Orchestra of Shadows

by Charles Nall

  The officers started to chase after the sniper. The sniper kept running, and noticed Jacob Carpenter staring at him. Jacob had a concerned look on his face.

  “You! You are the little...” He glanced to the right of Jacob and noticed Teresa.

  Teresa fired her weapon.

  The sniper fell.

  The officers ran by his corpse, toward Teresa, and pulled out handcuffs. “You! You have the right to remain silent!”

  Teresa dropped her weapon onto the floor and stared angrily at the corpse of the sniper. Who was this man? Why was he after her or Jacob? The station security handcuffed her and began to take her away from Jacob and Trevor. She continued to run what happened through her head as she stared at the fallen sniper.

  Jacob noticed one of the men that were with Akeldamas approach the officers. He barely overheard the conversation from where he was standing. “That's Teresa Day, she's a fugitive. We'll take care of her, you don't have to worry about it, officers.”

  She was still staring at the sniper's lifeless body. She looked over at Akeldamas and grimaced. She then locked her eyes with Jacob. She mouthed, “I'm sorry,” as she was pulled away.

  Trevor scratched his red hair. “What just happened?”

  “I don't know. I just don't know,” Jacob said.

  Akeldamas put his computer away and followed Teresa and his guards. Before disappearing, he looked at Jacob and smirked.

  A space station security guard approached Jacob and Trevor. “Can I ask you some questions?”

  January 29, 0270 AC - 14:00

  CFS Iriguchi, Hyperspace

  Edge of Confederate Space

  “Computer, open a hyperNEP link to Jerry Turner, Artemis. It would be good to hear his voice before he leaves. We're close enough to use the Confederate relays. I want the conversation live.”

  “Affirmative. Initiating... Hyper-tunnel opened, accessing link, stand by. Notifying... Once. Twice...”

  Oshiro leaned back in his chair and glanced at the old photograph he was holding. It was a photograph of several people standing outside a corvette spacecraft. The spacecraft had the name “MADCAT-2” painted on the side. The people were all smiling and pointing at the spacecraft. Tanari Oshiro was with the group.

  Tanari smiled and sighed. The good 'ol days. Tanari Oshiro, Teresa Day, Jerry Turner, Denys Tauran, and Kate Bell were standing in front of their latest purchase: a California II-class corvette to replaced an outdated, damaged corvette. The Marauding Mad Cats were happy with themselves after another job well done.

  “No answer. Retrying link connection,” announced the computer.

  “Keep it up, cancel after two more tries,” replied the captain. He looked over his photograph again. “Jerry, what are you getting yourself into?” He scanned across the photograph. “Kate...” He caressed Kate on the photograph with his finger. “I miss you.”

  “HyperNEP Established. Decay Minimal. Stable.”

  A dark-skinned man with sunken rings under his eyes appeared on Tanari's display. “Hello?” Tanari could tell it was Jerry Turner, but Jerry did not seem as happy as he was in the photograph.

  Some happiness returned to Jerry Turner's bearded face. “Tanari! Is that you?! Tanari!”

  Tanari smiled. “It is me, friend, how are you? You look exhausted.”

  “Oh you know, with the preparations for our journey, just have had a lot of work to do.” A loud clang startled Jerry. “And I have to make sure this place can be up and running without me as well.”

  Tanari overheard a voice in the background, “Were you staring at my butt?!”

  “No, of course not, I just nearly tripped and dropped the plating! It had nothing to do with your nice butt!” called out another voice.

  Jerry sighed.

  Tanari laughed. “You really think it's going to still run without you? You are the soul of that salvage shop.”

  Jerry smiled. “The youngsters are the soul. Arnold is deciding to stay behind and help run the shop. His father will be the new owner. I'm not sure if Sharon Rose has decided if she is going to Andromeda with me or staying behind. She is still conflicted.”

  “She only has ten more days to figure that out.”

  “She needs to make a decision soon. We need at least five thousand people for the exodus or the mission will be canceled. We need eight hundred more people currently.”

  “You'll get the numbers. But Sharon and Arnold, they potentially aren't going to stay together?”

  “No, they know they might be splitting up.”

  “You know, I always thought for some reason they were romantically linked,” Tanari said.

  “No, nothing like that has happened to my knowledge, they’re just very good friends. Arnold has been working here for a few years and has been a tremendous help, especially as I work on Exodus,” Jerry replied.

  Tanari smiled. “Well, I'm sure the shop will be in good hands. And I know Sharon will make the right decision.”

  “Definitely, she made the right decision showing up in my life! I still remember when that little baby showed up at our doorstep. It was a good thing she did, I couldn't have repaired some of those engines without her! She repaired engines... and she fixed my...” Jerry sniffed. “She... she brought solace to my heart after the death of..”

  “I know.” replied Tanari.

  A tear ran down Jerry's rugged face. "Named her Sharon Rose, you know, Sharon after my mother, Rose after... Rose.”

  “You were strong during your loss. Stronger than I was,” said Tanari. “And you'll be strong when you lead humanity to another galaxy. Soon I'll be out of Confederate relay space and I really wanted to talk to you before you left on your journey. I wanted to tell you how proud I am to know you as a friend.”

  “Thank you, it's good to see you before I depart. Why are you leaving Confederate space?”

  “Heading to our old stomping grounds, Silver Cove. There was an explosion there, and the Confederation was blamed. We need to figure out what is going on,” Tanari said.

  “Ah, the Cove. Best of luck to you, we don't need any more stinking wars. That reminds me though, I need to say goodbye to the rest of the old crew. I wonder what Teresa is up to lately.”

  “That brutal kitten is still marauding.”

  “That's Teresa Day. Has the current version of the Marauding Mad Cats done anything exciting?”

  Tanari looked back down at the photograph of the smiling Teresa. “I really don't know. I heard they broke into a secret lab or something. Whatever is happening, I hope she is safe.”

  January 29, 0270 AC - 12:45

  Interrogation Room, USS Freedom

  Galactic Union Space

  Teresa Day's head lurched back after taking a punch from a guard. She spat blood onto the floor.

  The room was dark. A solitary dim bulb shone light down upon the metal table that Teresa was sat next to. She was tied to an uncomfortable steel chair.

  She took another punch from the guard.

  “That's enough! She'll talk, eventually!” yelled out Akeldamas.

  The guard frowned. “Fine, sir. She's lying, I can tell.”

  “Sure,” replied Akeldamas. “That may be true, but we will get the truth. Although, I hate going to extreme measures. You know about those, right, dear?”

  Teresa refused to talk. Her long brown hair was ragged and messy. Cuts and bruises lined her abused face.

  Akeldamas smiled and leaned in closer to Teresa.

  Teresa spat on him.

  Akeldamas wiped the spit from his face. “I'm sure our superiors will allow the use of those measures. Still, if we can accomplish our little meeting now, we won't have to go to that next step. So, Miss Day, what did your team find on the barren world of Cortes?”

  “Nothing! The job was just to eliminate some head scientist there. We didn't get any details.”

  “Yes, Dr. Gideon Bashir. He did nothing wrong, he had a family! Your team infiltrated a Galactic Union installation and assassinated a g
ood man! That's despicable enough, but you also could have uncovered something, something top secret. Tell us what you found.”

  “Listen, I have no idea what he was working on. It was just a job. He was to be eliminated. That's all. The end.”

  Akeldamas put his palm over his beak-like nose. “We are getting nowhere.”

  “I’m telling the truth! We have no idea what Dr. Bashir was working on. After the deed, I had no idea we would be discovered.”

  “We're not blind, dear,” Admiral Akeldamas mocked.

  “I was just going to go to Artemis to say goodbye to a friend. Please, I want to say goodbye, at the very least,” Teresa pleaded.

  “Well, you are heading to Artemis. You'll be held at a prison facility on Artemis. You can talk to your friend– you just have to talk to us, first.”

  “Ha! You think you'll be able to keep me on a prison on Artemis? My crew will bust me out. Hell, they'd be able to get me off of Mars if you sent me to that prison world.”

  “What did you find on Cortes?”

  “There's nothing I have left to tell you. I just want to talk to my friend!”

  Akeldamas snarled, “Do you have any idea what Dr. Bashir was working on? Do you have any idea what the purpose of that installation was?!”

  Teresa laughed. “You can't get it through your thick skull can you? From all we could tell, it was a weapons facility. I'm sure he was working on something scary! I'm shaking in my boots! But guess what? He’s dead. It's probably a damn good thing.”

  “A minor setback.”

  “Whatever. We were hired, we did the deed, we got paid. That's how it works.”

  Akeldamas growled, “Who hired you?”

  “All we got was a first name,” replied Teresa, “we went over this earlier.”

  “You went along with the deal with only a first name?”

  “Credits were deposited in our account before and after the deed. Whoever they were they had money. We aren't picky when we take jobs and we figured we could do it without any issues. Dr. Bashir was face down in his own blood before the intruder alarms even started going off. Job well done.”

  Akeldamas paced back and forth in the interrogation room. He stared at the beaten woman. “What was the name of your employer?”

  “Same name I told you earlier: it was Michael. Just Michael. The end. Let me go or send me to jail but stop this needless interrogation,” responded Teresa.

  “What else did you find at the installation?!”

  “Your balls. You’ve been missing them, right?”

  Akeldamas groaned in frustration. “Answer the damn question. What did you effing find?”

  “God damn it, nothing! We did our job and left. Was I supposed to find something? Do you have something there? Something you don't want the public to find–”

  Akeldamas slapped Teresa across the face. “I tire of this! This infuriates me. I am being treated like a joke. I cannot believe under any circumstances that you are telling me the entirety of the story.”

  “Eff you, you arrogant pig. I know nothing of the schemes on Cortes. I know for certain, though, that if the Union continues their scheming they'll end up on the wrong side of a very bad war. Although my loyalties are to money first and foremost, I can't sit idly by and watch an evil empire rise. I'm with the good guys. Watch your back.”

  “This empire will be built upon the bones of people like you!” Akeldamas yelled. “You will talk and you will apologize for this! If I stay here in this room and continue to talk to you, I fear you will be dead soon, though. In the interest of preserving the information locked away in your head, I'm going to go take a breather. Think long and hard, Miss Day. Which side of a conflict do you wish to be on? If I'm on the other side, rest assured you would be dead.”

  “I wish I was dead, it's a better deal than having to look at your sorry face,” Teresa said.

  Akeldamas snarled, “Guards, make sure no one gets in or out of here. She's going with us to Artemis. She will talk! If I have to I’ll use other measures...” Akeldamas stomped out of the interrogation room.

  Teresa smiled at the guards. “He seems nice.”

  January 29, 0270 AC - 12:45

  Customs, Space Station Grauer

  Galactic Union Space

  “Oh hey,” called out Jacob to Trevor. Trevor was sitting on a bench. Jacob had just been released from an interrogation of his own.

  “Hi, Jake,” Trevor muttered. He was hunched over on the bench and overtaken by sadness.

  “Trevor, you okay?” Jacob asked.

  “I don't know.”

  “Well, our stories matched up, they are going to let us go. Which is good, because soon the transport is leaving to Artemis, I really need to get to that. I wish Teresa–”

  “I know.”

  Jacob sat down next to Trevor on the bench. “Well, it's unfortunate that she's gone, but she'll be okay. I haven't known her long, but in my short time I've learned that she is very strong. She'll survive.”

  Trevor fought back tears. “Oh, I'm sure of it. I'm not so sure about me though. My meeting with my potential employers was fifteen minutes ago during my interrogation. I'm done. Maybe I should go to Andromeda with you. Maybe I missed the meeting for a reason, or maybe I'm just a failure.”

  “We’ve all been there, Trevor, it will be okay,” Jacob said.

  Trevor leaned back on the bench. “I just don't know what to do next. I really didn't have anything lined up.”

  “Well, Teresa wanted to say goodbye to Jerry Turner, she may not have that chance now. You knew him, right?”

  Trevor nodded. “Yeah, but not well.”

  “Well, he'll accept Teresa's words from you more than me. Want to head to Artemis?” asked Jacob. “You can decide if you want to go to Andromeda later.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” Trevor glanced over at a large screen that was setup along the wall of the space station.

  Jacob turned his attention to the screen. The text on the screen mentioned that they would have “Breaking News” soon. Text on the bottom of the screen scrolled, “Millions Await Drake Mabus Speech!”

  “The leader of the Blood Dynasty?” Jacob asked.

  “Yeah, I heard about an important speech taking place some time. I wonder what this is about. Probably just more bad news,” Trevor said.

  A smiling bald man with a well-groomed goatee appeared on the screen. He looked rather young. He was slightly pale, no doubt due to the vampire affliction. Behind the man on a nearby wall there were two samurai swords on display. The décor of the dark room consisted of red banners and black metallic walls.

  “Greetings, Sons and Daughters of the Lost Earth, I am Drake Mabus, Ruler of the Blood Dynasty, The Vampiric Legion.”

  Trevor scoffed, “Vampiric Legion, really?”

  The broadcast continued, “Years ago, blood was spilled. A new race emerged and was cast to the side because it was convenient to do so. I understand why it happened. I can even, at this point, forgive our past transgressors. But to do that, I must also apologize. We were a caged animal. We did not understand why we were chosen to not die when exposed to the vampiric curse. Perhaps it was the next stage of evolution. Only the fit shall survive. We rebelled. We attacked. We slaughtered. I think anyone can also understand why that happened as well. It was a natural reaction. Humans are just animals, we react predictably, we react terribly. Vast amounts of blood was shed.

  “Still, I think it was just birth pangs of a new era. We weren't chosen to lead or chosen to survive, we were chosen to be different. To prove to the universe that humanity would not lose their humanity.

  “There are rumors of war now. Wars that aren't spawned out of racism and quarantine, but wars fueled by hate and power. It took my entire life, it took twenty years, but I've finally learned that we may be different, but we are all still human. We should be one again. I long for a day of true peace. Pax Galaxia.

  “There are talks now to ally with our Galactic Union brothers. It in
furiates me to hear threats and news of tensions between the Union and the Confederation. We are living amongst the heavens now, and yet we still devolve into petty quarrels and bicker like savages in the dirt. We are better than this. One day we will overcome the pain of war. We are one people, and we will make that a reality. Will the Confederation be open to peace? I hope so. This is an era we dedicate to everyone who died on the day of Cataclysm, and everyone who lost their lives fighting the Vampire and Blood Wars. We will show them they did not die in vain. Stand with me. Stand with the past, stand with the present, stand with the future.”

  Trevor laughed. “I really don't buy it.”

  Jacob shrugged. “He seems like he has good intentions.”

  Trevor put his face into his palm. “Ever since that day, I get vibes. Sometimes I know things. This isn't good. This is the start of pain and suffering. But there must be pain before there is life. After the nova, the planets will form. The raging firestorm brings new life.”

  “Are you seriously okay?”

  “See, that's what I am talking about. Where did I pull that out from?”

  “What did you mean by 'that day?'”

  “It was twelve years ago. I was sleeping in my bed. I heard something outside. I walked outside and saw crystals. A ship made of crystals. It was beautiful. Through the crystalline structure I could make out four figures. And then there was a brilliant white flash. I woke up in a sweat, still in bed. It was vivid, it was real. I have been searching for them ever since. They did something to me. Whatever they did, I know what Mabus is spewing is lies,” Trevor said.

  Drake Mabus was still talking about the new era of peace on the screen.

  Jacob shook his head. “I never had an encounter like yours.”

  “Well, do you believe my story? Am I crazy?”

  “I’m not sure of the validity of your story, Trevor. But I know you are not crazy.”

  “I suppose that counts for something,” said Trevor. “So, Artemis. I'll go that far, I don't know if I want to go to Andromeda yet.”

  Jacob motioned toward the screen. “Do you really want to stay in this galaxy with Drake Mabus?”