by Jake Bible
“A phantom scarier than Roak!” Bhangul called after him. “Just what the galaxy needs!”
Roak crossed the hangar and went to the lift.
“Hessa? You ready?” he called over the comm.
“I am,” Hessa replied. “Route has been received. I will activate the moltrans unit and meet you on the surface.”
“You can do that?” Roak asked. “I thought only Bhangul had authorization to activate the moltrans?”
“I may have hacked some extra privileges from his system while he had me hooked up for diagnostics,” Hessa said. “But I admit nothing.”
“I’m a bad influence on you,” Roak said as the lift took him up to the small office.
“Or perhaps I am a bad influence on you,” Hessa replied.
Roak left the lift and crossed the office. He paused at the door, his eyes scanning the lot outside for any signs of trouble. When he was certain no one was lying in wait, he left the office, pistol drawn, and hurried to the same spot where Hessa had landed earlier.
The rear ramp lowered and Roak was jumping inside the ship and running to the lift before the ramp had even touched the ground.
“Take off,” Roak ordered. “Don’t wait for me to get to the bridge.”
“Please brace yourself then,” Hessa said.
Roak did just that, grabbing onto the side railing inside the lift as the doors closed and he felt the ship launch. There was some pressure, but the grav dampeners kicked in and any hint of discomfort went away.
He reached the bridge and sat in the pilot’s seat, bringing up the navigation system before he began to strap in.
“Where is this route taking us?” Roak asked.
“It is rather circuitous, but I believe Mr. Willz has come through,” Hessa said.
Roak studied the star charts and the thin red line that denoted the route they would be taking from Zuus to Jafla Base. The first three-quarters looked rough, but they were doable. The final quarter was going to be a nightmare.
“Of all the Seven Hells, he thinks this is a good route?” Roak said, pointing to the last leg. “Hessa? Can we avoid these two systems?”
“I do not know, Roak,” Hessa said. “This is the route sent to us. It is based on Mr. Willz’s knowledge of the other syndicates’ traps and ambushes, not to mention whatever side intel he picked up. I have no way of telling whether or not we can stray from this prescribed route.”
“Great,” Roak said. “I guess we have no choice.”
“That would be correct,” Hessa said. “Now, please finish strapping in. I am timing our entry into this system’s wormhole portal so I can squeeze us between two ships. We will briefly be visible, but the congestion will cause some confusion.”
“Don’t crash us,” Roak said as he finished strapping in.
“It is not part of my plan,” Hessa said and the ship accelerated fast enough that there was a lag with the dampeners and Roak was pressed back into his seat.
He watched as the system flew by and the wormhole portal grew closer and closer. There were more than two ships queued up for the portal. There were at least twenty. All different types and sizes.
Many were haulers, transporting seeds from the Zuus Colony to other systems and worlds that could not keep up with their growth and demand. Or that didn’t have a climate or environment that allowed seeds to propagate.
Roak neither knew nor cared. What he did care about were the two ships in the very front of the queue. Those were the ships Hessa had them heading towards on what looked like a certain collision course.
“Yeah, I’m not feeling this,” Roak said. “Hessa? Maybe we should rethink this strategy.”
“Roak, I can process faster than ten million of your brains combined,” Hessa said. “In the time it took you to start panicking, I have rethought this strategy to the millionth power and come to the same conclusion each time. This is the only way.”
The first ship entered the wormhole portal, and Roak wanted to scream as his view was engulfed by the second ship. But he didn’t scream. He gritted his teeth, gripped the armrests of his seat, and braced for impact.
Then they were through the portal and into trans-space. No collision. No explosion. No second ship being turned into a billion tiny pieces of scrap and shrapnel.
They were on their way. Following a route that was given to them by a man that was not a man and most likely would rather Roak was dead than evading half the galaxy’s criminal syndicates.
The vortex of quantum energy that was trans-space swirled across the ship’s view shield. Roak watched it for a while then yawned and stretched.
“I’d rather not do that again,” Roak said.
“I join you in that opinion,” Hessa said. “But it had to be done.”
Roak brought the route back up on the screen and studied the first few transition points.
“Tersch System,” Roak said. “Stay too long in that system and the sun turns your skin purple.”
“I do not have skin,” Hessa said.
“It’d turn my skin purple,” Roak said. “How long until we get there?”
“About two hours,” Hessa replied. “You should go eat. I can navigate us to our destination.”
“I am going to eat, but I’ll be back in two hours,” Roak said. “I don’t trust Willz and I want to be ready for the ambush if it’s coming.”
“Understood,” Hessa replied.
Roak made his way out of the bridge and down to the mess. He skipped the stew, not wanting to see what maybe Hessa picked up on Zuus. Instead, he punched the synth machine’s buttons until it gave him two protein cakes and a glass of generic juice.
Roak took a seat in a mess that was meant to hold dozens of people. He munched on one of the cakes as he kicked his feet up.
“You have changed,” Hessa said.
Roak gave a grunt in reply.
“No, you have,” Hessa persisted.
“You haven’t known me long enough to say that,” Roak said.
“I have,” Hessa said. “And I do not forget details. I am able to recall them and analyze against newer, more current behaviors. You have changed.”
“How so?” Roak asked.
“Since leaving Ligston, you have become more…”
“More…? What? More what?” Roak asked.
“Human,” Hessa finished.
Roak grunted again.
“Let me give you an example,” Hessa said. “Ple.”
“What about the guy?”
“You enjoyed having him around,” Hessa said. “You did not trust him, and he made you angry on more than one occasion, but you enjoyed the company. Company I cannot provide.”
“You have your place,” Roak said. “I’ve gotten used to you around. That’s saying a lot.”
“Yes, but Ple was a living being that challenged you,” Hessa said. “He pushed your, as you beings say, pushed your buttons. It egged you on.”
“Listen to you and all the sayings you’ve picked up,” Roak said as he started in on the second protein cake. “Maybe one day you’ll become a real gal.”
“I take back everything I have said,” Hessa replied. “You are a cold dick.”
“Where the hell did you learn that phrase?” Roak asked.
“I am unsure,” Hessa said. “Perhaps from one of the mechanics or techs in a hangar bay? Or I may have downloaded it at some point. I will trace the origin as–”
“No. Don’t,” Roak said. “Never overthink it.”
Roak yawned and shook his head. He drank his juice then got up and disposed of the cup and plate.
“I’m shot,” Roak said. “Going to grab some rest. Wake me up when we’re about to reach the Tersch System.”
“I shall,” Hessa said. “Rest well, Roak.”
Roak grunted as he left.
30.
The ship dropped through the wormhole portal and into the Tersch System.
Roak sat in the pilot’s seat, weapons system at the ready.
; “Scans?” Roak asked.
“Clear,” Hessa replied.
“You sure?”
“I am sure, Roak,” Hessa said. “No other ships are within scan range.”
“How far to the next wormhole portal?” Roak asked.
“Thirty minutes,” Hessa said. “It’s a backdoor portal that sits directly behind the remains of that planet.”
Hessa zoomed in to show Roak a planet that was two shattered halves, yet the halves were so large that their gravity held them within each other’s orbit.
“That doesn’t look like behind,” Roak said. “Is the backdoor in between the halves?”
“Yes, it may be,” Hessa said. “But there is plenty of room for us to maneuver.”
“I freaking hope so,” Roak said. “Shit. This is the first part. I am not looking forward to the last part.”
Hessa turned the ship towards the split planet. Roak kept his eyes moving back and forth from the long-range scans to the weapons system. He sat there the entire thirty minutes, waiting for the attack.
But it never came and they were approaching the backdoor wormhole portal, one that the Galactic Fleet would never certify and allow general space traffic to use, without any incident or even a hint of an incident.
“So far, Willz is holding up his end,” Roak said. “I know that one portal does not prove anything. I ain’t expecting our luck to hold.”
“We are entering the portal in three, two, one,” Hessa said and the ship launched through what looked like a hole in one of the halves.
Then trans-space was all around them again. But the swirling was different and the quantum energy that made up the vortex kept flickering and sparking.
“Unstable,” Roak said.
“Agreed,” Hessa replied. “I suspected it might be.”
Roak stared at the sparking and flickering.
“Roak? There is an incoming comm request,” Hessa said. “Unknown signature.”
“Can it track us?” Roak asked.
“There would be no way for it to track us while in trans-space,” Hessa said. “Especially on a less than stable leg such as this.”
“Put it through,” Roak said. “But do me a favor and pay attention to my new implant. I’d rather not have to get a third. You hear me, Hessa? Not getting a third one.”
“I will monitor your implant,” Hessa said. “Comm is coming through now.”
“Roak,” the woman in black’s voice said. “There is no reason you should be this good.”
“Why the hell not?” Roak asked.
“Because it wasn’t how you were supposed to turn out,” the woman in black said. “Is she there? Your AI? I have to assume she is listening.”
“Probably,” Roak replied. “I didn’t tell her not to.”
“That is fine,” the woman in black said. “Did you get my holo?”
“Yeah. Overly dramatic as always. The ultimatums. You really like the ultimatums.”
“Have you told anyone who I am yet?”
“No,” Roak said. “Why would I? You’re the past. Gonna leave you there where you belong.”
“Yes, I expected you to say something of that nature,” the woman in black said.
“Then why the call?” Roak asked. “You can’t track me this time.”
“I don’t need to,” she said. “I know where you’re going, Roak. Others will be looking for you on your journey. I will be waiting at your destination.”
“Great,” Roak said. “Looking forward to the face to face.”
“I doubt that.”
“Me too,” Roak said. “Tell me something.”
“I don’t think I will.”
“Nah, you will. Tell me. Why did you take the job from the Shilo Syndicate? Not the way you operate. You like the deep cover jobs. You like the jobs that no one knows are jobs.”
“Are you sure you are not talking about yourself?”
“You know what I’m saying. I take the jobs others refuse, but there’s nothing hidden about them. You live in the dark. You hide your jobs like you hide your face. Or where your face used to be.”
The woman hissed and there was the sound of something breaking. Roak grinned.
“Still have that temper,” Roak said. “Don’t know why you haven’t had your body repaired.”
“Because I like my body as it is,” the woman in black said. “I like the reminder of what happened.”
“You like the dark,” Roak said. “Listen, gotta go. About to come out of trans-space.”
“No, Roak, you are not about to–”
Roak killed the comm.
“No more calls from her,” Roak said. “She’s only doing it to try to get inside my head. It’s how she works.”
“I would be able to better join you in this conversation if I knew who she was,” Hessa said.
“True,” Roak said. “But it doesn’t really matter. You’ll meet her in the end.”
“She will be waiting at Jafla Base?” Hessa asked. “Then so will the others.”
“No, they won’t,” Roak said. “Each of the syndicates have carved out their spot. We’ll be avoiding most, but some will figure out we’ve taken a route around them. When they do, they’ll switch tactics and come for us.”
“You say she will be alone at the end?” Hessa asked. “How do you know for sure?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Roak said. “But I do know her. She will insist she takes me and the genetic code on her own. When she insists, people are forced to listen. Those that don’t…”
“You do not need to finish that thought,” Hessa said. “I know what you are saying.”
“Huh? No, I wasn’t being dramatic,” Roak said and stood up. He began to pace the bridge. “No. It’s something she said in her holo back on the first asteroid facility. Come back to the fold. Why? That would never be an option. Why say that?”
“Was it meant to be an emotional trigger?” Hess asked. “I have been studying those. They can be used to put someone in a former frame of mind using an association that is either unpleasant or pleasant.”
“An emotional trigger?” Roak replied. “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s gonna bug me, whatever it means.”
“I would ask for more information, but you will not give it,” Hessa said.
“No, I won’t,” Roak said. “It’s as much for your safety as mine.”
There was an awkward silence.
“Roak? Are you trying to protect me?” Hessa asked.
“Shut up,” Roak said.
He stopped pacing and sat back down, his eyes unfocused, his mind wandering through the various scenarios.
Come back to the fold…
Why had he called her in the first place? What was his endgame other than to see if she’d pick up? It had been a mistake the second he’d dialed in the comm signature, he knew that. She would never have tried to legitimately help him. But, as always, he couldn’t help himself.
Roak liked to think of himself as a man of intense self-control, but that was a lie and he knew it. He was emotional. He’d always been emotional. He tried to be cold and unfeeling, but in the end, his feelings always won out.
He was glad his internal dialogue was just that: internal. His reputation in the galaxy would be shot if he ever admitted to anyone that he wasn’t the cold operator they all thought he was.
Or did they? Roak thought about that. Maybe the reputation he assumed he had wasn’t his actual reputation. Maybe, just maybe, he was hired for the jobs no one else wanted because he was known to be emotional and take risks that others wouldn’t.
He laughed to himself. Was he the only one that didn’t actually know him?
“What is so funny?” Hessa asked.
“Nothing,” Roak said. “Just doing a little thinking.”
“You do not do little anything, Roak,” Hessa said. “But, I will not pry. We all have our introspective moments.”
“Yeah, we do,” Roak said. “Where are we?”
“About to come o
ut of the next wormhole portal,” Hessa replied.
“Anything on the scans?” Roak asked.
“No way to tell at this moment,” Hessa replied. “Not with the trans-space variables.”
Roak nodded and readied himself for the attack.
But when they came out of the portal, there was nothing again.
“This is the Gorf System,” Roak said. “Too close to the mark, Hessa. Get us out of here fast.”
“Yes, Roak,” Hessa replied and aimed the ship for the next wormhole portal.
The Gorf System was made up of jungle planets, one of which was Ligston where Roak had the vast majority of his chits stashed away under the protection of a Tcherian woman named Ally and a legless Skrang weapons dealer named Sha Tog. Roak didn’t trust either of them to have his best interests at heart, but he did trust them to distrust each other enough that they would be on guard at all times.
It was how Roak’s world worked. All about who trusted who the least and how to exploit that.
“The route takes us behind the planet called Stefbon,” Hessa said. “This portal is even less stable than the last one.”
“So Willz is trying to kill us,” Roak said and laughed. “Smart guy. Let trans-space take us out.”
“Except that would take out the genetic code, as well,” Hessa said. “I do not think that is his endgame.”
“His endgame is to be square with me and have me out of his life,” Roak said. “If that means annihilation by an unstable, backdoor wormhole portal then so be it.”
“Not the most sound strategy, but considering our capabilities, it is one of the few avenues to take,” Hessa said.
“Our capabilities,” Roak said and laughed again. “Get us out of here, Hessa.”
“You do not need to keep saying that, Roak,” Hessa said. “I understand the process.”
31.
The next three systems were just as uneventful. No ambushes. No syndicates trying to track them. They were left completely alone.
“This is giving me a bad feeling,” Roak said. “We’re the number one target in the galaxy right now and no one is touching us.”
“Willz is holding up his end of the bargain, Roak,” Hessa said. “You should not be too surprised when that happens. Not everyone is looking to break deals and betray you.”
