The Soldier: Escape Vector Read online

“No,” Cade said. “Earth Intelligence used me. They were lying to you about me, sir.”

  “I knew it.”

  Cade took out a communicator, wondering if others had struck at Halifax. This was the moment.

  “Hello,” the doctor said over the comm. “Is that you, Cade?”

  “Are you all right?” Cade asked.

  “Why wouldn’t I be? How come you’ve taken so long to call in?”

  Cade frowned. “Can you bring in the scout and land at these coordinates?”

  “Certainly,” Halifax said. “When would you like me to—?”

  “Now,” Cade said. “Do it now, Doctor.”

  ***

  The rest was anticlimactic. The Descartes landed. Cade took Handsome Dan and Sugar Pete—Mr. Oily Hair—aboard the scout, securing them with heavy restraints.

  He had time to thank Senior Burris and Senior Finch. The chief of operations of Gretel Metals on Trinor was found with a bullet in the back of his head in the basement. The second-in-command had no idea about any secret dealings with Earth Intelligence. Three other Gretel Metals operatives escaped into the wilds.

  Shortly thereafter, the Descartes lofted from the snowy surface, reaching orbit and then heading out of the Norvin System.

  “You didn’t balk,” Halifax said later in the piloting chamber. “And you shouldn’t have, as this proved to be a piece of cake.”

  “On your end,” Cade said, “not mine.”

  “You don’t like bounty hunting?”

  “No.”

  “You’re good at it.”

  Cade shrugged.

  “Well, twelve light-years from here is a major Patrol base,” Halifax said. “We can drop off our cargo there and collect our reward.”

  Cade nodded.

  “Is something the matter?” Halifax asked.

  “Yeah. Earth Intelligence. We keep running into them wherever we go.”

  “So?”

  “Why is that?”

  Halifax laughed. “Are you kidding? The head honchos of Earth think they should be running all Human Space. They’re too poor for spaceships—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Cade said. “I know all that. Their Intelligence operatives are thick like flies on a corpse.”

  “Look, Cade, Earth is home to man. They’ve been playing these games since the dawn of time. They’re good at it.”

  Cade exhaled. “You’re right. It is what it is. Let’s drop off these starmenters, get our cash and keep going. I want to get my wife and friends out of Earth’s grasp as fast as possible.”

  “What friends?” Halifax asked. “You never talked about friends, just your wife.”

  “By friends I mean the others like me from Battle Unit 175,” Cade said.

  “Heaven help us, more like you?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Halifax laughed, shaking his head. “We did it, Cade. We’re in one piece and soon we’ll have enough money to finish the journey. That should make you happy.”

  “It does.”

  “Good,” Halifax said. “Once we unload our trash, let’s have a party. We’ll find some dames…” The doctor stopped talking as he studied Cade and shook his head afterward.

  “What is it now?” the soldier asked.

  “It never occurred to me before this, but you must be as horny as a goat. No wonder you want to find your wife so badly.”

  Cade stiffened in outrage. “Doctor, be very careful how you speak about my wife.”

  Halifax blinked and blinked again. “Sure, sure, Cade, no problem. I’m sorry if I went too far. I won’t do it again.”

  Cade exhaled, staring out of the polarized window, considering his prisoners. Handsome Dan and Sugar Pete were stupid names for killers and underhanded Earth Intelligence operatives. The soldier shook his head, putting them out of mind for now.

  Raina dear, I’m still coming for you. I’m not sure you’ll like this time, though. Cade smiled just the same. It would be a better era with his wife by his side. The key now, was figuring out a way to make the light-years go by faster than they had been. Otherwise, this trip was going to take far too long.

  THE END

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