by Adair Hart
Lawlrik nodded. “Alcarez offered to return it … for two hundred thousand credits.”
“Easier to hire someone to go get it, and maybe waste him if he gets in the way,” said Blake.
Lawlrik smiled. “I doubt anyone would be distraught over his loss. However, you’re uniquely qualified for this contract.”
“How’s that?” asked Blake.
“Alcarez is on Generis somewhere. Generis is a Fredorian colony …”
Blake raised a finger. “Earthborn rim-world colony, actually. Although since the original founding, later generations call themselves Rimborn.”
Lawlrik gestured at Blake. “You just made my point. The ship is to be returned here to Killikin, which is where Alcarez said he would send it once payment was confirmed, but that won’t be happening, obviously. The contract pays fifty thousand credits.”
Blake sat up in his seat. “Did you say … fifty thousand credits?”
Lawlrik nodded. “It’s higher than the normal rate … but the guild believes it’s worth it for the right contractor. I believe that contractor would be you.”
Seth waved a hand. “Yeah … I’m sitting here too.”
“Of course,” said Lawlrik. “I’m not familiar with your record.”
Seth shrugged. “I just fly Blake around.”
“You must be good to work with Blake,” said Lawlrik.
“Well … someone needs to babysit him.”
Blake laughed as he backhanded Seth’s arm. “We’ll take it.”
“Excellent,” said Lawlrik. He tapped at the table screen and, after a moment, said, “I’ve registered the contract and sent a ten-thousand-credit advance to your account. You get the rest when the ship is back. It’s a private contract, so it won’t show up on a search.”
Blake nodded. “All right. Before you go, what’s the trade guild’s thoughts on me taking this contract?”
“What you did in the past is … in the past. Any … complications … pale in comparison to a completed contract of this … nature.”
“Business is business.”
Lawlrik eyed Blake. “Yes … and although I’m not authorized for this … I know a deal when I see it. If you’re looking for more permanent work with the trade guild, we’d be more than happy to have you.” He glanced at Seth. “And you too, of course.”
“Of course,” said Seth with a sigh.
“I think we’ll stick to this for now,” said Blake. “I’ve had to follow enough rules. You never know, though. It can’t hurt to have options.”
Lawlrik nodded. “A born optimist. My contact details are on the contract. If you need to reach me, feel free to do so.” He slid out of the booth and placed both hands in front of him while bowing his head.
Blake and Seth dipped their heads.
Seth scrutinized the details of the contract on the table screen when Lawlrik walked off. After a moment, he said, “There isn’t much detail on where this Alcarez guy is. I’m surprised he was able to jack it. The freighter is a pretty decent size. Not too much defense, though. I mean, it could probably defend itself if it had to. It’s kinda odd they would send sensitive cargo without much security.”
Blake pursed his lips for a moment as he scanned the contract details. “It’s traveling through high-security space. There shouldn’t be a need for much defense. Especially if they’re tangling with a powerful trade guild that can hire ruthless, yet handsome freelancers.”
Seth laughed. “Yeah, right.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why wouldn’t they just send an army of mercs …”
“Credits. If the cost to retrieve it is more than what’s being asked for it, they would just pay it. That sends the wrong signal, though.”
Seth shook his head. “I’m glad you understand all this.”
“I wouldn’t even entertain the idea if I didn’t know what was involved,” said Blake. He glanced at Seth. “Or involuntarily endanger your life.”
Seth half smiled. “I know, man. I trust ya.” He exhaled from his mouth. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some sleep.”
“Go ahead to the ship. I’m not tired. There’s a weapons dealer out here I’ve worked with in the past that can probably shed some light, especially since we’re dealing with stolen weapons,” said Blake.
Seth looked around.
Blake laughed. “C’mon, I’ll hit the ship with you before heading out.”
Blake watched as the ship door sealed shut. The world he knew was very different from the one Seth knew. Seth was more familiar with places in general, but did not interact with aliens much, other than those at delivery ports. Bringing Seth into Blake’s world could be dangerous, even fatal. He ran his tongue over his fangs as he activated his chameleon shield. With a final look at the ship, he headed out.
Walking the streets of Killikin alone at night was usually suicidal, especially if you appeared weak. He preferred not to be seen at all. While he was sure he could deal with whatever came his way, he did not want make too many waves. The stone-tiled street he walked on seemed out of place with the high-tech buildings around it. Streetlights were placed haphazardly, and usually only ambient light came from signs or buildings. Killikin was an unusual city, and a prime example of knowledge pollution. The native Draka had no concept of space flight before multiple alien criminal organizations attacked it. Now they were the power brokers for the regional black market contract industry.
A sound off to his right caught his attention. He paused as he smelled the air. Sweat. Alien sweat, and lots of it. He crept to the side of a building and peeked down the alleyway. His vampire night vision allowed him to detect multiple brawny aliens beating something. Whatever they were beating was dead. Probably someone who failed to pay their debts. He narrowed his eyes and continued on.
Forty-five minutes later, he arrived at the one-story building that the weapons dealer Koordin worked out of. He noticed that the lights that should be on were out. Even more unusual was that the front door was sealed. Koordin was not shy about having lethal defenses, and although it was the middle of the night, that tended to be when he conducted his best business. Something was off.
Blake was a blur as he crossed the street. He focused on the sounds around him, and the heavy breathing of a Draka filled his ears. After creeping toward the building, he jumped up to the roof. As he sneaked across it as quietly as he could, the low buzz of voices filled the air. Judging by the smell and noise, he registered at least four individuals.
When he reached the back end of the roof, he went prone and looked over the edge. The back door to the building was slightly ajar, and a reptilian humanoid stood outside it next to a crumpled robot security guard. He knew immediately that the reptilian was a Drodalian, one of Fredoria’s main rivals in this region of space.
Koordin never dealt with Drodalians, and if they were there, then he was in trouble. The robot guards he employed were no match for the Drodalians.
Blake reached back for his version-ten Fredorian heavy pistol, or FHP-10, and brought it forward. He liked the pistol, but the downside was that it only had a few shots in it before needing a recharge. That was the issue with most laser-based weaponry. The downtime between recharges made them a specialized weapon. The more important aspect was that it could be fired silently, unlike his other pistol, the version-forty Fredorian light pistol, or FLP-40, which was automatic, loud, and meant to shred targets up close. It had high recoil, and required some training to use. He leaned over the edge and took aim.
After a moment, the Drodalian lay on the ground with a perfect hole in his head.
Blake waited for a moment to see if the Drodalian hitting the ground caused any movement from inside. After a minute, Blake jumped down and dragged the Drodalian off to the side. Blake opened the door a bit after holstering his FHP-10. Listening intently, he heard two voices. The grunting and squeaking noise was Koordin. Whatever the Drodalians were doing was causing Koordin pain.
Blake slipped into the building and, after verifying t
he room was empty, stuck against the wall as he crept toward the voices. When he was outside the open door, he paused to pull out one of his blades and his FLP-40 while he listened.
“You’re going to tell us … where the information broker’s network is before the night is out. You can keep playing ignorant, but we’ll keep coming back,” said one Drodalian.
“For the last time, I don’t know anything about that!” said Koordin.
A slapping sound echoed out.
Blake had heard enough. He stood and peeked into the room. Koordin was tied to a beam, and his jellybean-like body showed signs of damage. His lips were bleeding, and the dejected look in his eyes made Blake’s blood boil. Both Drodalians had their backs to him. He took out the first one with his FLP-40, shredding the Drodalian into strips of flesh. Lunging forward, Blake kicked the other one in the backs of the knees.
The Drodalian tumbled and spun around after hitting the ground.
Blake placed his blade against the Drodalian’s throat. “Well, hello there. Did you have a party … and not invite me?”
“W-w-what?” asked the Drodalian in a gravelly voice.
“Don’t worry about your friend outside. He has a massive headache or something. Your other friend is all shot up about something too. So tell me … why are you torturing my friend?”
“I’m not telling you shit, Fredorian.”
Blake holstered his FLP-40. “Earthborn, actually. I’m going to ask you again. Why are you torturing my friend?”
The Drodalian spit on the ground.
“Okay, have it your way,” said Blake. He pressed a button on his blade, causing orange electricity to arc around it. With a swipe off to the right, the Drodalian’s head spilled to the ground. Blake looked at Koordin and wagged a finger. “You have some interesting friends.”
“Damn it, Blake. Just untie me.”
Blake walked behind the beam where Koordin was tied and studied the wrist constraints. “Pull your wrists apart.” Once Koordin complied, Blake sliced through the constraints.
Koordin stumbled over to a stool and sat down, using the nearby table to steady himself. His breathing was jagged. “Not sure why you’re here, but thank you. I … I think they would’ve killed me this time.”
Blake nodded. “Me too. What’s all that talk about information broker network stuff?”
“Not important,” said Koordin. “They seem to think I’m an informant in the network.”
Blake eyed Koordin. “Are you?”
Koordin laughed. “I’m just a simple Draka that sells weapons. Nothing to see here.”
“Uh-huh,” said Blake. He had heard rumors when he was a Fredorian Ranger that Koordin was an information broker informant.
Koordin wiped blue blood from his lips. “Serious. These Drodalians have been bothering me for a while now. My defense system killed one last month. I had a contractor that worked out well initially, but they got him last week. My latest was a robot guard, but no idea where it’s at.”
Blake looked around and grabbed a cloth. As he handed it to Koordin, he said, “It’s outside crumpled on the ground.”
“Figures.”
Blake pulled his lips in for a moment. “Well, I just came to ask you about a contract, but I can come back later.”
Koordin shook a hand out. “Let me see it. I need to call cleanup to get these guys out of here.” He pointed at the ground near Blake’s boots. “Watch where you step, their crap is leaking.”
Blake watched the ground as he joined Koordin at the table. He placed a credit-card-sized device on the surface and accessed the contract after it appeared.
Koordin spun around in his stool and interacted with the surface screen on the table. After a moment, he said, “Alcarez.”
Blake narrowed his eyes. “That’s what the contract says. Last I heard, he was holed up somewhere in the Zolidack system, four systems away from Generis. I’m not sure what would he be doing out here risking his ass in high-security space.”
“Your information is outdated. Your buds over in the FDF took control of the Zolidack system. Actually, they cleared out everyone.”
Blake pursed his lips. “I didn’t hear anything like that.”
“You probably wouldn’t have. From everything I’m hearing, it was a secret operation. Alcarez and others have moved to the Karus system and to the Fredorian rim world of Generis.”
“And you know all of this how … ?”
“I’m a weapons dealer. We have our own private network. Alcarez is trying to sell some ship weapons for three hundred thousand credits.”
Blake nodded. “So where do you think he is on Generis?”
“Probably in the capital city of Tooka, is my guess. You can hide almost anything there.” Koordin coughed up blood. After wiping his mouth, he said, “What I do know is that Tooka has a lot of factions. Fredorian, Earthborn, Rimborn, and factions within each of those. It’s a dangerous place … for human and alien alike.” He eyed Blake. “You going out there alone?”
“I got Seth with me.”
Koordin shook his head. “You’re gonna need more than that. Alcarez doesn’t trust anyone. He’s all about robots and androids.”
“I’ll find him. I’ve been to Tooka before, but it’s been a while. I know the places to hit for information.”
Koordin snorted. “What you need to do is get a bigger crew. You’re tough, but take on Alcarez and his whole merc group tough … ? I don’t know.”
“You’re talking to Blake Brown,” said Blake with his hands out to the side.
Koordin chuckled, then grabbed his side. “Damn it, stop making me laugh. Tooka makes Killikin look like a safe zone.”
“Well … don’t worry about me. I can deal with whatever comes up.”
“Just be careful,” said Koordin. He looked down at the Drodalians. “I need to clean all this crap up, but you’re welcome to stick around.”
Blake nodded. “I’ll stick around until the cleaners have come and gone. I don’t think the Drodalians had a backup, and if they did, they’d be here by now. I’ll waste ’em if they do come. Fair enough?” He could see Koordin was still shaken.
Koordin’s eyes misted as he licked his lips and nodded.
Six hours later, Blake was on his way back to the ship. It had taken a while for Koordin to calm down, and when the cleaners came, he was more than happy to help them remove the dead Drodalian bodies. Although Blake wanted to leave a bit earlier, he waited until Koordin’s new security robots came. Blake thought eight was a bit much, but it was obvious Koordin was not taking any chances. He had been talking about installing a panic room, with an escape route out the back, for a while. Blake suspected those plans just moved up in priority.
The sun was just coming up, casting its rays of light across town.
He recalled reading stories about vampires on Earth and their sensitivity to sunlight. It did affect one vampire strain, but it did not destroy them. His strain had no problems with sunlight or garlic, but a stake, bullet, or any other object through the heart would kill him just like it would any human. He knew that where he was going, there was an ongoing battle between various factions: vampire, human, and alien. His thoughts refocused on getting to the ship.
He figured Seth would probably be getting up by now. His immediate plans were to get to the ship, brief Seth, then nap on the way to Generis. It was about two light-years away, so would take six hours. As he passed by the alleyway where he had seen the aliens beating something the night before, he peeked in. A dead Draka lay on the ground, the upper half of its body indistinguishable from the garbage near it. He shook his head. Killikin was deadly at night, but thankfully, much less so during the daytime.
When he got to the ship an hour later, he activated and lowered the rear door. Once on board, he saw Seth in the cockpit, watching an Earth TV show. He slid into the seat next to Seth.
“Morning,” said Seth.
Blake nodded as he eyed the show. “I see you’re going to have
a lot of fun with that cube.”
“Hell yeah,” said Seth. “These science fiction shows are hilarious. This one group is traveling all around the galaxy via star gates. Can you imagine that?”
Blake eyed Seth. “You miss Earth, don’t you?”
Seth looked down for a moment, then glanced at Blake. “Well … yeah. Don’t you?”
Blake shrugged. “I was turned in the late 1500s. I’ve had my fill of Earth. The best thing to happen to me is the gift I received from my master, Lord Noskov.”
“Becoming a vampire.”
Blake nodded. “My life is better now out here. Easier to find places to sleep, a big variety of blood types, and the quality-of-life enhancements are solid. So do I miss Earth? Some … mainly my clan … and my disciple, Mikhail, but it is what it is. I prefer being out here, to be honest. Besides, if we went back, the Helians and Kreagan hunters would kill us.”
Seth shook his head. “Such a dumb rule. I get knowledge pollution, but in your case, nonhumans on Earth already know about aliens and their technology. Like, what the hell would being on a slave ship do to pollute anything?”
“I don’t know. That’s the rules. Lord Noskov has a friend that could have easily brought me back,” said Blake, clenching his jaw for a moment. “I guess maybe that friend wasn’t as close as Lord Noskov thought.”
Seth shook his head. “Ahh well. What’d you find out? Anything?”
Blake put up a finger, then slid out of his chair. “Getting breakfast real quick.” After a moment, he returned with a glass of blood. As he sipped it, he covered the events with Koordin and filled Seth in on the contract details.
Seth sat back in his chair afterward and ran his hands through his short curly hair. “Sounds like we should probably fill up our element storage tank while we’re here. Anything else I should pick up?”
Blake bobbed his head. “We could probably use a grappling hook gun. Oh, and some binoculars. I lost both on my last ranger mission and forgot to pick up replacements. You might also want to check out their armor selections too. Something tough.”
