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SLAM! The ship was slammed on the starboard side. Laneela checked one of the large glowing areas that were in the center of the control board. Three little glowing circles where making their way to the center of the display.

“Dam – Space Pirates!” she muttered, more to herself than her companion.

“Space Pirates?” he asked, catching her words in his well-trained ears.

“Yeah – they monitor the restrict-area and catch cruisers, diggers, and illegals because those types won’t call for help for fear of getting caught.”

“Well, why don’t we call for assistance, then?” he asked, knowing the answer to his query.”

“Because I am a digger. I was at that part of the planet illegally. I am what they used to call an archeologist. Now the Space Feds do all of the digging work, putting me out of business. Money is what it is all about for them. For diggers, it’s more like a religion. It’s too late for a scrambler now – they know we’re here.”

She proceeded into a turn that made him queasy. This kind of flight was new to him. Heck- he didn’t even care for aero planes!”

Suddenly, he realized that he was clenching the staff tightly in his hand. He forgot all about it.

“They have us surrounded. Well, either we fight or surrender. They won’t take bribes, and I have nothing to barter with anyway.”

“What about this?” he asked motioning to the staff.

“Perhaps. Damn – I have spent a lot of time and money trying to find that staff. But if I lose my ship or my equipment, I am useless. Lets give it a shot.”

“This is Alpha-Alpha 4678 – request dialog.”

There was no reply. After a while she tried again.

“Yeah AA-4678, we heard you. This is a new one from someone who has no options but fight or flee. Whatever you have, we can take. Power down so we can make this as easy for all of us as possible.”

“You didn’t count on an artifact did you bandit leader? I have an ancient alien artifact here that is breakable. Worth some major credits in one piece, if you catch my meaning.”

“So we take the artifact – you take off? Is that they deal?”

“That’s about it. And one other thing – I want to be added to your list of friendly’s.”

“You ask for a lot, don’t you digger? That’s a tall order.”

“It’s a nice artifact. It’s from the Galemby species. If you know your space histo..”

“Yes I know my history digger. I know who the Galemby were. Travelers. Lies.”

“Well, you see them your way, I see them mine. But any way you slice it, they are still valuable. You should know that, sir.”

“Yes, you are correct. How do propose we swap?”

“You land then go into low power, we transfer the item and go about our business.”

“Do I look dumb to you? We power down, you transfer your trash and fly off.”

“Yes, but why would I do that after I gave you my ID number? I am not dumb – I prefer not to be a target for the rest of my life. I know the honor-code of the pirates.”

“Yes, but then we have to put out – oh never mind. I have a better idea. We will power down all but one ship. We will land with you, you hand me the item, we will leave you be.”

“With adding me to your friendly list?”

“No deal on that. That’s too much.”

“OK, then I will break it. You know this ship isn’t worth much, and all of the red tape on it would not be worth your time. I have nothing else to offer of any value.”

“Tell you what, how about we just kill you?

“You are going to kill me anyway you look at it unless we make a trade. How about it.”

“This is not the way I deal with you people. Fine, I will add your name to the list with a one-year no bother. After that you are on your own. Deal?”

“Deal. Let’s get this over with.”

She set the shuttle down near the edge of a small hill. “This will help out just in case there is any trouble. They can’t completely surround us this way”. Jarron just nodded, pretending to understand. After the pirate ships came close, he could see that they needed a good-sized place to land.

These ships dwarfed the shuttle that he had just been inside. He guessed that these ships were also used in space travel. They had obviously seen some battle damage as well.

In a matter of minutes, the engines of two of the ships had been completely shut down. Out of one of these ships a tall, scruffy, black-haired man in a leather coat came down the ramp that was being lowered.

“I haven’t seen this one before” Laneela whispered. “Looks important, though.”

“Ok, lets see it. Then I will give my men the signal not to kill you.” He said loudly as he smiled a genuinely large smile.

She smiled herself, as sexy little smile. Jarron felt a little ashamed at being jealous as he realized that she was attracted to this rogue. She held the staff high so he could see from the distance. He held up his left hand, a signal that everything was all right. After this, a little man joined the first man.

The group of four proceeded towards each other. Laneela stopped short and held the staff out to the man. Jarron felt sick inside. All of his work was about to be handed over to a thief. But he would survive, if what Laneela said was true. All that he could do was stare at the staff.

“Don’t forget about our deal, pirate!” Laneela growled as the man started to extend his hand towards the prize. He just smiled smiled.

“Wait!” Jarron yelled at the top of his lungs without even realizing what he was doing. He lunged forward to grab the staff. Laneela had already begun to pull it away from the pirate, at the same time the rogue grabbed for the artifact.

To Be Continued...

Written by Gene Vogel