Gun Sage

by Skyler Grant

  "We'll take the clean version."

  "And my good impression continues to grow," Winters said dryly. "Commodity slips. Stock certificates, some signed and some not. None of it is worth a fortune, but all is worth something."

  "We're not completely done on this world. Do you have clean local currency as well?" Alexa asked.

  "Ten thousand on me, if that will do. If you take that full amount I can provide that and twenty-five hundred galactic."

  "Do you barter?"

  "Not generally, no."

  "Doesn't that amount seem low?" Van asked.

  Alexa told him, "Galactic scrip is generally valued far higher than local currency. It also has the added virtue of holding value across worlds. I'm not up on the current exchange rates, but if I'm right we're getting around thirty-five percent of the value of what we stole."

  "I'd estimate it at closer to twenty-seven percent and I am up on the current exchange rates," Winters said, with no trace of an apology.

  Well, Van could appreciate Winters at least being open about just how much they were being ripped off.

  It also made their money problems go away for the moment.

  "Done," Alexa said.

  Winters offered a thin smile as he began to count out currency.

  "They'll also be able to help us with that second job we have planned," Mortimer told Winters.

  The bank robbery. The one that was likely to get messy.

  39

  The Spiraling Coil belongs to neither Empire nor Dynasty. Three dozen worlds spin and dance in the grip of madness, lit by the light of suns that only sometimes exist. None who have ventured there from the Empire have returned, none from the Dynasty have returned sane.

  It was another trip to the markets. Alexa exchanged a sizable pile of their cash for an orange and a strawberry. The orange she kept for herself.

  She had changed into her new blue and black dress, although she still looked a little tossed through an incinerator.

  "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Van asked.

  "Healing is one of the things water does really well. Whatever you do to it, it can reform shape after a time. I've got some of that ability in my flesh. It takes power though," Alexa said, biting into the orange.

  Van for his part ate the strawberry. It wasn't the most compatible power with him, but he could still get a lot from it.

  With a fresh charge circulating through their systems, Alexa headed off again. Van followed her until he saw her destination, the starport.

  "What are we doing?" Van asked.

  "Looking for a bar. We need to figure out a way off this rock and if the Guild isn't providing transport, we need our own way."

  They found a bar that seemed to suit whatever Alexa was looking for inside. It was different than most of the establishments, more advanced and somehow grungier. Holographic topless dancers writhed on tabletops. On a stage live music was provided by two bearded men, and a singer that Van thought might be a seal floated in a tank of water.

  "Well, don't you have interesting drinking habits?" Van said.

  "I already told you. We're here for the company, not the booze. Captains spend so much time off-worlds they kind of invented their own culture. This is it. Don't ask me why," Alexa said, checking a board near the door, her finger running down a list of what looked like names, capacity, and prices.

  Tapping one she went to the bar, dropping a banknote and calling out, "Gutjuice. I'll take the bottle."

  A clear bottle filled with a truly unpleasant-looking, greenish concoction was passed across and she headed towards the back.

  Perhaps this was a place of business after all. A row of booths were filled with a variety of men and women, a few in sharp naval uniforms, and most dressed a good bit more rough. It was towards one of the latter that Alexa moved. The man was incredibly well-muscled and his one hand on the table clutching a glass was gleaming metal.

  Alexa slipped into a vacant seat at the booth and slid the bottle of Gutjuice over. Van moved in beside her.

  The man looked them over for a moment before snagging at the bottle. "Woman bearing gifts. Guessing this means I'm screwed. What do you want?"

  "One of the fastest ships on the board and a medium cargo capacity. I don't know if you're a smuggler or a blockade runner, but you're something. We're leaving New Diablos in under a week and we need transit," Alexa said.

  "I can take passengers, but don't like it. Where to and what are you offering?"

  Van was still getting used to his senses. The aura from the man was strange. The more he sat there, the more he was getting convinced of something. He told Alexa, "He's Awakened."

  "Most independent ship captains are. Dangerous place, space. Pirates, the law, they'll take any edge they can get. Our associate here is trying to mask it, and doing a good job, but I think he is on his second evolution," Alexa said.

  "Gideon Cloud," the man said, offering over a hand. "You're good. Don't know what you are, I'm mostly about punching. The runt here is just a runt?"

  "Hey," Van said.

  "My apprentice, and my partner. I'm Alexa Stone, this is Van Steel. Bounty hunters," Alexa said, accepting his hand and Gideon gave a vigorous shake.

  "And just so we're clear, you're not here for me?" Gideon said.

  "We are planning on breaking a few local laws ourselves in a most spectacular fashion soon and want to make sure we have an exit off-world. If we get along, we might talk about extending it into a more regular contract," Alexa said.

  Gideon downed his drink, pouring himself a shot of the Gutjuice. "Just a ride?"

  "Us and cargo."

  Van glanced at her. "We're not going with Mortimer's plan on that?"

  "I kind of like Mortimer, but he's going to betray us. Once we do this, we'll be hot and won't be able to stick around. He knows that, he won't be able to help himself. We'll hurt the CMC for him because I don't like them either, but we aren't trusting to his good will to get ourselves paid," Alexa said.

  Gideon looked back and forth between them, taking a slug of the gutjuice. "The Tiger's Leap is a fast ship, one of the fastest. You need out and away from pursuers in a hurry I'm your man, but I'm going to want a cut for the trouble."

  "Twenty percent after we clean out the cargo through the Black Turtle Clan—that's where we're headed. Five hundred up front and it will wind up coming out of your share," Alexa said.

  Gideon thought about it for a moment. "Don't have anything better going, and a few more strong arms are always welcome. Pirate activity has been acting up something fierce lately."

  "And you're sure this is a good idea?" Van asked Alexa.

  "You're wondering if you can trust him? Cybernetic hands in an evolved body. Gideon here is a Metal. Tremendously loyal, and when he makes a deal it stays made."

  "Is there a cheat sheet somewhere for all of this? Because seriously, it seems a lot to remember," Van said.

  "You learn or you die. You like living, you'll figure it out," Alexa said, reaching out to again shake Gideon's hand

  The deal was sealed. They had a ship and a pilot.

  40

  The Andromeda's Blessing was a cruise liner believed to have been lost to pirates over six centuries ago. Inexplicably, every few decades it is said to put into a port somewhere on the rim. Guests visit antiquated fashions shop and dine for several hours before returning and departing once more. Where they have been, and where they are going, is a subject of considerable discussion in some circles.

  They booked themselves a suite at one of the hotels in town. The close proximity to a brothel made Van think the good price was partly them hoping for other business. They were going to be disappointed.

  Alexa promptly closed herself up in the bath and proceeded to soak for hours. Van decided he might as well take the opportunity to catch some shut-eye.

  It was sometime in the middle of the night when he felt Alexa shaking him awake. She was in a nightgown. When had she gotten a nightgown? Just how much
clothes shopping had she done?

  "Problem?" Van asked.

  "Think so. Not sure it is ours. Spirit beasts, they shouldn't be here in town."

  "What is a spirit beast?"

  "Humans aren't the only things capable of evolving. Spirit beasts can be extremely dangerous. Let's find out what we're dealing with," Alexa said, buckling a sword around her waist.

  Van was suddenly rather glad that he slept in his armor. That meant just grabbing his pistols from under his pillow.

  From somewhere downstairs came a scream that ended in a gurgle. That wasn't a good sign. They crept out of their room.

  In the hall were three giant scorpions. Each was far larger than they should be, stingers glistening with venom. A woman lay dead off to the side, a guest who must have been coming in late and met her end.

  "Earth-infused. Bigger, stronger, and tougher. Your standard rounds won't work unless you find a chink in their armor," Alexa said before she ran forward, fluidly ducking under a stinger. Her blade came in for a sweep, skidding along the scorpion's side with a spray of sparks.

  It didn't penetrate. Alexa looked surprised for a moment before she sprang backwards away from the stinger of a second scorpion.

  Van set about unloading his rounds so he could put in piercers, four in each gun. It was all he had.

  "They're here for us?" Van asked.

  "They'll be hungry for our essence. We're the strongest sources here. Someone with access to a lot of essence-charged stone made them," Alexa said.

  Well, they did have an enemy that owned a lot of mines. This must be retaliation for robbing the train. Instead of sending men they'd sent these things.

  Van aimed a pistol at one of the scorpions and squeezed the trigger. The piercer round struck and, like the sword, with a spray of sparks skidded off.

  "Really? Isn't the whole point of these things to get through armor?" Van asked, staring at his gun.

  "They were already armored even before they got infused with an incredibly resistant essence. They're now just killing machines," Alexa said, parrying a stinger with her blade. At least she seemed stronger than they were, her strength forcing the scorpion back as she lashed out with a food at a pincer trying to grab her leg.

  "So what do we do?"

  "Just stay back. I don't know if you're going to be able to hurt them." Frost began to coat her skin, the air around her growing misty as she leapt atop the back of a scorpion and pressed her hands to it. Frost began to spread at the touch.

  Another scorpion aimed for Alexa's back while the third came to Van. Staying back wasn't an option. As a pincer grabbed for him he had to storm flash backwards.

  Alexa couldn't hurt them. Her primary element was water and while water might win out over stone in the long term, in the short she just didn't pack enough damage. It was why she was trying to freeze them out. So far that was going slow. The stinger caught her in the back and sent her tumbling with a grunt to the floor.

  Van didn't have the same limitations. Metal was a part of him, and metal could shatter stone apart. Fire could melt it into slag. The only thing holding Van back was himself.

  Alexa's sword lashed out once again, this time finding a chink in the scorpion's armor. It stuck for just a moment and she had to pull it clear as two stingers plunged down where she was just standing. With one hand she grabbed a pincer reaching for her. Frost spread out from the contact and she brought the sword around with all the strength she possessed. The pincer shattered.

  Okay, maybe Alexa did have a way to fight back, but she'd been poisoned. Frosted over or not, she was getting weaker by the moment.

  Van focused on his breathing, on the rhythms of the storm as he channeled it. Channeled into his very sense of self, into his determination.

  Fire, metal, and wind hurtled through his mind and body and now they were penetrating into the deepest parts of himself. What he needed was an act of creation, of sheer will.

  Van felt his pistols start to burn in his hands, a tumult of power coursing, rising and surging.

  Alexa looked at him, startled. "Whatever you're doing. You need to stop it."

  "I don't think I can," Van said.

  That much was true. A storm was rising inside of him and he didn't feel in control.

  Shots rang out from his pistols, tracing fiery arcs as they slammed into the walls, explosions shaking the hall as they rebounded to the ceiling and then into the scorpions. There were more shots following them. Van felt his fingers pulling the triggers, unable to prevent the rounds that just wouldn't stop coming. The corridor was being blown apart, the scorpions battered this way and that, their armor splitting and tearing as they were shredded.

  The entire building was falling apart. Ripped asunder by the storm of bullets. All Van could hear was the sound of gunfire, the echoes of the storm.

  The world went red.

  41

  "You don't have to be the best gladiator in the arena. You just have to be the last one standing." Path of the Bronze Gladiator

  Van must have passed out, or suffered some kind of fever. A time when all seemed to be a red blur filled with the howling of winds. When he woke up it was to vomit, violently. His entire body felt as if a herd of buffalo had decided to tap dance atop it. Muscles he wasn't aware he even had ached.

  The bedroom he was in was nice, as was the bucket that he'd just vomited in. A nearby table held a glass of water and another of orange juice.

  "Take your time. You're going to feel rough," Alexa said. Good, Alexa was there, and alive. After what had just happened Van was a bit worried on that score. She was wearing a pink dress that didn't fit her quite right.

  "What happened and where are we?" Van asked.

  "We're short on friends. I thought about getting us off-world but wasn't going to chance you on a spaceship while you might still be throwing off sparks. We're at Silibah's house."

  Van tried to give an answer to that and was sick again instead. The room was so cold. Everything was so cold.

  "As for what happened, you went straight past will and into your first evolution, and a dramatic one. Which no, isn't normal. I'm thinking it has to be some combination of the triple elements and your genetic enhancements," Alexa said, resting a cold hand on his forehead. "Your body right now is busy trying to get rid of all the bits that no longer fit right. Which is pretty much all of it."

  "That sounds horrible," Van said.

  "Oh, it will be. Normally we'd ease you into the first evolution and even then it wouldn't be quite so, well, dramatic. There's orange juice there. Essence-enhanced oranges. Even if you feel you're going to throw it right back up, hold it in as long as you can and cycle as much of it into your body. The sooner you have the energy to rebuild yourself, the sooner this is going to be over."

  Well, if there was one thing Van wanted right now, it was for it to be over. Several gulps of the orange juice were taken and he began to breathe. It was the rhythm of the storm. He could change it, and that now seemed to be his default.

  Van's thoughts must have shown on his face. Alexa said, "I noticed. The first one we practiced, that's the most direct for channeling into your body. Let's just get some power in there."

  Van shifted his pattern and began to force power into his body. It was like sprinkling water onto a damp field. The essence vanished at contact.

  "I didn't hurt you?" Van asked.

  "Jumped out a window. Good thing most of the guests at our hotel were at the brothel. A few were injured badly. I healed them enough there were no casualties."

  That was a relief. Van was trying to be a better person. It wouldn't have felt like such a great start to his new life to have murdered a building full of innocents.

  "The scorpions?" Van asked.

  "Pulped, mostly. I tucked the corpses aside. Their chitin is going to be an upgrade over the plates currently in your armor."

  "You've been busy," Van said, and held up a hand to inspect it. Did he look any different? He couldn't tell.

/>   "The only physiological change I've seen is a sort of shimmering pattern under your skin. Like sand blowing in the wind. Even that is subtle, and you've not grown a tail," Alexa said with wry amusement.

  "That happen?" Van asked.

  "On essence-rich worlds it can be common. Doing this like you are? Almost alone? It's rare. Clans usually focus on one path and many of those are related to some animal. The monkey clan do often grow tails, the tiger clan gain stripes. They rarely interact with the Empire."

  Van rubbed at his eyes. Even they hurt. "What made you decide on the storm?"

  "You wanted to tackle all three elements and this planet has a legendary storm that fits our criteria. There must be an essence vein somewhere in it, amplifying it, because it never dies. The locals give it a wide berth."

  Van could only imagine. For all that it had given him power, he wondered if it might have been smarter to do the same.

  "It wasn't the storm that caused what happened. Yes, it is a part of you. That was the whole point, to give you something to carry inside you. But a large part of what you can now do is you as well," Alexa said.

  "But it can't be that way. Most follow the same path. That means the same abilities," Van said.

  "Some, but some not. There are always going to be things unique to the individual. It's part of the reason that Yui does what she does, and being her clones, sharing so many of her memories, we advance on the same path identically when giving the same stimulus."

  Van took a moment to reply as his body was wracked by a seizure. He was sweating copiously. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead and it came away bloody. Fantastic, he was sweating blood.

  "I wonder what my Prime could do? We have the same genetics, but I doubt he ever bonded with the storm on this world."

  "I doubt it too. Still, you might be more similar than you know. What you did? I could see it being called the Red Death. Filling an area with fire and thunder, and blood," Alexa said.