The Fifth Column Boxed Set

by J. N. Chaney

  “Then you’ll be surprised to hear that there’s an entire group dedicated to using them exclusively.”

  “What, like they don’t use anything but swords?” I pulled a face because I couldn’t imagine not using any available weapon.

  Clint nodded. “Exactly. Goes against their creed. I think they’re called sword saints. Or something like that anyway. You want to try one?”

  I studied the display for a moment. The sleek matte black cutting edge of one looked appealing and I considered it briefly before shaking my head. “I know nothing about them. Probably cut myself trying some fancy move.”

  “Yeah, good point. I don’t need you suing me.”

  “I’m sure you have insurance,” I teased. My pad buzzed and alerted me to a message from Farah asking what was taking me so long. I held it up and started back to the counter. “My partner in justice is requesting my company. Still can’t believe she handled the jumps so well.”

  “Maybe next time wear a rig, eh?” Clint shook his head and worked the pad, showing CJ how to ring up the discount in the process.

  “Yeah, lesson learned there.”

  “Farah has an order for rations. You want to take care of that now? I can send the grapple along with that order, so you don’t have to carry it.”

  I nodded. “Works for me.”

  After the transaction was complete, CJ nodded briskly and Clint walked me to the door. “Everything good, Cortez? You seemed a little jumpy.”

  A quick glance told me CJ was out of earshot and I jerked my chin in agreement. “Not so much jumpy as wary. Sven told me to watch my back. He didn’t explain, but I got the feeling he heard something. Have you?”

  “Could be. There was some chatter last week that some mercs who weren’t mercs, if you get my meaning, were in town. I didn’t see them though. I was… indisposed, getting new merchandise.” Clint frowned and scrubbed at his beard. “Tell you what, I’ll ask around. Someone’s bound to know something.”

  “Alright, just keep it vague. I don’t want anyone to know I’m asking questions.

  He scoffed with mock derision. “Alyss, I’m an arms dealer, I know how to be delicate in my inquiries.”

  “My bad, old man. I’ll wait to hear from you.”

  “Ouch.” He punctuated the word by slapping a hand to his heart in dramatic fashion. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  I paused with my hand on the door. “Actually, there is one more thing. Your comment to CJ. I’m flattered, but you’ve never seen me fight.”

  Clint smiled toothily at me. “Guess I’ll repeat myself. I’m an arms dealer. I know a weapon when I see one.”

  “About time,” Farah said when I got back. “Thought we were going to have to send out a search party for you.”

  “Well, I’m here now. What’s up?” Farah was acting a little dodgy and playing it off.

  “There’s something you need to see. Come on.”

  I followed her to the bridge without another word. Whatever it was, it had her on edge and concern supplanted my prior easy mood. My first thought was something with Kaska, but when I got a look at the display, I saw an unfamiliar man’s face. He had light brown hair and a fading tan that suggested he’d been on a ship for some time. Both Mack and Jax were there, the former in her usual chair and the latter leaning with both arms crossed against a handrail.

  Mack looked up when we entered, her dark eyes unreadable. “Alyss. There’s been a development of sorts. I got an odd communication from a previous client I had before we hooked up.”

  “Previous client. What did you do for him?”

  “Nothing big,” she said. “Helped him with travel documentation. He did most of the heavy lifting, just needed a little tweaking. Interestingly enough, he was headed to Z-28K.”

  I came closer and studied the man with more interest. “Z-28K, as in our Safe Haven?”

  “You got it. Of course, he got there when it was still an active colony. Here, listen to what he has to say.”

  She tapped once on her pad to start the holo. The man’s face unfroze and he smiled, revealing straight white teeth. “Mack, it’s Ben Cabbot. I know it’s been awhile since we talked, but a lot has happened. I’m sure by now you’ve heard what happened with the mining colony on Z-28K and how most of the population just poofed.”

  Z-28K had been abandoned by the time we came along and used it to store everything we didn’t want to keep on the ship. It had been a good plan until Calliope Walker, Constable spy extraordinaire, came along and infiltrated our happy little group. As soon as I learned of her betrayal we’d rushed back to the moon but it was too late. Everything, with the exception of the replicators, had been taken.

  “Or at least the Union’s side of it,” Cabbot continued. “No doubt you’ve also heard about the Renegade Jace Hughes.”

  I snorted, ready to say something snarky, but Farah shushed me.

  Cabbot pushed a hand through his hair. “He’s not what they say. But Mack, some of the rumors are true. Earth… it’s real. I’ve been there, seen it with my own eyes, and it’s nothing like you’ve ever imagined. See for yourself.”

  The feed switched and suddenly I was looking at an exotic world I’d never seen before. Great expanses of blue that could only be oceans covered a great deal of it. The rest was a mixture of green, brown, and grey that spoke of a healthy planet. But it was still just a planet.

  When Cabbot came back on he wasn’t smiling. “This is where the missing people are going. All the disappearances are refugees who chose to come here, myself among them. And it’s amazing, truly. But we have a problem. There’s an enemy gunning for us, Mack. Not just here on Earth. Everyone, the entire fucking galaxy.”

  It was silent on the bridge as we listened to Cabbot speak. He blew out a breath before continuing, trouble in his expression. “They’re called Celestials and they want to eradicate all intelligent life. Captain Hughes has formed an Alliance with both the Union and the Empire to combat them. I’m sure you can verify. Anyway, I’m sending this on behalf of Hughes. He’s heard of the Initiative, even all the way out here. He wants to meet with Eva Delgado and Sophie Singh, if you can get them to agree to a meeting. Mack, this isn’t a trick. The fate of humanity depends on the Celestials being defeated.”

  I took a few seconds to process what we’d just heard. It was a lot, but one thing stuck out. “He said Celestials. Calliope brought those up in her video, but they weren’t in the dossier. That was all about Peralta.”

  “She said the same thing,” Jax said, speaking for the first time. “That they were coming, and they were a major threat. Bigger than the Union, Sarkonians, and Initiative, combined.”

  “Do you trust him?” I asked, throwing a glance at Mack.

  “It’s not that I don’t, but it’s hard to say. I only worked with Cabbot the one time. Nice enough guy and I didn’t get any bad vibes. He was on the run from the Empire at the time. A conscripted Union citizen who refused to comply. Had enough know-how to get himself to Neblinar, but he wasn’t a fan of the environment. I helped him find an out of the way place. Z28-K fit the bill.”

  “Was this before Farah and I deserted?”

  Mack nodded. “Yup. You guys weren’t openly part of the Initiative yet. I was part of the underground, enough that people came to me for getting away from whatever situation they were in.”

  “He called us by our old names,” said Farah suddenly. “Shouldn’t he know our aliases by now?”

  I lifted a shoulder, unable to answer that.

  Jax finally pushed away from the wall and stood at the command center. “Vega, tell us everything you can on the transmission. Specifically, security and location.”

  He didn’t say please, something the rest of us did by default, making the request more of an order, but Vega didn’t seem to mind. Or at least she didn’t experience one of her mini malfunctions at his request, so I assumed she didn’t care. The notion was probably ridiculous, but I wondered if she could detect tha
t Jax wasn’t all human and whether that affected Vega’s view of him. I decided to ask her later.

  “Of course, Jax. One moment.” The computer was only silent for a few beats when she came back with an answer. “The transmission was encrypted, but to ensure that Miss Woods was the one to access it. When her identity was verified, all security measures were lifted. The signal came from a region of space called the Sol System.”

  “I’m by no means a uranographer or anything,” said Farah, studying the system now dominating the holo. “But that doesn’t sound or look remotely familiar.” She paused when Mack coughed and I snickered. “What?”

  It was a struggle, but I managed to keep a straight face. “You’re not a urine-ographer? Good to know, but how does it pertain to this situation?”

  Farah was too busy sending me a withering look to answer, so Vega stepped in. “I believe Co-captain Shahi meant uranographer, the term for an individual who creates star maps,” she said helpfully.

  “See, now that makes much more sense. You were saying, Farah?”

  “I’m surrounded by juveniles,” she replied.

  “Actually, Miss Shahi,” Vega interrupted, sounding delighted to offer more of her expertise. “According to my records, you are the youngest person present, though by a small margin.”

  Farah groaned. “I know, it’s a figure of speech. Never mind that. I’m trying to explain that this system has to be new. Or newly discovered. Look at the map. The closest charted S.G. Point is by Leah. When we stopped there, I checked everything around there. That system didn’t exist, and neither did any tunnels to get there.”

  Listening to her talk, I sobered. “Okay, but what does that prove? There’s plenty of government owned black sites that aren’t on public maps.”

  “That’s true, but I’m not sure it applies,” said Mack. She was the only one not looking at the display, her focus on the pad in her lap. “I won’t bore you with the specifics, but Sol is out there. Like, way out there. And Farah’s right. I can’t find any evidence slip tunnels were ever there. Not saying it proves Cabbot’s story without a doubt, but it certainly doesn’t contradict anything.”

  I looked at Jax. “You’re pretty quiet. Any thoughts?”

  “A few,” he answered. “All Void operatives are extensively trained in interrogation and interpretation of body language. I didn’t detect any dishonestly.”

  “He talked about the Renegade,” Farah added. “That’s easy enough to check. If Hughes really did form an Alliance, he shouldn’t be a fugitive anymore. Is he still wanted?”

  Mack checked the gal-net. Her head jerked up in record time, and the surprise there gave me the answer. “No. It says here that both his and Abigail Pryar’s warrants have been lifted, along with a number of others. All, actually, in connection with Jace Hughes the Renegade.”

  I couldn’t deny that compelling piece of evidence, but neither was I ready to agree to a meeting. “Before we give an answer, let’s verify as much information as we can. I don’t want to rush into anything. Does Dunham have the information Calliope gave us?”

  “Yeah, I sent everything we agreed on,” said Farah. “She’s going over it and will get back to us.”

  “Good enough for me. I suggest we all take the night off. I have a feeling she’s going to send us out on some kind of mission.”

  For me, taking the night off meant two things: finding good food and tracking down some form of entertainment. Usually that meant an action holo or one of the many street performances. Tonight, however, Mack had slipped me a card.

  My eyebrow shot up as I read it. “Do I look like the kind of girl who goes to the spa?”

  She grinned. “Not at all. Which is why you should do it. C’mon, even guys go to these places.”

  “You know what? On second thought, I think I’ll stay in and work.”

  “Don’t fight it. You’ve been pretty stressed lately. Go, I swear you’ll be a new person when you come out. Already paid for, my treat. They’re expecting you,” she said, all but pushing me out the door.

  “Fine,” I grumbled. “But only because you already paid.”

  “That’s the spirit. See you in a bit.”

  With that, I was off my ship and heading for a place aptly named Hands On.

  4

  It being my first time in a spa, I didn’t know what to expect when I walked through the door.

  Hands On turned out to be pretty clean, with décor that ran to soft colors and lent a calming atmosphere to would be customers. I immediately felt out of place in my black synth-leather jacket, tactical pants, and boots.

  That feeling dissipated pretty fast when I got a look at the clientele in the waiting room. It was just one guy, but he was the burly sort. He had a big beard, faux leather vest, and tattoos on every visible inch of skin.

  Keeping my composure, I walked to the counter and slid my card to the demurely dressed receptionist whose name tag read Trixie. “Uh, my friend Mack made the appointment. Said all I had to do was give you this.”

  Trixie accepted it with a smile and scanned it into her computer. “One moment, miss.”

  While she did that, I gave her the once over. Despite a prim white uniform and soft make up, she carried herself like someone with fighting experience. Her movements were sure and I got the feeling she could take care of herself. That tracked. Much as I liked Neblinar, it was a mercenary run planet. It attracted all manner of people and businesses did well to be prepared. They’d all mete out their own form of justice, if needed.

  I’d bet just about anything there was a pistol or something heavier under the counter, aimed at my gut and in quick reach. For some reason, that made me feel better about the swanky atmosphere.

  “Yes, Mack has taken care of everything and you’ll be receiving the Premier package today. Please have a seat, we’ll be out to get you momentarily, Miss Cortez. Would you like a beverage? We have mineral water from a number of luxoplanets. Sobek is a popular choice.”

  Recalling my last experience on Sobek, I grimaced and shook my head. “No thanks. Do you have any enerdrinks?”

  Trixie smiled, amused at my bumbling. “I’m afraid not. We try to provide refreshments that relax the mind and body.”

  “Oh, right. I’ll pass on the water then.”

  She leaned in close. “We have plenty of alcohol, if that’s more your speed. Let me guess… wine or sake kind of woman?”

  “Sake, for the love of gods, please.”

  “Right away.” There must have been a fridge unit close by because Trixie was back with the drink in under twenty seconds flat. “Would you like to check any weapons?”

  “Nope. Is that a requirement?” I almost hoped she would say yes so I had an excuse to leave, but she just smiled again.

  “No. We do have a zero tolerance policy for violence, however. Hands On will use lethal force to neutralize threats.” She waved a hand to the mostly empty waiting room. “Sit anywhere you like. Shouldn’t be too long.”

  I chose a seat across from the bearded man with a good view of the door. He was skimming a datapad and chuckling to himself. To avoid staring, I took in our surroundings, still somewhat taken aback that such opulence existed on Neblinar.

  “First time here?” The burly man had put the pad down and was watching me with a genial expression.

  “Yeah. My friend kind of pushed me into it. Got it as a gift, I guess.”

  He bobbed his head knowingly. “I’m Bob, by the way. It’s a great place. What package are you doing?”

  “Nice to meet you, Bob. I’m Alyss. The receptionist said Premier, I think.” I took a sip of the sake and had to force myself not to down the small bottle. Why was this place making me so itchy?

  Bob whistled. “Must be a hell of a friend. That’s the top tier experience. Anyway, have you read this one?” He flipped the pad up so I could see that he was reading one of the tabloid sites.

  “I’m not much of a reader. Prefer the action vids.”

  “You shoul
d give these a try,” he said, hooting. “They’re great for a laugh. This one said some explorers found Earth, you know, like from the fairy tales. Hilarious, you ask me.”

  I fought back a cough. “Hah. Hilarious, you’re right.”

  The lobby door opened and saved me from having to come up with anything else. The men that entered were dressed in standard merc clothing, all black with lots of pockets. Bob and I watched with mild curiosity as they strode to the front desk where Trixie greeted them with the same bright smile.

  “Hello, welcome to Hands On. Do you have an appointment?”

  “No,” the first man answered in a gruff voice while his buddy surveyed the waiting room. “I’d like to make one.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t have anyone available to do a couple’s massage, sir.”

  “What?”

  Trixie had both men’s full attention with that statement. “We’re booked at the moment. A walk-in appointment for a double couple’s massage will be quite a long wait.”

  “We’re not a couple. Smith is my bodyguard.”

  Smith, original.

  I missed what they said next because the door to the back rooms opened and a tiny woman dressed in white scrubs called for Bob and me. “Welcome back, Mr. Spiker. You’re in room three today.”

  “Well, Alyss, enjoy the Premier,” Bob said over his shoulder as he walked off.

  I gave him a quick wave. “You too.”

  When he had gone, the technician turned to me. “This is your first visit, correct?”

  “That’s right,” I told her. Last time too, if I can help it.

  “No problem, and welcome. My name is Myrna. I see your friend booked you for the Premier package. That starts with a full body wrap.”

  I wasn’t so sure I liked the sound of that. “A full body wrap? What are you wrapping me in?”

  “Exotic leaves from plants grown on Soule.” Myrna stopped in front of a door marked with five stars, which I assumed was a nod to the Premier status. “The procedure is very relaxing and the wrap smells great. Don’t worry, you’ll love it.”