“And what is that?” Saturn chimed in.
“Elect a leader they can trust to bring them through the darkness to a new era for our people. One day, the Dinari will rise again.”
“Zega, the reluctant leader, will be there to save the day,” Nix said mockingly.
Zega smirked and replied, “We all have our burdens to bear.”
Liam took another small sip from his drink out of frustration and instantly regretted it. The fluid had the consistency of motor oil and scorched his throat worse than Ju-Long’s moonshine. His mind came back to Zega’s request. With the Kraven attack a couple of months before, Liam understood where the rotund proprietor was coming from. The tensions were high between the Dinari and the Ansarans, with each side seemingly itching for an excuse to get into a fight. Toras, the Ansaran Caretaker of Garuda Colony, was no exception. Though he’d let Liam and his crew come and go as they pleased, it seemed like he was never far away, with his henchmen showing up nearly everywhere they went.
What worried Liam more was this talk of Kraven Nightstalkers. If they really were wreaking havoc on interplanetary trade, then the Ansarans would be forced to respond. Any weakness on the part of the Ansarans might bring Zega’s predictions to life. Everything in him told him it was too early to be taking sides.
Zega folded his arms one over the other, resting on his protruding belly. “Do you even want to find the Azure Key anymore? Perhaps you’re better suited here.”
Zega was clearly trying to manipulate him, but he had a point. Even if they found the key they would need to find a way to operate it. The Kraven had a ship that integrated with it, but with their resources building a ship seemed out of the question. If they were able to get back to their system, there was still the riddle that had haunted Liam for the past two months. Why was Vesta Corporation’s name emblazoned on the Azure Key? Something told him the answer didn’t lie in his own system.
“Regardless,” Liam began, “We need to find the key to get it out of the Ansarans’ hands. We can figure out what to do with it later.”
“I second that,” Saturn said with her hand raised.
A smile crept over Zega’s face. “So, you accept my offer?”
Liam stood up from his stool and stepped up to the fat Dinari. He held out his hand and Zega looked at it quizzically. After a moment, he understood and took Liam’s outstretched hand.
“You’ve made a wise decision, Outsider.”
The front door of the bar burst open and Ju-Long’s thick bloodied frame stood in the bright light, being propped up by two attractive Dinari women. Liam’s eyes adjusted to the sunlight in time to see Ju-Long send each girl away with a pat on the butt.
Liam’s crewmate had multiple bruises forming around cuts on his bare chest. One of his eyes was almost swollen shut with a coagulated line of blood caked to his cheek. Ju-Long was limping up to the bar when he noticed Liam and Zega’s hands still clamped together. He stopped dead and regarded Liam.
“Great,” Ju-Long said. “What do we owe this time?”
4
Zega motioned for Ju-Long to take a seat at the bar. Liam made his way to him and helped the battered Ju-Long onto an open stone stool. Nix was already finished pouring another drink and slid it down the bar to Ju-Long, who without hesitation drank the whole glass in one sip. After he came up for air Ju-Long made a face. He exclaimed, “I’ve got to teach you how to make a drink, Nix. Back home I used to make this stuff called Starlight—”
“Moonshine,” Liam clarified.
“Call it what you want, but it’ll put hair on your chest.”
Liam glanced at Ju-Long’s nearly hairless chest and mumbled, “Clearly.”
Zega crossed his arms and huffed. Liam could tell he was growing more annoyed by the second. He said, “I don’t have all day. Do you want the information or not?”
Nix drank the last bit of liquid in his glass and slid it a few meters down the bar. He turned around on his hard stool and raised his elbows up, resting them against the stone top. Nix squinted at Zega, clearly intoxicated. He slurred, “Let’s get this over with.”
“We’ll address your tone later,” Zega assured him. “Now then. My informants have uncovered something of interest on the planet Narra. There is a research facility near a small colony of Dinari settlers. For years Narra was off-limits due to an unknown source of radiation, but it seems those reports were greatly exaggerated. I’m told this facility has been at work on an item of interest to the Ansara Alliance. Based on the description I received, I believe it is the Azure Key.”
Liam interjected, “It seems a little thin. Are you sure you don’t just want us to infiltrate this facility to further your own goals.”
Zega gave him a toothy smile and began to pace around a nearby circular table, stopping on the other side and placing both of his clawed hands on the stone table top. His wrists led into his forearms without much change in size, captivating Liam’s attention momentarily. The difference between Zega and the rest of the Dinari in Garuda Colony and in comparison to the leaders of the other Dinari sectors was striking. It almost seemed a status symbol on Garuda to carry extra weight. If so, Zega was the richest man on the planet. The fat Dinari cocked his head and stared at Liam with his golden orbs.
Zega said in a smug tone, “I wouldn’t be a very good businessman if I sent you on missions that weren’t to my benefit. This facility is rumored to be where the newest Ansaran technology is developed. No Dinari has ever been inside. Find the Azure Key if you can, sure, but what you see may be worth far more.”
“What do you mean by that?” Saturn asked, raising one hand gracefully to her waist.
Nix spoke up first. “He means you’ve just become his informants. Welcome to the club.”
Zega smiled, his pointed teeth glowing under the golden orbs of light suspended near the ceiling. In the light Liam could see stains of drool and lizard blood clinging to his chin. The repulsive Dinari burped and pick at his teeth with a claw, finding a forgotten piece of flesh and using his tongue to collect it.
Liam tried his best not to sound disgusted and probed, “What do you plan to do with that information?”
“What does it matter? You’ll have the Azure Key and find your way home. You’re quite plucky, I’m sure you’ll figure out a way.”
Ju-Long was busy wiping the crusted blood off his cheek, examining his crimson hand in the low light of the bar. He wiped it off on his scaled shorts and regarded Zega curiously. “You really don’t know those two. They’ll keep asking until they get a straight answer. No matter how annoying it is.”
Zega considered the beaten down fighter and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m simply trying to stay ahead of the curve. Information is power in war and in peace.”
Liam stepped up to Zega casually and crossed his arms, making himself appear larger next to the fat Dinari. He spoke in his darkest voice, “We’ll go to Narra and we’ll find the key if it’s there. But if you want anything else, it’ll cost you one favor.”
Zega shook his head, his chin fat jiggling along with it, and responded, “Preposterous. I’m putting you up, I feed and clothe you; I even lend you my ship. By now your debt to me is boundless.”
“Saturn,” Liam said calmly over his shoulder.
Saturn retrieved a small object from a pocket in her tight leather pants and held the circular copper disc in her open palm. It projected a hologram up a few centimeters into the air, which she manipulated with her opposite hand, expanding the view and scrolling down a long list of items. Her dark brown eyes scanned the list until they found what she was looking for.
“It seems every one of Zega’s favors has been met with an appropriate counter-favor. While you let us stay here, we spent half our time delivering goods, or should I say bribes, to the other sectors’ proprietors. While you fed us, we stole food from the incoming supply ships. And best of all, while you lent us your ship, Ju-Long fought in the tournament despite our slate being wiped clean two months ago. Sin
ce you’ve already designated what your next favor will be in exchange for the information about Narra, it seems you’re fresh out of favors, Zega.”
Saturn closed her fingers around the device and the projection dissipated. She gave Zega a sinister smile and continued, “And for the record Zega, my Argentinian grandmother would have taken a sharp knife to your neck by now. Pray I don’t follow in her footsteps.”
Nix curled his long tongue into the side of his cheek. His deeply tan scales shimmered under the orbs of light as he let out a small laugh. “Ouch,” he said. “That’s a first.”
Zega was at a loss. His mind appeared to be scrambling for a loophole but was unable to find one. The fat Dinari’s eyes shot back and forth with unseen calculations. Liam could tell he wasn’t used to owing anybody else. Finally, he said, “Fine. One favor. What is it you ask?”
“It will depend on what we find out on Narra,” Liam said. “When the time comes, though, you better pay up.”
Zega smiled despite himself. “I’ve said it before. I don’t give you lot enough credit. You’re turning out to be fine mercenaries.”
“I prefer freelancer.”
5
Sector Seven Hangar, Garuda Colony
Liam gazed up at the massive hangar doors and nudged Nix in the side. He’d nearly passed out on the ride over and jumped at Liam’s touch. He held a clawed hand over a square sensor and the doors groaned, the grooved metal sheet lumbering up along its track and finding its home two stories above. The Dinari guide stumbled through the entryway, leading the crew inside. He approached a control panel on a pedestal and fiddled with the controls, first accidentally eliciting several sparks from an adjacent console, then finally turning on the hangar lights.
Dozens of orbs slowly illuminated along the ceiling, casting light down over a ship taken from legend. The Garuda was a slice out of another time, a remnant of the War of a Thousand Years. The folded wings of the Corsair-Class ship were tucked away toward its rear while its curved copper-colored underbelly flickered with purple light as Nix continued to press buttons on the panel, firing up the engines. The ship’s ramp descended, cutting into the compacted sandy floor of the hangar.
They were at one end of the massive structure, but the hangar extended for several hundred meters with dozens of unique ships housed within. The internal structure of the building was all metal, colored tan by the sand up at least halfway to the ceiling a few stories above. Apart from the console Nix was toying with, there were crates of supplies lining the sides. Liam reflected on Earth’s hangars and something bugged him. No one on Earth would be dumb enough to leave their supplies laying around. Then again, surely everyone knew this was Zega’s hangar.
When Nix was finished, he turned to Liam and slurred, “Narra is about a three week journey. We should have plenty of provisions on board from our last job.”
“Three weeks?” Ju-Long objected, wiping a drip of blood from his lip. “What about the finals?”
Liam raised up his hands in an attempt to calm his crewmate. He assured him, “Zega will stall the fight. Besides, it looks like you could use the rest.”
The cuts along Ju-Long’s chest had begun to bruise around the coagulated blood. His lip bore a particularly nasty gash that still hadn’t completely clotted, sending drips of blood down his chin every time he smiled or talked. His ego was about the only thing ready for another fight. When Ju-Long wiped more blood from his lip Liam noticed his hands were burned from where the electrified barbs were wrapped around them.
“This?” Ju-Long said in a muffled tone with his thumb pointed at his own face. “This is nothing. I could fight tomorrow.”
Liam shook his head and started toward the ramp. Ju-Long’s newfound fame was already getting to his head, which didn’t bode well for a long journey through space. For a moment he wished Saturn hadn’t decided to hold her tongue so she could bring Ju-Long back down to reality. Instead, she stood there next to Ju-Long with her arms crossed, fighting the urge to say something. At the bottom of the ramp Liam turned and said pointing at a stack of supplies, “One thing at a time, Ju-Long. Grab that crate and put it in the hold.”
Ju-Long scoffed and retorted, “Nix said we’ve got enough supplies. Let’s go so we can get this over with.”
“Do what he says, Ju-Long,” Saturn snapped, finally breaking her silence. “The last thing I want is to be stuck in space hungry while having to put up with you.”
Saturn looked to Liam as she turned her back to Ju-Long, shrugging as she did. Saturn could come off as abrasive sometimes, but she really did mean well. That is, he hoped she meant well. After observing her for months it was clear that she understood if there were a question of leadership things could get out of control quickly, which is why she must have supported him on the little things. Saturn had spent months going out of her way to make sure Liam knew she had his back. It couldn’t have been easy for her given her strained relationship with Ju-Long.
Nix, on the other hand, tried to stay out of group politics as much as possible. Ever since the last mission he’d been engrossed in his own thoughts. Distant. The Dinari had never told him why, but Liam suspected trouble with the Ansarans was to blame. He’d given up a lot to help Liam and his crew and a part of Liam started to think their new friend had buyer’s remorse.
Nix completed the initiation sequence and joined Liam on the ramp. “We’re all set. Let’s go.”
Ju-Long was still struggling to get the crate of food on the square hover lift. After much effort, he finally muscled it onto the one meter square platform and pressed a button on the side. The lift rose up to Ju-Long’s waist and he began pushing it toward the ramp. When he passed Liam he said, “I don’t know why I’m the one doing this. Doesn’t Saturn have to pull her weight around here?”
Saturn eyed Ju-Long irritably.
“I thought you could fight tomorrow? You can fight and yet you worry over lifting a small crate?” Liam joked.
“Maybe you can help me prepare for the next fight. Cargo bay in an hour?”
“I wouldn’t want to damage your ego.”
Ju-Long shook his head and maneuvered the hover lift up the ramp. Liam and Nix followed him and helped him unload the crate at the top. He shoved the platform down the ramp to Saturn, who caught it and pushed it aside where it hit a wall and dropped out of the air, making a thud against the packed sand. When Saturn reached the top of the ramp she hit her closed fist against the controls and it retracted up into the belly of the ship.
Several metal struts curved along the ceiling of the cargo bay, offset by tiny lines of glowing purple that illuminated the room beyond the several glowing orbs of light that hung from above. The crew milled around preparing the ship for takeoff, strapping down crates and closing open hatches. By the way they moved around one another angrily, it was clear morale was at an all-time low.
Finished with their preparations, they began making their way along the curved corridor to the bridge, but Liam stopped them. If he didn’t speak up now, things were bound to get a lot worse. It was something they couldn’t afford given a three week journey ahead, cramped into a small ship.
“Hold on. I need to address something.”
“You’re killing me,” Ju-Long said, throwing his hands up into the air.
“I am the Captain of this ship which means I speak uninterrupted.”
Ju-Long’s mouth closed and his jaw tightened.
Liam continued, “Things haven’t gone exactly the way we’ve planned in the last couple of months. I take responsibility for some of that. I’ve been hard on all of you to keep us focused. This mission gives us hope. Hope that we’ll find a way home someday, even if that day seems far off into the future. Each of us has other things on our minds, but for this mission we need to act as one. If we don’t we’ll be torn apart and then everything we’ve done will be for nothing.”
Liam looked around at his crew as he spoke. Saturn was the easiest to convince. She had a certain desire to stay in Li
am’s favor that he couldn’t explain. Ju-Long had stopped throwing his arms around and pacing, instead leaning against the wall of the curved corridor and listening intently. Nix was hard to read; not just because of his alien movements, but because he was drunk and perhaps incapable of understanding anything that was said.
Liam persisted, “This is about more than getting home now. I think our purpose here is far greater than we can even fathom. But I will not drag around dead weight and so I’m giving you all a choice. If you’ve changed your mind, if you’re not in this, then leave. But know you leave a coward. That you’ve given up a chance to be something, to do something no one else has.”
“And what’s that?” Saturn asked.
Ju-Long looked up at her question, eager to hear the answer. Nix swayed where he stood, fighting just to maintain his balance.
“I won’t say we’ll be heroes, because I certainly don’t feel like one. But we have a chance to be instigators. The catalysts for change. These past couple of months have opened my eyes to a lot of things. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Zega’s right. War is coming to this system and if we don’t do something it will spread to ours as well.”
“What’s Earth done for us?” Ju-Long responded angrily. “Vesta Corporation owns Earth and they imprisoned us. If we get back to our system it’ll only be a matter of time before we’re back on a mine somewhere.”
Liam nodded and put a hand up to his face, itching the long scar on his right cheek. Finally, he said, “What if we took it off the table?”
“What do you mean?” Saturn asked.
“I mean let’s get the Azure Key for the sake of keeping it out of Ansaran or Kraven hands. After that, we’ll do what we have to do.”
The Corsair Uprising Collection, Books 1-3 Page 19
