by Jeff Walsh
“How much longer do we have?” Genny asked.
“About three minutes; if things went slowly.” Taam answered.
Marcus watched as Bartl unstrapped him. The moment he was free he yelled, “Alvin, haul out! Let's get our friend.”
Alvin sprang to life and bolted down a corridor with Marcus, Genny, and Bartl in hot pursuit. It was three left turns, a right turn, then a long hallway, another left turn, two right turns and another long hallway that lead to the cargo bay. The bay door was already open and light was shining in from the outside. The moment Alvin stepped one foot into the cargo bay he came to an immediate halt. Marcus, Genny, and Bartl couldn't react fast enough and crashed into Alvin.
“What are you doing Alvin?” Marcus yelled out as he was picking himself up off the floor.
“I think he was coming to get me,” Anthony answered. “Did that hurt as bad as it looked? Cause it looked like it hurt really bad.”
“What the?” Marcus puzzled. “You're alive!”
Genny and Bartl jumped to their feet.
“They let ya go?” Bartl asked.
“Apparently,” Anthony responded. “They read me a list of crimes I'd committed, then dropped some helmet of death on me, so I freaked out. I started apologizing for whatever it was I was being accused of and suddenly everyone went into shock.”
“And?” Marcus asked. “Don't tell me that's it.”
“No,” Anthony answered. “A moment later everything went black and I felt the helmet lift off my head. Some little judge, bird, thing, asked if I was prepared to offer my admittance of sorrow to the offended, and I agreed. A holographic screen appeared in front of me and I was told to make a formal admittance. Taam's face appeared on the screen and at the bottom it read, 'Admit verbal sorrow.'
“I wasn't sure what to do so I said 'Sorry.'
“Taam's face disappeared and then this creature I met earlier, Marty, his face appeared. They told me I killed him, but it read the same 'Admit verbal sorrow.'
“I said, 'Sorry,' again, and apparently that was enough.
“Then the bird judge asked me if I rescind all verbally stated abuses toward the dearly departed, I said 'Sure,' and next thing I know I was beamed, or transported, or whatever you call it to a different room. Marty was in some metal container with a glass lid. It was up on a slab of rock that tilted the whole thing so you could see good ole Marty. The room was pretty dark, but there were candles everywhere. The little bird judge appeared on my shoulder and said, 'As required, a statement of nicety is needed to formally rescind all verbally stated abuses.'
“It took me a minute to figure out what they wanted. But apparently I just needed to say something nice about ole Marty. I said, 'Marty had a great hug.'
“Next, a flash of light lit up the room and everything went white. It was like I was floating in the middle of a cloud. A few seconds later it cleared and I was standing out here. I heard jet engines above me and looked up. I saw the ship, but wasn't sure if it was you all or not. Once I could see inside, I saw Alvin running toward me.”
Genny bolted toward Anthony and gave him a hug.
“I'm guessing from your faces I was in real big trouble?” Anthony asked.
“They were going to kill you,” Marcus said.
“Yeah,” Anthony responded. “I kind of figured. They had some helmet with lasers and knives that looked like it would do the job.”
Genny stepped back and wiped the tears from her face.
“Please don't do something stupid like that again,” she said.
“I think I need to give you three a crash course on space law,” Taam said from behind them. “We can use the Psy Net if you feel up to it. I know we just had a bad experience, but it'll still be the safest and most comprehensive way to make sure this doesn't happen again.
“Oh, also,” Taam continued. “I just received a download from Galvn entitle: file 141a-WaI-Idk-HcWitt-ND-pMi. It came with a note that read 'As required by law, all offended parties must receive their 'Verbal Sorrow' from the offender.'”
“Is everything okay?” Marcus asked.
Taam opened his hand and resting on his palm was a small black disk. A second later a holographic display of Anthony's face appeared over the disk.
“Uhhhh...sorry?” Anthony's holographic face said.
“Really heart felt,” Taam said to Anthony. “Were you asking if you were sorry, or...”
“Nice apology man,” Marcus said.
“We're just lucky Galvn doesn't use Emoticon Tech,” Bartl said. “Otherwise they would've caught you lying again and then you'd have really ended up in the metal crate with all the candles.”
“What?” Anthony said as the group walked back into the ship. “I barely knew what was going on. I meant it.”
Everyone was shaking their head back and forth as Anthony pleaded his case.
“I'd like to see how you'd all sound if you didn't know what was going on,” he continued. “Not to mention I'd just had the science helmet of death take control of my body.”
“I'd send it back my boy,” Bartl said. “I don't think he meant it.”
“Oh, shut up!” Anthony blurted out. “That was scary. I could've died.”
Taam looked at Bartl sideways and raised his eyebrows. Bartl just shrugged.
Taam reached down and pressed a small button on the holographic disc display. Another screen appeared. It read, “Accept: confirm or deny.”
Taam paused a second.
“Really?” Anthony asked sounding exhausted.
“I accept,” Taam said.
A paper thin, silvery disc, no bigger than a fingernail, detached from the back of Anthony's neck. It floated up and out of the cargo bay as the doors shut and sealed.
“What the heck!” Anthony spun around and grabbed at his neck. “What was that?”
“Galvanian Spinal Separator,” Taam answered. “If anyone one of the recipients of your 'Verbal Sorrow' denies acceptance, it severs your spinal cord from your brain and a pulse liquefies your insides. Then a quick incineration of the rest of your body and a short distance trans-warp of the ashes to the nearest trash bin. It's painless, so nothing to worry about. Plus I'm the only living person who could've denied your apology.”
Marcus popped his head around the corner of the cargo bay, “Everything okay?”
“Just fine,” Taam answered.
Anthony was frozen in place. He looked to Marcus, then to Taam, and then back to Marcus.
“Why are you standing there like an idiot?” Marcus asked of Anthony. “Let's go. You're fine now. Geeze. What a baby.”
Taam chuckled and proceeded to make his way back into the ship. A few minutes later the entire crew gathered in their now familiar meeting place: the kitchen.
“Okay,” Taam said. “Let's start with the truth filter. Alvin, I want you to answer every question they have. Doesn't matter how personal, I want you to tell them anything they want to know.”
“You got it El Capitán,” Alvin said. “Just provide me your safety protocol release code and we'll be set.”
“Wait,” Anthony said. “I thought he couldn't lie?”
“He can't,” Bartl said. “But how easy would it be to shut Alvin down, steal him, reboot him somewhere and run questions through him. Everything about where we've been, this ship, the locations of priceless items currently in our possession, safe house locations, lockout codes, current fetch jobs we're on, our client list, the...”
“They get the point Bartl,” Taam said. “Alvin, release safety protocol Heezarian D-01A, access code Sparkle Pony - 0Z19.”
“Voice iDent confirmed, access code accepted, please identify new database access personnel” Alvin said in a very robotic tone.
“Sparkle Pony?” Marcus said with a chuckle.
“It was my mother's favorite pet as a child,” Taam said. “She passed away awhile back and I use it to remind myself of her.”
“Oh, that's sweet,” Genny said.
“Yeah, th
at's really nice,” Anthony said. “Why are you giving the guy a hard time about his mom?”
“What?” Marcus responded defensively. “How was I supposed to—”
“Nah, messing with you,” Taam said chuckling. “But seriously, who's going to guess Sparkle Pony? Anyway, Alvin, add our three new crew-mates into your database, give them full clearance and access, then lock down.”
“Marcus Linas, Genny Linas, and Anthony Monte now confirmed. Safety protocol Heezarian D-01A now locked.”
“Alright, there we go,” Taam said. “He'll give you verbal codes later so you can access the ship's security and a bunch of other stuff. You can also now ask him anything pertaining to Bartl and I, what we are doing, what our plans are, home address, you ask, he'll tell. But first, let's get you all set up on the PLN for some law and regulation training before one of you gets arrested again. Then we can talk about what our next move will be. Sound good?”
The three paused for a second and looked at each other then nodded in agreement.
“What's the problem?” Taam asked.
“Well,” Anthony started. “You just saved my life and here we are not trusting you. It feels wrong.”
“Yeah,” Genny said. “It sounded like we racked up a lot of fines saving Anthony. You charged everything to your personal account.”
“Okay,” Taam responded.
“Look,” Marcus chimed in. “We're sorry. Maybe this could've gone smoother, what with all the jail and death and racing, but we go by a person's actions not their words. Sure, there was the knocking us out, then the stripping us down and re-clothing us. And then of course there was the kidnapping. This would've been so much easier if Bartl could've just told us clearly what was going on. ”
“That's some good apologizing, man,” Anthony said.
“What?” Marcus snapped out of his rambling. “Oh, yeah, sorry.”
“Is everyone on your planet this bad at apologizing?” Taam asked.
“Nope,” Genny answered. “Just these two braniacs.”
“Well, as it stands,” Bartl said, “apology or not, you three need to be in Alvin's data base. We can't be certain you won't ever need something he knows. Secondly, I'd rather not go through another arrest because of some silly mistake. Using the PLN to bring you up to speed is the easiest and fastest method. The sooner we do this the sooner we can be on our way to get what we're after.”
“Yeah,” Marcus responded while Genny and Anthony nodded in agreement.
“Good,” Taam said. “But as a side note, you two seriously need better people skills.”
He pointed to Marcus and Anthony.
҉
“That Psionic thing isn't so bad once you get used to it,” Anthony said as he rejoined the crew in the kitchen.
Taam followed behind, “That covers all of you for law and regulation of the major sectors. You've had your time with Alvin to square things away. Are we all on the same page now?”
“I think we're all good,” Marcus said as he reclined in one of the kitchen chairs. “So what's next?”
“To start, the armory I had you learn about wasn't for training or fighting,” Taam said. “We are making a donation to a peace organization.”
“A peace group wants weapons?” Genny asked.
“Yeah,” Bartl said. “Our armory is carrying some of the most sophisticated weapons in space. We've been scavenging this stuff for quite a while. We're donating it for destruction. That should get us an invitation to mingle with the group's founder and leader.”
“So what does he have that we need?” Anthony asked.
“The Commondant,” Taam answered, “we believe, has information that can lead us to a rather notorious genius: Ellidron. He isn't a celebrity by any terms, but he's freenet famous for sure. He brags every time he's cracked some code, or busts into some secured system. He managed to shut down an entire quadrant's space travel for three weeks using some gizmo he invented. He's as cocky as he is obnoxious, but our chances increase dramatically by adding him to our team.”
“We're looking to bring this guy on?” Marcus asked.
“As we said earlier,” Bartl chimed in. “We aren't positive that our pulse will shut down the core to Volja. In fact, we're pretty sure we'll need to modify it. Unfortunately, reorganizing the natural flow of a Quellar Pulse can unravel organic material down to a molecular level. We have no safety station available on board, or off, to accomplish such a task safely. So we need someone who can modify it as we go without turning us all into soup. This guy will also come in handy when it comes to getting the ship into position to shut down Volja's core.”
“But all of that means nothing if we can't locate him,” Taam said. “So now you know the next few steps of our plan. And now that you probably won't break any more laws, all of this should go fairly smooth.”
Suddenly, the lights across the ship shifted from pleasant to bright red. Alarms began to go off everywhere. Everyone was thrown off their feet as the ship slammed to a complete stop and the engines powered down .
“Did we hit something?” Genny said as she pulled herself to her feet.
“No,” Taam answered. “Is everyone alright?”
“Everyone's heart-rate is above normal, but all vitals are within safety limits,” the computer responded.
“What was that?” Bartl asked.
“I think we're about to find out,” Marcus said pointing to the ship's main display monitor.
A silhouetted figure sat in a dark room with a handful of computer monitors scattered behind.
“Hey gang, how's everyone?” A voice came over the broadcast system. “Sorry for the intrusion, but since you were so rudely talking behind my back, I thought I'd join the convo.”
Taam began to discreetly work a console behind him.
“Don't bother Captain,” Ellidron said. “I've completely shut you down. I decided to leave life support on, just to show my nice side, and I think the red lights add to the mood, don't you?”
“What can we do for you?” Bartl asked.
“Do for me?” Ellidron asked. “Weren't you just discussing what it was I could do for you? That is, of course, after you found me and convinced me to join your little team.
“It was a great plan too,” Ellidron continued. “But I don't like people looking for me. Even if you do need my help, which you do. Can't say I'm not mildly flattered, very mildly. I mean, how often do the notorious Taam and Bartl Heezarian come looking for the living? Must be something big, especially after your interference in a planetary repo? Not to mention you're cruising around in your luxury liner of all things. Too much to ignore and far too interesting to just sit back and watch, so I decided to join in for the moment. Glad I did too, come to find out you're hunting my genius down. Some might feel honored. Me? Well, I consider it bad form. Such an easily avoided mistake too. And this early in the game you can't really afford to make mistakes.”
“He doesn't shut up,” Bartl said.
“I admit,” Ellidron said ignoring Bartl. “This is a nice ship. I'd really enjoy traveling around in this thing. Did you realize it took me almost eight seconds to bypass every security protocol you have?”
“This is interesting,” Marcus muttered.
“Oh, are these the humans?” Ellidron exclaimed. “I've never met humans before. They die so fast. But if these caught the Heezarian eye, well, they must be special. Maybe even impressive. Well, I'm sure your bot is almost finished with his trace. How're you doing Alvin?”
“Really well, thank you for asking Mr. Intruder sir.” Alvin responded.
“Well,” Ellidron said. “I better be off. But I really should get something for my trouble. I mean I've taken precious seconds out of my time just to talk with you.”
“Alvin, shields up!” Taam yelled.
“Too late,” Ellidron said. “Quite the armory. Oh, what is that? And those look like fun. See ya!”
With that, the alarms stopped, the lights went back to normal, the ship's engine
s came back online, and the main display went back to normal.
“He was quite fast,” Alvin said. “I raised the armory shield the moment you said but he'd already taken all of our amazing inventory. It has been trans-warped off the ship. I've run a trace but it leads to your beautiful home in the Opal sector Captain. It's most likely a ghost trail.”
“You didn't ask him about joining up,” Bartl chimed in as he peeled a naala berry and popped it in his mouth.
“It didn't come up in the conversation,” Taam replied.
“So now we go after the guy, right?” Anthony asked. Just then the lights switched to red again and alarms began to sound.
“What now?” Marcus asked.
“Alvin?” Taam barked
“We're being boarded,” Alvin responded.
Chapter 8
“That's some interesting timing, don't you think?” Bartl asked. He spit a naala berry seed out and into the trash. “We'll set up in hanger four. Alvin, lock down procedure Platnium IV series seven. Initiate.”
A dozen cables sprung forth from Alvin's left hand and plugged into a various ports on a console. “Series seven complete,” Alvin said as the cables withdrew. “All doorways have been sealed with derinium blast walls and level four bio fields. I took the liberty of leaving us an open pathway to hanger four. Each section will lock down as we pass through the ship. Control of the ship has been transferred to my mobile command.”
Tamm reached deep into his coat and behind his back. He withdrew two pistols that Marcus, Genny, and Anthony couldn't identify. He tossed one to Bartl.
“I'll circle around and come at them from the back,” Taam said. “You get everyone to hanger four and call out incoming.”
Bartl nodded, turned on the spot, and dashed down the hallway. “C'mon you three, they're here for you, so get movin!”
“What do you mean there here for us?” Marcus asked as the three ran after Bartl.
“We grabbed you off your planet moments before it was time-locked,” Bartl said as he wove through the hallways, headed for hangar four. “The hangar is right up around the corner, move.”
