The Bounty Hunter: Resurrection (4 page)

“We should drop him off as soon as
possible,” Burke said. “Cass, can you display the orbiting station’s
coordinates?”

“She already did,” Rylan said.
“We’re already half way there.”

Burke turned to see Cass once again
looking pleased with herself. She was far more efficient than he was at any
part of their work that didn’t involve fighting something. He was happy that
she was taking full advantage of their partnership: no longer was she the AI
that would rarely do something without checking with him first. She was taking
the initiative that was rightfully hers. He hoped that their work would remain
interesting enough for her to remain with him in the foreseeable future.

“I’m going to make some dinner
then,” Burke announced. “Call me when we get there.”

“Will do, Captain,” Rylan
responded.

* * *

Taggus was handed over with little
ceremony. The officers on the small station gave Burke a token thank you and
notified him on how to collect his payment. He knew that Cass would likely
already be messaging their contact that posted the bounty. He did not linger on
the station for long and the Brisbane was soon back in orbit around the planet
below them.

Burke resumed preparing a meal for
both himself and Rylan. After years of horrible rations and disgusting preserved
food, Burke relished any chance to use the ship’s extensive kitchen—a feature
he had specifically requested. He had been a horrible cook at first but, like
most new things he encountered, he relentlessly committed himself to the
activity until he was satisfied with his results. In a relatively short time,
he had acquired the knowledge to prepare a handful of meals at a higher quality
than most restaurants he visited. Each month he tried to add one new recipe to
that list.

Rylan usually ate with him and rarely
commented on the state of each meal, whether it was one Burke had already
perfected or a new one that was still wrought with early mistakes. He often
wished that Cass was capable of processing food so he could receive some honest
feedback; he was certain that Rylan kept his mouth shut so not to offend the
man who hired him.

The kitchen had a dining area built
through an additional door in the room, making it the closest area in the ship
to the helm. The large table had several computer terminals and was meant to
double as a meeting area for the mercenary teams that usually occupied the kind
of ship Burke and Cass had purchased. Their table was used solely for eating
and had not once been utilized for discussing contracts. Cass usually spoke
with Burke directly in his room or at the helm when they were looking for a new
job.

There was a screen on the wall in
the room. It could be altered to display information about the ship, or mimic
the feed to any other screen elsewhere in the vessel. They always left it to
receive news reports. Most people received their news on their personal
computers or their tablet phones, but a traditionally presented news show had been
a staple in human culture for centuries. The news channel they watched reported
on the entire known galaxy, interspersed with local news tailored to wherever
the home or ship was that received the transmission. For instance, as Burke
watched the screen, it currently only displayed weather reports for the planet,
Liveria, below them. There was a long list of rainy days ahead for the
sprawling city that covered most of the planet.

“Back to Galactic News now,” the
presenter said with a smile. “Everwood and Black are next to cover the ongoing
debate over the future of Earth.”

Burke perked up at the mention of
his home planet. He slowly slid his hand over the control panel on the table
and increased the volume from the display. He took a few more mouthfuls of
food—chicken parmesan and rice, one of the meals he had mastered—as the news
cycled through its overly dramatic opening music and title sequence. He only
paid full attention when the news anchors finally appeared on the screen.

“Welcome to Galactic News, I’m
Daina Everwood,” the female lead anchor said.

“And I’m Oliver Black,” the co-host
added afterwards.

“Tensions are currently high as
human officials meet with foreign ambassadors over Jupiter,” Daina began. “The
location for the summit, chosen by the Vruan Prime Minister, has not been lost
on the human representatives. Jupiter is the only significant remaining
settlement in the Sol System, and the nearest to Earth and Mars, two planets
lost over a decade ago.

“Vruan Prime Minister Tthia Milish
led the discussion,” Daina continued. Burke was impressed at how accurately she
pronounced the alien names, smoothly incorporating the stutters common in the
alien language. “Repeated sympathy was offered to the humans over the loss of
their home planet. The Vruan Prime Minister proposed a renewal of the current
aid agreements that are nearing the end of their terms, repeating the
importance of showing compassion to the billions of human refugees that lost
their homes from the dross invasion. Negotiations took an unfortunate turn,
however, when they reached the second topic of the summit.”

The display changed to recorded
footage of the meeting. Burke gradually grew tense as he watched the Vruan
Prime Minister speak. She was a well liked leader even among non-vruan races.
Humans had a particularly close alliance with the vruans, something that other
races were often jealous of. It was common to hear conspiracy theories and
accusations of mutual racism between the two species: they were accused of
allying so closely because they shared the same humanoid form and basic
chemical needs, allowing them to inhabit the same planet. Most other races were
not lucky enough to have another species that could do the same.

“What happened on Earth was a
catastrophe,” Tthia Milish began shortly after the display switched to her. “We
have achieved much in repairing the damage that was done, but we can no longer
remain idle in face of the dross threat. Believe me when I say that my hearts
bleed for the human families that have lost their home. It cannot be overstated
that every human has lost something from the dross invasion, a phenomenon that
is unique to the human race—I must remind all representatives here that there
is no other race that are currently without their home planet, and that we must
keep that in mind at all times.

“That said, we can ignore the danger
of the dross presence no longer. The infestation of Mars is all the proof that
we need. While the origin of the dross on Earth is still unknown, each
investigation on Mars has come to the same conclusion: one ship, transporting
the aliens for testing off-world, crashed into Mars. One ship carrying dross.
No more than a few were released from that crash and that’s all it took to lose
that entire planet. One ship.

“Every planet has something to fear
from that fact. One ship and an entire home world may go the same way as Earth,
no matter what precautions are put in place. Today we need to move forward and
work together to eradicate the dross threat, no matter the cost.”

Burke closed his eyes. He suddenly
wished that he was alone in the room. He knew that ‘no matter the cost’ meant
‘the possibility that Earth will be lost forever’. The dross were heavily
entrenched through the entire world, inhabiting an elaborate tunnel network.
The lower levels of that network were yet to be explored and it was unknown
just how deep the aliens had rooted themselves. To fully exterminate the aliens
would be to render the planet permanently uninhabitable to any race.

“Debates continued for several
hours before they became too heated to continue,” Oliver Black explained over
footage from the summit. “Senator Langley Rinehart was the last to speak before
the meeting erupted in hostilities.”

The presenter’s voice faded out as
a man, Burke guessed to be Langley himself, was shown speaking to the gathered
officials. The screen often jumped to show Tthia Milish, with a hand covering
the grim look on her face, as the human’s words echoed throughout the chamber.

“You are trying to have a civil
discussion about one of the most horrendous acts I have ever heard. No matter
the cost?” Langley roared. “No matter the cost! You are currently debating
whether or not to destroy the planet that birthed my race. Not yours! Mine!
None of you have even considered the implications of what that would mean. None
among you have considered what it would be like if it was your home planet
instead and we, the humans, were happily debating whether or not to obliterate
your home. I know of that for certain, because we would not be having this
conversation for one moment if you had.”

The grumbling that had begun to
spread throughout the room burst into a chaotic uproar when the senator sat
back down. The footage continued for a few more seconds and then cut back to
the news anchors. They discussed the summit for a few more minutes but Burke
had stopped listening. He was angry at all of them. The human senator had
appealed to the emotion of the representatives instead of dealing with the
facts, purposely ignoring how delicately the Vruan Prime Minister had begun the
discussion. But then Burke was also furious at the foreign diplomats for
broaching the subject, so casually judging the proposed methods to wipe Earth
clean.

He was, however, angriest at
himself. He knew that the aliens were correct. Milish was right. Despite how
carefully Earth was monitored, Burke was surprised that the dross had not yet
been taken and used to destroy another world. He sat at the table and felt the
guilt and fury run through him for failing to protect his home world. He pushed
his plate away. Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry.

“Captain?” Rylan said.

“What?” Burke snapped.

“The food’s good sir.”

The comment caught him off guard.
For a brief moment, he forgot about the news report and simply stared at the
pilot. He nodded once and then tried to bury himself in more thought. They had
just completed their current job and they had no new leads on the files on
display in his room. He pulled his plate back toward him and focused on the
contracts he had already completed since they purchased the new ship.

The first few jobs had been thieves
like Taggus. The bounties included a bonus for the apprehension of the
criminals but were mainly interested in a speedy retrieval of their stolen
property. Such contracts were common but expired quickly, since stolen goods
were often sold off as quickly as possible. Cass had found the highest paying
ones that took full advantage of their new ship’s impressive speed. It was
during those jobs that they amassed a significant amount of money for
emergencies and also learned that they would need a pilot. Cass began the search
for Rylan while Burke moved on to other jobs.

With money set aside, he was able
to focus on jobs that most bounty hunters wouldn’t take: murderers and low
ranking criminals, those who preyed on lower class families that could barely
pay enough for their bounty to be posted, never mind fulfilled. Burke did those
jobs for free and worked for the satisfaction of righting a wrong. The
victories were small and gave peace to only a handful of people at a time, but
it was enough for him. He felt like he had finally reclaimed his old life since
he came back from the dead.

Burke stopped slavers on newly
colonized planets. He tracked them after handing in a higher profile contract
that was out on a leader of a slaver ship. The job had been the first time they
used the weapons on their new vessel and they had been impressed with their
power: they easily neutralized the larger transport ship and then Burke had
boarded it, carving his way through the lower decks and to his target at the
ship’s command room. He had shot to kill, not wound, the guards he came across
as he tore through the vessel. He gave no mercy to slavers.

Cass collected a wealth of
information from the battered ship’s records. They managed to track down seven
slavers on newly colonized worlds before they realized they had been
compromised. Burke found them stealing children from new settlements and, in
one case, rounding up entire towns into bulky ships like the one they had
destroyed. He had stopped them, killed them, and then moved on without showing
his face. The only recognition he ever got was in short news reports and
speculation of an unknown mercenary or vigilante.

He finished his meal as he
reflected on the final job they had done before hiring Rylan. He looked over at
the pilot and then leaned back in his chair.

“Cass?”

“Yes Jack?” her voice filled the
room.

“Did you have something planned for
our next job?” he asked.

Rylan looked up from across the
table. The news on the screen behind him had reverted back to local reports.
Oliver Black was presenting stories from the planet below them.

“A few in mind,” Cass answered.
“I’ve been vetting them for the usual standards.”

“No corporate executives that stole
money and went missing. No sense catching a rich asshole who stole from another
rich asshole because now he’s only a little less rich,” Burke recited.

“No deserters from the military,”
Cass chimed back.

“How long have you two been doing
this?” Rylan asked. Burke looked up and found the pilot regarding them
strangely.