Read Online Vigilante Series 2: Nebula Vigilante by T. Jackson King - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: T. Jackson King
Tags: Science-Fiction
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just me and Eliana. The way organics relate to each other is part of how and why they fight. Understanding the inferior minds of more organics will . . . enrich the future battle plan of your T’Chak masters. And it will be easy to restrict the human refugees to the food commissary and their roomsuites in the rear kilometer of the Spine. There is no way any of them could access the Bridge or cause you concern about the Restricted Rooms. And I promise you, let me find an Earth-like planet or colony to put them on and we will embark on Stage Two of the Anarchate war plan I discussed with you and Mata Hari. Agreed?”
The dragon’s red eyes fixed on him for long seconds. Then its spike-adorned tail thumped the deck within the holosphere. “Agreed. Bring the m up in shuttles, without arms, carrying only personal items.”
“As you wish,” Matt said, causing his helmet to reattach as he had Mata Hari prepare to pouch him out and down to the Arrival Hall. “Oh, some of the humans will have children with them. Small versions of the human form. They may entertain you.”
“Go!” blasted the tooth-filled mouth of BattleMind, as if it recognized Matt’s attempt to joke as the irrelevancy it was. “And human Matthew Dragoneaux, I allow these deviations solely for the purpose of better learning your battle tactic of sneakiness. Some of which I see you displaying in this moment. Remember, your freedom depends on increasing your value to me.”
“Understood,” Matt said over Suit’s external speakers. “Thank you for your patience. I depart.”
The dragon holo blinked out and Mata Hari filled his mind via PET image-thought.
“Well done, Matthew. To BattleMind, having any organic aboard this ship is a contradiction of his Task order,” she said, appearing to him in her white lace Mata Hari outfit, but with a half-smile showing on her face. “See you below. And you will find Eliana in Lounge B, where she has done well with the human refugees.”
Matt smiled as starship Mata Hari tossed him out into the airless void a thousand meters above Arrival Hall.
Eliana drew a deep breath as she surveyed the 152 humans scattered around Lounge B of the Arrival Hall. Some ate from the commissary food alcove. Some returned from the toilet facilities. Most sat in small groups that reflected prior knowledge of others from shared work cycles. The children, of course, ignored those groups and ran in every direction, yelling, playing hide and seek behind some piles of luggage, and squealing when found. She smiled, remembering the delightful play of her niece Calyce, at the Kostes Palamas school for crossbreeds, on Halcyon. She missed Calyce. But she owed Matt her life for his saving of her home planet from destruction by the Halicene Conglomerate’s Stripper. More than 900 million people owed him their lives. Her presence here was just part of that payback. And she did love him, especially as his tender side peeked out from the harsh combat persona he had developed in his seven years as a Vigilante for hire.
“Mistress Eliana?”
She smiled at the approach of Sarah Vasiliades, an accountant for the casino Owners and a fellow Greek by birth. To Sarah had fallen the job of being spokesperson for the refugees. Eliana nodded, with a smile on her face as her combat suit moved easily when she turned.
“Yes Sarah, how can I help you?”
Sarah’s blue eyes squinted with intense thought, though her lustrous black hair showed a few knots from being rousted out of bed an hour ago. The woman wore a blue jumpsuit similar to that worn by most adults in the crowd, since that was the standard uniform for all bondServants. Looking to be in her thirties, though Eliana knew the woman was at least fifty, she gestured back toward the refugee crowd with a slim hand.
“We believe you when you say that your Vigilante Matthew will find room on a starship for all of us, including the children,” she said. “But some of us, women and men both,
The dragon’s red eyes fixed on him for long seconds. Then its spike-adorned tail thumped the deck within the holosphere. “Agreed. Bring the m up in shuttles, without arms, carrying only personal items.”
“As you wish,” Matt said, causing his helmet to reattach as he had Mata Hari prepare to pouch him out and down to the Arrival Hall. “Oh, some of the humans will have children with them. Small versions of the human form. They may entertain you.”
“Go!” blasted the tooth-filled mouth of BattleMind, as if it recognized Matt’s attempt to joke as the irrelevancy it was. “And human Matthew Dragoneaux, I allow these deviations solely for the purpose of better learning your battle tactic of sneakiness. Some of which I see you displaying in this moment. Remember, your freedom depends on increasing your value to me.”
“Understood,” Matt said over Suit’s external speakers. “Thank you for your patience. I depart.”
The dragon holo blinked out and Mata Hari filled his mind via PET image-thought.
“Well done, Matthew. To BattleMind, having any organic aboard this ship is a contradiction of his Task order,” she said, appearing to him in her white lace Mata Hari outfit, but with a half-smile showing on her face. “See you below. And you will find Eliana in Lounge B, where she has done well with the human refugees.”
Matt smiled as starship Mata Hari tossed him out into the airless void a thousand meters above Arrival Hall.
Eliana drew a deep breath as she surveyed the 152 humans scattered around Lounge B of the Arrival Hall. Some ate from the commissary food alcove. Some returned from the toilet facilities. Most sat in small groups that reflected prior knowledge of others from shared work cycles. The children, of course, ignored those groups and ran in every direction, yelling, playing hide and seek behind some piles of luggage, and squealing when found. She smiled, remembering the delightful play of her niece Calyce, at the Kostes Palamas school for crossbreeds, on Halcyon. She missed Calyce. But she owed Matt her life for his saving of her home planet from destruction by the Halicene Conglomerate’s Stripper. More than 900 million people owed him their lives. Her presence here was just part of that payback. And she did love him, especially as his tender side peeked out from the harsh combat persona he had developed in his seven years as a Vigilante for hire.
“Mistress Eliana?”
She smiled at the approach of Sarah Vasiliades, an accountant for the casino Owners and a fellow Greek by birth. To Sarah had fallen the job of being spokesperson for the refugees. Eliana nodded, with a smile on her face as her combat suit moved easily when she turned.
“Yes Sarah, how can I help you?”
Sarah’s blue eyes squinted with intense thought, though her lustrous black hair showed a few knots from being rousted out of bed an hour ago. The woman wore a blue jumpsuit similar to that worn by most adults in the crowd, since that was the standard uniform for all bondServants. Looking to be in her thirties, though Eliana knew the woman was at least fifty, she gestured back toward the refugee crowd with a slim hand.
“We believe you when you say that your Vigilante Matthew will find room on a starship for all of us, including the children,” she said. “But some of us, women and men both,
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