Shards of Eternity (Stars in Shadow Book 2)

by John Triptych

  The Nepenthe’s shuttlecraft docked with one of Elysium’s outer ring ports, and three human males and a female riwwr stepped out of the airlock before making their way towards the central marketplace. The cave-like warrens were filthy with accumulated trash, and the locals eyed them with equal parts suspicion and opportunity. In addition to the usual establishments, there were storefronts advertising services not normally found in more law-abiding worlds. Anything could be had—for the right price.

  While the team made their way towards the central module, a synthetic man with a violet-colored head and a body made of discarded material shuffled out of the shuttle’s storage bay and wrapped a cloak around himself. Zeno didn’t dwell on sentimentality as he limped past the docking section and headed towards an uncertain future.

  Duncan Hauk walked slowly behind the captain and the executive officer. This was his first time inside Elysium, and he marveled at how it was run. A multitude of smells entered his nostrils the moment the airlock door opened, and his mind was still in the process of sorting itself out as the group proceeded down the corridor and into an adjoining module. A teenage prostitute posing beside a cavern entrance whistled in his direction, but he kept his eyes focused on potential threats.

  Garrett Strand smiled as he walked alongside the boy. “First time in Elysium, kid?”

  Hauk nodded. “Yes, LT. I didn’t realize pirates like us could organize such a stable society.”

  Captain Lucien Dangard darted a quick glance over his shoulder as he continued to walk forward. “During the olden days, this was a much rowdier place, but everyone eventually learned how to behave themselves out of necessity. You could even say this is our capital, but you still gotta be careful though; the only crime in this place is snitching.”

  “Even raiders like us need a sanctuary,” Strand said. “A place where we can resupply, recruit, and relax without any danger. There’s always been a pirate haven at some point in history.”

  “Is that what we’re here for?” Hauk asked.

  The captain shook his head. “I’m here to attend a conference, and the three of you are supposed to keep watch.”

  Strand chuckled as he patted the holstered laser pistol by his hip. “We’re all armed here, so everybody has to be polite.”

  Commander Creull walked on all fours, and bystanders tended to give her a wide berth. “Everyone may be polite, but duels and killing are tolerated here. Stay close, Strand. You have a penchant for getting into trouble.”

  “Aw, come on,” Strand said dejectedly. “You’re seriously going to blame me for what happened in Avalon?”

  “You seem to stand out, even when trying to hide in plain sight,” Creull said. “Apparently, you sent a reservation notice to the brothel a few days ahead of time, and one of the whores tipped off the Red Ravens.”

  “I used a pseudonym so I could make sure I got a nice suite,” Strand said. “It wasn’t even my real name.”

  “The alias you gave was the same name on all the prostitute networks,” the captain said. “Every whore on the planet knew you were headed there, and all it took was for one of them to squeal to the bounty hunters.”

  Strand shrugged sheepishly as he looked away from one of the cackling prostitutes lounging by the side of the wide corridor they were moving down. “Fine, fine. I screwed up. It won’t happen again.”

  “You’d better hope not,” Creull said. “Your nine lives are fast running out.”

  “Isn’t that human saying supposed to apply to cats like you?”

  Creull growled and threw an irritated glance back at him. Hauk tried his best to suppress a laugh by coughing instead.

  The captain stopped in front of an entrance to a bar. The establishment was designed to imitate an ancient shanty inn, with faux wood frames haphazardly put together to create a stereotypical pirate hideout. A crudely painted signboard above the entrance read: Tequila Sam’s Bar. The four of them were not impressed.

  Strand shook his head in disgust. “Tacky as hell.”

  “Even the dust bars in my homeworld were better looking than this,” Hauk said.

  “Let’s get inside,” Dangard said.

  Pushing past the swinging saloon doors, the captain walked up to a bar being tended by a grizzled old man with half an ear and a cybernetic right arm. The bartender instantly recognized him and jerked a metallic thumb towards the back corridor.

  Dangard turned to look at the others behind him. “The commander and I will head inside.” He gestured at Hauk and Strand. “You two wait out here.”

  Strand positioned himself in an open seat at the bar counter. “You got it, Captain.”

  After Dangard and Creull disappeared behind a wall of curtains, Hauk walked over and stood beside Strand. The boy waved his hand, hoping to get the bartender’s attention. “Hey mister, can I get a beer?”

  The gap-toothed old man behind the counter gave him a wary look. “Aren’t you a little too young to be here, kid?”

  Strand slapped a cash card onto the counter. “He’s with me, so get him what he wants. You got any bourbon?”

  The bartender took the money with a slight sneer on his face. “You want the real imported stuff or just the cheap kind we make over here?”

  “Give me a double of the real stuff,” Strand said. “I got a feeling I’m gonna need it.”

  Dangard and Creull continued through the gloomy tunnel and emerged into a low-ceilinged cavern lit by a dim radiance from the neon strips around the walls of bare rock; the designers wanted to keep a minimal look and purposely kept it sparse so that anyone renting it would see there were no surveillance devices of any kind inside the place. Tables and chairs had been provided, along with bottles of assorted wines and spirits that had already been opened and partly consumed. Four others were already there, and they turned their heads towards the pair as they entered.

  Captain Toto Vega got up from a folding chair and put up his right arm in a mock salute, greeting them with the age-old pirate slang. “Ahoy there! The feared captain and XO of the great ship Nepenthe have finally arrived! Welcome, Captain Dangard and Commander Creull.”

  Dangard nodded slightly towards the captain of the Tiburon before turning towards an old woman who remained sitting on her chair. “I’m somewhat surprised to see you here, Janice.”

  Captain Janice Gwynplaine of the pirate cruiser Stiletto smiled wryly at him, but she didn’t get up. “You’ll have to forgive this old crone, Lucien, but I’m too tired to stand up and shake your hand.”

  Dangard smiled back. “No bother.”

  Vega gestured towards his executive officer and another man with a long brown beard and cybernetic left leg. “This is Karana, my own XO. And this is Captain Gwynplaine’s second in command, Dun Bryant.”

  Dangard nodded slightly at Karana before addressing Bryant. “I know you.”

  “And I know you,” Bryant said. They had previously fought together as part of the raider fleet that plundered Xin Sheng all those years ago.

  Creull was standing upright beside her captain but stayed silent. Her own species tended to greet others with smell and noiseless gestures. The rest of the group knew of this and merely acknowledged her presence with slight nods and friendly stares.

  “Well, now that we’re here and properly acquainted,” Vega said, “let’s get right to the point. The reason why I asked you all to come for this meeting is because I got my hands on some very good intel, and I’ll need your help to pull it off.”

  “Three ships for a job? It must be in a heavily guarded system then,” Creull said.

  Vega remained all smiles as he gestured at Dangard and Creull to sit down. “That is correct, Commander. The system I am looking at is Angkor.”

  Dangard sat down on a nearby chair. His instinct was to immediately turn down the offer, but he decided to hear more out of courtesy. “It’s got a museum world, doesn’t it?”

  Creull remained standing, despite eyeing a hard cushion lying nearby that had been deliberately p
laced inside the cavern for her. “A heavily defended one too.” She glared suspiciously at Vega with her yellowish eyes. “Are you planning a suicide run or something?”

  Janice looked towards the female riwwr. She had already heard parts of the plan, and it intrigued her. “Give Captain Vega a chance to explain, please.”

  “Thank you,” Vega said. “Now first off, let’s discuss what we can take before we get into the hard part. I’m sure you all know Angkor Delta is a huge tourist destination in Union space, right? This means millions of citizens from all walks of life travel over there and spend huge amounts of money to view a few displays of artifacts in their museum complex.”

  “Get to the point,” Creull said. She was in the middle of her mating season, and she was finding it hard to concentrate.

  “A lot of tourists pay to enter the museum using cash cards,” Janice said. “Captain Vega here found out the exact location, and how to get inside of it discreetly.”

  “These cash cards are also converted onsite,” Vega said, pausing for effect. “From formerly restricted, and then into bearer mode. They schedule this once a month before shipping it back out to the core worlds in small batches for recirculation.”

  Dangard narrowed his eyes. “How much are we talking about?”

  Vega grinned from ear to ear. He had been anxiously waiting to be asked that very question. “Around thirty trillion credits worth.”

  Cash cards were the preferred medium of exchange between pirates, and having them in bearer mode meant they would be untraceable when used anywhere around the galaxy. Corrupt financial firms and banks usually charged hefty commissions to strip the identity and tracking restrictions on every cash card they stole, and many outlaws ended up with a mere fraction of their earnings to safely enjoy their ill-gotten gains.

  Dangard leaned back on his chair. Even with the three of them splitting the take, it would be more than enough to provide their respective crews with a huge windfall. Their mutual split would even be sufficient for each captain to buy or construct another ship. He turned and looked up at Creull, and they were both dumbfounded by the implications.

  Janice smiled. She had already done the mental calculations, and it would be enough for her to retire with, to be able to raise her granddaughter in safe, wealthy anonymity. “This is my last job, Dangard. Once we get rich, I’m passing command of my ship over to Bryant here.”

  Bryant crossed his arms confidently. “I’ll upgrade the drives and weapons of the Stiletto with my share, so she’ll be faster and will pack an even bigger punch.”

  Janice let out a short giggle. “You’ll need to recruit a new crew, Dun. I have a feeling a lot of them will retire once we hand the mountains of cash over to them.”

  “Not a problem,” Bryant said. “The galaxy’s full of outlaws, and becoming a pirate is now a source of pride for many. There’ll always be new raiders to hire.”

  Vega held his arms up in triumph. “We’re all gonna be rich, baby! Rich, rich, rich!”

  Karana remained closemouthed and looked away from the group’s lively conversation. She started getting the withdrawal shakes again, and it took a supreme effort not to reveal her condition to the others in the room.

  “Before we continue with the mirth and the backslapping,” Dangard said, “I think we need to discuss the hard part, because even if you can find a way to get inside the vault, it won’t be easy.”

  “Correct,” Creull said. “From what I remember, Angkor is a major transit area, deep in Union-protected space. A number of Star Force bases are within one jump of that system, and it will take just a few hours for massive reinforcements to start pouring in once the courier drones sound an alert. In addition to the automated defense grids both around the shadow zones and in planetary orbit, they also have an in-system defense fleet.”

  “I have a foolproof plan to get around all that,” Vega said confidently.

  “Please elaborate, Captain,” Dangard said.

  “I have an inside man within the planetary defense apparatus—not just an aphid but an expert AI cracker,” Vega said. “He’ll shut down all the defense grids, and our three ships will be more than enough to deal with their in-system patrol fleet.”

  “What about the Star Force bases in the nearby systems?” Creull asked.

  “I’ve already arranged a major, major decoy incident on the adjacent system of Cielo de Fuego,” Vega said. “This will happen before we arrive, of course. Once the Star Force commits their fleets over there, we make our move—secure the planet, penetrate the museum, grab the mountain of cash cards, and be out of there before they realize what really happened.”

  Dangard crossed his arms. “I need details about this so-called simulated assault on Cielo de Fuego. How exactly will it attract the Star Force’s full attention?”

  “A series of bombs will go off on the surface of the main colony there, and Cielo de Fuego’s defense grids will start blasting away at civilian ships too,” Vega said. “The net cracker I hired will put the blame on local separatist groups of that planet, and the Union will treat it as an ongoing terrorist attack. It’ll give us plenty of time.”

  “Captain Vega showed me more details of the plan before you got here,” Janice said. “The cracker has already breached Cielo de Fuego’s defense network, and he will remotely simulate a terror bombing both on the surface of the planet and on the orbital stations.”

  “What if the Star Force doesn’t commit all their fleets to head for Cielo de Fuego? They will send the rest to Angkor once the alarm is sounded,” Creull said.

  “Then we unleash the defense grids around the Angkor shadow zones against them,” Vega said. “Those foolish Star Force commanders won’t know what hit them once they start taking fire the moment they come out of their t-drive jump.”

  “Still seems too risky,” Creull said. “Your plan’s success is predicated on every detail working. If just one part fails, then we’ll be facing fleets of enemy ships, and maybe even a hostile system defense grid.”

  “Yes, there’s a lot at stake here,” Vega said. “But this is why I have only spoken to the two of you about it—nobody else can pull this off.” He pointed towards Dangard. “Captain, your ship’s presence alone will have the in-system patrol fleet shaking in their boots. Captain Gwynplaine’s Stiletto also has a formidable reputation of her own. With the two of you—together—they would never expect it.”

  Dangard rubbed his chin. He could tell Vega was a consummate salesman, and his offer was very tempting. “I need more details if I’m to present this to my crew for a vote.”

  Vega activated his wrist smartcom and set it to link mode. “Of course. Here are the schematics for the museum complex.” He tapped the side of the device to sort through the next holographic file and allowed the others to take a virtual copy. “And here are the interior network logs of the defense grids for both Cielo de Fuego and Angkor—check the dates, for they are current as of yesterday. So you see, the cracker I hired has complete control over them.”

  “I’m sure my crew will say yes to this once I’ve presented all the information to them,” Janice said.

  Bryant turned to look at Vega. “One question. How did you find this cracker, and what’s he getting out of it?”

  Vega winked at him. “Trade secret. I didn’t become captain of my ship based on good looks alone.”

  Creull suppressed the urge to growl in disgust and stayed quiet instead. She knew for a fact that Vega killed the previous captain of the Tiburon and took over her command. The other pirate captains didn’t like him, and there were rumors Vega kept his own crew’s loyalty by keeping them addicted to exotic drugs only he had access to.

  Janice reached out and placed a hand on Bryant’s forearm to reassure him. “Let’s respect the captain’s privacy.” She turned to look at Vega. “I’ll have my ship’s AI confirm these files you gave me as true, and then I’ll submit it all to my crew for a vote.”

  “If you really want to know,” Vega said,
“the cracker knows about the plan, and he wants in on it.”

  “How much is he getting from the pot?” Bryant asked.

  “From you people, nothing,” Vega said. “He gets paid out of my cut.”

  “I’d be asking for a lot more than just money if I were him,” Creull said. “Once the Union finds out—and they will—he’ll be a hunted man for the rest of his life.”

  Vega continued to smile. “Oh, I have a feeling he’ll be living comfortably as a Concordance archon, ready to marry a nubile daughter of Scythia, once this is all over.”

  Dangard rubbed his chin. “You seem to have thought of everything.”

  Vega chuckled. “It’s why I’m still alive and kicking, Captain.”

  “What about breaching the museum?” Creull asked.

  “A good question,” Vega said. “First, the distraction on Cielo de Fuego will be set on an automated timer, so we won’t need anyone in that system. Over at the museum, we need to deploy advance teams before our trio of ships reveal themselves. How am I doing so far?”

  “Beautifully,” Janice said. “Continue.”

  “Our group on the ground penetrates the museum, opens up the vault, and loads the cash cards onto robotic transports before heading out towards the spaceport,” Vega said. “From there, they start flying shuttles with the loot towards the nearest ship of our group up in orbit.”

  Dangard leaned forward. “The museum will have a heavy security presence. If we send advance teams, they won’t have the benefit of warbots or battle armor since they have to sneak in as tourists.”

  “The museum defenses are mostly automated,” Vega said. “A few uniformed security guards with sidearms provide a visible presence, but the rest are bots.” He opened another file on his smartcom for all of them to download. “Luckily, our cracker can control these machines, and I’m sure the strike teams can more than handle a few fat guards.”

  Creull made a low growl. “Lieutenant Strand isn’t going to like going in without battle armor, and it seems this is all dependent on whether your cracker can pull it all off. Are you sure he can be trusted?”