The next day, we spent the morning combing through the salvage on the new ship and picked the most expensive items to add to the Udelis' cargo. Rhubin transferred one of the shuttles to the hull of the ship and I had retrieved a few important things from my room on the Udelis. By lunch time, they were ready to go. Deborah, Beatrice, and Sandy brought over their things and stashed them in the cell with the four bunks and when I came back inside, I was immediately taken into a hug by Sandy.
“Thank you for sending us first.” Sandy said and tensed her arms up to hug me tighter. “We're going to miss you.”
I blinked my eyes at her for a moment and then it clicked in as to why she was the one doing it. Since she wasn't an employee, she could be more personal with me and not break my mandate. I put my arms around her and hugged her back.
“You can share this with Beatrice when you're alone.” I whispered into her ear and gave her a squeeze. “Deborah's just going to have to suffer.”
Sandy chuckled and we let each other go. “I think this is going to be a long seven weeks.”
“Only if you stay in the cell and don't go to the other parts of the ship, like the living room.” Rhubin said. “The Udelis is a luxury craft that was designed for long space voyages.”
“Oh, I'm sure we'll be comfortable.” Sandy said and took Beatrice's hand. “I meant that we're going to miss being around Hunter.” She walked away and led Beatrice through the main hatches and into the other ship.
“I can't argue that.” Deborah said and gave me a wave and left.
I could tell from Luxea's expression that she wanted to argue, and she couldn't. Not without seeming petty. Of course, I could hear Rhubin's thoughts and he wanted to argue about not getting to take Kalina this time.
“I'll see you both when you get back.” I said instead of what I wanted to say.
I hoped that the time they spent with two of my pilots while making the cargo drop would let them get acquainted, more than a day off and a night of watching a vidscreen did. I stepped forward and reached into my bag of holding and took out a small electronic device and held it out to Luxea.
“I bought this for you the day of the explosion. It was destroyed, along with a pile of other things I had on me at the time, and the company was kind enough to give me a replacement.”
Luxea looked at it as if she didn't know what to do with it and didn't try to reach for it at all.
I held in my sigh. “It's yours, so you can keep it or you can throw it away.” I said and took her hand and wrapped her fingers around it. “I just hope you can enjoy it as much as I enjoyed buying it for you.”
Luxea stared at it and then at me and didn't say anything. Rhubin stepped close and whispered in her ear and she nodded, then the two of them left and I closed the two main hatches. A few minutes later, I was in the cockpit with Kalina and Gleas when the temporary docking ring disengaged and the two ships separated. We watched as the Udelis turned and sped away.
“Wow.” Gleas said as the ship disappeared from view. “I sincerely hope that twinning your AI gives us at least half of that speed.”
“We're quite a bit larger than it; but, we have a larger reactor, too. It's not fully powered, though.”
“I saw the specs.” Gleas almost sighed. “Who spends all that money on the rest of the ship and then cheaps out on the reactor core?”
“Rich people.” I said and she gave me a look, then she started to laugh. “What?” I asked, knowing what she was going to say.
“You're rich... and you... bought it! Ha haha!” Gleas laughed.
I exaggeratedly rolled my eyes and my head to make her laugh more. “Kalina, takes us over to the next wreck on the list.”
“It's a couple of wrecks in, so I can't get too close.” Kalina said. “Can't we just mark it and skip it?”
“How's the next one look?”
Kalina had a happy expression at me accepting her suggestion, then she looked at the next location... then the next and the next... and she sighed.
“Now you know why I wanted a combat pilot.” I said. “Even I'm going to have a hard time...”
A beep came from the communications console and interrupted me. I hit the accept button and didn't even check who the call was from.
“Is this Hunter?” A hooded man's muffled voice asked.
“It depends on who is asking.” I said.
“We are members of the Chofaris Liberation and Independent Territories task group.” The man said. “You better listen to what I have to say, or else.”
“Or else what?” I asked.
“We hurt your future wife.” The hooded man said smugly.
Several thoughts ran through my mind at the speed of light and I weighed all of the possibilities, dismissed them because there was no way they could have captured Lashina, then I wondered who he was talking about.
“I see your confusion.” The man said. “You probably don't know who I'm talking about, so... how about a picture?” He held up a picture of the girl I had healed.
“Hailey.” I said and stopped myself from gritting my teeth when I felt a tug on my Presence.
“Oh, so you do remember her.” The man said. “Good. That makes this a lot easier.” He tossed the picture down. “We have her and we're going to keep her, unless you do exactly what we say.”
“Let her go.” I said. “She has nothing to do with whatever you have planned.”
“We can't let her go. She's our insurance policy.” The man said. “We tell you what to do, you do it, and then we'll let her go.”
I felt the Presence waver and leaned in close to the console. “I only have one question.” I said in a deadly voice. “Did you hurt her?”
The man chuckled. “She may have gotten a little banged up when...”
“Shut your filthy mouth.” I said and he jerked as I formed an invisible Presence Hand around his neck. “Harming a child, or allowing a child to be harmed, let's me know exactly what kind of people you are. So, I hope you're happy.” I let an evil grin spread across my face. “You now have my attention.” I said and squeezed the hand to make him choke a little and heard several yells. “I am coming for you.”
“Stop!” A woman's voice yelled. “We have the girl! If you don't free our friends...”
I made the hand solid and formed a layer of Presence around the hooded man and made it solid as well. “I am coming for you all.” I said and cut the connection.
“Oh, Hunter.” Gleas had tears in her eyes. “I'm so sorry.”
“Don't worry.” I said. “Kalina, change of plans. Get me to the planet right now.”
“Changing course.” Kalina said. “Invoking emergency status. Lanes clearing.”
“I'm sending the message to the military.” Gleas said. “Maybe they can trace it to the source.”
“That's okay. I know where I'm going.” I said. “I'm getting changed and then prepping the shuttle.”
“Hunter, you...” Gleas stopped talking when I disappeared.
I ran down to my room, changed into my powered armor and slipped on my blast shield, dropped off my bags of holding, in case they had another bomb in place, then dug through a bag of holding to clear it of everything except one item. I put the bag on my hip and then ran out of my room, down the stairs, and into the shuttle bay. I had the shuttle prepped and ready to take off a few minutes later.
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“We're approaching the planet.” Kalina said over the shuttle's communications console. “We have priority for geosynchronous orbit.”
“Put us over the main continent.” I said and opened the bay doors.
“Hunter, can you really find them without any directions?” Gleas asked, concern in her voice.
“You bet your sweet ass I can.” I said and she took in a sharp breath. “Apparently, I have a connection to Hailey. I'll be able to find her no matter where she is.”
“G-good l-luck.” Gleas stumbled over her words, because she had a difficult time hiding her surprise.
“Launching.” I said and took the shuttle out, then flew down towards the planet. I let the Presence guide me and I adjusted course appropriately and flew straight down towards her location. I flew the shuttle as quickly as it could go and even caused some heat buildup on the surface. If anyone was watching me on radar and lidar, which is radio precision location and laser precision location, and I was positive that several people were, it looked like I was in an uncontrolled crash situation.
I ignored the multiple com requests for my status, mainly because they would see it change in a couple of minutes. No one else I knew flew straight towards their destination, not even Rhubin. They all took a slightly circular route, as if they didn't want to go straight there, or to let people know where they were going in plenty of time for them to react. Well, that wasn't what I wanted at all.
I flew straight to where I needed to go and stopped the shuttle a mile above it. My detection range was two miles and I 'looked' down at the building that the people were holding Hailey in. I saw nine people in the building. Two on the top floor, one on the middle floor, three on the ground floor, and three in the basement, one of which was a glowing Presence that I recognized. Thankfully, the building was not wired with explosives, so I didn't have to hold back and dismantle them first.
I entered delayed commands for the shuttle to land on the street outside of the building, made sure it had lots of clearance for its flight path, then I opened the hatch and stepped out and held myself with levitation. I closed the hatch and the shuttle executed the set commands. I floated there and waited for the people inside the building to react. I chuckled as they freaked out at the sight of a shuttle with The Wave markings on the side of it as it landed in the street.
Four of them came out of the building, which left two people on the top floor and two people in the basement with Hailey. That was the best I was going to get, so I covered Hailey in solid Presence to protect her from any debris as I cancelled my levitation technique and dropped down through the air. I angled myself towards the right spot and covered myself with Presence in the shape of a missile and made it solid.
Gravity alone after a mile of height, slammed me into the ceiling with so much force that I crashed through the ceiling of the building, killed the two people on the top floor, then went down through the other two floors. I used my Levitation technique to catch myself just before I hit the basement floor.
“I'mmmm Heeeerrrreeee.” I said as the dust cloud spread out and I stood up, then I activated my Light sword and prepared to swing at the woman.
“She's my mother!” Hailey exclaimed and I stayed my hand. I nodded to her and used Presence to restrain her mother and covered her mouth. I walked over to the man I still had held with a Presence Hand and smiled.
“Close your eyes, Hailey.” I said and held my Light sword up to strike the man.
“No.” Hailey said. “I want to see.”
I gave her a look and I felt her resolve. “You know I don't do nice things all the time, don't you?”
Hailey nodded. “That's why I love you.” She said. “You're nice all the time, until you don't have to be.” She looked at the man. “He and the others took me and my mom when we went to the mall.”
“Your mom told him where you were.” I said.
Hailey took a breath and let it out, then looked at her mother. “I... I know.”
“I can't let them live.” I said and put the Light sword through the man's heart. “Threatening me is fine... threatening you is not.”
“I know.” Hailey said and looked back at the man and saw where my Light sword was. “But... my mother... she...”
“I'll make an exception for her, if she tells me everyone else who is involved.” I said and pulled my Light sword out of the man and then decapitated him. Hailey didn't flinch; but, her mother let out a sob and started crying. “I'll be right back. I need to take care of the others.”
“Okay.” Hailey said and I used Presence Run to go up the stairs and outside to the shuttle.
One of the men noticed me standing there. “Get him!” He shouted and started to fire his laser pistol. It bounced off of my personal shield and I walked towards him. The others tried to shoot me as well and it didn't slow me down at all. I used a Presence Hand to crush his hand and pulled the gun to myself, then I shot them in the legs. I took each of their guns, disabled their grenades, then dragged them all back inside and into the basement. I dropped the four men on the floor and a few of them yelled in pain as their legs folded under them when they tried to stand.
“So, are you ready to talk?” I asked Hailey's mother.
Her eyes darted to the men on the floor around me and she nodded. I absorbed the Presence over her mouth and she told me what I wanted to know. I could hear Hailey's thoughts and her respect for her mother dropped considerably as she went on about the organization she was involved in.
“Why?” Hailey asked when her mother was done.
“You're too young to understand.” Her mother said.
“Then tell me why.” I said and she shok her head slightly.
“Mom! You are so stupid!” Hailey exclaimed.
“Hailey!” Her mother exclaimed back. “It's not nice to call people stupid!”
“But you are!” Hailey said loudly. “Hunter healed me! He helped me!” She said. “He would have helped you!”
“No, he wouldn't.” Her mother said. “He already had one of our groups arrested.”
Hailey gasped. “H-Hunter, is... is that true?”
“Only for piracy, because they tried to hijack my ship.” I said.
“WHAT?!?” Hailey yelled. “MOMMM!”
“We needed his ship for...”
“You are so STUPID!” Hailey yelled.
“Hailey.” Her mother started to get angry. “I just told you not to say that.”
“You could have just asked him!” Hailey said. “He helps people in need! He always has!”
“There's no way that...”
“He knows the president! He knows the admiral! He knows all those stuffy suit guys, too!” Hailey said. “Even if he said he wouldn't let you take the ship, he could talk to them for you!”
Her mother couldn't argue that they weren't good points. “I can't ask him now.”
“No, you can't.” I said and looked Hailey over. “They handled you pretty roughly.” I said and touched her arm to use Presence Heal on her.
Hailey felt the tingle go through her and her bruises faded after a few seconds. “Hunter, what are you going to do?”
“I'm going to hunt them all down, of course.” I said. “Should I kill them all so that they won't try to take you again, or should I have them all arrested and they might get out and try to hurt you?”
Hailey looked at me with wide eyes.
“I'm sorry.” I said and rubbed her head with my hand. “When I healed you, I didn't think people would target you because of me.”
“It's all right. You rescued me.” Hailey said and then smiled. “I felt you looking for me.”
“Like I told my pilots, I apparently have a connection with you.” I said and she reached up and touched my head, so I bent down and let her rub my head, too. “Let's get you out of here.”
Hailey held up her arms and I raised my eyebrows at her. “Please?”
I sighed dramatically to make her laugh, then I picked her up in a princess carry, with an arm under her back and one under her knees. She put her arms around my neck and I used Presence to pick up her restrained mother.
“You can't just leave us here.” One of the men said and reached for me.
“I wasn't going to.” I said and walked past him. “No one touches my future wife.” I said and used Presence to crush their hearts. They all gasped and died immediately. The sound covered both Hailey's and her mother's gasps. Her mother was shocked at my words and Hailey was overjoyed at the acknowledgement. The thing was, when the hooded man had told me he had my future wife captive, the Presence hadn't wavered even a little bit, which meant I couldn't deny it.
I walked out of the building and carried a very happy Hailey in my arms and her disgruntled mother with a Presence Hand. When I reached the street, two military shuttles landed beside mine. Two squads of troops disembarked and ran over to me.
“How many are left inside?” The one in the lead asked. He had the marks of a major on his collar.
“Alive? None.” I said. “I have all of the names and locations of the rest of them if you want them.”
The major nodded and waved someone out of the shuttle he came from while he sent a couple of his men into the building. A stern looking woman came out of the shuttle and she wore a military uniform that looked more like an business suit than anything else. She pulled out a datapad and I gave her the names, aliases, and addresses of everyone that was a member of the Clofaris Liberation and Independent Territories task groups. I refrained from making a joke about the name, because I knew she wouldn't appreciate it for the hilarity that it was.
“I didn't tell you all of that!” Hailey's mother exclaimed and the major and stern woman gave her a very discerning look. “Oh, damn.” She said. She had completely missed that I hadn't given her name in that list and realized she just gave herself away.
“I'm sorry, Hailey.” I whispered to the girl I still held in my arms.
“You did your best to save her.” Hailey whispered back as they handcuffed her mother.
“What about...”
“He left years ago.” Hailey said, her voice sad.
“Does he know...”
“Yes. He saw the news.” Hailey responded and didn't elaborate.
I didn't have to read her thoughts to know what she wanted, especially since she didn't have any other family to take care of her. “I guess you can stay with me until...”
“THANK YOU!” Hailey yelled and kissed me. She held it for five seconds, then broke the kiss and stared at me like she did something wrong. “I... I mean... thank you for... rescuing me, and...”
The stern woman that took my deposition chuckled and we all looked at her. “She's even cuter in person.”
“I think someone might have a short hair fetish.” I said and Hailey giggled. I turned to the major holding her mother's arm. “What are you going to do with the list?”
“We'll have it sent to the base and coordinate a simultaneous strike, just like we did with the data from your shuttle to catch the others.”
“I'm tempted to offer to help; but, I'd just get in your way.” I said. “I don't know your procedures or your protocols for that kind of thing.”
“I thought you said you were going to hunt them down for me.” Hailey said as she looked at me.
“Despite my hero status, I can't be in multiple places at once.” I said. “If the military fails to get any of them, though...”
“We'll get them.” The stern woman said and her face was back to the stern look. “No one has escaped capture yet.”
“Would you mind if I stuck around to see that?” I asked.
She glanced at the major, who shrugged. “I don't have any objections, as long as you remain an observer.”
“I promise not to do anything, unless someone needs me to step in.” I said. “Assuming I can watch everything in real time, that is.”
The stern woman widened her eyes for a moment, then nodded.
“Back to base.” The major ordered, and everyone loaded back up onto the shuttles.
“I'm right behind you.” I said and carried Hailey to my shuttle.