Titan Stand

by Max Jager

  "Xandrus is my home," replied Doak, in fact we were there a month ago, I spoke to Gandric who told me all about you and the massive purifier project that has put everybody back to work. I also spoke to another friend of mine who will be one of the mechanical engineers on one of the purifiers. He was getting ready to leave for Ussen Ommo at the time so I imagine he and the other's are already there by now." All Matt could do was shake his head in amazement, it was truly a small galaxy after all.

  "Once I Finnish up with Rekton and Orlak," said Matt, "I want to link up with Gandric and Amber and get back to Ussen Ommo to see all that."

  "Well you won't be disappointed," replied Doak.

  As they were talking, Brand came back and indicated that he wanted to speak to Matt.

  "I want to speak to you about something Matt, but don't misconstrue what I'm about to ask you or repeat it…Is that clear?" He swallowed nervously replying,

  "Yes sir, what do you want to know?" Brand studied him for a moment then said.

  "It's not that I don't trust Rekton or Orlak for that matter, but what actually did happen when that Malhazar ship destroyed Bline-Aichel, and why were they with you in the first place?"

  "Well sir," he began, "Rekton told me that the Malhazars approached him along with Ifwol, and Skart with an offer to supply our ship with enough fuel to travel to earth and back if we would accompany them through the Thovan system, and help them attack a raider base, no one said anything about Bline-Aichel. Then once the attack was over, we would head on to earth. Well we got out there and were flying in cloaked mode when raiders started showing up. Then there was an incredible flash followed by these massive shock waves. It was then we realized that the Malhazars had launched some sort of bomb at the raider base completely destroying the planet it was on. The Malhazar gunship then took off, and we got the hell out of there."

  "So you simply assumed this was to be a standard attack on a raider base, not the destruction of the whole moon Bline-Aichel was located on." Matt nodded,

  "They had a gunship which Orlak said would make short work of any attacking ships as well as doing a job on their base, honestly, we had no idea they had anything like a "planet-buster" bomb."

  Brand studied him for a few moments then replied.

  "I believe you, only because of previous information I had become aware of. All I will say at this point is that certain rumors indicated that the Malhazars had been working on some sort of mass destruction device. Obviously, we now know this "planet-buster," as you called it was that project. We also know they developed it on one of the two moons that orbit Moriedia." Brand leaned back in his seat and sighed.

  "This whole affair is going to get rather "sticky" before it's resolved. Everybody loves to hate raiders because of their behavior. However, in this case they may have a legitimate case against Moriedia." Brand sighed.

  "Thing is…I doubt any surviving raiders are going to be stupid enough to appear at any tribunal to collect damages."

  "Do you think they will make good on their threat to come after us, or attack Loridian ships?" Asked Matt.

  Brand shrugged,

  "Hard to say, my guess is that they will strike Moriedia again, definitely any ships they can find, The Malhazars are going to have to watch their backs that's for sure." Then Brand asked,

  "So you are from earth eh?"

  "That's right sir."

  "Well from what I know about the place your race has no interstellar space travel, so how did you get all the way out here?"

  Matt then proceeded to tell him the story of Greg Tate, Amber, and the Nora-Lee. When he was finished, Brand was grinning.

  "So old Greg made good his vow eh. I knew the fellow, actually worked together on a couple of jobs. Then we went our separate ways, but this was before he picked up with that Tharg, you say she calls herself Amber?"

  "Yeah, but she told me all that, about being a sort of assassin droid like Jezang and all."

  Chapter 76

  Titan Stand Chapter 76

  "So how's the bounty hunting business?" Asked Matt.

  "Meh," replied Brand, "Aesil and I have talked about getting out, but we make a good living at it and since we both like to travel it fills a niche in our lives. We also run an armed courier service, as well as serve as bodyguards from time to time."

  Matt said nothing for a moment then asked,

  "So do you think there will be a war?"

  "I don't know Matt," replied Brand. "Moriedia and Ruddoria are both members of the Loridian trading empire, Ruddoria being a third tier member, Moriedia being second level. The problem here might be what Vasta was talking about with Moriedia attacking and destroying a planet belonging to Ruddoria. You can be sure the diplomats are going to have their plates full in dealing with this problem."

  Then Brand changed the subject asking Matt about earth.

  "Well I hope Rekton and the others had a good time," replied Matt, he and Orlak didn't get to see wild animals in Africa, but we all talked about going back."

  "Rekton briefly mentioned something about attacking some sort of raider base and capturing all sorts of weapons, what's up with that, do you have raiders on your planet?"

  "We call them pirates but they aren't much of a problem. Rekton was talking about what we call terrorists. These are people who don't really represent any one country and don't have the equipment or resources of an official army. They attack civilians, blow people up, and use terror to achieve their goals. Anyway, we attacked one of their training camps, killed a bunch of them, and made off with most of their weapons and ammo, here, take a look at this."

  He then drew his CZ75 from his drop leg holster dropped the magazine and presented it to Brand. The Golian carefully studied the weapon along with the bullets it fired.

  "Apparently long range sensors can't pick these guns up since they don't fire lasers or beams. It's given us an edge over the raiders a couple of times."

  Brand then looked intently at Matt,

  "You were that fellow that killed Agrat and his crew weren't you?" Matt shrugged,

  "Well I had help, but yeah. That's when we realized their sensors couldn't pick up powder based weapons."

  "Well I'll tell you Matt, you might want to keep that secret for as long as you can. Agrat was like a living god to the raiders, and all of them are still wondering how anyone got the drop on him. I haven't heard your name come up in any conversations. And at this point they may not be aware of exactly who you are but rest assured, they will find out, and when they do you will be marked."

  This scared him as a million things started racing through his head.

  "Um, sir…"

  "Yes," replied Brand,

  "They may already know." He then went on to describe his visit to Moriedia, of Holliqua, and her family, even the night he spent with her, along with the fact that she was on that gunship. When he was finished Brand had a grim look on his face.

  "Did you ever mention to her about killing Slyr or his compatriots?" inquired Brand. Matt grimaced,

  "Unfortunately. Her whole damn family knew." Now Brand grimaced,

  "Well if this Holliqua was taken alive, the raiders will know who you are by now."

  "Do you think they tortured her?"

  "Only out of revenge, probably raping her to death for that. As for information, they have methods of getting into a person's mind posing as a friend; they can learn anything they want that way. I'm sorry Matt, but I'm afraid your friend is more than likely dead, however, I'll make some inquiries as to what really happened."

  "It doesn't matter," he replied, "They were nothing but a bunch of gangsters anyway." Brand studied his face for a moment knowing Matt was lying.

  Later, as Matt tried to get some rest that night with Holliqua kept crowding his mind.

  "Funny how life screws you around," he thought. "I never managed to get to "first base" with Patricia, yet I travel light years to another galaxy just to get lucky." Even though he had never really attended church, Matt f
ound himself saying a prayer for her, and vowing revenge for her death. In the end, he couldn't sleep so Matt dressed and made his way to the bridge where he found Doak monitoring the controls.

  "Have a seat Matt," said the droid, "It would seem that something is weighing on your mind, if you care to talk, I'm a good listener." The abilities of these androids never ceased to amaze him, so he sat next to Doak and told him about Holliqua.

  When he finished, Doak said nothing for a few moments, then looked at Matt.

  "Don't be too hard on yourself Matt, while it's unfortunate that your friend is no doubt dead, dwelling on morbid thoughts of how she died does nobody any good, least of all her memory. Let me ask you this, do you know much about the Malhazar's?"

  "They reminded me of the Mafia from back home, organized crime."

  "Take it from me, they are an extremely ruthless race, murder, assassins for hire, smuggling. In other words, raiders with breeding, and connections. They profess to live by some noble code of honor, but believe me when I tell you had Orlak attempted to interfere in their plan to destroy Bline-Aichel, they would have not hesitated to destroy your ship." Matt knew deep down Doak was right but the incredible night they shared was blinding him to the truth.

  "I've no doubt these people are as bad as you say, so why does the trading company put up with them?" Doak made a funny little noise, then replied.

  "There's a great deal more to the Loridian trading company that meets the eye."

  "When you are as encompassing and far reaching as they are, all too often your business dealings require uh, less than ethical solutions. I'm sure the same sort of situations can be found on your planet." Matt laughed,

  "Yeah, we call them "pipe hitters."

  "Well this is where the Malhazar's step in, providing, uh certain services that tend to speed things up, or remove obstacles blocking the way." Once again he chuckled,

  "You mean like making people offers they can't refuse?"

  "Precisely," exclaimed Doak, "What an interesting way to put it."

  "So basically Moriedia is a whole planet of mafia types and pipe hitters, I figured that all out when I was there, but it still doesn't change my feelings towards Holliqua or feel bad knowing that her life probably ended very badly, we humans always seem to have a weakness for lost causes, and lost people."

  "Yes, well be that as it may, Malhazars are very clannish, and always marry their own race."

  "Well I certainly wasn't planning on marrying her," replied Matt. Then Doak asked him something he hadn't given much thought.

  "Can I ask you something else Matt?"

  "Yeah, I guess."

  "Other than this Malhazar girl, have you met or socialized with any other females since you arrived from earth?" Matt thought of Bria, but the fact that she was a princess, and her sour disposition never really put her in the running. Well there was Tiag, Slavek's sister, but, well…She was Slavek's sister.

  "No, not really Doak, problem is, I've been too busy tear-assing around the galaxy, to actually meet anyone."

  "What's this about meeting females?" Sounded Aesil's voice. Stepping into the cockpit area she seemed to be wearing a grey short sleeved Henley type shirt, over a pair of black tights, along with black low-cut boots.

  "Brand kept waking me up with his snoring, so I thought I'd relieve you Doak."

  "Thank you for asking Aesil," he replied, but Matt has been keeping me company."

  "Have you ever met Orlak's granddaughter Matt?" She asked.

  "I didn't even know he had a granddaughter," replied Matt, "He certainly doesn't look old enough to even have one." Aesil chuckled,

  "Don't tell him I mentioned her, otherwise he would kill me, and probably take it out on Brand as well. How old are you?"

  "Just turned eighteen ma'am, why?"

  "To answer your first question, Lyskandan's are often older than they look; maybe it's all that kedra, and ronol they eat that keeps them young. Anyway, her name is Ilmi, and she's quite the looker." Matt had a bad feeling about this, voicing his concern with,

  "Thanks for the information ma'am, but over the past few weeks, I've talked to Orlak quite a bit, and he's never said anything about a granddaughter. In fact, he's really never said much of anything about his family. I don't want him getting mad at me for asking about things which aren't my business."

  "Well perhaps you are right," replied Aesil, "Still, keep her in mind should the subject of family ever come up."

  "Other than her good looks," added Matt "is there anything particularly interesting about her?" Aesil snickered,

  "I think I'll just let you find that out for yourself.'

  "Fuck!" he thought, "Another Bria, like I need that," He now felt tired enough to give sleep another shot however he couldn't stop thinking about women. Even though Doak told him not to waste time thinking about Holliqua, she remained on his mind. He also found the Godfather part two theme playing in his head at unusual times, this was too weird. If that wasn't enough, he started wondering what Kaitlyn was up to. Determined to go her own way, he hoped she would find happiness. Then there was Bria. He had mentioned to Orlak about stopping off in Ireland to pick her up, but with all that happened, simply forgot. Then if all that wasn't enough, this "mystery girl," Aesil spoke of troubled him. Not so much as to what she was like, but why Orlak had never mentioned her to him, very troubling.

  He must have gotten some sleep because Doak woke him."

  "Wake up Matt, we're almost to Ruddoria. If you hurry you might be able to grab something to eat." After doing his business and dressing he grabbed a hot mug of zol'mel, and a protein cake before heading for the cockpit where Brand was speaking with Orlak. They were discussing where to go and who to see when Orlak's image looked up.

  "Good morning Matt. Say, after we land, meet us near the security check-in, we've got some things to go over."

  "Will do," he replied. Brand bid Orlak goodbye as his image disappeared from the screen. He then turned to Matt and said.

  "Before I forget, Rekton promised us a couple of those weapons you folks liberated from those terrorists as you call them. He said you knew the most about them so at some point you'll have to show us how to take them apart and clean them."

  "No problem," replied Matt, "Be sure Rekton gives you plenty of ammo, and a few of those grenades as well."

  "One other thing," continued Brand, "Orlak mentioned something about returning to your planet once this business with the raiders is resolved. Aesil and I have been talking about taking a long vacation lately, your planet was one possibility, could we entice you to come along as a guide?" Matt grinned,

  "Sure why not, you can't visit earth without stopping by the A'Le'Inn and meeting all the true believers." Brand and Aesil looked at each other and shrugged.

  "Are you interested in seeing killer animals like Orlak and Rekton were? Because we'll have to go during the summer months when they are all out."

  Brand chuckled,

  "We can get all the monsters we want on Xiceta it's a fight for your life the moment you land. No, we were looking for a nice warm beach or someplace nice and quiet."

  "I think I can help you there," replied Matt, "Talk to me later."

  It was clear the people he was with had "connections," because once through security they went straight to see Slavek's father Roikas, without any sort of appointment. Vasta went in first, then roughly a half hour later, the rest of them were called in. It was clear Slavek's father wasn't in a good mood, prompting Slavek to whisper to Matt,

  "My father seems very agitated, don't do or say anything that will only make him worse."

  "Great," thought Matt, we really are on the "hot seat," probably blame the whole thing on us." Instead Mr. Slykhor looked at them all and grimaced.

  "Well as you no doubt realize we've got quite a mess here, raiders and Malhazar's. As yet, we haven't received anything official from the Malhazar's, but that's normal, we're debating the idea of contacting the raiders, but of course, they are a
highly suspicious people and will no doubt kill anyone we send as a messenger."

  "Excuse me!" Said Brand, "I've got three raider prisoners aboard my ship, maybe we can use them as messengers?"

  "Where did they come from?" asked Roikas"

  "They were part of a raider crew that tracked us to earth then attacked us." Roikas rested his forehead on his clasped hands in exasperation. Then raising his head,

  "I suppose now we have an intact raider craft sitting someplace on earth?"

  "No, added Rekton, "It was completely destroyed, however I'm sure the earth people will manage to locate any number of pieces." Roikas shook his head,