Space Raiders

Book 1: Space Raiders

by Ken Lozito

Genres: Space Exploration; Space Marines

Synopsis

After years of searching, Nathan Briggs is finally on the verge of finding the lost shipwreck. Unfortunately, the aliens have other plans.

When Nathan stops a brutal attack on an unsuspecting victim, he gets more than he bargained for and sets into motion events that will change his life forever. They told him he should’ve run away, and maybe they were right.

Nathan is about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.

Aliens are real. He has something they need, and they’re not the only ones hunting for it.

And while the aliens have advanced technology, they’re about to learn something. When the going gets tough, Nathan doesn’t give up, he just gets tougher.

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with Bestselling Author Ken Lozito in this brand new science fiction series. If you’re a fan of old school heroes and villains in a galaxy full of unknowns, then this might be the adventure for you.

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Release date: January 25, 2023

Publisher: Acoustical Books LLC

Print pages: 362

Sample

Chapter 1

Today was going to be a great day, I could just feel it. The bus I was on drove along the beige perimeter wall that kept the rest of the world out of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Islands of stark-white buildings clustered along the sprawling campus like steps on a path to Mount Olympus, and several elevated trams moved by, coming from a central receiving area at regular intervals. The edges of my lips lifted at the sight. A few of the other riders occasionally gazed out the tinted windows toward Remorox’s campus as if considering the weight of the world. There’d been another scandal in the news and another dip in the stock price, and thousands of employees were destined for more sensitivity training about the latest fad of alleged corporate values. I snorted a little. I didn’t care about big pharma’s mission. I was there to steal something from them—something that shouldn’t have been brought there to begin with.

“Hey, Nate! Bogey on your left,” Doc said through my earpiece.

I slowly turned my head and looked right into the honey-brown eyes of a young woman. Her long, wavy brown hair turned reddish towards the ends, and she sat with near-perfect poise. She wore an eggplant-colored business suit that fit well and complimented her smooth, tan skin.

I probably stared a second longer than I should have. “Good morning,” I said by way of greeting and nodded once.

She gave me a slight nod in return and smiled with half her mouth. Women always knew when a guy was checking them out. She pulled out her phone, and I spotted a text message on it. She read it with a thoughtful frown and began thumbing her reply.

“Ouch,” Doc said. “That was cold.”

I looked away from the woman with a slight roll of my eyes and rubbed my mouth. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

Doc grinned. “You did tell me I needed to laugh more.”

I grabbed the leather handle between the two rows of seats and held on as we turned onto the road leading to the security checkpoint. The bus was almost full, and a few people had their children with them. Remorox probably had an onsite daycare.

A phone started to ring, and the man standing next to me sighed explosively. He reached inside the breast pocket of his long, dark coat and answered the call.

“I’m on the bus right now and we’re just coming through the main entrance. Yeah, laugh it up.” His platinum Rolex flashed as he checked the time. “Just stall them. No, I doubt they can bypass the main entrance for me.” He then lowered his voice and turned aside as he answered, “No, I’m not going to tell them who I am. The pilot said the helicopter should be ready in a few hours, so we can still take them to lunch…”

I looked away from the executive, not wanting to listen to the conversation of a man who probably lived a life where everything was curated to his every whim. The helicopter had broken down and it would take too long for the other one to get there, so he’d bravely taken the company bus to reach campus. That thought made my lips lift a little. The man seemed to regard his surroundings as a tourist would and didn’t care that the other passengers could hear his conversation.

The bus turned and I bumped into him. His shocked stare became a scowl, as if I’d dirtied him somehow.

I shrugged. “Turn caught me by surprise.”

The man rolled his eyes and moved to stand farther away.

A small stuffed animal rolled to my feet, and I picked it up. It was a red dog, and a little boy glanced at me shyly. I extended the beloved animal toward its owner and said, “I think he misses you.”

The boy’s big brown eyes widened, and he smiled as he took it from my hand. Then he clutched the animal to his chest.

The boy’s father leaned toward his son. “What do you say to the nice man?”

The boy looked at me. “Thank you, sir.”

Sir…wow, someone was actually teaching their child proper manners. It was something I struggled with, but I wouldn’t cheapen the lad’s efforts by discounting it. I smiled and tipped my head down once.

“Touching,” Doc murmured.

I looked out the window, angling away from other people as much as I could. Then I pulled out a small black notebook that was impossible to hack in the age of constant online tracking. Holding it up to my ear, I said, “If the commentary doesn’t stop, I’m going to kick your ass, capisce?”

“Well, well. I struck a nerve.”

“No, I just don’t need the distraction.”

“I guess with the money coming my way, I can play along.”

I chuckled. “Keep telling yourself that. You know the deal. If you want to back out, just say the word. I’m sure Giada will understand when she gets the pictures.”

Doc wasn’t a good guy, but he was all I had to work with on such short notice.

“Sheesh. Who’s a grumpy bastard?”

The executive looked at me.

I gave him a knowing smile and rolled my eyes. “No, I already told you to put the anti-itch cream on it three times a day. It’s the only way to stop the flareup,” I said and paused for a second as if listening, then sighed. “I didn’t tell you to sleep with her. Well, that’s the price you pay.”

Doc kept quiet and the snob-meister looked away, which was what I wanted. I took the notebook away from my ear and stuffed it into my jacket pocket.

The bus stopped at the checkpoint, and a Remorox security guard climbed onto the bus. He was older, with dark skin, and looked as if he kept in shape.

“Good morning. Please show your IDs.”

The bus patrons lifted the lanyards that held their corporate identifications, and the security guard scanned them with his tablet. As people were cleared, they were invited off the bus.

The snob-meister cursed, searching for his ID. “I don’t know what happened to it. I had it just a second ago.”

The security guard’s gaze flicked toward the ground, and then he touched his earpiece. “I need an escort. I’ve got a potential employee with a lost ID.”

The man scowled. “Are you kidding me? I’m Maxwell Strong, Senior Vice President for Legal.”

Maxwell started to walk past the guard, but a heavily muscled arm blocked his path. “Sir, please. I can’t allow you to disembark without a security escort.”

“This is crazy! Don’t touch me! I’ll be late for an important meeting that will cost Remorox millions of dollars if I’m not there.”

“I’m very sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Strong, but no one is allowed onto—”

Maxwell sneered. “What are you going to do? Restrain me?”

“Sir, I need you to sit down.”

Maxwell glanced around, completely flabbergasted. I could tell he was considering just going forward, but the guard didn’t look as if he would hesitate to restrain Mr. VP in the slightest.

I cleared my throat and held up my card. “Is it all right if I go?”

The guard scanned it and then jerked his head over his shoulder.

I walked past him and looked at Mr. VP. “It’s just not your day today.”

I didn’t wait for a reply and stepped off the bus—just another corporate cog moving in the enormous wheel of anonymity.

“You didn’t use the ID I gave you?” Doc asked but then said, “You sly dog. You stole his, didn’t you?”

“He had it coming. Obnoxious jerk. The opportunity presented itself, and I decided it was too good to pass up.”

“The one I gave you would’ve worked, you know,” Doc said dejectedly.

“I’m sure it would’ve, but this was a lot more fun.”

“What did that guy ever do to you?”

I shrugged. “Nothing. He just reminded me of someone I used to know.”

More buses arrived, bringing people to work. Remorox bussed people in from a nearby parking garage. If the security guard hadn’t been so preoccupied with Mr. Maxwell Strong, he might have noticed that my face didn’t match the ID. There were always security weaknesses, and sometimes they were right where organizations expected them to be the strongest.

I followed the throng of people into a central terminal. Most people were heading to the main corporate center, but I veered off toward one of the trams to the R&D campus.

“No alarms have been raised,” Doc said, his voice businesslike.

I walked through the automatic doors to the tram. “Copy that,” I said quietly.

I glanced at the other people on the tram. Most of them had their heads down, staring at their smartphones. Some thumbed through the endless scrolls of their social medias of choice. Even corporations had their own internal social media designed to entice interaction and a feeling of community, but all it really did was give HR another device to use against the employees.

I shook my head a little, not missing my former life one bit.

The tram arrived at the R&D complex, and I walked inside an enormous atrium. Huge holographic displays showed the latest feel-good, affirming message designed to appeal to the employee base. I ignored it and walked toward the coffee bar where the barista barely hid her dismay because I didn’t have one of the frothy, overly processed swill some people mistook for coffee. A few moments later, she handed me a paper cup filled with plain black coffee. I’d tried the frothy sweet mixtures before and couldn’t stand them. I added some salt and a healthy serving of cream—the real stuff—and then made my way toward an open booth to the side.

Doc whistled. “Looks like a nice place. I wish I worked there.”

“You’re welcome to it. Want me to put in a good word?”

“Somehow I don’t think it’ll get me the job.”

There were eight open levels surrounding the area like an old shopping mall, except there were offices, conference rooms, and other work areas in place of the stores. There were two glass elevators fifty yards away, and across from them was a wide staircase that went around some kind of metallic modern-art sculpture. I stared at it for a second and realized it was a representation of the human genome, with soft twinkling lights at the ends of each base pair. The high ceiling above was transparent, showing clear blue skies and sunlight streaming in toward the far corner away from me.

I pulled out my laptop and booted up a custom Linux operating system with enough security protocols to ensure that it would remain undetected.

Doc cleared his throat. “Sure, the R&D and executive suites are top notch, but I bet it sucks where everyone else works.” He was silent for a second. “Just let me know when you want me to bring up the data link.”

I opened a data window and initiated a connection to the transmitter I’d left on the tram.

A woman walked by, and something instinctive in me made me take notice. Her long, wavy brown hair with reddish tips swayed as she sashayed by. I noticed more than a few men tracking her path.

“That’s the girl from the bus!” Doc said.

Having Doc able to see through my smart glasses was like having a back-seat driver giving me directions. Both were annoying and unnecessary, most of the time.

Doc sighed heavily. “She’s got a great walk. I love glutes.”

She sat in an open booth near the elevators and opened her own laptop.

I looked back at my screen.

“Transmitter is online,” I said.

“Confirmed.”

I brought up a command script that Doc had given me and checked that I’d entered the command correctly. Then I slammed the return key. Multiple data windows flashed, and Doc grinned.

“Drones are all checking in. Man, when you first came to me with this crazy idea, I didn’t think it was gonna work.”

I snorted. “I’m glad I continue to impress you.”

“I still can’t figure out what you’re after. Remorox’s onsite data center is nowhere near the drones.”

Doc had been prodding me about what I was there for since I’d hired him.

Three video feeds opened from the drones’ cameras, showing the rooftop of a small building near the R&D building.

“You’re not going to say anything?” Doc asked.

“It’s a staging area.”

“For what?”

“Servers brought in from Technic Survey Group.”

“Who the heck are they?”

“Duh. They conduct surveys.”

“They’re pollsters? Questionnaires? What good is that stuff?”

I shook my head. “Not that kind of survey. Topographical.”

“Oh,” Doc replied, drawing out the word. “Where do they operate?”

“Everywhere.”

Data captured from the drones’ data storage began transferring to one of the drones.

“Why would a survey company’s servers be moved to a staging area of Big Pharma’s corporate campus?”

I shrugged. “Beats me. They acquired them for whatever reason. Doesn’t matter.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and tell him, Nate,” another man’s voice said over his earpiece.

I blinked and looked over my shoulder, checking my surroundings.

Doc didn’t say anything.

“You’re not imagining things. It’s me, Nate,” the man said.

It had been over eight months since I’d last heard that voice, and it was one I hoped never to hear again.

“Nate,” Doc said, “are you using another computer?”

“Flynn,” I sneered.

“Who’s Flynn?” Doc asked.

Doc was good with computers but bad with people or situational awareness.

Flynn had sounded like he was grinning, his voice deep and smooth like aged whiskey.

I slammed the laptop closed. “We’ve been compromised.”

Chapter 2

“Where do you think you’re going to run?” Flynn said.

I shoved the laptop into my messenger bag and hastened toward the stairs.

Doc unleashed a barrage of questions that I didn’t answer.

I climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time. If Flynn had hijacked the signal, he could already be heading for the drones.

I stopped on the third level and glanced down. The beautiful brunette was watching me. Scowling, I continued to run up the stairs.

“I see you’ve got a new partner, Flynn. How much does she cost, or does she have unfulfilled daddy issues?”

Doc shut up, finally catching on.

Flynn sighed. “You were always quick to judge. I knew if I threw a pretty face your way you’d let your guard down like you always do.”

“Go to hell,” I replied, leaving the stairs behind.

I hastened across the open common area where a group of people sat having a meeting and headed toward a set of doors.

“I knew you wouldn’t give up on searching for the Extracator.”

He was baiting me and I knew it. The worst part was that it was working. I walked through the doors and onto a crossway that connected to the adjoining building.

“I guess you haven’t found it yet.”

A text message from Doc appeared on my smart glasses.

Rerouting data dump to backup address.

“Sounds good,” I said. Flynn couldn’t see the message and had no idea what my reply meant.

I entered the other building and went toward the overly large office door to the right. I had to lean down to grab the handle and shove the door open. Who designed giant doors with handles placed for short people?

I walked down a short hallway and out into a cubicle farm that was surprisingly full. A few people glanced at me as I hastened by, but no one said a thing. Walk with confidence, acting like you belonged, and most people would ignore you.

I spotted an emergency exit farther along and headed for it. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Flynn’s attractive accomplice come through the door looking a little winded, but she quickly recovered. She carried a weapon in her hands. I couldn’t tell if it was a gun or a taser, and I didn’t stand there long enough to find out. I went through the door to an interior stairwell and ran down to the lower levels. When I reached the first floor, I went through the doors. The lights were out, and I stayed near the wall as I crept beneath the sensors. I stopped at the door to a darkened office and tried the handle.

It was unlocked.

I burst inside and pulled out the laptop, opening it up to send a few commands to the drones. Once the commands were received, I shoved the laptop under the desk and left it there.

I cracked the office door and peeked outside. No one had followed me, so I slipped out and continued along the wall. I must’ve crossed some kind of corporate boundary, because the paint color on the wall had changed from an agreeable gray to some kind of brown. A wall of black filing cabinets divided the section. The lights were on in the area, but I couldn’t see anyone around. Hundreds of feet of floor space in prime office real estate were empty.

Frowning, I jogged through a hallway that led to another giant door. I stooped to open the ridiculously placed handle and walked outside.

Hundreds of people were gathered near a stage where a panel of people were talking. I walked along the outside of the crowd and glanced over my shoulder.

“Nate,” Doc whispered, as if that would prevent Flynn from hearing him.

“He probably can’t hear you, Doc. He just found a way to force a connection to my earpiece.”

“I know you’re doing your thing, but I thought you should know that drones one and two have finished dumping their data.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you sure? I thought the plan was to—”

“It’s fine, Doc.” I cut him off just in case Flynn was listening in. “Scramble them and I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Gotcha,” Doc said.

I took the walking path toward the back of the main R&D building.

“What’s the matter, Flynn? Did I complicate your little heist?”

“You always were quick to celebrate.”

I grinned. “Haven’t seen your little girlfriend in a while. What lonely bar did you pick this one up at?”

“You think you’ve got it all figured out.”

A message flashed on my smart glasses, and I turned off the path. I pushed my way through some bushes and ran toward a black drone. Six copters guided the drone to land in front of me. It took a few seconds to power off, and I approached it. I pulled a thumb drive from my pocket and stuck it into the slot on the side. The little indicator light began to pulse as data was automatically downloaded. I glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was following me, but I couldn’t see much through the bushes.

The drive stopped flashing, and I pulled it out. Then I stomped hard on the drone, destroying it, and used my foot to sweep the pieces into a pile of leaves at the bottom of a tree.

Stuffing the drive into my pocket, I went back to the path.

Hearing Flynn sigh from inside my earpiece, I smiled as I headed back toward the crowd of people. The panel was still going strong, but I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

I reached up and grabbed my earpiece.

“Hey, Flynn, the Extracator is mine. Better luck next time.”

I tore off the earpiece and tossed it aside.

As I started walking back toward the R&D building, the doors burst opened. Five or six of Remorox’s finest came through with Flynn’s sidekick. She pointed an accusing finger toward me.

“That’s him. He’s the one who harassed me in the ladies’ room!”

I felt my mouth open a little, and I blinked for a second. She played the part of the victim well. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve believed her. Remorox’s security goons did believe her, and they started running toward me.

Muttering a curse, I spun around and ran like hell in the opposite direction.

Chapter 3

Flynn might’ve been right about one thing. Sometimes I did celebrate just a tad too early, and occasionally it bit me in the ass. This was one of those times.

I ran along the edge of the crowd and several people craned their necks toward the security guards chasing me. I had a bit of a head start and was a quick runner. The security guards were armed, but I doubted they’d start shooting through a crowd of people. As far as they knew, I was just some creeper who’d assaulted the very nice and beautiful young woman in the bathroom. Geez, even thinking that made me cringe a little.

I should’ve kept the damn earpiece on. Doc might have been able to do something.

I ran toward the stairs leading to the elevated tram station. Remorox’s finest shouted for me to stop as they gave chase.

The pristine white tram was on its way to this stop, and I pounded up the stairs. I grabbed the pole at the top and swung myself around onto the platform just as the guards were closing in at the bottom of the staircase.

The platform was empty. I leaped down onto the tracks and scooted to the other side before the tram reached the platform. The tram doors on my side of the platform opened and Remorox employees exited. I could see the guards on the other side, waiting for the doors to open. One of them was speaking into his radio, and several guards ran back down the stairs.

I ducked down out of sight and crept toward the edge of the platform. Lifting my head over the railing, I spotted a hazardous route to the ground that would probably break my back if I messed up.

I blew out a breath and climbed over the railing, lowering myself to a support beam and shimmying along it for about eight feet. I then swung toward a small maintenance access point, clipping the side of my head on the railing and landing hard. I’d barely grazed it, but my head still hurt like hell. I surged to my feet and backed against the wall. Security guards shouted from above as they coordinated a search, but they hadn’t heard me.

I exhaled softly and saw an access panel to the side of me. It was locked. I pulled out my drop-point folding knife and shoved the tip into the seam of the panel, applying pressure. It sprang open with a jolt and I grabbed the door to silence it while glancing over my shoulder, listening for any reaction from the guards.

There wasn’t any.

Inside the panel was a complex array of heavy-duty electrical wiring that I had no hope of deciphering. Over to the side was a bright red emergency stop button, and beneath that was a smaller black recall button.

I frowned at the button, trying to rationalize what the “recall” button would do. Would it summon the tram back to the platform? That meant it wouldn’t do anything since the tram was already here. At least I could guarantee it wouldn’t blow up, so I had that going for me. I pressed my lips together and pressed the button. A few moments later the security guards began shouting, calling for someone to stop the tram from leaving.

“Get central online now. They have to stop the tram!” a guard said.

I stuck my head out a little and looked up at the platform. No one was looking for me down there. They thought I was on the tram.

With a grin, I hastened down the maintenance steps. At the bottom were a couple of Segway scooters charging at a small power station. They had a pair of thick, knobby tires under two footpads where the rider was supposed to stand. I stepped onto the footpads and looked for a way to start it on the center console between the handles. I grabbed the handles and pulled back on them, but they didn’t budge. Rubbing my chin, I leaned to the side and spotted a card reader. I shook my head and pulled out Mr. VP’s badge, pressing it against the card reader. A second later a green light flashed from the reader and the charging station released the Segway. I pulled back on the handle and there was a soft whine from the electric motor as I backed the scooter out of the station. It took me a few seconds to get the balance right, and I spun around in a circle before getting it to stop. Then I leaned forward, and the Segway lurched ahead.

I drove along a dirt path that led uphill away from the tram station and emerged onto a paved walking path that ran next to the road. I pushed the handle forward more and a little odometer came on. It showed that I was going twelve miles per hour. Not bad, and much faster than walking.

I followed the path away from the R&D building toward the main complex. I figured I had some breathing room since the guards were still chasing the tram. I should have enough time to make it to the maintenance shop where I could borrow a car and get out of there.

Remorox’s main corporate center was like a town square. I spotted a few other people riding on Segways, golf carts, and bikes, and others were just walking, so it was easy for me to blend in.

I followed the signs toward “Receiving,” which led to a steep hill. I thought the Segway would lose momentum going up, but it didn’t at all. Riding the scooter was actually kinda fun, though not as much fun as a motorcycle, but I’d take what I could get.

I turned into a large open parking lot shadowed by a fifteen-story office building as a helicopter flew away from one of the nearby buildings. I circled toward the rear lot where rows of trucks were offloading their deliveries. Men driving forklifts took sealed pallets off the trucks and brought them inside.

Maintenance trucks were notorious for having the keys left inside, so I drove through rows of parked cars toward the fleet of delivery trucks. I was passing a group of white vans when a tall, blonde-haired woman emerged from between the vans and ran in front of me. I swerved to the side, but my shoulder knocked into her and she stumbled. I squeezed the brake and stopped.

She leaned against the van, startled. She was tall, close to six feet, and every inch was radiant. She wore a long teal skirt and black turtleneck, and stared at me with huge blue eyes, her soft lips the color of frozen raspberries. Her long blonde hair shone with lustrous highlights. I couldn’t help but stare for a moment before I hopped off the Segway.

“I’m so sorry about that. Are you all right?” I asked, extending my hand to help her stand.

She hesitated for a moment and then stood.

I smiled, letting my hand come back to my side. “I didn’t see you.”

She regarded me for a second and then glanced back toward the building, brows wrinkling with worry. I wasn’t sure she’d understood me. She could have been a high-powered executive or someone’s wife, but neither would’ve parked back here. They’d have cars brought to them at the main entrance.

“Are you lost? Maybe I can help you get where you’re going.”

She exhaled, and the worry in her eyes retreated as her lips lifted cordially. “That won’t be necessary. I appreciate your offer of assistance, but I’ll be on my way.” She had a European accent, but I couldn’t think of where. Europe was a big place.

I watched her go for a second, then shrugged and climbed back onto the Segway. I usually got a better response from women, though not all of them. I wasn’t some handsome face taking up the entire page of a magazine, but women usually found me charming—at least, they were usually friendlier. Shaking my head at my own thoughts, I turned the Segway toward the large delivery truck.

Stealing a big rig wasn’t going to work. I needed to sneak out of there and not be caught by the police, even if I could make it off the campus. I needed to find a recently parked van or something that wouldn’t get a lot of attention.

I glanced ahead and kept checking the large vehicles. I didn’t think I’d run into more runway models out in the parking lot, but sometimes lightning did strike twice. Something about the whole encounter bothered me beyond a future rendezvous on a small island out in the South Pacific.

I heard the high-pitched whine of an electric motor and the chirp of tires half a second before something slammed into me. I tumbled off the Segway and heard the crunch of high polymer plastic exceeding its design yield for impact. A white golf cart sped toward me, running over the Segway. I scrambled back, rolling to the side as the cart clipped my shoulder. The cart skidded to a stop and I stood.

Flynn!

Gritting my teeth, I sprinted toward the cart and tackled him. We tumbled out in a tangle of limbs and curses. I climbed to my feet first and faced my attacker. He stood up, his back to me, and shook his head.

“Jesus, Nate,” Flynn groaned. His dark hair had much more silver streaking through it than I’d remembered. He had an outdoorsman’s tan, a dark mustache, and dark-brown eyes. He pulled out a taser and pointed it at me.

I flinched, stepping back. At least it wasn’t his Kimber 1911, but judging by the look on his face, he wouldn’t have minded putting a .45 into me. I couldn’t believe we’d been friends once. “What the hell are you doing? You tried to run me over!”

Flynn watched me, keeping the taser pointed at me. “Give me the data drive, Nate.”

I shook my head. Tasers had an effective range of about thirty feet, which meant I was about twenty feet too close. “Not gonna happen.”

Flynn shook his head. “Don’t make me shoot you.”

I laughed. “With a friggin taser? Are you kidding me?”

“Toss me the thumb drive and walk away. Otherwise, I’m going to shoot—”

In a sudden burst of speed he wasn’t expecting, I darted toward him and slapped the taser to the side as he squeezed the trigger. Two lines sprang from the taser but struck nothing. I jabbed with my right fist, tagging him in the face. Flynn spun around and went down.

“That’s for hitting me with the cart. And this is for cutting me loose to those cops in Amuri.” I moved to kick him, but he wasn’t as disoriented as I’d thought. He rolled to the side and struck out with his fist. He’d been going for my balls. Flynn fought dirty, but he’d missed and got my stomach instead.

I shoved him away. I didn’t want to get in a grappling match with him. Despite Flynn being quite a bit older than me, he was a scrapper, and it could go either way.

I picked up his taser and fired the secondary shot at him. Twin jolted lines hit him in the back, and he dropped to the ground. I held onto the taser and circled around the fidgeting man on the ground. Drool came from his mouth and he looked stunned. I saw the ends of a couple of zip ties.

“I guess you had some plans for me, didn’t you?”

I snatched the zip ties from his pocket and quickly bound his wrists together, pulling the end tight. I did the same to his feet. He wasn’t going anywhere soon.

I left Flynn on the ground and climbed into the cart. Slamming my foot down on the accelerator, I sped away. A group of warehouse workers came out from behind one of the trucks and were running towards me. Cursing, I spun the cart around, chirping the wheels like a stunt driver, and drove back toward the parking lot. Flynn might have muttered something as I drove past, but I didn’t care. That son of a bitch had left me to be captured. For no reason at all, he’d just cut bait and run. Now he’d shown up chasing the same shipwreck I’d been after? I gritted my teeth and shook my head. See how he liked getting caught. A little jail time was exactly what he deserved. I bet the meals would be better than the third-world cesspool I’d escaped from.

I sped through the parking lot and crossed over to the adjacent lot. There was a cordoned-off area where construction was going on, but there were no workers there. Looked like they were connecting an additional parking lot. I needed to get out of there. My shoulder ached from either the cart crashing into me or the tumble to the ground—I couldn’t decide which. My damn ribs hurt too. But I had the data drive and I hadn’t been caught yet, so it was still a good day. Flynn must have guessed that I’d be looking for a vehicle to escape with and where I’d go to find it. That meant his partner couldn’t be far away.

I slowed the cart down, looking for a place to ditch it and find something else a little more permanent. I saw a dirty white pickup truck near the construction and drove toward it. Next to the pickup were several heavy-duty trucks carrying steel barbs, some kind of tubing, and other things I didn’t know the use of.

There was a cutting machine where scraps of steel rebar an inch or two thick and a good five feet long lay on the ground. I drove the cart toward the pickup truck and glanced around.

The truck’s windows were down and I looked inside. A small eight ball dangled at the end of the key that was still in the ignition. Smiling, I sighed and looked for a place to ditch the cart.

A woman cried out in pain. The sound had come from the row of work vans parked nearby. There was a loud pop, and I flinched. It wasn’t a gunshot—I’d heard enough of those to know. This was different, bigger. A barrage of car alarms began blaring. One of the nearby vans shook violently, and the wheels chirped a little as it skidded to the side.

The blonde woman I’d seen earlier ran from between the vans, casting a fearful glance over her shoulder. Dark splotches marked her clothes, as if she’d been splattered by something. Silvery smoke billowed from between the vans, and then a huge man covered head to toe in black tactical armor strode toward her.