by Richard Fox
“Well…” Carson grinned. “Yeah, I guess we do.”
“Yes, yes, yes, such a momentous occasion. I’ve never met anyone from dirt before.”
“You probably wouldn’t have,” West said. “We’re not from this galaxy.”
Abendu’s ears perked up slightly. “Not from Kabeetha, you say?” He clicked with his tongue again. “Very interesting indeed. Yes, yes, yes. Even more impressive that you made it all the way to Diasore in that thing.” He nodded to their ship.
“The Valiant?” Carson asked. “Why do you say that?”
“Is not looking like it could make such a journey.”
“Well, no, not from Earth, but—”
West cleared his throat, giving Carson a knowing look as if to say, careful what you say.
“Look, we’re obviously new here,” Carson said. “Any assistance you can provide would be much appreciated. Right now, we need to meet with the DIN, a representative of the Rightly Guided…then get our ship out of impound.”
Abendu clapped his hands together again. “Ah, you see, that I can most definitely assist with. You need to just need to talk to a Regulos—no one calls them the Rightly Guided but as a joke—Node. Yes, yes, yes, I can show you where to go, but forgive me…” He bowed his head in supplication. “I regret that the Pindiki way forbids me from giving of my time without some form of compensation.”
West crossed his arms, frowning. “So, tell me this, Mister Abendu…”
“Apologies, fair traveler, I know not this, ‘mister.’ My name is simply Abendu.”
“Abendu,” West corrected. “But I’m curious, why are you so interested in helping us? Other than compensation. You know nothing about us.”
“Ah, but I do,” Abendu said, raising a finger. “I know you are being subjected to DIN Adjudication without just cause. Those damnable Nodes and their Regulations. It’s a wonder this whole planet isn’t fined for some violation or another. No, no. no, I first thought that you were Zeis traders, who I happened to do a great deal of business with. The fact that you’re not intrigues me. So, I help you.”
“If you’ll just give us a few minutes,” Carson said.
“Most certainly.” Abendu bowed yet again and backed away from the group.
Carson led them back up the ramp into Valiant’s cargo bay. They were joined by Jerry, Elias, and Greer, who didn’t look happy at all.
“Who the hell do they think they are putting that shit on my ship?” Greer asked, tapping her foot on the deck.
“Doesn’t matter,” Carson said. She turned to West. “Do you think we can trust this guy?”
“Honestly, I don’t have any idea, Chief. Typically, I’m consider myself an excellent judge of character, and I’d like to say that I think he’s being straight with us, but I just don’t know.”
“I don’t trust him,” Nunez said. “Anyone that bows and apologizes as much as that guy does definitely has something to hide.”
Carson shook her head. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of options here. Either we trust this guy is going to get us to the right place or we sit here and wait for Ol’ Additional Fine Boy to come back, and who knows how long that’ll take.”
“I’d like to meet this DIN character,” Birch said. “Figure out why he broke my beautiful drone.”
“One step at a time,” Carson said. “First contact with these Regulos, then we need to get the Valiant out of lockdown. Elias?”
The youngest brother looked up, eyes wide. “Y—yes?”
“Do you think you can help Greer get that restraining droid off the hull?”
Elias shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I can give it a try.”
“Good. That’s your mission.” She pointed at Greer and Elias in turn. “We need our ship free. Popov, you and Jerry have security duty. Don’t let anyone on or off without my say-so.”
“Roger that, Chief,” Popov said.
A wide grin spread across Jerry’s face. “Yes, ma’am!”
Caron pointed at him. “Don’t let it go to your head. You listen to Popov and you do exactly what she says. You don’t leave the ship for any reason. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jerry said, the smile slowly fading.
“Pretty sure we’ll find something else for you to clean,” Popov said.
“And if this guy turns out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing?” West asked, giving the alien, who now stood several feet from the base of the ramp, a sidelong glance.
“Uh, pardon me, fair travelers,” Abendu called up from the tarmac, flapping his elephantine ears. “Might I suggest to bring weapons, if you have some. If you don’t, I have a friend who can provide you with some at fairly reasonable prices.”
“We’ll deal with that if and when it does,” Carson said under her breath. She gave the alien a wave. “Okay, the rest of you, gear up. Light kit. Have your active camo ready and keep your faces covered; we don’t need any more attention than we already have. If this guy can get us to DIN, we just might be able to get the answers we need.”
****
Carson couldn’t help but feel naked as they left the spaceport. Their “light kit” consisted of lightweight tactical vests over their multi-cam duty overalls and brown ponchos, partially concealing their new CL1 gauss carbines. Carson’s vest held several spare magazines, her IR gear, and two frag grenades. The rest of her team was outfitted in similar fashion, with the exception of Moretti, who carried medical gear, and Birch, who’d had drones attached to his back and beneath his cloak.
Abendu led the Pathfinders along an elevated walkway that looked down over a lush park, fifty meters below, to their left. A glass railing protected travelers from toppling over the side. To their right, they passed several rows of warehouses and shuttle hangars, most closed and patrolled by security droids identical to the envoy’s guards.
They entered a circular park, filled with odd, thin trees with round, translucent bulbs hanging from the limbs like leaves. A fountain in the center of the park was surrounded by life-size marble statues of various aliens, all appearing to be in the middle of some scholarly pursuits. Several held books, others pointed at the sky, holding telescopes; the one closest to their group looked like he was opening some kind of round mechanical device.
Abendu cut through the park, taking another pathway to their right, leading the team into a large open-air bazaar.
“Wow,” Nunez said, echoing Carson’s own thoughts. “Now that’s impressive.”
A wide concourse stretched out in front of them, seeming to continue on forever. On either side of the causeway, levels stacked on top of each other, extending up almost two hundred meters. Every level was open on the concourse side, filled with a mixture of open market stalls and decorative store fronts. Music filtered down from various bars, and scents from food vendors filled the air.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the concourse as hundreds, if not thousands of beings moved through the expansive market, stopping to browse, haggle prices with merchants, or sell their own wares. Occasionally, the thumping of shuttles passing overhead reverberated through the bazaar, downing out the music and cacophony of conversation around them.
“Oh, nice,” Moretti said pointing.
What looked like an Old Earth motorcycle without wheels descended into the bazaar, its rider wearing large goggles and flowing robes that whipped in the air behind it. The airbike rotated around and landed on the second level, in front of what looked like a large casino, parking next to a line of similar craft.
“I need to get my hands on one of those,” Moretti said.
Nunez slapped a hand on the medic’s shoulder. “This place has a little something for everyone, doesn’t it? I like it here already.”
A group of the insectoid aliens passed Carson’s group, on their way out of the bazaar. None seemed to notice the human newcomers.
Nunez inhaled deeply. “Damn, whatever that is, it smells phenomenal.”
Abendu turned, smiling. “Ah
, you like the caucarant? Is a delicacy for the Lincheeny.”
“The who?”
The trader nodded at the insectoids. “The Lincheeny; they eat the caucarant alive. They prefer their food still moving when they eat it.” He shuddered. “Intolerable species. No one likes them, but…” He shrugged and kept walking. “They pay astronomical fees for the food, so…”
“The people running New Bastion could take a lesson from this place,” West said. “Even with no Xaros around to scare them into compliance, none of the races trust each other, they can barely figure out how to keep the station functioning, much less an entire planet.”
“Abendu, why did Malistar say the planet is on alert condition four?” Carson asked.
“The pirate Ultari,” Abendu shuddered. “There were rumors of a raid. The Regulos sent their alert fleet to respond, but no one knows where the Ultari attacked. Strange strange.”
Carson and West traded a look. Carson swiped her fingers across her throat and the topic died.
As they continued through the concourse, Carson couldn’t help but feel slightly overwhelmed at everything going on around them. She saw several shops selling what looked like high-end tech, food venders cooked food fresh right in front of their customers, and there seemed to be a weapons vendor almost every other stall.
At one of the weapons merchants, a tall, furry creature that looked eerily similar to a bear with lizard arms picked up a long rifle and inspected it. The merchant began pointing to different features on the weapons, obviously running through his pitch, but the bear kept interrupting him and motioning to other features.
Finally, the bear waved the merchant away with a loud bellowing roar and pointed the rifle straight up into the sky. The merchant realized what the bear was going to do and began to panic, shouting and waving his arms around. The bear ignored the merchant’s warning and fired off a blast of energy into the air.
Crowds in all directions ducked at the blast, and even Carson, who’d known what was coming, couldn’t help but flinch at the loud report.
“Holy shit,” Nunez said, taking a step back.
The merchant snatched the bear and proceeded to chastise the larger creature, waving an aggravated finger. Carson couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculous scene.
“Bah, Burathi,” Abendu said, shaking his head. “Think they can just do whatever they want.”
A droid dropped out of the sky and began addressing the bear. They were too far away for Carson to make out the words, but when the Burathi threw up its muscular, furry arms and bellowed at the droid, she knew what had happened.
“Let me guess,” Carson said. “Fines.”
Abendu nodded. “Yes, yes, this is how DIN Central maintains order. Tries to anyway.”
The adjudicator droid finished admonishing the Burathi and lifted back into the sky. One by one, the surrounding crowds went back to their own business and soon everyone seemed to have forgotten about the incident, barely paying the arguing duo any mind.
“This isn’t a Regulos planet?” Birch asked.
“Ha!” Abendu shook his head, chuckling. “Not one of their core worlds. Those are forbidden. This is a trading world. Commerce!” He raised his arms up. “Regulos provide structure, enforce contracts. Keep wars between other races to a minimum. They never go beyond these outposts. Even though they could smash the Ultari pirates easily. But don’t try to make sense of the ‘rightly guided’. My pockmarked ass they’re ‘rightly guided’.”
The trader pointed. “Spinsor’s weapons are all overpriced; everyone knows this. The Burathi would be better off going elsewhere. I have a friend, gives good, fair price for good product. If you’re in the market, I can—”
“No,” Carson said, shaking her head. “Thanks, but no. I am curious about something though. Are fines the only form of punishment here? It doesn’t seem like a very effective way to maintain law and order.”
Abendu laughed. “Law and order, you say? No, no, no, is not. DIN Governance is extremely lax on enforcing its will on non-Regulos dealing with non-Regulos. Short of murder or endangering others, DIN allows the members to police themselves. Especially if they are in areas DIN Central does not maintain. Now, you use the Regulos to arbitrate a business deal and they care. A lot.”
“Okay,” West said. “What the hell is this ‘DIN’ thing you keep talking about and why does it have so many different designations?”
“Diasore Intelligence Nexus,” Abendu explained. “Is the avatar of the Regulos that inhabits this system.”
“So, there is more than one DIN?” Carson asked.
“Is not technically accurate. There is only one DIN, but is many parts. Nodes, if you like. Those Nodes are separated into operating functions, Central, Governance, Compliance, Registrant, Adjudication. Is more, but you understand, yes?”
West crossed his arms. “So, outside of DIN-controlled parts of the city, it’s just a free-for-all?”
“No, no, no, is not free-for-all. Affiliate rules apply to all members and reflect on their representative worlds. But,” Abendu shrugged, “is not hard and fast.”
“Feels like we’ve travelled into the Wild West,” West said.
Carson nodded. “We need to be careful.”
Nunez tapped Moretti on the arm. “Hey, check that out.”
Carson turned, following Nunez’s pointing finger to a group of bronze-skinned humanoids standing at the edge of the third level, looking down over the concourse. Surprisingly enough, they looked almost human, save for their bronze-colored skin, which had a metallic sheen to it. Two had long red hair that hung down to the small of their backs; another had short green hair that was spiked up in all directions. They all had a series of pronounced ridges that ran along their cheekbones, then back over the top of their ears. And their eyes…
Carson squinted, trying to make sure her own eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
“They have goat eyes,” Nunez said.
As soon as he said it, Carson saw it. Their round eyes were about the same size as human eyes, set above a small nose and mouth, both extremely similar to their human counterparts. But inside of round pupils, theirs were horizontal rectangles that stretched across almost the entire surface of the eye.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Moretti said. “They do look like goat eyes.”
Abendu looked up to the group and nodded. “Ah, yes, Zeis You can see why the confusion. Very similar.”
The two with red hair had notably feminine features, wearing sheer silk wraps around their slender frames. The third appeared to be male, wearing leather armor, a pistol on his hip and what looked like a sword strapped to his back.
“You know, if you can get past the eyes, they’re actually not bad-looking,” Nunez said. “I wonder if they’re… you know, compatible.”
Carson shot him a look.
“What?” he asked, holding his arms out. “It was just a question. Maybe they’re related to those long-lost Acadian people Hale found on Nibiru.”
Popov shook her head. “Haven’t been on planet five minutes and you’re already thinking like a sailor.”
Carson took a deep breath. “This is all very educational, Abendu, but we really need to get these fines taken care of.”
“Yes, yes, apologies. It’s just this way.” The trader motioned for them to follow, leading them deeper into the bazaar.
Ten minutes later, they came to a large glass building in the middle of the bazaar, easily four or five times the size of the largest storefront they’d seen so far. Two enormous slate-grey pillars flanked two sets of double glass doors, stretching up four levels.
Two security droids flanked the doors, their reversed arrow-shaped heads continuously scanning the passing crowds with their three glowing red eyes. Through the glass windows, Carson could see people standing in long lines inside, all apparently waiting to see an adjudicator.
Nunez put both hands on his hips, shaking his head. “That looks like the worst DMV in the history of drive
r’s licenses.”
“DIN Adjudication is not known for its timely customer service,” Abendu said. “Then again, what does it need to be in a rush for? It’s not going anywhere, right?”
Carson sighed. She was not looking forward to standing in line for hours to deal with these ridiculous fines, but she couldn’t see any other way around it. “Come on.”
An alarm sounded as their group neared the entrance. The two sentry droids straightened, bringing arms up, weapons already exposed.
“Halt,” one of the droids said. “Contraband detected. Entry unauthorized. Weapons not permitted.”
Carson stopped short, then turned to Abendu for guidance. The trader shrugged.
“Your identity chit has been assessed a fine for violation of Regulation 6.432. Further violations may result in additional fines.”
“For shit’s sake,” Carson said, moving away from the building. “Here.” She handed her gauss carbine to West, then her pistol.
“Don’t lose ‘em,” Birch told Nunez, handing his weapons over.
Abendu stepped close to the group, speaking in hushed tones. “I do have to ask, fair traveler, and forgive me please, but how were you planning on paying the fines?”
Carson produced the pouch of Ultari currency from underneath her vest, opened the top, and showed him. “This is all we have.”
Carson thought his eyes bulged briefly at the sight of the money, but the expression quickly changed to one of anxiousness.
“No, no,” Abendu said, shaking his head. “That will be no use here. I’m sorry, my friend.” He pushed the pouch back, wrapping Carson’s hands around it. “Please, put this away.”
“Why, what’s wrong? This isn’t money?”
“Oh, no, no, no, it’s money, indeed it is,” Abendu said, then shot the sentry droids a look over his shoulder. “But Ultari money is no good here. Is illegal on all Regulos worlds.”
“Illegal?”
“But is okay.”
West leaned in. “What do you mean it’s okay. Didn’t you just say the stuff’s illegal?”
Abendu nodded. “Yes, yes, yes, very bad.”
“So how is that okay?”
