Hell Is Empty Read online

  HELL IS EMPTY

  Book Three of THE FRONTIER

  *

  Travis E. Hughes

  Copyright © 2017

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

  First Edition: October 2017

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  To my incredible family.

  Special Thanks: Cover Design: Kyle Delso. Cover consultation Brandon Grode. Matt Savage for moral support. Theateresque. Also special thanks to Steve Lowe a fellow Space Western writer and early champion of The Frontier Series.

  Special thanks to cover model: Amy Appleton Dreyer

  Photo by Paul Versluis Photography. Visit www.versluisphoto.com

  “History just burps, and we taste again that raw-onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago.” – Julian Barnes.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Athena

  “I think that’s Ike Hoon,” Frank Lee said, pointing across the meadow to a man astride a hover bike driving a large herd of cattle. “Long blonde hair.”

  Roslyn upped the magnification on her smart goggles and followed Frank’s finger. Two thousand yards away, a longhaired man in a duster and large brimmed hat, drove a herd of cattle through a gate into an adjacent pasture. She counted four other ranch hands riding hover bikes helping to move the cows. There may have been a fifth one, but the cows stirred up a large dust cloud. From what she could inventory, they all had side arms and rifles in their saddlebags. The agents were too far away to hear them but they were whistling and shouting for the cows to move.

  “How would you know that?” Charlie Siringo asked.

  “Uh… Matches the description?” Frank said like it should have been obvious.

  “This is his farm then,” Talbert grunted and spat.

  “Do you really think Rex would come back here to recover?” asked Frank. They were hidden in the trees that climbed a ridge at the edge of an enormous cattle ranch.

  “Where else would he go? He probably thinks he has enough security and shit around to protect him,” Drago said wishing he had smart goggles to see. He was one of the six junior agents brought on the mission. You could spot them by their lack of smart goggles and laser-com transponders. Frank Lee was not counted among the juniors for he’d been promoted after Allan Fink’s funeral.

  Frank tapped Roslyn’s shoulder and motioned toward a tree down the slope from them. Tiny red laser beams stretched between the trees at roughly four feet off the ground. Sensors. She nodded that she understood and pointed them out for Charlie Siringo. The thin man bobbed his head in confirmation.

  “So what are we going to do?” Drago asked after Charlie Siringo pointed out the laser sensors.

  “The best satellite images we got so far say the main house and most of the ranch hands’ quarters are north of here about six miles,” Roslyn said. “But in the center of the property. We have to cross six miles into the property is my point.”

  “It’d be nice if we had eyes in the sky to see exactly what we’re dealing with in real time. You know, like new drones,” said Drago, staring out across a green and yellow ocean.

  “We need to start making money instead of spending money,” Roslyn said and immediately regretted playing into his bullshit. She was thinking of ways to fire him now. It had been a fancy that began after Father’s funeral. Father had been right about him.

  “Where’s your dragon?” Drago asked.

  “Puff?” Roslyn snipped. “I’m not getting Puff killed. The bastard shoots drones out of the sky at two thousand feet. Junior Agent, a word please.”

  She stepped a few feet up the hill to a small clearing. Drago sighed and followed her out of ear’s reach of the others. She could feel Talbert’s judging eyes on her back. She tried to shrug them off but that proved impossible. So she kept her back to him and spoke through gritted teeth.

  “Why don’t you worry about figuring out what we’re dealing with in terms of the immediate? Like what other security measures does he have on the property? You’re in charge of that now. Go ahead and do that and stop bitching every two seconds. That shit’s contagious.”

  Drago stared at her through dead eyes. She wanted more than anything in the world at that moment to slap him. But she was the leader now, undisputed. She had to act like it.

  “Am I dismissed?” Drago finally asked through a tired sigh.

  “Oh my God, Drago,” Roslyn tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Your position is up for reevaluation, just so you know. When we get back to Potter, I’m taking a hard look at your position and deciding if you deserve to work for us still.”

  “You’re going to fire me, then?” he asked, inching closer to her, using his large size to intimidate her. Her pearl handled, Kirkwood Nine long barrel shoved up into his testicles before either of them could snort. The gun was on stun of course, but the close range blast would burn and hurt like hell before he passed out.

  “Back the fuck off me, Drago,” Roslyn said. She could hear Talbert clear his throat behind her and wanted to tell the old bastard that she had this. Drago grinned through clenched jaws, held his hands up and backed two steps away.

  “Easy, Ros,” Drago whispered and grinned. “I’ll figure out what other security measures there are. That’s fine. I got this. Smart goggles would help, but I can… Okay, then.”

  She stared at him through slits for eyes, her lips pursed. Drago then turned and headed down the ridge to the closest tree that sported a tiny sensor along the trunk. Beyond the trees there rose a barbed wire fence that snaked along the tree line in both directions as far as the eye could see.

  Roslyn released a long sigh and turned back to Talbert and the others. She faked a grin and went back to watching Ike Hoon and his cowboys move the last of the herd into the adjacent pasture.

  Talbert cleared his throat, shrugged and spat. His judgment was palpable. He was Father’s ghost, or at least the ghost’s liaison.

  “Okay,” Drago came back up to them to report after a few silent minutes passed. “So, we’re looking at motion sensor game cameras as well as the trip laser wires. Also there are security cameras mounted in trees every fifty feet or so.”

  “Are we on camera now?” Roslyn asked, looking up and around for the nearest one.

  “I don’t think so. I probably was when I was down there looking at the trip wires and stuff, though,” Drago said, looking back over his shoulder down the slope.

  “So now they know we’re here,” Roslyn said more than asked.

  “Where’s the entrance?” Frank Lee asked. “I didn’t see that on the satellite. Did anyone else see a main entrance?”

  “There’s a landing pad for a shuttle closer to the main house,” Roslyn said, pulling up the image captured on her transponder. The holographic image hovered between them. She pointed to the main house and then to the landing pad. There was the black hearse buggy parked on the pad.

  Talbert stared at a patch of smaller buildings and a clump of trees north of the main complex. He absently reached into the cloud and touched the house. His old house. Amanda and Emyah.

  “When was this image taken?” Drago asked. “Too bad we can’t get a live feed.”

  “Frino’s working on that,” Roslyn said. “This was taken yesterday.”

  “So that means he was here as recently as yesterday?” Charlie Siringo asked, coming around behind Frank to see the hologram better.

  “Not necessarily,” Frank said, holding up one white-gloved finger. “Tha
t buggy was on Danaus and now it’s here.”

  “Okay?” Drago said, shrugging with one hand.

  “That means it can at least go into space and dock inside a bridge jumper. Right?” Frank said as if he were talking to a child. It was subtle but Roslyn loved him for it.

  “Right,” Drago said, looking that much more stupid for not catching on.

  “It means he took it to get from Danaus to Athena, but once he got to Athena he could have parked it there and taken other transportation to Grandby. Hover bikes or the like,” Roslyn said. Was she purposely trying to talk like Talbert? The mole snickered in her head.

  “Except we saw him driving it to meet with Lahky Reems, remember?” Frank said. “When he shot down the first drone.”

  “So you think he’s here?” Roslyn asked Frank. He shrugged with his bottom lip in response and turned back to the hologram.

  “It means we don’t know,” Talbert said. “There are other large shuttles to transport cattle up to Potter parked here too. That’s what those are.”

  He pointed to what looked like large white rectangles with slight shadows outlining them.

  “Means he doesn’t have to drive his cattle into Grandby to ship them up to the moon,” Talbert said. “Running one hell of an operation out of here. Guessing over two hundred thousand head.”

  “Holy shit,” Frank said followed by a whistle.

  “How many ranch hands?” asked Drago who hadn’t been in the boardroom when the senior agents had broken down the situation.

  “I don’t know,” Talbert said, removing his hat to scratch his head then replacing it. “Probably over fifty. Not including robots.”

  “There’s ten of us,” Drago said, counting four senior agents with the five juniors and then counting himself. He was happy to count Barry Gould among them. The aging junior agent needed some field time experience.

  “Shit,” whispered Charlie Siringo.

  “What?” Roslyn asked, upping magnification on her smart goggles again to look across the vast meadow.

  “Is that an…” Frank asked.

  “Amazon,” Roslyn confirmed. Riding a spotted gorack, a large Amazon helped to move the herd through the gate. They hadn’t noticed her before.

  “How many of those work here?” asked Frank.

  “Why would they?” Roslyn asked, remembering that the Roshanaki women were self-sustaining and lived perfectly off the land. They didn’t need jobs.

  “No idea,” Talbert said. “Never seen an Amazon work for humans before.”

  “I told you we needed closer eyes on this situation here,” Drago said, pulling his long hair into a ponytail, and then working it into a tight bun atop his head. The movement made his belly shake slightly.

  The last cow trotted through the gate and the longhaired man hopped off his hover bike to close it. He then received a call on his transponder. The main house must have seen Drago because Ike Hoon mounted his bike and instructed the Amazon and two other riders to accompany him in their direction.

  “Well, so much for stealth,” said Frank.

  “What’s our play?” Drago asked, checking his gun’s charge.

  “Your play is to follow our lead,” Roslyn said. “Listen for further orders.”

  The hover bikes would have closed the gap between them much quicker if they didn’t have to cruise along at twenty miles an hour to match the gorack’s pace.

  “Let’s introduce ourselves,” Roslyn said, strolling down the hill and out from under the canopy of trees into the bright light of Athena’s sun. She pulled her new top hat up onto her head. Attached to a silk string, it previously hung on her back.

  She instructed the six junior agents to spread out and stay hidden in the trees. The four seniors stepped through the security lasers and held their hands up to signal a peaceful encounter. They approached the fence.

  “Hello the ranch,” shouted Roslyn.

  “You are on private property,” shouted Ike Hoon as he approached. “State your business.”

  “Who’s the owner of this private property?” asked Roslyn.

  “Who’s asking?” retorted Ike.

  “Interstellar Peace Keepers,” Talbert responded before Roslyn could. He seemed tense and eager.

  “Oh?” Ike said and looked around at his ranch hands and then at the snarling Amazon. “The same agency that killed Queen Lahky Reems?”

  “Here to finish what we started,” Talbert said. Roslyn wanted to turn and reprimand him, but decided against it. His back was raised.

  “Here to slaughter more of our divine Roshanaki women?” Ike said.

  “Here looking for the bastard that got those Amazons killed,” Talbert said. “Dylan O’Hare’s his real name. Goes by Rex Omnious now. He’ll be wounded and convalescing some place. Here’s as good as any.”

  “Well, sir, I’m a rancher by trade,” Ike said taking his time to scan the trees. “I don’t reach for my gun first. But even if that were true about Mr. Omnious convalescing here, do you honestly think we’d let you waltz in here and take him? Or kill him even?”

  “Is he here?” Talbert nearly shouted.

  “Like I said…” Ike hesitated. Roslyn grabbed Talbert’s gun arm and held it. She could feel the muscles flexing and aching to snatch his pistol. Fear registered in Ike’s eyes, but he tried to maintain his tough mien.

  “We have a few questions for Mr. Omnious,” Roslyn said.

  “Oh, I’m sure,” Ike said. “But again, like I said, he’s not here.”

  “You never said that,” Talbert barked.

  “Well he’s not,” Ike said. “But if he were, we wouldn’t be letting you in anyway. So…”

  A dust cloud on the horizon behind Ike caused Roslyn to flip on her smart goggles. A small army of a dozen, and some change, well-armed men and women drove hover bikes rapidly in their direction.

  “No body else needs to die,” Roslyn said holding up one hand palm out.

  “No. I quite agree,” Ike said and tipped his hat.

  She tried to calculate her next move. Even if they stunned the ranch hands and some how subdued the Amazon, they wouldn’t be able to get through the next group rapidly approaching.

  “Okay, then,” Roslyn said and motioned for her group to retreat back the way they came. Talbert held his ground while the others followed her.

  “Bill,” Roslyn said out of the side of her mouth. “There’s too many coming.”

  Talbert’s steel-blue eyes burned into Ike Hoon. The man tried to match them but gave up and looked at the Amazon.

  “Can I kill him?” the Amazon asked.

  “You can try,” Talbert said, brushing back his jacket.

  “Bill,” Roslyn said more forcefully.

  Talbert grunted and followed the rest into the trees and up over the ridge.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Returning to Potter, and the former slaughterhouse turned central office, sent Roslyn into a whirling depression. It had been used once again as a slaughterhouse. Her father had been slaughtered there. A robotic workforce rebuilt the wall in the jail and air filters worked desperately to cycle the air. They’d cleaned the bloodstains, but still, Roslyn couldn’t go back down that corridor. It felt crippling to be there at all. Had things gone as planned, she would be looking forward to selling the building to a cattle company for a good profit. The mole had grown and was now out of control; gnawing at her brain stem like a bone. How was she going to actually run the day-to-day affairs of this entire agency? She had Sage. She was so grateful to the middle-aged mother of three.

  She gave Hattie the official title of Judge Hattie Su, which gave her senior agent status. She took her place across the table from Talbert. They nodded to each other but tried to avoid much contact. Roslyn could feel the tension from the head of the table. She caught Hattie peeking at him from time to time. Then she was sure she saw him glance briefly in her direction.

  “We storm the place,” Talbert said. “Hit ‘em with all our numbers.”

  �
��I don’t about you, but I’ve seen enough of my fellows die,” Roslyn said.

  “But I know he’s in there,” Talbert said. “We have to end this. What happens when he rallies all the Amazons?”

  “We kind of killed their queen,” Frank agreed. “They’re going to be pissed about that.”

  “We could get new drones,” Frino said, raising his hand like he was in school.

  “Predator drones,” Charlie Siringo added and pointed to Frino.

  “Drones that drop bombs are much more expensive than simple surveillance drones,” Roslyn said, looking at Sage. They had gone over the budget the night before. They were spending much more than they were taking in. They still had a large nest egg, but there was a steady drain on it.

  “War’s expensive,” said Hassan Sardana, a senior agent who’d spent the last three years deep undercover to bring down a gang of thieves and drug dealers on Lynceus’ moon Ananta. He had returned to Shiva only to find the firm had relocated to Athena’s moon Potter. Roslyn hadn’t read his full report yet, because it was novel length but she gathered that he’d killed the leader of the outfit only to escape from being killed by his number two. He had returned in time for Allan’s funeral.

  “In many ways,” Hattie said.

  “I’ll go in myself, then,” Talbert said and leaned back in his chair.

  “That’s suicide,” Roslyn said shaking her head.

  “How about Tom Thorn?” Hassan said. “We still give him contracts? We’re not on Shiva anymore, right? We don’t have to listen to the Birds.”

  Hattie cleared her throat.

  “We still follow their basic codes,” Roslyn said. “They are justice and the light.”

  “To the highest perch we ascend,” echoed Hattie in her sanctimoniously high voice.

  “Tom would still have to get onto the property and get a clean shot of the man. He’s most likely heeling in the main house,” Charlie Siringo added.