As we approached a row of storage modules, I could see why Valez had thought they were a good place to stow someone. The area was out of the way, far from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets, situated next to an industrial plant pumping white smoke up into the atmosphere from a tall black chimney. The modules were metal cuboid structures thirty feet tall by fifty feet wide.

"Pretty dead around here," I commented.

"The factory produces some kind of protective coating for machinery parts. The locals are worried they'll get poisoned if they spend too much time here. To be honest, I don't think their fears are unfounded," Valez replied.

We stopped outside one of the modules. It had one huge main door used for transferring goods in and out of storage, and a smaller door next to it.

Valez asked permission to reach into her pocket for the passkey.

"Remember I'm watching everything you do," I warned her.

The passkey was a small oval-shaped piece of plastic. Valez swiped it against a panel to the side of the door and the locking mechanism released. The door opened inward. Valez had her back to me. "Okay, it's open. Now what?" she asked.

"This is the only way in or out?" I questioned.

"Yes."

I removed my blaster, walked up behind Valez, flipped the weapon around and held it ready in my hand. "Hold still for me. Don't turn around."

Valez flinched. "What're you going to do?"

"Nothing you'll remember," I said. I brought the butt of the blaster down hard against the back of Valez's skull, knocking her out instantly. She collapsed to the ground, falling to her side then flopping over onto her back. Her legs kicked out and caused the door to fly inward and slam against the inner wall with a loud clang. The door squeaked on its corroded hinges as it bounced back. If Jed Teague hadn't already been alerted to my presence, he would be now.

I took Valez by the armpits and dragged her inert form to the side. I propped her up against the outside of the module so that she looked as if she were asleep. Then I returned to the open doorway and edged slowly inside the storage module, blaster drawn and at the ready. It was pitch black inside, just the long beam of light from the open door cutting through the dark. My eyes had begun adjusting when I heard movement and watched keenly as something slowly coalesced out of the darkness.

The silhouette of a man took shape.

Jed Teague.

I recognized the fear in his eyes.

He held up his hands. "I surrender."

I didn't lower my blaster. "Could've done that a long time ago, saved me a world of trouble," I replied.

"I did what anyone would."

"If you mean run from your abominable crimes, then I have to say you're right. In your position, most people would run to save their own skin."

"I'll hand myself over to the authorities," Teague told me. "I swear."

I almost laughed. "The authorities?"

"Yes."

"Do you think you're going to stand trial?"

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My quarry just looked at me. "You mean to kill me . . ."

"That's the general idea," I said, my finger flexing on the trigger of the blaster.

"Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"Tell that to your victims." I said.

"Alleged victims."

I saw movement behind Teague, to the right, in the deep shadows of the storage module. "Who else is here with you?" I asked, suddenly on edge and looking for concealed enemies.

"Just me."

"Come closer."

He did as I asked.

I looked at him. That was when I noticed the unmistakable fluctuation of a holographic projection. It lasted less than a second—the projection was a good one—but the glitch was plain to see.

A trap.

I cut to my right, for the door.

The door slammed shut before I could reach it, instantly submerging me in absolute blackness. I fumbled for the small penlight I carried. Before I could reach it, whoever was inside the storage module was on top of me. I managed to discharge the blaster blindly once, twice, a third time. Momentarily illuminating the darkness with hot beams of red laser fire, before the weapon was wrestled out of my hand.

A hard fist connected with my jaw, sent me reeling.

"Hit the lights!" somebody yelled.

A sucker punch to the gut knocked me to the floor. I curled into a ball as my attackers proceeded to kick me.

"That's enough!" Teague shouted.

The kicks stopped.

I opened my eyes, noticed one of my attackers lying on his back on the floor several feet away from me, his face blown clean off. At least I got one of 'em, I thought. I was glad I'd killed one. It took the sting out of being lured into such an obvious trap.

I had a man on either side of me, holding my arms. One body on the floor. A man and a woman stood opposite. All of them wearing the same get-up, a simple dark blue uniform and black boots. I groaned from the fresh pain radiating up from my gut to my chest. It'd been a long time since I'd been on the receiving end of a beating like that. I was under no illusion that the people attacking me would've kicked me to death if they'd been left to their own devices.

In the middle of the room, I saw that I was right—what I'd believed at first to be Jed Teague was indeed a holographic projection. "You're probably wondering what happened. How you ended up here," he said.

Blood filled my mouth. I spat to the side. "It's not hard to figure. I mean, the whole plan was for me to come here, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

I respected the game, even if the game had been played against me. "Now you'll have me killed, correct?"

"That's the general idea," Teague said, mirroring my own words from moments before. He made a point of checking something on his wrist. "And now I must abandon you to your fate."

The hologram abruptly shut down.

Silence fell.

The two men holding me up dropped me to the floor. I landed on my knees.

I looked around at them. "You guys . . ." I said, shaking my head.

One of the men, a bald brute with an earring dangling from his earlobe, scowled at me in confusion. "You guys what?"

"Try not to take this the wrong way, but you're idiots."

"What?" he asked, incredulously.

I rolled my eyes. "You relieved me of my blaster but didn't check my hands . . ." I said, opening the palm of my left hand to reveal a Krian explosive. Jed Teague's hired muscle moved quickly away from me, shouting at one another to get back. I got up on my feet. "When I was on the ground, tucked up into a ball to protect myself because you were all trying to kick me to death, I got this out of my pouch. What I like to call my 'little bag of tricks'. You wouldn't believe how useful it's been over the years."

"What do you want?"

"First of all, my blaster. Kick it over to me."

The female member of their group kicked the blaster toward me, then tried to placate me with her hands held open before her. "Let's not do anything hasty here. Things can get out of hand in situations like this."

I snorted at that. "I think we're already there, aren't we?" I said, bending down to collect my blaster.

"Look, we can talk about this," the woman said.

"No. We can't," I said. I armed the explosive and tossed it up in the air over their heads. My attackers panicked and ran in all directions.

I dashed toward the door I'd entered by and yanked it open. I saw the street outside and the sun up in the endless blue sky. I almost made it all the way out before the Krian explosive detonated inside the storage module. It created an instant inferno that incinerated everything it touched. The force of the explosion blew me past the threshold and through the air. I landed on my front out in the street, the air momentarily knocked out of me. I rolled over onto my back and focused on trying to breathe.

As I stared back at the door to the storage module, one of the heavies stumbled out, wreathed in flame from head to toe. Screaming in agony as they staggered forward. I reached for my blaster. The burning man fell to the ground. I shot him in the head, his hellish cries of agony instantly silenced.

I holstered my blaster again and looked across at the unconscious form of Cort Valez, propped up against the storage module.

Then I formulated my plan.