“Hello,” he said tentatively. “Do you know where we can find Jared?”
“Who’s asking, not that it matters, really,” she answered.
There was no doubt about it, Kevin could tell from her voice that she was the same girl he met in VR. Well, technically the first one had been a holographic representation, and whatever data Ziron had siphoned off Omicron’s online databases was certainly not fully up to date, since she looked like the girl in the horde of freedom fighters trying to ascend the echelons of this place in the simulation.
And here she was, sitting her pretty self atop the seven-hundredth level clearly meant that she was not what she appeared in the simulation.
Mira, could Ziron’s simulator algorithm have made such a big miscalculation?
But Mira didn’t answer. And Kevin knew why. She functioned with the help of the portable energy cell that powered his armor, so when the armor ran out of juice, Mira had been disabled.
“Why doesn’t it matter?” Kevin finally asked.
“How do I put this mildly?” she said, delicately resting her index finger on her chin. “He’s pretty much dead.”
“As in?”
“As in—I killed his ass and now I’m sitting at his desk. What is it to you?”
“That’s a bit of a problem,” said Boomer.
“Are you aware your walking lunch is talking?” she said.
Boomer growled.
“Nobody’s eating Boomer, he’s my best friend.”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, big shot. I must admit though, I was impressed when I saw you fight my security, well, technically Jared’s security. I’m quite new at the helm here on seven-o-o, but I expected someone with more of a military look. You know, big tough warrior. Imagine my surprise when your advantage crapped out and I saw a boy underneath all that armor.”
“I’m not a boy, I’m a…” but Kevin let the sentence trail as he looked for the right word to use.
Boomer cleared his throat. “Man.”
“Right,” said Kevin with a smile before continuing. “Well, what I lack in age and experience I make up in wit and panache.”
The girl laughed. “Whatever you say. Now, unless you have a business proposal for me, and I sure hope you do after wiping out so much of my tech, I’m all ears.”
“Do you mind if I ask your name first? I’m Kevin, by the way.”
“Don’t care, Kev. But if that helps speed up the process, I’m Lacuna. I would say it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, but you’ve cost me millions of credits today, so…”
“Not Kev, but Kevin.”
Now Kevin understood why Ziron didn’t enjoy being called Zee all that much.
Lacuna shot daggers at Kevin.
“Never mind that,” he chuckled uncomfortably. “We were told Jared could give us information on how to locate a friend of ours.”
“And that concerns me why?”
“Well, we’d like that information. That’s the reason we came all the way up here, which was no easy feat.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you understand how these things work; if you want me to give you something, especially after the mess you’ve left in your wake, you need to give me something in exchange, of equal or higher value.”
Crap. This is not going well.
“No, believe me I—I get that, but I’ve spent hours fighting my way to this floor and was hoping I could give this day a rest.”
“Might not be what you had in mind, but if all you want is to sleep, I can easily arrange that.”
Boomer started growling and he morphed into a Doberman.
“Neat trick, but you may want to keep your pet on a leash or you’ll lose any chance of making a deal.”
“I think the reason Boomer is unhappy is that he’s reached that conclusion already. You don’t seem too interested in helping us.”
Lacuna leaned forward and her look turned as cold as ice. “Helping you? No, I don’t do help.”
Kevin really wished his armor were working, at least a little bit. He didn’t see how to make himself more convincing with his rather frail human features. Not to mention he literally had no poker face, but he tried anyway.
“Well, you’ve seen what Boomer here can do, I think the smoldering pile of scrap metal and wires that were once your big elaborate security system is still smoking…so at the risk of sounding rude, we need to find Princess Kalliopy and we won’t take no for an answer.”
Lacuna delicately got up from her chair and walked around the desk to come nearer to Kevin. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she walked toward him gracefully.
“Hey, Boomer,” she said, “catch!”
She threw a stick in the air and Boomer instinctively jumped to catch it. But the moment he grabbed it with his teeth, lightning sparks engulfed him and he fell to the floor like a rock, unconscious.
“Boomer!” screamed Kevin as he lunged to his dog’s side, who had returned to Beagle size.
“Don’t worry, he’s not dead. I just granted him your wish, so he can have a little nap while grown-ups do the talking. Well,” she sized him up and down a couple of times. “Kind of grown up anyway.”
Kevin grimaced. “That’s not cool! I should—”
“You should what?” she interrupted. “Without your tech you’re just a boy, one I can take down without breaking a sweat, and well, with your pet now unconscious, he can’t turn into a beast and swallow me whole if I don’t comply. That’s what you just did, isn’t it? Try to threaten me. The way I see it, it’s only fair I remove the threat altogether.”
“Look, Lacuna, I know you don’t know me—us, but we don’t mean you any harm, we just want—”
“Yes, yes, rescue Princess Kalliopy. And that happens to be one of the files inside Jared’s computer I took a peek at. But, like I told you before, this isn’t a charity-type deal. If you want that information, you need to give me something I want in exchange.”
“I don’t have time for this.”
“Oh, but if you want the information I hold, you’ll want to make time. Or I can have you both killed and sold to a food recycling company. Lots of people craving proteins on this planet. Sure, that wouldn’t bring me much money, but hey, that’s still an option I’m willing to consider.”
Maybe I can take her out myself and try to fetch the information from her computers. I’m good with computers. Kevin told himself to try and bolster some courage that he was currently lacking.
“But, then again,” she added, before Kevin had time to do anything. “I really don’t think the information will do you any good. Unless you went to her rescue with a fleet of ships, that is.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lacuna swiped some controls on the underside of her wrist and a holo-screen hovered over her device. It showed a fleet of ships in space. “This is where your precious Kalliopy is. You see that big badass Kregan ship with dozens of smaller ships in escort? That’s where she is being held right now.”
Kevin had to admit that this was not the sort of news he hoped to hear. But one problem at a time. If what Lacuna was saying was the truth and she wasn’t trying to mislead him, he would deal with the fleet later. Right now, he needed to get the exact position of these ships.
He cursed himself for letting the power cell run out. If it hadn’t, Mira probably could have calculated the coordinates of the ships based on the star alignment.
“What proof do I have that this isn’t a fake holo-vid you’re showing me that has nothing to do with Kalliopy?”
“I happen to have a spy on that ship. Well, technically Jared did, obviously—which I think is the reason you came here in the first place.”
“You telling me this still doesn’t constitute proof.”
“Alright, you want proof, how’s this?”
Lacuna entered more commands and Kevin saw an image of a beautiful young girl being held by levitating restraining devices. Her blonde hair covered her face but when she raise
d it, he knew immediately who it was.
Crap! That’s her.
Incarceration had not been kind to her. Her captors had clearly inflicted physical pain, perhaps even torture, which angered Kevin to the core.
“From the look in your eyes, I take it you know her and that we can now deal.”
“Now that I know what I’m looking for, I don’t think I need your help. But, thank you, you’ve been more helpful that I thought you would be,” Kevin smirked.
Kevin was taking a big gamble, but he had a very good memory, so he committed the ships and their shapes to mind, and while he couldn’t possibly remember all of the stars, he had no doubt that Ziron could recover a perfectly actionable image the moment his neuronal link with him was re-established.
“Wait a minute,” protested Lacuna. “Even if you could find their location on your own, you’re not taking out that fleet without at least some sort of help.”
“And I take it that it’s the kind of services you can oh-so-generously provide?”
“Well—not per se, but there might be an option that’s beneficial for both of us.”
Kevin crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m listening.”
“What do you know of the Ghost Fleet?”
Kevin tried hiding a grimace but was less than successful. “Let’s pretend I’ve never heard of it.”
Lacuna raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, tough guy, let’s just pretend.”
“Alright—I never heard of it. I’m not exactly from that part of space. What’s the Ghost Fleet?”
“In the height of the Wraith War about a thousand years ago, legend has it that the Arcadian lost an entire fleet in a part of space I do happen to have coordinates for.”
“Another of Jared’s post mortem gifts?”
“You could say that.”
“And?”
“On one of those ships is a relic I’m very interested in getting my hands on.”
“And what would that be?”
“You don’t need to worry your pretty little eyes about that, Kev.”
Pretty little eyes? Da fuck?
“So what is it you want us to do in exchange for giving us both the coordinates of Kalliopy and the Ghost Fleet?”
“I just want to come along while you get your hands on the ships, and I’ll be on my merry way. I might also need a transport, doesn’t have to be fancy, and then we can part ways once I get what I want…” She drew closer to his face, he could smell her perfume, which was quite intoxicating. She put two fingers on Kevin’s shoulder and let them slide downward. “Amicably, of course.”
The caress, while not something Kevin had wanted, gave him goose bumps, the good kind.
He took a deep breath in trying to regain some sort of composure. “Alright then, I think we can deal. We go together to the Ghost Fleet, you get your trinket, we give you a shuttle, and we part ways. You wouldn’t happen to have some sort of proof about the fleet?”
“You mean the holographical kind that can help you locate it by triangulating star patterns?” She smiled widely. “I can appear stupid with my sexy exterior and mannered ways, but don’t push your luck, Kev. After all, if you help me, I might feel generous and even offer you a bonus.”
She winked at him, which sent shivers throughout Kevin’s body.
“If you catch my drift,” she added with a wicked smile.
17
Boomer regained consciousness and managed to establish contact with Ziron who had finally worked out the bugs in his system and beamed back not two but three members aboard the ship.
The consensus was that Lacuna should stay locked in her quarters, a decision she didn’t take all too well. But after a heated exchange, she finally agreed to give Kevin the coordinates of the Ghost Fleet, with one condition attached. If they tried to double cross her and leave her locked in the quarters upon arrival, she would feed his balls to her pet ranidocus.
Kevin did not know what a ranidocus was, nor did he care to find out.
“She’s quite a handful,” said Boomer. “You could have at least tried to clock her for zapping me.”
“The idea had crossed my mind, believe me.”
“Seems to me it should have been set into motion beyond just thinking it. But well, what do I know?”
“Alright, I’m sorry. I didn’t think I could take her without the armor.”
Boomer snarled. “You mean you know you couldn’t.”
“You had to spell it out.”
“Electricity overload you know? I think it did something to my brain. Actually, no, you don’t know, because you weren’t the one zapped!”
“You are going to let this go, eventually, right?”
Boomer smiled. “We’ll see.”
Ziron entered the bridge on his levitating cushion. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Nah,” said Boomer. “I was about to go anyway, need to relieve myself.”
Boomer trotted out of the bridge, his head erect and his tail high in the air.
“You alright, Kevin?”
“A little tired. That was no small feat getting that information.”
“About that, I tried running your memory against Mira’s triangulation algorithm. . .”
“And?”
“Well, she came up empty.”
“How’s that even possible?”
“She detected some corruption on the holo-vid you were shown.”
“What kind of corruption?”
“I should say tampering. Looks like the ships and the stars aren’t part of the same file, not originally.”
Of course. . .Gotta give it to Lacuna, she’s good.
“So we’re back to square one. Lacuna still has to tell us where to find Kalliopy.”
“Which is unfortunate, because I can’t trust that woman as far as I can throw her. There’s something about her. I think it’s the blue hair.”
Kevin had to stop himself from bursting into laughter and instead produced a muffled chuckle.
“What’s up with you?” asked Ziron.
“You don’t see the irony?”
“What?”
“Your fur is blue.”
“Let’s not compare my very rare, natural shade with some cheapo nano-synthetics that girl has been using to make herself look pretty.”
“Fair enough. About the fleet though, do you think she is telling the truth? Or is she trying to play us?”
Ziron scratched his ear, licked his paw, and then passed it over his face.
“She may very well be playing us. As for the Ghost Fleet, as legend has it, we did lose one in the war. So, I believe we need to investigate.”
“What if none of it is true? She did deceive us with the first fleet footage.”
“Yeah, but some of the parts, the ships in fact, seem genuine.”
“How so?”
“One of my contacts at the edge of Arcadian space told me that he saw the exact same fleet a few days back. They were in a hurry. They stopped for a very short period of time to refuel their engines at the nearby star and went back into hyperspace rather quickly. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Alright then, for the time being, let’s assume this is where Kalliopy is being held. If the other part of the holo-footage she showed me is real, Kalliopy is in serious trouble, and she could be dead by the time we reach her.”
Ziron hissed at the assumption.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything. I don’t want her to die either, or I wouldn’t be doing any of this.”
“I know. I just—Kevin, we need to save her. I’m responsible, if my tech had been stronger, they never would have succeeded in grabbing her in the first place. I need to right this wrong.”
“Okay, so let’s focus on moving forward and if Lacuna steps out of line, we’ll just have to deal with her.”
“You’re a good person, Kevin. I don’t know if I’ve told you that before.”
“Not in so many words, but I really appreciate you saying it ou
t loud. About the fleet though, what sort of tech can we expect?”
“Even though these were top-of-the-line a thousand years ago, they’ll be rusty flying buckets compared to the Osiris.”
“That’s going to be a problem, won’t it?”
“Well, they have their sheer size we can use. They’re significantly larger than the escort ships and should be able to take quite a pounding. The real question though is—”
“Will they still fly?”
“Exactly.”
“Well, you’ll work your magic on them, of that I have no doubt. What other choice do we have?”
“None whatsoever.”
The tall man stepped into Xonax’s ready room.
“Come in, Altanor. I’ve been waiting for you. Take a seat.”
The pirate leader looked around the room for a few moments before finally sitting across from Xonax.
“Nice looking ship.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no? It’s a nice looking ship. I wasn’t being sarcastic—for once.”
“I’m just pre-emptively telling you that I’m not renegotiating our terms. This ship is mine and mine alone.”
The pirate leader had a scar that ran down his nose, which looked like it had been broken and reset multiple times, and not by the best of surgeons. Half of his face was hidden behind long strands of gray hair. His intense gaze fixed on Xonax, at least from the one eye that the Kregan could see.
“A little over possessive, are we?”
“Let’s just say I’ve learned how your kind thinks, and besides that, your reputation precedes you.”
Altanor smiled.
“You can keep your shiny ship, but remember our deal. If you want us to help you overthrow your father, we get the boy and the technological advantage that he will bring.”
“I haven’t forgotten, you don’t need to remind me of our original terms, you just need to make sure you honor your part of the deal. Though we both know that our engineers would get to the bottom of what makes him special much faster than yours will.”
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