"As I said ... I am not unsympathetic. I just don't have the luxury of indulging in my every impulse without a moment of thought. I hope you find Crusher alive and well. Goodbye, Jason."
"That man loves the sound of his own voice," Jason muttered as he flipped over to the message he was dreading. He wasn't sure what emotional state Kellea would be in, but he could see right away from her face that it was a good thing that he was a few lightyears away at that moment.
"You bottom-feeding asshole," she said without preamble. Jason winced. So it was going to be that kind of message.
"I cannot imagine what was going through your head to think that drugging me was somehow a good plan. You have put my career, my entire life at risk. I now have to prove to Crisstof that I am not a security risk, but thanks to your selfishness that's going to be exceedingly difficult. Did it ever occur to you to just ask for my help so we could work on the problem together? At the first bit of difficulty your first solution was to betray me and run away like a coward. Do not bother replying to this message, and in case you're so dense you can't figure it out, whatever was going on between us is finished." She closed the channel with a vicious stab of her finger and the display went dark.
Jason leaned back in his seat, trying to sort his feelings out about both messages. He couldn't care less about pissing off Crisstof, though losing the resources he provided was a major blow to their operation. The end of his relationship with Kellea, however, was something he had mixed feelings about. He wasn't happy it was over, of course, but he also firmly believed that he'd done the only thing he could to guarantee they got the information they needed to find Crusher.
"I thought the bottom-feeding asshole part was a bit harsh," Kage's voice came over the intercom just as one of the monitor's lit up, showing the Veran's face.
"Are you kidding me?" Jason snapped. "Is there nothing sacred to you?"
"Oh please," Kage said. "You think you're the first one to get dumped by a woman because you drugged her and stole something?"
"I don't even want to entertain this conversation," Jason said. Just as he reached over to switch the feed off, he heard a muted snort. "Who else is there enjoying the show?"
"Hey, Captain," Twingo said, his face coming into the frame. "We were just checking to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine," Jason said, rolling his eyes. "You two can stop eavesdropping and start finding us a way into Duat." This time he did kill the video feed. Despite how he felt, he had to chuckle. He'd begun to understand that a lot of Kage's behavior wasn't simply to annoy him, but often to distract him when things turned sour in his life. He was like the sibling who acted up to deflect blame and anger towards himself. As annoying as he could be, Jason had come to appreciate the effort once he understood that it was simply a misguided attempt to keep the peace in a "family" that had a lot of strong personalities.
With a final snort of disgust, Jason pushed himself away from the console and left the com room. Finding where they took Crusher was only the first step in what promised to be a very unpleasant and dangerous mission. Despite everything that had just happened he had to stay focused and concentrate on not only getting one of his friends back, but not losing any others in the process.
****
The Phoenix burst into the Corzit'el System with a flash, one of many ships to enter the system over the span of a few hours. It had taken them nearly seven weeks and had practically emptied the ship's treasury, but they finally had found a way into Duat, the infamous prison that was below the surface of the fourth planet in the system.
Through their various connections in the quadrant's underworld they discovered that the wardens of the prison, called Watchers, organized a biannual tournament that featured fights to the death of their most violent prisoners. While that sort of spectacle happened much more often than civilized people would care to admit, the scope of the Duat tournament seemed to draw an especially large—and dangerous—crowd from all over the sector.
While the tournament generated a lot of money for the Watchers, the real reason behind it was to thin out the population. Duat had some of the most dangerous beings in known space and a fairly large population, many more prisoners than there were Watchers. It was in their best interest to make sure the most violent among them didn't stick around long enough to cause any trouble. After they'd learned all of this Jason had no doubt that the next round of fights would feature his friend. It had taken them weeks, and almost all of their money, to discover when it was taking place and secure themselves an invitation under assumed aliases. He wasn't sure if Crusher's abduction was simply an opportunity too great to pass up for the guards at De'Moltia or if the Galvetic warrior was recognized specifically. Either way, it was smarter to enter the prison as someone else.
"We're getting our landing instructions," Kage said. "They're bringing in everyone staggered and not letting more than three land at any one time."
"Makes sense," Jason said. "Their landing field isn't big enough for everyone to just make a mad dash for it."
"We're in the third group, landing pad eight-alpha," Kage said. "They're sending a ground shuttle out to the pad since the surface temperature is negative two hundred and fifty-six degrees Kelvin."
"That's a bit brisk for a walk," Jason agreed. "Any word yet on the security procedures?"
"Nothing other than they state everyone entering will be scanned," Kage shrugged. "They don't even specifically say no weapons."
"Our contact told us that this used to be a favorite spot for crime bosses to assassinate each other," Doc said. "There used to be a strict no-weapons policy in place, but after the third death in the spectators’ area they became a bit more lenient. Private security is allowed, but no heavy weaponry and they're checking to make sure nobody is sneaking in a bomb to take out everyone at once."
"That plays well for us," Jason said. "I'll play the part of the up and coming gangster and Lucky will be my hired muscle."
"That's not much of a stretch for you two," Twingo said. "What will we be doing?"
"Keeping the ship hot and ready to fly," Jason said. "I have a feeling we'll be leaving in a hurry."
After making orbit they were finally given clearance to begin their approach after three hours of cooling their heels. Jason waited until the expensive luxury transport ahead of them had called their final approach before dipping the Phoenix's nose into the atmosphere and pushing the throttles up.
When he saw the ships that were lined up on the landing pad he felt singularly conspicuous. The gunship was something that these types hired, not rode around in themselves. Despite the sleek shape the Phoenix was unmistakably a tactical vessel and stuck out among the glistening personal ships of the wealthy beings around them. Jason touched down softly on their designated landing pad and spun the ship around on her landing gear so that the nose was pointed out and away from the incoming traffic.
The red dwarf barely lit the surface of the planet, even at midday, and a gloomy pall seemed to hang over the tiny starport.
"Not much of a vacation spot on the surface," Kage remarked as Jason climbed out of his seat.
"I don't think it gets much better under the surface," he said.
"You guys be careful in there," Doc said seriously. "Not only are the Watchers dangerous in their own right, you've got an entire room full of ruthless criminals to contend with."
"We've been through worse," Jason said flippantly.
"I'm serious," Doc pressed. "If it looks impossible to get him out, think about walking away and we'll take another run at it a different way."
"I appreciate the sentiment, Doc," Jason said. "But it's all or nothing this time. There won't be a second chance."
"We'll be ready to do our part," Twingo assured him. "Just make sure this isn't all for nothing."
"We will get Crusher out of here," Lucky declared confidently as he walked off the bridge. The battlesynth was always a bit on the quiet side, but since Crusher had disappeared he'd hardly spoke
n a word.
"You heard him," Jason shrugged as he slipped his jacket on. He was dressed in one of the expensive suits he still had as a perk from a mission during which he'd had to pose as a wealthy playboy moonlighting as an arms dealer. "We'll be fine. I'm more worried about the shape Crusher is in now or if we'll even be able to get to him without blowing our cover."
The ground shuttle the Watchers had sent to pick them up was sparse, but warm. Lucky strode from the ramp of the Phoenix to the vehicle without issue, but Jason could feel the cold bite deep into his bones as he tried to hurry across the frozen surface. As the shuttle pulled away he realized the dangerously cold conditions on the surface were another factor he hadn't considered. If Crusher were injured or otherwise unhealthy it could be problematic to move him across the ramp to the ship. Lucky could easily carry him, but then they'd have no weapons. Jason could lift the big warrior, but he wasn't sure how fast he'd be able to move in these condition himself, much less shouldering over three hundred pounds while avoiding incoming fire.
"We cannot control all factors," Lucky said quietly beside him.
"We're spending too much time together if you can read my mind like that," Jason muttered back. They fell silent as the shuttle made four more stops and a total of ten more aliens climbed aboard: four dressed to kill, four who were obviously security simply looking to kill, and two of what Jason assumed to be escorts. They all eyed each other with distrust as the shuttle rolled its way across the frozen tarmac to the first security door.
Once they'd entered the facility they were ushered out of the shuttle, past the processing area stained a multi-colored pattern from the blood of dozens of species, and to a series of lifts that would take them down into the bowels of Duat. As the doors closed Jason fought down a momentary bout of panic as the reality of where he was willingly going sunk in. He then thought of his friend being trapped in there for weeks and his resolve hardened and the feelings of panic and fear evaporated.
"Welcome to the seventeenth occurrence of the Duat Invitational Tournament," a ridiculously dressed being said as the lift doors opened and they walked out into an enormous chamber that had been carved out of the planet's bedrock. Jason wasn't sure what it was normally used for, but currently the area was decorated in an incredibly gaudy fashion and a hemispherical cage was erected in the center. The graduated seating all around the cage left little doubt what its purpose would be.
"A drink, sir?" someone said from Jason's elbow. He looked over, and then down, at an alien with mottled orange skin.
"Why not?" Jason said with a forced cheerfulness. He was struggling to get himself into character and he knew if he didn't get it together soon others might begin to take notice that he didn't belong. All the other guests to the event were exuberant and well on their way to intoxicated; a brooding and sullen person standing apart and eyeballing all the security measures was definitely going to draw the wrong kind of attention.
"What will you have?"
"I'll just take one of whatever that group is drinking," Jason said, gesturing to one especially loud cluster that had just had another round delivered.
"Very good, sir," the server said with a low bow. "I shall return promptly."
"They can't hide what this place really is, no matter how much scrubbing they do," another voice said from Jason's right.
"No, they can't," he agreed quickly, looking the newcomer over. "But I suppose it's nothing we're not used to in a lot of ways."
"Indeed," the alien said. Jason couldn't think of the name of the species off the top of his head, but he was sure he'd had interactions with them at some point. "My name is Saditava Mok, imports and exports. And you are?"
"George Washington," Jason said with a nod. "Much the same business, I'm sure."
"I'm sure," Saditava said in a tone of voice that indicated he was skeptical. He turned to his bodyguard as the server handed Jason his drink," Leave us for a moment. I'm sure George Washington's security can cover the two of us for a short time." The well-dressed Korkaran simply bowed his head and walked apart from them, watching both Jason and the crowd around them.
"Was there something specific you wished to talk about?" Jason said, his nerves tingling.
"I know who you really are," Saditava said quietly with a smile. He quickly held his free hand up as Lucky turned towards him. "Wait! Let me explain before your guard does something rash."
"Go ahead," Jason said.
"I don't know you by name, of course, but I was there at The Vault the day you destroyed the facility and made off with Bondrass's storage ship," Saditava said quietly.
"I wouldn't exactly say we destroyed the place," Jason protested mildly, "and from what I understand it was more than just Bondrass's loot on that ship."
"True, but it was mostly his," Saditava insisted. "I also know those actions led to his death and the subsequent collapse of his considerable empire."
"I think we'd better move along to the point of this pretty quickly," Jason said, not sure he liked where this was heading.
"I was one of those who moved in to fill the void he left," Saditava said. "I've always wanted to meet you, to return the favor for what you gave me."
"I don't see the need for that," Jason shrugged. "It certainly wasn't my intent to make room for others by eliminating Bondrass."
"Yes, I have heard the rumors about you and your crew," Saditava said. "Your ship is still quite recognizable for the few that know the truth of what happened at The Vault. Which brings up an interesting question ... why are you here? If what I've learned of you is true, this isn't something you would normally partake in unless there was a target involved."
"It's not something I wish to discuss openly, obviously," Jason said. "But I'm not here for any of the spectators. In fact, it's a completely internal matter."
"I see," Saditava said. "Well, I will not keep you. Please keep my offer in mind. It was good to finally meet you."
"I'm not sure if this complicates or helps matters," Jason said to Lucky as Saditava walked back over to where his guard stood.
"How so?" Lucky asked.
"If he recognized me by sight there's a chance he was in the hangar when we escaped The Vault," Jason said. "If that's true, he might recognize Crusher too."
"There is nothing we can do to minimize that risk now," Lucky said. "We will continue with our plan until circumstances force us to change."
"Agreed."
****
The first three matches of the event showed it to be as brutal as Jason had feared. Prisoners were led out in chains, deposited in the cage, and basically told that the only way to get back out was to eliminate the other. The teaser matches with small, weak prisoners struggling to kill one another turned Jason's stomach. To make matter worse, for a small fee the spectators could have the fun of tossing a weapon to their favorite combatant.
The prisoners were led from a tunnel that was partially obscured by the stands so Jason couldn't see a clear way to sneak into where the combatants were being staged. Even if he could, he had no weapons, and even with Lucky's abilities a large group of Watchers with energy weapons would be a problem. As he was wracking his brain to think of a way to get to Crusher the answer presented itself as if a gift from Heaven.
"Since it was so popular last tournament, the winners of the main event pyramid matches will be available for auction after their respective fights," the announcer said as he strutted around the cage while crews cleaned up the blood (and the body) of the most recent loser. "Please inquire at the betting tables if you are interested. Now ... onto the night’s main event!"
"Holy shit!" Jason exclaimed, tuning the announcer out. "Could it actually be this easy?"
"Assuming Crusher is alive, featured in this event, and wins, we still have a significant problem," Lucky said. "I doubt that he will sell cheaply and we have no money left after buying our way in here."
"I know that, and you know that, but the Watchers have no idea how much money is left on th
e Phoenix," Jason said, struggling to keep his voice low as his excitement grew. "Either way, this is by far our best bet to get within proximity of Crusher and then try to make our way out from there."
"I am not disagreeing with your point," Lucky said. "I am just making sure you do not overlook the obvious pitfalls in your exuberance." Jason just made a face at him, but decided not to respond. He needed to keep up the appearance that he was only here for the bloodshed. There was also the fact that he was the only one in the room actually speaking to his "bodyguard."
They sat through eleven brutal, bloody fights before the stands began to get crowded and there was a buzz of excitement in the air. Jason, having been trying to ignore the barbarism on display in the cage in front of him, straightened up and watched as two struggling aliens were dragged into the cage. Both were restrained and both were still putting up a hell of a fight against the handlers.
"We have a special fight for you this evening to start the upper tier pyramid tournament," the announcer said, deftly avoiding the snarling aliens as they were secured to the far side of the cage. "Remember that this isn't part of the pyramid. If you wish to bet on this fight you must place a separate wager. Tonight you will see a spectacle not witnessed by many."
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Jason said as he looked at the two saurian aliens still trying to get at their handlers.
"As do I," Lucky agreed.
"Fighting as a tandem this evening are two brothers," the announcer went on, "Nyphen twins born from the same clutch. These two killed more than eighteen people during a weeklong reign of terror deep in the Concordian Cluster."
"What are nyphens?" Jason asked Lucky.
"Closely related to Korkarans," Lucky answered. "Stronger and far less intelligent; however, they are fearless and vicious."
"And to go head to head with these two beasts we have found a being rarely seen away from their home planet," the announcer said as a hulking biped was led into the cage with a bag over his head and shoulders. It didn't stop Jason from recognizing him instantly. "Banished from his homeworld for a long list of violent crimes, one of the legendary Galvetic warriors!" The bag was ripped off and Crusher stood there, arms bound behind his back, muzzled, and eyes blazing with an insane rage.
Omega Force 7: Redemption Page 5
