"I still wish I knew what his angle was in all this," Jason muttered.
"Just as long as you know that every favor we cash in from him is running up a tab that he'll likely try to collect on before long," Crusher said. "I don't care how altruistic he may seem, he's dangerous. You don't get to the top of one of the quadrant’s largest criminal networks and have your name instill fear in lawless places like this by being a nice guy."
"Duly noted," Jason said. "But in this case I think we can charge it to Alocur's tab… this job is technically for him."
Crusher rolled his eyes but didn't say anything further.
Passing through Niceen-3's immigration control was as pointless and corrupt as Jason assumed it would be. He couldn't be certain, but he felt like they may have been recognized and he kicked himself for not splitting the crew up and having them go through separately and then meet up afterward. Their respective species didn't get that much attention on their own, except for maybe Crusher, but when you clumped a Galvetic warrior, a Veran, and a human together, the combination sometimes triggered memories and caused them to look a bit harder.
The experience wasn't a total waste, however, as Jason learned two interesting facts. First, nearly everybody assumed the battlesynth was some sort of high-end robot. Second, and most interesting, was that the official instantly recognized his species because a group of humans had just come through not two weeks prior.
"You're certain of this?" Jason asked. "We don't really leave our own planet much."
"No mistaking it," the alien had said. "A group of seven of your kind… human, right? Scruffy-looking group, but there was no mistaking that they were all military."
"Shit," Jason swore under his breath. What the hell was Earth doing sending a spec ops group into the Reaches? He knew that they were fielding a whole new space military based out of Terranovus, but he didn't think they had gotten so bold as to start sending intel units into the quadrant's sewers. Part of him wanted to track this group down to see what they were up to, but that wasn't the job and it wasn't any of his concern.
Once they were outside the terminal, Jason looked questioningly at Kage to see if he had a destination for them. The code slicer nodded and waved them towards a set of stairs that led up to a mag-track platform. As they moved against the current of everyone coming down to the street level, Jason could begin to get a feel for the … wrongness ... of the entire city. They were all dressed as they would be in a smaller city on Aracoria, but even on the myriad of alien faces he could detect a hardened slant to their expressions and an underlying coldness to the mood of the place. He wondered if he'd have noticed it if Kage hadn't told him about the eccentric syndicate boss that ran Niceen-3.
When they boarded the train they split up among two cars, allowing them to still cover each other's positions but kept them from clumping up and looking obviously out of place. Jason watched the city pass by through the window, catching the impassive face of the battlesynth in the reflection. It had followed him over and was standing behind him like a statue. He yet again wished there was something he could do to know unequivocally what was going on in its head. Was Lucky in there, screaming in agony, unable to communicate? Or was his friend gone and this semi-autonomous machine already all it would ever be?
"Next stop," Kage said softly, not looking at Jason as he walked by and moved up next to Crusher. A year ago Jason would have laughed at how serious the flighty code slicer looked as he went about his job, but looking at him with a fresh perspective forced Jason to admit that Kage was actually pretty good at this sort of thing.
The train slowed to a smooth stop at the next station and Jason turned to leave with the throng of other people. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the battlesynth was following him before moving across the platform and taking the steps down to the street level. Within a minute the others began to peel themselves out of the crowd and walk over to where he stood.
"We're looking for an office five blocks from here," Kage said. "It can only be two of us going up, I suggest the captain and myself, and the others will need to wait outside. Her rules, not mine."
"Agreed," Crusher said. "Will this thing stay out here with us?"
"I'm not sure," Jason admitted. "Sometimes it follows directions, but mostly it just does whatever the hell it wants."
Now away from the starport and the city center they weren't quite so conspicuous with their dress and mannerisms. The city had been designed from the ground up with public transport in mind so, unlike most cities that had grown and changed over centuries, it had no streets for personal vehicles. There were some wide footpaths that almost looked like streets, but the only thing Jason had seen besides the mag-track was a uniform fleet of aircars whisking passengers about.
"This is it," Kage said, pulling his com unit and reading something on the screen. "She's expecting us."
It only took Jason three tries to get the battlesynth to stay where it was near Crusher and then he and Kage were through the lobby and riding the lift up to the fifteenth floor. The building looked like it had been nice at one time, but grime caked into the corners and smudges on all the walls gave it an almost decrepit feel despite the fact it wasn't that old. Even in a new, gleaming city like this the filth of the Reaches didn't take long to begin permeating the façade. It made the conceit of the whole place all the more silly when he really thought about it.
"You're late." A female Veran answered the door before Jason could press the call button. If Jason was startled by her appearance, then Kage was completely floored. Verans were common enough throughout ConFed space, but they were a timid race and they didn't tend to be found in the rougher places Omega Force operated in.
"No, we're not." Kage recovered. "We're at the prescribed time so don't even try to lean on us for more money."
"This one is already being paid for," she said, moving aside for them to enter. "Our mutual friend has called in a couple favors to make sure I give you everything I have, not just what you specifically ask for."
"If he's paying then by all means, charge a late fee," Jason said.
She smiled with her wide mouth and bobbed her head up and down. "I like your style, Jason Burke," she said. "My name is Weef Zadra, or just Zadra if you prefer. Funny how I'd never seen a human, never even heard of them, and now it seems you're infiltrating the Reaches."
"How so?"
"There have been two teams come through Niceen-3 in the last year and a half," Zadra said. "They're looking for something, but they're not making a lot of waves doing it so it's hard to tell what they want."
"Not my concern," Jason said. He knew Zadra was baiting the hook to see if he'd be willing to pay for any information on what humans were doing out this far. The truth was that he was almost vibrating from curiosity, but he didn't want to get caught up in whatever half-assed operation Terranovus may have launched.
"Indeed." Zadra smiled again, knowing he was lying. "So… Omega Force is looking for a single ConFed Fleet officer that may, or may not, have fled to the Kaspian Reaches as a last ditch effort to disappear. Why?"
"Because someone is paying us to," Kage said.
"Always the mercenaries." She laughed. "I must say I was intrigued when I heard you'd be coming this way. Word on the waves is that you lost your battlesynth muscle… seems an odd time to waltz into one of the most dangerous places in the quadrant."
"The information we asked for?" Jason had no intention of feeding unsolicited details about his crew to an information broker that might sell it to the next group looking to take them out.
"This wasn't easy to dig up, but you're looking for a former Fleet captain named Glos Zuuvlov," Zadra said. "He was in command of the battleship Matav when it limped back from beyond the frontier. For reasons I've not been able to ascertain, he was fleeing from something. He left his career, belongings… everything. He just up and disappeared. Here,"—she slid a data card across the desk—"this is everything I was able to dig up on him. It's extensive en
ough that I don't want you hanging around my office for the time it would take to brief you in person."
"Why's that?" Jason asked, palming the card.
"You're just notorious enough that someone might recognize you," she said. "There have been those who have come to the Reaches fleeing from you, so I don't want it generally known that I'm helping you out."
"Fair enough," Jason said. "Here's something else you can charge to our mutual friend's account: What can you tell me about a Kheprian Intelligence operative named Alocur?"
"Former Kheprian Intelligence operative," Zadra said. "The pru that goes by the name Alocur left the service shortly after the central banking AI fiasco. Official records state that he retired, but back channel chatter says that during his investigation into who orchestrated the attack on Khepri, he began asking some uncomfortable questions and someone with a lot of pull in the Council wanted him gone."
"So he's not an active agent for the Kheprian government?"
"Not the quickest thing, is he?" she asked Kage. "No, Captain, Alocur is not only not an agent of the Kheprian government, he's a fugitive. There's an active warrant for his capture right now… would you like me to send it to you?"
"Please do." Jason stood up and waved the data card in the air. "And thanks for this."
"No need for thanks… I'm being well paid for that information," she said. "Now if you don't mind?"
"Way to clam up in there," Jason said to Kage once they were out in the corridor.
"Did you see her?" Kage breathed. "She was… magnificent."
"Oh dear God," Jason muttered. He was about to tell Kage to go back and talk to her when his com unit started buzzing. "Go."
"Captain… the, uh… the battlesynth… it, uh, just took off on me," Crusher said.
"What?!"
"It just… ran away. One minute it was standing there, then the next it was hauling ass down the walkway."
"This isn't good," Jason said, nearly yanking Kage off his feet as he sprinted for the lift.
Chapter 11
"Omega Force has been positively identified as being on Niceen-3."
"So Jason Burke has picked up the trail… this is an unexpected opportunity. I thought we broke him the last time he disappeared."
"Given this human's past record of interfering should we not take immediate action against them?"
"That would be the safe course of action… but hardly satisfying. I want him to know what he's wrought before his end. Let them stay in play for now."
"I will admit to still being confused about your enthusiasm regarding this small band of criminals. Perhaps—"
"I did not ask you here to listen to your concerns." The voice took on an ominous tone that made its guest shiver. "My reasons are not open to question or interpretation, understand that or be replaced."
"Yes, Master."
"What news of the treaties?"
"As you've predicted, Master. Member systems are so desperate for news of stability that when word of a new centralized banking system reached them, they almost trampled each other to sign the treaty. In their haste to return to the old system, they've neglected to fully comprehend what these treaties actually do."
"And those that are clever enough to read before they sign?"
"Fleet battlegroups have been dispatched to encourage them."
"Excellent. Once Khepri fully agrees to our terms, we'll be ready to begin a more comprehensive restructuring of the Council. It won't be long now."
"No, Master."
Councilman Scleesz fled the darkened chamber as quickly as he could without looking like he was trying to escape the oppressive presence of their mysterious benefactor. He felt like things were quickly spinning out of control and now he was helpless to do anything about it. When this being had first arrived and promised a quick return to glory and stability for the ConFed, there was no shortage of councilmembers who leapt at the opportunity. By the time Scleesz had been approached and brought onboard, the newcomer had successful compromised all the major powerbrokers, seeming to know where the skeletons were buried on damn near everyone.
Scleesz knew why the stranger had asked for him specifically after the first couple of meetings, and it certainly had nothing to do with the small cluster of planets he represented whose main export was raw ore. It was because years ago he'd had direct interaction with a small mercenary band that called themselves Omega Force and this new player was apparently wholly obsessed with their leader: Jason Burke of Earth.
The incident with Crisstof Dalton's First Son and a handful of councilmembers that had tried to force the ConFed into a new mold was still fresh in Scleesz's mind. In fact, it was two of those councilmembers that had approached him and brought him to the being who hid in shadows and insisted he—it was a he, right?—would lead the ConFed to new heights of power and influence within the galaxy. Scleesz had been surprised to learn that this little group of criminals he'd helped so long ago was still around, and still making trouble, but even more surprised that someone who was about to usurp the power of the ConFed Council was so concerned with them. What was he missing?
"Have Adderon go down to my personal archives and pull up any information we still have on a group called Omega Force," he said to his assistant. "She'll need to go into the crypt, these are all hardcopy only. Tell her we're on the way now."
"Yes, sir."
Scleesz had kept his word to Jason Burke and had purged the information on his group from the ConFed systems, including the Intelligence Sector, but had maintained a full set of the documents in a secret vault under his own office building. He needed to refresh himself on the details to try and see if there was some leverage he could gain on the Master if for no other reason than to extricate himself from the whole damn mess.
There were things in motion that were both terrifying and inexorable. Individual star systems and enclaves were signing on to the new ConFed Mutual Protection Charter at an alarming rate thinking it was just a revamped version of the old economic treaties they'd operated under for centuries, but Scleesz had read the fine print. The truth was that they were abdicating much of their right to self-rule and handing over control of their systems to the ConFed. There was no way that he could see where this ended in anything but tyranny.
"Which way did it go?!"
"Back up that street and then over one," Crusher huffed. He and Jason had quickly outpaced the others, sprinting hard through the sparse crowd and knocking other aliens aside like bowling pins.
"I knew we should have put a damn tracker on it!"
When they came to the side alley there was no sign of the battlesynth save a severely dented sanitary trash receptacle and a few broken paving stones where it had dug into its turn and accelerated away. They chased the trail a little further until it ended at a junction where five other foot paths branched off.
"Shit," Crusher muttered just as Jason's com chimed.
"Go."
"He's two hundred meters south of your position," Kage said. "Keep going straight through that junction and you'll run into him. He's stopped."
"How the hell do you—"
"I'm tracking your com unit and I launched a mini drone to see if I could spot him after you two idiots went charging away and knocking over civilians," Kage said, cutting him off. "Good job with that… this place is now crawling with local cops."
"This way," Jason said, irritated by Kage's words and feeling like a child that had just been scolded.
Sure enough, the battlesynth was standing near the back entrance of a restaurant, judging by the smells, and was looming over an unconscious alien that Jason thought might have been a chula. It was difficult to tell some humanoid species apart that evolved on similar worlds at roughly the same time. He approached carefully when the battlesynth's head snapped around to stare at him.
"Easy, big guy," he said. "I’m not gonna take it away from you."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Crusher asked.
"It worked with
a Rottweiler I used to have."
"What's a Rottweiler?"
"It's a dog… something we keep as pets on Earth. The one I had was big, dumb, and sorta dangerous. You remind me of him a lot, to be honest."
"Funny," Crusher said. "So why did he chase this guy down and beat him senseless?"
"Do I really need to go back to the Rottweiler analogy?"
Before Crusher could answer, Kage zipped out of an alley ahead of them and ran over. The Veran had always been wiry and thin, but Jason noticed that his friend's physical conditioning seemed to be much improved. In the past Kage was as reluctant to physically exert himself as Doc was.
"Looks like he bagged himself a chula," Kage said. "You search him yet?" When Jason and Crusher just shrugged, he rolled his eyes and sighed before pawing through the pockets of the unconscious alien. Within seconds the sneaky little Veran had pulled out the expected stuff: a wallet with ConFed and local currency, a few forms of identification, and a civilian-style com unit. A more thorough search, part of which made Crusher squirm uncomfortably, produced a military-grade com unit with encryption and burst transmit capability as well as a discreet camera of the type used by intelligence pros for surveillance.
"He's been following us since we got off the mag-track here," Kage said as he flicked through the recorded data. "Seems to be focused mostly on the captain… just your regular low level—ah! Here we go. This is where Lucky spots him."
He handed the device to Jason and they watched as the battlesynth stiffened and looked directly at the chula holding the camera. Jason watched as it exploded into action and sprinted away from a stunned Crusher. The video then tilted crazily as the chula was running for his life.
"This… complicates things." Jason looked at the battlesynth. "How could it have known it was being surveilled when it can barely follow simple instructions? Or is this just dumb luck and it attacked this clown because of the color of his shoes?"
Omega Force: Legends Never Die (OF10) Page 10
