by Alex Guerra
She didn’t answer, as we suddenly arrived at our destination, entering what I could only imagine was the alien equivalent of a lounge or bar. Upon entering, a lot of the patrons stopped their conversations. I paused and looked around at the clientele; all of which were eyeing us in return as Seya continued to move further inside and over to a rounded bar.
A rather large being with many tentacles hung from the ceiling, centered over the bar. It continued making drinks, unimpeded by the servers below. Seya leaned against the table and studied the aliens sitting next to us, which looked like some sort of large insects, but not like the Yau.
After a moment passed in silence, I asked, “See anyone in particular?”
“Not sure,” she said, tapping her fingers on the bar. “One Kelru Ekkart.”
The tentacled bartender waved an appendage in our direction and made her drink.
“A what?” I asked. Some names had been difficult to follow with the translator from Dotty. Although, I had been getting by.
“Not now,” she said, waving a dismissive hand at me without looking, her eyes still scanning the room.
“Should I get a drink, too?” I asked.
“If you want to,” she shrugged.
I decided against it; I had no idea what I would order, or if I’d end up drinking something poisonous.
The bartender set a tall red drink that swirled with an orange hue in front of Seya. An appendage had come back and dropped a glowing sphere into the glass, frosting it from the bottom up. She nodded to the bartender and opened her visor, taking a sip.
“Should we make ourselves comfortable now, or what?” I asked, watching her enjoy the drink.
“If the conglomerate hasn’t changed protocol too much—oh, I needed that,” she said, relishing the taste of the drink. It appeared that meditation and training weren’t the only ways to relax. She took a step closer to me, twisting the bottom of the glass off. Inside there was a tiny copper square. “Take that,” she instructed.
I grabbed the piece and palmed it, hiding it from curious eyes.
Screwing the bottom piece back on, she set the half-drunk glass back on the table. Seya waved her gauntlet over the scanning device and paid for the beverage. “Let’s go somewhere else,” she said, walking past me and towards the exit.
I took one last look around, seeing if anyone expressed interest in the quick exchange. No one bothered looking in our direction from what I saw. I followed Seya out of the bar and into the street and into a nearby alley for some temporary privacy.
“Show me,” she said.
I opened my gloved hand, revealing the copper square. She took my hand, examining the object while tapping some commands on her helmet.
“So? What is it?” I asked.
“There are some initials. ‘N.G.P.R.’,” she said, bringing up her map. “Directory shows a bunch of shops. Wait, here’s one. A place named Nen Guri Parts and Repair.”
I looked at the copper square and only saw some strange squiggles and lines. Dotty overlaid the translation in English. Such amazing technology, I thought as I placed the small plaque in my pocket. “Well let’s go check out the shop then.”
“It’s not very far from here,” she said and showed me the map, pointing out the marked destination.
As we set out to our next goal in the hopes of meeting up with the conglomerate, adverts bombarded us with their bright signs, and people shouted at each other over the crowd. The unfamiliar sights and sounds became overwhelming, so I had Dotty dial back the incoming sensors once again to regain my sense of calm. My mind wandered back to my quiet home. I missed my house, my friends—even my job.
Would I ever be able to go back? I wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t followed the path of downed trees to the crash. If I had just said no to all this and demanded to go home. Dotty told me what would happen if I went against its protocols—I would be a walking corpse, so I somewhat blamed Dotty for forcing me into this journey with no set return date. Granted, it wasn’t the sole entity to blame. I did exactly what I did because that’s the kind of person I am. I’d imagine most people would explore a wrecked spacecraft outside their home. Or help someone, or something, in need, right? Right?
I needed to stay focused on the present. There was no point in wondering about the future when I had no idea what was going to happen today.
My internal thoughts had me almost bumping right into Seya as she stopped abruptly. The sign on the outside of the shop translated to Nen Guri Parts and Repair.
“This looks like the spot,” I nodded at the sign.
Looking around to see if anyone had been following us, I held the door open and followed Seya inside.
The inside of the shop was nicer than it appeared from the outside. Model ships adorned glass displays that looked as if they could be completely functioning miniatures. And where parts outside other shops looked like junk, here, everything looked factory new and was strategically placed to display its value.
A short animal greeted us, similar in appearance to a four-foot-tall alien ferret. Odd spectacles with a holographic field emitting from them adorned its eyes as it looked up from the model it was working on.
“Not to be rude, but is this guy a pet or the owner?” I messaged Seya.
“I’m Nen Guri. Welcome to my shop. Is there anything, in particular, you bounty hunters are looking for today?” the creature asked, looking at me with the strange eyewear and revealing its large, black eyes.
Well, glad that's cleared up, I thought.
“Hello. My partner and I are looking for parts for a Jahuta Mark 2 fitted with an S-class jump drive. We were hoping we could get some parts to fix the drive,” said Seya.
“Jahuta Mark 2 with S-class jump drive? How you managed to snake such a thing into a ship of that size must have been quite a task,” replied Nen-Guri. “You're in luck. I have some newer jump drives that came in and we may find what you’re looking for.”
“We have a very skilled Tychon engineer who made it possible,” explained Seya, crossing her arms.
I looked at Seya and tilted my head to convey a question.
“Oh, a Tychon, you are very lucky to have someone like that aboard. Look, it’ll all be in the back, let me show you,” it said. “Come with me—Neni, take care of the front while I bring these two out back, will you? Let me know if someone else arrives,” it said to the droid behind the counter who awoke and stood up.
“Yes, Papa,” the droid replied.
Did it really just call him ‘Papa’, Dotty?
Yes, it is the closest translation available.
Seya nodded after the owner as I followed him through a door. Through the rear exit and out into a rather large area designated as the yard, there were three half-built—or half cannibalized—engines the size of semi-trucks. Trunks and shelves overflowed with parts of every size and angle imaginable. If it was anything like my work desk or garage back home, there was sure to be a method to the madness.
Waiting for both of us to go through before closing the door behind us, we heard a whining noise begin to spin up. Turning back, the furry little owner had a blaster pointed at us.
“Whoa, what the hell?” I asked, beginning to reach for my blaster.
“Stop right there!” he snarled at me. “Who the hell are you two?” he asked, pointing the weapon between the two of us.
“We’re looking for a way to reunite with the conglomerate,” said Seya, slowly reaching her hands up to her helmet.
“What are you doing? Don't try anything stupid now,” he warned.
“Easy now, let me take off my helmet,” Seya continued, removing her helmet. Her white hair fell out from the helmet in a mess which she parted aside with a hand, and her glowing gold and white eyes fell upon the owner.
“S-Seya… is that really you?” the owner said, lowering his weapon slightly.
“You two know each other?” I asked, relaxing my arm.
“I don't know him,” Seya replied.
>
“Oh, I wouldn’t imagine you would, but I sure know you, though,” he said, holstering his weapon. “I heard you’d been missing these past few years—presumably dead. I’m glad to see you are okay—shocked, but glad,” he said, with a relaxed posture.
“There were some unforeseen circumstances I ran into, which I recently dug my way out of,” said Seya, placing her helmet under an arm.
“I apologize for the hostility. Had I known it was you earlier I wouldn’t have questioned it. You wouldn’t be the first ones trying to dig into the conglomerate’s affairs.” He said and pointing its snout towards me, he asked, “Who’s your friend?”
“Someone who is far from home,” I said and slid back my helmet’s faceplate. “I’m Art.”
“Whoa, your friend looks sick,” he jabbed a thumb over to me.
“He’s not Darkkon. He’s human; that’s how they look,” she explained.
“Human…?” Nen Guri furrowed his brow, studying me a moment, but dismissed the detail. “So, you’re looking to contact the conglomerate and get back to it, eh? I can help with that,” said the furry creature. He moved past us and began removing some parts over a rug. Pulling the rug aside, he revealed a hidden compartment in the floor. “These are the maintenance tunnels. I can give you a resistor so when you get close enough you can establish communication with the rest. It’s a maze down there but look for the subtle markers. Sorry, I can’t give you a map; this isn’t a park after all.”
It plucked a small tin from its pocket which rattled as he revealed it to us. Prying it open with a flick, he pinched out a small device. “Frequency 215.” The creature gestured with the device in hand and gave it to Seya. She linked it to her dataslate, after giving it a once-over.
“How many do we have in the city?” asked Seya.
“Roughly five hundred or so,” replied Nen Guri, checking a camera feed on his dataslate.
“Small operation. Weapons?” Seya probed.
“Plenty of small arms. Blasters, pulse rifles, even some anti-material rifles. We scored a few launchers from the empire during night raids. Until we caught wind they started placing trackers on the weapons, that is. We couldn’t risk giving our positions away so easily,” he clicked its tongue. “We have a lot of explosives too, some…requisitioned, and others homemade,” he said in a satisfied manner.
“Who is the leader of this outfit?” she asked.
“A Salkon named Vasz Nura. He’s been the commander for the past six years. We’ve done well, so far. Although, it’s been mostly information gathering for the past few months," it explained.
“Let’s go meet your friends then,” I encouraged.
“Your friends now too, remember?” Seya corrected.
I suppose she’s right about that, I thought, nodding to her.
“Now, hurry, I need to set all this back. If you lose your way down there, you’re on your own. Don’t bother trying to come back up this way as I won't answer. I can’t have people popping up whenever!” Nen Guri chided and shooed us towards the hidden entrance.
We pulled open the hatch as the dust rose into the air all around us. I slid my faceplate back into place and looked down the ladder which reached into the blackness beyond, leaving the floor unseen. I cycled through the helmet’s filters and entered a bright bluish glow that dispelled the dark enough to make out the floor. I stepped onto the ladder and descended with Seya following me—the light fading into obscurity as Nen Guri inched the hatch above us closed.
“Good luck you two. See you soon,” called out Nen Guri before closing the hatch.
I heard the critter scurrying around above us, replacing the rug and trinkets, hiding the entrance. Reaching the bottom of the ladder, my boots landing on hard ground that looked like concrete, although I knew it was different.
Seya reached the bottom then looked about. “Alright, follow me. I know what we’re looking for,” she said, taking the lead.
“There’s really no map?” I asked.
“No such thing would exist in the conglomerate. The empire could discover it and snuff out the operation in a matter of days or less,” she said, turning back at me. “This is also a test. If the maintenance tunnels are that complicated, then only a real conglomerate member would be able to navigate it.”
“Makes sense, but if the empire knows that the conglomerate is in the city, wouldn’t they think to check the tunnels? Even if they didn’t know where to go initially, they would find out eventually if they put the time into it, right? I asked.
“I can see how you would think that, and it is quite possible that it could happen," she said, placing a hand on her hip. “There is a possibility that they laid traps. The conglomerate will come out when they need to do anything. It would be best to wait until you saw someone emerging from a tunnel in the city rather than seek them out. Although, I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to do so in the middle of a street.” she said.
I couldn’t fault her logic. Finding the enemy's headquarters would be an accomplishment, but it would be hard to seek. It was best to play the waiting game and have them come to you. Who knew how far these tunnels went on for?
“Okay, I trust you not to get us lost down here,” I said, giving her a pat on the back and followed her further into the darkness.
*****
The winding tunnels went on for some time. I wondered about the idiot who designed the maintenance tunnels in such a manner. There seemed to be no clear direction and we already took so many erratic turns. If something were to happen to Seya, I would not remember which way to turn back. I hoped Dotty was keeping track at least. As a tinge of panic entered my mind, I had to steady myself before I let it bother me too much.
Throughout our trip down the dark tunnels, Seya would stick out a hand and pause, pointing out certain traps and explaining to me what she was looking for. Laced with hair-thin wires, the wrong paths were set to blow with an incorrect step. If you knew the correct path, you could run through the maze with little interruption, but it was a very large maze.
Besides our slow footsteps, there weren't any sounds coming from the maintenance tunnels. There were no creatures, dripping water, nor even a sound coming from the streets above. A haunting silence filled the place.
Seya turned her comms to the frequency the shop owner gave us, raising the volume, which resulted in a low static. She would turn the sound down only when she had to concentrate on finding the right path.
The radio’s static slowly dissipated with each step down the current corridor, returning to complete silence again, once we reached the end of the tunnel.
“Hello? Can anyone hear me on this frequency?” asked Seya, taking a moment to pause and studying me with her glowing golden eyes, slightly visible from behind her visor, as we awaited confirmation.
“Received. Identify yourself,” came a voice over our comms, moments later.
I looked at Seya and threw up my hands, wondering what the appropriate response would be.
Do we just give our names or what? I wondered.
Seya put a hand on her hip, taking a deep breath before speaking. “This is Seya Aranis, retinue also present.”
The words hung in the air.
I swallowed hard. Would they switch on automated defenses and blast us away if they didn't like the answer? It wouldn’t be difficult for someone to dispose of our bodies. They could easily remove any trace of us having ever stepped foot near the conglomerate’s lair.
“Standby,” the voice replied.
The entire hall came to life with a brief metallic screech and a whirring of mechanical servos, while the entire tunnel filled with a faint light growing from the crack before us. I switched my visor’s filter back to normal, then started walking towards the new entrance with Seya.
Beyond the thick metal door was a bright room that expanded into a large area with vaulted ceilings. The area was a stark contrast to the suffocating, narrow passages we took to get here. Crates and tables arrayed with weapons, paper
work, maps and other works were everywhere.
The door suddenly came back to life, creaking behind us and sliding back into place, sealing us in. Only the sound of some consoles nearby beeped away as we stood in the open.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
Over a dozen rifles and blasters came up from behind the cover of the crates and around pillars, pointing at us in reply.
“Don’t make any moves! Show us your hands!” barked one of the many aliens.
I looked at Seya, who put her hands up and complied.
A tall, pale-yellow monster stood up and strode over to us. A few others followed, weapons still trained on the two of us. The tall reptilian-like alien, whose long skull was protruding far out behind it, came closer to us, with a blaster raised at the hip and wearing a beige uniform with black knee-high boots. Its coat had a high collar with sharp, red edges, but all I could concentrate on was the large clawed hand clutching the blaster.
“Show me your faces. Slowly,” the creature hissed the order in a low, gruff voice.
I took off my helmet, setting it down in front of me while the group gave me quizzical looks upon seeing my face.
Dotty, begin planning an escape route in case things turn bad.
I have already infiltrated the schematics of the building.
Seya reached up to her helmet and pulled it off, revealing her face. A noticeably different reaction came from everyone this time, including the yellow reptile before us. Whispers came from behind crates, most of which I couldn’t hear, or Dotty hadn’t bothered translating for me.
“It really is you…” said the leader, his large green eyes opening with a familiarity. “Princess Aranis…”
“Princess?” I cocked an eyebrow at Seya.
“The very same. You must be Commander Vasz Nura then,” she deduced.
“Yes, Your Highness, I am Commander Nura,” he holstered his weapon, turning back to the rest of his troops. “Lower your weapons. They are no threat to us,” he waved his hands down at them all.
Obeying, the others slowly came out from behind cover to get a closer look at us. Their eyes lit up upon seeing Seya.
