OMEGA Exile by Stephen Arseneault Page A

yielded a positive result for bleurgh.
    The administrator was read his arrest rights, and electronic handcuffs were powered on, binding his wrists behind his back.
    Joni said, "The logs show sixteen crewmen on this ship. How should we handle this?"
    I replied, "I would round up and bind the crew, set a nav course for the station, and ride this transport back to victory. That container has thirty thousand liters of bleurgh in it. That is a major score for any detective, let alone one who has yet to finish her probation period. I would ask this: How does your uncle feel about the transport of bleurgh? This ship is under subcontract to Motlin through a third party. You have to dig to find it, but it is there."
    Joni shook her head. "From everything I know, my uncle has never been one to allow the open transport of anything like that. I know it shows up in the outer colonies, where inspections are performed at a much lower frequency, but this ship was headed for Gelnac. That’s right in our neighborhood. Thirty thousand liters is enough to keep a quarter of that planet zonked for a couple of months."
    I looked up at the container. "I would guess that most of it is headed for elsewhere. Either way, it stops here."
    As I turned away from the container, I was confronted by a crewman wielding a large knife. I spun quickly to the left, taking a hard but glancing blow to my left rib cage. As my attacker passed me by, Joni dropped to the floor as she pulled her blaster. A single shot caught the assailant in the upper chest. As the ion bolt expanded, a spray of blood, guts, and bone fragments burst outward, covering Joni as she rolled away.
    With the attacker dead, I turned my head back toward the door just in time to see a second crewman raising a blaster of his own. Before I could draw, Joni fired a second bolt that was just as precisely sighted as the first. The crewman exploded into the hallway behind him as a third attacker came up behind him. I dropped to my right knee, took aim, and negated his attempt at assault as my strike impacted and exploded from his right arm, knocking him backward, again into the hallway.
    I turned and grabbed Joni by the arm, dragging her as I ran to cover behind the large container.
    As I rounded the corner, I slung her petite frame around behind me. I released her arm as I turned back to face the door.
    Several seconds passed before Joni stood behind me, rubbing her forehead. "What did you do that for?"
    I replied, "I was trying to save your life."
    Joni half laughed. "By slamming my head into that container? Thanks, but I think I would have done better out there."
    As Joni finished her complaint, three more crewmen entered the room with their blasters firing.
    I yelled out, "I would be careful what you are shooting at! This substance is flammable! You hit it and this whole ship goes up!"
    Joni spoke. "Bleurgh? Is flammable?"
    I waved back behind me with my free hand. "Shush! I’m trying to buy us some security!"
    Joni winced as I again spoke out. "I just sent an alert out for backup! Give up now, and I will consider you as uninvolved crewmen in my report!"
    As I peered around the corner, I could see the lead crewman directing the others toward the back of the tank. I turned back to see that Joni was no longer behind me. In a moment of panic, I ran to the back side of the container. The two other crewmen were standing with smiles on their faces and their blasters raised. I was caught.
    I slowly leaned over to set my blaster gently on the deck. As I began to rise up, I was again caught by surprise as two ion bolts entered the crewmen from above. Their heads and upper torsos exploded. I was soon awash in a heavy spray of blood and guts.
    As I reached down for my weapon, the third crewman called out from behind me: "I wouldn’t do that if I were you."
    Before I could turn, Joni dropped down from the top of the tank, hammering the butt of her blaster into the man’s skull. But her blow was only glancing.