Merkiaari Wars: 02 - What Price Honour by Mark E. Cooper Page A

shuttle parking bays, making the night flee and welcoming her to civilisation. While she cried alone in the cockpit, the shuttle automatically taxied toward a small group of people waiting for her outside the brightly lit terminal building.
    “There you go. You can move around now,” the flight controller said.
    “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there. Will I see you outside?”
    “Ah… about that. I’m on duty so I can’t come down there, but I’ve sent a friend of mine. His name’s Robert; you’ll like him.”
    “Oh, okay,” she said.
    Kate was peering out the cockpit window looking for anyone in uniform. She didn’t care whether the flight controller came to meet her or not. All she cared about was the lack of security personnel in her reception committee. It looked as if they had bought her story.
    “Before you go, I need your name. I had to log your mayday call, and my supervisor will want to ask you a few questions.”
    Kate frowned, suspicious of his motives, but then she shrugged. “It’s Cherry Jackson. What kind of questions? Does he need to ask them tonight?”
    “Nothing to worry about, just routine. I know you must be tired. I’m sure he won’t mind waiting until tomorrow. Look, I’ve got to go. Good luck, and let Robert take care of you. He’s a nice guy.”
    “Thanks.”
    Kate’s eyes were red and puffy by the time she opened the hatch and barrelled into the arms of one of the waiting men.
    “Thank you, thank you, thank you. ” She forced more tears to come and cried on his shoulder while trying to watch his friends’ reactions.
    “Hey Robert, you’ve caught a wild one this time,” one man called and the others laughed.
    For the most part, Kate found amusement at their companion’s situation when she studied their reactions. To them, he had his arms full of a hysterical teenager, and a goddamn tourist at that! Tourists were universally despised as rich no-nothings in the Border Worlds. No one had time to spare on them, especially not when they were busy with their own survival. If she had been one of their own people, their reaction would have been one of concern, but as she wasn’t, they were amused and angry at the same time.
    That was fine by her.
    “You’re all right now,” Robert said casting around for help from his friends. Said friends simply grinned and backed away with their hands raised to ward him off. They were more than happy to leave him to it.
    “I want her arrested for stealing my shuttle,” a distant voice shouted.
    Kate stiffened and pushed away. She wanted her hands free in case of trouble. Everyone turned toward the man storming across the taxiway.
    “What an arsehole…” one of Robert’s friends said. He was a maintenance engineer going by his clothes.
    Another man nodded. “I told Jennings not to leave it unsecured.”
    “…does he think he is, strutting around like he owns the place?”
    Kate relaxed just a little. Jennings was obviously an outsider. They seemed solid in their disapproval of him. She slipped her hand into her pocket and grasped Millard’s dinky pulser, but she doubted she would need to use it.
    “Now, now Jennings. I told you about leaving it like you do. It was bound to happen.”
    “That makes no difference. She stole it.”
    “I never, ” Kate gasped using Cherry’s outraged voice. “ You take that back! ”
    “It’s all right… Cherry,” Robert said stumbling on her alias as if about to laugh. “We’ll handle this.”
    While Robert was reassuring her, the others had closed ranks against Jennings. Kate listened in genuine admiration as they battered him into submission.
    “…accessory after the fact.”
    “But—” Jennings began.
    “And it’s your fault she was abducted in the first place.”
    “My fault? How is it—”
    “We told you about it before. You can’t leave your shuttle unsecured like that, it’s begging for trouble. Lucky for you miss Cherry doesn’t want to