Domik
This was bad. Very bad. Domik shook his head slowly as he pulled the two objects from the box, placing them on the hood of the truck in front of them. He stood back, the hair on the back of his neck prickling as he rubbed his jaw.
“Is that…?” CJ asked in a hushed voice.
“Yes,” Domik replied, staring unblinkingly at what was, without any doubt, a Taurean wrist comm and a plasma pistol.
“How…?” CJ looked up at him, not finishing the sentence.
He shook his head. “This can’t be a legitimate source.”
CJ licked her lips nervously, nodding. “So, who would have access to this kind of equipment on Earth? Apart from Space Force, of course.” She waved her arm around the abandoned gas station. “Because I don’t think this has anything to do with them.”
Domik nodded. “No, it doesn’t.”
He scooped up the wrist comm and strapped it to his arm before pocketing the plasma pistol. His own had been lost in the escape from the shuttle, and the reassuring weight of the pistol back in his thigh holster settled him somewhat.
The plan hadn’t changed. They needed to get to the Space Force base and somehow tell Taurean command about what they had discovered. But the niggling thought plagued him. What if there were more than just this one stash? It had been abandoned, suggesting that the people here had left in a hurry and had considered one pistol and one comm disposable.
The thought sobered him.
“Let’s see if we can figure out where we are,” Domik said, gesturing toward the dark gas station.
“Can’t you just use the comm?” CJ asked, brows wrinkled in confusion.
Domik shook his head. “I tried already. It doesn’t work.”
“The EMP?” she asked.
“Most likely,” he said. He might get it working again, but it was doubtful. The EMP had fried his own wrist comm, along with CJ’s. He’d tried to fix them but didn’t have the delicate tools, so he’d destroyed them instead so they wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. He explained as much to CJ, who nodded.
“Let’s check out the gas station,” he said, gesturing toward the building with his head. “I’ll go first, follow me, and stay out of sight. Just in case.”
He didn’t mention in case of what, but by CJ’s nod and her grim expression, he didn’t need to. He felt a sudden swell of pride at how well she had handled the events of the last few hours. She had been terrified, and yet she had focused and kept calm. Domik scanned the back entry of the gas station, preferring this way rather than the glass covered front. He pulled the plasma pistol from his holster and, holding it ready, considered the best way to approach. There was no light coming from inside and, as he approached the back door, nothing moved.
The door was unlocked, and he pressed the handle down slowly, and prized it open enough to slide through. A slight creak from the hinges made him grimace and pause, but no noise or movement came from the darkened interior.
When CJ had followed him, she shut the door slowly, propping it open with a wedge of wood that must have been left there for just that purpose. They were in a hallway, the end of which opened onto the shop floor. To the right, a door opened into an office, a mess of papers spread over a battered wooden desk. A stack of crates in the corner held cleaning products and rolls of paper towel.
Domik gave them a cursory look before moving on. To the left a second door opened into a bathroom, Domik’s nose wrinkling at the smell.
They could have used some of those cleaners in here.
CJ gave a slight cough as she caught a whiff of the bathroom, and Domik suppressed a smile.
As they approached the main shop floor, Domik held up a hand to stop CJ behind him. He gestured for her to stay put and hurried along the back wall, checking between the racks of products on display.
When he was satisfied that they were alone, he returned to where CJ was pressed against the wall where he’d left her, looking in the opposite direction. He reached out to touch her shoulder, and she jolted and let out a shriek of fright.
“Shit! You scared me. How do you move so quietly? It’s unnatural.” She rubbed a hand over her face.
He lifted one shoulder in apology, and she laughed nervously.
“This is like every bad horror movie, you know?” She released a shaky breath. “Right. Let’s see what we can find out.”
They walked toward the front counter, where a rack had a display of pamphlets.
“Oooh! I remember these!” CJ grabbed one of them and opened it. “Huh. That makes sense.” She pored over the writing on the page, before lifting it to show him.
