“Why would I believe you? You could just listen to my plans and wishes and then use them against me. I’m no fool, Stavos. I see how you treat your enemies. There’s little mercy in you.
“Out of all the creatures of Xan, to hear Vogron tell me I’m not merciful enough.”
“It’s a joke! The Jareet know how to have fun too!” Fars roared.
“Fine, have it your way. Mitto put him back in and create a sound barrier so I don’t have to listen to him groan.”
“Wait!” Vogron screamed but the cylindrical shields already dropped from the ceiling. I left him space enough to stand but not sit and then turned my gaze away from Vogron. “You think I’m merciless, Vogron. I think differently but here I am respecting your opinion.”
“Now that is a joke!” Fars said again as he blew off some steam laughing.
It took us a while to arrive at the designated place in the Qebia belt. We couldn’t burn hard to get there quickly because other ships would have been able to find us with ease. Exhaust plums, no matter what kind of fuel ships used, left a signature that could be followed.
The Nameless had become restless, and as he did so did I. Many things went through my head as I contemplated on just what the hell was so important to him? Who was this Templar and why did I trust him not to harm either me or Fars? Everything happened so quickly in the last few days that I had barely time to take a breather and think about it all. It reminded me of the days on Detera where we just jumped from one corpse-ridden battlefield to another, never looking back and always pushing forward.
“Meet me in the cargo hold, both of you,” the Nameless said when the ship stopped moving at the precise coordinates. “The package is smaller than the average starfighter. It should prove no problem for the ships grappling beams.”
I just nodded in agreement as we followed him. The Templar went down to the cargo hold first, then Fars, and lastly, I followed. I had told Fars to be ready to expect anything, even a fight, and that if anything should happen to me, he should take the ship to Federation space as best he could.
When we reached the cargo bay, the Nameless’ package was already inside. It was smaller than a fighter as he said and it didn’t look anything like one. It was a cubic shape with a rough metallic surface, and it looked like it hung in the asteroid fields for what was at least a couple hundred years, maybe even a thousand.
“What’s that, Aloi?” I asked suspiciously. “Mitto, can you scan that thing?”
“I’m sorry, but we can’t. It’s something… the ship’s sensors aren’t allowed to scan it no matter how I go about it.”
“Oh? So elder Aloi stuff, huh?”
The Templar nodded his head slowly and pressed an indentation on the cube. My anxiety overcame my confidence.
“Wait!” I yelled.
“What?”
“Before you open it, I need to know what it is. Is it a weapon?”
The Templar seemed amused by this comment even more so than… anything up to this point. He had a grin on his face, one that wasn’t menacing, no, it was pure joy.
“No, not at all, human. Trust me when I say that I will not cause you any harm unless you threaten my life.”
“Then tell me what it is. I can’t jeopardize this entire ship just so you can be mysterious. It’s already here, isn’t it?”
The Nameless looked around as if trying to find the words.
“Speak Aloi, what is this thing!” Fars said with his usual diplomatic skill.
The Nameless sighed again.
“May I?” he gestured toward a small command desk seemingly etched into the cube.
“It’s not a weapon?”
“It’s not any more dangerous than I am,” he said cryptically.
“You’re quite dangerous, so yeah, who knows? Given the necessary gear, you’d be as much of a danger as anything on Xan.”
“You’re right, but I already gave you my promise, Stavos. Now, can I?”
“Fine, fine, open it already. I want to know what we risked our lives for.”
He pressed more commands and the metallic box hissed again and then split in the middle, opening itself up. Within the metallic exterior of the cube, a biological membrane slowly pulsated up and down, as if it was alive and breathing. The smell of it immediately attacked all my senses, and I took a step back, afraid I might throw up.
“What the fuck?”
The Templar gently put his palm on the membrane and moved it aside. There was a small, grey bipedal creature beneath it. Numerous tubes went into all its orifices and it looked like it was completely fused with the biological box in which it lived. The creature seemed very weak and fragile with thin appendages and a rather big and elongated head. Its eyes were closed, but it was alive judging by the throbbing and pulsating cot around it.
“What… Why? What is this?”
The Nameless grinned as he stared at the creature intently. There was such affection in his yellow sunken eyes, compassion, and understanding. I dared say even love.
“What is it? Is it your child?”
“Child? No, this is not my child. I would never entertain the thought. This is me.”
10
I stretched my legs on the table of my stateroom and stared through the artificial window into the Qebia belt. I was trying to drown away everything the Nameless told me with several glasses of self-made black reindeer. Mitto didn’t know how to make my drink in the food assembler, so I had him make each ingredient separately, and then I combined it myself. It wasn’t good, but it was close enough to make me feel a little bit of comfort in this new galaxy I found myself in.
I liked my new ship. Everything about it was extraordinary. The breathtaking intricacies of Frey craftsmanship burnished every inch of it. The walls were covered in such detailed abstract art that you could lose yourself for hours just staring at it. It felt good. The perfectly tuned music, the incredible combinations of smell and sight, the warmth of its décor and security; all of it created a sense of safety and calm that I couldn’t remember if I ever even felt before.
I guessed that’s why rich people always had a certain serenity about themselves. The world they looked at was so much more beautiful than what the rest of us got to see—and feel.
Since our conversation with the Nameless, I had felt a sense of detachment from the rest of the universe and its troubles. I couldn’t say that I had been too attached to it before, but this was a whole new level of dissolution that threatened to create a major change in what I thought the world was about, and by extension who I thought I was.
I had fought the Aloi for so long that it took five years in an interstellar prison to begin truly questioning the last two decades of my life.
Fars came into the stateroom pushing Warden Rinslo in front of him.
“Rinslo wants to talk to you,” Fars muttered. “He won’t shut up about it. I thought I’d talk to you before I rip his tongue out.”
Rinslo looked scruffy and beaten, but there was still fire in his eyes. I knew he thought that this wasn’t over; that he would still get his ship back and shove us back into VR torture where we’d sit for a couple of hundred years until our brains turned to mush.
“Warden Rinslo,” I said calmly as I took the sight of him in. I still remembered being in a similar situation the first time we met, only that it was me who was standing where he was now. “How are you doing?” I said motioning to Fars that he could go. Rinslo tapped his claws on my table and took a deep breath.
“How long do you think you can push this, Stavos?”
I took a sip from my glass and offered Rinslo some, but he declined. Takkari couldn’t stomach alcohol. It burned right through them. I knew this, so I only offered to offend him.
“Don’t want any?” I asked mockingly, but he didn’t take the bait.
“What’s your plan here, Stavos? Huh? Take my ship for a joyride and then scrap it for creds to some pirate? They’ll trace it back to you. You killed Partak and Aloi officials, hal
f the galaxy is after you. There’s not a single space station in this sector that will serve you. You’ll run out of fuel, you’ll run out of biomatter, you’ll eat each other here. Make the smart move, Stavos. Give me back the ship and go to Xan. If you do, we can forget about this little… What should we call it? Transgression?”
I leaned my head to the side and said nothing for several long seconds. It amazed me how Rinslo still thought he had a semblance of authority or relevance aboard this place. What truly surprised me though, even sort of hurt me to be honest, was that he thought so little of my intelligence. To even suggest such a thing in his situation meant he thought of me as little more than a capable punk that got in over his head and now needed express salvation.
I decided to humor him.
“How do I know you won’t send us into a thousand years of VR torture? Or even just slit our throats the moment we land on Xan?”
Rinslo feigned shock.
“I’m a businessman, not a butcher! I always stick to an agreement.”
Sure thing, I thought, unless you had a way out of it where you didn’t suffer any consequences.
“Yes, I know how honorable the Takkari are,” I said, trying to sound sincere.
“Then you know I’ll keep my word,” he said hurriedly, his voice filled with hope.
“Truth be told, I’m interested in something from Xan and I thought of going there first thing tomorrow.”
“You did?”
“I did, yes. Mainly my armor. I know I was brought to Xan in it and then you stripped it off me, but unless you have sold it, it still should be there.”
“Your armor? Why is that of any importance now?”
“Ah, but you see, I have learned to use my H-Nans effectively over the years in Xan, but they still restrain me from living up to my full potential. I need O-Nan cells to be at full power and there’s not a single thing more useful for a Technomancer than his Fyre Armor. So, if we go to Xan, I want my armor back and your promise that we will land there safely and securely and leave just the same.”
Rinslo looked at me in shock for several seconds, utter distress showing across his brow. A frown of disbelief slowly etched itself into his forehead.
“Let’s cut the shit,” he said. “You know I won’t agree to that, and I know that if I tried to trick you by saying you’d get that armor back, you know I’d be lying. Why make a proposition that is so preposterous? Is it to mock me? Because it’s working. Let me tell you something Stavos, there’s no scenario where you’ll get through this in one piece. Better make amends with that now.”
“To mock you? I would never mock you, good Warden. See, you were the only one in this entire galaxy who was so good to me. Not only did you give me a great ship, but you made me into the man I am now. And you gave me a kick-ass crew.”
“Hah! I didn’t give those things to you, you stole them!”
“Whatever. I only want what is mine and then I’m off. Your life for my gear, that’s the offer.”
“That’s your offer?”
“That’s my offer.”
“Here’s what’s going to happen now,” Rinslo said, and I grinned which infuriated him even more. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said even louder. “You’ll unchain the Frey, you’ll unchain me, we’ll take this ship to Xan, and before I drop you behind bars for the rest of your miserable life, you’ll cleanse that piece of shit out of the ship’s AI. You’ll do all that without question and you’ll do it now!”
I raised an eyebrow, still grinning at his face and enjoying every second of it.
“Or what?” I asked with the most annoying tone I could muster.
“Or I’ll pop all of your burstees at once!” he yelled, slamming his leathery hands on my beautiful new table. “What? Is that a surprise to you? Did you forget you still have your little death bracelets around your wrists? I have every single prisoner’s burstee switch ready to be flipped with a single thought. I’m the Warden of Xan!” he hissed with an exaggeration I didn’t feel. That last sentence nagged at me as if his title carried any weight in the universe.
“Nameless, Fars, please join Rinslo and me in my stateroom,” I said over the comms. The door opened almost instantly and they joined us. The two must have been waiting just outside the door.
“What is it, Stavos?” the Nameless asked as he sized Rinslo up.
“Tell my friends here what you just told me,” I said, and Rinslo did with such vigor and brazenness that the Nameless frowned as if he had eaten something foul.
“Are we now clear on this? The three of you are done for, and if you think you’ll be quick enough to kill me before I pop your bracelets, think again. I made a backup order for the three of you. If I die, all your burstees will go off so don’t even think of doing something stupid.”
“It’s an honorable death,” Fars said to the warden’s dismay.
“I should have been dead eons ago,” the Nameless added.
Rinslo’s face changed from frightened but decisive to terrified and apprehensive. “Don’t test me, ’cause I will do it!”
“Can you kill me first?” I said, and it took me inhuman strength not to laugh.
I kept a straight face for several seconds, enjoying Rinslo’s confusion and horror. I knew he didn’t want to kill any of us. He was too afraid of the consequences.
“Very well,” he said standing up and moving away from us. “The Nameless goes first!”
Damn it, I thought. We were betting on who Rinslo thought was the biggest threat and I knew Fars hoped he would be number one. Good to know everyone thought the Templar was the most dangerous of us all.
“Are you sure? I could rip out your throat in less than a second,” Fars boasted.
“Hey, I could burst a nanite chain through his eye in less than that,” I said as I pushed myself up from the chair, all excited and shaking my fist for mock purposes.
“Federation dogs, we all know it is I who can crush his skull with my palm before he even realizes what is happening,” the Nameless said, mimicking a crushing gesture with his giant fists to Rinslo’s horrified expression.
“You scum, no one is going to do anything but me! Enough of this, I’m the Warden of Xan and you Aloi traitor will pay for all you’ve done!” Rinslo screamed.
A silence ensued and lasted for several seconds as Rinslo helplessly tried to activate the Nameless’ burstee. The three of us looked at him, suppressing laughter as hard as we could. Rinslo’s eyes twitched as he tried to activate the burstee through his version of an INAS, but to no effect. Eventually, he stopped trying to kill us and his whole persona took a sharp turn.
“Something wrong, Rinslo?”
“You… You deactivated them? That’s not possible! That’s Greth technology, nobody gets through that. This isn’t possible!”
“Oh, you mean the burstee? I turned that off three years ago. I know it still blinked green in your system as I kept the switch. It can still go off but there’s no explosive material left in it. Anyway, you were saying you wanted the Nameless dead first, right?”
The Nameless took one big threatening step toward him, leaned into Rinslo’s terrified face, and stared hard as he bared his teeth. Rinso shook and let out a squeal as the Nameless snapped a single word at him: “Boom!”
Rinslo flinched and put his hands up as his voice trailed off. We couldn’t help it anymore, so we burst into laughter for a good minute. He stood there glaring at us all the while, probably imagining all kinds of deaths for us.
“Well then, Warden, will it be your life for my armor? Do you think that the offer still sounds as good as earlier? Ah, I bet it does. We’re en route to Xan already and will be there by tomorrow, so you know, try not to kill anyone by then. What is that? Is that a yes? I can’t tell if you’re shaking from fear or confirming our agreement. It’s important to me that you’re on board with this. You know how they say: a Takkari always keeps his part of the deal. Yes? Good then, get him out of here, Fars, before he pisses all
over my new stateroom.”
“Why me always,” Fars muttered but still grabbed the broken Takkari by the shoulder and pushed him toward the door. Just before they left, I stopped them.
“One more thing, Warden. Nameless, would you mind bringing the Frey commander? I forgot to mention something to both of them. I bet the good warden will be very interested to hear this.”
As soon as the Nameless returned with the Frey commander, I turned to the Templar.
“Nameless told us, no, showed us a couple of interesting pointers regarding the Aloi and their allied races. I bet the commander here can confirm it, so that’s why I thought it’s important for you to have some evidence of sorts. Nameless, what happened to the last race you remember that joined the Aloi Hegemony?”
“I think they were called Razneer Mountain Consciousness. Might be Raznayer, Razn… It’s been a while and my memory is hazy but here it goes. The Razneer were giants in every sense of the word. They were part living beings, part giant rock formations floating on very loose tectonic plates. They couldn’t move or develop technology since they had no appendages to do so, but they were conscious beings of very high intelligence. We never met anything like them, and the Hegemony was eager to integrate them. Within less than a decade, we enabled them not only to move but to join us among the stars, Warden.”
“Hah! See that? Just a decade!” I mockingly yelled. Rinso pulled back slightly and glanced over toward me as if having no idea what the hell we were on about.
“We had uplifted this ancient race, accelerating their development by millions of years. However, as with all races we integrated, the Razneers’ biology had been heavily tinkered with. We molded their bodies into spaceships, changing not only their appearance and function but suppressing their minds into absolute servitude. Their offspring, which took thousands of years to fully develop, was now growing at the same speed the Federation took to build a spaceship, months namely. Their history was erased, their minds subjugated, and their whole society was turned into a shipyard. There would never be a Razneer Mountain Consciousness again. Instead, they were bred in the hundreds to serve in the wars of the Aloi. But, you know what the worst thing about it was?”
Redeemer: A Military Space Opera Series (War Undying Book 2) Page 11