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

  But I wasn’t what most would call cautious. So I was going to rob him.

  That wouldn’t be easy, but finding Baron Valrude’s access code to Xarren’s estate would be a good first step to making the heist easier.

  This was all in a series of jobs to get me and my crew what we needed to pull off the heist of Xarren’s personal vault. Rowan got us the info about this access code, and Jinx had been the one to steal the code to this office. And of course, Rowan had found out how to get that too. Just theft after theft. Keeping us busy. I loved it.

  I sat at the baron’s desk. Data-pads and old paper books littered its surface. The books had to be centuries old, since using paper was pretty destructive and obsolete. I ignored it all, though. It was doubtful that the baron had the code simply written down or stashed on one of these data-pads just lying in the open. No, it would be hidden on his console, which was why our mechanic Pivek had made me a hacker-spike.

  I fished it out of the pack at my hip. It was a jagged cylinder that looked like… Well, it was a spike. I turned on the console and jammed the end of the spike into the first access port I could find. It clicked and secured into place. The console screen went blue, and Elarri code began to stream up and down the screen at a rapid pace that my eyes couldn’t keep up with. Though even if they did, I knew next to nothing about this sort of stuff.

  There was a download bar on a tiny screen on the side of the spike that began to fill as it syphoned off all the data it could from Valrude’s console. We’d get a lot more than the access codes to Xarren’s estate, but that was the priority. Pivek had explained that some hacker-spikes were precise enough to pinpoint exactly what you wanted and retrieve it within seconds. But we didn’t have the money for one, and Pivek only had enough materials to fashion me a basic one.

  This one was perfectly adequate for me.

  While I waited, I stood and crossed the room to an ornate side table against the wall that had a fancy glass decanter and a bottle of yalen. Real high class, swanky stuff. The bottle probably cost more than my entire outfit. I uncorked it and winced at the potent stench that wafted out. I was used to cheap bar swill, and yalen smelled more rank the older and better it got. This was near enough to knock me on my butt. So it must’ve been good.

  I poured myself a glass. There was a freezer full of ice beneath the table, and I knew that rich folk usually drank yalen with ice, but us commoners liked it warm.

  However, I felt like a blueblood in these clothes. I had an image to uphold, so I took a few cubes from the freezer and dropped them in. Then I took a sip, and it felt like I was slapped across the face, in the best way possible.

  This was so much better than any alcohol I’d ever had. It was an experience of its own, a war between sweet and sour, bitterness and a rich, velvet softness in my throat. My vision swayed almost immediately at the sheer level of alcohol content. I shook my head and gripped the table.

  “By the saints,” I breathed. That was something.

  My head cleared. I took the glass with me back to the desk, where I leaned back in the chair and kicked up my feet as I waited, relaxing like I owned the place. The spike was still downloading the data, though it was nearly through. Once it was, I was out of there.

  I took a tentative sip—a small one, so I wouldn’t lose my head again. Even so, it was a kick, but manageable.

  I raised the glass again to my lips when the pounding of footsteps roared toward me. It was only then that I noticed the blinking red light. Ugh, Yan, rookie mistake.

  Not good.

  There was a rush of conversation outside the door as they checked the dead body. Then came the beeps of the door-code being entered, and finally, it slid free with a whoosh. In streamed five very large, very angry Elarri men.

  Each was muscular and imposing, the various white tattoos twirling around their umber skin. They all wore the same Lavi armor as the one I’d killed, and they each brandished grav-swords, longer than the small one my victim had used. They hummed in the silence as they sneered at me, their eyes taking in the scene.

  Just then, the hacker-spike dinged. Download complete.

  One of the guards stepped forward. He had a square nose and deep black eyes that looked ghostly in the light. He was about to speak, probably something menacing, a threat or a promise of my imminent death, but I’d heard all that before.

  I stood and pulled the spike free, placing it back in my pack.

  “Good evening, gentlemen. I’d offer you a drink, but sadly, I gotta run.” I punctuated that with a sip of yalen. I grimaced but kept my cool.

  The lead guard snarled and raise his grav-sword. “Do you have any idea of who you’re stealing from?

  “No,” I scoffed. “I just happened in here by chance. Thought this was the lavatory.”

  The guard’s face flushed. “You will face the consequences of—”

  “I’m certainly not stealing from you. I doubt you could afford a single glass.”

  With that, I took another sip.

  “That’s it,” he spat. “We were going to bring you to Lord Valrude, but now, I think we’ll just space you.”

  “That’ll be hard to do since, you know, we’re not in space.”

  He didn’t respond to that. The guard advanced on me, but I was quick. As he neared and swung, I sidestepped his blade and brought the glass to his face, where it shattered. He screamed and recoiled as bits of glass got caught in his cheek.

  Then things got fast. I hopped over the desk and console, but I was not even over it when the next guard was on me, sword raised in mid-swing. I only had enough time to swivel around, grab the desk, and slide beneath it. The grav-sword hummed and whooshed as it sliced effortlessly through the desk. The tip of it sliced the nape of my neck and shoulder blade.

  I yelped, but I pushed up without hesitation. I spun back around, took hold of the data-pads, and tossed them at anyone that moved. There must have been valuable things on them, because the guards were trying to catch them. That was just the opening I needed. And I didn’t need much.

  The guards were blocking the door, so I went to the side table with the yalen and threw the glasses at them. They were heavy, expensive, and there were six of them, so my ammo was limited, but it would do. Strength wasn’t necessarily a virtue of mine, but I could put enough behind my throws, and I liked to think I was accurate.

  I threw them all.

  The glasses exploded all around the guards. As they squealed and cursed, I grabbed the bottle of yalen and took off.

  As they fumbled to see through the shards, blood, and pain, I squeezed between two of the them. Hands grabbed at me, and one ripped my shirt and nearly took my head off, but I shimmied free and was out of the office and in the long hallway.

  “See you later, boys!” I called over my shoulder as I took off at a sprint.

  They, however, weren’t deterred for long and were on my tail before I was five steps beyond the corpse. They tore after me, angry curses filling the air, the bloodlust palpable.

  It just made me laugh. I always laughed at danger. Sanity wasn’t my strong suit, either.

  The hallway opened into the main room. Music still played and beautiful women still sauntered about at the beck and call of the patrons. That all ended when I came onto the scene. I dodged bodies well, but when the guards came behind me, tossing tables and brandishing swords, I had to get a little physical. I’m ashamed to admit that I may have knocked over one of the working girls.

  I’d need to buy her a drink to apologize one day.

  The guards were numerous, but they were slow, and there were a lot of people to contend with. Me, not so much. I was nimble. I slid under tables and spun around startled workers and patrons. I vaulted over a table between two large Navegs, their bulky frames and reptilian eyes glaring at me. I swiped one of their shots and downed it as I came to a sprint. The burn was awful, probably poison, but it cleared my vision.

  I got to the end of the room, where the booths and tables ended, an
d it was just empty space to the door.

  Almost there.

  Four steps, three steps, two, one…

  I burst free into the muggy Elarri night. The beautiful bouncer from earlier flailed back at the suddenness of it, making her look far more vulnerable than I ever could have imagined her. When she got her wits about her, she furrowed her brows and went to speak, but I’d already passed her.

  “Have a good night, love,” I called. “I promise to come visit you.”

  As she fumbled for words, I jumped into the crowded streets.

  This was my best camouflage. Amid the hundreds of people from dozens of species, I was invisible. I pulled down what was left of my hood and walked casually next to some large monks. Their robes were brown and worn, and each of them was over seven feet tall and had avian-like legs peeking out. Not sure what species they were, but they provided good cover.

  I crossed my arms and huddled into myself. I uncorked the yalen, took it a long swig, and let the effects knock me around. The appearance of drunkenness was needed, so I staggered a bit.

  And to be honest, the alcohol really helped with the pain. My back was slick with blood, but that was something that could be dealt with later.

  I held my breath as the guards searched through the crowds. They got closer and closer, their hot, angry words making my skin itch as they approached.

  They were upon me. I held my breath, and the bottle tight in my grip, ready to swing.

  One of them bumped me but kept going. Maybe they couldn’t see well in the dark. I mean, it wasn’t too dark, but I was a creature of the night, so my eyes was used to it. Maybe theirs weren’t. All of them streamed passed, pushing people and yelling, though they never looked back.

  “Thank goodness. I’m gonna need to drink this whole bottle tonight.”

  Once the mobsters were well up the street, I ducked into the nearest alley. There was an older Elarri man huddled against the wall, wearing a long cloak. It was ratty and motheaten, but it would cover my blood. I stripped off my own overshirt and cloak and tossed it to him, along with a few digits. He blinked at me as he caught them, silent questions filling the air.

  “I need your cloak. Here’s something for your trouble.”

  “O-okay…”

  And our transaction was complete.

  I pulled on the old man’s cloak, which smelled like vomit. It would do.

  It was time to meet up with my friends. I hoped they had gotten their jobs done too, and with a lot less trouble than what I went through.

  I headed west to the outer edges of the district, down the sloping and twisting streets, behind crappy buildings that leaned against each other. So far down that you couldn’t see the lights from the Diamond District.

  Not that they mattered to me.

  It took almost an hour for me to get back, what with having to dodge patrols, both mobster and imperial. I was a wanted man after all, and my injuries didn’t help matters. Finally, our rendezvous spot came into view when I rounded a corner. The Gold Moon Motel. There was nothing golden about it.

  The motel was a nondescript monstrosity, all cold metal and blue lights that were barely bright enough to light the dark. I wasn’t a fan of it, because the sides were too smooth, with no handholds and no nearby rooftop, since the canal and streets were just empty space around it. So if we had to escape, it wasn’t ideal. But Rowan had insisted.

  I walked past the front office, having already stolen a key a few hours ago. Jinx had rented a room, but it cost more to get multiple keycards and I didn’t know who would get back first.

  There was a grav-lift at the end of the hall, all purple glows and bubble sounds. I stepped into it and let the gentle current carry me up. It wasn’t the most efficient way to change floors, but it felt like I was floating in a pool, so it was the most comfortable. On the third floor, I grabbed the nearest bar to stop myself. I hauled my body out of the lift and onto solid ground.

  The hall was silent and deserted, only just-barely lit by lunar lights. Moon moths fluttered around one of them that flickered ominously.

  I made my way down to our meetup, room 311. There were some whispers from the other side, but they ceased when I stopped in front of the door. I hoped that meant my friends were inside, but it was never bad to be cautious. With one hand I fingered the key card and unlocked the door. In the other, I held my bottle like a weapon.

  I needed to get a knife or a blaster.

  The keycard worked. The door clicked open with a beep and I stepped into a dimly-lit, dingy room.

  “Hello?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s about time, you idiot,” said the most angelic voice in my life.

  A lamp clicked on, bathing the room in light, and there was my best friend Jinx, in all of her beauty—eyes like amethyst, glinting in the light. She beamed at me.

  I smiled back. “Let’s get down to business.”

  2

  I collapsed with a ragged sigh into a chair near the bed in the middle of the room. I wiped the sweat from my face and hair, though it didn’t do much more than just make my hands slick and gross.

  Jinx watched me the whole time, head tilted slightly as she bit her lip and took in my appearance. Her concern became obvious as her gemstone eyes found the blood and bruises that covered me.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” I told her with a pained smirk.

  She huffed and put her hands on her hips. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  Jinx strode over to me in two long, hip-swaying steps before she knelt before me. She frowned and looked me over closely, placing a hand on the back of my neck and pulling me forward so she could get a better look, but even that small act made me wince. A fact she did not miss. Her gaze found me again, eyebrow arched.

  “Things didn’t go so smoothly, I take it?” she asked.

  “Am I that obvious?”

  She snorted and rolled her eyes. Her fingers traced the bruises along my jaw, which made my fine hairs stand on edge. Her touch was gentle, probing, but not soft. Never soft. Those hands were rough, callused. Testament to a childhood in slavery. A life I rescued her from. On instinct, my eyes flitted to the puffy mess of burn scars around her neck, a constant reminder of the collar once branded there.

  “This cut isn’t too deep, but it will need some stitches,” she declared, pulling away from me and straightening.

  I leaned back against the chair as carefully as I could. “I don’t suppose you have any on you?”

  A shake of the head. “Nope. But I’m sure Amara can fix you up with some bio-gel. I do have some bandages to staunch the bleeding for now.”

  “Okay,” I said with a nod. I brought the bottle of yalen to my lips and gave it a swig. It swirled my senses. “Do what you gotta do.”

  She gave me a long look of appraisal, accompanied by a tsk-tsk, and then got to work on the wound along my neck and shoulder blades. She grabbed a role of basic bandages from her pack and began to undo the wrappings. Bio-gel was the best option—it grafted to the skin and would close wounds in seconds, becoming like a part of the skin—but it was expensive, so we couldn’t afford to just carry it around.

  So, we used bandages and stitches in a pinch. We could afford a ship but couldn’t afford state of the art medical care.

  Well… That wasn’t necessarily true. I’d stolen our ship, and if I could afford the best medicine, I wouldn’t be trying to steal from the most ruthless crime boss in Elarri space.

  Jinx helped me pull my shirt free of my torso, though raising my arms and getting it over my head proved to be a chore that was not at all fun. It left me panting and drenched in sweat, grimacing so bad that I feared my face would be stuck with the expression for the rest of my days. Maybe my injury was worse than I thought.

  “Sorry, Yan,” Jinx said with a sympathetic smile. She positioned herself behind me and started to wrap the bandages around my chest, neck, and shoulder as gently as she could, although it was still a lot of pain. “So,” she began, “how did
this mess happen?”

  “I don’t know what you mean. Everything went off according to plan.”

  She snorted. “Yan…”

  I snickered. “Fine, fine.” So, I told her about the brothel, and the bouncer, and the guard that I killed, and about what I found in Baron Valrude’s office. Jinx sucked in a breath when I told her of the Elarri mobster I had to kill, but she let me continue. She didn’t like killing any more than I did. In fact, having grown up in bondage and seeing many people she cared about killed, she had an even higher value for life than I did.

  When I was finished with the story, which was hard to tell through all my gasps and grimaces and flinching as my nurse tightened the bandages one last time, Jinx sighed and stepped away from me. Arms folded, she looked over her work. Her lips pressed into a flat line. Not quite a smile.

  “I’m glad you’re alright,” she whispered.

  I nodded and took a swig of the yalen. “Yeah, me too.”

  She came and sat down beside me on the bed, our legs touching. I handed her the bottle, which she took greedily and gave it a long gulp. That amount would have put me on the ground, but Torgorans had a much higher metabolism than my race and could handle their alcohol much better as a result. Still, a few more like that and she’d be down for the count.

  She took another sip and handed the bottle back to me before leaning back on her palms. As usual, she was radiant without trying. Her people’s golden skin shone in the flickering light, like Morbeen honey. Her long hair was tied back in a messy bun and seemed to flit between red and maroon with each flicker of the light.

  Her lips curled into a smile when she caught me looking at her. “What?”

  “Nothin’,” I said as I laid back on the bed. “Just wanted to make sure everything was still in place.”

  She arched one of her thick eyebrows. “And why would it not be?”

  “Well, you’re not as good a fighter as me.”