Free Phoenix Rising (Dragon Legacy) by Previn Hudetz Page A

armed with pulse-pistols, the older one with a trim salt and pepper goatee. Quinn leveled a gun at each of them as he stepped inside and slammed the panel to close the door with his elbow. It crunched, sending off sparks, and the younger man visibly blanched. After a silent signal from the older man, they both dropped their weapons to the floor and raised their arms in surrender. Quinn stretched his bull-thick neck, eliciting a loud series of cracks, and then smiled at them.
    “You can either be helpful or dead. Your choice. I'd suggest you start talking.”
    “We don't know-”
    “Quiet. Let me handle this,” the older man said, stepping slightly in front of his flustered counterpart. Quinn looked over at him. He was just after intel, not some crazy bloodbath. A closer inspection revealed they were probably related. So let him protect the boy. Fine.
    “You can start by telling me who hired you,” Quinn prompted.
    The man bit his lip and shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. We can't. We responded to a ghosted listing. Simple transport of potentially dangerous cargo. Looks like that was true, at least.” He regarded Quinn warily.
    “Then who carried me to the ship on that stretcher?”
    The man shrugged. “Another company. I didn't ask for names. They were just where the listing said they'd be, and at the right time.”
    Quinn let out a sigh of frustration. “This ghosted listing. Show me your copy,” Quinn pointed his gun at the console, and the older man nodded, moving over and starting to type. “That's an old system,” Quinn noticed. “You still use keys?”
    “Hard copy serves us well,” the man replied, then sighed. “Or at least it has until now. Here we are.” He turned the display to show Quinn the file.
    No name, just a coded credit account sequence. Strange, but not unheard of. He was usually on the other end of these things, and didn't like being in the hot seat, here. Felt backwards to him, but he shrugged it off as he continued to read. The older man coughed, and Quinn looked over at him. “What?”
    The man took a breath, and spoke. “While I can't claim that I'm completely innocent in this, I would like to offer my apologies about the situation. We really didn't know we were transporting a person. I hope you understand that.”
    “Then why guard the crate?” Quinn asked, looking back at the file and starting a download of the ship's registry code and manifest, just in case he needed to follow up with them later.
    “We were told there was something dangerous inside. What would you have done?” the man implored him. “Look, we can set down at a station nearby. We aren't far from Kirlian's Rest, and it'd be easy enough for you to lose whoever's on your tail while you're there. I can give you some credit if you need it. It's the least I can do.”
    Quinn considered, shaking his head. Another dead end. Yes, he could torture them to see if they knew anything else, but the ghosted listing looked legitimate. He'd verified it through his earbud while he'd been reviewing it on their system, and there'd been no mention of the specifics of the cargo, only the payment that no self-respecting smuggler or merchant could pass up without losing a significant amount of sleep over it. Besides, he had their registry code and manifest on his earbud now. He grunted and looked over at them.
    “Just don't make me regret not killing you,” Quinn said as he leaned against the wall. “Because if I do, I won't regret it for long.” The younger man coughed and swallowed nervously.
    “I promise we'll do right by you,” the older man said, signaling his son to transfer the credit to Quinn. He also got on the intercom and told his men to stand down, and for them to check in with the medic before getting some rest. Once that was done, Quinn spoke.
    “Alright, let's move.”
    The captain sighed, but nodded in consent. He clearly didn't enjoy taking orders on his own ship, but he and his son got into in their