Zombie Road , Simpson, A. [best authors to read TXT] 📗

“I wasn’t expecting that.” Jessie said as Maddy answered the radio. Someone was yelling at them, half in universal, and half in something else. He didn’t understand exactly what they were saying but he was pretty sure he was getting cussed out.

“I’m going to adjust.” He said and fired the thrusters before she could advise him to leave it alone. He had a better feel for operating in gravity and eased the ship back to the center of the platform before setting it down and breathing out a heavy sigh.

He grinned at her, excited to be alive, on a spaceport and getting ready to meet new and interesting people. He lowered the gangway and checked for damages on the landing legs but nothing seemed broken or bent. A burly creature with an oversized mouth looked angry and confused as he stared at the ship.

“They give flying lessons.” He said in a gravelly voice. “You should take them.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Jessie said in his bad universal. “My first time here.”

The vaguely lizard looking man shook his head then looked at the ship.

“Never seen one of these before.” he said and slapped the metal box he was holding against the hull. It stuck and a series of digits displayed, started slowly counting.

“What’s that?” Jessie asked

The lizard man eyed them both. They were slightly built, the male wore a jacket made of tanned animal skins and had unusual weapons on his hips. Both had damaged faces and from the jagged looks of the scars, they weren’t done under the skillful hand of a skin carver. They weren’t beauty marks.

“I figured you two for some kind of skin jobs, never seen anything quite like you, but that’s not it. This is your first time in a port? What kind of backwater system are you from?”

“Aljeeda Three” Maddy said. “We were on a colony ship.”

“That explains a lot.” The man said and nodded his oversized head. “I heard there were explorer ships sent out before the galactic wars. You finally made it and built your gate, eh? The galaxy isn’t the same one your ancestors left. It isn’t so neat and clean. Well, just so we understand each other, the platform is twenty credits a day. You try to leave without paying, your ship blows up. You try to remove my timer; your ship blows up. You try to rip me off in any way, your ship blows up. We clear?”

They nodded and he stared at them for a while longer before shaking his head. “Another thing. You need to get a transponder on this rickety old tub if you didn’t bring it here to scrap it. If you’re planning on going near the hub, the first federation patrol that scans you is going to have questions and they might open fire first before asking them. Only outlaws and smugglers run without transponders.”

He waited, looking at them expectantly.

“We weren’t aware.” Maddy said smoothly. “Do you know where we can acquire one?”

“Yeah.” The man said. “Fifty credits, I’ll have it installed before you leave.”

“This is acceptable.” She said.

He looked at both of them again, grunted, shook his oversized head and returned to his office.

“Do we have any credits?” Jessie asked

“No.” Maddy said “But if this is like any other port my crew visited, there is a trade bazaar where everything that can be bought or sold is bought and sold. We should have something of value we can barter. It is also a good place to start searching for information to get you home.”

They gathered a few things they thought they could sell and went through the doors of the lizard man’s office, the only way out to the main terminal. He was watching a hologram show with a younger version of him laughing at the antics.

“Hey.” He called to them and turned off the holo, his tone a little softer. They were fresh off a colony voyager, simpletons who could barely fly a ship and had never visited an outpost. They might think they looked tough with their animal skins and ancient blasters, they may have even been through some hardships judging from the scars they bore, but they were about to walk into a cesspool of slavers, thieves and freshly released prisoners. It wouldn’t do him any good to be stuck with their ship if they never returned, the boy dead from bumping into the wrong person and her carted off as an interesting sex toy.

“You gotta be careful out there.” He said. “Stay away from the older levels, get your supplies and buy your tickets to the pleasure planet up here. Don’t go down below. It’s not safe for tourists.”

“We’re looking for the trader’s market.” Jessie said. “We don’t have any credits; we need to sell a few things.”

The lizard man didn’t think he could be any more surprised but these two had absolutely no idea what they were getting into. Maybe life was rosy on a colony ship, maybe everyone was happy and smiley and wouldn’t cut your throat for a ration of water but they were in for a rude awakening. They didn’t belong on the outskirts of the civilized galaxy, they needed to be in a system that was heavily patrolled and the inhabitants were enlightened.

“It’s down below. You’re going to get swindled and then what few credits you get will be stolen. They’ll never find your bodies because no one will be looking.”

He shook his head and jerked a thumb over his shoulder at their ship. “I’ll give you a day. If you’re not back, it’ll be sold for scrap.”

“People disappear from down there all the time.” The younger one said. “Dad says to never ever go below Three.”

“He’s right.” The creature said and made an annoyed clicking sound. “Show me what you’ve got. Maybe I can tell you who’s buying what you’re selling. Can’t imagine there’s much demand for anything off a colony ship, though.”

Maddy opened her backpack and pulled