The Coven: Last Stand, #11

By Blaze Ward

Strange things at Alfann have Tessa and the crew heading out on a long run to hide from Masterson Ops.

 

Where better to hide, then, than a return to Lacot and the pirates?

 

This time, however, Brianna brings her whole coven to play.

 

Book Eleven of the Last Stand, a shiny, new space western science fiction adventure series full of bright characters, messy worlds, and all manner of ethical conundrums.

 

Start first with Lost Dreams and then continue on and pick up the rest of this series!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Knotted Road Press
• Release date: Nov 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781644703755

Blaze Ward

Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe (Jessica Keller, The Science Officer,  The Story Road, etc.) as well as several other science fiction universes, such as Star Dragon, the Dominion, and more. He also writes odd bits of high fantasy with swords and orcs. In addition, he is the Editor and Publisher of Boundary Shock Quarterly Magazine. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, Goodreads, and other places. Blaze's works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors. His newsletter comes out regularly, and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions—even ones about his books!

Book preview

Scene One

Tessa studied the note.

Simple thing from Bao Li. Request for a meeting to talk about a contract to haul cargo.

Formal-like, which didn’t feel right, but maybe she was coming up in the world. Or someone was up to no good and establishing alibis later.

You never had friends in the underworld, once you got beyond your crew. Merely associates you hoped liked you enough to not turn you in for reward money.

She got up from where she’d been sitting in her own cabin and headed down the corridor aft, passing the Commons and the kitchen and nodding to everyone. Man she wanted wasn’t visible, so she kept going. Didn’t hear him lifting weights, so she banged on Wyatt’s hatch loud enough to wake him up from a nap and waited.

Didn’t wait long.

Man answered with his right hand out of sight behind the frame, no doubt holding Brunhilde, his Bokov B-41 13mm semi-automatic pistol in matte black, with the 18-round staggered magazine.

Big gun for a big man.

Going into town to see Bao Li in two hours, Tessa simply announced. Take a shower and dress nice.

He nodded and Tessa headed forward again, stopping this time in the kitchen, where Abigail was boiling water for tea.

Everything okay? the tiny, beautiful woman asked. You look cross.

Tessa supposed that she did. Felt cross, but couldn’t identify the wherefore or the why of it.

She handed Abigail the note, then sat at the big table, watching her husband Fin positively drool over the new Burch Fabrico model train catalog that had come in the mail.

Felt like he’d be cordoning off a section of the cargo bay again soon so he could set up all the track and put things to running. It had been a while since he’d done that. And he’d picked up a couple of new cars for it, tiny things at a 1/500 scale that were generally shorter than the bullets she fired from her revolver.

Abigail steeped tea in two mugs, then came and sat next to her.

Not sure I’m seeing in this what you are, Abigail began hesitantly. Bao Li has gone out of her way to be nice to you, from all I’ve heard.

Oh, she has, Tessa agreed. This is just me feeling a mite twitchy at something changing around here. Second Law of Thermodynamics, you know?

"There is no such thing as good news, Abigail completed the old joke. I think you’re overreacting, but I can put out feelers. Worth calling in some favors here?"

I hate to ask for that, but this time it might be wise, Tessa said. Thank you.

I’ve just gotten you folks trained the way I like it, Abigail grinned. Last thing I need is someone arresting the lot of you and making me start over.

Tessa laughed with her.

From starting out with just her and Fin, Tessa had accumulated almost a family these days. Auntie Maru. Wyatt. Abigail. The McLarens. Laney.

Didn’t replace the one she’d lost to war and revolution, but it helped. Especially when she had friends like Abigail Blackford.

Thank you, Tessa said, rising and grabbing her mug. I’ll rest better when I know what’s going on.

Scene Two

Rather than wait patiently for her network to process things, Abigail had simply put on her nicer shawl, the one that honestly marked her as a Player, and headed into Astoria immediately after Tessa returned to her cabin, not even bothering with the tea, save to put it in the fridge. It would be just as nice cold later.

At the entrance to Wharf Row, separating ships from Astoria proper, Enrique the town gossip bowed deeply to her as she approached.

Something to drink, Mistress? he asked politely.

An empty cup for verisimilitude, perhaps? she asked, handing him a coin that would likely double what he made today, even at the rates he charged.

Perfect setting and a lot of bribes for information, as was usual.

Enrique nodded and pantomimed filling her a cup and handing it to her empty. Abigail pantomimed sipping as she stood there.

I seek deeper news than normal, she said simply, noting that no one was close enough to hear them at the moment. Tessa is disturbed by entropic forces at work.

Enrique’s eyes got a distant look to them.

There have been rumors, Mistress, he offered quietly. Disregarded in the short term, as they lacked substance.

Talk of modern troubles, she instructed him.

"Governor Markell has made occasional noises in support of what was done a year ago at Alfann, Enrique said. Unlearning the experiences of what has nearly broken Alfann’s economy."

Or he’s being squeezed by someone more important, Abigail replied.

There is always that, Mistress, but you would be better suited to knowing such things from your loftier vantage, Enrique nodded. I merely gather data as it rides the tides of the Wharf and formulate it into information.

Bao Li has summoned Tessa, Abigail said simply. Tessa is concerned, as it might reflect potential troubles.

There have been strangers accumulating on the Docks, Enrique nodded. Outsiders who are not simply new ships working the trade circuit. These are hard men.

Masterson Ops? Abigail asked.

Faces unknown to me, but they fit the physical profile, Mistress, he agreed.

Abigail considered her options.

Masterson Galactic Investigations were mercenaries for hire. Not the people who broke strikes, but the people you hired to have a strike broken. Not the ones who collected bounties, but the ones who found the correct bounty hunters for the job.

Middlemen, with all the unsavory connotations that came with the term.

"Let your friends know that Governor Markell may be preparing to sweep the underworld, as happened at Alfann, she instructed. I shall investigate via other avenues and keep you apprised."

She took a final sip from the empty cup and handed it back to the man, who promptly crushed it in one paw and dropped it into his trash can inside his little kiosk.

As you command, Mistress, he bowed again.

Abigail turned into the city and considered her next steps.

Something was afoot, and she needed to know more.

Scene Three

Tessa couldn’t help but watch the crowds this morning with an extra layer of paranoia. She’d even dug out the nicer of the armored undershirts she wore, layering it with her best shirt and a jacket she wore for special occasions.

Weddings and funerals, as it were, though she hoped she was overreacting today.

Wyatt hadn’t brought Doomripper with him, but that was the man hoping that the lack of a long arm meant someone felt frisky enough to try troubles with the giant.

Because shooting Wyatt Nakada was often the best way to piss the man off.

Crowds felt normal. Casual. Folks going about their midday needs, be it a late lunch, early tea, or sneaking out from work and playing hooky instead.

Nothing stood out.

Tessa couldn’t relax that knot between her shoulder blades. Or the way her fingers kept twitching to grab her revolver at sudden movement or strange noises.

They got to Bao Li’s restaurant and the two bodyguards at the door picked up her twitchiness, watching her extra hard as she got close.