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{Place- Denabux} {Habitation- Hanson Family Home} Chapter 4 - Get Me There Yesterday! Zac bit his lip thoughtfully and nodded slightly, looking very much like a scared child. "I'm... I'm doing this for the family. Trust me on this ok? This is gonna bring me a hundred thousand credits and it'll fix my ship up to new ok?" Taylor's blue eyes showed sincerity through and through. Isaac was shaking his head again, not believing a word his brother was saying, "Where can you get that sorta credit charge?" The second born Hanson son flicked his tongue across his lips and took a quick nervous glance around, "Ever heard of a Dreadean named Sankt before?" Zac's legs gave out and he sank to the floor in shock, "You're... working... Sankt?" Taylor nodded, "It's a hundred thousand credits guys! Half of it's going to the farm to replace any broken droids or anything that needs repair since I'm not there." He pleaded with them, taking a quick glance around the hanger he was calling from. Various ships sat in the hanger for various reasons; some for refueling, some for repairs, others for cargo, and many others for unknown purposes. Taylor's would fall under unknown. Small ion powered vehicles scurried around in the background as the brothers talked, delivering meals, messages, and small trade items to ships that request it or for bartering reasons. Fueling trucks the size of houses caused the ground to tremble as they rolled to starcrafts in need of the sustenance. Nothing shook so hard, though, as when a star ship took off and left the hanger at port speed. Another cargo truck, half the size of the fuel trucks, rolled up to Taylor's ship and another load of boxes were loaded up with the word 'fragile!" written everywhere in bright yellow to alert the handlers of breakables within. "Yes, I know it's a hundred thousand credits.... all of which are highly ILLEGAL, especially if you're working for Sankt. What happens if we get caught using illegal credits to buy droids? What do we tell the Union officers?" Isaac asked of Taylor. Taylor smiled widely, "Ike. Tell em you got them from me." "What!? No! They'll arrest you! You'll get thrown in prison!" Isaac answered in shock. "Ike... I'm a wanted man. I've killed Union officers to save my sorry butt. I'm one of the best smugglers around right now. They've been trying to catch me the minute I stole my first ship. And.... God! Hang on a sec!" Taylor was interrupted once more when his ship's hull clanged loudly and Clepsydra's computerized voice screamed at the docking men. Taylor held his spot at the viewing screen but was still able to chew out the men loading his ship. He turned back red faced and smiled at his brothers, though he still looked mighty angry. "Dude Tay... why do they buckle down like that for you?" Zac asked in wonderment. "I'm THE Taylor Hanson. Why wouldn't they buckle down for me?" Taylor brought the collar of his shirt up and flattened it again in an arrogant way, grinning the whole time, "Like I said.I'm the best of the best. Why do you think Sankt's after me to get this job done?" Isaac put two and two together and looked at Taylor in anger, "How could you do this to our name? Our whole lineage hasn't done anything like this before! How can you corrupt it now?" Isaac's sense of family kicked in against his own brother with his ranting. "Chill Ike man... geze, this is my choice and I'm sorry if it kinda botches our 'clean' slate, but it's what I wanna do with my life. It's fun to a degree. The kinda highs you get off the adrenaline are amazing! Sneaking out beneath the Union's noses, snatching an easy meal outta some guy's pocket full of credits... shootouts with the pigs." Taylor smiled wistfully and was about to go when all of the sudden all the entry doors slammed open and Union forces began swarming through. Isaac and Zac gasped in fear as Taylor grinned a mile wide. Taylor grabbed his jacket and yanked it on quickly and pulled the hood up with one hand and using the other to yank the zipper up his chest. His hand reached in for his blaster and he pulled it out, checking the charge and smiling when it read 'full'. Zac and Ike knew what was going to happen and called out at Taylor. "TAY! DON'T SHOOT EM! Jesus Tay, don't!" The brothers yelled together. Taylor shot a fleeting glance at the screen, not bothering to turn it off, and ran towards his ship to protect the men who were loading the last of his cargo. Isaac nearly threw up when Taylor took careful aim and, without hesitation, shot an officer in the head, dropping him like a stone. Zac covered his mouth in horror, unable to turn away as Taylor fired off three more shots, killing three more innocent men who were trying to stop him from breaking the law. Zac screamed when Taylor was hit in the chest by a bolt of light from a laser and he was flung to the floor. Then he nearly fainted as Taylor jumped to his feet and shot four more officers in rapid succession, his jacket rippling as the energy was dispersed through the fabric. Taylor saw that he was being encircled by desperate officers and he reached inside his jacket, pulling out two items. He turned to the screen and yelled: "I love you guys! I'm sorry you had to see this! I...." Taylor was cut off momentarily as a laser bolt smacked him in the chest and he shot off two more rounds before turning back, "I'll be contacting you! Scan the house at night for any bugs or tracking units! Tell mom and dad I'm sorry if they find out about this! I love you, bye! End this transmission ASAP!" He yelled once more. He reached for the 'end transmission' button but officers had closed in. He held up one arm and flung a small object in the middle of the circle, a few feet from him, and the area was engulfed in white screening smoke and none of the figures were seen. A moment later the camera shot over to where it sensed movement and a small bomb knocked all the officers down and killed them instantly. The camera tracked Taylor to his ship where the cargo hold doors were slamming shut and locking down with air locks and the pressurized doors hissed closed. Zac and Isaac watched in morbid fascination. Taylor pressed his jaw through his hood and yelled, "Clep! Open hatch three! Prepare ship for immediate departure! Lock down the cargo! Move it!" A door on the ship flung open and Taylor jumped inside but not before yelling, "Close hatch three Clep!" And the doors sprang closed. The ship's hull suddenly shimmered as the deflector shields were brought online and the rockets fired up at the back of the ship and the bottom, lifting it up and forward at a dangerously fast speed, a speed Taylor relished, and the hanger doors remained open as he fled Dreadean, more of an outlaw then ever. The two brothers watched until Taylor's ship wasn't in sight anymore before Isaac hit the 'end transmission' button and sank to the floor with a thump and a sick look on his face. Zac kept shaking his head, finding it impossible to get the expressions of the officers out of his head. There must have been over a hundred Union men out there and Taylor took them all out for nothing more then a hundred thousand credits. A whimper came from the doorway and Ike and Zac's head snapped in that direction and saw what they really didn't want to; their mother. Zac jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and started rocking her side to side as she broke down and started crying. Isaac wrapped his arms around his mother, hearing her and Zac cry together while he was still too numb to feel the pain of his brother's actions yet. He felt so cold... why had Taylor done that? It was all for money, for the adrenaline high, for the fun of it. Why risk his life for that? Why risk theirs too? {Year- 3090} {Place-Dreadean Space Territory} Taylor wiped his face against his bare arm, which was shaking out of control, as he sank to the floor. He allowed a few tears to stream down his face for the families he knew he destroyed that night when he destroyed those men. He couldn't get taken into captivity now. Sankt would be discovered, the biggest smuggling ring in the universe would be destroyed, and Taylor Hanson would have his ass in quite a spot with the prison men and anybody that could reach him. He stood up, sniffling hard and wiping his tear streaked face across his arm again before heading for the cargo hold, now fully aware that he was allowed to see the contents within. "Clep, open the cargo bay door. Pressurize." He waited a moment and heard his orders being fulfilled. He entered the spacious hold and approached a box and bent so his nose was pressed against a container. He sniffed in hard to gain knowledge before he cracked the lid. He smelled soil and plants. He frowned. "No way... no way in hell did he make me take draetons. Oh my God." He laser torched and broke away one of the seals, pulling the top off and gasped. Row after row after row of seedling and juvenile draetons were nestled in watered down moss, ready for a trip that could take months. Taylor felt his knees go weak the whole time he was resealing the lid. He marked the top with a lower case 't' to show he opened this one and this one alone. "Oh God... what am I doin?" He slammed his forehead against the bulkhead over and over. Only Clepsydra's voice stopped him, "Taylor sir. You are killing one hundred brain cells every time you hit your head. You must stop." Taylor shook his head but obeyed and thought about how nice a drink would be right now. "Clep? Where's the nearest bar installation?" He asked wearily. "On the Dead Planet, one billion miles away Taylor sir." Clepsydra answered reluctantly. "Set a course, get me there YESTERDAY!" He ordered. "I do not think that is wise Taylor Sir." She responded. "Who runs this ship? Who!" He yelled, staring at the speaker in the ceiling. "You do Taylor sir." A quiet voice answered. "Yes! I do! Now set a course for Dead Planet now!" He screamed, slamming himself into the pilot's seat. He only had an eight hour trip ahead and he needed to think. "Course plotted and set Taylor sir." Clepsydra stated. "Initiate hyper drive. Go when ready." He signed himself off the computer so she wouldn't upset his thinking time. He watched the stars whiz by as the ship sped to its full speed and his mind began to wonder..... << Previous Page of Story>> << Back to Story Page>> << Back To Index Of Chapters Page>> Back To Main Page>> |