Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode 8: The Sting #16

Fox was halfway to work the next morning when he got a system message. Lannister appeared in front him, looking worried. "Cheryl is on the ground station," he said. Fox had to take a minute to think who Cheryl was. "She'll be on the next elevator up. My interview . . ."

"I know, sir," Fox said. He swallowed hard. Maybe Lannister could give the interview. Maybe the men will have returned before it was aired. Maybe. But could he ask for more time?

"You haven't heard?" Lannister asked.

Fox shook his head. Lannister swore. A second system message sounded. Fox was tempted to disregard it, but it was one of his own officers. "Just a sec."

"They've entered our bio-ident range," the woman said. "Oksana, the man, Elric, and a number of others not identified yet."

"How close?"

"Ground station parking lot," was the reply.

Fox smiled and thanked her. He turned back to Lannister's projection. "Did you hear that?"

"I did. They'll be coming up on the same elevator, looks like. Do you need more time?"

"I shouldn't," Fox said. "Information turned cranky on us; they aren't letting us see the surveillance on the surface," he shrugged, "for whatever reason, but they assure us legal will have enough for their case."

"Good. Then I'll give my interview as planned. Maybe we can even end it with the arrests. That should be exciting."

"Not so much," Fox said. "We decided 'safety first' on this one, no matter how much I want to punch one of those bastards in the face, make him hurt. I don't want any of the girls harmed, nor my people."

"Of course not," Lannister said. "I'll let you go then."

As soon as he was off, Fox nearly ran for his command center. "How are we doing?" he called out to Kellii.

"Never fear, Maggie informed us as well. We have the team assembled and ready."

"Good. We're going to seize the men first. Do interviews and such later. Information says there is enough, even if the women don't testify, and I'm taking them at their word. I want this done."

Kellii nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "We will not fail you, Chief."

Fox quickly redressed in a dark suit and black gloves. He pulled a pair of shades over his eyes and made his way for the Shoshone Collective's main office.

Harry Chickadee, a Sioux elder, met him there. "I spoke with the man yesterday," he told Fox. "I'll play point for today as well." He gave Fox an impish smile and then said, "When I was a child, I always wanted to be a brave, pull a coup on the white man. Took damn near sixty years, but now is my chance, I guess."

Moments later, the impishness was gone, and he was a cool, collected man again, with a hint of avarice in his eyes.

Elric's boss was a man with a Russian sounding-name that defied Fox's tongue. He was slick and, to Fox, slimy looking, dressed in a fashionable suit and ostentatious cowboy boots. Harry met him and gushed over him, talking about the money they would make together as he ushered them back toward the collective.

Fox and another member of the collective flanked Harry. He looked over the assembly of fifteen men and almost two dozen girls. Finally, he spied Oksana, near the back and with a young slip of a girl that could only be her sister. He lowered his glasses and met her eyes, letting her know he was there, but he dared not give them any further sign.

Shannon had set aside a large collection of rooms on their lowest level for the men. The boss wandered through them, nodding appreciatively. The rooms came furnished with low couches, beds, and throw rugs on the floor. It looked plush, like a Turkish den.

"These quarters seem acceptable," the man said to Harry. "And this testing the news talks of?"

"We will bring the healers here," Harry lied. "Just make yourself comfortable."

The boss looked to his men, and they seemed to relax. "We should make ourselves at home," the boss echoed.

Fox found a couch and sat. He called out to Oksana in a loud voice. "Come over here, baby. Let's see the merchandise." He gave a cheeky smile while gagging a bit inside at the line.

She gave the smallest of looks at her sister, and they both came over, sitting on either side of him. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "Now what?" Fox put his arms around their shoulders, pulling them close.

And passed out.

"Must be nice to get to sleep on the job," Melee Sergeant Mandraka was joking as Fox roused.

He shook his head to clear it. He wiped the spit from the corner of his mouth.

"And with a pretty girl on either side, nonetheless," Janvins put in, a smile on her face. These were the two who had been with him that first day, when his nephew had nearly blown up the station. After an event like that, he couldn't help but count them as friends.

"We all agreed stunning the whole crew was the safest course," he said. Mandraka and Janvins had the boss on his knees and cuffed. All around the room security officers were wading through passed-out men and women, cuffing some and prodding others awake.

The boss came fully awake with a start, calling for his men. Oksana jerked awake at Fox's side. "What happened?"

Nika, her sister, woke on Fox's far side, and he gently extracted himself from the two girls.

He leaned over to the boss. "No point shouting. Your men are in the same predicament as you."

Kellii came in, a bound man in his custody. "Here is your proof." He pushed the man forward.

The boss was still looking around, trying to figure out what was going on. Harry, who had fallen onto a couch opposite, rose. He kicked the boss's cowboy boots. "We stunned you all. Cowboys should never trust an Injun," he joked. "Oughtta have known that, cowboy."

"Don't worry," Fox said to the man, "As soon as they've got you secured, they'll lead out and read you all the charges you're being arrested for."

"Arrested? You can't do that. It's not illegal here. The news—"

"It's still illegal to beat women," Oksana barked at him. "And trick them. And use them. If we choose of our free will to do this, then yes, let it be legal. But not your way. And you will not subject my sister to the shit you've done to me."