I hugged the ground after Poppy and I were finally lifted away from our certain deaths by The Lady’s people.

  Laying my forehead against the cold, wet and soggy grass, I didn’t think I could feel any more pleasure than I did right now. I was just happy to be alive.

  I could hear the last few sounds of gunfire as The Lady’s men made sure that any enemy even twitching had another round of metal placed through their bodies. They left nothing to chance. The Lady was ruthless in her efficiency in making sure the job was done well.

  She faced us now, fingers tapping on her computer. “Arun saved me the task of having to kill him and his little bunch of hoodlums at a later date, as he was beginning to overstep the boundaries of respect and etiquette one leader shows to another. I could only turn a blind eye for so long as he kept on trying to test what he could get away with.

  “You will soon find, Mr Blake, much like children, adults will keep on pushing against the boundaries until they are disciplined. Now—” she began but was cut off as another round of fire penetrated the air.

  I pulled a face that I tried to hide but she caught it.

  “What is the matter?”

  “It’s just that,” I began, “I don’t see the need in killing wounded men who can barely fight.”

  She shook her head at me as one would a na?ve child. “I have stayed in power as long as I have by doing the job properly. No survivors who can take revenge. No survivors who hold a grudge. There is a reason why, when certain animals take over a pack by killing the old alpha, they kill off all the offspring too.

  “Leave no stone unturned, Mr Blake. Leave no job unfinished. Remember that, it will serve you well one day.”

  “Thank you for the free advice, Mrs Ivanov.”

  “It’s Miss, actually,” she said with a wink as she turned her attention towards José. “Now, Mr Battle, if you would be so kind as to hand over what I have already paid for, so I can be on my way.”

  “Eager to be off this planet, mi Se?ora?”

  “Actually, I chose this planet because I love the ocean. I find it hypnotic, it reminds me of how a woman should be. On sunny days the ocean can be calm, interesting, gentle, relaxing, but when her fury is aroused there isn’t a structure known to man that can safely withstand her power,” she said, looking out onto the waves. “It allows me to know what I can accomplish, amongst the murky waters of Safe Haven.

  “But anyway, enough of my ramblings. I believe you have something that belongs to me?” she said, hand held out.

  José nodded his head and dug out from his pocket the data-stick, which he placed in the palm of her hand.

  “I think you’ll find that belongs to Xcorp!” shouted a voice from behind us.

  We all turned around and saw Gregory walking towards us, unarmed and alone. His suit was muddied and the knees on both pants legs were ripped showing skin underneath; a large bruise starting to go purple rested above his left eye.

  “I’ll think you’ll find you’re mistaken,” Miss Ivanov said. “I paid for this information so it now belongs to me, I do not know or care how these men got it; all I know is a transaction has been made, and now the transaction is complete.”

  “I doubt that would hold up in a court of law,” Gregory replied.

  “Well, this planet is uninhabited, which means the World Government’s laws do not apply here. Much as in international waters, anything that is done on this planet is outside the scope of the law.”

  “Err... I don’t think you truly understand how international water—” I began, but Willis cut me off with a slap to the back of the head.

  The Lady looked my way with mild annoyance and said, “I have come for what I want; now I shall be leaving.”

  “Maybe we can come to—” began Gregory, stepping forward, but he stopped as I lifted my shotgun in his direction.

  “You heard what she said. She’s not interested. But I am interested in paying you back for the pain you and your men caused me back on Safe Haven. I think two blown-out kneecaps and we can call it even.”

  No one spoke as I took a step forward and lifted the gun till it was pointed as his knees. If I blew both his kneecaps out, the damage done to his legs would mean he would bleed to death before he got any medical attention.

  This man had ruined my life. This man had tortured me, lied to me, beaten me and tried to have me killed on more than one occasion; he had taken everything from me and now he had the gall to stand here before me and demand justice?

  Fuck that! Fuck him! I would get rid of this asshole once and for all and be done with it.

  “I want you to listen to me very carefully,” Gregory said, spitting the words out in a hurry. “We can surely come to some agreement. I mean, you’re a smart businesswoman, all I’m asking you to do is allow me to buy the information back off you and kill these idiots. It would be in your best interest and make you—”

  I placed the barrel of my shotgun against his mouth and stared deep into his eyes.

  Fuck the knees. I wanted his head.

  If I was going to kill him this was how I would want to do it. Face to face. A few feet apart. Staring him in the eye so he knew I was his murderer, so he knew that in his last dying moments I had taken everything from him like he had from me.

  I blinked the rainwater out of my eye as I felt two hands on my shoulders. Turning left I saw Poppy, turning right I saw Lady Isabella Ivanov.

  “He’s not worth it,” Poppy whispered to me.

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  “I would like to hear what he’s got to say,” said Miss Ivanov, looking Gregory’s way.

  Gregory took a step back and with shaking hands tried to straighten out his sleeves but couldn’t. That image alone would keep me content till the end of my days.

  “As I was saying,” Gregory said with a wobble in his voice, “I can make it worth your while in giving me back the data-stick. Whatever you’re being paid by your highest bidder, I can double it.”

  “Quadruple.”

  No one spoke as all faces turned to Lady Isabella Ivanov.

  “Excuse me?” said Gregory.

  “You heard me; I want quadruple what I am being paid for this and not a pretty penny less.”

  Gregory gulped as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I, I, and how much is the amount, may I ask?”

  She tapped on her computer and walked forward, showing him a figure on her screen none of us could see. Gregory’s eyes widened in shock as he took a step back.

  “Quadruple that amount,” he whispered softly. “I don’t know if I have the authority or the access to garner such an amount in so little time. I mean that amount is a sizeable percentage of Xcorp’s stock; can’t we meet in the middle and say two point five?”

  “Oh, I didn’t realise this was a negotiation. I thought I had something you wanted and would do anything to get back. Your past acts lead me to believe such was the case, but I guess I was wrong.

  “Farewell, Mr Goodwin.”

  She walked away but he stepped in her way and held out his hands in front of her. “Wait, wait. Let’s not do anything rash here; in all areas of business one negotiates. Triple the asking price.”

  “You must not have heard me the first time, Mr Goodwin. This. Is. Not. A. Negotiation.”

  He stared her way and played with the sleeves of his suit, before giving her a nod of acceptance. Then he typed away on the holoscreen of the computer on his wrist.

  “You can’t be serious! You’re going to give it back to him! The very people you stole it from in the first place?”

  “Mr Blake, some would call that good business,” she said.

  “After everything this dickhead has put me through, you expect me to just allow him to get his hands on what he’s been after all this time? I don’t think so,” I said, lifting up my shotgun and pointing it Gregory’s way.

  “Mr Blake, I would advise you not to do anything which would jeopardise my business,” said The Lady, turning my way as her men pointed their guns in my direction.

  “Why?”

  “Because doing so is disastrous for one’s life. I understand your concerns but if I am to be frank with you I care little for your plight and care even less in righting any wrongs done to you. The universe isn’t fair, Mr Blake, it takes from the less fortunate and gives to the overabundant and greedy all the time. This is how things are, this is how they will always be. Now I suggest you lower your weapon before even more people get hurt.”

  I gripped the butt of my gun even tighter as I narrowed my eyes and could feel my finger press ever slightly on the trigger. Why should this fucker get to win? Why should he get away with what he had done to—

  “Quinton!” José’s voice came out of nowhere and snapped me out of my thoughts. Rough hands lowered my gun down as he stared my way. “That is enough.”

  I didn’t move.

  “It’s over,” said Tuari.

  “Listen to the captain,” snapped Willis.

  I took a step back and gritted my teeth, as Gregory released a sigh of breath. He flashed a smirk my way that quickly vanished behind an expressionless mask as he continued his business with The Lady.

  “The money is in your account,” Gregory said, closing the holoscreen of his computer down and holding his hand out. “Now if you would be so kind as to hand over the device.”

  A predatory smile spread across The Lady’s face. “What’s stopping me from just killing you? I mean you’ve already paid me; I could just as easily kill you, take what you’ve given me and sell the information on the stick to the highest bidder. Getting paid twice is so much nicer than just getting paid once, and as you said in business it’s always best to negotiate for the best deal.”

  “I, I, I didn’t remember saying that exactly but—”

  “If you were me what would you do?”

  Gregory opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by The Lady.

  “The truth.”

  He stared her way and looked down towards the ground before looking back up towards her. Mask now gone he matched her predatory smile. “I would have put a bullet in your head as soon as the payment was made. You have the superior numbers, while I have none.”

  She nodded her head, smile not leaving her face, while her men raised their guns.

  “But if you think I came here unarmed then you would be mistaken. As we speak an Xcorp fleet is on its way here, so you may kill me, but by the time it takes you to get out of the atmosphere and into deep space, my fleet would already be on your tail. Now you may escape, you may not, but why risk that? Why risk the wrath and might of one of the most powerful corporations in the known galaxy?

  “You think what they did to Quinton was bad, wait till they find out how much you stole from them. They will crush the little planet you reside on into dust and kill everyone you know and love. Yes, if I were you, I would shoot me dead, but I would also be smart enough to heed my advice and take off while the going is good.”

  A frown replaced The Lady’s smile as she tossed the data-stick into his waiting hands and walked away, “Nice doing business with you both!” she shouted over her shoulder as she descended the slope.

  Gregory turned towards me and gave me a smile, as he pulled on the sleeves of his suit. “Well, Quinton, my statement still stands, you are fired from your position and—”

  I punched him on the nose with everything I had; the sound of breaking bone was a pleasure to my ears as he fell backwards onto his ass. Blood poured from his nose and into his mouth as he opened it and tried to speak. He spat out a bloody wad towards me and got up slowly to his feet, at which point I punched him once more. If I had broken his nose before, this time I had disfigured it, as it sat at a crooked angle. He looked up at me, fear in his eyes, as I hovered above him.

  “Are you done?”

  “Yeah, I’m done,” I said, taking a step back.

  He got back up to his feet again and looked at me with contempt. “I hope you enjoyed that because from here on out your life is over. You may think you’re free because Xcorp have what they want, but this is far from over. The board hates loose ends and you are a loose end.

  “You think this little crew will protect you but I know these people; when the going gets rough and the bounty hunters and mercenaries come then they’ll be the first to leave you high and dry.

  “Then where will that leave you, Quinton? I’ll tell you where, you’ll still be the same loser whose wife I was fuc—”

  Another punch lifted him off his feet and collapsed him back on the ground where he lay sprawled out unconscious.

  This time it wasn’t me that had hit him.

  Poppy stood over him with fire in her eyes, teeth clenched as she moved towards him once more.

  “Poppy! Hurting him anymore won’t solve anything,” José said, walking forward and placing a hand on her shoulder. “I know you want to but it’ll only cause more trouble than it’s worth, plus I think it’s time we made a move before his welcome party arrives.”

  José looked out over the cliff and stared into the crashing waves below. Rummaging in his breast pocket he took out a small data-stick and held it out before him.

  “Don’t tell me that’s—” I said, pointing towards the device in his hand, then looking back towards Gregory. “If you have the data-stick then what does he think he has?”

  “Oh, he has a data-stick in his hand but it isn’t the one he wants. I was never planning to give this thing to Miss Ivanov, not after I found out what was on it. It would be too risky to have that information back out there in the world. It’s bad enough having people controlling other people without them creating a whole subspecies to do the same too.”

  “But if you were never going to give the information to The Lady then eventually she would have found out what you sold her was a fake.”

  “It was a chance I was willing to take and if she ever asked about it, I would have told her it was a simple mistake of giving her the wrong stick. She wouldn’t have bought it, of course, but all things considered I think this worked out pretty well in the end.”

  “Until Xcorp looks on the data-stick and finds out what they have isn’t what they wanted,” I said.

  “Don’t worry about them fuckwits too much,” Willis said with a smile. “We’ve placed a gift on Gregory’s data stick that I think they’ll enjoy; call it a Trojan horse if you will.”

  “You mean a computer virus?” I said in disbelief.

  “Something like that,” José said as he flicked the data-stick into the ocean where it disappeared beneath the waves.