by Ivan Kal
Once Prometheus had safely docked, Kane and Aiko left the ship alongside Erika and Imari and took a private transport from Norvi Rett, which was already waiting for them at the station. Kane and Aiko were dressed professionally, in pants and jackets, while Erika and Imare, their bodyguards, wore their CES suits. Although it wasn’t like fashion mattered very much when there were so many cultures and races involved. Still, they at least looked professional. They kept quiet as they flew through the atmosphere—they had already spoken about what their roles would be. Outwardly, Kane and Aiko were just a married couple who owned a powerful mercenary ship. They needed to act the part.
Once they landed, they exited the transport out into the sounds of a bustling city beneath a bright orange sky. They were high up on a mountain, and they could see the city down below. It was a sprawling metropolis, with tall buildings, flying cars, and bright lights. It was everything that they imagined a space-age city to be.
Behind them was a large mansion—there was no other way to describe it. The building was a blocky white building with three towers which clearly held some kind of defensive turrets on them. In front of it stretched a garden, with strange alien trees twisting together to create elaborate shapes. It was a sight meant to impress, as they had been warned. Everywhere around them, armed guards stood and watched attentively. Kane noticed only two different races among the guards; one he was familiar with, the large bipedal Trells with their granite resembling skin, and the other he was seeing for the first time. They looked somewhat insectoid, with translucent wings on their backs and thin, branch-like limbs.
A group of attendants met them and then escorted them inside. The guards requested that Erika and Imari leave their weapons, and they obliged, leaving their handguns. They hadn’t brought their assault rifles, both because they didn’t anticipate any problems, and because they had known that they would need to relinquish them regardless. Besides, they hadn’t wanted them to take scans of the weapons. They did not have much magi-tech in them, but they did have some. Regardless, it wasn’t as if they were defenseless without them. Both Erika and Imari were wearing their CES suits, and had their spellslingers on, while Kane was both highly trained and had access to the scripts implanted in his body.
The guards scanned the briefcase which Kane was carrying, and after they didn’t detect anything dangerous within it, they allowed them inside.
They were taken on a tour of the mansion, a route clearly meant to impress—which it did. They noticed glass cases holding everything from the bones of creatures they had no way of identifying to pieces of art. Eventually, they were led into a smaller, office-like room, with Erika and Imari being left outside.
Inside, they were met by a strange being. “Ah, greetings! I am Norvi Rett. Welcome to my home,” the man said. Kane took a moment to take in the alien’s appearance.
He was, like most races, bipedal, humanoid. But he was covered in fur all over, with a slight snout in the center of his face. He had a vaguely canine look to him, except that Kane didn’t notice any predatory teeth. And he had four eyes, each one set above the next.
“We thank you for accepting our request for a meeting. I am Kane Reinhart, and this is my wife, Aiko Nishimura,” Kane said formally. He then simply bowed his head, which was the most common greeting between races, and Aiko did the same.
Norvi inclined his head in return. “I must say that I was surprised when I was notified of your request, and the message you forwarded. I had done some business with Jaquil a long time ago, but not much since then. I was more intrigued by you yourselves: a race that I am not familiar with, in a kotarium-built ship large enough to be considered a heavy cruiser by some race’s standards. That is not something which one encounters every day, especially not when they are asking directly for me and wish to attend my auction. But,” he continued, “on your way to the planet I had the chance to look up some information available on you. It looks like your ship has quite the reputation.”
“We’ve had some…dealings with the trader Jaquil,” Aiko said, ignoring the part about their reputation. “Once we learned of your auction, we turned to him to provide us with a way to meet with you.”
“And it succeeded,” Norvi said. “But you must’ve also heard that my auctions are by invitation only. They are for trusted associates; the security and privacy of my partners is of utmost importance to me and my team. And as much as I am intrigued by you, I cannot jeopardize that. Your ship is powerful, and if my information is correct you are from a great power somewhere beyond our area of space. As much as that might open up opportunities for business, I am not naive enough to think that you are here simply on your own initiative, nor that you are simple mercenaries. Ships like yours are rarely seen as privately owned for a reason—no nation would part with that much kotarium, let alone allow it to be in the hands of mercenaries.”
Aiko glanced to Kane, then turned to look at Norvi. “That is true—somewhat. Our home nation’s situation is different than those of the star nations here. We are former military, yes, and we do act on behalf of our government at times,” Aiko said, a half truth. “We are not here on their orders, however; but yes, I will not deny that it would serve us should you let us attend. We are interested in purchasing any technology that we don’t already possess, and we were told that you are the person to call on for any…let’s say, special items.”
Norvi gave a long nod, agreeing. “Yes, I can see how that might be the case. And while I am interested in beginning a dialog with you and, through you, your star nation, trust is not something which is built in few minutes of conversation. I am sorry, but attendance to my auction will be impossible.”
“Of course,” Kane said. “We are aware that trust is required, and so we have brought you something which we believe will be enough to get us started on the right path.” Kane pulled up the briefcase and opened it, allowing Aiko to take out a sphere that barely fit inside her palm.
Norvi’s nostrils tightened and he tilted his head inquisitively. “Oh, and what is this?”
“A demonstration, if we may?” Kane asked.
Norvi waved his hand, and Aiko took a few steps back. Then she pressed the button on the sphere and disappeared as light shimmered around her.
“A stealth device,” Norvi said, and Kane detected a touch of disappointment in his tone. “It is not something which I have not seen before—although I have not seen one so small which provided such good results.”
As Aiko reappeared and walked over to them, Kane looked at Norvi and smiled. “Ah, but this is no ordinary stealth device.”
“How so?” Norvi asked.
Aiko answered him. “Are you aware that some time ago, something changed in our universe? That laws which we had once held as absolute suddenly became slightly different?”
“Yes, I have knowledge of this. There have been many scientists across many races and nations which have spoken the same. Most who dare suggest that something like that had occurred are ostracized and ridiculed by their peers… But I am of the belief that there is some truth to this, as too many scientists have agreed on it for it to be just their imaginations. What does this have to do with your device?”
Kane took a deep breath. “You said that our reputation has spread wide, yes?”
“I had.”
“Then you know that we possess technology that most others don’t, some which they consider impossible,” Kane added.
“Some reports suggest that, yes,” Norvi said cautiously, clearly still not seeing where Kane was going with his words.
“Well, let’s just say that my nation has invested a lot of research into this phenomenon which changed the laws of physics—and that we have made some discoveries. This stealth device”—Kane pointed to the sphere still in Aiko’s hand—“operates on those altered principles. It is not technology in the sense that you are familiar with.”
Kane could see curiosity blossom in Norvi’s eyes. “A different kind of technology?”
K
ane reached out and took the sphere. “We are going to gift this to you, and leave. You may have your people scan it, look it over, try to figure out the way it works, and then let us know what you think. But I assure you, getting on our good side would be in both of our best interests. This technology will not stay a secret forever. Others will learn of it and duplicate it. By giving you this, we are letting you get ahead of everyone else,” Kane told him. “Because while this little sphere might only be able to create a stealth field, by studying it, you will learn how to do much more. Nothing is impossible.” Kane extended his hand and offered the sphere.
Norvi looked at Kane, then at Aiko for a moment, before reaching out and taking the sphere. “I cannot promise you anything, but I will have my people take a look at this. If it is what you say it is, you shall have the invitation to my auction.” He regarded them gravely. “I have some inclination about what it is you are seeking to buy, and although I have no idea how you figured out I have it—and trust me, my security teams will be looking for leaks—I must warn you: people who will be attending this auction have great wealth available to them.”
Kane bowed his head. “Thank you for the warning, and for your time. We will be staying at Crimson Tower, and shall be awaiting your invitation.”
Norvi eyes widened at that, and Kane allowed himself a small private smile. The information provided by Jaquil was extensive, and Crimson Tower was the most prestigious and expensive hotel on the planet. Their crew and ship had more than enough funds for it. Most of them were military, so they didn’t spend much, and the Wanderers just didn’t care about luxury. All of the crew had small fortunes, and Aiko and Kane themselves operated with the ship’s mission budget—which held all the credits they had received from selling the kotarium ore they had gotten from Earth. Given how expensive kotarium was, they had enough credits to live their lives in much the same manner that Norvi lived.
“Very well, then. I look forward to working with you in the future.”
***
They received their invitation the morning of the next day. Aiko had just woken up in the lavish and massive bed which was bigger than any she had ever slept in, when Kane walked into the room with the news.
“We are invited,” Kane said and joined her in the bed. Aiko got closer to him and relaxed in his arms. They were living together on the ship, that was true, but they rarely had time for just the two of them. Now, spending time in what was equivalent to a penthouse on a strange world, she felt it was all right to indulge herself a little—for the first time in a long time. They always portrayed an image of professionalism on the ship, and it was getting a bit tiresome. It wasn’t hard, not really, they had both always been military; they knew what that life entailed when they had gotten together all those years ago before Earth was even liberated. Regardless, they both did feel like they deserved a break. With them technically operating outside of the UTS Fleet, they didn’t really have leave days. They were on a long-term assignment, one where there was no one for them to rotate with.
“I didn’t doubt we would be,” Aiko said into Kane’s chest. She traced her fingers on the script implanted under his skin, as she liked to do even before she knew what it was.
“The auction is in four months,” Kane said. “What are we going to do until then?”
Aiko shivered as he ran his hand over her back. She loved when he did that. “Our primary mission is still to gather information and make connections,” Aiko said as she raised her head to look at him. “So what do you say? Should we get to know the Illos criminal elite?”
Kane grinned and rolled her over beneath him, then lowered himself down before kissing her.
Aiko just knew that she was going to enjoy this.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Grimm stood in the observation deck and watched as McCullagh watched over a group of ten children—the first to turn eighteen. Grimm had been on Senka for two years, a short time in a space age where traveling to another system could take months, but a long time on a single planet. He had been getting himself familiar with all the projects on Senka, and especially with the kids, the Dragons.
He had spent a lot of time with them; it was the one project that he hadn’t been sure about. He knew that they had crossed a line, done something unforgivable—and he had seen what the children could do. They were monsters.
But he had come to know them personally as well, and he was amazed by them. They had been taught many things that people would consider inhuman, and they were smarter than him, smarter than perhaps many who were teaching them. They followed cold logic in their decision making, but always in service of humanity. He had seen it in their tests, in their mock battles and encounters.
But for all of their monstrosity he had seen the truest beauty of humanity in them. Each of them was an artist, a musician, a poet. They created works of art, eternal and beautiful like the great works of old. Whoever had been the one to insist on their artistic sides being nourished as well was a genius, and in Grimm’s mind that was the only thing that had saved the children from being monsters in actual fact. He chided himself as he looked at them—these were not children, but young men and women. The first group which had two years ago taken their first augmentations were now ready for their final ones. Ten of them: six men and four women. Their bodies had grown to their peak in the last two years. They were true super soldiers now, trained since before they truly knew themselves in how to fight, how to think, how to lead, how to make sacrifices, and how to succeed. And now they will go through their last augmentations, and become what the people on this dark planet had always intended for them to be.
Dragons.
Their final augmentations would give them their spellscripts, the newest iterations of them, and they would not be getting only a handful like their predecessors had. Each of them would be covered in spellscripts, and each of them had a different set of them selected. And in addition to the scripts under their skin, they would have specialized spellscripts engraved on their bones, reinforcing them, augmenting them. Over the last two years they had been learning as much as they could about magic, about using spellscripts. They used spellslinger scripts to familiarize themselves with them and to figure out which fit their style of fighting.
But the Dragons would not need spellslingers, as their augmentations would implant in them the newest type of power cells, embedded deep into their bodies to power all of their scripts. They would not have the weaknesses that the previous generation—their parents—had, where they could only use their spellscripts as long as their bodies had the energy for it. But that required scripts implanted across their entire body, to transfer power from the cells to the scripts, which he was told would be a tricky surgery. They had done everything possible to make them strong enough to survive, but they just didn’t know how many would.
As McCullagh finished his speech to the ten about to go under surgery, Grimm turned around and walked out of the room.
***
They lost one to complications from the surgery: Jerome D-005, as his name would be remembered forever. Before they had underwent their final augmentations they had been given their designations—Dragon, followed by a number, their rank in the team. Jerome had been the boy who loved playing the piano. Grimm remembered him playing a composition Jerome himself had put together for him. It had been beautiful, and actually the first time that Grimm had seen anything other than monsters in the kids they had created. Grimm felt sadness, yet he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to feel it. His orders were the ones which had been responsible for the children’s existence, and he couldn’t sleep at night for the dreams that plagued him. Yet he had come to care for them, the monsters that they created, that they stole from those who hadn’t been more than kids themselves.
Out of the remaining nine only two had woken up: Ethan D-001 and Remi D-002, two of the best of them. Remi stood next to Ethan as they moved gingerly around the medical center. Their bodies were still recovering from the augmentations and would
be recovering for some time. They would need to get used to their augmentations, as well as their spellscripts.
Grimm was standing inside the large common room, where the two were, currently, watching them. He was responsible for their pain. He made sure that they were born, all for this purpose. And even though neither was showing any discomfort, he knew what they had gone through and how much pain they were in. Yet they showed nothing. It was because they made them like that, soldiers who could go on, endure. He was certain that if he asked them to go to war right this moment, they would.
Then Remi noticed him and whispered something to Ethan, and they turned to look at him. “Mr. Grimm!” Ethan D-001 said and waved. Grimm sighed and waved back as Remi raised her hand to wave as well. He hadn’t planned on meeting with them today, but he didn’t want to run away. He owed them more than that. He walked over and the two straightened and put their fists to their chests, saluting him. It was a private joke between them, as Grimm technically wasn’t their superior—McCullagh was. But it didn’t matter to them, as they had taken him in as one of their own. It only made what he had done to them hurt far more. Grimm wasn’t a man who allowed his personal feelings to affect his judgment, to come between doing what he had to do. He had done horrible things, and he would do more of them in order to ensure humanity survived. Yet looking at the two of them saluting him… Somehow, he realized that he had come to care for them greatly. They were born out of theft, a despicable invasion of privacy and every right imaginable. But they were still born because of him, and he couldn’t help but feel like their father, in a way.