The Elarri Heist (Plundering the Stars Book 1) Read online

  Well, I didn’t want to have to think of that. Because we simply couldn’t think that way.

  Once the good-byes were through, the others waved us off. I grabbed Jinx by the elbow and led her away until we disappeared from the hangar and into the hot Elarri morning. Shops were already set up and people were already going about their days. Merchants shouted and people gossiped, and children ran and played along the streets. I caught the tune of a rhyme some of them were singing that I hadn’t heard since childhood.

  It was strangely warming to know that our cultures, despite our dislike, shared some things.

  We walked along in silence for a while, content to just enjoy each other’s presence and take in the bustle of the capital. I didn’t have much to say anyway. What more could be said? We knew how important this was, knew how dangerous and risky it was. I knew how capable Jinx was, and she knew her own abilities. I had to trust that she would get the job done. She’d never let me down before, and I had no reason to doubt her now.

  A few blocks from the manor, we came to a stop. I pulled my hood lower. It was unlikely that any Elexae thugs would be looking for me here of all places, but no need to test that theory.

  Jinx and I settled into a dark alley right off the main road. She sighed and held the straps of her pack tightly. “Well, here I go.”

  I looked her over, memorizing every detail in case…well, in case. “Yeah, here you go. Have your forged papers and your backstory?”

  “You know it, boss.”

  I smiled. “Good.” We took a moment to just smile at each other. “Well, I guess I should let you get to it.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good luck in there and stay safe, Jinx. I don’t… I don’t know—”

  She silenced me by leaning in and kissing me on the cheek, close enough that the corner of her lips grazed my own.

  “I know, Yan.” She started past me and went into the street. Then she paused, looked back, and smiled. “I’ll see you.”

  And then she was gone, and my heart thumped, wishing she’d come back. I took a deep breath. She would be fine. Everything would be fine. She would get the info we needed, and the heist would go off without a hitch and we’d all live happily ever after like in those old fairy tales.

  Yeah, that was what I told myself so I didn’t go insane.

  I made my way back to the Diego. Time to play the waiting game.

  13

  Five days we waited to get in touch with Jinx. She wouldn’t contact us from a holo or comm device, of course. That would be much too risky. No, she would meet me and Amara at our predetermined rendezvous point. But it was nerve-wracking waiting to see her. Not just for the all-important information that she would hopefully possess, but with every passing moment that she stayed in that big ole house, I grew more worried.

  She was, after all, a wanted criminal just like me. Only much less so. But the possibility of her being recognized existed. At least she wasn’t wanted by the Elexaes.

  The rest of the crew and I didn’t sit around and twiddle our thumbs, of course. Pivek ran through all the possible things that Xarren could have on his vault: retinal scan, fingerprint analyzer, voice key, passcode, etc., There was a myriad of options, and Pivek was coming up with solutions to all of them.

  Meanwhile, K just kept us moving through the capital system, taking boom tubes between planets. As bumpy as those rides were, it was near-impossible to track someone in one, plus it was good to keep moving. We all knew that it was a matter of time before some authorities ran some sort of scan of our vessel and have a ping come back as stolen.

  Rowan and I memorized the layout of the manor and spent too many hours staring at the blueprints until we knew every inch, every dark corner and hidden passageway. Timing would be key, so we had to have the fastest routes down. Then we went over the guard schedules and rotations. That was more important for Rowan so he could be on the right rotation to knock out the security center. Once I had the power out, it wouldn’t matter what the schedule was because it would be chaos.

  Once that was done, Amara demonstrated the proper techniques to cut out the EMP from my hip so I didn’t lose too much blood or cause any permanent damage. It would be embedded right beneath the top layer of skin, but still, she wouldn’t take any chances. For once, I kept my mouth shut and listened intently. I would, after all, be cutting myself open. That wouldn’t be fun.

  So, the five days went by in a slow slog, but we were prepared, and dare I say it, ready for the heist. We had backup plans for if the security system didn’t go off or if Xarren’s vault only housed large, physical wealth too heavy to move by ourselves. That would involve some improvisational drilling on Amara’s part and having to rent a ground speeder, but we’d come to that problem if we had to.

  Personally, I was hoping his vault would just contain a server farm filled with his digitized wealth. That would be so simple. I probably wasn’t that lucky, though.

  At the end of the fifth day when Jinx’s shift was supposed to end, we boom tubed from a small mining base on one of the several gas giants that occupied the capital system and made our way back to Elarra.

  My worry built the closer we got until we exited the boom tube with a terrible, turbulent jolt that knocked around a bunch of things all throughout the ship. Thankfully, everything important had been secured.

  K brought us down to the same spaceport we landed at to drop off Jinx five days ago. The ship hadn’t powered down and the loading ramp wasn’t even fully extended before I was halfway down it and out of the ship. Amara was behind me, but I could feel the roll of her eyes that all my actions caused.

  “Calm down, Yan. She’ll be there.”

  “Maybe I’m just excited to walk through the city?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  We strode through the streets with purpose, mingling with the many people as they went home from work as the sun set over the capital. It was still blistering hot, and before long we were both drenched in sweat, though Amara’s jade skin didn’t glisten quite the same as mine. After a while, we found a long alley that disappeared into shadows between a grav-tech repair store and a rundown clothing outlet.

  I led us down it, then to the turn at the end and finally came to a stop. There was a small etching of star over a cracked window in front of me. Something about it made me pick this spot as the rendezvous.

  So I leaned against the wall, Amara next to me, and waited. And waited. And waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  Finally, I groaned and snapped, “She’s taking way too long. She should be here by now.”

  “Relax, Yan, I’m sure she’s fine,” Amara said, sounding way too calm and reasonable. Now she wanted to be the optimistic one? How the heck did that happen?

  I wasn’t ready to be calm. Jinx was supposed to be here half an hour ago. That was cause for alarm. Other jobs I wouldn’t have been so worried, but for this? No, I was going to be a high-strung mess. “But you don’t know that!” I squealed, my voice cracking embarrassingly. “What if Xarren caught her? What if she’s in his dungeon right now? What if—”

  Amara smacked me hard across the face with enough force to whirl me around and knock me to the floor. Which for her was nothing because, with her Zarthian strength, she could have had me through the wall beside me.

  “Calm down!” she hissed. “Thinking like that, assuming the worst, for one, is a terrible look on you, and two, is not helping either of us right now. So get it together, you stupid Goon, or I’ll slap you on the other cheek.”

  I laughed as I struggled to my feet. “Please do. I need to even out the feeling in my face.”

  “Ugh.”

  So, we waited for another ten minutes. Despite what Amara said, I couldn’t help the worry that mounted in my mind with each passing second. I did a better job of controlling my mouth and body from acting on my concern, but that didn’t keep my brain from screaming at me to do something.
<
br />   Just when I was about to crack again, I heard it. Footsteps coming down the alley around the corner. Steady, soft, determined, fast. Could it be? Could it be?

  It was. Jinx.

  She was winded, her golden cheeks red and sweaty, her hair plastered to her forehead. She smiled at us, so innocent.

  “Sorry for being late. There was a terrible mess in the kitchens right when the night staff was to come on and we had to stay behind and clean it up. I got here as fast as I could without arousing too much attention. I hope I didn’t make you worry—”

  I cut her off with a hug. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pinned her to me. “I don’t care. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  Jinx blinked at me, lips pressed into a line. Her gaze flitted to Amara. “So, he worried?”

  “Oh yes, he worried.”

  I released her and stepped back, letting her breathe. “Forgive me for showing concern. You were in the den of a monster for five days, for saints’ sake.”

  Jinx chuckled and returned my hug with a brief squeeze. “I appreciate the concern. I just hope it didn’t keep you up at night.”

  “N-no, it didn’t.”

  It had.

  “So, did you get what you needed?” Amara asked. Practical as always, asking the questions that needed asking.

  A wicked smile spread across Jinx’s face. “Oh, I got what we needed. Pivek won’t even have to do a thing.”

  Amara and I shared a glance. We wanted Jinx to elaborate, but she just kept smiling, walked past us, and waved for us to follow her. Sometimes, she was a little minx. Jinx the minx. I was surprised I hadn’t thought of that earlier.

  She led us back to the ship where she gathered us all together so she could give us her report. The rest of us waited anxiously while she washed her face. She made a show of it, though, and took her time. Something I would definitely do just to annoy everyone. Huh, so that’s what that feels like.

  “Jinx!” Amara snapped.

  Jinx whipped around with a smile and dried her face with a towel. “Right! So, you’re probably all wondering why I gathered you here.”

  Several groans. I just smiled like a proud parent. Amara glared at me and leaned in to whisper into my ear. “I blame you for passing on your bad habits.”

  I shrugged and kept on grinning like the cheeky git I was.

  “Anyway. So, you’ll be happy to know that Xarren’s vaunted bio-encryption system he uses to keep out us unwanted thieves is a simple fingerprint scanner, and I…” She trailed off as she dug into her bag and pulled out a small, clear bag with a cotton swab inside. “Got his thumb print!”

  “Holy hell,” Rowan muttered.

  ‘Impressive,’ Pivek signed. ‘Do you know it’s his thumb, though?’

  She nodded. “He had me cleaning his sitting room. Several of us servants had access to it, but only he had access to his bedroom. I saw him use his thumb print on the door to his quarters. I dusted it and here we are.”

  “But the vault?” I asked.

  “I spoke to this little Elarri girl that he has cleaning the vault approach. Never the inside of course, but the hall and the vault door itself. Xarren is very peculiar about cleanliness. I asked her about the door, and she told me that it had the same fingerprint-reading device as the bedroom door.”

  ‘We still don’t know if he uses his thumb for certain.’

  Jinx shrugged. “If need be, I can dust for additional prints tomorrow.”

  Pivek nodded. ‘I suppose that will do.’

  “We’re lucky that it’s a simple print scanner and not a retinal or voice scanner,” I said.

  ‘There are many other more extreme measures he could have taken. It’s very surprising that it’s this simple system.’

  Amara crossed her arms. “He’s an arrogant man. Doesn’t think anyone would dare steal from him. Why pay for a state-of-the-art vault security program when no one would dare cross you anyway?”

  “Well then, we’ll use that arrogance to our advantage.”

  “And we’ll rob him blind,” Jinx chimed with a grin.

  “And we’ll all be rich!”

  We all whooped and cheered. Everything inside me wanted to celebrate now, but I knew we still had a lot of work to do. I was curious as to what the others wanted with the money. We all had our reasons. They just never deemed it necessary to divulge them to me. Would they want to come with Jinx and I after? I didn’t know, though I hoped. That would be a question to ask once we were victorious.

  “So, we have everything we need?” Rowan asked.

  “Seems so,” added Amara.

  “You’re welcome.” Jinx grinned.

  Pivek signed rapidly, his movements cautious. ‘There are still contingencies we should go over. There’s a lot that can go wrong and even more things that we can’t possibly anticipate. We have to be ready for as many possibilities as we can.’

  “Whatever issue arises, we’ll handle it,” Jinx said with a determined smile that made me feel all kinds of warm. It was rare to see her so bold, but I felt like her new dream to hunt down slavers was driving her. I liked this side of her.

  I put an arm around her shoulders and smiled ear to ear. “Let’s go over the plan again, just so we’re safe. Then, tonight, we drink, feast, and drink some more. Because the day after tomorrow, we undergo the greatest heist of our lives!”

  Screw the waiting, I popped open the bottle of yalen. They all cheered.

  14

  The day of the heist finally arrived.

  After months—no, years—of dreaming and planning this, in secret and in front of my friends, the time had finally come. No more waiting, no more dreaming and hoping and wondering what-ifs. It was today. It would end today, one way or another. If I was to die, then so be it, but it would end today.

  But I didn’t want to think like that. Had to stay positive. Being a worrisome mess would get any thief caught.

  We orbited Elarra, adrift amid the space traffic around us. My crew gathered around the kitchen, and I poured each of us some wine. Nothing too strong since we had work to do soon, but it was the calm before the storm, and we were going to spend it together as a family.

  Jinx prepared a large meal for us all, roasted meat and fish and bugs from across the stars, some veggie soup and grainmeal, several courses of appetizers that we all pitched in with. Fried cocin balls and smothered bellbird marinated in redpear sauce. It was quite the spread and the sort of feast that was few and far between for us. Our meals were usually fast and light and not very luxurious due to the constraints of our profession. But this was, perhaps, the last time we’d be able to do this, though no one wanted to admit that out loud.

  We passed around a couple bottles of wine, but none of us drank too much. Being drunk and/or hungover was not something we needed today. Still, it was nice to have that warmth in my skin. It brought a smile to my lips.

  Stories were swapped, many of which we’d all been present for, recapping our very best heists. That time I snuck into a Hegemony Courthouse and erased the criminal records of every Goon in the system, and then, for good fun, freed all the prisoners being held below. They still blamed that on the mysterious “Hack Hive.”

  Jinx retold her best story of when she seduced half a dozen Elarri politicians who thought she was one of the workers at the pleasure house she was hitting. They ended up all drugged and tied up, and her with the contents of their purses. That had been a good day and earned us a nice engine upgrade for the Sanara.

  Amara told stories of her rebel days, some of which involved K, who even volunteered his own tales, though he wasn’t very good at emoting. Pivek wasn’t a thief like us, but he told us about his brothers who had been bank robbers once upon a time. Pivek had been their supplier. They’d been very successful until they got pinched by some Free Systems bounty hunters. They were still being held in a dungeon somewhere. So now we knew what Pivek was going to use his money for.

  We kept on telling tales for several hours un
til all the food was eaten, and the bottles of wine were empty. We were all nearing the point of being drunk. Well, at least Rowan and I were. Goons didn’t have the best metabolism when it came to alcohol. The others could stomach a lot more.

  It was time to call it. In an hour or two, we’d be heading down planet-side for the heist, so we needed to clean up and sober up. Not that I was drunk. I felt warm and my head swam only slightly, but otherwise, I was fine. I helped Jinx clean the dishes and kitchen while the others gathered their things for the heist. Pivek climbed down to his workshop to do whatever it was he needed to do. K returned to the cockpit.

  I stood next to Jinx. She handed me a plate, and I washed it. We didn’t say anything, just content to stand next to each other, shoulder to shoulder.

  “You ready for tonight?” she asked me after several minutes of silence.

  “Ready to turn myself over to one of the most ruthless crime bosses in the galaxy, get beaten, and then cut myself open?”

  She nodded, her lips pursed.

  “Yeah, I’m as ready as I can be.”

  “I’d give you tips on getting beat up, but you have plenty of experience in that department.”

  “Oh, ha-ha, Jinxie.”

  She smiled wide.

  We continued to clean in silence. It felt like there was a lot that needed to be said, but neither of us found the words, so we kept on in silence until everything was clean. Jinx wiped her hands.

  “We’re going to be okay, right?”

  I put a hand on her shoulder. “You bet your pretty little head we will.” And then a red alert started sounding throughout the ship. “Unless whatever that is kills us.” We wasted no time in sprinting to the cockpit. The others joined us moments later.

  “What’s happening, K?” I asked. He simply pointed out the window. It was obvious what he was referring to.

  An Elarri Imperial Cruiser loomed over us. A searchlight suddenly snapped on and illuminated the Diego. It was nauseatingly bright.