OMEGA Exile by Stephen Arseneault Page B

With immediate reaction the man spun around, striking her square between the eyes with the ball of his elbow. As he turned fully toward her, I raised my blaster, placing a bolt dead into the center of his back. The spray of blood and guts covered Joni as she fell sprawled out on the floor, knocked unconscious from the crewman’s elbow.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of further movement at the doorway. It was the ship’s captain, holding a blaster to the back of his nav officer’s head.
    The captain said, "You will have no more trouble, Detective."
    Two additional crewmen then appeared behind the captain with their blasters raised. One moved in front of the captain to take control of the nav officer.
    The captain lowered his weapon. "Is your partner dead?"
    I looked down. "No. But she is going to have a massive headache when she wakes up." The second crewman with the captain moved in to place a hand on the still-cuffed administrator, pulling him to his feet.
    The captain walked up to the container. "Is that what I think it is?"
    I nodded as I placed my blaster back at my side. "Thirty thousand liters of addiction and torture. Can I guess that your administrator and nav officers are new?"
    The captain shook his head. "I’ve known each for at least a dozen years. It’s sad to see what the lure of quick money will do to a man, especially with times getting as tough as they are. These two have been well paid, and each is only six years from a pension that would have given them a modest but comfortable life. I know their families."
    I could see the look of distress in the captain’s eyes as he looked at the remains of the crewmen. "They all had families. With this criminal activity, the company will not pay out any benefits to their wives or children. They were all good men."
    I shook my head. "They were not all good men, Captain. They may have been at one time... not when they died."
    I turned back to help Joni as she began to wake up. "Thanks for helping me, Knog. Were you just going to let me lie there in that pool of blood?"
    I replied, "I’m not a physician. I was always told to let a person wake up on their own after a knockout. If they don’t wake up, you go for help."
    Joni pinched the bridge of her nose as she squinted her eyes. "What happened?"
    I laughed. "You took an elbow right between the eyes. Why didn’t you just shoot him?"
    Joni stood silent for a second as she gathered her thoughts. "I wanted him alive for questioning. I was expecting him to be the one knocked out. He must have had a skull that was an inch thick."
    I turned to the captain. "Can you set a course for SS5, Captain?"
    The Captain nodded, "I can. We have showers too, if you would like to clean up."
    I shook my head. "Thanks, but no. We have a shower on our ship."
    I turned to Joni. "Go clean yourself up. I’ll get started on our report."
    Joni looked at me with a strained expression. "Our report? This was my bust, remember?"
    I offered a smile. "You are correct. Captain, could you have your men bring her a towel? She would like to get started on her report."
    The captain gestured to a crewman, who immediately turned and left the bloodied hold.
    The captain looked back at the container and then back at Joni. "I would say someone might get a star out of this."
    Joni shook her head. "I couldn’t accept it, Captain. I’ve only been at this for about a month. I have too much to learn before I earn a star."
    The captain looked back at the container. "Suit yourself, young lady, but capturing thirty thousand liters of blue death says otherwise."
    Joni looked at the slash across the thick shirt of my uniform. "How about you? You OK?"
    I pulled open the cut with two fingers. "I’m all right. You don’t fight Gruntas with a knife; our skin is too dense. He gave me a good scrape, but nothing serious."
    Joni again squeezed the bridge of her nose as she repeatedly blinked her eyes. "Thick skin, I’m kind of envious of that right