Trampship Wars 2 Page 14

  Then past the back end of the last container just inside Pop’s wide open grated area, the Thug found a long pipe left over from building the rail along the outside edge of the large wide platform .

  All Mark could say at the sight was.”Oaa. Shit.” Slowing down to a walk. He did not dare stop just in case Pop was home and came out. Then looking behind him at the distant intersection past the dead end alley and the full length of 3 containers . If Pop happened to come around the corner headed home all Mark would have to do was keep his and Pop’s distance until help came. But it did not look like Pop was going to come around the corner anytime soon. So Mark kept walking.

  Then the guy started swinging the pipe around switching between hands as he twirled the pipe over his head and down the sides of his body .

  “Mark, this guy seems to be well trained in the art of staff fighting. I believe he is a professional hit man by the man’s past records and long list of assault charges that were always dropped. You need to keep your distance.”

  “No daa Mickey. Any more great news?” Mark watched the thug start getting into his routine making the pipe fly all over the place as he smiled at Mark from ear to ear. Getting surer of himself by the second.

  “Mickey, you’re the one that is supposed to be this great supper agent glasses. Don’t you have any weapons at all? Something like laser beams that shoot out of your eyes. Or supper Nannites that can run over there and eat him from his toes up.” Pulling one of Mickey’s sensor buttons out of his pocket. “Or how about making one of these little buttons fly over and explode in his mouth blowing his head off?”

  “Sorry Mark but it would take an hour for my microscopic Nannites to run even a foot and then only if the surface was smooth enough . M and m y remote buttons will only slowly change into a limited number of shapes and cannot fly and carry no explosives beyond their power supply which could burn his mouth a little and taste bad but you would have to place one in his mouth even to do that. As for me projecting laser beams. I can project a form of laser light bright enough to blind someone for a short period but it would exhaust my entire power supply and take me hours to regenerate enough power to talk to you or even provide you with optical enhancements. In time I will be able to produce enough micro power generators that can use your blood as fuel and enough s s torage units to store enough energy to be capable of projecting blinding light amongst other things, without exhausting my power banks. But not now. I have only been a part of you r for far too short a time. I also do not have the auxiliary kit for such things as flying remotes and weapons as that was in a separate case that was not shipped with me. Though if your Doctor is successful in finding Nannite building block Goo and the current technology Nannite factory module I asked him to get, I would be able to design and produce close copies of the remote equipment and some of the weapons that would have come with the missing auxiliary case. But I can do nothing to help you now except advise you to run.”

  “Thanks. Great help there. But I don’t even know if Pop is home or not.” As Mark looked at the cabin he suddenly could see the infrared body heat of Pop sleeping on his bunk with his cat curled up on his stomach. Still recuperating from the hold battle the week before. “Shit thanks.”

  “Pop is asleep and very unlikely to come out. You can run without endangering Pop.”

  “Ya and what if he wakes up? Did you think of that? Or if this damn ass hole wakes him up by pounding on the side of the cabin or breaks in. He could beat Pop’s brains out as he slept or as soon as he opened the hatch.” Mark stopped some 20 a dozen feet away from the Thug still showing off his prowess with the staff.

  “Not bad ass hole. Tell me when you get done showing off and are ready to surrender.” Mark’s mouth said to his own surprise. That was the last thing he wanted to say.

  The Thug’s smile left his face , perplexed with worry starting to cloud his expression. Then as his eye’s settled on the torch again, he swung the pipe back over his head and he renewed his smile. “No, you would have shot me already. All you have is a fucking torch.” Chuckling. “Now run away before I bash your head in with this pipe. I won’t make as much as if I delivered you alive dead but it still is quite an amount above what I will get for delivering this signed transfer deed and I won’t have to split it with the stupid dumb shit you killed. . ” Looking out the open cargo deck hatch as he took a couple of steps closer to the rail overlooking the hold. “I wouldn’t want to be here in a few minutes if I were you. I have help coming and I i f they kill you I won’t have a chance to grab you tomorrow or the next day for the full bounty . I will just have to settle for the thousand credits I w ill get for delivering the transfer deed today. ”

  “Mark, that transfer deed is worthless. Jolleen She does not have the authority to transfer ownership of the container boxes to anyone. The day you became 21 the ownership of the Workshop/Clubhouse box passed from the Farmers as executors to you as the now legal guardian. The Second storage box was sold to you outright and is solely yours and not the clubs. As the other members come of age they too will be added to the Clubhouse title but not before. And I have found the man in the ship’s data base even if he has temporarily changed his looks significantly. He The Ship’s Patrol has already identified him from DNA he left behind in his rush to leave . They have a ship wide alert out for him now with officers going to his cabin, he will be picked up within the hour and charged with several capital crimes . if the Ship’s Patrol do not get him when they get here in a couple of minutes. ”

  “Ok, now that is helpful.” Mark started smiling visibly relaxing as he started backing up.

  The Thug suddenly squinted his eyes as he stopped swinging the pipe around , as he stu stu d ying ied Mark closely . What are you smiling about dumb shit?”

  Mark shrugged his shoulders. “Damn Mickey, I am going to have to learn to play poker. That was to too damn easy.” Then out loud. “A, you might want to go back and get a law degree from a different shit house wall. The one you are using is full of crap.” Mark smiled back at the Thug in spite of his efforts not to .

  “What do you mean boy?” The man turned puzzled with worry starting to cross his face.

  “Tell me or I will knock y our head off just for the fun of it.”

  Mark could not help himself even though he knew the last thing he needed or even should do was answer him. “The facts Legal Eagle. Now that I am 21, I am the only one that can sign over the Clubhouse box so the paper you have is a complete waste of time stupid . E e ven if I wasn’t 21 , s . S he has no authority to transfer anything. You lose everything bozo and in about an hour you will be arrested along with whoever picks you up, charged with attempted rape and the murder of your buddy and as soon as we lift after a mind probe to find out who is paying you, dumped out an airlock Mr. Schlesinger. ” Mark smiled as he used the thugs name Mickey had given him. “ Though I have to admit your new face is better looking than the one you usually wear.” Mark backed up some more smiling shaking his head. “Just one question for you before I let you go. Is the Chief Master at Arms going to find enough evidence in your cabin such as souvenirs from your many killings for the rest of your family to join you walking the plank in space. Or is your employer just going to kill them to make sure they don’t talk like he did on the Greedly fortress deck.” Taking a breath, hoping the bluff he was suddenly trying would work. “Tell you what Perry, you surrender now and I will guaranty that you and your family live. Even if we have to put you on another ship. That is after you have told us everything you know.”

  Mr. Schlesinger turned red as he swelled up. “No, if I kill you , you can’t tell them who I am or testify against me and the paper becomes valuable again and my family stays safe and I don’t have to worry about walking space or mind wipes.” He started advancing on Mark with an ear to ear smile. “I also make some one hell of a lot of money killing you.” Perry charged swinging the heavy pipe at Marks head for one swift kill.

  Mark did not have to follow Mickey’s direct
ions. His self-defense classes gave his body plenty of practice avoiding blows and without thinking even though his mind did speed up, Mark ducked under the swinging pipe, gave Perry a shove and sprinted out beyond his back swing of the pipe toward Pop’s Cabin.

  “I got news for you Perry Mr. Schlesinger . First; if I am dead , the tittle goes back to the holding company until the next oldest club mate comes of age. Second; t T he second you attacked Jolleen and me we knew who you were and reported all the details. We just had to stall until they could get someone down here is all. It has been a busy day. A The detail is already headed for your cabin on deck 13, give it up. As I have already told you, even if you kill me your paper is garbage and you or y our family will never see a scrap of the bounty.

  The Thug Perry changed his grip on the pipe and charged again. “I don’t believe you ass hole.” This time Mark dodged to the side as Perry he swung the pipe down trying to hit without letting Mark him get too close with the torch still in his hand .

  Though Mark had forgotten all about using the torch . N ot wanting to kill again after the revulsion at killing the first thug only minutes before . Killing the man up close and personal was much different than killing the crews of the boats at long range the day before . If not for Jolleen still being in danger , he would have lost it at the smell alone but the regret was still there .

  Again Perry he charged and again Mark ’s mind slipped into over drive and he side stepped him easily . This time jabbing the torch into the Perry’s side but he just could not pull the trigger and then stepping away.

  Perry changed his grip back to the original and charged again.

  Mark’s mind sped up again as he easily dodged under and gave Perry a good hit on the side of his head with the side of the torch as he passed close beside and disappeared out of reach. Not even thinking about pulling the torches trigger using the torch in his hand while he was plenty close to have killed Perry. The hit to Perry’s head knocking the side of his mask loose revealing his true fa ce.

  Stopping at the back of the container box butting up against Pop’s open yard of gratings some distance away from Perry , Mark found a short peace of pipe and picked it up as he took several deep breaths . . Putting the torch back into his thigh pocket.

  Seeing Mark with the short pipe Perry changed his att ack method using the pipe more as a sword out in front of him instead of charging.

  Mark used the short pipe to beat off several more short lunges as Perry slowly closed the distance this time instead of rushing in. Mark’s head started to ache as a pain lanced back from his eyes and through his head as he found it harder to think . Perry seemed to get faster as Mark found it harder to speed his thinking up again .

  Seeing an opportunity with Perry swinging the long pipe lower than he should. Mark stepped back from the swing and suddenly threw the short 2 foot long pipe at Perry’s head hoping to stun him long enough to take the long pipe away from him. Only Perry ducked in plenty of time letting the small pipe sail over him to crash against Pop’s cabin. Then hit Mark in the thigh with a good whack of the pipe as he rushed in to Mark’s surprise .

  Limping off and dodging another abrupt attack Mark looked around to see people head ing toward them down the passageway running along the edge of the grating, watching them while trying to figure out what was happening.

  “Mark, an aircar has just entered the hold. It is probably here to pick Perry up.”

  “Cute. Where are the Ship’s Patrol?”

  “They had stopped and are still in the Club house interviewing Jolleen, Tom and Banacheck. They d o id not know you are even out here. I am telling them again now . Though that is going to rais ing e a lot of questions as they have already realize d that later when they find out I am just a hologram and do not want to listen to me . Even if I do look stunning. Word about your fight is spreading fast around Tramp Town and the growing crowd headed this way will make it harder for the Ships Patrol to get here. But at least the word has reached them and they are now headed this way. ”

  Mark jumped to the side to avoid another swing, almost getting trapped against the rail. “What about the aircar? Does it have any weapons?”

  “Not that I can detect. It is a rental and has changed course as soon as it spotted you and Perry fighting and is now headed around toward the other side of the hold avoiding this area.”

  “Looks like your friends don’t think you will survive long Perry. They are hanging back in case you fail. Better surrender now before they decide to just kill you and your family to keep you from talking. I have a safe place to hide you nearby. We will have your family in custody in a few minutes.”

  “You talk good bullshit boy. I don’t know how you found out what my name is but my pocket jammer tells me you haven’t talked to or informed anyone, let alone recorded anything.”

  Then Perry’s voice blared out across the hold grating . “If you don’t sign I will rape you and slit your throat bitch!”

  “Listen Perry, I could have killed you several time now but I need you alive to prove what the hell is going on around here and stop the Greedly’s.”

  “What? Ya , you think you can stop them? They killed most of their damn clan just to prove they could and keep a bunch of traitors from talking. How the hell do you think you can protect my family moron?”

  Mark dodged another attack but got caught with the back swing of the long pipe across his back dropping him to the deck for a second before he could scramble out from under the attack that rapidly followed.

  “Mark, if you don’t kill him with the torch soon , he is going to kill you. You are lucky he has not killed you already. ”

  “I got news for you Perry.” Mark said trying to catch his breath after rolling away to his feet and taking a few fast steps. “They killed there clan accidentally trying to kill me. They did not know that the poison gas they pumped into the space I was in had a direct line going to their fortress compartments. They killed their own family trying to kill me moron. By mistake. They could not kill me and you can’t kill me now so give it up. I will make sure you and your family is safe.” Mark ran to the side not quite avoiding another attack as he pulled out the torch again. “Listen, I don’t want to kill you. I need you. Give it up.” Mark said through gritting teeth as he limped around trying to keep Perry from getting close again. The multiple painful whacks he had taken starting to take their toll on his body . Though now all he could think about about through the pain, was getting close enough to shove the torch into the side of Perry and pull the trigger before the next blow killed him. Cursing himself for not doing it when he had the chance .

  Then Perry stopped swinging the pipe and simply held it in the middle with one end toward Mark and charged.

  Mark tried to grab the end as it got close but his mind seemed to be paralyzed as Perry moved the end of the pipe just in time. Knocking his hand to the side Perry brought Bring ing the end end of the pipe around with surprising speed and hit ting Mark alongside the head knocking him to the ground dazed. Mark only getting a glimpse of the rapidly moving pipe without having anytime to even register it was there let alone trying to stop it or duck.

  Even with the sharp pain in his head, Mark’s eyes cleared after a few seconds to see Perry standing a few feet away towering over him with an ear to ear smile. With the long heavy pipe still grabbed by the end, Perry raised it over his head and started to swing it down toward Marks head.

  Mark barely conscious but seeing what was happening as well as the mass of people gathered round the open area and the aircar that was suddenly hovering next to the rail with what looked like Mr. Greedly driving. Unable to think let alone move, Mark lamely held the torch up toward Perry who was far out of the torches range .

  T as t he long pipe started to swing over Perry’s head at arm’s length, picking up speed as he put his whole body into the swing . The long pipe a rced across and started down down toward Mark’s head gaining speed .

  A hole suddenly appeared in Perry’s c
hest as the pipe flew out of Perry’s rapidly swinging hands and went flying over Mark with no one directing it down anymore in its arc.

  Perry Schlesinger dropped to his knees and clutched his chest with his eyes suddenly becoming the size of gulf balls staring at Mark’s Torch. “It is only a fucking Torch.” Then fell face down between Mark’s outstretched legs.

  Mark stared at the torch in his hand for several seconds then started to turn his head toward the direction he thought the shot had to come from. Half way around his eyes stopped on an aircar hovering just off the rail with a very familiar face that looked back at him with overwhelming hate. Then turning on around , Mark found Pop’s cabin with the front door open a crack with his glasses suddenly on infrared showing pop someone putting a hot just fired laser pistol into a drawer.

  Mark was suddenly grabbed with a pair of huge boobs shoved into his face as a familiar voice started demanding if he was still alive and then started babbling with tears streaming down her cheeks. At first Mark thought it was Dian a bit irritated as his heart sored for some reason but then he realized that the boobs were way to big as he moved his head and saw them covered in blood as the much too small halter top let one escape. Then 16 year old brig bait came to his mind in Tom’s words as he realized who it was . But h e was in no position to ovoid her now.

  The arms grabbed him tighter shoving his throbbing head back into the huge boobs smearing more blood all over what was missed before.

  Finely hands started prying him out of the With a bare boob smashed up against the side of his face , Mark watched Pop climb ba ck into his girls bunk . With the caught girls arms wrapped around him a nd as too many voices babbl babbling ed around him Mark started to relax . K nowing that if Pop was going back to bed , he was finally safe in the girls arms.

  . The Chief Master at Arms was suddenly in front of him with a medic next to him . “Mark, you said this Torch could not be modified into a weapon which was why the ship bought them to replace the old torches. Why did you lie. Now we have hundreds of a thousand weapons running around in crewmen’s hands.”