by J. K. Mabrey
“Then you’d think he could afford a nicer place.”
“Fancy’s not his style, but yeah, this place could use a makeover.”
"It should be condemned."
At the end of the hall sat an office. Rodderick sat behind a crooked desk that leaned to the left. Two armed men stood to his sides, their guns subtly aimed at Zavik and Mike. A soft yellow light hung from the ceiling.
“Ah, Zavik, my friend,” he said, “so good to see you again, and so soon. What brings you by?”
“I need a favor,” Zavik said, despising himself for being reduced to begging to move his own ship.
Rodderick laughed and asked, “A favor? Don’t you think the last favor should be repaid before another is asked for?” He smiled through his prominent teeth, nothing friendly or playful about it.
“This will allow me to pay you back," Zavik said. His hands clenched together and awkwardly twisted around each other.
Rodderick leaned back in his chair and said, "I thought our arrangement was that you would do a final run for me to pay off your debt? I liked that idea. I came up with that idea.”
“There's another job,” Zavik said. “I can pay you back when it’s done, plus some, for the delay.”
“Is this true, Admiral?” Rodderick asked looking at the ranking on Mike’s shirt. Rodderick hardly took notice of Mike until then. His military rank clearly not impressive to him.
“Yes, Earth has a contract for Zavik,” Mike said. "I can assure you it will cover his debt to you.”
Rodderick leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. “Assurances from Earth is no assurance at all, especially out here. But what concern is a freelance shipper's debt to the U.E.F?”
“It is of no concern to us,” Mike said. “Zavik has worked for the U.E.F. before and he was chosen as the best option for this task. I didn’t know about his debt until we met. I vouched for Zavik to my superiors and I would hate to have to return to them still looking for someone to do the job. If you would allow him to take the contract, it would save me some embarrassment, and the U.E.F. would be very grateful.”
He laughed again and said, “I bet they would.” He paused. “Very well, you can leave Zalif, but the tracker will stay intact. If I need something that requires your particular set of skills, I will call you, and you will answer. Agreed?”
Zavik looked at Mike, his eyes rolled back ever so slightly and he said, “Of course.”
"Good, and good luck. I hope it is more successful than Telamere."
Zavik resisted the urge to clench his fist and instead bit the inside of his cheek. What an arrogant nuisance, he thought. Garos had to work out. He couldn't stand the thought of being tied down to Rodderick's whims any longer. He dreaded to think what the others thought of him for getting them into business with him.
Zavik returned to the Rinada while Mike went back to his ship and prepared to head back to Earth.
Zavik gave them the good news and he got a resounding applause full of sarcasm from them. He radioed Mike from the cockpit and said, “They’re as happy as I thought they’d be.”
“Well, good,” Mike said. “I know yall’ll do good for us. I trust you, Zavik, and if you trust your crew, that’s good enough for me.”
Zavik looked behind him at his crew that had crowded in. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then I’ll send you the data and coordinates for Garos. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” he said and switched off the radio. Brax slipped while leaning on the back chair and fell into Charra. He growled and swung wildly at his head, missing, his fist running into the wall. The lights flickered, went dark, then returned. “I know we’re going to need it.”
“Sorry, boss,” Charra said.
“You overgrown louse,” Brax said. “That could’ve hurt.”
“Want to find out how bad?”
“Enough!” Dani said. “I’m gonna take us off of Zalif, and unless you want to get put to work, I suggest you get out of the cockpit.”
“Uh, yeah, you know, I think I have something to do in my room,” Brax said.
“Sorry guys,” Zavik cut in, “she might not put you to work, but I will.”
“What do we have to do?” Charra asked. “The ship’s fine. All system’s checked out, fuel tank’s full. What could we have to do?”
“We need to go through what Mike sent. The faster we get those supplies the faster we get Rodderick paid off.”
“Now that I can get onboard with,” Brax said. “Let’s go, louse. Apparently, we’ve got research to do.”
Brax and Charra left the cockpit, leaving Zavik and Dani alone. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her neck. “How are you doing?” he asked.
“I was going to ask you the same.”
“I’m better,” he said, “always am when we have a job, especially a good one.”
“I know what you mean,” she said. She kissed him. “It feels like we might finally have a chance to start over.”
“Start over?”
“Forget about the past, forget about Red Moon, and focus on our future.”
He just nodded. “No, you’re right. After this, things will be different. I promise.”
“Will it?” she asked. “How?”
“What?”
“How will it be different? You’ll buy a lightdrive for the Rinada, we’ll get some jobs we’re not getting now, but what about you? Are you going to stop thinking about him? I know when times are tough your mind always goes back to him.”
Zavik’s eyes were fixed on his console and he was silent. “Yours doesn’t?” he finally asked.
“Of course, it does, and I hate it. I’m not so sure how much you hate it.”
“Of course, I hate it, but I keep getting this feeling that he’s out there. I keep remembering something Alberan said. ‘If he’s stuck out there, it’s because it’s what he wanted.’ Why would he want to be stuck in the Dark Sector?”
“He doesn’t,” Dani said. “He made a mistake, and we won. Now he gets to rule uninhabited planets all he wants.”
“That’s where I have the problem. He doesn’t make mistakes.”
“Have you talked to Brax about this?”
“No,” Zavik said. “I think it’s best to not. He can understand wanting to hit Red Moon targets. I'm not sure if he can understand my feelings that Varin will come back. Even I don’t understand them.”
She placed her hand on his. “He’s not coming back. You have to believe that.”
He shook his head and walked out, his boots landing harder than normal with a deep thud on the steel floor. He desperately wanted to believe it, if only for her.
Dani plotted a course for Garos. The only active portal to Garos was on Earth. She had to go through two portals to get back to Earth. A marginal fee, paid courtesy of the U.E.F, was deducted from an account Mike set up for them at each portal. It was good to be back on a government contract.
Chapter 5
Captain Balon stood on the bridge of the Etanu Dreadnought Penatent reading a report that had just come in on their latest attack. He nodded his head and rubbed his scaly chin. A thin smile crept up his face. Their squadron of fighters was successful in damaging the shipyards on Vusxeros enough to knock them out of commission. Lord Traval would be pleased, and he was relieved. Giving Traval bad news often ended in pain, suffering, sometimes death, but that was only when your own incompetence threatened their cause. Balon didn't consider himself an incompetent Chokmnd. How else would one rise from local manager of exports for Red Moon on Antilion to captain of his own starship? And not just any starship. This was an Etanu Dreadnought. It was three times larger than a Chokmnd dreadnought and the second largest ship in the new Etashi fleet.
He was given the opportunity by Varin Bragko himself, though he had no idea at the time who the shadowed figure leading Red Moon was. Varin was impressed with his initiative to reroute exports through the custom-less, tax-less system of Soltin. He smuggled weapons, drugs, slaves, w
hatever was requested without having to pay off a single authority figure, and he did it for a whole year. The vision, the ingenuity Balon told himself was what Varin saw. He was given command of a larger sector of Red Moon's operation and when shipments doubled and profits tripled he was given more. He prided himself on his ability to negotiate labor disputes and affect an outcome that heavily favored Red Moon. If workers threatened to strike, he had plenty of slaves who he needed to keep busy. If they demanded higher pay, he would oblige, but behind the scenes lobby for tax breaks to keep profits up.
Balon had risen quite high in Red Moon. He thought he could have gone higher still, but Varin changed. He became more secretive, closed off. His regular meetings with the sector heads, where he first learned the true identity of Red Moon's leader, were canceled or continued without his oversight. Then the rebellion happened. Red Moon was exposed as Varin's puppet machine. The Chokmnd Emperor's son had helmed the largest criminal organization in the Galaxy and tried to destroy the Galactic Council and take control of the Galaxy. He killed the Chokmnd Councilor, Paquiko in cold blood, and convinced the Rovun fleet to aid him in attacking Earth in false accusation of Paquiko's murder. But ultimately he failed. How unfortunate. Varin fled to the Dark Sector, but he wasn't lost. No, he was just preparing for the right time to make his return. It was up to the Penatent to make sure that time came.
Captain Balon read over the report again, being sure to take note of every detail just in case Traval asked. The Penatent was stationed five thousand light years outside the Galactic border, about halfway to the Dark Sector. They were surrounded by dozens of support ships. Three Red Moon Dreadnoughts, two Battlecarriers and hundreds of Etashi fighters were stowed aboard the capital ships. The flotilla was biding its time until Varin was ready to make his presence known to the Galaxy. Then he would be feared, they all would, and rightfully so. If not for the failure of the rebellion they would have already revealed themselves, but that extraordinary defeat set back Varin's plans by years. It shook the confidence of some of Red Moon's leaders. Some defected, went into hiding or started their own organizations. Some even had the gall to use the name Red Moon for their organization, as if they were now in control of the infamous group. They were not. Varin still was. Only now, that group was concentrated in the Dark Sector. It's goal of Galactic control still first and foremost on its leader's mind and the minds of his subordinates. With less than half the resources of the old Red Moon still available to him, Varin had to rely more on the Etashi than originally planned. Just the thought of the Etashi made Balon queasy. They were unpredictable, uncivilized. But Varin had spent more time with them than anyone else since the rebellion. Even Traval spent a fair amount of time with them. Learning their secrets, learning their source of dark power. It wasn't the pain of a blaster he feared when giving bad news, it was a pain that was much worse, one that reached into your bones and scrambled the nerves around. One that sent a shiver of pain up your spine and caused any movement you tried to make to alleviate it just magnify the effect. Captain Balon looked over the report one last time. Good news, he sighed, well mostly good news.
"I'll give the report to Lord Traval myself," he said to his first mate. His first mate didn't hold back a look of relief and gave a quick, curt salute.
Balon reached the lift at the back of the bridge. It descended two floors in a flash and the thick metal door slid open in a smooth motion. A short hallway ended at the door to Traval's office. He stood there, waiting. A small camera in the corner tracked him and scanned. Security measures, he imagined, but never had the nerve to ask. The door slid open.
The room was bright and clean. A starmap on the left wall marked their location and the targets they had chosen were highlighted in red. There were other locations marked as well, but Balon didn't know what they were for. A desk sat on the back wall, a large window to the stars was behind it. Traval sat facing the window. He made no visual movement indicating he noticed Balon entered.
Balon stepped forward. A slightly sweet smell of fresh flowers danced in the air. There were no flowers of course; it was just artificial aromas to mask the processing required by the life support systems. It was typically too subtle to notice after a few minutes of being saturated in it, but Traval seemed to enjoy the aroma so much he had a bit of extra dumped into his quarters.
Traval turned around slowly in his chair, his hands forming a steeple and a look of boredom covered his face. It sent a shiver down Balon's back. After years of serving him, he wondered if he would ever feel comfortable around Traval. He imagined Traval liked it that way.
"You have a report on Vusxeros?" he asked.
"Yes, my Lord," Balon said and approached the desk.
He handed Traval the datapad. His thick, scaly arms stretched out from the dark tunic that covered him. A brief flash of blue light escaped from the neck of his tunic.
"Our assault on Vusxeros went well," Balon said. "The report indicates that the shipyards will be down for weeks before production can resume, and even then they will be at less than half capacity for months."
"Very good," Traval said. His eyes ran rapidly over the report searching for anything out of the ordinary. Anything his Captain might hesitate to share. Had the Council gotten wise to their attacks? Had they employed any new techniques to defend themselves? Nothing stood out except...humans. "A StarCruiser?" was all he said.
"Yes, we believe it was a coincidence. A ship there for repairs or upgrades perhaps."
Traval pursed his lips. "Humans don't tend to upgrade or service their ships away from their own construction yards." He read over that section again. The human StarCruiser held back the attackers long enough for reinforcements to mobilize. It was because of them that the shipyard would be operational again in weeks instead of the targeted down time of two months. It was not a big deal, just an irritant, as all humans tended to be. Traval wondered why the ship was there. It was fully functioning. Perhaps it was just there to aid in the defenses. A good faith gesture by the humans. Another in a long list needed to overcome their near universal distaste in the Galaxy. At least, that was his thinking.
"Is there any more?" Traval asked, clearly eager to return to his solitude.
Balon paused and said, "The human, Khan." The name provoked a response in Traval's face of rage and disgust. How a human could disrupt Varin's great plan Balon did not know, and it wasn't something he desired to bring up. It had been a quest to capture or kill this Khan since the end of the rebellion, but every attempt had failed, and every time it enraged Traval. "Our spies say he has left Zalif."
"I thought he was grounded by that local thug Rodderick?"
"It appears he's been given a reprieve from that so he can do a job for Earth."
His fangs showed briefly and clenched. "I knew we should have gone after him while he was locked down."
"We tried, my Lord," Balon said taking a small but noticeable step back.
"Bounty hunters," Traval spat, "not worth their weight in gold. My warriors would have been better. But they are not ready."
"We could always hire Saris Valkon. His reputation is stellar."
"That it is," Traval said waving his hand, "but no. Send a squad of fighters to find him. I don't know what he's up to, but it's time he paid for his interference."
"Right away, my Lord," Balon said.
"And what of our attack on Soltin?" Traval asked.
"The plans are coming along nicely," Balon said, a subtle smile stretching across his face. "Our assessments all indicate a success rate of at least eighty-four percent. The odds of retaining control for an extended time are greater than seventy percent."
"Excellent, Balon," he said with his sharp white teeth shining. "My master will be pleased to hear it."
"Your master?" Balon asked. Varin. Finally ready to return and bring them to glorious power.
"Yes, he is almost ready to take back the mantle that is rightfully his."
Balon turned to leave. As he reached the door he look
ed back. Traval was spinning back to face the stars. His right hand was raised slightly and his fingers curled. A small object, a statue of an octulus floated above his hand, turning over and over. It disappeared behind the back of his chair as the door slammed shut.
Chapter 6
The Rinada slipped through the portal from Earth to Garos. No funds were withdrawn for this transaction. The Council liked to give a waiver to new systems for the first few years, and the parent system and colony got to have a waiver for about two decades before they started collecting. That generosity sometimes provided a nice loophole to exploit when shipping, if the right combinations of portals lined up.
The ship moved away from the portal, the thrusters roared to life to guide her. Brax joined Dani in the cockpit. They turned to Garos and were shocked at how un-Earth-like it looked. The space around the planet was clean of ships, space stations, and the collection of garbage and debris that had settled in around Earth from hundreds of years of space fairing. It was quiet. There was no traffic controller yelling at them to move along. They were alone in space. It was peaceful and serene. She could have stared at it for hours.
She wondered if this was how the first astronauts saw Earth. Then at least there were cities to see on Earth and the Great Wall of China. There was none of that on Garos. Not yet at least.
The planet was green and clear around the center. Clouds coalesced at the poles forming a thick blanket that hid the surface below. Land covered much of its surface, another differentiating trait from Earth. Blue lakes that spread out for hundreds of miles spotted the landmass. The planet looked fresh and untouched. The olive green land turned to brown to their left. A rocky formation grew to the right. The closer they got to the surface the more the planet's unique features started to stand out. A large crater to the south was overgrown with trees, or at least something resembling trees. A storm further south swirled violently around the pole throwing outstretched fingers of clouds out as if searching for something to take hold of and pull into its violent thrashing. The rocks to the east merged into a white-peaked range that spanned the entire planet from cloud cover to cloud cover.
