Damantha Makarova
Обложка выполнена с помощью нейросети Kandinsky
© Damantha Makarova, 2024
ISBN 978-5-0062-4060-5
Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero
Part I. Scrapper
Chapter 1. Scrapper
Another day, another job.
Everything was as usual – they landed in one of the abandoned sectors, searching for anything of worth that they could sell. Though this was just like any other day they’ve been working, the young woman was happy that they weren’t stuck in some ancient refinery, lost in the terrible maze of its corridors like it was a week ago.
This time it was a small settlement, marked on the map with an asterisk – her captain, the Ol’ Fart, as she called him, said he was hinted of something of significant value. He wouldn’t tell her what it was, but Serena knew that if he gave an order – she’d better follow through, or he could punish her greatly.
She walked through the old, dilapidated building, hearing her captain scrambling somewhere near, and hoped that she could get at least some rest from his obnoxious company.
Stepping into one of the big halls she scanned the floor, where lots of scrap lay haphazardly. None of this was of any value, as most of it was just some broken toys and pieces of statuettes. The tiny old batteries could be refined, of course, but to make it up for the time she would have to find at least three boxes filled with them, so searching through the toys was a complete waste of her time.
Serena stepped further in, searching with her eyes for anything that she could take into the anti-gravitational cart that was slowly following her. A few rolls of copper wires and a small silver plate was lying inside – a bitter find, but it was something at least.
That was the life of a scrapper – to search out through the abandoned and destroyed locations and bring back anything the Company would buy. Copper, Nickel, Gold and Silver were the best of finds. Gold and a rare find of Platinum would feed them for weeks. But the copper wires and little things like that silver plate would just lengthen their hungry existence a little bit.
The woman thought that if she were to have one of those handheld scanners, her work would be so much easier. But those things cost a hefty penny, and she was in no position to ask her captain to allow her such a device.
Serena decided to glance into a smaller room, and stepped inside it, leaving the cart outside the door.
Immediately a gun aimed at her face and she froze, looking at a tall, dirty man with a very boyish face and oily blond hair. A short beard covered his chin and he smiled to her – a fair, charming smile that made him look like one of those man-models for some ad campaign. Only he was dirtier and obviously not as law-abiding.
«Keep looking, I’m going back to the ship for a break!» Serena heard her captain scream from the room next door.
She looked at the gun, aimed at her, then into the blue eyes of the man, who was holding it. She knew she had to reply, otherwise her captain would come searching for her and everything could turn very ugly – the Ol’ Fart was extremely hot-tempered and hated when someone wasn’t obeying his commands.
«Answer me, bitch!» the captain barked.
«Sorry!» Serena watched the eyes of her captor squint with a dark promise. «Yeah, go ahead, I’m on it!»
«You’d better find something worth our time here!»
«Yes, boss!» Serena swallowed a sudden lump in her throat.
She wouldn’t be able to say who she feared more – the armed man in front of her or the captain, who made her life miserable.
The stranger gripped his gun tighter, listening to the captain’s steps disappearing far away. When everything fell silent, the man smiled a bit wider and leaned in.
«How many of you are there?» he asked with a low, rumbling voice that made her shiver.
«Two of us.» Serena breathed out, feeling the gun press against her neck, as the man forced her to step aside and back to the wall.
As she leaned over the cold, hard wall, the man snickered and stepped closer, his hand pressing against Serena’s breast. He grinned, grasping tighter, and licked his lips.
«You’re a fine find, girl…» he said.
Suddenly a shadow moved behind the man and he was jerked back. Serena saw another man – also tall, muscular and dark-haired, standing there and growling into the blond man’s face.
«What the fuck do you think you’re doing?» the newcomer hissed.
Serena glanced at their clothes and suddenly realised that she had already encountered those before. The greyish blue of the overalls and the markings, where there used to be sign patches on the shoulders.
The woman realised what she walked into and started thinking if she should reach for her ear-piece and contact the captain to let him know that she stumbled upon deserters of the Company. But the men turned their eyes to her again.
The gun of the blond guy pressed into her chest.
«You will help us, unless you want me to pull the trigger.» the man said with a smile.
Serena lowered her gaze at the heavy gun and pondered on the thought. She grasped the barrel and raised it to her chin, clasping her eyes with the man. She wasn’t taunting him. She was welcoming him to do so.
Serena noticed the second man frown in surprise, then jerk her captor aside again, stepping up. The woman didn’t even flinch when he grabbed her clothes, pulling her up to him. He looked suspicious only for a few seconds, before he lowered his eyes to her neck.
She knew what he noticed. The collar she was hiding under a bandana.
The man slowly released her and raised her bandana, looking at the electric collar she was wearing, then his demeanour relaxed and he met her gaze once again.
«How long?» he asked.
«Four years.» Serena didn’t have the will to lie.
«How?»
Serena looked away. This question was so much harder to answer. Everyone always assumed that any collar-wearing human was enslaved for their wrongdoings. But her story was different. She was found half-dead on one of the planets where the scrappers came. And the Ol’ Fart clasped the collar onto her while she was recovering.
«Answer him.» the blond man pressed his gun to her ribs.
«I was found half-dead on one of the scrapyards.» Serena breathed out. «When I woke up in the infirmary, the collar was already on my neck.»
«You were found with it?» the dark-haired man asked.
Serena shook her head:
«No. Captain put it on, while I was unconscious. It made his tech revolt, but…»
The woman stopped, remembering how the Captain blew his team-mates brains out. It was the first thing she learned – never to disobey the short-tempered Captain.
«I have to find something… otherwise he will get mad.» Serena pleaded, looking into the blue eyes of the dark-haired man.
«Don’t think about your pitiful scrap.» the blond man spit on the floor. «We have more important business you have to help us with.»
«I can’t.» Serena shook her head. «The Captain won’t…»
The gun barrel rose to her face, making her fall silent.
The dark-haired man thought for a moment, then slowly forced the gun down, making the blond man grunt with disapproval.
«Let’s start again, shall we?» the dark haired man pressed his palm on his chest. «My name is Hunter, this is Pher…»
Serena