by John Walker
Cassie lifted a brow. “I know the feeling.”
Heathrow laughed. “That’s the spirit. Take our shit and throw it right back. You can call me Heat. I call him Gorman. Lawrence is too noble for an ass like him.”
Gorman shrugged. “Truth.”
“Where’s the alien?” Heat asked. “He’s coming too, right?”
“He’ll be along shortly.” Vincent shook his head. “You guys really are rough around the edges sometimes.”
“Most of it.” Heat checked his firearm, dropping the magazine. “Your alien fella said these would be okay. Apparently, they’ve got some kind of special walls to prevent projectiles going right through them. Makes you wonder how many firefights break out there if they have to worry about such things.”
“The goal here is to keep a low profile.” Vincent spoke the words firmly, looking between the two men. “We don’t want you shooting up some bar because of a slight.”
“That’s not our style,” Gorman said. “If someone starts trouble, we’ll finish it but believe me, we don’t want to have our first visit to an alien facility involve a bunch of violence. Definitely not the best impression, right?”
“No.” Thayne’s voice came from behind them and he came in the other door. He was dressed down as well, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a sweater. “We want to avoid starting the trouble at Rilla, but I can assure you that if someone else pushes? We’re fully within our rights to push back. Hard.”
“Good to know,” Vincent muttered. “Did they arm you, Doctor?”
“What, me?” Thayne looked shocked. “Of course not. Even if I were better trusted, I would not accept a weapon. I don’t really know how to use them well enough to not be a danger to myself and others.”
“Not hard to teach,” Heat said. “Long as you point the dangerous end away from you and your buddies, you’re fine.”
“Uh huh.” Vincent shook his head. “Alright, so the four of you are heading into the facility and going to … wherever Thayne takes you. You’re VIP is a man named Doctor Gil Vaedra. Find him, allow them to have an exchange then bring him back to the ship. We’ll need his help with the next phase of our assignment.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Heat replied. “Follow that guy until he gets to another guy then bring both guys back.”
Gorman pointed at Cassie. “Why’s she coming?”
“Operational support,” Vincent said. “She understands Orb technology better than we do. The captain assigned her the task. Pick whatever option works best for you.”
“Sounds good.”
Cassie thought of a snippy retort but held her tongue. She didn’t need to cause a bunch of animosity with these meatheads just before they went into what could potentially be a sensitive situation. She turned to Vincent instead and offered a smile. “I need to change in my room and grab my gun. I’ll meet you all at the airlock.”
“Sounds good.”
Heat called after her, “Make sure you bring something with some stopping power. The last thing we need is for you to make someone angry cause you shot them with a pellet gun.”
“Sergeant.” Vincent spoke with command authority and he started to lay into the man. Cassie got out of earshot so she didn’t hear everything he said. Apparently, the marines leaned toward the uppity side. Probably made sense for them to be considering their jobs. They went into harm’s way, dealing with conflicts most people would never think about entering.
That, plus climbing into power armor took a special kind of courage. Those men leaped out of perfectly good shuttles with nothing but retrorockets. Many of their systems were not that well tested. Yes, they’d been through some field work but under duress or other planets? Not so much.
When she read the briefing of their actions on the planet, she understood why they might be gruff. They went through a lot, dished out some punishment and managed to get the job done.
That was worth something and definitely made her feel better about going into the space station. Even if she had no intention of letting them know that.
***
Heat watched Commander Bowman leave after getting chewed out for giving the agent a hard time. He turned and smirked at Gorman. “Apparently, the commander can’t take a joke, huh? You’d think he’d lighten up. She’s probably the most dangerous person on board this ship. Even if it requires her to have a computer.”
“You’d better believe it,” Gorman replied. “She’s the one I talked to about getting through the door back on that planet. She’s kind of bad ass at what she does. And while you may not know it by looking at her, I heard she went through the crazy training course the rest of those agents go through. I bet she could take us both out pretty easily.”
“You, maybe.” Heat shook his head. “I saw a scared girl who shouldn’t be on this ship. Yeah, she’s got some computer skills but what do those amount to really? When we’re down there and someone starts taking some shots, I think we’re going to be more worried about keeping our soft bits on the inside than what she can do with a terminal.”
“Unless she needs to unlock a door,” Thayne announced. “Then we’ll definitely appreciate her presence.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Heat waved his hand at him. “Haven’t seen you since the flight back up to the ship. How’ve you been, Doc?”
“A prisoner, of sorts … then a collaborator and now your fellow crew member. Sort of.” Thayne hummed. “I’ve been busy since we parted ways. We sent a message to my people and now we will attempt to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. This is a very exciting time, I must say.”
Heat chuckled. “I’m sure it’ll be a blast. Come on.” He led them out toward the airlock where they were docking with the space station. “Let me ask you something. How’re we going to communicate with all these people? Not like they speak the Queen’s English. You guys got a plan for that?”
“Of course,” Thayne replied. “You see, when you board the space station, you buy translation devices. They are tied in to the station’s computer systems and allow you to understand others. Everyone wears one and they’re quite discreet. However, there is a short delay in conversations so from an observer’s point of view, they seem a bit awkward.”
“That helps,” Gorman said. “At least we’ll know when they say they’re going to kill us.”
“Sadly, it’ll be delayed by a few seconds,” Heat pointed out. “So we’ll know because they’re shooting. Somewhere around the third shot we’ll hear a voice say ‘die, scum’. Depending on how creative the translation device is.”
Cassie waited for them at the airlock, leaning against the wall. She wore black cargo pants, combat boots and a short leather jacket over a tactical sweater. The contrast from her earlier pristine uniform gave her some more street cred. The gun on her side was no joke either, a next generation ten millimeter with an extended mag.
Maybe I was wrong about her. This getup gives her a little edge.
Vincent stood nearby, and he looked just as unhappy as when he drilled into them. “Are you ready for this? Outside this door, we won’t have a lot of backup for you. We’ve received permission to post guards outside, but they’ll be your only support if you need it. You’ll have to get back here.”
Heat stepped in front of the door. “If we need support in there, we’re done for. Don’t worry. We’ve got this. As much as you can when it comes to visiting some crazy ass space station out in the middle of space far beyond what any human being has even imagined.”
Gorman groaned. “You have a way with words, man. Seriously.”
“Just go.” Vincent pointed. They opened the door and the marines led the way down the tunnel to the station proper. Whatever happened next would be an adventure to say the least but whether or not they came back from it … Heat wasn’t entirely worried, but he wondered if he probably should be.
***
Cassie understood the mindset of men like Heat. She’d studied the psychology reports for soldiers throughout history and
felt as if she’d gained a fair understanding of their swagger and devil-may-care attitudes. These two were good at their jobs and they risked a lot. A little salt from them made sense, even if it was annoying.
We are lucky to have them with us on this mission. If something goes down, they’ll risk their lives to get us back to the Gnosis.
When the secondary airlock door opened, a rush of cool air hit them, as if they kept the heat low. Cassie pulled a quick scan and found that the life support system was maintaining the environment at an even sixty-one degrees Fahrenheit. She was thankful she’d dressed warmly though surely the shops and restaurants would have their own heat controls.
Thayne approached the attendant waiting to meet them and they spoke in the Pahxin language. While Cassie couldn’t understand it, she knew the sounds well enough to make it out. After a brief conversation, Thayne received a package and returned to the others. He offered them each a small box.
“These are your translators,” he said. “Be sure to put them firmly in your dominant ear. They take a moment to calibrate so we’ll do that here. Let me know when you’re ready.”
Cassie crammed the tiny device into her right ear and winced when it whistled once. “Um … ouch.”
“Sorry about that,” Thayne said. “They sometimes have feedback when you initially install them. Now, if you’re all good, I’ll start.”
He rattled off a number of words in Pahxin and the devices quickly acclimated to the speech then translated in a remarkably natural male voice. Cassie then spoke to Thayne for several moments, just stating words until he nodded. “That will have updated their database. You’d be surprised at how powerful this technology is.”
“Dude,” Heat muttered. “It changes words so we can understand them. It’s not exactly turning water into wine.”
“Isn’t it though?” Thayne asked. He turned to Cassie. “Wine is the beverage people become inebriated from, yes?”
Cassie nodded, not really wanting to be part of this particular conversation.
“Think about it, Sergeant,” Thayne continued. “Communication. Without it, two sides resort to the universal conversation of violence. With it, they can build some of the most wondrous structures known to sentient beings. Believe me, the translation software used on this station is far more impressive than you know.”
“Uh huh. Got it.” Heat gestured down the hall. “Care to take us to your friend?”
“Yes! I’ve checked my scanner and luckily, he is here! We don’t have to wait. However, I’m detecting him at an eating establishment that inebriates people. We’ll need to be cautious there.”
“A bar,” Heat said. “You’re so keen on communication, let me help you out. We’re going to a bar.”
“It’s not a prison, Sergeant.” Thayne moved off and Cassie put her hand on Heat’s shoulder, patting him twice.
“I’d just let that one go for now,” she said. “Come on.”
Cassie expected to see more people as they walked down the hallway leaving the docking area but it was nearly vacant. A door loomed ahead, and it opened as they approached, revealing the boarding gate and a promenade of sorts. The hordes she expected went about their business out there, entering shops and heading to destinations throughout the station.
Clothing styles varied dramatically from close to what they’d expect to see on Earth to vibrant colors that clashed wildly. One man walked without a top on, his pale skin covered in short, coarse hair. Another individual walked through the area in body armor, plates of metal covering up sensitive parts.
Gorman motioned with his chin toward the man. “Looks like we wouldn’t have been out of place in the power armor.”
“But more noticeable,” Cassie replied. “This mission requires a low profile. Thayne? Which way?”
“We’ve got a ways to travel. Follow me.”
They moved off at a brisk pace, plowing into the strange crowd. Cassie kept her hands on her weapon and scanner, worrying about someone trying to lift her items. Heat and Gorman took up the middle. Walking side by side, their presence alone made it easier to travel. People moved, either inadvertently or because they saw the meatheads coming through.
They’re probably used to scary looking types plowing through here.
As if to punctuate her thought, a fight broke out to their left. Cassie’s fingers tightened about her weapon but she kept it in its holster. The combatants started throwing blows, not even trying to block or dodge. One was a tall bald humanoid with a low brow and square jaw. He wore a leather body suit over his stocky body.
The other looked more like one of the marines but thinner with a long black ponytail. He slammed his fist into his opponent’s face but it didn’t even phase the target. A return blow to the torso made the thin guy grunt and so they continued, striking each other like they were conducting some sort of ritual.
“Those two belong to one of the Clans of Uri,” Thayne explained. “Think of them as … hm … I suppose you would call them raiders. But they tend to be a touch more um … noble? Yes, noble. They’re a noble type of criminal.”
“Charming.” Heat shook his head as they started moving again. “Pirates with a code.”
“Precisely!” Thayne walked in silence for several minutes. “Wait. What’s a pirate?”
“Focus,” Cassie said. “We can talk about the hierarchy of criminals later.”
Twenty minutes passed by and Cassie began to feel as if they hadn’t made any progress at all. Many of the people around her were too tall to see over and it obscured her view of the different shops they passed by. While crowd watching definitely appealed to her desire to see something new, the cultures were on display in every storefront.
We’ll have to walk closer to them on the way back.
The translator in her ear started to become annoying as it attempted to filter through the various conversations going on around them. At first, Cassie tried to take snippets out of the mix but eventually, she had to ignore it. Broken words and phrases didn’t provide any context of what was happening
“We’re here!” Thayne called out. “Welcome to Videla’s. Not a place I particularly like to visit but nevertheless, Gil seems to be a …” He hummed. “Oh! Regular! Sorry. I’m almost there with this English language.”
“Get in there and find him,” Heat said. “We’ve got your back.”
Thayne started to say something but Cassie shook her head and gestured for the door. He nodded, though it was clear he wanted to indulge his curiosity. Slang remained beyond him. The common phrases probably proved to simply be annoying because trying to take them literally brought one to an odd place.
He needs a class on Earth languages. Maybe we can hook him up while we’re en route to our next destination.
Videla’s proved that seedy bars were not solely an Earth commodity. The place smelled like stale vomit and old tires. When they stepped across the threshold, the temperature went up fifteen degrees and the humidity felt oppressive. Most of the tables were filled with different characters of varying shadiness.
Several eyes fell on them as they entered, likely trying to gauge whether they were there to cause trouble. Cassie got a sense of the room, that most of the patrons just wanted to be left alone. But there were some that sized them up, trying to decide if they might be worth taking on. Those were the ones she worried about and they were why Heat and Gorman came along.
Few people in the room looked ready to test their luck with the marines. Providing they found Gil in a hurry, they might be able to get out of there before anyone drank enough to become bold. Then again, half these people may be three sheets to the wind. Haste is probably the best option at this point.
“Where is he, Thayne?” Cassie asked. “We’re on a timeline here.”
“I don’t know,” Thayne replied. “The scanner brought me here, but I have to look around. It’s a big place.”
Cassie paused to look around. There were a lot of tables, but they were all visible. She started to
feel like he had brought them to the wrong place when something shattered to the left. All eyes went to a table in the corner where four men were roughing up another. They’d just lifted someone from his seat and slammed him into the wall.
“Don’t tell me …” Heat groaned.
“Yes, that’s Gil!” Thayne said. “Up to his normal routine I see.”
“Getting his ass beat?” Gorman asked.
“If that means assaulted, yes.”
Cassie sighed. “We have to stop this.”
“It probably won’t go well,” Gorman replied. “But I think we’ve got those guys. Heat?”
“Come on. We’ll save him.”
Gil’s attackers were not small men but the tallest of them might’ve come up to Heat’s chin. They had numbers but not necessarily intimidation value. Of course, Gil himself was a slight individual that looked a lot like Thayne only he wore a sparse black beard and a filthy trench coat that might’ve been black at one point but looked brown.
His dark hair stood up in the front and sides, glistening from not being washed in sometime. Not at all what I expected, Cassie thought. The way Thayne spoke of the man put a vision of some golden age treasure hunter in her mind. A dashing fellow, attractive even, ready to take on any challenge that might befall him.
The thugs surrounding Gil made it pretty clear he’d met his match.
“Diplomacy?” Gorman asked Heat as they walked.
“Yeah, I’m a friendly guy.” Heat side stepped between two chairs and moved with a purpose, fists clenched. One of the thugs punched Gil in the gut, drawing a wince of pain. They turned just as the marines arrived and started speaking in another language. The words began to translate in Cassie’s ear when Heat pummeled the closest man in the face. “Hi there.”
The finished comment from the tormentors came out as what do you fools want? She wondered how quickly Heat’s greeting would be converted. They freed Gil and turned to deal with the new threat. Their friend remained on the ground, unconscious. Music stopped in the bar and people stood up.
