Free Fool Me Once (Privateer Tales) by Jamie McFarlane Page A

yourself. You were getting a little ratty back on the base.
    I pushed myself up to a half sitting position, feigning more grogginess than I felt.
    “How?” I asked.
    “We are everywhere. You can’t hide from me.”
    “Why?”
    “Well, they put me in charge. I own the Baru Manush franchise now, I was just getting ready to head back there and need to take all of my stuff with me. That’s what you are, Dontal. You’re my stuff. Get it?”
    I turned to Olav. “Olav, really? I spared you guys and this is the repayment I get? I could have spaced you - should have spaced you.”
    I was waiting for it. No way would Alexander allow me to try to turn Olav. Alexander was also predictable in his favorite method of punishment. Straight to the head. Once again, my head exploded in pain, but I kept my wits about me and on the way down I fished the nano-blade out from the top of my boot.
    “Stop. You’ve made your point. I’ll come with you, just stop hitting me.” I really meant the last part. My face was bleeding badly and I didn’t think I could take another hit like the last one and remain conscious.
    “See Olav. You just gotta train ‘em. Okay, Dontal, get up. You’ve caused me a lot of trouble so we ain’t done here. Maybe if you go to the ship quietly I can be a little forgiving, although I wouldn’t give me any more excuses.”
    I stood up slowly. It wasn’t hard to pretend to be in pain. My head throbbed from the pounding I had taken. I flicked my wrist hard and caused the blade to extend fully and swung it around, catching Alexander’s cheek and part of his chest. I had to give it to him, though. He was quick and jumped back, avoiding a much deeper, likely fatal cut. The wound on his cheek was deep, probably because as he pulled back his head dipped forward.
    “Drop it, Celina,” Olav said.
    I didn’t stop moving. Olav fired and missed me. My blade didn’t miss his outstretched arm, however, and I severed his hand from it. The gun and his hand both dropped to the ground. It would have been handy if the gun had come free. Olav screamed. I lunged at Alexander but held back from impaling him with my blade.
    “You have thirty minutes to get that hand over to the hospital so they can reconnect it,” I said. I actually had no idea how long he had, but I knew a clean cut like that could be repaired. I kept the blade even with Alexander.
    “You. Make a tourniquet and stop the bleeding.”
    “You’ll never get away with this. I got two guys downstairs. You leave without us, you’re as good as dead.”
    “Do it!” I said.
    Alexander ripped the case of a pillow into a long sheet and tied off Olav’s arm.
    “Now. Give him his hand and put the gun on the table. You make one move toward me and I slice you open.”
    Alexander was brutish as well as arrogant. What he wasn’t, was dumb. I still had the drop on him but he just needed to buy some time. I'd already tipped my hand. I didn’t want their blood on my hands. Well, let’s be clear, I didn’t want to kill anyone, a little blood I was okay with. He pried the gun from Olav’s detached hand and held it out to me. I saw the deception right away. The nano-blade’s one major weakness was it couldn’t hurt someone you were in direct contact with.
    “On the table, Alexander.”
    He just looked at me, assessing if he could reach me before I sliced. He must have figured he would lose because he placed the gun on the table.
    “Back up a step.” He complied. I picked up the blaster and fired a round into the couch I'd been sleeping in. Alexander flinched, clearly expecting that I was aiming at him. I just wanted to make sure it would fire and couldn’t spare looking at it closely.
    With the blaster in my hand, I retracted the nano-blade. I was in a better position of control. I could shoot them from a distance if need be.
    “Weapons on the table. Remember, I know where you keep ‘em,” I said.
    It took some convincing, but they finally coughed up a pistol