As they walked along the street, Mal eyed one of the shops that advertised real food in bright coloured writing above the entrance. “Have you guys ever tried genuine food?” he asked.
Nero shook his head, as did the others. “Oh man, you’re really missing out. We found a small stash of the stuff on a job a few years ago. I don’t know what any of it was, but it was the sweetest thing I ever tried. I’ll never forget that, never.” Nero glanced at the man, and saw a faraway expression on his face as he stared at the shop. Nero glanced at the place himself, noticing the heavy metal bars over the door and windows.
They carried on along the street, looking at the brightly-lit shops and the less-obvious gambling dens, set in the bases of the Scrapers that towered over everything. Far above them, between the illuminated buildings themselves, could be seen little pinpricks of light moving around. These were the personal shuttles of the people who lived in the buildings, flying them between the Scrapers for who-knew-what purpose.
Returning his attention to his own world, Nero could begin to feel a faint rumbling through the ground. As they walked further, the vibrations increased, until his whole chest cavity was resonating with the sounds that were pouring out of the building ahead of them. Though many of the buildings they passed were brightly lit, they were nothing compared to this place. Most of the frontage was a giant video wall, a slightly damaged remnant of more prosperous times, which displayed coloured patterns shifting in time with the music emanating from the place. In the middle of that wall was the entrance, complete with automated pay stations to gain access to infamous club. There was already a queue forming to get in.
They joined the queue and waited, and once they’d paid their 5 bonds, they pushed through the doors to be greeted by a wall of sound. In front of them was a vast area, filled with at least two hundred people moving and gyrating with various degrees of success, as bass-heavy music caused the drinks of those sat at the bar to vibrate. The ceiling glowed orange, pulsing in time with the music, whilst great white spotlights in the walls would occasionally flash, lighting the room up like the inside of the sun.
“Drinks?” Mal yelled above the noise, struggling to make himself heard. The others gave their assent, and the five of them headed to the bar at the side of the room, squeezing through an assortment of humans, aliens, and some that seemed like neither. They even passed a couple of young children, neither of whom could’ve been much passed seven, and who appeared to have had a little too much to drink, the girl having just thrown up at her feet. They stepped carefully around her.
“Barkeep!” Mal shouted above the din, causing the woman behind the bar to glance over at them. “Five birras,” he said, ordering each of them one of the sweet, strong, drinks that were popular in Jeralee’s. The woman behind the bar turned her back to them, and manipulated the holodisplay on the wall. Five glasses, each filled with dark brown liquid, rose up from the counter on which Mal was leaning. He handed some bonds over, and then passed the drinks out, which Nero gratefully accepted.
“Has anyone ever met Jeralee?” Jerad asked, after he’d had some of his drink.
“Long dead,” Mal informed them, having already downed half of his birra. “Killed in a riot he started, or so the story goes. This was before my time though. The club’s had a succession of owners now, none lasting very long.”
Jerad grunted in response, and downed the last of his drink. With Talyah, who had also finished, the two made their way over into the midst of the dancers. Talyah had always liked to dance, Nero reflected, thinking about how uncomfortable it made him. He glanced at Mal beside him, and Col, neither of whom looked like they felt any pressing need to embarrass themselves. Instead, they listened to some of the random chat at the bar. Nero often found that they could pick up useful information when near people who’d had a drink. Indeed, last year, Mal and Nero had been in another club, and one alien had been talking about a rare shipment of medical supplies being flown into the planet the next day, even being so helpful as to give a general location. The resulting theft had been one of their more successful ones, and had annoyed the city’s Governatore enough that he’d sent a couple of patrols onto the streets for a brief period. That hadn’t lasted long, however, and soon the streets were as neglected by the Governatore and his ruling body as they usually were.
Nero, Mal and Col were having no such luck tonight though. “... did you see Che, man!? I’ve never seen so much puke! And all over that girl!” exclaimed one nearby patron rather loudly.
Once they had finished their drinks, they instead decided to join Talyah and Jerad on the floor, though that was easier said than done. With the flashing lighting, pounding music, and yelling people, it took them a surprisingly long time to find them. “There you are, Jerad!” Col roared over the din when he eventually spotted them. It looked like Jerad had already found someone to dance with. “Does she have a friend?” Col continued.
Nero didn’t hear Jerad’s reply, having spotted Talyah talking to a familiar face amongst the throng of people. “... happening now! Like, this instance. I heard you were coming here, so I ran straight over. Where’s Mal?! You need to get there!”
“Calm down, Gae,” came Talyah’s cool reply. “Mal is over here,” she said, gesturing to where Mal was approaching them.
“What’s up?” Mal asked above the din, an uncharacteristically serious note in his voice.
“Gae was telling me that the Nostra are making a move on our base, Mal,” Talyah replied in her usual emotionless tone of voice. “He came here to warn us.”
Mal looked sharply at Gae, who had a very worried look on his face, and was nervously wringing his hands. “Fuck! Are you serious Gae?” Mal demanded. Gae nodded. “Shit! We’ve got to get there. Where are they?”
“The air vent,” Gae said, referring to the exit Nero and the others had just used. “I’d just left when I noticed these Nostra aliens walking towards our alley. I kept cool and carried on by, then followed them when they were past. They headed straight to the air vent, Mal. They knew where the entrance was, and broke in. They must be down there right now.”
Nero thought back to what Gabbett had told him earlier in the day. Perhaps he’d been right after all. But what could they do about it now? In fact, what could they have done even if they had known the Nostra were coming? The Nostra was a huge organisation, with people everywhere, and weapons far in advance of their own. Nothing could be done now. And even if they wanted to do something, none of them had brought any weapons with them to Jeralee’s. Nero sighed, realising that those in the tunnels were probably already dead anyway.
“We’ll have to go in after them,” Mal announced, causing Nero to look over sharply at him.
“No, Mal,” he said. “That won’t work. We have no weapons, and there’s only six of us. There’s no point.”
“Look, Nero,” Mal said in an earnest voice, “we have friends down there. We have to do something. I have to do something.”
“Do something if you want, Mal, but I’m not going to risk my life going down there. None of the rest of us will either,” Nero said, glancing at Talyah as he said so. She gave the slightest nod of affirmation, presumably having decided the logical thing long before Nero had.
Mal gave Nero a cold, calculating look. “If that’s how you feel Nero. But I’m going in. I’ve got some weapons hidden near the entrance; I’ll get them and take out some of these bastards.” Mal didn’t wait for a reply, and with Gae following, sharply turned and headed to the exit of Jeralee’s, using his tall frame to forcibly push his way through the crowds. He left a stream of disgruntled people in his wake, though they soon forgot their annoyance at the big man, and went back to enjoying the music. There was a metaphor in there somewhere, Nero thought.
He turned back to Talyah. “Let’s follow him, Tal, just to keep an eye on him. I want to know what’s happening down there anyway. Where’s Jerad and Col?”
“Over by those two women,” Talyah replied, pointing to a rather
buxom human, and an obviously female alien next to her. Nero rolled his eyes up as he saw that. “Col...” he breathed. He pushed his way over to the two teenagers, who were still blissfully unaware of what was happening in the tunnels.
“Jerad! Col! We’ve got to leave,” Nero yelled above the noise, smiling to himself at the way every emotion so obviously appeared on their faces. Both looked utterly upset at the thought of having to leave already.
“What! Why? We only just got here...” Col slurred back, the strong birra muddling his speech already.
“The Nostra have broken into the tunnels,” Nero replied simply. Both Col and Jerad glanced up sharply, managing to process the information through the fug of alcohol in their systems. “Move it, guys,” Nero continued, enjoying being in command here.
With regretful looks at the two women they left behind, Jerad and Col followed Nero and Talyah through the crowds, weaving between the people rather than pushing through as Mal had done. None of them had the stature to manage that without a risk of being attacked, as Mal could. Nevertheless, they reached the exit quickly, and pushed through the one-way door to the cool, and comparatively quiet, street outside.
Mal had already disappeared down the street. “What are we doing, Nero?” Jerad asked.
“Taking a look. Mal’s gone after them, but I need to see what’s going on down there. Without attracting any attention.” Nero looked meaningfully at Col as he said that, having had plenty of experience of Col’s definition of ‘quiet’. Col kept quiet.
They made their way back down the street, which had become noticeably busier, finally coming up to their alley. They slowed as they approached, Nero looking carefully at the faces of everyone in the area. Were there any Nostra around, keeping an eye on the entrance? Ready to ambush anyone coming back? For a minute, they simply stood there, pretending to talk, but scanning faces. Talyah, who was better at this than anyone, was doing the same thing, but if they were being watched, none of them could detect any sign of it. They decided to just head into the darkened alley, and hope.
“Jerad, Col, you two to wait up here. Hide at the far end of the alley or something, and if you see anyone you don’t recognise following us, toss something noisy down to warn us. Then run for it,” Nero said. Turning to Talyah, “Will you wait here, or come with me?”
“I want to see what is happening down there, Nero.”
“Alright. We’ll see you guys soon. If you run, we can meet up opposite Jeralee’s, okay?” They nodded, and went to find somewhere to hide, whilst Nero climbed through the air vent. He noticed that the cover was open, left by the Nostra first, he presumed, and then by Mal in his rush. He stood up once he was in the tight staircase that led downwards, and with Talyah close behind, climbed quietly down towards the tunnel system.
All noises from the world above disappeared after they descended just a few steps, with the tunnel reverting to its usual state of deathly silence. The sound of silence hung over them more obviously than it usually did, however. Nero unconsciously counted the steps until he knew they were nearing the bottom, and then slowed even more, listening carefully for any sound. But he couldn't hear anything, except for the sound of his heart beating rapidly in his own chest. They continued on down the tunnel, heading towards the main cavern.
It was another few minutes before they neared the cavern, and as they approached, Nero thought he could hear faint noises coming from up ahead. He held his breath as he strained to listen, and caught the faint sounds of voices. He exchanged a look with Talyah, and they both edged slightly closer, adrenaline pumping through their systems to make them hyper-alert.
“... audacious. It is unacceptable. This is our planet.” The voice that was speaking had a strange quality to it, much lower pitched than normal, and it modulated in tone altogether too much. It didn’t sound human.
“I... I’m sorry.” This gruff voice was unmistakably Ryate’s. “Please take what you want. We’ll stop. I won’t do it anymore. I...” He was interrupted by the alien’s drawl.
“No. You won’t. You will serve as a lesson to any other low-lives who think they can take what belongs to the Nostra. Yebsig,” the alien said, evidently referring to another alien.
As this exchange was going on, Nero and Talyah were edging ever closer to the cavern, and were now able to make out a couple of shapes in the distance. They couldn’t get much closer, though, since the tunnel they were in was as brightly lit as the cavern was. They were already risking being seen as it was.
“Tal, do you have your enhancer?” Nero whispered. She pulled a small device out of a pocket, unfolded it until it resembled a piece of eyewear, and gave it to Nero. He slipped it over his eyes, and immediately, could make out what was going on in the cavern in much greater detail. Three men were on their knees in the middle, hands at their sides, facing at least seven aliens, each of whom had some sort of projectile weapon trained on the humans. Scanning the rest of the cavern, Nero could also see a number of bodies on the floor. He couldn’t recognise who most of them were at this distance, but some of them seemed familiar.
The body nearest the door caught Nero’s attention. He focused the enhancer on that. It was collapsed on its side, facing away from Nero, and there was a large pool of deep red liquid underneath it. The body itself was unusually large, and it was wearing clothes that Nero had seen just fifteen minutes ago. “Mal...” he breathed, annoyed and angry at the man for going in and getting himself killed for no reason.
“What?” Talyah asked in a hushed voice.
“Mal’s dead, on the floor. He’s surrounded by a pool of blood.” Talyah’s response was just silence. Nero knew that she had been close to the big man, having been taken off the street by him when she was much younger. He’d been as close to a father as she’d had.
He focused back on the exchange between the aliens and the men, and watched as one of the aliens, presumably the one called Yebsig, lowered his rifle, and retrieved what looked to be a large knife from a table. Casually walking over to one of the men, he slowly slid the knife across the man’s throat, releasing a gushing stream of hot red liquid that ran down the man’s shirt, painting it crimson. The man’s hands shot up to his neck, as if to try to close the wound, but to no avail. In short order, he toppled forward, never to move again.
The aliens appeared to watch this, perhaps they even enjoyed it, since they didn’t move on to the next man until the first had completely stopped moving. Then, the alien named Yebsig sliced the throat of this man, who like the other, reached up to clutch at his throat as if that would do something. Watching this, Nero couldn’t help but admire the courage of the two men. Neither of them had yelled out, or tried to stop the alien with the knife. They had accepted it. This, as much as it could be, was a good death for them.
Finally, Yebsig moved on to the third man. Nero hadn’t really known the other two very well, but this third man was Ryate, a man that Nero admired, if not liked. Before Yebsig could cut his throat, Ryate spoke. “What does this achieve?”
The leader of the aliens answered him. “Achieve? You’re an annoyance, and you’re an annoyance on our turf. This is a ruthless business we’re in, but you know that. What else did you expect would happen here?” The alien paused, watching Ryate. When the man didn’t say anything further, the alien gestured to Yebsig, who moved forward, raising the knife. Slowly, he touched it to Ryate’s neck, the carbon blade reflecting dully in the light, and drew it across Ryate’s neck, once more releasing a stream of blood to gush onto the floor.
When it was over, Nero removed the enhancer, and silently passed it back to Talyah. He had watched the whole thing, unable to take his eyes away, but he couldn’t believe what he’d seen. He turned to Talyah. There was no point in thinking about this now. The aliens might move at any moment, and they were in the way. Gesturing back the way they had come, Nero and Talyah turned around and silently headed back towards the exit.
****
Nero and Col walked along a relatively busy
street, lined with a variety of merchants, with a number of potential customers browsing the goods on offer. Some of the merchants occupied buildings, whilst others - the majority, Nero noted - had just a temporary stall set up on the street. Many looked to be just an old crate with items displayed on top.
Casually talking to each other, both teenagers kept their eyes on the stalls, looking for a likely target. After a while, they noticed a merchant with a medium-sized stall, just two crates pushed together, with a few protein and carb sticks laid out. He was currently talking to a hunched woman, with a cane in her hand, who was looking over some of the food sticks.
“For all of them?” the woman was saying, disbelief in her voice.
“They’re getting harder to source,” the merchant explained, with a shrug. “I’m afraid that’s just what they cost now.”
Nero glanced at Col, and they altered their course to take them closer to the stall, the woman still complaining about the price. Col, with skill that spoke of years of practise, stumbled into the woman, who went flying to the side with a yell, cane uselessly falling from her hand. She knocked a couple of protein sticks down with her as she fell, and the merchant, ever the gentleman, leaned forward to try to catch her.
Nero waited a moment, and when he judged the merchant to be distracted enough, he stepped closer to the stall and slipped a few of the protein and carb sticks into a pocket. Then, before the merchant noticed, he walked away, Col following shortly behind, having muttered an apology to the woman, who was still on the ground.
On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance Page 4
