'So what did your leaders do to find it, this location?' Slin asked.
'They sent out teams to search for information from other worlds, races, stations, even following old stories, clues and artefacts. None as yet have found anything confirming the location, and most teams are still looking.' Draethus tried the drink for the first time, approved and continued. 'With your help we can find Heridia, the Rid home-world, and destroy them before the next wave could even start. It may even prevent the first wave from even happening.'
'I see. Well, when we reach the fleet, I'd like you to meet the Khan, the leader of all Cygnians.' Raeson said as he knocked back the drink. 'I'll draw up the report explaining everything that you've told us and request your help. He might even provide more information on the situation for you.'
Draethus didn't trust these new men and women, but felt he had no other choice. He knew that his decision to translocate to the pirate fleet would probably end in the death of his crew and he. The leverage he held, however, the dual with the Heridian leader, was the only plan he had. Draethus felt as if the fates were aligning and giving him the opportunity to make a difference in the war. The liquid ran warm through his system and a fresh sense of calm washed over his mind and senses.
Tremon was right, this stuff was good.
*
With the crews now introduced to each other, and a plan actioned, the sense of anxiety passed for both parties. The night had been relaxing and Spect, the only truly sober person now aboard, finally got the chance he needed to go exploring.
Previously, the golden ship had sat in the docks of the Sky-Station for months and the curiosity unyielding. It was during this time that Spect had scanned the vessel's internals and decoded a portion of its secrets, which is how he built the device that caused so much trouble. But to get full access now to the ship itself, he was like a child given his dream toy to do whatever he wanted. The ship felt even bigger inside than he imagined, with endless corridors stretching down its lengths, connected by an everlasting labyrinth of junctions. Spect stopped to catch his breath, leaned up against one of the smooth glossy white bulkheads and pulled a device from his dirty lab coat.
'Forgot I had this,' he said out loud to himself. 'I'm probably going to get lost now, but oh well.'
In his hand he held a metallic ball about the size of his palm, twisted the top causing it to click and come alive with lights and a low level buzzing. He threw it into the air where it stayed and hovered. 'I want you to fly around and scan all these corridors, make me a map so I can find something interesting… and no I am not lost.'
The floating metal ball zipped off down the corridor and started three dimensionally mapping out the ship, much faster than Spect could have done it manually. He sat down against the wall, pulled out some food he saved for an emergency and began munching.
'I'm not lost' he said again.
*
Back on the Arvernus, Slin stepped into the upright medical pod and let the machine's mechanical arms go to work on his cybernetics. Since the battle that robbed him of his arms and left leg, he had to undergo regular check-ups and adjustments to make sure they were operating correctly. A small laser emanated from one of the surgical devices and seared one component in his artificial leg that had been seizing. He winced with the pain and could smell burning.
'Still painful?' Nash asked, sitting across from him and nursing the last of the alcohol by swirling it in her glass.
'I'm getting used to it, even liking it better than the originals.'
'I don't think I could ever get used to that, my poor Slin. I was a wreck when you were missing.'
One of the surgical arms reached up and removed a small panel on the side of his face, placed it on a tray and began working on the internals.
'Will you tell me about where you grew up, Slin? I mean, I know you don't like to talk about it, and you don't have to tell me, but at least it will take your mind off the pain?'
'You want to know about Colman, the prison planet?' Slin's faced darkened.
'What was it like there?'
Slin paused for a moment and considered how much he should let her know, if it would change her view of him. 'I was born there from parents I never knew, criminals I expect, and sold to whoever would have me. Passed from person to person, used like a servant fetching things for whatever group I belonged to. I became good at acquiring objects, stealing, so proved my worth.' The surgical instruments began working on his other leg.
'That's horrible,' Nash said. 'So you had no one?'
'None, but I never knew the difference. The world of Colman existed as a dumping ground for the unwanted criminals, a place to offload the rubbish. Entire cities towered into the skies where the gang-lord's operated. Scum and low-lives would live on the surface outside of the towers. If you were lucky, they recruited you into a gang where you're looked after. They kill the unlucky, exploited them as slave labour or in some areas, even ate them.'
'Eaten!?!' gasped Nash. 'That's awful. So how did you escape, it wasn't during the great breakout of Colman, was it? My father used those as bedtime stories when I was a child.'
'That's exactly when,' Slin smiled, although with a great deal of effort considering the pain he was going through. 'I was twelve when I got caught stealing from a small group of bandits that operated out of an underground junk town outside the principal city.'
'No, it couldn't have been,' she yelled with excitement.
'Yes it was, the infamous Second Skulls lead by the great Latronis Skull himself.' Slin felt a great deal of pride flood his system and mix with the drugs being pumped into him from the medical pod. 'You know the stories I'd say. Latronis and his men were planning an escape in secret and owned a certain component another gang leader needed, which is where I came in.'
Nash leaned forward intently, excitement in her eyes as Slin continued. 'I snuck in under the cover of darkness, grabbed the component, but was never told how heavy it was. Damn, it was heavy; I tripped and fell onto a card table on a lower level. I thought they would execute me on the spot, but Latronis said I had balls of iron and recruited me.' Slin laughed again, 'I must have been a sight.'
'So you escaped the planet with the Skulls, then the stories were true?' Nash asked.
'That was true, yes,' Slin added. 'The orbiting guard stations around Colman never even saw us leave, or they didn't care. We made it to one of the free trading stations, bargained our way onto a transport, and the story of the Skulls continued from there.'
'That's amazing,' Nash laughed. 'So what was he like, Latronis Skull?'
'He was a tough son of a bitch, a little crazy, fair but ruthless. Taught me how to fly, everything from transports to fighters and even operating capital ships. He mentored me in the bandit's art, plundering, looting and salvaging.'
'And how did you come to be in the Cygnian Pirates, were you captured like me?' Nash said in a harsh tone. She never let that go.
'After I was out of the Skulls, I looked for targets mining the belts, ships that were far enough away from anywhere that help couldn't arrive to get in my way. I killed none of them, mind you, Latronis had taught me the ways of chivalry, I just ransomed them a little. I guess word of my exploits spread because the Cygnian Pirates had set a trap. Seven fighters sprung from powered down locations around an unmanned miner. I took down five, damaged the other two and if it wasn't for a corvette that landed on me I probably would have escaped, but then would never had met you.'
Nash blushed, then put her glass away on the table behind her.
'I didn't take too much convincing to join,' Slin said, 'even though it was more of a military by then, unlike the bandits I knew. What about you, I know your father was a trader but how did you end up here?'
'Typical pirate fashion,' a look of anger crossed her face. 'My father operated a merchant transport vessel out of this backwater planet no one has heard of, or cared to know. The pirates used the system as a refuel and rearm point, appeared one day and told eve
ryone they either join or leave.'
'Sounds typical of the Cygnians,' Slin added.
'We fought instead, stupidly. I mean some rickety space vessels against an organised pirate fleet. What were we thinking? You can imagine the outcome. My father died during that battle, and they captured me hugging his lifeless body. Before he passed, he told me to survive, to make a life for myself no matter what it took. It was those words that made me decide to join the pirates in the end, despite how much I hated them.'
'I'm glad you don't hate me.'
'Of course not, my Slin,' she sighed. 'I was a prisoner or a pirate and over time have made friends here.'
'What was your father like? I always imagined him to be the gentle kind, being a trader and all.'
'He was kind, always had a story to tell. Some of my fondest memories were sitting by the view screens on the trade ship, the planet below filling the room with an orange glow while he told me bedtime stories from across the galaxy. He was always a legitimate trader, never stepped a foot outside the law.'
'Sounds like a great man,' Slin said as the surgical instruments finished their work on his cybernetic limbs. 'Wish I could have met him.'
'I'm not sure he would have liked you Slin, being a pirate after all, or who I've become.'
'But you're happy and have made a life for yourself? I'm sure he would have been proud.'
*
Spect stared at the massive smooth white metal doors as his small drone reached his location. He reached up, took the floating ball, twisted it and put it back in his pocket.
'You did well, little guy,' he said to the non-sentient machine. 'Now what do we have behind these doors, you think?'
He inspected them and tried to find a panel to gain access. 'Maybe only the Commander can enter, like how he entered the ship.'Spect walked around the closed off section and took the time to investigate the walls, then ended back at the large doors. 'I bet this is it, the core that powers the ship and its displacement device,' he mumbled to himself. 'The scan I took on the Sky-Station suggests it is the right size. I really need to get in there.'
He ran his hand down the white doors softly, 'I'll find your secrets soon, Eclipse, don't you worry.'
*
The huge Flagship sat motionless in the center of the enormous Heridian space faring fleet. Thousands upon thousands of smaller craft buzzed and orbited, dodging each other and filled the gaps between their leader and the multitude of other capital class vessels. A sea of dark red, like a weed festering and intertwining, a corruption of sight.
The solid doors to the bridge of the flagship slammed open as a pair of claws forced them aside. Servatus, the Heridian leader tasked with finding and protecting the displacement device, Draethus' lost friend, stormed into the large room and confronted the dark figure at its center.
'What have you done!?!' Servatus yelled, noticing the escort ships flying by on the other side of the transparent bulkheads.
The flagship's commander hovered, taller than Servatus, covered in the same armor plates, however darker and more intricate. Large cables from the ship crisscrossed the floor and connected into the creature's back; lights flickered and cascaded through them, carrying signals and commands. Servatus could see fragments of cloth that had worn away and knew them to be the remnants of a cloak.
'What have you done!?!' He roared again, demanding an answer. 'Don't regard me as your subordinate, Commander.'
The dark figure hovered above the floor as the cables helped it move about. Multiple mandibles opened as it spoke, the audio sounded from vocal chords deep inside with no movement of its mouth. 'I've done what you should have completed already.' It floated closer to the Heridian leader and said, 'I set about events that will lead the Dawn Eclipse to a destination of my choosing.'
Servatus was furious, 'The lords charged me with its capture and I have already set it on a path and into a pre-set trap. You have corrupted those plans!'
'You sent it to Tiberous, you fool, the ancient war ground.' The Commander's movement became quicker and more threatening. 'You know what they could find there!'
Servatus flexed his claws, feeling the urge to swipe the creature for its insubordination before being interrupted.
'The lords never specified the method of capture or by whom. I have followed your orders; I collected you from Echelon and brought you to the fleet. If I capture the ship, then so be it.' The flagships Commander floated back into the center of the dark bridge before continuing. 'If you fail, the lords will strip you of your command, and your existence.'
'And if your actions have compromised my plans, I will wipe you from existence as well,' Servatus replied. 'What did you do?'
The dark figure laughed, 'I left something for them to find on their way to Tiberous.'
*
The technician fumbled with a gadget before reaching into the fighter's open engine assembly and continued his work. The fighter deck on the Wing of Vidar, one of many, littered the area with disassembled parts from damaged craft of the last battle. Thousands of bipeds frantically busied themselves with tasks, an organised mayhem to ready the fighters for flight.
The Vidar also comprised machine controlled repair and replace systems that could service a multitude of craft at once, creating an efficient process. Robotic arms craned large replacement pieces, workers guiding them into place as sparks from handheld equipment sealed them together. Again the technician dropped the gadget and cursed under his breath as he heard a movement behind him.
'Having some trouble?' Rel asked in a sarcastic tone, enjoying getting one over on a fellow crew member. The man huffed and walked away whilst throwing down a second tool from his belt.
'Well fine, I was just seeing if you wanted help,' she said, a little shocked at his response. Being one of the few female fighter technicians had its problems however they normally showed her more respect, or even some banter. She picked up the gadget he dropped, leant into the same opening on the fighter and looked.
'This isn't right,' she said with gritted teeth, holding onto a small torch, 'None of this is right.'
Looking back, Rel tried to remember the other tech's name but didn't read the name tag. She made a mental note to request he receive more training, if she worked out his identity. She went back to work on the fighter engine, undoing all the incorrect work.
I wonder how Xain is going on his mission, she thought, he's been a long time, I'm getting worried.
The latest music started playing in her headset as she worked, it always made the time pass easier and the work more enjoyable. The last time the fleet docked with civilization, she purchased new music created by some unspeakable sounding race that was orchestral and powerful. It used the sounds of their world's enormous underwater marine life as the vocals mixed with a strange variety of instruments.
'The Arvernus,' she said out loud. 'That's a ship I would love to get my hands into. I mean a cursed ship, what a load of nonsense. Just needs a talented mechanic, I bet.'
She wrenched a component out and threw it over her shoulder.
'I'm worried about him though, especially lately, and he's so stubborn. I hear he collapsed on the bridge, in front of the Khan of all things, and don't tell me. Me of all people, his best friend since we were children, and he doesn't tell me.'
She huffed and hammered the new component into the engine before twisting the locking mechanism and connecting a group of luminous wires.
'He's probably so stubborn that he will fly that ship into the damn sun just to prove he's the best commander in the fleet. All because his father was a traitor, he thinks he has something to prove, and he doesn't.'
She stopped and looked up at the ceiling of the fighter deck, 'He's also got me talking to myself.'
I'm going to have some serious words to that man when he gets back, she thought, nodding to herself.
She completed a last check of her work and ran a diagnostic with a hand-held device that clipped to her belt. The engine repair displayed a su
ccess on the device with a green light. She checked the engine bay for any tools or debris, closed its hatch and looked around.
'Why couldn't he have just been a mechanic like me, it's so much safer but no, he has to go jetting off trying to get himself killed.'
The music in her ears hit a peak and filled her with emotion, 'I wonder if his mother feels the same way?'
She shuffled over to the next piece of equipment and started work again, a mangled avionics module contained inside a mangled unit.
'Probably not,' she said, answering her own question. 'I bet she's proud of him, especially reaching the rank of talon commander and after what her husband did to the fleet… son of a,' a component sparked and zapped her finger. 'Hate that.'
She shook off the pain, waved away the smoke and continued. 'Anyway, the Arvernus,' although she tried not to make a habit of it, she actually enjoyed talking to herself.
'There's been nothing mechanically wrong with the ship, not found anyway, it's just that its commanders keep vanishing. Maybe they got bored or just went crazy and used the cursed ship to escape the pirate life.'
She paused in thought as a soothing part of music started.
'I guess though the fleet would have investigated the disappearances, so if it was that simple we would know about it. I heard one tale from an actual crew member that served on the ship. One moment the Commander was standing in front of his crew, the Arvernus translocated, and when it re-emerged into normal space the guy just isn't there, like vanished. A little spooky, I guess.'
Emotion flooded over her again, 'I hope that doesn't happen to Xain, I'd miss him too much.'
Rel wiped a tear from her cheek and packed up her equipment.
That's it for today, she thought. This unit is ready for active service, so I'll give the go ahead for its release.
She walked across the large bay to a service elevator that would take her to the living section of the ship, entered a passcode and boarded.
A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1) Page 17
