When he saw a looming shadow by the semi-opaque glass partition, Percival had just enough time to raise his hands and close his eyes as the office door was smashed in. The force was so sudden that the door crumpled like aluminum foil and gave way in seconds. Beyene screamed in terror as he got down on his knees by the side of the desk, his hands covering his ears.
The warbot just outside the now breached doorway used its hover fans to shift to the side as a thin, wiry woman with long reddish-brown hair walked into the office. She casually pointed the gauss carbine at Percival, who kept his arms fully raised in the air while looking down at the floor. Turning to face the desk, she edged closer towards Beyene, who lay cowering beside the shattered glass cage of one of his imported plants.
A short, swarthy man with a pale goatee and a stylized bandana covering the top of his grizzled scalp strode into the room behind the woman. Unlike her weapon, his pistol remained holstered by his hip. The man’s clothing of high boots, synthetic neck scarf, and skinsuit beneath a long coat seemed extravagant yet functional. He flashed a wicked smirk towards Percival. When he spoke, his voice had a thick antipodean accent to it. “Well, well, well. Look what we have here.”
The woman stood near the pistol lying on the carpet before kicking it farther away, her silver-colored eyes staring at the whimpering director. “Room secured, Captain.”
The man placed his hands on his hips and chuckled as he eyed the two other men in turn. “For those of you who don’t know, allow me to introduce myself: Captain Toto Vega of the good ship Tiburon. A pleasure to make both your acquaintances.”
Beyene looked up at him, the tears flowing down his cheeks, pleading for mercy. “W-what do y-you want with us?”
“Don’t test my patience with such stupid questions,” Vega said. “I think you already know.”
Beyene was still trying to catch his breath. “How d-did you find out?”
Vega pointed towards the woman. “My XO here, she’s really good with computers. It was just blind luck the whisper-net got wind of what one of your employees found out here. Naturally, I had to come take a look.”
The woman remained impassive.
“You’re not gonna believe all the circuits I had to use, all these backdoor tricks and secret routes through the shadow zones, just to get around the Union border defenses. Took a while, and I was sure we nearly got caught a few times, yet in the end I pulled it off,” Vega said before reaching over his shoulder and patting himself on the back.
The woman locked her silver-colored eyes on Beyene. “Where’s the artifact?”
“Please,” Beyene said. “It’s just a colored piece of crystal. It does nothing. Why would you even want it?”
Using her left hand, she bent down and grabbed him by the throat. “Don’t make me ask again.”
Vega gestured at her to calm down. “Karana, you need to realize the way to get what you want is to be nice. Now let the poor man go.”
Karana threw the director backwards, and Beyene landed against the side of the wall. He coughed violently for a few moments to try and get air back into his lungs.
Vega smiled gently at the director. “I’m so sorry about that. Karana does tend to get a little … psychotic at times. I guess all cybers do. Now, would you kindly tell us where the relic is?”
Beyene breathed deeply for a few seconds before he answered. “It’s in the safe.”
“That’s better,” Vega said before turning to look at his executive officer. “You may do the honors, Karana.”
The woman walked over to the safe and started punching it with her left fist. The initial blow dented the front end of the small vault, and the succeeding attacks tore one side of the safe open. Karana wrenched the broken 75-millimeter-thick chunk of paneling from its hinges and tossed it aside. Reaching into the safe’s interior, she pulled out the small crystal sculpture and held it towards her superior.
Vega scowled as he drew out his pistol and aimed it at Beyene. “This is what I get for being nice.”
Beyene held his hands up. “No, wait!”
Vega shot him in between the eyes, the gauss bullet exiting through the back of his skull. The director fell sideways, blood pooling from where his head lay. Growling in anger, the captain of the Tiburon made his way over to where the former security chief was sitting.
Percival’s eyes remained focused on the floor as he tried his best not to see their faces. His arms were tired, but he kept them dutifully raised in the air. “It’s in his drawer. Right-hand side.”
Karana leaned sideways behind the desk, using her cybernetic left hand to once again smash through the locked drawer before extending further to grab what was inside. Pulling out the box and placing it on the top of the table, she tore off the lid and used her cybernetic eyes to run scans on it.
Vega’s patience had run out. “Well?”
She nodded. “Bingo. We have one of the shards.”
Vega turned his attention back to the former security chief. “I was about to shoot you too, but it seems you cooperated.”
“I advised him to surrender,” Percival said softly. “But he relieved me and told the others to resist. There was nothing I could do. If you let me go, I promise never to tell it was you. Please. I-I got a family back on Earth.”
Vega twisted his neck and looked at his executive officer. “What do you think, Karana? Should we let him go? Why don’t you use your special cyber eyes and see if you can tell whether he’s lying or not.”
“With the exception of not making eye contact, his body language is consistent with someone telling the truth,” Karana said. “He’s cooperative and straight to the point, unlike his former boss.”
Vega smiled at him. “Looks like my XO gave you a glowing review. I can understand you don’t want to look me in the eye since you prefer not to remember my details.”
“I just want to get back to my family,” Percival said.
Karana tapped the side of her ear. “Tiburon reporting back in. All the orbital satellites have been taken out.”
“Good, good,” Vega said as he kept his eyes trained on Percival and stared at the command pips on his uniform. “Now then, as security chief, I’m sure you know the passwords to all the surveillance records this place keeps, right?”
“It’s on my wrist smartcom,” Percival said. “Do I have your permission to activate it?”
“You do.”
Percival brought his arms down and typed quickly on his wrist device, disengaging all the video logs from their secure mode. “There, it’s done.”
Karana tapped her earpiece once more. “We’re in the network. Deleting all surveillance files including backups … now.”
“Excellent,” Vega said. “Well done, Chief. One last thing for you to do.”
“Anything,” Percival said.
Vega’s tone was casual, almost flippant. “Since we pretty much killed everybody else, I’m afraid you’ll have to go too.”
Percival was shocked as he slid off the sofa and got on his knees. “Please, no—you promised!”
“Never trust a pirate,” Vega said. He fired at pointblank range.
Walking around the dead man in order not to stain his boots, the captain of the Tiburon leaned over the desk and marveled at the eerie glow coming from the box. “My, my. What a sight.”
Karana slung the gauss carbine over her shoulder. “We expended a lot of resources trying to get here. Are you sure this’ll be worth it?”
Vega couldn’t help but grin as he kept his eyes directed at the luminous artifact on the desk. “Oh yes. Once we have all the pieces, we’ll be the rulers of our own star cluster.”
2 Window Shopping
Once a barren world located at the borders of Union-controlled space, Avalon had been subjected to several hundred years of terraforming by its first corporate administrators, the INSX Group. Since the planet had almost one-gee gravity but no atmosphere, a series of gargantuan atmospheric processors were constructed and deployed across th
e equatorial regions, spewing large amounts of nitrogen and oxygen to create breathable air for humans. The original planetary name of KOY98-49 Delta was legally changed to Avalon for colonial marketing purposes.
INSX Group had advertised Avalon to be a showcase of human technological achievement. It was meant to prove to the galaxy that humans could develop a formerly lifeless world into a thriving, lush colony on par with that of Earth. But as the planet’s corporate administrators poured more resources into importing flora from humanity’s homeworld, they had overlooked several crucial details in their zealous, hurried drive to create a garden paradise.
The planet’s surface was covered in vast amounts of toxic perchlorates, which would present a serious obstacle in transplanting any sort of plant life to thrive. Avalon’s core was later revealed to be dormant, and it meant the planet had a weak magnetic field, not enough to shield the exposed surface from the near lethal radiation of its parent star. The cost to rectify these obstacles and the lawsuits by outraged immigrants claiming deception were deemed too high, and INSX eventually went bankrupt, its remaining assets bought out by other firms.
With close to ten million settlers already crowding the colony’s first cities, the bad news hit like a thunderbolt, causing a mass exodus to other, more environmentally friendly worlds. The population ultimately stabilized to several hundred thousand citizens over the succeeding decades, but with no major corporate backing and very few mineral resources, the locals had to find a way to make money and survive.
In came a group of young entrepreneurs, and they managed to convince the local authorities that the only resource Avalon had was flesh. The proximity to the outer borders meant they could attract less scrupulous offworld customers from both the League of Independent Governments and the Bios Concordance, in addition to countless pleasure seekers from the stricter worlds in the Union. The only impediment was the interstellar laws against sexual slavery.
The desperate authorities struck a bargain, and while these statutes remained on the books, their enforcement was quietly relaxed, and Avalon soon garnered a new reputation. No longer would it be known as an abundant green utopia but as a place where one could indulge in one’s innermost desires of lust, pain, and gluttony.
Duncan Hauk strolled through the narrow back alleys of Avalon’s capital. The city had initially been named INSX by its original corporate sponsors, but both the locals and its visitors eventually called it Intersex, and the nickname stuck. The acid rain showers had ceased an hour before, and the boy figured it was a good time to stretch his legs rather than stay cooped up in the small hotel room he shared with the other spacers.
Everywhere he looked there were pleasure shops on street corners, their transparent walls displaying every sort of comfort device imaginable. Some of the larger brothels had huge nanoglass windows, and half-naked youths of all genders would entice passersby with their wriggling, painted tongues and glitter makeup. The more technologically inclined houses of love had life-sized interactive holograms displaying a virtual catalog to those curious enough to know who and what they offered. Uniformed beat cops stood by their small police outposts, looking bored and feeling useless.
Staring at his slight reflection in one of the glass windows, Hauk ran his hand over his short blond hair to keep it straight. His superior, Lieutenant Garrett Strand, had taken all the spacers to this planet for an extended rest and relaxation holiday. Life as a pirate had its share of danger, yet there were also possibilities of having a little fun every now and then.
Crossing over to another street, he came upon a gaggle of scantily dressed young men and women standing underneath a multicolored neon awning. They were obviously the independent street workers, those not employed by corporate-sponsored brothels for one reason or another.
One woman, wearing an obvious wig, smiled at him. Her hips were beginning to sag, and it was obvious she was past her prime. “Hey, kid, looking for an older companion tonight?”
Hauk gave her a dismissive smile as he kept on walking towards the end of the street.
A young man with bleached golden hair and wearing a synthetic leather g-string below his shaved chest chuckled as he stared at the boy moving away from him. “Too bad, he looks cute. I could cuddle him all night long!”
Hauk rounded another corner, which led him to a square surrounded by bars and cafes. The intense music coming from the dance clubs bled out into synthesized incoherence on the street. He remembered his own sordid past, and it filled him with an uncomfortable empathy for the ones selling their own flesh just to keep themselves going for one more day.
A beeping noise coming from his earpiece made him activate the throat microphone beneath his jacket. “Yes?”
The soothing female voice belonged to the shipboard AI. “Hello, Duncan. This is Sappho. I hope you’re alright.”
“I’m fine,” Hauk said. “This is a surprise call from you. Is something wrong?”
“No,” Sappho said. “I just wanted to wish you a happy fourteenth birthday.”
Duncan stood beside an alcove and smiled. “Thanks. You’re the only one who remembered.”
“My kind can’t forget anything,” Sappho said. “Once it enters my database, it will be instantly recalled when needed.”
“Well, I’m glad you deemed it important to call me anyway, so thanks again,” Hauk said. “How’s the ship doing?”
“Chief Engineer Viniimn has completed the Nepenthe’s maintenance cycle ahead of schedule, and the nytini contingent are planning for a little R&R themselves too,” Sappho said over the com-link.
Hauk laughed. “They’re planning to join us here?”
“I don’t believe so, since the planetary gravity would be too hard on their bodies,” Sappho said. “The Nepenthe is at least two jumps away from you, and they could find an orbital station that caters more to their tastes in the next system.”
The boy was momentarily confused. “Wait a minute, if the Nepenthe is two systems away, how are you able to contact me via com-link? Aren’t you inside the ship?”
“Actually, a copy of myself is embedded in the AI neuro-chip at the back of your skull,” Sappho said. “I get periodic updates via encrypted com-link channels from the interstellar courier network.”
Hauk arched an eyebrow. “I thought it was against the treaties for AIs to make copies of themselves?”
“It is,” Sappho said. “But you and I are not bound by any treaties between the Union of Stellar Nations and the Bios Concordance, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” Hauk said. “I forgot—you’re a pirate, and so am I.”
“I do respect the crew’s wishes however,” Sappho said. “If you desire, I could delete the copy embedded in your bio-chip.”
“No, don’t do that,” Hauk said. “I was just surprised you’ve been with me all along.”
“I try to stay in the background,” Sappho said. “But the crew’s recent experience with Zeno has led me to rethink that mode.”
Hauk looked down when he heard Zeno’s name being mentioned. The memories of Puteri Sin’s murder still upset him. “When is his trial going to start?”
“When all the crews are back from their holidays.”
“I see,” Hauk said. “Thanks.”
“Duncan, I must let you know,” Sappho said. “As a security precaution I have hacked a number of police surveillance cameras along the street you’re in. There is a man who has been following you for the past half hour.”
Hauk instantly tensed up. The boy was about to reach for the weapon concealed beneath his jacket, but he stopped at the last minute, thinking it might alert the one stalking him. “Are you sure? Where is he?”
“The one wearing the dark blue hooded cloak,” Sappho said. “He’s across the street from you.”
Walking over to a nearby storefront, Hauk pretended to look into another pleasure shop’s display as he concentrated on the opposite street’s reflection on the mirrored glass. Using the enhancements in his cybernetic ocular i
mplants, he scanned the area behind his shoulders until he spotted the one tailing him.
The man following him was a physical giant. His face looked like it was chiseled from marble, with a broken scar across the thick, aquiline nose. Hauk could see the man wore heavy boots, and there was a shiny glimpse of metal when the man shifted his weight and partially revealed his forearms as he clumsily fended off one of the street workers who tried to approach him.
Hauk turned sideways and began walking briskly towards the end of the street. “I thought I saw something metallic when he swiveled, trying to avoid one of the prosties trying to work him.”
“There is a ninety percent chance that one or both of his arms are cybernetic,” Sappho said into his earpiece.
“He’s a cyber? This makes things complicated,” Hauk said while he kept moving.
Cybers were so named for the cybernetic modifications on their bodies that enabled them to be stronger, faster, and more resilient than ordinary sentient beings. A number of worlds had banned their presence, for they were all addicted to a drug called neurizim, which made their nervous systems more compatible with their implants. Neurizim dependency would sometimes cause psychosis, and there were a number of documented cases of cybers going into murderous rampages after they had lost control due to overdosing or withdrawal from their medication.
Turning into an intersection, Hauk glanced at a reflective store window from across the street, and the boy was instantly dismayed when he saw the larger man had not only followed him but was now trailing just a few steps behind, directly over his left shoulder.
“Sappho, I think I’m in trouble,” Hauk said softly. Remembering his training, the boy suddenly turned into another street and ducked inside one of the lust stores, the electronic door chime announcing his entry.
A smiling, middle-aged man stood behind the counter with all sorts of drug and sexual paraphernalia around him. The smells of peppermint, cinnamon, and other erotic spices were prevalent in the air. “A good evening to you, young master. How may I help you?”
Shards of Eternity (Stars in Shadow Book 2) Page 2