Vin's Rules (Outer Settlement Agency) Read Free Page B

safe.”
    “You’d better. Pretty sure my death is against regulation.”
    And triple damn her, but his laughter almost made it better.

Chapter Three
    U nless Vin was crazy, their captors looked as surprised to see them as he and Allie were to “find” them.
    The men carried guns. No big deal, really. But they also carried sticks. Batons, he thought they were called. No one had used those since the old days—back when Earth wasn’t the wasteland of the Milky Way.
    Life in the modern universe didn’t require such tools of force. Even the most basic gun had a stun setting. And for riot control, the larger ones fanned out an electrical charge for several lengths.
    Simply put, you don’t carry around batons for control.
    You carry them to instill fear.
    They all dressed the same, brown flowing linens and reflective sunglasses. No markings of rank. Yet one of them, faced marked and pitted with scars, stepped forward. “Weapons on the ground, nice and easy. Good. Good. Now then, who are you? How did you make it here?”
    “We’re representatives of the Outer Settlement Agency,” Allie said, bowing and extending her hand.
    Not a single one of them took it. A few of their jaws dropped to the ground. Two of them narrowed their eyes. He didn’t care for the curl on their lips.
    Vin stepped a little closer to Allie.
    Fuck this. Fuck him. He’d totally misjudged the situation. He should have hauled her back to the shuttle for backup the second they hit an empty quadrant.
    The man he assumed to be in charge stared at Allie for several seconds before snapping his eyes back to Vin. “Thought OSA forgot about us.”
    “Not at all. As she said, that’s why we’re here.”
    “We don’t need OSA.” The man holstered his weapon and eased closer. “The woman’s one too?”
    “I can speak for myself and for the record...”
    For once, Vin was happy to hear her rattle off about regulation numbers zero through a million. It gave him time to survey the craphole they’d crashed into.
    Respect of OSA kept the galaxy in check. You always had thugs and pirates and organized crime, but as long as they ran from the good guys, the ‘verse was still in balance.
    Not only were these assholes living outside the system, they flaunted it.
    Guns happened.
    Warlords happened.
    But this was too organized. Too... governmental.
    The man dismissed Allie with a sneer and a wave of indifference.
    She huffed and advanced, but Vin held her in place with a hand on her shoulder.
    The armed men grinned at this and elbowed one another. Also, very not good.
    Had Allie picked up on it? No, she was still rattling off regulations and laws. From where he stood, however, these men only positively engaged when he somehow verbally or physically restrained her .
    The more she talked, the more they lasered in on her with open looks of derision. Still, she kept listing their faults, wholly oblivious to the bullshit deepening around them.
    The leader held up a finger and tapped his earpiece. “Message from Graham. He welcomes you into our community. This way.”
    “Actually—”
    But the man cut Allie off. Rather than respond to her, he addressed Vin. “It’s for your own good. It’s close to nightfall. You’d rather be with us, than with them.”
    “Them? What’s a them ?”
    Allie’s question again went unanswered. “I suggest you quickstep. Graham doesn’t like to be kept waiting. You can stop looking down at your weapons. They’re ours now.”
    They didn’t have much choice in the matter. One of the grunts snatched his firearms away then turned to Allie. The glint in his eye didn’t sit well with him. Before any of them touched her, Vin kicked her weapon towards them. The whole time, he kept his eyes on the leering guard with a look that very much said, don’t.
    The men formed a tight circle around them. Vin walked so close to Allie that their legs brushed together and leaned over to her ear. “For the love of all that’s holy, please