He wasn’t wrong, of course. Even though I was pretty sure she had dated my brother, which meant a relationship with her was a line I’d never cross, I was still a lonely young man in the middle of space. Strong, beautiful women who knew their way around engines didn’t come around often. Despite being physically attracted to her, I also felt outclassed when I was around her. Which was a problem. The last thing I needed at the moment was a knot in the pit of my stomach because I had a crush on my client.

Client. Thinking of her that way was the first step.

“I’m in trouble,” I muttered to myself.

“What was that? I think I heard something,” Gary said.

“Nothing. Shut up.”

“I definitely heard something.”

I zeroed in on the Golden Bear’s orange dot on the monitor. What did he want with me? Other than to settle a score. Screw it. I tapped a few keys and leaned back to wait. The response didn’t take long. Desmond appeared on-screen. His trademark grin was there, but it didn’t have the same warmth as before. This time it was the malicious look of a shark considering its prey.

We both waited for the other to speak. I broke first.

“Hey buddy.” I waved at the monitor. It was the first time we’d beamed since I blew up