Recon Marines II: Marine's Heiress, The by Susan Kelley Page A

animated conversation drifted back
to her as the men pointed at the thing on Vin’s
shoulder.
    Did Vin understand how much the miners
accepted and trusted him? It had started with his role in saving
Russ and then his handling of the beasts who’d invaded the
settlement. By tonight they would know about the robbers and
perhaps have the first supplies from the depot in weeks. But with
Vin’s background he might never feel he’d given enough to complete
his tour of duty. He was broken in a deep, dark place in his soul.
Lucky for him she was a doctor.

Chapter Seven
    The supply depot sat near the airfield.
Vin counted five freighters on the ground unloading and five being
loaded. He bade the nervous Dillon wait with their stolen hopper
while he scouted the ships preparing to leave. Minimal crews of ten
worked the big slow ships. He slipped inside one and found the
living quarters empty as the crew used their last hour on planet to
breathe fresh air and stretch their legs. Dozens of the rough men
stood in a loose pack between the ships, passing bottles back and
forth. No guards on the cargo which appeared to be stacks of
lumber.
    Vin hadn’t specialized in the
biological sciences like his fellow Recon Marine, Mak, and had no
idea on what made wood so valuable they would fly it through space.
The vast hold did make a perfect place to stow the
robbers.
    One of the better qualities of a hopper
was its nearly silent flight. Vin returned to Dillon and flew the
craft to a spot where the crew members wouldn’t see them on the far
side of the ship he’d scouted.
    It took only a few minutes for Vin to
sling a robber over each shoulder with Dillon’s help. The weight of
two men challenged Vin’s strength as he climbed the steep stairs
into the cargo deck. The men didn’t struggle, still sedated from
the infusion Vin had given them once he’d loaded them in the
hopper. He set them down, not carefully, near the tightly secured
lumber. He used the ionizer to soften the ropes securing them. He
figured they wouldn’t wake up for another half a day by which time
they’d be in deep space and too far afield to turn back. They could
send a subspace message back to Merris Five and report their
failure. Hopefully they weren’t the type of men likely to make such
a report out of loyalty to an employer like Hadrason.
    Dillon looked relieved to see Vin when
he returned to the hopper. The man’s emotions made little sense to
Vin as the young man acted resentful most of the time.
    Vin flew the hopper in a wide arc back
to the depot. No other personal transport lingered in the parking
area in front of the sprawling building though four large, wheeled
vehicles sat tight against bays lining the sides of the
structures.
    Dillon took out the electronic reader
that held the settlement’s supply list. “Do you think they’ll give
us what is owed us?”
    “ They will.” Vin wasn’t
leaving without it and there didn’t appear to be enough people
about to stop him from taking it. “Let’s go.”
    Vin had visited this building when he
first arrived on Merris Five. The large open store made it
impossible for him to feel comfortable even with his blending-in
talent. Today it appeared empty though the same stout man stood
behind a counter with a flashy hand-sized computer in front of
him.
    The man looked surprised when they
entered. “Dillon Gore? I wondered when someone would come from
Hovel Port. Word came from the mine office that no one was
permitted to deliver to you folks. No one had the sand to disobey
them. I have all your things from the last two shipments set
aside.”
    Dillon sighed and smiled. “So glad to
hear it, Mr. Banner, and I brought some silver to add to our
credit. This is my colleague, Vin Smith. Vin, this is Paul Banner,
the only man outside Hovel Port who doesn’t answer to Hadrason
Mining.”
    Banner shook both of their hands, a
strong grip but without the calluses of a man who did physical
work. And he offered no