by Reiter
“The Onyx Barony,” Pulri revealed. “And despite the lack of inconvenience in this matter, I am still willing to pay you handsomely if we can be on our way within the hour.”
“The hour?!” Jocasta repeated as she stole a glance at the two people behind Pulri Andrus. On his left was a man of broad shoulders but just a little taller than Llaz. To Pulri’s right was a slender woman whose head hung too low for Jocasta’s taste. Her nostrils flared as she took in a deep breath.
“We’ve run full scans, Captain,” Deolun reported in her ear. She could also hear other bodies in the same room settling into chairs. “Still cross-referencing the name of Pulri Andrus, but no matches so far. At the level of emission we can use and not be detected, we’re getting nothing on the girl, but both men are armed to the freakin’ teeth! Twin blasters, En-Form weaponry, short-range explosives, various hand-propelled missile-weaponry, and a couple of devices that are just registering as contained and stable energy reserves. The guy in the back even has a defense screen that is active though at relatively low power.
“But I don’t see anything that boosts their sensory perception,” Deolun continued. “… which is a good thing since Llaz used your body as a veil as he drew his left-handed blaster. And, as per his brace-com signal, Hennix and Synh are just outside the door, masked up, ready to blind and grind.”
“Apparently I didn’t kiss him hard enough,” Jocasta thought as she looked at Pulri and tilted her head to the right.
“I am willing to forward to you, here and now, a fifty percent down payment for your services,” the man declared as he tucked his thumbs into the top of his sizeable weapons girdle just outside the large buckle. His elbows forced the voluminous cloak to part slightly, giving Jocasta a good view of the weaponry that Deolun had already described. The reveal was a power-play, one she had seen employed many times in the past, though few times with such ease of movement; the man was experienced. “I would like to think that ten thousand credits would go a long way to getting you over your surprise, and perhaps even quell the knee-jerk reaction to such requests.”
“And by that you mean the tendency that haste often makes people ask questions as to why you’re in such a rush,” Jocasta said calmly as she nodded. She pointed at Pulri with her index and pinky fingers of her right hand as she spoke; it was the signal that she had received everything Deolun had said and she was ready to move. Jocasta noted in her mind the notion that she had just another reason to thank Dungias for his perspective of Basic Training.
“That is exactly what I mean, Captain,” Pulri said as his face registered a very warm smile. Jocasta’s smile became brighter as she looked at it.
“There’s no shortage of charm in the Andrus Clan,” Jocasta declared as she offered her right hand to the man. “We have an accord, with two caveats. I appreciate you testing me with your low-ball offering, but the first caveat is that it will be fifty thousand credits.”
“That figure is acceptable, Captain,” Pulri nodded. “… and the caveat number two?”
Jocasta’s face did not change as she activated the gravity-field in her right-hand glove, increasing the strength of her grip to the point where the man’s posture changed sharply as he winced in pain. Jocasta pulled hard on the arm as she called for her mask while lunging forward, leading with her forehead. The armour bashed hard into Pulri’s face and she registered a very telling blow.
Llaz was already diving to the floor and in the middle of his shoulder roll when he fired his drawn weapon at the sturdy second man. As expected, the defense field took the brunt of the impact, but the blaster shot to the chest still managed to knock the man off balance as he was throwing his arms back to get his cloak out of the way. Stopping in a one foot, one knee stance, Llaz reached for his right-handed blaster while firing a second time with his left. His mask was forming over his face when the flash grenade went off. He could hear the female scream in fear and the pain of being blinded.
Falling back from the captain’s attack, Pulri was stunned. He was not unaccustomed to the condition, however, and his left hand grabbed Jocasta’s arm. The contact triggered a pulse of electricity that her coat fully absorbed. Jocasta smirked as she pulled the man forward, lifting her cane up into the man’s chest, just under the right arm. The blue glow of the cane did not even register as the flash grenade had not yet dimmed. The gravity pulse enabled Jocasta to lift the man from his feet as it now felt that he possessed the mass of a paperweight. She threw him toward the door and Pulri came in a little high, slamming into the wall just above the doorway. Synh, who was already in the room, dropped down to one knee, giving a slight shout as he drove his fist into Pulri’s face. Hennix had already fired his rifle, catching the second man in the shoulder. His second shot caused the man’s defense screen to blow and part of the blast actually reached flesh. He then turned his attention to the woman, but it was clear she was too disoriented to be a threat.
Jocasta took a quick inventory of the room and was amazed the offensive had been so sweepingly successful. “Caveat number two is that I don’t deal with go-betweens. Tolip, tell me you’re at the controls!”
“Drives are primed and ready to engage,” Silnee answered.
“Lay in a course for the Garnet Barony, and let the throttle know you mean business!”
“Aye, Captain!”
“You can’t see, but you can hear,” Jocasta spoke loudly as she approached the whimpering woman, the hood of her cloak was still over her head. “Which means you can hear me! Not looking to kill anyone today, but I don’t always get what I want. I think it’s a sign of maturity that I don’t complain about it.”
“Please don’t kill me!” the young woman screamed.
“Then don’t piss me off!” Jocasta shot back. “Let’s start with that hood… as in you pulling it back.”
“Do I have your word th–”
“That once I get pissed I will see to it that you are very dead,” Jocasta interrupted. “Oh yeah, I can swear to that one. You’re on my ship, and you had your cronies lie to my face. Your allotments are just about all spent, Your Highness!”
“How did you know I was royalty?” the woman said as she removed her hood.
“Whoa!” Llaz whispered.
“All right now,” Hennix muttered. Even Synh managed a soft ‘hmmm’ as he looked upon her face.
“Welcome aboard the Xara-Mansura, Your Majesty,” Jocasta said, bowing. She stood up, swinging her cane across the woman’s face, breaking her nose. “I dub thee, Lady Brokenbeak.”
“Damn, she had to go and do that?!” Hennix huffed as he put his eyes back to the man he was guarding. He was still clutching his shoulder and in no hurry to add to his wound count.
“You mean you’re surprised?!” Llaz asked, wincing in sympathetic pain. He walked over to stand behind the fallen woman. “I’m thinking you might need to go see LeRoy for a head check.”
“So, just to sum up, that was the nose,” Jocasta announced. “Next comes the left arm!”
“All right, all right already!” the woman cried out, holding out her hand to keep Jocasta at bay. “I’m not royalty, okay! None of us are! But the money we’re offering is real.”
“One step at a time, my recently deposed monarch,” Jocasta was quick to speak. “Who and what the hell are you?”
“I’m nobody you would know,” the woman replied.
“Well let’s get acquainted!” Llaz said sharply, taking a handful of hair and lifting the woman from the floor. Jocasta’s face registered surprise, but no one in the room was looking at her.
“Look here, Miss whatever the hell your name is, in case you missed the notification, the lady you’re dealing with is eloquent! She’s a damn poet! The only trouble is that she’s always out of ink, and people like you are just loaded with blood! So talk, because she tires of conversation… and I’m not too far behind the same resolve myself!”
“Tusyll,” the woman cried out in pain from Llaz’s grip on her hair. “Tusyll Ronnay!�
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“You got that, Shotgun?”
“No! Don’t! Please don’t run a search on that name! Please, I’m begging you!”
“You let us worry about that!” Llaz hissed, giving a pull on Tusyll’s hair. “The woman said who and what.”
“I’m a Jockey.” Jocasta’s face fell blank and suddenly there was nothing to enjoy or observe. The end of her cane dropped to the floor, but remained standing as both of her hands moved to the front portals of her weapons belt. With the throwing knives in her hands, she took one step forward and squinted as Llaz spun around with the woman.
“A Jockey?!” he cried, smacking the woman to the floor now that he was positioned between the two women. He pointed over to the man Hennix was guarding. “And that sad fool over there?”
“He’s one too,” Tusyll admitted. “He’s my brother, Gazhaad. My little brother and he’s in an A-Frame, so please be careful. But Pulri was telling you the truth. He’s just someone we found to hire before our terminal went nuclear.”
“Nuclear?!” Llaz repeated.
“Hey!” Jocasta called to him. “… Lifeguard Llaz. I got it from here, hero. Why don’t you guys give us girls some talking room? And serious locks on the redhead!” Llaz was stopped as he started to walk by Jocasta. She leaned into him and whispered into his ear. “And you better remember who and what we are, acting First Mate.”
“I am Captain,” Llaz whispered. “Do you know how much cred we can get for a pair of Jockeys?!” Jocasta started to speak but she looked into his eyes. If he had just put his retort together, his eyes helped to sell the point. Staring into his eyes, Jocasta found a very sturdy soul that was not about to waver.
“Actually, no I don’t,” she stated. “Do you?”
“Shotgun’s going over the numbers now,” he answered. “I’ll get back to you when we have an accurate figure and a method to offload them.” Jocasta tapped his arm twice and Llaz nodded before walking over to Synh to help carry the unconscious Pulri. The Captain of the Xara-Mansura turned to watch her crew carry out her orders, keying in a command to her brace-com. Synh and Llaz each took an arm and lifted Pulri from the floor. Hennix dragged the A-Frame by its feet until a drone came into the room and lifted the frame and its pilot from the floor. The door had not yet closed all the way when the young woman lunged toward Jocasta. The chamber was flushed with blue light and Tusyll screamed as she flew away from Jocasta, smacking into the large glass portal. Sparks flew from the left shoulder before the woman fell to the floor.
“I wouldn’t,” Jocasta warned as she slowly turned around. “Oh, right. Too late.” Jocasta held out her hand and her cane flew to her grasp. “Let me see if I can retrace our steps. I see through your man’s smokescreen, and even ferret you out as the one calling the shots. Then I see through the fact that you’re not royalty. I guess I wasn’t supposed to notice that for such an ugly nose break there was actually no blood. Nice prosthetics! You reveal that your little brother is in an A-Frame bodysuit, your front-man is throwing around some pretty heavy cred, and I’m not supposed to even think along the lines that you might be wearing a frame too. You Jockeys suck at this Real Life shit, don’t you?” Tusyll moaned as she rolled over on her chest. More sparks flew from the shoulder and a few burned through the clothing on her back.
“You know, for a small fee, I can have my Brain Trust take a look at that thing for you,” Jocasta offered. “You know what, this one’s on the house.
“Guys!” Jocasta called out and the doors opened to allow another drone to enter the Observation Deck. This one was escorted by Marlene and Cilrus who had their rifles set to fire on the young woman. Pristacia came to the door and stopped just inside the chamber. “Princess, please tell my wrecking balls to be careful with the removal of the frame.”
“Will do, Captain,” Pristacia replied. “Shotgun’s said they’ve already prepared a room with an isolated operating system.”
“Sounds like we’ve got our bases covered.” Jocasta looked at the woman, tapped her ear and gave the sign for ‘Thank You’. Pristacia smiled, replying with the sign for ‘You’re welcome’.
“How did you know?” Jocasta asked. “How’d you know the claim to royalty was bullshit?”
“Wrong behavior type,” Pristacia replied. “She’s been in that kind of sun though, even gotten herself a slight tan, but she’ll never shine on her own.”
“And it sounds like your blue man classes cover more than perception,” Jocasta smiled. She wanted to ask Pristacia if she could assume the position Tusyll had failed to accurately portray, but such things were not meant for open discussion. She just looked at the floor as the drone carried the stunned woman to the room that had been prepared for the removal of the body frame. “Hmmm, just another satisfied guest at the Xara-Mansura Arms!
“Maybe we should think about recruiting a couple of people,” Jocasta muttered as she turned to look out of the glass portal. The ship was underway and only gaining in velocity. Still, there was an incredible view of Azuria. She reached into her jacket pocket and took out a cigaro. “You know, a concierge… maybe even a half-naked receptionist who just stands in the corner, smiles and giggles.
“Bah, I’d shoot her before we could even leave port,” Jocasta concluded.
“Captain, I’ve got a report on Tusyll Ronnay,” Kryltane reported.
“As expected, Shotgun,” Jocasta replied as she reached for her lighter. She smiled at it, feeling warmth rush over her body. “But before you begin, kiddo, I’ve got to ask you how you’re feeling as part of the crew.”
Kryltane stammered before answering. “I’m feeling pretty good about it, Captain. Is there something wrong?”
“You’re a bright boy, Shotgun. You’ve got potential. But sometimes, you can get to be too damn smart for your own good. My apologies for not getting to you on this sooner, things have been… well, you know.
“Anywhatsit, are you up to speed on the general issue for the crew?”
“Aye, Captain.”
“But you don’t have a gun.”
“I’m pretty much atrocious at shooting, Captain,” Kryltane shared. “You could say I’ve got some issues with them. I’m surprised Z let me stay on with the crew.”
“Didn’t know about the issues,” Jocasta advised as she lit the cigaro. “As for Z, I named you as crew. That meant he’s going to find a work-around. Speaking of, if you are up to snuff about the equipment, do you have goggles?”
“I love my goggles!” Kryltane shared. “I’ve got a few added bonuses in my format. You see–”
“Not looking for a testimonial, Shotgun!” Jocasta interrupted. “My point is simply this: if you have goggles, why do you have a flashlight?”
There was a moment of silence and Jocasta took a good drag on the cigaro, blowing the smoke out slowly. She looked at the cigaro and found another reason why she wanted her First Mate back as soon as possible.
“Damn if that alien doesn’t grow the best shit!” she thought.
“I don’t know,” Kryltane finally answered.
“That’s because it isn’t a flashlight,” Jocasta advised. “And you’re not to test or try a damn thing until you go through the training programs in your simulator file.”
“I don’t have any training files,” Kryltane replied, sounding confused.
“And you’ve gone through all the files associated with your weapons belt?” Jocasta asked. “This is Z we’re talking about, Shotgun. Your flashlight is on your weapons belt. There’s a pretty good chance there’s a file you missed. And that goes triple for everybody else. Even if you think you’ve got your shit down, if it came from Z, leave no file unopened! I didn’t even know about that gravity trap in my cane until my third or fourth time using it.
“So, what’s the juice on the girl?”
“Tusyll Ronnay,” Kryltane read to her. “She’s a registered CLJ, practicing under the name of Anastasia. She’s a citizen of Almandior, with a warrant out for her there. According to what I�
��m seeing here, she really wants to go to the Onyx Barony. She’s got some backstage coding making all sorts of arrangements for her there.
“And now I’m getting info on the Eye-Spy,” Kryltane stated.
“The what?!”
“It’s what Jockeys use to talk to each other.”
“Since when are you a Jockey?!”
“I’m not, but Satithe showed me how to look like one. Anyway… holy shit!”
“Seriously?”
“Sorry, Captain. Captain, it seems that NBA left more than one contingency. He left killer code on the telnet, and a number of Jockeys have been reported missing. Others have had their endeavors reported to the authorities; damn if that bastard didn’t go out like an ass!”
“My thoughts exactly,” Jocasta replied. “Get those shits out of those frames and have them ready for Round Two of our talks. Tolip, take us down to cruising speed and power up the stealth field.”
Jocasta took one more look out of the window and allowed herself a moment to be awestruck by the arrangement of the stars in this incredible pocket dimension called the Prism Baronies.
“Why not set a course for Pearl?” she whispered. “That’s where I want to go. But, after rushing to get Azuria, I pick up another damn Jockey. Next thing you know, I’m headed to Garnet. That’s a much different stone, isn’t it? And I don’t know why I rushed to get here. Just felt like the right thing to do… just like going to Garnet and Onyx instead of Pearl… again, it just feels like the right thing to do.
“But that’s not the only feeling,” she thought, looking out of the large window once more. “Right now, I’m feeling, ‘take a look… take a real good look… cuz it’s not going to be this beautiful after you get done with it’! Yeah, that’s a feeling too!”
