Space Bound: A Dragon Soul Press Anthology

by J. E. Feldman

  It looked as appealing as it tasted. The dull, dust covered plascrete floor ran up to a dull, dust covered plascrete wall. There was nothing hidden or out of place. Slowly, Maygist pushed himself into a sitting position and scanned the area. A large figure sat in the dark at one end of the room. Maygist’s implants searched for an external connection, but nothing was found. The figure didn’t trigger a response from his internal database. An enhanced view of the face appeared on Maygist’s view screen. He had never seen that visage either.

  Damn, did something break? Or… His thoughts trailed off. If I have no record, then there are no records.

  “I can see you’re trying to find me. Good luck with that. Many have tried. Nobody ever finds me,” came a reply from a voice that grated and tore along the ground rather than floated through the air.

  “Who are you?”

  Heavy boots scraped the floor as the shape stood and stepped towards Maygist. His view screen showed the figure’s dimensions, bringing a slight gasp with them. The man, if it was a man, stood three meters tall, and weighed well over three hundred kilograms. An analysis appeared, stating that the man was human, or at least humanoid, with no identifiable origin, and was composed of mostly muscle and bone with a tiny fat content.

  There was only one person in the galaxy, that Maygist knew of, that could fit those statistics.

  “Brand,” he whispered.

  A deep, coarse chuckle came back from the massive shape. “So, you do know me.”

  “I know of you,” Maygist’s thin voice squeaked out, “You’ve killed more men than most armies. You are wanted on hundreds of worlds. You eat babies in front of their mothers. You rip the heads off husbands just to make their wives cry. You…”

  “Okay, okay, yeah. You’ve heard all the stupid stories. I get that.”

  “What? What do you want from me?”

  “Ah, good, a businessman at heart. That’s what we want to see.” Brand finally stepped into the light giving Maygist his first proper view of the legendary outlaw. The man was a mountain made flesh. His huge face surrounded by a thick mat of black hair, held a pair of dark, burning eyes that bored through rather than looked at you. A pair of thick steel cables for arms hung down by his sides, ending in two massive hands that looked fit to crush a man’s head in their palms.

  Maygist gulped as he discerned the full spectacle of his host’s image. “You want something? I’m not just here to die?”

  The stern face split into a wide grin. “Now why the hell would I get the lovely Daria to drag your arse all the way here, just to kill you? We’ve never met, so I can only assume you’ve never caused me no trouble. Have you?”

  The data hacker shook his head. “I don’t think I have.”

  “Good. Good. Let’s get down to business then.”

  For most of the time Maygist sat in Dallas Brand’s company, his thoughts simply ran with images of death. His death. In various horrible ways, most involving the removal of limbs or his head. To make sure that didn’t happen, he obligingly nodded and made the appropriate mumbling noises of agreement at opportune times. Brand had mentioned all the pertinent information would be downloaded into his cerebral network when the time came, leaving Maygist in a more comfortable frame of mind that allowed his wildest nightmares to take flight.

  Only Maygist, Daria, and Brand were at the business meeting, as Brand had called it. Even though he had been brought into Brand’s inner sanctum, the large man didn’t trust him completely. Daria was there to act as Maygist’s minder and keep Brand up to date with all that would happen.

  The stories surrounding Dallas Brand were legend. The Empire wanted him dead. Not just dead, but ideally delivered up for public execution, humiliation, and ultimately decimation.

  Brand’s crimes were numerous. Murder, theft, incitement to revolution. He had started out as a small time criminal, running a gang out of the Lecrantor system. Attacking local military fleets for loot, weapons, and cargo. Executions were common, but also turning loyal Imperial soldiers into loyal Dallas Brand followers was his stock in trade. As his reputation grew, so did his following. A following that wasn’t just loyal to Brand as their leader, but to the idea of insurrection and destruction of the Empire itself, as well as its assets.

  The strangest part of Brand’s legend was the complete lack of detailed information about the man himself. The neural net had no images or videos of the man. There was no presence on the Socmed either, his followers immediately deleting all their accounts and information, as if that was part of their initiation.

  Half expecting a request of the same sort to be leveled at himself, Maygist comforted himself with the fact it wasn’t something he was worried about; his Socmed presence was minimal anyway. All of his accounts were incognito or existed via other hacked users.

  His thoughts were dragged back to the matter at hand when Brand said the name, “Trivium Corporation.”

  “What?” asked Maygist, leveling his eyes onto that massive, black bearded face.

  “Have you heard of the Trivium Corporation?”

  “Only as a myth. Didn’t they operate out of old Earth, almost a millennium ago?”

  Brand smiled and nodded. “I believe that’s where they started. I also believe that they still had several operations within the Federation. It was only when the Empire destroyed the Federation that Trivium disappeared as well.”

  “So, they’ll be virtually impossible to find.”

  Those massive shoulders shrugged. “Perhaps, but that’s what I want you to do.”

  “Why?”

  “There are certain pieces of information I want you to find out about their operations. Mostly those that were run out of the Arrantic System well before the war.”

  “Arrantic? If I remember my history, that was utterly destroyed by the Empire. One of their first military strikes against the Federation.”

  “Good. You know your history. That’s a start. Now you just need to find out more.”

  “What’s in it for me?”

  That deep chuckling started up again. It was not the sound of someone enjoying a light-hearted joke and more the sound of someone enjoying themselves while their mortal enemy was flayed alive. “Well, let’s put it this way, shall we? You’ll live. There’s a good start for you. Plus, I’ll chip in five million credits when you get the job done.”

  Maygist wasn’t sure what was worth more to him at that point. Five million credits would put a lot of space between him and Brand. That was the priority after he’d finished his part of the bargain. He swallowed on his dry throat, before asking one more pertinent question. “Expenses?”

  “Ah, you’ll have the lovely Daria along with you to sort out that.”

  “I work alone. Easier that way.”

  “Not on this trip, you don’t. Besides, she was able to knock you out of service as easy as pie. I trust her. I don’t trust you.” Brand extended a massive sausage of a finger, pointing at Maygist’s head. “That’s also why I’ve installed that.”

  It was the first time Maygist had noticed his new implant. He tentatively touched the small flat disk attached to his temple. Immediately, he knew what it was. A cerebral bypass unit; it would immediately copy any information that Maygist ingested and stored in his central memory and relay it to a pre-assigned destination.

  “Now, don’t try to remove it. I know you’re a wiz with a screwdriver and all, but it’s hardwired into your brain and has a failsafe attached. Tinker with it, and you’re toast. Forty thousand volts straight into your cerebral cortex.” That great head smiled. “I don’t care either way, but I’d also like you to finish this job, then you can bugger off for all I care. I’ll remove the device once I’m happy, but if you get sick of it, well, I have been waiting to test it out on a live subject.” That deep, menacing chuckle floated across the room once more, sending chills up Maygist’s spine.

  Another chill ran up his spine as Maygist stared out of the view screen across the bright lights of the city laid
out before him like a gemstone studded carpet. “You know this is insane.”

  Daria’s attention focused purely on scanning the area for police or military craft. “We need information about the Trivium Corporation, or at least the Arrantic system. You’ve found nothing on the neural net. So, what do you suggest? I’m sure Brand wouldn’t be happy if you simply gave up.”

  His throat suddenly dry, Maygist responded, “But hacking the central Imperial military database? From inside military headquarters.”

  Glancing at Maygist, Daria grinned at him. “Well, you’ve been bragging for the whole trip about all those jobs you’ve pulled over the years. You wanna impress me? This is the way to do it.”

  As Maygist formed a witty response, his concentration was drawn to the warning lights on the console. “We’re almost there. The military citadel is below us.” Tapping several icons, the lights went dark. “Stealth mode engaged.” Several areas on the view screen lit up, showing the best locations to land the ship and break into the building. Veering towards the landing zone, Maygist’s implants zoomed into the recommended breach site. There was a thirty-story climb ahead. “Looks like you’ll have to play nursemaid to the ship while I tackle the break-in.”

  The sound of his companion slamming a long magazine into a neutralizer cannon suggested that Daria was more than comfortable with her role. “Then let’s get this done.”

  The dark building stood sentinel, towering above the surrounding compound and the flat roofed building Maygist had landed on.

  “You didn’t explain how you were going to climb that,” said Daria, nodding towards the tall structure.

  Smiling, Maygist slung his carryall over his shoulder, as his two security drones emerged from their compartment in the side of the ship. They took up positions near Maygist’s shoulders. “I have a few tricks,” he said, as two more drones exited the ship and dropped down to the ground before Maygist’s feet.

  Stepping into the small depressions on top of each drone, his boots clicked as the security straps snapped into place. Tensing his knees to keep his balance, the drones lifted from the ground. “See you soon.” Maygist caught sight of Daria’s impressed expression as the drones lifted their owner straight up the side of the building.

  Leveling out at the thirtieth floor, Maygist peered through the gloom, enhancing the view with infrared and ultraviolet filters. No living heat signatures, no movement. Reaching into his carryall, Maygist withdrew a small silver cylinder and touched the end to the window pane before him. Closing his eyes, he tapped the small icon on the top of the cylinder. The plasteen window turned red, then white, before melting away in a thin torrent of slag that ran down the side of the building, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the building.

  Waiting a few moments for the plasteen to cool, Maygist stepped from his drones and into the darkened building. As he walked into the heart of the darkness, all four drones turned and took up station outside.

  A map overlay displayed across his eyesight, complete with indicators for where he’d need to hack the internal security. The archive room was deep within this floor but required Maygist to break through three access doors. Nothing that proved too difficult for the lock hack device, once placed next to the reader. Within several minutes, he stood outside the entrance to the archive room. This one required swipe card, plus a retinal hack. His implants cycled through all the downloaded retinal patterns from known workers at the facility. Within seconds, the door clicked open, ejecting a cool cloud of stale smelling air.

  “I’m in.”

  “Quiet out here. Strange, not even any sentry drones around.”

  “I’ll be quick then. I don’t like quiet jobs.”

  Stepping into the small room was like stepping back in time. The archive systems were archaic, but the flashing lights and humming fans told Maygist that they were at least running. Finding a switch, the room lit up, showing the racks of whining and flashing machines. In the dim light, Maygist examined the computer and servers in the room. “I haven’t seen systems this old since I was in kindergarten.”

  “Can you hack them?”

  Maygist smiled and nodded to himself. “Of course, I can.” Moving to a small desktop in the corner, he studied it and pressed a small button underneath. A whirring noise began followed by a slim rod extending up from the desk. A moment later, a holographic visual display appeared, with a light-based data entry system projected onto the flat surface of the table.

  Chuckling, Maygist popped a tiny rectangular box onto the middle of the projection. A thin wire rose from the box, before emitting tiny beams of light across the icons on the desk. Within moments the view screen brightened with a message, “Welcome, Radnar Milicic.”

  Thanks, Radnar, whoever you are.

  Mumbling to himself, as he scanned through the files and data available, it took Maygist several minutes before he hit pay dirt. A single folder buried deep within the earliest mentions of the insurgency against the Federation said nothing more than Early Campaigns. It was the information buried several levels deeper that outlined the targeted systems, including the long lost Arrantic system. Several star maps stored in a very outdated graphics format, gave Maygist hope that he could find the location of his goal.

  Starting the download procedure, he began to search for occurrences of Trivium Corporation. The only reference was from an electronic message sent to the leader of the incursion forces well before the war broke out. It seemed that Trivium had been targeted for elimination early on. The one sentence that disturbed Maygist, was about the unethical behavior of the corporation and said, “Nothing must remain of Trivium. They are anathema to the future of mankind.”

  A small green indicator flashed up in his left eye, telling him that the download had finished. A slight itch in his temple, caused that eye to twitch. He knew it was Brand’s device initiating its own upload to a secret location in the neural net.

  As a final chore, Maygist attempted to break into other personal histories of the head of the military. He hoped to find more on the Trivium Corporation and Arrantic System, but hoped more that he could find something to use as leverage in case he was captured. As he worked his way deeper, an encryption program started up within the computer system. It was ten times more powerful than any other he’d found so far.

  Damn. This will take time.

  At that moment, Daria spoke up. “Hey, I don’t what you’ve done, but we’ve got company.”

  “Deal with it. That’s your job.”

  “They’re coming from directly above. Must be a drop ship. My weapons can’t reach.”

  “Fire up the ship. I’m almost finished here,” replied Maygist as he searched for his encryption breaker in the carryall. Almost as soon as he turned the device on, a progress counter popped up in the middle of the holographic screen. Within seconds, it began to count slowly down as the encryption algorithm within worked against the protocols in place.

  “Come on, Maygist. They’ve landed on the roof.”

  Sweat broke out on Maygist’s forehead. He didn’t need this information, but figured it would be worth huge credits on the black market. As the progress counter hit ninety percent, he heard heavy footsteps run across the floor above.

  Shit.

  Shots rang out around him. He presumed they couldn’t be bothered cracking the electronic locks and had simply blasted the panels to pieces.

  “Maygist, they are on your floor. I can see them firing from here.”

  “Almost there,” he yelled out, just as the counter hit complete. The information followed, downloading into his cerebral storage. As it finished, he snatched up all his devices, swept them into his carryall, turned, and headed for the door.

  Several heat signatures lit up on his ocular display. There were troops just down the hallway. Maygist concentrated and switched his internal view to one of the drones. It flew in through the melted window and skimmed down the corridor, tracking its way towards him. The gun barrels extended as it soared, prepa
ring to douse Maygist’s attackers with electric death.

  As several large red blobs appeared on the drone’s view screen, Maygist thought, No time to be subtle. The drone opened fire, sending bolts of plasma into the crowd of figures. As confusion reigned, Maygist switched views and bolted from the archive room. The drone immediately flew after him, its barrels pointing backwards and spraying any would-be assassin.

  Ducking to his right, Maygist found himself cornered between a squad of troops, and an external window. Fight or flee? He chose to flee. As he ran towards the window, the drone rose above and fired, shattering the plasteen and sending a shower of fragments into the night. Bolts of plasma fire from the troopers sprayed the floor and walls around Maygist. The drone swiveled and sent a projectile towards them, igniting the entire area in white hot flames, and sending a wall of fire towards Maygist.

  The conflagration reached Maygist just as he leapt through the window and into the night. His falling body was dark against the orange flames that spewed from the building.

  Holding his arms and legs spreadeagled, the four drones flew towards Maygist and clamped onto his extremities, halting his descent with only twenty meters to go before death. As he landed lightly next to the dropship, he winked at the stunned look on Daria’s face before tapping his temple and saying, “It’s all up here now.”

  The ship dropped out of light speed into the silent surrounds of the Arrantic system. Decades earlier, this had been one of the major hubs of the entire Federation. The entire scientific arm of the Federation’s military organization was based on several of its planets and moons. The legends still rang that most of the advancements of the human race over the last few hundred years had taken root within these very facilities.

  It had been the natural first point of incursion for the Empire’s forces.

  As their ship made its way to the inner planets, Maygist and Daria stared out at the enormous derelict hulks of long forgotten warships that littered the void of space.