The Bounty Hunter: Resurrection Read Free Page A

hear people shuffling up the stairs below them. More
guards he guessed, rushing to where they heard the sound of gunfire.
    “Up here!” Taggus yelled. “He’s up
here!”
    “There’s still time to break your
arm,” Burke said.
    He turned to the stairs and began
ascending, two steps at a time. He judged the weight of the alien on his
shoulder before he began to run. The guards below them could do him no harm,
but they might be foolish enough to open fire and kill Taggus. The bounty on
his head specifically wanted him alive.
    “Faster!” Taggus roared. “He’s
getting away!”
    They were near the top of the
stairs. Burke rushed up the final steps quickly, put his hand on the door
handle, and twisted his arm so that Taggus collided hard into the wall of the
stairwell. He heard the alien groan on contact and grinned.
    The door wasn’t locked. Burke
stepped through and closed it behind him. He was back on the roof and could see
the broken window a few meters ahead. He looked up and saw the rain falling
between the towering buildings of the city. He did not see or hear his ship.
    “Cass, did you stay linked with the
ship?”
    “Yes, but we won’t need it. Rylan
is a good pilot. He’ll be here,” she answered.
    “Check on him.”
    “That’s not necessary. I trust
him.”
    “I’m still trying,” Burke said.
    The sound of the guards stomping up
the last few stairs came through the door. Burke leaned back against it and
lodged his foot to block it. He felt someone barge into the door and then fall
away from it. A few moments passed before they opened fire. Cass unlocked
Burke’s left arm and he stretched it out, holding Taggus away from the door and
away from stray bullets that broke through. Burke looked up at him and saw the
rain falling into his face.
    “Just kill me,” he spluttered.
    Burke stood against the door. He
felt a second attempt as someone rammed themselves into it. Another torrent of
bullets railed through the door and into him. He gritted his teeth and turned
back to look out over the roof. He was about to once again condemn the new
pilot, Rylan, for abandoning him before he saw the ship appear in the distance.
It tore its way through the rain after weaving dangerously between two nearby
buildings, barely large enough for the size of the ship. He wanted to shake his
head.
    “And you accused me of showing
off,” Burke muttered.
    “He’s just as good as flying as you
are at fighting,” Cass replied, sounding like she had a smile on her face.
    He huffed and then felt a third
collision into the door behind him. Bracing it or not, he knew the door would
likely break soon. He kept his eyes locked on the ship. Usually he had time to
admire the vessel he and Cass had purchased, with its sleek exterior in the
same black and white colors of his battle aegis. On the roof, he urged it to
move faster and then wanted to curse himself as his wish came true. He watched
as Rylan recklessly swung the ship into a spin, turning into the momentum of the
ship for a last burst of speed before it abruptly came to a halt a few meters
away from the roof. The sound of the engine was enough to blare out the gunfire
from behind him.
    The front doors of the ship, on the
lower level and below the helm, began to open and Burke pressed away from the
door. One of the guards rammed into it just as he pressed away and he heard the
door crash onto the roof. Burke held Taggus out in front of him, as if he was a
war banner he was leading into battle. The alien screamed in fear as he was
held out over the roof, seemingly about to fall off of it. Burke slid over the
final meter on the roof and crouched down as a wave of gunfire slammed in his
back. Cass triggered the launch mechanisms in his leg and armor and he was
propelled forward. He felt the moment during which he hung in the air and the
ship elongate: the bullets crushing themselves into his back, Taggus screaming,
and the roar of the ship’s engine. Then he felt his feet