The Bounty Hunter: Reckoning

The Bounty Hunter: Reckoning Read Free Page B

Book: The Bounty Hunter: Reckoning Read Free
Author: Joseph Anderson
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seen before. He timed the shots with each step until he was
on the other side of the wall that Alan was hiding behind. She watched Burke
pull out the remaining bullets from the gun and fire it purposefully without
any ammunition. The inert clicking of the hammer striking nothing filled the
air.
    “You idiot, it’s a trick,” she
whispered hopelessly down at the floor.
    Alan spun around the doorway once
more only to be punctured by a blade protruding out of Burke’s armor. It
pierced through his head and cleanly into his skull. Jess saw the cracks snake
out along the skull from where the blade went through and couldn’t help but
cringe. The blade popped free when Burke moved his arm away and Alan fell dead
onto the floor. She was sure he died instantly.
    The computer terminal emitted a
series of beeps behind Jess and she turned to the screen. Someone was accessing
the system and she remembered reading about the AI component included in the
Phalanx aegis. She strained her mind to recall anything else she could about
the armor. It looked damaged when she looked down at it but it still withstood
Alan’s assault. She tried to remember if the visor of the armor had the same
functionality as her bionic eye. She couldn’t remember for certain and pushed
the thought aside. If he could see her as she could him, then she was done for.
She would have  to risk it either way.
    The screen changed to show that the
ship’s roster was being accessed. Five crew members, of which only Marcus was
named. She turned away from it and looked back down at the floor. Burke had
moved into the engine room that took up the rest of the lower level. Jess moved
quietly out of the room and onto the railing overlooking the cargo bay. She
kept him in her view as she grappled the railing and heaved herself over it.
She climbed down it slowly, moving her hands to deliberately lower herself
until she was gripping the bottom part of the floor. Her feet dangled less than
a meter from the lower level and that was when she let go.
    She landed nimbly on her feet and
looked through the single wall that separated Burke from her. He had done a
quick circuit of the engine and had turned back to walk in her direction. She
felt her legs tense as he looked her way; she was ready to run if he could see
her just as well as she could him. When he made no movement or reaction to her,
she made two quick strides and pressed herself against the wall, sliding along
it as he moved closer.
    Alan’s body was slumped outside of
the right hand entrance. Burke was moving back toward it. Jess shifted herself
toward the left entrance. Alan’s blood had pooled and was running over the
floor toward her. She moved her feet away from the trickling blood and urged
Burke to move faster. She couldn’t risk moving into the room too soon but the
blood was threatening to touch her feet, causing her leave a trail when she
finally did move.
    Burke neared the door as Jess
balanced on her left foot, keeping her right one suspended above the blood
below her. He took a single step through the door way and she twisted on her
left foot, putting only her right foot through the door and turning on it, not
risking more noise than a single step. She held her breath as she stared at him
through the wall. She could feel the blood rushing through her ears; her face
felt hotter than when the planet’s air had smothered her. Burke made no
reaction that he noticed her. He walked to the stairs to explore the upper
floor and she exhaled slowly in time with the rush of relief.
    She kept her neck craned and faced
upwards to watch him as she stepped back into the cargo bay. The ship had many
secret places to hide storage from unexpected searches. She had crawled around
the ship so many times to rig pieces together that she knew the hidden places
more than Marcus did. She saw that Burke was in the middle of the shared crew
quarters. He looked like he had picked something up and was inspecting it. She
took the

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