78. One Bad Call
*Ice settles in a glass.*
...
*A lighter sparks.*
Puff! Puff! Hoooo-aah! Yeah.
So today sucked.
...
*Ice settles in a glass.*
...
Before goan' ta sleep last night... or rather, this mornin'. Crap. I don't even know what bloody time it is anymore. Not that it makes a difference. I haven't been planetside since I kidnapped Sin and that was only for a few hours. My circadian rhythms are completely shot to shit.
Right. So... yeah. Before goan' ta sleep I went to see Thane and, well, made sure I wasn't gonna find myself in any... aah...
uncomfortable situations as a result of not bein' able to follow through on the 'one a day' nonsense. At least… I hope I did.
********
"You mean he actually did it?!" Gorda asked, wide-eyed with disbelief.
"Aye!" Thane laughed. "He did it. Came right up here in person to make sure I knew it, too." Thane laughed. "He was so tired that I think he fell asleep right there on the couch with my dogs!" Thane laughed. "But aye! He did it."
"Will wonders never cease?" Gorda shook his head. "I didn't think it was possible. I expected that he would show up with a couple thousand units, perhaps a freighter or two, and then try to talk his way out of the hole he'd climbed into. But... an entire TL? He really did it?"
"Aye."
"Where do you suppose this endless supply of nividium is located?"
"No idea," Thane boomed in reply. "But it's not endless. One of the reasons the boy came up here was to clarify his commitment."
"Smart lad."
"Aye," Thane commented shrewdly, "but not smart enough to keep his mouth shut in the first place, now was he?"
"Oh my," Gorda shook his head disapprovingly. "You're not really going to work him, are you?"
"Of course!" Thane bellowed.
"Not too hard, I trust."
"Why the hell not?!"
"Because, Dockmaster," Gorda's tone became patronizing, "this is one young man that you may not want to try taking for a fool. Besides, don't you owe him your life?"
"That's debatable."
"You were in need. You called. He came. What's to debate?"
"I was in need because the assassins sent after
him were using
me as bait!"
"Who were sent by a vicious reptilian gash who had every intention of skinning you alive and taking your shipyard!"
Thane rolled his eyes.
"All I'm saying, Dockmaster," Gorda nagged, "is don't kill the golden goose." Thane turned a wry eye on the screen. Gorda returned it calmly. "Or piss it off, for that matter," the financial wizard said pointedly.
"Are you saying I should fear him?"
"Fear him?!" the other man was scandalized. "My dear friend, this young man is generating an enormous amount of wealth. He also happens to command what is rapidly becoming a formidable armada, and with the missiles he produces in Weaver's Tempest..."
Thane rolled his eyes.
"I'm
saying that it's far better to have a profitable, dangerous man as a
friend than an enemy. How large did you say that shipment was?"
"I didn't."
"Then do, please."
"One hauler!" Thane boomed, allowing his annoyance into his voice. "Stuffed to the bloody gills with nividium."
"Which," Gorda inquired, "in real numbers, equals?"
Thane met the other man's eye. He collected an apple from his desk and began polishing it against the shirt stretched over his belly. "Fourteen thousand, two hundred and twenty two containers worth of the stuff."
Mel Gorda's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "Oh my!
That," he said, "is a
lot of nividium."
"Aye," Thane grinned broadly, "and the boy says he can bring two, maybe three more ship-loads. Perhaps more if he finds more asteroids with traces of the stuff." Thane laughed from his belly. "But he doesn't want me to expect them every day! Haaah! Ha-ha! Says he 'may have' overestimated the yield in the asteroids he's mining!" Thane laughed again, this time hard enough to bring tears to his eyes.
"Two, possibly
three more?!" Mel echoed him. The awe in his voice drew Thane's eye again. "Do you really think that's possible?"
Thane took a bite of his apple and let the juice run into his beard. "If," he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "you had asked me that yesterday I'd have told you the boy's a fool!" He turned and looked through the window across from him. Six kilometers away an imitation Argon mammoth was mated with his shipyard. "But now?" he asked. He met Gorda's eye again. "At this very moment that boy's ship is docked at my station and there is so much nividium in her hold that it's taken nearly a stazura to unload... and the job is only 'alf done! So aye! Words are one thing, but a ship full of riches? That is something else altogether!"
"So you do believe him?" Mel asked.
Thane looked back at the treasure ship and nodded. "Aye," he rumbled. "I believe him." He looked back at Mel. "He was careful when he spoke. Committing to delivering a capital hauler's worth of the stuff every day?! With no other caveats or conditions? That IS a fool talking. Hell! I didn't think he'd do it even once! But he's useful and I like him. So I thought I'd work him for a bit when he failed just to teach him a lesson. But committing to two, mayhap three more ships, and being clear about when I should expect delivery? With a ship full o' the stuff docked just behind him?! Aye. I think he knows what he's about."
"Good heavens," Mel whispered. "Do you have any idea how much money I can make with that much nividium?"
"I've an idea," Thane rumbled as he turned a shrewd eye on the comm again. "Don't forget my cut."
Mel blinked and stared at Thane indignantly. "Who do you think I am?" he asked.
Thane arched an eyebrow at the epicene man and gave him one of his more dangerous glares.
Mel sputtered. "You," he snapped, "are the greediest man I have ever met."
"I have a large family," Thane told him. "Large families are expensive." He took another bite of the apple and held the other man's eye as he chewed. After a moment Mel gave Thane an arch look of his own.
"You gouged that poor boy for every last credit didn't you?"
"Poor boy?!" Thane replied indignantly. "That man left my station with over a hundred and thirteen
million of MY credits!"
"I hope you at least gave him
minimum market value?"
Thane glared at the other man's image through the vid com.
"Because I
know you made him purchase the ships that
you will use to transport said nividium. Am I correct?"
"Aye?" Thane growled.
"So you paid him minimum market value, made him buy the ships for and from you... and now I assume you're making him run errands because he can't possibly deliver a hauler full of nividium every day?"
Thane felt the smirk growing on his face and took another bite of his apple to conceal it. He glared at Gorda as he chewed. "What of it?" he asked.
"And on top of all that you now want thirty five percent of the profits that
I will manipulate out of every last economy that I have access to?"
"Of course!" Thane boomed back at him. "It is
my nividium, after all!" Thane raised a challenging eyebrow. "Do you have a point, fat man?"
"Only that you are an evil, evil man, Dockmaster." Gorda said. Then he smiled. "And that I admire you."
Thane hid his grin behind another bite of his apple.
********
Puff! Puff!
...
*sigh*
It was odd, you know? I mean I did what I said I was gonna do, and I was also standin' there lookin' him in the eye when I gave him the bad news by tellin' him that I wasn't gonna be able to commit to more than another two or three shipments, and I was expectin' him to take advantage of the situation, which he is, but... I couldn't shake the feelin' that he wasn't anywhere near as angry and disappointed as he seemed to be. I mean don't get me wrong. He let me know that he'd made commitments based on my word and that if I couldn't deliver then he wouldn't be able to keep those commitments, which made him look bad and that lookin' bad, lookin' like he can't keep his promises, is somethin' that he can't allow. It's very bad for him. And I know that's all true. I
know it's all true... but I couldn't shake the feelin' that he was tryin' not to laugh.
Yeah…
Anyway, I got what I needed from him, namely the sense that I'm not gonna wake up to find electrodes alligator-clipped to my more sensitive bits while I'm strapped to a chair someplace where no one will ever hear me scream. Once I felt secure in that regard, and I apparently
did feel secure. I think I actually fell asleep on his couch. I mean Kao t'Kt was with me so it's not like I was in any real danger, but even so I found that unnervin'. The bloody dogs jumped up and lay down around me, a couple with their heads in my lap while Thane was makin' calls and givin' orders concernin' the nividium, and I just... fell asleep. Not for long but I still nodded off. I woke up when one of Thane's dogs licked my face.
But yeah, all said and done the nividium has been fairly profitable. Thane paid me just a hair shy of eight thousand a unit, which equals a little over a hundred and thirteen million for that shipment. So, now that the minin' fleet is up and runnin', I think I can expect it to provide a nice little boost to my income... for the next few days anyway.
Oddest thing, though; when I was leavin' Thane's apartments I ran into Chinomu.
********
As the Shirubāurufu mated with one of the tower's docking arms Eri decided that she was very pleased with the capabilities of the Hyperion Vanguard. She knew that she'd have to give it back at some point but over the past few days it had enabled her to get a spectacular amount of work done. With it's capacious hold and the nearly endless supply of energy from Drakhar's stations, the Shirubāurufu was able to jump from one side of the gate network to the other and back again without needing to resupply. That, coupled with her access to the man's satellite network, allowed her to not only contact and give orders to ships anywhere in the galaxy, but also allowed her to then jump to any sector, dock with the majority of the company's capital ships, and address problems as they arose. She wondered if it would be possible to simply attach herself to the ship, and thus have access to it even after Gin Ookami returned from the hospital. If not perhaps she could ask her employer to 'acquire' another one for her own use. At this point not having the same level of mobility would be frustrating.
Once the ship was docked she gave orders to the ship's XO and master at arms. Then she disembarked, accompanied by several marines. Marines had been stationed aboard the Shirubāurufu since the attack on Nova Somnia and, as she stepped onto the landing platform she admitted, to herself at least, that she was grateful for their presence. The Yaki shipyard was, for all intents and purposes, a small city. It couldn't rival Terran stations, of course, which were designed for millions of inhabitants, but there were easily tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people aboard the shipyard and most of them were decidedly unsavory. Looking at the assortment of tattoos and body piercings, the wild eyes of undoubtedly drug addled minds, the almost universal presence of personal armament, and the frequent strings of chained slaves being herded with their heads down and spirits broken, and it was easy to imagine how a person could just vanish here. One moment you're walking along. The next you're stuffed into a sack or a cargo container or just dragged down some lonely corridor. Then you're just gone... and God help you. Considering who she was here to see and who she worked for, she was fairly sure that she didn't have to worry about that fate. Even so, she decided, it was good to remember just how far from home she'd drifted.
As she reached the end of the docking arm and stepped onto the station properly she saw that Thane was as gracious a host as always. Several members of his security guard straightened as she approached. They didn't exactly snap to military attention, but it was obvious that they were waiting for her and now that she'd arrived, they were to begin their duties in earnest.
One of them raised his head to greet her. "Cap'n Chee-no-mu?"
"Aye," Eri responded.
"Split is Mo t'Kkt," the guard informed her. "Dockmaster. Said. To escort you. To see him."
She nodded. "Thank you."
It was both a brief and somewhat uncomfortable trip. Thane's apartment was at the very top of the shipyard's central spire, the base of which was nearly a kilometer from the gate where the Shirubāurufu was docked. The majority of that distance was traversed instantly via teleporter. The spire itself, however, was hardened with multiple layers of shielding, making any kind teleportation to it impossible. So Eri and her escort teleported to the base of the tower, then needed to make their way on foot where they repeatedly crisscrossed the tower's enormous lobby in order to ascend the levels from the tower's base to the tower's lifts.
As they made their way Eri noticed the lingering damage from the other day's attack. Workers were busy repairing a large section of the upper level, as well as replacing damaged wall panels, sections of the ascending ramp that had been damaged, and terrifying defense weaponry that was supposed to be hidden within the architecture. It seemed that everywhere she looked there were still scars from high volume repeaters, rocket and railgun propelled grenades, and the occasional disintegrator. Each left it's own distinct wound in the lobby's facade. As she walked it occurred to her that she was following the same path that the attackers had used when they forced their way upward.
You do seem to find yourself at the center of a lot of violence, Drakhar, she thought.
The rest of the trip was a hundred and twenty story ascent, followed by another walk to another lift, during which she witnessed even more damage to the station, as well as several stains that she was sure were caused by human blood, followed by another thirty four story ascent to what the station's staff referred to as "Thane's Holdings", as if he were some kind of feudal lord or something. When she finally stepped off the second lift it was into a large, tasteful space that reminded her of a corporate lobby. Behind a clouded glass wall to her left there was a comfortable meeting room. That space included furnishings made of wood, leather and glass, a polished stone fountain, and a collection of meticulously arranged plants and artwork. Opposite the meeting room was a two level desk designed to accommodate the needs of both a seated receptionist and the standing visitors on the opposite side of the desk. But it was the six man squad of black armored marines that got Eri's attention. She vaguely recognized several of them but the Drakhar Enterprises logo beneath their collars was unmistakable. She'd gotten to the point where she could look at the stylized wolf without rolling her eyes, but only just.
She followed Mo t'Kkt across the lobby. Halfway across the space she noticed that a small section of the polished stone wall beyond the receptionist's desk still bore scarring from being hit by some kind of small arms fire. The stone was cracked from several impacts, very close together, resulting in a pair of overlapping spider-web patterns of predominantly white fractures. In places, though, that pattern was still stained a dark reddish brown. Just then the hatch leading to Thane's apartment opened. A moment later Drakhar stepped through it, flanked by another five of his marines, including Kao t'Kt, his giant Split bodyguard.
Her immediate impression was that the man was ill or hung over. His color was off. He seemed ever so slightly unsteady on his feet. There were heavy bags under his eyes, one of which, the real one, was bloodshot. As she looked at him the man's eyes fell on her and narrowed. A moment later he was striding across the polished marble floor toward her.
"Good morning," she greeted him.
He briefly looked her up and down, then grunted a reply. A moment later he glanced at the crowd around them, then noticed the meeting room before looking at her again. "Come with me," he said and led her into the meeting room. After closing the door behind her he met her eye again. "What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.
She scoffed and shook her head. "You still don't trust me."
"Considering your position in the fleet, and the access you have to my resources, I'd argue that I trust you quite a bit. Now, would you please tell me what you're doin' here?"
"I came to see Thane."
He nodded. "Any particular reason why?"
"Seldon told me about the art and books he'd lost. As a fellow appreciator of art and history I wanted to offer him my sympathy. Why does it matter?"
Drakhar nodded, then took a breath. He closed his eyes and then seemed to come close to losing his balance.
"Are you all right?" she asked him.
"Just exhausted," he said and met her eye again. "I haven't been sleepin'."
She arched an eyebrow. "There's a lot of that going around."
He squinted at her for a moment, then sighed. "Just remember that Thane's not part of the crew," he said. "He's an ally, but he's got his own agenda."
"I'm not spying for him, if that's what you're worried about."
"No," he said, "I'm not… just, how's that old saw go? Loose lips sink ships? Thane doesn't need to know where the minin' fleet is or how it's set up or… well, he doesn't need to know much of anythin' regardin' how we do things. Alright?"
"Of course," she said frostily.
"Also," he met her eye again, "I spoke with Captain Yahanis. She said the reason those pirates were able to fly right up and deploy lasertowers on top of my miners is because the CAP didn't report the contact…?"
"Aye," she affirmed bitterly. "The lead pilot, Rhyner? He was a glory hound. He'd made a kill earlier in the night and wanted more. So when he saw that mobile pirate station he was hoping it would spit out a few more fighters for him to shoot at. So he
elected not to report the contact."
Drakhar's face darkened.
"Don't worry," she told him. "I took care of it."
The other man nodded. "Alright," he said. "Other'n that, though," he squinted at her, "your pilots did really good." He met her eye. "I was impressed."
She nodded, accepting the compliment.
I bet that hurt to say, she thought.
He squinted at her for a moment, as if reading her thoughts. Then he moved on. "Also," he said, "I want to set up a… hell, I don't know what to call it. A rapid response fleet. Say two or three frigates with large enough holds to jump anywhere in the gate network and enough ass to handle anything up to a battle group built around a Q or Yokohama. I want Ea't to lead it. So I'm thinking of the Osan'gar, maybe a panther or two with full fighter compliment…"
"None of those ships have the holds to accommodate long range jumps."
"Aye," he nodded. "We'll need some way to keep them supplied. Maybe one panther and a kariudo with freighter support? I don't know."
"Is this in addition to the Shuri?" she asked.
"Aye, but it's a higher priority. Consider the Shuri on the back burner for now. I want to be able to defend my assets."
She nodded.
"I'm willing to buy the frigates, fighters, and support ships," Drakhar said, "so just… I don't know… start thinkin' about it. We need to make this happen."
She nodded. "Build a fleet, aye."
"Alright," he said. "I guess that's it. Keep up the good work."
"Good of you to notice," she sniped.
He arched an eyebrow at her. Then he sighed, shook his head, and left the room. She followed him out and watched as he and his eleven marines squeezed into the elevator carriage. Her mind was already working on the problem he just gave her. The easiest solution was a tender, like an elephant or one of those mobile pirate bases, that had it's own squadron purely for defense. It wouldn't go into combat, but if it was attacked it would still have a dozen fighters watching out for it. Fill it up with all the missiles, weapons, and jump fuel the other three ships would need and then supply it with its own tender service? She frowned and shook her head. Well, if nothing else, she was gainfully employed.
"This. Way!" Mo t'Kkt intoned beside her. "Your marines. Stay. Here!"
She nodded. She didn't expect to need them. A moment later she stepped through the hatch into Thane's apartment. Directly beyond the hatch was a wall of hyperglass. As she stepped around that wall there was a sudden scrabbling flurry as a handful of enormous animals began rushing toward her.
Dogs, she told herself in an attempt to manage the sudden bolt of adrenaline.
They're dogs.
Except they weren't dogs. Back on earth she'd grown up in a neighborhood with dogs, and families that owned dogs. The largest dog she'd known back then was a Rottweiler named Poncho, who lived several streets over. The smallest of these could have eaten Poncho for lunch. The largest was so big that her brain was struggling to put the creature into context. Seeing that dog approach was like being wide awake inside a fever-dream. In that instant Eri froze.
"HUNDE!" Thane thundered from the upper level of his apartment. Instantly all the dogs stopped charging her. The two closest, which happened to be the smallest, and thus roughly the same size as Eri herself, wiggled and pranced on the tiles as they looked back and forth between Eri and their master. "SITZ!" Thane commanded. Immediately four of the five dogs dropped their rumps to the deck. The largest of the five, however, did not. Instead this enormous animal, which, to Eri, looked a little like an Eskimo dog the size of a pony with the coloring of a German Shepherd, began trotting toward her again. One of the other dogs, a red one that seemed to have a lion's mane, barked once. It was loud enough to make her flinch. "Max," Thane said, sounding like a disappointed parent. The gigantic animal looked back toward his master. "Braver hund," Thane smiled. "Komm," he patted his knee. The big dog
WOOFED! once, turned, and bound across the room to scrabble up the stairs. "Braver hund! Braver hund!" Thane grinned and lovingly pat and shook the big animal. Eri then watched him through the cast iron rail as he put his hand out, palm flat, and lowered it toward the floor. "Platz," Thane said. The dog crouched down obediently and lay on its belly. "Braver hund," Thane rumbled and turned his hand over, offering some kind of treat to the enormous creature, which was immediately devoured. Even laying on its belly the tops of the big dog's ears reached to the middle of Thane's thighs.
Thane turned toward her and beckoned. "Greetings Erika Chinomu," he said.
"Dockmaster," she said, immediately grateful that her voice was steady. Then she glanced at the dogs again. There were still four more of the creatures watching her from just a few paces away.
"Don't worry," Thane told her. "They won't trouble you."
Eri took a breath and started moving toward the stairs. "I heard that you had dogs," she said evenly, "but I admit that I wasn't expecting..."
"Aye!" Thane laughed. "Aye! Few are! I confess, it amuses me to watch as folk meet them for the first time."
Eri snorted. "I bet," she said under her breath.
As she crossed the room she began to take in her surroundings. It was a violently painful contrast. The space around her had been set up like a museum. Every space had been carefully crafted to showcase a piece of art. Then those spaces had been combined to create a scene; furniture, carpeting, wall coverings, artwork, plants, everything, down to the very last detail, had been carefully arranged to create an experience, and in many cases they were beautiful. Then those scenes had been laid out to tell a story. Only Eri couldn't decipher the story. Too many of those spaces were empty. Entire display cases had been removed. Some of these scenes were untouched but so many were empty, and those empty places were like faces missing eyes or a nose, and it was just as hideous to look upon. She could smell the acrid stench of a fire, and here and there she thought she even smelled sour urine. She could see where flames had licked a painting or a piece of furniture to scar but not destroy it. By the time she reached the stairs she once again she found herself wishing Ricky Machado a slow and very painful death.
"So!" Thane boomed as she stepped onto the second story. "What can I do for you, oh Commander of ships?"
Eri snorted. "Seldon mentioned your collection," Eri said and gestured to the space around her. "I came to..."
"Seldon?" Thane looked up and smiled.
"Aye," Eri nodded.
"You two are friends, then?"
Eri blinked. Then nodded, "aye, I'd like to think so."
"Impressive woman," Thane stated.
"Agreed."
"And she mentioned my collection?"
Eri nodded.
"Well," he sighed and looked around. "It's not what it was a few days ago."
"That's actually why I'm here," Eri told him. "And, for what it's worth, if I ever get the chance I will personally roast Ricky Machado over a slow fire."
"That sounds lovely," Thane said. "Take video."
Eri chuckled, almost despite herself. "Will do," she said. "In the meantime I have something to offer."
"Offer?" Thane lifted his enormous head. He looked mildly amused.
"I can't replace what you've lost, and I know it's not as good as the real thing, but," she held up the data drive that she'd brought with her. "This is a collection of digital images; scans of a few thousand of the rarest books from Earth, including a few that have been lost to time. There are also paintings, sculpture, the entire collection of the Louvre in twenty nine forty five, music, digital unfortunately, but still enjoyable with the right equipment."
The amusement had left his face. A sober appreciation had replaced it. She handed him the drive.
"Like I said, not as good as the real thing but..."
Thane met her eye. "Thank you," he said. "It's a noble gesture." He smiled sadly. "And I appreciate it."
Eri took a breath as Thane studied her. "Well," she said. "That's all I wanted..."
"Would you," he cut her off, "care to look around?" He swept his hand in an arc around them. "It's not what it was but I do still have a few pieces you might be interested in..."
Eri glanced at the computer on the inside of her right wrist. It read, 08:53. "I really should be going," she said.
Thane nodded. "I understand. Well," he said, "you may consider it a standing offer."
"Thank you," Eri said and turned around. She began moving toward the top of the stairs. Then her eyes settled on a series of cabinets to her right. Within them she saw what appeared to be a collection of medals from many, many different militaries. Just below them were a collection of firearms, including what appeared to be cap and ball revolvers. She squinted. She was nearly twenty meters away, so it was hard to tell, but she thought she was looking at an 1836 Colt Paterson, one of Earth's first repeating firearms, and just below that was what appeared to be an 1847 Colt Walker, and just below that was what appeared to be an 1851 Colt Navy revolver. Her eyes scanned to the left where, just a few display cases down, she saw what appeared to be a complete suit of Achaemenid armor. To either side of which were hyperglass cases containing what appeared to be stoneware vessels with ancient Persian motifs. "Are those," she asked, "authentic Achaemenid period?"
"The armor?" Thane replied. "No. That's a recreation of a suit the Persian immortals supposedly wore. The vases? Aye. They're from around three or four hundred years before the common era."
"You have authentic historical artifacts that are over three thousand years old?"
Thane chuckled. "One or two, aye."
Eri turned and focused on the man. He looked amused again. "You know," she said and then glanced at her timepiece again, "I think I can spare a few minutes." She quickly set an alarm, giving her until half past the hour. She met his eye again. "So what else can you show me?"
********
*Ice settles against glass.*
...
Yeah, so apparently Chinomu was on her way to meet with Thane and, I don't know, commiserate with him over the loss of his… ah… stuff. His art and artifacts, I mean. It actually made me a little uncomfortable. I mean don't get me wrong, I think the damage done to his artwork is just awful. Every time I've thought about the beautiful pieces in his collection recently I've actually thought about startin' my own. I just… I don't know. It just made me uncomfortable findin' my CAG on her way to meet with the Yaki dockmaster for reasons other than business. I mean I know that I've essentially thrown my… err…
our… lot in with the Yaki but… ah, hell if I know. I mean keepin' Thane happy is smart, especially right now. I just… hell, I'm just still not very good at this whole
trust thing.
Eh, frak it.
In any case so, Thane seemed disappointed that I wasn't gonna be able to do what I said I was gonna do, maybe even a little angry, but I'm pretty sure he's not gonna torture me to death. The fact that I actually did, in fact, deliver a fully loaded TL stuffed with nividium probably made a huge difference. I'm not sure how well that conversation would have gone had I not. Unfortunately I've essentially been committed to comin' when he calls for a while, and doin' the odd job when he needs a station built or an annoyance eliminated. That way I can help him mitigate some of the damage done to his reputation. I don't like it but what can I do? I told him one thing, he made commitments because of it and I can't deliver. So now I owe him. If nothin' else it'll teach me to keep my goddamn mouth shut until I know what I can and can't do. At least when I spoke to him this time I was really bloody clear that I could only guarantee two more shipments. There might be more than that but, as of right now, I simply have no bloody idea how much I'll be able to mine out of the remainin' roids I know of. I
will be on the look out for more, of course. I plan on sendin' scouts out to scour the sectors I haven't mapped yet. Who knows, I might get lucky. I wonder if that's a job I can do with the Archangel? Which is currently doin' very little of anything. It's a fully armed, outfitted, and even staffed corvette… well,
mostly staffed corvette. She does need a captain.
Which reminds me. I still haven't checked on Gabe. I know. I know. I just don't know what to do with the guy. He was never stable. He was bloody suicidal back when I first hired him. Now he's lost his brother and puttin' him in charge of that corvette nearly lost me the ship! So yeah! Frak if I know. At the very least I should make sure he has somebody to talk to. I guess I need to have him transferred over to the Endless for psychological… whatever they call it.
But yeah, I'm gonna have to just bite the bullet and put somebody else in charge of that ship. Then maybe I can send it out to do some scoutin' for me. Although now that I think about it, that's probably a job better suited to a drone M5. But either way, I still haven't mapped the entire gate network and, with some luck, I may be able to find some more nividium out there. Of course, right now the Paranid are kinda mad at me.
Yeah.
I've been feelin' pretty sour all day. So when a Heavy Nemesis wandered into Savage Spur and started tryin' to assert itself I decided to steal it.
It went badly.
*Ice settles against glass.*
...
It went
very badly.
Crazy suicidal sons a' bitches. I tell yah! We
had that frakkin' ship! I mean we had it! It was mine! I'd gotten rid of its escort with
typhoon missiles. I'd suckered it away from any other Yaki that might decide to try and "help" by shootin' at it. I brought its shields down and beamed my psychos aboard. They cut through any and all resistance on their way to the ship's core…
It was mine! My marines were literally turnin' the goddamn ship over to me when somebody fired a hammerhead missile that somehow immediately exploded. I don't know if it was a last ditch effort to keep me from takin' their ship or if the Predator's own missile defense system had a precognitive moment and fired a bossie before that hammerhead launched… I don't know! We were nearly eight kilometers away but I suppose a mossie could have done it… I just don't know. What I do know is that, at that precise moment, the nemesis had no shields and that goddamn nuke vaporized the ship… along with nine of my marines.
...
*Ice settles against glass.*
...
Hyuh. And that? That's kinda the way my whole day's been feelin', actually.
********
Randall heard the ship before he saw it. It came in low over the mountain behind them; a dark silver blade glinting in the sunlight. Randall saw both blue sky and the evergreen forest reflected in its surface. Despite the howling roar of its engines the sight of it made Randall feel like a weight had just been lifted off his chest. He, Pareii, Kellar, and Lau t'Nnt had been hunkered down in a small stand of trees for the past three and a half stazura. They were off the beaten path and had covered themselves with mud and dirt, hiding behind piles forest detritus to make themselves indistinct from a distance, but the sounds of people were always close. They'd already had two close calls with a group of kids cruising up and down the mountain on on bikes. A couple of them were actually really good. He'd seen one of them manage an aerial back-flip after catching air off a dirt ramp. The problem was that the bikes were silent, the kids were alert, and they knew the woods better than he and his marines ever would. So Randall and the others had spent much of the past day face down in the dirt and barely breathing. They had non lethal options available but just the idea of using force on kids made him sick to his stomach. So the sight of the susanowa cruising low over the treetops was a very welcome sight indeed.
"Shit, sarge," Pareii grumbled.
"What?"
"How many times do you think the profile of that ship has caused a red flag after being pinged by the local LADAR?"
Randall chuckled.
"Why?" Kellar asked. "Cos it's a…"
"A Yaki ship based on a Paranid model?" Pareii asked with his typical inner city charm. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."
Kellar rolled her eyes. "You are such an asshole… Corporal."
"Oh!" Pareii laughed. "Pullin' rank on me sarge?"
"Can it," Randall whispered sharply. "We're not out of the woods yet."
Pareii blinked. "Shit, Sarge. I think that may be the very first time I've ever heard that expression used literally."
Overhead the susanowa made a slow circle of Ricky and Sal's crashed pod.
"What are they doing?" Pareii asked.
"Taking scans of the crash site," Kellar answered him.
"More importantly," Randall inserted, "how the hell are we gonna..."
There was a flash of blue light and he suddenly felt like he was falling
outward. An instant later the flash subsided. He blinked and looked around. The very first thing he saw was the familiar face of Master Chief Warrant Officer Latasha Seldon. She had her arms crossed in front of her. One eyebrow was arched just a hair higher than the other, and her normally malleable, expressive face looked as cool and frozen as if it had been carved from marble. One look at her face and basic training kicked in. All four of marines climbed to their feet and snapped to attention while staring at the imagined horizon beyond the ship's bulkhead.
Seldon said nothing. Randall could hear her breathing. It was slow and measured.
~Seven beats in. Hold for four. Seven beats out...~ The silence and that slow, measured breathing felt very ominous.
"Kellar," Seldon said, "Pareii, Lau t'Nnt. I don't want to look at you. Head down into the cargo bay and find a stasis tube."
The three marines Randall brought with him fell out silently and immediately made their way below. Randall continued staring at his imaginary horizon. Seldon continued to breathe that slow, ominous breath. After a few moments he heard the last of the three life support coffins close below decks.
"Randall," Seldon said and Jak could hear how bad he'd frakked up in her voice, "you're a moron."
Jak winced.
"Do you have any idea just how badly your little field trip
could have gone?"
Jak squinted. "Aye?"
"You do?" she asked. "So you are aware that your pod could have fallen through the roof of some suburban family's house? Or landed on the monorail? Or maybe in the river? I see that you've managed to misplace your helmet somewhere. I assume it's on the Conquest?"
Jak nodded.
"That would have been fun, huh?" She asked him. "Trying to surface from the bottom of the river without a helmet? I assume I don't have to tell you that your pod could have killed someone? I assume that you are equally aware that, for all intents and purposes, you executed an invasion of a residential neighborhood on
Argon Prime? And you did this without orders from your superiors. You are aware that had you been picked up by the authorities you and the three marines you ordered to follow you would probably be rotting in prison for the next
decade? Is that what you're telling me? That you were aware of all of that… and jumped into that pod anyway?"
Randall felt like he was looking into a strong wind. "Aah… which answer
doesn't get me thrown out of the plane?"
"None of them," Seldon told him. "I am going to dedicate my life to making your life a living hell for the foreseeable future. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking…"
"Shut the hell up!"
Jak clapped his teeth together.
Seldon took a few more of those deep, mechanical breaths. Then she sighed heavily and nodded. "I know what you were thinking. You were thinking that I'd given you an order and you'd failed to carry it out. You were thinking that those two assholes just killed your friends and you weren't going to let them get away. Is that about right?"
Jak glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Yes, Chief."
Seldon rubbed her temples between a thumb and forefinger. "At ease," she said and Jak relaxed. "Listen, Jak," she began in a decidedly gentler tone. "You're a leader now. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I have to be able to count on you not to screw the pooch when I give you an assignment. Now I saw the footage from the brig cameras.
I wouldn't have seen that old man coming."
Jak glanced at her again.
She held his eye. "I wouldn't have. The kid saw the video too. He wouldn't have. I mean who the hell expects that from a hundred year old man?!"
Jak held her eye and waited.
"So
that's not your fault," she told him. "But jumping into an escape pod over a densely populated area?!"
"What should I have done, Chief?"
"Call it in," she said. "Immediately. Call it in. Let us know."
"That wouldn't have stopped them."
"No," Chief Seldon replied. "But we'd only have about twenty million credits in fines and damages to pay… instead of thirty five."
"Thirty five
million credits?!" Randall winced. "That much?!"
"Yeah!" Seldon snarled at him, and Jak was grateful to see the flexibility return to her face. "You guys took out a
strip mall! Including the bank! An entire neighborhood will have to go without check cashing, liquor, all those one credit items from the credit general, discount clothing, oh and the Bubba Burger joint! Because of you cholesterol levels will be dropping throughout the neighborhood. I hope your proud of yourself!"
"Hey," Jak said, "it's not my fault those goddamn pods are shit! The frakking landing brakes didn't fire! And the other one didn't even deploy a parachute!"
"Yeah, I know," Seldon told him. "It's too bad the landing didn't kill those assholes."
"Copy that," Randall agreed. He met Chief Seldon's eye. "I almost had Machado," he said and she met his eye. "He and the old man were on the monorail platform. The train was coming but I had him. Just one more heartbeat and I'd have renovated his skull for him."
Seldon stared at him for a moment. "Go find a tube, Randall. Get some rest."
********
Right. So after I saw Thane I returned to the Predator and got some shuteye. By that point I'd been up for nearly twenty four hours, and that's after only gettin' a few hours of very sparse sleep the night before. I was bloody exhausted. Before I hit the hay, though, I checked on Gin. She was still in a coma, although over 98% of her burns have healed. Legion said it was fine. She'd wake up when she was ready to.
...
*sigh*
...
Yeah.
So I did actually sleep. I slept the day away, in fact. I didn't open my eyes until sixteen hundred. When I woke up I tried goin' through my mornin' routine only to discover that my ribs and ankle were still very annoyed with me. So, instead of a five kilometer run followed by some fairly intense asanas I decided on some light stretchin' followed by a long and very hot shower. Then I ate breakfast, drank coffee and checked my messages… where I found several from Thane. He wanted two things from me: a dead pirate and a Split-made wasp missile production facility up in Okracoke's Storm. Now I admit that my knee-jerk reaction was a bit… sour. I really don't like feelin' like I'm on a goddamn leash. I know I owe him, and I knew he was payin' me for the work he was havin' me do, but neither of those things changed the fact that I couldn't say no. I mean I 'could' have, but it probably would not be wise. Soooo yeah, I didn't like it. At all. But… I gotta admit the guy definitely knew how to
soften the blow. I mean that's nearly nine million credits for what amounts to very little effort on my part. So, as usual, I just called Odin up and made him take care of it.
The other job, however, was
a bit more hassle, and required a lot more finesse to make it profitable… something my fellow Yaki were dead set on preventin', I might add. I took the ship but, good bloody God, it was a mess. I ended up havin' to kill two Yaki pilots to stop 'em from killin' my marines. Which obviously upset the clan those pilots belonged to, in this case a Boron clan that's relatively minor. Minor or not, though, shootin' at my fellow Yaki is somethin' I need to avoid. At the very least I need to avoid bein' seen doin' it. I wouldn't want anybody comin' after me with the same charges I brought against Huritas, after all. So when Bobo Do, the clan leader those two dipshits belonged to, called me up to demand to know what I'd done I claimed innocence. And, for the record, I did not
shoot those pilots. They just both very conveniently managed to fly into my ship. Bobo Do didn't argue with me but I got the distinct sense that he or she or whatever the hell it was didn't believe me, either. But seriously! What the hell was I supposed to do?! Those bloody idiots just wouldn't frakkin' listen when I told 'em to stop shootin' at my marines! So… yeah! A quick tap of the turbo and-ah… problem solved.
Even so, the job was ugly. I mean I got paid three point eight million for the hit and all my marines came back alive… which wasn't a sure thing for a few minutes there. But even so, it was a mess. Even after
I sold the Carrack to Thane I only ended up makin' twelve and half million for the hit, and that's the fee plus what Thane paid me for the frigate, mind you. Honestly? The whole thing just felt like a really dangerous and risky way to earn my credits. I think I actually prefer just orderin' Odin around. It's nearly as profitable and I don't have to risk twenty of my people doin' it.
Unfortunately, that's not what was on the day's agenda. While gettin' paid I was informed, by one of Thane's subordinates no less, that the Dockmaster had several associates who were in need of my services and that I was expected to assist 'em. As it turns out these
associates had both been fracked over pretty bad and were in somethin' of a…
bloodthirsty… disposition. I mean, once again, after it was all said and done I can't really say that I was bein' treated unfairly. I was bein' paid reasonably well for my time. I just really had other things to do; namely huntin' down Huritas and deliverin' her to Ea't so he can make kebabs and stir-fry out of her, settin' up a way to put Gil in my brig… or maybe one of Doc Boni's surgical tubes... and, of course, findin' lots of ways to put the hurt on the Terrans as a way of sayin', "thanks for the party you threw me."
But, needs must.
So the first of Thane's
'associates' was this Boron who… bloody hell! I really do hate the sob stories. Right. So the short version is that it was a revenge hit. This Boron lost a kid years ago and the asshole who killed the kid was spotted in Weaver's Tempest. My job was to
execute said asshole. Yeah.
No problem. At least I didn't have to feel guilty about snuffin' this particular life. Although sometimes I do wonder if I'm just bein' played. I mean, what if I'm just bein' told a palatable lie? What if all these executions are actually on people that other people just find irritatin'? Oh this guy is in line for a promotion before me. Find me a hit man. Oh this gal just got the contract that I'll lose my life savings if I don't get. Find me a cleaner.
Yeah.
You know, I think I'm just gonna stop thinkin' now.
Right. So, on that cheerful note, the next associate had another revenge hit and another horrible sob story for me. I don't know how she knew Thane or how helpin' her helped him but I do know that I had to listen to another goddamn horror story in which this woman explained to me how her lover was kidnapped, tortured, and then executed. I, of course, was expected to return the favor. On top of that the gal was
payin' squat. So, since she wanted me to make the guy bleed anyway, I decided to mitigate my losses by
takin' the guy's ship, and it really didn't hurt that it belonged to the Terran military. No. Really. That made me feel all warm and tingly on the inside. Right. So, once again, in the interest of makin' a long story short, a little while later I sent the gal a short clip of one Neol Yatar in an airlock just before my marines taught him how to fly. Then I made myself feel a little bit better about workin' for chump change by sellin' that katana. It didn't help much,
but it did help.
Then I recieved Thane's next
"request". I have to admit that the man really does have a way of makin' my indentured servitude hurt a
lot less than it could. I mean considerin' that the shipyard in Argon Prime only wanted two point two mil for their low yield sidearm fabs I call that a pretty good job. Hell, I call that an ideal job. Over eleven million just for bossin' Odin around? Hell, I'll do that all day and go to bed happy.
Eh, what can I say? I try to keep it real. I mean relationships between men and women are messy from start to finish, right? But… the guy hurt my Ma, you know? It's really hard not to want to kick somebody's ass after they make your Mama cry. So, in lieu of tossin' the sunnuva bitch out an airlock I just bust his chops all day.
Would you believe that I think he actually likes it?
No? Ah well. It was worth a shot.
Right. So, anyway, while Odin was fetchin' that station for me I finally had the time to check in with my people. I got Chinomu, Ea't, H'nt, err… Yahanis somethin' somethin' the somethin'… the bloody Teladi I have runnin' the minin' operation, along with Kayla and Kao t'Kt for a video conference. Then I asked 'em all for updates. I would have had Seldon there as well but she's currently on Argon Prime sortin'
that mess out for me. Ea't and H'nt both reported that their respective sectors have been quiet. Although with Ea't that required some clarification. His idea of 'loud' is a little different than the rest of us. Apparently a half dozen pirate guild fighters jumped into Weaver's Tempest and started flyin' toward the alpha complex, harrassin' my freighters and CLS trainin' ships along the way. I'm not sure if it was Gil's way of testin' my defenses or if he was just scoutin' the sector, or if he had anythin' to do with it at all. Whatever the case, though, Ea't smashed those fighters, captured the survivors… and err… had 'em for lunch and dinner. I did ask him how his evenin' with Cala Ma was shapin' up. To which he simply informed me that 'all ingredients' had been purchased.
Yeah. I didn't ask.
For H'nt, though, quiet meant quiet. The only excitement in Savage Spur involved the Yaki shootin' at some of my customers, which I've decided is somethin' we won't get involved in. After that Yahanis told me that the Sisyphus was already carryin' another twenty five hundred units and she expects at least another six to ten thousand from this asteroid. I asked her if she could narrow it down any and she said 'no'. Which was nice, actually, cos honestly? Listenin' to Teladi struggle their way through a sentence makes me feel like there's a bug in my ear. But anyway. So-yeah! Provided progress remains steady I should be able to expect another shipment by sometime tomorrow night. Which means another hundred million credit infusion into my bank account. I asked if there were any problems and she said 'no'. Which, once again, I liked hearin', albeit for more than just the one reason.
After that Chinomu informed us that the minin' fleet now had full fighter support but stated that, given the value of the assets in that fleet, she'd feel more comfortable with a carrier-frigate attached to it in addition to the roster of fighters. Which segued nicely into my proposition for the rapid response fleet. So, after askin' 'em if there were anything else I needed to know about I dismissed everyone but Chinomu, H'nt, and Ea't and began talkin' about how to compose this fleet. Unfortunately that particular conversation became a somewhat… lively… discussion about the merits of one frigate over another, what fighters to equip 'em with, whether to include bombers in the roster, how to best support the new fleet, whether to keep marines aboard, whether the crews should be human, Split, or a mixed race, and even, believe it or not, the pros and cons of keepin' medical personnel aboard. (Ea't is against it.)
While the discussion was still in full swing I had to excuse myself to check in with Odin and collect my pay from Thane, who had another job for me. This time he wanted
wheat farm in Senator's Badlands. I almost asked him why but decided against it. For one thing look at that job for a sezura. A
medium wheat farm goes for three hundred and sixty seven thousand credits at the shipyard in Cloudbase Southeast, right? Thane was offerin' me eleven million, six hundred and seventy one thousand to build it. I mean that's like free money. I
almost asked him why he was bein' so generous but managed to keep my mouth shut and my curiosity to myself. Some things you should just be grateful for.
********
Gil sat down and accepted the connection. It came from halfway across the galaxy and required three encryption ciphers to decode. When the feed came through the image was grainy, and there was a slight delay before the woman on the far end realized that she was connected. When she did she turned toward the camera and smiled. It was a mysterious expression, that smile.
"Gil," the woman greeted him warmly. "Any news?"
"There's plenty of news," he replied. "To which are you referring?"
"Well," the woman said, "I was referring to that thing I asked you to find for me but I suppose we can talk about Huritas. You'll tell me if that witch turns up. Won't you?"
Gil smiled and put a toothpick in his teeth.
The woman's eyes narrowed. "You know," she said casually. "I met your son."
"Did you?" he asked.
"Aye," she said, suddenly sounding like some star struck virgin. "Strong, he is. Intense. And much better looking than I expected." She grinned at the camera. "You think he likes red-heads?"
Gil grinned. "Be careful," he suggested.
"You know, I have to confess that I am rather surprised at him for still being alive and all."
"I expect he gets that a lot."
"There sure do seem to be a lotta folks out there tryin' to kill him. Don't you think?"
Gil smiled. Behind the smile, though, he felt a disquiet that was wholly unfamiliar. She was right. There were a lot of people in the universe trying to kill Drake and it bothered him far more than he ever would have expected. Through their fuzzy connection the woman smiled. It was an insolent, knowing expression. "So?" he prompted, changing the subject. "How is everybody getting along in the clans today?"
"Nobody gets along, Gil. That's just not how things are done. You should know that. We spy and cheat and wait for opportunities to take what we can. Do you folks do it any different? You and your guild?"
Gil smiled again. "No, love. We don't do it any differently. I expect it's the same way all over the universe. But since the attack? Any news? What are Thane and Gorda doing?"
She shrugged. "Oh, same as always. They spin their plots while the rest of us fetch and run and do our best to keep the money flowin' into our clans."
"So nothing new?"
"Well, there's been a lot of ships going to and from the shipyard, and Thane's been spendin' lots of money on engineers and materials. There was quite a bit of damage, from what I hear."
"Gorda?"
She shrugged. "He stays on his station and moves numbers around. How the hell am I supposed to know what they mean?"
"You're not exactly giving me useful information."
"Well," she said, "you're not exactly givin' me what I'm payin' you for."
Gil smiled. "I found a lead," he said.
"Did you? Feel like sharing?"
"Perhaps," Gil said. "Any news I might be interested in?"
She shrugged, "your son's buildin' again."
"Is he? Adding to that city in Weaver's Tempest?"
"That and starting a new one in Savage Spur. There he's got a pair of those really big solar power plants and all the little factories to keep 'em running."
"Two extra large energy loops?"
"I s'pose," she shrugged. "I got pictures," she offered.
"Send them to me," he said.
"Alright," she said and turned away from the screen. A few moments later she looked back at him. "There. Done. So?"
Gil smiled. "You're going to want to talk to a Teladi named Gobanis Lalundas Tzessosis the ninth."
"Bloody hell," she said and scribbled it down. "Gobanis Lalundas Tzessosis the...?"
"Ninth," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "And what? What is this Teladi going to tell me?"
"She was the last person that I know for a fact spoke to the man."
"She spoke with him?"
"Yes."
"Well, now," she smirked. "That could be interesting. Alright, Gil. Thanks luv."
A moment later she was gone. Gil stared into the space where the vid comm had been and picked a small blue ball up from the desk top. He squeezed it several times and then ricocheted it off the floor against the far wall and then caught it as it returned to him. He glanced at the surface of his desk. Within its surface was a two dimensional representation of the sector LooManckStrat's Legacy. The map had been zoomed out so far that it showed nearly a two hundred square kilometer section of space. Far away from either gate, in the far upper left hand corner of the map, was a single icon representing a carrier.
He squeezed the ball in his hand, then bounced it off the floor and far wall before catching it again. He stared at the map. After a moment he repeated his ritual with the ball. After catching it again he set it down and opened a holographic screen and began to type.
"Okay, Drake," he said. "You want her? Well I know where she is."
Beside the icon in the map there was a small balloon with an identifier. Within that balloon was the name
Quetzalcoatl.
********
Continued...