pt 01,pt 02,pt 03,pt 04,pt 05,pt 06,pt 07

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Ryan Harley knew the instant that he stepped inside the junker that he had been lied to. Though he couldn’t see the bodies, he knew that both squads and their pilots were dead. He had briefly examined the ship that was left outside, noting the scorch marks where the power systems had been disabled. He had silently cursed himself for letting whoever was in the working patrol ship fly right past him, making a mental note to send his favorite Lieutenant after them. He knew the occupants of that hijacked ship were at least partly responsible for the slaughter, and vowed to repay the dept upon them tenfold. He also knew that the gold, or at least most of it, was most likely aboard that ship.

Claire Jameson stared into his face, eyes burning with rage and hands in fists on her hips. Tom stood behind her, leaning on a crate. Aside from being stripped of his weapons, he actually looked bored with regard to what was going on with Claire and Harley.

“I’ll ask you one more time, where is my gold?”

“And I’ll tell you one more time, my accomplice flew off with it. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Because I know you, Claire, and I know that you wouldn’t let anyone in the ‘verse leave with your share of the loot. I know you’ve got to get some back to your fixer, but I am also positive that there is still some on this boat. You can tell me now, or you can wait until after we get through with the reciprocation I owe you for my treatment six years ago.”

“You can gen houzi bi diushi, you purplebelly hundan.” She spat at his feet, hands still on her hips.

“Language, Claire. You shouldn’t be so rude to people who are able to determine the level of pain that you will feel for the last few days of you