“Cruiser,” she said about the first ship on the screen. “It’s fast and has some deadly maneuvers, but it’s largely here as a backup.”
She swapped out one holographic ship for another. This one looked more like a tank.
“Destroyer,” she said. “Big and bitchy. These things can take us down in no time.”
Arkei went through a series of other ships and basically gave the same advice—don’t mess with these ships. These ships were here for one reason, and that was preventing anything from passing through that shouldn’t.
A voice then came through their communications system.
“This is Intergalactic Destroyer 158,” the voice said. “Please identify yourself.”
Regan removed the card given to him by the king. He knew this was his entry ticket. When he looked up, Reverie was making eye contact with him. She nodded toward the side of Regan’s seat, bringing his attention to a card slot. Regan had never noticed it before, though he wasn’t sure why he would have. He inserted the card.
He looked at Reverie and smiled, thanking her without words.
They waited through a few moments of silence. Regan was growing concerned that it wouldn’t work, that he just handed himself right over to the Intergalactic Council.
“It’ll work,” Calico said. “My father wouldn’t have sent us here otherwise.”
Regan hoped she was right. Their ship idled amidst the massive destroyer ships, and Regan could swear they were closing in.
Finally the voice returned.
“You are welcome to proceed. We thank you for your patience,” it said. “Please proceed to landing port 174.”
Calico cruised the ship forward. The screens in front of her lit up with the designated parking space and its precise location. She headed in that direction.
On the way they slowly passed an armada of ships, and what looked like attack inspection drones. The ships were all massive. Arkei continued to display them on the holographic screen, but Regan stopped watching. They were getting through, and that’s all that mattered. If something went wrong and one of the ships figured them out, or started attacking, he knew Calico would be able to navigate them out of there.
After tense and silent moments as they passed the armada, Calico landed the ship onto their designated platform.
Regan didn’t stand right away. He took a deep breath and looked at his crew.
“We can’t all go in,” he said. “The plan is to slip in, get into the communications room, and get out. No more. No less. We won’t be able to be stealthy if too many go.” Regan then looked at Calico and pointed to her. “You are definitely going. You know the way around this place and the protocols.”
“Not to mention you are a representative of Paudetria,” Calico replied with a smirk. “It will greatly help your case if you had a real life Pershan at your side.”
“Rubicio went after my planet,” Arkei said. “I would love to go and give him a healthy kick in the face, but I might endanger the mission by going along. If I’m recognized…”
Straya put her hand on Arkei’s shoulder.
“Even with this fancy outfit, I’m still a wanted pirate,” Straya said. “Their monitors will recognize me instantly. I can’t take the chance.”
Reverie smiled at Regan.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” she said.
Regan knew Squit, Bob, and Posha would also stay aboard. Even though Squit had come in handy in previous fights, she would stand out too much. Bob, on the other hand, was just too unreliable at times. And Posha, well, Posha would still be getting off the ship by the time the mission was over.
Regan stood from his captain’s chair and nodded at Calico, offering his hand to her.
“Got any weapons secured in that tight outfit?” he asked her.
“You know I do,” she replied.
“Then it’s you and me, babe,” Regan said.
He nodded at the rest of the crew who all knew what to do in his absence.
Arkei entered a passcode into the safe next to her seat and released the data cube. She picked it up and handed it to Regan. She gave him a hug as she did so.
“You have come a long way in this universe,” she said to him. She brushed his arm when she said this with her bionic hand. Regan loved that hand. He looked into her eyes, those eyes that showed him a whole new world. Both sets of them.
“I owe it all to you,” he said in return.
The two held each close and kissed.
“You got this,” she said. “You haven’t let any of us down yet. And you won’t let your people down either. This is going to work, Regan.”
Regan liked hearing his name come from her mouth. It felt better than “captain” in that moment.
After thanking her, he turned and headed out with Calico.
Calico and Regan walked arm in arm down the clean sidewalk. They headed for a large building with a significant amount of traffic and crowds surrounding it.
Regan assumed many of them were security personnel, but he couldn’t know for sure. It wouldn’t surprise him if a great deal of undercover patrols wandered about here.
“This won’t be like the casino.” Calico said.
“How do you mean?”
“I mean it won’t be so easy to get away if things go wrong.”
“You think that was easy?”
“Come on,” she said. “You know what I mean. Let’s just hope this all goes smoothly.”
They approached the front doors, which were even bigger than those of Mephistopheles’s compound. The inside was impressive and daunting. It had the feeling of a government building, with its statues, arches, and marble-like stone. The stone glistened richly, as if it were embedded with emeralds. The Intergalactic Council had way better funding than any government Regan knew.
They worked their way to the security guards stationed just beyond the entrance. There were a series of them, and it looked like they were about to check in for a flight.
The security guard before them was a skinny green alien, probably Class A. While he wasn’t intimidating, Regan guessed this was the point. Undercover security guards were probably watching this exchange closely.
“Ah, greetings!” the alien said. His voice was high pitched and friendly. Maybe overly friendly. He clapped his hands together. “May I point you in the right direction?”
Regan handed him the card the king gave him.
Man, if I all I have to do is hand this thing over every time I needed to get through, well, that would be fine with me.
The alien took it and slid the card into a small screen next to him. He watched it and gave Regan and Calico an overly friendly smile as he did so, as if telling them it would be just a moment. Then he clapped his hands again.
“Ah, yes!” he exclaimed. “We welcome you to the Intergalactic Council Space Station, and you are a representative… of… Paudetria?”
He gave Regan a look of confusion.
Regan didn’t miss a beat. He smiled at the alien then glanced at Calico quickly, smiling at her.
“That’s right,” Regan said. “My wife, Calico, is Pershan.”
The alien nodded then looked at Calico with some concern. Calico looked at Regan.
“Permission to speak, Ambassador?” she asked.
“Please,” Regan replied.
Calico smiled at the skinny alien. “We would like to be directed to the meeting chambers. We have come to discuss a very crucial matter regarding the regulations of Paudetria’s indigenous fruit.”
The alien nodded and smiled, even looked a bit embarrassed, as if he was aware of what this fruit had the ability to do.
He nodded quickly. “Yes, yes of course.”
He entered some buttons into his machine then handed Regan back his card.
“There have been additional protocols added for us. So we are required to ask a few more questions than usual,” the alien said as he came around from behind his small podium. “It is your first time here, yes?�
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“Yes,” Regan said. “For me anyway.”
“Very nice,” the alien said and began walking. “If you will please follow me.”
It appeared that the alien was more of a tour guide than a security officer. They walked for a long time. Regan was amazed that this building didn’t have some sort of mobility technology for moving species around from one part to another.
As they walked, Regan observed carvings and statues that displayed famous battles of what could only be historical moments in the Intergalactic Council’s Chambers. Some sculptures were of space battles, with ships carved out of stone, either victorious or fallen. Others were of ground battles, all of which incorporated all sorts of species that Regan didn’t recognize.
As they walked, the alien guiding them told the history of the building and its various works of art. He described where they came from, which council commissioned them, which ones were gifts.
The alien mentioned how these were all dated artifacts to remind the council and its visitors that they were currently in a time of peace. That peace had ruled the universe for a long time now thanks to regulations and efforts put forward by this council.
What a crock of bullshit.
But then the alien stopped in his stride. He lifted a finger to his ear and listened for a moment, then turned to face Regan and Calico.
“It seems your presence is being requested by Councilman Korshani,” the alien said, looking confused.
Regan took a deep breath and looked at Calico. Whatever their response, they would need to make it seem like this was perhaps expected and not alarming. He had no idea who this was, but this person somehow knew Regan and Calico were in the building. And he was getting in the way of them reaching their goal.
This wasn’t good.
But Regan had no choice. He smiled at Calico, who nodded and smiled in return. And even though she was persuading in her ability to lie, he could see the nervousness in her eyes.
He quickly turned back to the alien and nodded.
“Of course,” Regan said. “We would love to see Councilman Korshani. Such an unexpected surprise.”
Calico’s arm, which was still wrapped around Regan’s, tightened.
The alien led them down a long hallway with significantly less traffic. It was an area that seemed to be lined with private offices as opposed to meeting rooms. Even though there was no security, Regan knew he was being watched. He felt cameras monitoring every step. He kept it cool, trying to walk casually, but his pulse quickened.
Finally they reached a door, but the alien didn’t see them through it. He simply stood at the door, pointed to it, bowed at Regan and Calico, then turned and walked away.
Regan and Calico stood alone in this hallway before the council member’s doors. They had nothing left to do but knock. Right when Regan lifted his arm to do so, the door opened on its own.
Well, here we go.
Regan and Calico entered the impressive office. Before Regan had time to take it all in, or even locate the councilman who called upon them, he heard a voice come from off to the side.
“Come in,” the voice said. “I’ve been expecting you.”
Chapter Sixty
The voice made Regan jump. It was calm and haunting in a strange way, but it was also unique, with an almost song-like quality to it.
Immediately after he and Calico stepped inside the office, the doors closed behind them. Once they were shut, Regan swore he heard them lock into place. Whatever was about to happen, he was stuck here.
Regan looked around, unable to locate exactly where the voice came from, and then he saw it. Or rather, him.
It was a strong and beautiful creature, almost bird-like, as it was covered in feathers. The feathers shone in all colors, with accented glowing feathers on the tips of his appendages. They seemed less like feathers and more like a silk feathered robe.
At first the creature looked like a piece of furniture, the way he kept his stoic posture. He looked like a majestic statue guarding the room. His strong arms folded neatly before him, with his wings tucked in behind him.
He didn’t have a beak, but his lips came to a point, and his nose continued down into his top lip. His eyebrows were furrowed, watching Regan and Calico carefully. His heavy brow created a shadow over his eyes.
He sat behind a large desk full of high-tech screens, each of them displaying a significant amount of data. Some screens reminded Regan of The Matrix, with code dropping across them.
While Regan wasn’t sure what the data pertained to, it was clear that Korshani was a glutton for it. It seemed that whatever was going on in the universe, he wanted to stay in the know.
And that might not be great for me.
Small technologies of all kinds littered his desk as well. There were small cubes—data cubes?—and little devices with blinking lights. Whether they were for personal storage, or for perhaps work-related data like bills or plans, it was all impressive. It made Korshani look like he had real power, a power that Regan couldn’t even fathom.
However, these technologies were limited to the desk, with the rest of the office decorated in gold, leather, and marble.
Councilman Korshani directed them to sit. He motioned to the chairs across from his menacing desk. He looked like the villain of an evil empire as he did so.
“Please,” he said, his voice melodic. “Make yourselves comfortable.”
Regan stood alongside Calico, realizing there was no additional security or defenses in this room. The confidence Korshani must have had in his abilities was slightly intimidating.
It was as if Korshani recognized this expression on Regan’s face, as he chuckled. This laughter even resembled a bird in the way it pitched up and came in musical intervals.
“You were expecting what?” Korshani said. “Security? An ambush? A firing squad perhaps?”
Regan smirked. He wasn’t sure how to respond. But Korshani didn’t give him the chance. He raised an arm, then motioned for Regan and Calico to sit. They did.
“I told you,” he continued. “I was expecting you. You will find no surprises here.”
He slid them each a glass of something, which he already poured by the time they sat down. Regan wasn’t sure he trusted it. He didn’t want to be rude, but he didn’t want to be foolish neither.
The councilman smirked, lifted his own glass, and took a sip. He clearly enjoyed his power. He took his time, then grabbed a hose from what appeared to be a large hookah next to him. It too was high tech, but it bubbled like hookahs did. The smoke that erupted from Korshani’s mouth was like a cloud. It continued pouring out of his mouth, filling the desk and the space between them all for a moment.
When it cleared, he folded his arms and looked at Regan silently, then at Calico. His eyes seemed to squint even further.
“You know,” he started. “The people of Paudetria have always shown my people kindness. It’s their commitment to honesty that has allowed us to grow so well together.” He paused for a moment, and Regan felt like they were about to get lectured, like they were misbehaved children.
“The Korshani family comes from a long line of shipping entrepreneurs,” he continued. “Like many other of the Fowlance race, we built our empire carrying exotic goods across the galaxy. While dangerous, of course, you could say it is in our blood and bones to move the universe’s most fabulous items from one place to another.”
Korshani took another large pull from his hookah, and when he exhaled, he was full of laughter.
“Many joked that we are migratory by nature, so this type of enterprise was only logical,” he continued through his laughter. “But in all seriousness… When you run an enterprise like this, you need a couple things. One is security. There are too many pirates and scavengers living among us who want to rob from others for their own personal exploitations. I’ve seen it far too often, and I’ve heard of it even more.”
Sure hope he ain’t talking about us…
“You also learn w
ho to trust,” the councilman continued, taking a sip of his beverage. “You learn which ports are safe, and which are not. Which sectors will lend a hand if something goes wrong with a shipment, and which will attempt to take everything you have, all the while making it look like an accident. It’s a situation that is all too common, regardless of all the peace talk you hear in these hallways.”
Korshani leaned closer, bringing his voice down a bit.
“The Pershan people, and specifically, your father, the king…” he continued, causing Calico to gasp. He knew exactly who they were and what they were up to. “They were always incredibly hospitable to our enterprise. They provided safe passage, safe lodging, and even fed us in times of need. They could always be counted on to demonstrate peace and honesty. This behavior created a strong bond between our people that I will never forget.”
He took another long pull of the hookah.
“Nor will I let it pass me by if there is a situation that seems amiss, that may need my interference.”
Regan wasn’t quite sure what Korshani was saying, but he was growing increasingly nervous with each passing word.
Korshani took another pull, another sip, and then smiled at his rigid guests.
“You are familiar with Councilman Rubicio,” he said.
Regan tightened.
He felt Calico stir beside him.
Neither of them replied. Not even a head nod was offered as a response. They just looked at Korshani and waited for him to finish his thought.
“He brags and boasts about the peace consuming this universe,” Korshani continued. “He makes speeches and holds rallies trying to stop terrorists who would destroy the growing truces that are making this universe stronger and keeping it together. He has a plan, with much support, to put an end to terrorist activity all over the universe. There are many who think he will be successful in this crusade.”
Regan wanted out of this room. He wanted out of this chair, and though he wanted this to be a stealth operation, he realized it might not be possible any longer. He felt exposed, and that Rubicio had the entire council tightly in his grip.
Galactic Bandits Compilation Page 42
