by D. J. Holmes
“And just who is this powerful contact of yours?” Sarah asked, realizing she didn’t even know the name of the person she was about to meet.
“Rozella,” Hangal answered. “She is one of three pirate leaders who operate this asteroid. She didn’t build it, but she helped overthrow the original owners. As well as owning a stake in Elaijar, she owns four of the ships you saw docked within the asteroid. She is fair, but not to be messed with. If she can meet your needs, she will, but it won’t be cheap.”
Before Sarah could ask any more questions, Hangal stepped up to the circular access hatch and placed his hand on a scanner. After a couple of seconds, the scanner let out a beep and Hangal stepped back.
Slowly, the hatch opened. As it rolled clockwise out of the way, a small amount of steam was expelled from around the lower edges of the circular hatch. Before the hatch had even rolled one third open, Hangal turned around and walked past Sarah. “Good luck,” he called out as he hurriedly made his exit. “If you need anything else, you know where to find me.”
Sarah nodded, slightly concerned by his desire to be on his way so quickly. Nevertheless, she turned back to the access hatch and moved forward.
Chapter 15
Stepping through the circular access hatch, Sarah shivered. There was a chill to the air inside the chamber. As she took another step forward she almost slipped. The floor was quite smooth and moist. Looking down, she saw that a thin layer of mist covered the floor, obscuring her feet. She had mistaken it for steam when the access hatch had opened, but the mist was cool. Sarah tried to ask Alexandra what the mist was. However, her neural interface failed to transmit a message. A quick diagnostic told Sarah that something within the room was blocking her neural COM unit from transmitting.
“My apologies for the inconvenience,” a smooth soft voice said from somewhere further within the chamber. “The preferred atmospheric conditions for my species do not suit many other sentients.”
“That’s okay,” Sarah said loudly as she took a few more careful steps towards where the voice had come from. She paused in shock as a shape slithered out of an alcove. The alien had a long, thin green and brown body. Half of the alien’s body was lying flat on the ground and it swayed from side to side as it propelled the alien forward. The rest of its body arched up into the air and ended in a thin, angular face. Several short stubby arms protruded from the sides of the body just below the face. Momentarily, as Sarah saw the creature slither along the floor, she thought their contact was an Elder. A stab of fear almost caused her to turn and run. Yet reason prevailed. If the Elders knew about the pirate base, it would have been long since destroyed. Forcing herself to look closer, it quickly became clear she was in fact looking at a different species. Nevertheless, the creature gave her the shivers.
“It seems I must apologize as well for my appearance,” the alien said. As it spoke a forked tongue flicked back and forth out of its mouth. “My appearance also proves to be an inconvenience for many others.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” Sarah said, hoping to make amends for her reaction. “I have encountered many alien species over the years. It is always a pleasure to meet someone from a new species for the first time.”
“Good,” their contact responded as her face split into a wide grin.
Sarah swallowed hard, the creature’s grin had revealed two razor-sharp teeth.
“Do you care to take a seat as we open our discussions?” The creature said.
“That would be pleasant,” Sarah replied.
“Very well,” their contact responded as it twisted its body and slithered deeper into the chamber. As it moved, it reached across to a command device that was strapped around one of its arms and pushed a couple of buttons. Behind Sarah and Divar the circular access hatch rolled shut.
After a glance over her shoulder to Divar, Sarah followed their contact. “Has Hangal informed you about what we are looking for?” she asked.
“We can discuss business once we are comfortable,” their contact replied. “Here we are,” she said a moment later as she slithered behind a desk and coiled herself around a thick pole the height of Sarah’s chest. At the other side of the table there were two pieces of furniture that resembled chairs. “Please, take a seat. I would offer you some refreshments but I fear that you would not enjoy the specimens that I usually have as part of my midday snack,” Rozella said as she motioned towards the chairs.
“That is quite alright,” Sarah replied as she sat down in one of the chairs. “We are happy to come straight to our request. My name is Sarah, and this is my associate Divar.”
“And I am Rozella,” the contact said. “I believe you wish to purchase a shipment of anti-matter?”
“We do,” Sarah answered. “We will require ten cubic centimeters, though we would be willing to purchase as much as thirty if you have access to such quantities.”
“That should be possible,” Rozella said slowly. “I have four cubic centimeters of anti-matter in storage and we have an old anti-matter compressor on the asteroid. I should be able to produce more for you. You are talking about a large shipment however. May I ask what you require it for?”
“My Captain commands the ship Traveler. She has arranged to ship anti-matter to a Tier Two colony. They have some Elder reactors that require anti-matter to run. It seems the Elders have been slow in shipping fuel to the colony,” Sarah explained.
“Very well,” Rozella said. “I don’t suppose you are willing to reveal the location of this colony? I’m sure I could offer you a handsome price for such information.”
Sarah smiled widely. “I don’t think my Captain would like that very much. I would rather not upset him.”
“Loyalty,” Rozella replied. “I can respect that. In that case, there are just two more things we need to discuss. Firstly, the price. I intend to charge one million credits for every cubed centimeter of anti-matter.”
Sarah sat forward in her chair. That was more than twice what Alexandra had guessed the going price for anti-matter would be. At such a price, they wouldn’t be able to afford to fully resupply Destiny’s fuel tanks. “I have been instructed to pay no more than five hundred thousand credits,” Sarah said, hoping to bargain with Rozella.
“In that case, you will have to go back to your Captain empty-handed,” Rozella said. “It is expensive to produce new anti-matter. I will have to put my best scientists to work to make sure that our anti-matter compressor is fully functional. I will not do so unless there is a tidy profit to be made. You can have the anti-matter I already possess at eight hundred thousand credits, I will bargain with you there. However, any more will cost a full million per cubed centimeter. If your Captain really has found a colony desperate for anti-matter, then he will be able to make a profit even at the price I am setting.”
“I understand,” Sarah replied, quickly doing some maths in her head. “My Captain has given me some leeway in any deals I make. We would be happy to buy what anti-matter you have at eight hundred thousand. We will also purchase an additional fourteen cubic centimeters at one million.”
“Perfect,” Rozella said with another unnerving smile. “I will require the full price of the four cubic centimeters I have presently upfront. I can have it delivered to your shuttle within the hour. For the rest, a ten percent down payment will suffice. That will cover my initial running costs.”
“Then we have a deal,” Sarah said. “Will you accept payment in platinum bars?”
“I have heard someone has been flashing platinum bars around Elaijar,” Rozella replied with a smile. “They will certainly do.”
“Great,” Sarah said as she stood and walked over to Divar. He turned his back to Sarah to allow her to access his backpack. After punching in the code, Sarah began to lift platinum bars out. She counted out ten bars and placed them on Rozella’s table. It, and the rest that she would owe Rozella, was most of what was left of Draxler’s wealth. “When do you think you will have the rest of the anti-matter ready
for us?” she asked as she sat down.
“No more than a week I hope,” Rozella answered. “Do you plan to stay on Elaijar until it’s ready?”
“No,” Sarah answered. “We will return to our ship once we have received the first instalment of anti-matter. We can return in a week to pick up the rest.”
“That is a pity,” Rozella said as she unwound herself from the pole she had been resting against. Slithering across the floor, she moved around the table and slowly made her way towards the access hatch. Sarah and Divar took it as a cue to follow and stood up.
“I’m sure there are many things on Elaijar you could have enjoyed sampling,” Rozella continued as they moved across the chamber. “Staying here would beat spending another week in what I’m sure is a dull pirate ship. I for one, wouldn’t mind you spending some of your credits in my pleasure domes.”
“Our Captain will want us back to fill him in on the details of our deal,” Sarah replied. “Perhaps he will allow us to return after that.”
“In that case then, let me give you this,” Rozella said as she reached into a fold in her skin with one of her short stubby arms that Sarah hadn’t seen before. Out of it she pulled a small circular disc. “This is an identity disc. You place it onto your identity bracelet. It will mark you out as someone who has dealings with me. That should give you an extra measure of security on Elaijar. There are very little rules here, people only respect strength. If I have heard about the wealth of platinum you are carrying around, I’m sure others have as well.”
“Thank you,” Sarah said as she reached out to take the small disk. “It has been a pleasure to do business with you.”
“And I with you,” Rozella said smiling again. “I bought that old anti-matter compressor more than a decade ago. It will be a pleasure to see it paying off its investment.”
“I’m glad we can be of help to one another,” Sarah said
As they approached the access hatch, Rozella touched her command bracelet and it began to revolve open. “I will contact you when I have the first shipment of anti-matter ready to be delivered to your shuttle. It should take no more than an hour.”
“Thank you,” Sarah said as she and Divar stepped through the access hatch. “As I said, we will take the anti-matter back to our Captain. We will then return in one week. Is there a way that we can contact you directly?”
“If you speak to Hangal again he can put you in contact with me,” Rozella replied. “I’m sure he’s overcharged you by a fair margin just for this meeting. I’ll make sure he knows to do it for free next time. Good luck Sarah.”
“And to you to,” Sarah replied.
As she walked down the corridor away from the circular access hatch, Sarah felt her link with Alexandra re-establish itself. Quickly her head began to feel fuzzy. As she rounded a corner she paused and placed a hand against the wall to steady herself. As she looked at Divar, he didn’t look much better than her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice strained.
“I think so,” Sarah replied.
“You have just been in the presence of a Soothsayer,” Alexandra said to Sarah.
“A what?” Sarah thought.
“A Soothsayer is a species from the planet Basalisk,” Alexandra replied immediately, having anticipated Sarah’s question. “They are a carnivorous species, as well as being fearsome hand-to-hand warriors, they are equipped with unique neurochemical abilities. With their tongues, they can sense the pheromones given off by nearby species and almost instantaneously produce specific neurochemicals suited to their prey. They then secrete the neurochemicals onto their skin which quickly evaporate. The neurochemicals are typically designed to lull their prey into a false sense of security and make them easily captured or in your case, susceptible to making outlandish deals.”
“Outlandish?” Sarah said out loud. Then she remembered. Five hundred thousand had been the maximum price they had agreed on for anti-matter before they had left Destiny. In a matter of seconds, she had agreed to eight hundred and then a million.
“We need to go back,” she said to Divar after explaining what had happened.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he replied. “Whether we were tricked are not, you gave Rozella your word. If you try to go back on it now, it could ruin the whole deal.”
Sarah was torn, she felt silly for being so easily fooled. Yet she understood what Divar was saying.
“It would be very dangerous to try to back out of the deal with a soothsayer,” Alexandra said, though she couldn’t have known Divar’s counsel yet. “They can be a very pleasant species, loyal even, when they get what they want. However, Soothsayers are renowned for being quick to turn to aggression when they need to. I would suggest you honor your initial deal. If Rozella can meet our anti-matter needs, it should allow us to travel to two of the pirate bases in close proximity to where your smuggler is wanted. If you can locate him, then he may be able to help us find more anti-matter as well as direct you towards your homeworld.”
“I suppose. I guess we better honor the deal,” she said out loud. “Let’s get back to the shuttle then and wait for our first shipment. I want to get back to Destiny as soon as possible.”
“That’s ok with me,” Divar replied.
For ten minutes, they walked in almost complete silence as they made their way through the station. Twice they were stopped by bands of armed pirates and made to pay a small fee for traversing through their section of the station. One of the groups tried to make them pay a much greater sum than what they had payed when they had come past with Hangal. However, they lowered their price after Sarah showed them the chip Rozella had given her.
As they turned a corner, Sarah came to a stop. Something didn’t feel right. On almost every section of the station they had been in so far, there was always at least one alien in view doing something or another. The corridor in front of them was empty. It was also darker than the rest of the station, the lights seemed dimmer. Sarah turned to glance back at Divar. She was going to suggest they take a different route. Before she met his eyes, movement behind him caught her attention. Further down the corridor they had just come three aliens were moving towards them. They had their weapons drawn.
Pulling Divar further around the corridor towards her, Sarah drew her blaster and began firing. She knew what they wanted by the look on their faces. One laser beam hit the middle of the three aliens and he fell to the ground. The other two jumped to the side and returned fire. Sarah ducked back behind the turn in the corridor.
“Stunner bolts,” Divar said as he saw four or five blue bolts strike the corridor wall. “They are trying to capture us.”
“We need to fight our way past them,” Sarah said. “I don’t want to find out what nasty surprises they are trying to herd us towards down that corridor.”
Divar took one look on down the corridor in front of them and nodded. “On three then,” he replied as he unslung his laser rifle.
“One, two…” Sarah said as she fell to her knees and popped her head around the turn in the corridor, her laser pistol already up and seeking out a target. Divar was standing over her, his rifle also looking for a target.
The scene that greeted Sarah startled her. The two pirates had already been reinforced by at least four more. She fired a couple of shots and then ducked back into cover when a cascade of stunner bolts rushed towards her and Divar
“This corridor doesn’t look so bad after all,” Divar said, ducking back around the turn in corridor.
“I don’t think we have any choice,” Sarah replied as she eyed the dark corridor before them.
“I’ll take the lead,” Divar said as he moved off.
Sarah wanted to protest, but she knew someone had to go first. She stuck her blaster around the corridor and fired off several more shots blindly. As she looked back towards Divar, she was alarmed to see he was already moving beyond where she could see him. The corridor was even darker than she realized.
Quick
ly, she followed him. When he ground to a halt, Sarah banged into his back. “What is it?” she whispered.
“I heard something,” Divar said as he turned to look up the corridor. Their pursuers wouldn’t be too far behind them.
Sarah was about to press on when she heard a familiar sound. It was the clunk of a metallic object bouncing down the corridor from somewhere in front of them. “Get down,” she shouted.
It was too late. Sarah knew it. She had encountered numerous such devices in her simulations with Alexandra. Almost before she had finished speaking, the grenade exploded. It released a strong concussive force and high-pitched screech that shot up the narrow confines of the corridor. Sarah felt herself being lifted into the air. The impact pushed the wind out of her lungs. As she hit the deck she rolled onto her side and threw up. Her insides felt like they had been thrown into a blender. Reaching up to her nose, she felt blood trickling down around her lips. Concussion grenades were meant to incapacitate their targets. Alexandra had hit Sarah with a few of them during her simulations. Sarah decided experiencing the real thing was far worse.
