Countdown by John Walker (most life changing books TXT) 📕

situation. Not her worth or his ability to recognize when someone tried to play him. Cons should’ve been his game.

Narcissism makes it hard to be objective.

The ship set down with a rumble. Loch’s face darkened for a moment though he replaced the expression with a smile quickly enough. “I’ll have to talk to them about rough landings again. I thought we’d gotten over that kind of thing. Guess I was wrong.” He shrugged. “Sorry about that.”

“Can’t be helped all the time,” Rita said. “Cut them some slack. Might’ve been a nasty crosswind right at the last minute. I’ve seen way worse. Crashes even. Which is one of the other reasons I don’t drink.”

“Christ, if you’ve seen that shit, you should be consuming.” Loch waved at her to follow him. “Let’s go. We’re not going in through the side entrance. They’ll be offloading a few things we didn’t need in our little search. Then there was the damage from our little exchange. Goddamn fighter pilots did a real number on the nose of my ship.”

Rita smirked internally at that comment. She hoped Nina or Justin had been involved so she could buy them a drink later. “How bad was it?”

“Not bad enough to hold us down.” Loch walked down the ramp, directing her to follow him along a side path that led around the building. “But I want to be sure they get it fully corrected before we need the vessel again. It’s a top-of-the-line ship. Best one I own as a matter of fact.”

“How many do you have?”

“Fleet of six… though nothing bigger than what you were just on. We commandeered some destroyers from the Gold Empire. Did them up, changed their IDs, upgraded the computer systems… they look new as far as those assholes are concerned. They’ll never know what we have.”

“What do they do?”

“Mostly, they collect money.” Loch shrugged. “Occasionally, we have to mount a heavier response to someone messing with us. In those cases, we go at them strong with every ship we’ve got. We had to obliterate a colony not too long back. They killed a bunch of our people who showed up for the payments.”

Can’t have that. Rita wondered if Loch had a concealed weapon. If I got my hands on it, I could kill him and be back at the ship before anyone knew he was done. I might even convince them to take me to their larger vessel. She ultimately forced herself to calm down. Even if he had a gun, it wouldn’t be enough to assault the starship.

“Ouch!” Loch pulled his earpiece out, staring at it. “What the hell?”

“What’s wrong?” Rita asked.

“Just got blasted with static. Hurt like a bitch too. What’s going on here?” Loch tapped it a couple times, turning to his computer. “Doesn’t appear to be any problem. Maybe a transmitter got left on again.” He sighed. “My people are idiots sometimes, I’m afraid. Come on, let’s hurry into the house. We can check the control center.”

“Sounds like a good time for a tour.”

“Works for me.” Loch picked up the pace. “I’m sure it’s nothing but our people need to be able to talk.”

What’s going on here? Rita felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Is this a coup? Or something else? Either way, she needed to be on her toes. It might be my chance. I’m ready.

***

McCully had killed the lights in the hallway, making it nearly pitch black. Her helmet provided her with night vision so when the door opened, she made out the pirates coming in as if it were broad daylight around her. One of them cursed, complaining about the switch not working. They got on their comms.

And it’s time. McCully tapped her computer, jamming the comms. A burst of static went through their earpieces, the same type that might happen if someone left a transmitter live. The four of them freaked out, cursing as they stumbled into the room. The door shut behind them, cutting off the light from outside.

Unfortunately, they didn’t all make it in. This will make it easier to put them down quickly. McCully took aim at the farthest one by the door… pulling the trigger. Her weapon vibrated. The lowlight enhancement of her helmet made the blood splatter look like a bunch of thick paint slapping the wall.

The body dropped.

“What the hell?” One of the pirates cried out. They went for their weapons. McCully took out a second one. That sent them into a panic. One dashed toward her, passing the first two traps. She let him, blasting him twice in the gut. The final one had taken cover, shouting for help.

By all means, McCully tapped her computer to open the door, enter and be recognized, guys.

“Are you shooting people?” Zem asked.

“No, I’m holding a video conference,” McCully muttered, “of course I’m shooting people! Three down so far. I’m inviting some more inside…” The pirate in cover darted for the door. She pulled the trigger, blasting him in the leg. He dropped face first, rolling on his back as he started really hollering. “You hear that?”

“Yeah,” Zem said, “the whole damn building probably does.”

“Good?” McCully grumbled. “Anyway, contact. Shit’s real now. I’m about to have some more company.”

“Contact east,” Nostros said. “They’re entering with guns at the ready. Comms have gone private too. We’re not hearing them anymore. Good plan on their part.”

McCully added, “Make sure you got at least three or more before you detonate any of the traps. Do it before they get to the automated one at the end of the hall for sure.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nostros replied. “You’ll hear a boom in a moment…”

Zem glanced at the computer as the explosive went off, rattling the walls all around them. He couldn’t believe the others didn’t go at the same time as