Smuggler's Retreat

By Dex MacLeod

For years Jawnee Reylook, a thief, con-artist, and illicit goods smuggler has used the abandoned moon on Parjesilum 4 as her own private getaway. As one of the most wanted criminals in the outer rim, it’s just about the only place she’s ever felt safe.

All of that changes when Jawnee finds her private oasis infiltrated by one of the federation’s most feared and legendary bounty hunters. Jawnee will have to battle not only the brutally relentless bounty hunter but also the harsh environment of the desolate moon in order to escape with her freedom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dex MacLeod
• Release date: Feb 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005206710

Dex MacLeod

Dex MacLeod is a freelance writer/3D artist and the author of Smuggler’s Retreat. He’s a self-taught writer in the suburbs of Minneapolis with a love for adventure, science-fiction, and just a dash of horror.

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Smuggler’s Retreat

Dex MacLeod

Published by Dex MacLeod at Smashwords

Copyright Dex MacLeod 2021

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Smuggler’s Retreat

As one of the most wanted criminals in the known quadrants, there were very few places where Jawnee Reylook could truly relax without fear of being spotted, recognized, and apprehended by any number of federation law enforcement agents or the countless bounty hunters who seemed to always be just a step behind her. The abandoned moon of Parjesilum 4 was one of those rare locations.

Jawnee had discovered the moon mostly through accident and luck. She and her crew had been fleeing the Mincasle belt system, a chain of asteroids on the outer rim that had recently shown signs of corlints deposits. As one of the primary sources of fuel for interplanetary spacecraft, corlints was always in high demand, and when new reservoirs presented themselves every two-bit mining company and get rich quick upstart would flock to these locations within hours in hopes of an easy payday. The site would quickly devolve into chaos as would-be miners fought over drilling sites, damaged each other’s equipment, and sometimes even resorted to murder.

The bedlam often lasted for days, sometimes even weeks, before federation officials finally stepped in and took control of the belt. Very few miners ever left these hotspots with enough corlints to even fuel their own journey back home, let alone enough to get rich off of. Still, the chaos between when they started drilling and when the federation finally arrived to clean up the mess and claim the fuel for themselves often provided a perfect window of opportunity for someone in Jawnee’s line of work.

When she and her crew touched down on Mincasle Jawnee thought she’d timed it perfectly. The miners were so desperate to get their hauls off-site before the inevitable mayhem began that they didn’t look twice at the mid-size cargo ship Jawnee and her crew had hastily repainted to resemble an official Berrian transport ship. It was almost the perfect score. Not only were the corlints miners just handing their hard-earned product over to Jawnee, but they were actually paying her to take it. They had the cargo bay loaded nearly beyond capacity before the first signs that their would-be employers had begun to get suspicious. Jawnee decided she had more than enough and began prepping for takeoff.

The ship had just barely gotten out of the asteroid belt when Jawnee spotted the first federation cruiser dropping in behind her. Within three minutes that cruiser was joined by eight more and a message flashed on her ship’s dashboard reading:

Incoming Communication - URGENT.

Jawnee ignored this message and aimed her own ship down and to the left as hard and fast as she could, turning the vehicle back the way it had come. She whizzed underneath the oncoming fleet and darted back into the asteroid belt she’d meant to leave behind her.

It took the bulk of a day weaving through the field of floating rocks before Jawnee was convinced she’d lost her pursuers. Though the federation’s single occupant cruisers were considerably smaller than Jawnee’s cargo ship and had no trouble navigating the asteroid belt, the journey to Mincasle had used up a considerable amount of