by Isaac Stone
Although the asteroid wasn't that big, the owners of the station were able to adjust the ambient gravity to the point where it was Earth standard. It was an old station and outpost for commercial freighters, but one that was refitted for the current class of settlers and merchants who plied their trade on the outer part of the UDF. It would be a place where the main part of the pack could congregate together and not worry about rude glances from the rest of the population. One of our standard orders was not to frighten the locals whenever we put into a port outside the Order.
Every member of our pack was trained in personal combat; as we had to be ready at a moment's notice should a hostile ship board us. We tended to emit an air of menace when we were around the regular UDF citizens, even without our edged weapons hanging at our side. I'd seen mothers grab their children and walk the other way when I approached. We were a people wholly of the stars, and it was only the occasional introduction of a gravity borne man or woman that kept our multi-generational low gravity physiques from being a complete giveaway. We are tall, long of limb, at least compared to gravity borne. At the same time, I've had women look me over and lick their lips, even when I held the hands of two other women from our ship, since I suppose to them we are real life spacemen. It was part of our basic education not to do anything outside the ship that might shock people, the relationship between the ultraconservative UDF society and the warlike Orders were tense enough as it was.
"I'm staying up here with Shelly and Latasha for the time being," Captain announced to us while we watched the shuttle approach the Hard Rain from station on the asteroid surface. "They've told me that the station isn't something they need to experience again. So, I decided to assign them together for the next four days standard. All the work should be accomplished by then. A crew from the maintenance division will be around by three and I'll have to watch them. As for the rest of you, don't harass the locals or get into any fights."
As we got on the ship from the repair station, Tank and I stopped to let several of the parents enter the ferry with their children. Kyle was already on the surface with Brittani and I would see them both when I arrived. Captain's roster wasn't in effect until we returned. It was always a challenge when we were off on our own.
The ferry that took us to Tomba Station didn't have any gravity control on the inside, so we stayed strapped in during the descent to the surface. I noted the stewards on the flight were nervous around us. I'd been around enough people from the UDF that it didn't bother me, but this wasn't the case for the many of the younger packmates. Cherish snapped at one of the stewards when she tried to ignore her. I tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her of Captain's warning.
"So what do you plan on doing now that we're down here?" I asked Tank as the ferry made its landing on the field out in front of the reception center. With the gravity enhancement came a terraformed asteroid as well. This was one place you could walk outdoors and not have to worry about a suit.
"See some of the sights, pick up a few things we can never get around the border, I don't really know," Tank responded. "Captain relived us of the roster, so we don't have to be with any one person while we're here." He turned and looked at the building next to us as the ground came up to the ferry. A sudden thud let everyone inside it know we were on solid ground.
In most cases, we don't go outside much, even when the atmosphere is breathable. A life of purified air and a pressure lower than most people experience makes it difficult. In some cases, you have a wear a respirator when under the sun.
"Please enjoy your stay at Tomba Station," a recorded voice announced as the hatches opened up and let the local air into the place. It smelled of dust and recycling, not much different from the ship we'd left.
Once we were outside, I noted several other ferries on the ground letting their passengers leave. Our group stayed together and flowed into the entrance of the trade and entertainment section of the station. In the distance, I could see smaller craft cable of planetfall lined up, each under supervision of a work crew. The pale light of the star of the Yom system heated my back up and I sought cover in the entrance.
A pert young man handed me a tag on a chain. I looked at it and turned to him with a scowl. I scared him. He imminently let me know its purpose.
"Identity tracker," he explained. "It's a way your group can stay in touch with each other in case you get lost. Can I show you how to put it on?"
I shrugged.
He looped it around my neck then turned to my face. "Those women who came through here a few minutes ago in the red and black," he asked me in a whisper. "Are they with you?"
"Yes they are," I responded. "Why do you ask?"
"They seem kind of...rough. One of them stopped and took the tag from me without asking. Where do you all come from?"
"We're with the Hard Rain pack," I told him. "The navy brought us into this system to keep the peace. Do you feel peaceful?"
"I did until I met those women," he laughed. "Are you going to be in the station's agora for any length of time?"
"A few days. We'll try not to make a mess."
He couldn't be more than eighteen standard years. This had to be some young lad who took his summer school term off to come work at the station as a guide. He had those blue eyes you see from people in the inner systems of the UDF. I knew why he wanted to know more.
"The dark lady didn't seem much older than me."
"That would be Vienna. She's already a mother and handles a quantum laser array better than most men you'll ever meet."
The look in his eye told me what would come next. "Yes," I let him know, "we do take recruits, but it’s better if you're born into this life. Most people can't hack it, but if you want to find a recruiter, I'm sure there is a way to go about doing it."
"Thanks," he told me and walked off.
I watched him exit and wondered if he'd ever take the step of inquiring. We didn't go out of our way to get recruits. Maybe the young man would be different; we had a few members of the pack who did come from the outside. You had to keep the gene pool replenished.
I walked a bit faster to catch up with the rest of my group. Lagging behind were Ely and Maya, busy looking at some clothes on display at a booth. Space was limited on the ship, but most of us had several changes beside the usual uniform and work jumper. I'd worn a grey tunic down to the station, as it seemed to fit in better.
I bumped into Alyx as she picked up some statues on display outside a sales booth. "Do you know where you're sleeping tonight?" she asked me. "I'm confused on whom to be with. I hate it when Captain gives us leave off the roster. It's better for me if I know in advance who I'm with. Very stressful." She wrapped one arm around me and looked up with her big brown eyes. "Can I sleep with you?"
"Of course," I let her know. "I have to find Britani and our son first, but there will be room."
We walked off, hand-in-hand. It wasn't until I glanced at a mirror that I noted the look of pure shock on the face of a store clerk who'd overhead it all.
"Have to watch ourselves," I mumbled to Alyx.
"Why?" She asked with a stunned expression on her face.
"They aren't as open with each other down here as we are in the ship. Have to keep it in mind."
We found Britani and Kyle in one of the food courts. He sat next to him mom and stared at the wonders of civilization about him. She waved at us and we sat down next to them both.
"Enjoying yourself, Kyle?" I asked him. "How do you like walking down here?" The asteroid gravity was slightly higher than on the ship.
"I'm coping, Dad," he told me. "Mom wants to keep me close, but I can handle myself."
"He'll be eighteen soon?" Alyx asked. "Time to get you matched to another ship."
Britani fought back a tear. I expected it. My own mother did the same when I pledged Hard Rain.
"Mom doesn't want to let me go, Aunt Alyx," he told her.
"They never do, son, "I added. “But we don't get a choice in such matters.
"You need to find a new ship of your own. It's the way it's always been. Can't have the blood too thin on the one you're born."
Kyle looked up and saw some of his cousins walking around, looking at the merchandise on display. He turned to his mom with a "can I?" expression and she looked to me. I nodded.
"We'll still see him after he's gone," I pointed out to Britani.
"I know," she sighed. "Hate to see him leave just the same."
"Did you still want to share a room while we're down here?" Britani asked, and I nodded.
"Alyx wants to share it with us," I let her know. "I am amenable if you are."
"Of course, it is good to choose for ourselves sometimes, even if such a thing feels strange," she told me as we continued on our way.
I still made certain to hold Alyx's hand, but avoided any show of affection toward the mother of my own child. It was second nature to keep these appearances of disaffection up, even when we were out of the ship.
It was the next day when I first noted something didn't feel right about the Agora. We'd all agreed to meet and have dinner at a large restaurant near the center of the building where we stayed. Most of us had spent the day touring the vast facility and doing our best not to annoy the Udies. This wasn't an easy task as they'd heard all manner of stories about the life we led on board the mothership. There was no shortage of rumors as to how we had sex orgies nonstop on the Hard Rain when we weren't torturing small animals or dueling space pirates. I passed a few women who crossed themselves when they realized we were from an Order pack. So much for civilization.
The restaurant overlooked a large lake that was part of the original terrain of the asteroid. Before the planetoid was terraformed, it was pocketed by countless craters and meteorite strikes. This was no longer a problem with an atmosphere to burn up any approaching meteor. When the mall was placed into the station complex, the designers decided to turn one of the larger craters into a reflective lake to add to the beauty of the landscape. From the room reserved for us, we had a spectacular view of it.
Alyx, Britani, Kyle, and I were seated with the other members of the pack, away from the regular clientele. The wait staff appeared to be nervous around us. I chuckled as to how they needed us to provide protection for the outer frontier but were terrified of us at the same time.
"So where do the Order Companies dine when they come here?" I asked the older woman who walked us back to our room. She was a bit more approachable than the others were.
"I don't know," she replied. "We don't see too many of you people around. The last ones we saw were from that Horde. They didn't spend much time inside the agora. Camped outside on the lawns if I remember correctly. Scary bunch, bit like you, pardon me."
I didn't say a word and contained my laughter until she'd seated us all.
We were in a large banquet room with the tables pushed together. Lined up to the wall were several shopping bags of whatever the pack needed, plus whatever Captain would feel benefited the ship. Toys were a premium item for the children and we traded them back and forth with other motherships.
"Two women?" Tank said to me as I sat across from him and Ely. "You know Captain would never allow that on the ship."
"We're not on the ship," I countered, "and it's not what you think. Britani and I had a lot to talk over and Alyx couldn't make up her mind where to sleep."
"Not being judgmental," he spoke. "I've managed to find a room for Ely and myself while we're down her. So long as it doesn't involve someone outside the pack, Captain won't say a word."
He was right on that one. Sleeping with an outsider could get you into big trouble.
For some reason, the background noise began to tune out while I looked over the menu. It was a lot different from what we had on the ship, so I needed to concentrate on what to order.
The sense of danger began to creep up my spine as I read. This was similar to the sensations I absorbed from the Roka fighters we'd encountered in battle. The Goat Squad did insinuate that my abilities would increase over the next few years.
I closed my eyes and felt the same anxiety and glory that the Roka sent when I hunted them down in deep space. Could there be a Roka starfighter parked somewhere nearby? I doubted this was possible. I needed to find the source of my sensations.
"Pardon," I spoke to Britani, who sat next to me. "I need to see about something. I'll be back in a few minutes." I stood up, pushed my chair back to the table and walked to the door into the banquet room.
The feeling was intense. I couldn't find the source, but it was strong. I stepped out into the main restaurant and looked around. None of the people in it seemed to offer a threat of any type. These were the same shoppers you might locate on any Udie planet. I turned to scan the entire restaurant; they had to be here someplace.
It was that moment I saw the reflection of four wait staff who watched me from the other side of the room. I saw their images in a large mirror over a bar near the entrance and let my mind reach out. The violent thoughts came from them. I was sure of it.
There were four of them and they pushed a dish cart along the floor. A bit slow, given all the people in this restaurant, but nothing out of the ordinary. I let my inner senses sweep the diners out there and felt it come from the four again.
They were Roka and hated us for the pounding their group took from our pack. The four had been hired on only a few days ago. They’d planned this assault with precision. The guns they'd need had to be inside the dish cart. My back was to them, but I could tell they were headed our way.
I had to act.
I wanted to get the children to safety, but there was no time. The Roka militants would try to enter the room as wait staff, pull their guns out and slaughter every member of our pack while they had the door blocked. Swords meant little in the face of full auto. I had to let my packmates know and only a few minutes to do it.
I walked back to the nearest table and looked to see who was nearest to me. I spotted Talia and Randolph in a discussion of the finer points of terraforming. In two seconds, I was at their side.
"I need some help," I told the two.
"What kind of help?" Randolph spoke.
"There’s a dish cart being pushed in here by the wait staff," I explained. "The people who push it aren't really wait staff, but Roka who were planted here to eliminate us. We need to take down them down the moment they enter the room."
"With what?" Randolph asked me. "They didn't allow us to take firearms down here."
It was true, the station was considered a neutral zone and no one, other than the local guards or UDF security forces were allowed to have them.
I looked down at the table and noted the steak knives already set out by the restaurant. Both Randolph and Talia followed the direction of my eyes and understood. The each picked up a knife and stood up from the table. Cold steel at last.
Our actions were followed by the other members of the Hard Rain pack in the room. We'd spent so much time together that, in times of crisis, we could act as one mind. I watched as a few other knives were picked up from the table and the voices died down. They would follow our lead.
The wait staff that pushed the cart entered the room. The waiters consisted of three men and one woman. They appeared to be innocent, but we knew better.
The group stopped as it entered the room and starred at us as we starred back. My group of three was no more than five feet from them.
"Your food's here," one of the four spoked to the room. He looked down and saw the knives we carried. The other three noticed as well.
He was fast. The ringleader dove to the floor next to the table and pulled out four handguns before we reached him. His companions tried to grab the guns away, but they weren't as fast.
Talia gutted the man next to her before he could reach the gun. The woman tried to catch the gun tossed to her, but she fell to the floor. I kicked the gun back to the tables and Ely grabbed it. Randolph was on her back in seconds and managed to tie her hands with a strand o
f utility rope. The fourth member of the group went down when I came up behind him and cut his throat.
This left the ringleader who rose up from the floor with a handgun in his paw. Talia managed to slice him across the throat as he rose up. Blood splattered across the dish cart as he staggered to the door. But it wasn't over yet.
I heard three loud retorts and the same number of holes opened in his torso. The former waiter fell to the floor and stopped moving. What was left of him oozed out of his insides, those that hadn’t been splattered on the wall.
I looked up to see the older woman who's led us to the banquet room enter with an impact weapon in one hand. She held her UDF Commando badge in the other hand.
"Damn," she spoke. "You did all my work for me."
13
It turned out the Udies expected some last stand from the Roka. The station was an excellent target. We were on their list from all the death we'd inflicted on them. A few minutes before they tried to slaughter us, an informer broke and told the commandos where the next attack would take place.
If I hadn't sensed the threat, the warning would've done us no good. By the time Commander Janice arrived, we'd all be dead.
"Which leaves one problem," she told Tank and me as we sat in her office. The rest of the pack was already back on the mothership. "What am I going to do with the surviving member of the death squad? I don't have the long-term facilities to keep her until a prison ship arrives and those don't usually come anywhere near this place. I'm not allowed to execute her, which is what I'd rather do and save the state the expensive of trying her. I'm only bringing this up because there is a loophole in these kinds of incidents."
Her office was in the back of the agora and near the repair shops. It was sparse and served as an office for the local security team.
