by Marcus Sloss
“Which is fine. This will all make sense soon enough. You want to load here,” Goldie said pointing at the empty storage room. “And buy over there. You will see. I have no ability to deceive you.”
Perci patted my armored shoulder and said, “I will go get the process going. You two have a nice chat.”
I watched her vacate the portal. The storage room morphed suddenly. The space expanded into a mighty jungle with a translucent trail. Animal sounds exploded all at once until the noise died down. Goldie shifted, correction, he morphed into an orb with arms. A device was placed on the ground that resonated with a thrum.
“The time is near Eric. I leaned on humans once before and was not disappointed. Their ancestors changed into something vile though and I thought your species forever lost to the other side. You, you’re different. I know it,” Goldie said, leaving me questioning his meaning. “I helped your ancestors escape. They were the first planet Seetheus leapfrogged. He smashed a backward human planet and sent the mothership one system over to enslave the next system. His very first mistake in his dominance quest.”
I froze, unable to fully comprehend his statement. My lips moved on their own as I talked out my thoughts.
“That would mean your millions if not billions of years old. You’re helping the contained. Which means you oppose the quarantine. And now you’re pulling me aside -” I paused, mulling over the rationalizations. “There was another mistake you can exploit. What do you need me for?”
“To never mention this conversation. I wanted to talk to you, to set you up with a friend of mine. That is what the spies will see and that little bit of information leaking is fine. They have their agents, and I have mine. We have proxy warred since the start of this nonsense. Secretly I have what I need already. This,” Goldie said waving his arm around to show the dense jungle with the nice walking trail. He finished his gesture to point at the thrumming device. “And that is for show. You will have a tough time ahead. It will never get easier. Build, consolidate, and improve until the opportunity arrives to act. Or more importantly, react.”
“You sound just like Lilith,” I mumbled.
Goldie sputtered out bubbles with a mirthy laughter. “That is because she comes in here and badgers me for companionship every chance she can get for over a million of your years. Ever since she was a tiny baby barely taller than you. And that is why our side will win.”
“Your cryptic sayings bother me. I did trust Lilith though. You mentioned a friend?” I asked.
“An Owlvini Alliance member. Happens to be sitting with your acquaintance Winston. They have all the details you need to execute your next step,” Goldie said with his orbed hands clapping. The device slurped into Goldie’s body that returned to a fish. A second later the jungle vanished and the storage container populated walls. “Go visit Winston. He is expecting you.”
I nodded and left for the side ramp. A moment later my body left the storage area to fly through the void of space and I was deposited on the edge of the grand market not far from where Winston held his shop. The tall blue alien was chatting with an owl. There was surprisingly no humanoid aspect to it.
A ten foot tall owl with gray feathers with black and green tints. A head too large for the body spun to face me. Two massive golden eyes with widening orbs peered down at me. For a moment I felt like prey caught by a predator. My defensive nature softened when I was winged over to join the odd duo.
“Zero doubts I would see you again, Eric,” Winston said with a welcoming toothy smile and his tail waving happily. “Eric let me introduce you to Daxstar the Magnificent. The title is my making, not his. He is an owlvini from the Owlvini Alliance. Interesting story Daxstar has.”
I motioned for a taver chair and he gestured for me to take it. “Nice to meet you Daxstar. Never seen an owlvini before. Maybe it was added to the translator by another.”
“You will find, as time goes by, naming new species becomes less and less frequent. I was sent to find you. I guess my story is not that intriguing,” Daxstar said with a hooting laughter of sorts. “Did you know there are limits to portal chain jumping?”
“I did not,” I admitted.
“Your species is needed so we had a thousand owlvini scouring a hundred and forty four jumps to find you or anyone who knew you,” Daxstar said. I opened my mouth to reply but he waved me down with his wing. “There is much for you to learn. Infinite amounts. For now. I need you and my friend Winston here to do a contract.”
“I don’t think the taver chairs are ready,” I said with a frown. “They should be soon. Sorry this is all rushed and our crews are just now loading materials into the market.”
Winston stuffed his splayed hand on his hips in agitation. “Eric, you’re so far beyond chairs you will not realize the gravity of this moment until later. Here,” Winston said, shooting me a contract. I studied the terms and was shocked. There were about six hundred bazillion caveats, but the price was a gram of neilspar which made no sense. Then I saw the name. “Yes Eric, I am trading you Daxstar. There are things at play you will understand later.”
“I will give you two years, a roof and three meals a day,” I said, offering Daxstar my terms.
“I need authority over your other workers. Without question. The rest I can generate around those terms,” Daxstar said.
“Two years, a roof, three meals a day and personal advisor to the king.”
Winston yanked his tail in agitation, his eyes bulging at my statement, but Daxstar soothed the blue alien. “He is ignorant, his ability to adapt is what we need. Not his blind obedience. I accept the new terms.”
A clean contract appeared from Winston. I accepted and moments later I employed an owlvini name Daxstar. Go team Bastion! I think...
“Perfect,” Daxstar said, giving a salute to Winston.
“Winston what does this mean, and accept my chairs. I am a stickler for tradition, my Gpad said they just arrived,” I said reading the ping from Bensen who was inside Xgate 232.
“To start, you have a more thorough database than I do now. This is the smartest being besides the creators that contain us. As for your chairs,” Winston paused and shot me a contract. “Eric, you may not need to bribe me to try to unlock my data anymore. Still visit, I do enjoy the updates and the chairs. Mostly the chairs. Like a lot. My status as a lowly vendor has suddenly gone up.”
“Well, we had an action packed season. Lot of new upgrades that let us win some fights we would have lost without them. I was told we needed to move,” I said with a determined tone. “Other than that standard species I think. Nothing brand new or insanely powerful.”
“And that will be paid for going forward. Simply stop buy and I will buy the chairs at a premium. Until next season Eric,” Winston said waving a dismissive good bye.
A praying mantis entered our space to chat with Winston. Daxstar and I left for the two of them to talk. I was bit lost as for where to go next.
Daxstar gestured for the bank exchange at a dozen booths away and said, “We have a lot of work to do. First we need to make a quick stop to get my required materials. Do you have slackinator, gyrowrench, or a pluxacoil?”
“Are any of those real?” I said with a slight whiff of air at the end. Oh, his face said he was serious. “Expect we have nothing. The last thing we purchased was sluggeros.”
“Yes, I know. They’re in for a shock. So are you, but to the exchange first,” Daxstar said, waving by to Winston.
“Good luck you two!” Winston shouted as we departed.
“So, what are we shopping for?” I asked.
There was a loud huff from the big brained owl. “Ingredients to construct custom items that are classified. First we need to be able to purchase the raw materials and the sellers I know will not want your zinc. The markets are in turmoil at the moment. Raw materials are going high and high as if there is a force hoarding everything they can regardless of the cost.”
“You know what is happening?” I asked rhetorically.
“You will too, soon enough. Okay, we only need a few ounces of neilspar. As your advisor I need -”
“Granted up to one pound of neilspar,” I said.
“I will need access to additional funds later, Eric,” Daxstar said with a stare down his beak. “This will work for now.”
There was no teller at the exchange bank. A slimy creature rested behind the vendor booth but it was playing ball against a wall. Six stations were arrayed at the front, and all were unoccupied.
“This will get busy soon. People are still converting pillaged goods into materials. Perfect for me to...” The owlvini interacted with the device in a manner I was unable to track. “And we're done. So easy. Zinc for neilspar is at a good rate here, not that we exchanged too much,” Daxstar said.
I went for the orbital exit while he went into the interior of trading. Or parting ways caused me to turn to go his direction.
“You cannot keep up. Meet me in the storage containment unit so you can conserve your energy,” Daxstar said, fading into the market.
I was going to remind him I was in charge when he flew away at about four times the rate I could walk inside this market. When he vanished from sight I shrugged. I stepped over to the exit gravity wells and was sucked up.
The darkness of void greeted me, the blackness swallowing my body. I noticed something different immediately.
Around the orbital were far fewer motherships, last shopping season there were thousands upon thousands. A closer inspection of the ships in space revealed they were being repaired from damage. That made sense, Earth had fought back and lost. I was certain other species probably fared better than we did.
The view was lost when my transition completed and I returned to storage. Perci was back inside waiting for me.
“Hey babe,” I said, hoisting my lovely lady. “We need to wait for a new friend and then it's off to Stronghold Castle. How are things outside going?”
“Torrez has the loot piling in. We are already letting people go shopping with their personal funds. Our payday is crazy high. Between Boulder, the neilspar from extorting the nagas, our insane zinc mining, and now the loot from Jarod, we shouldn’t get low on funds for the siblings' needs. I say that and we both know to not bother anticipating much besides to accomplish what has to get done.”
“Well, I think I was given a brainiac to help our cause,” I said and Goldie appeared in his orb form.
Perci inspected his new look with skepticism. “I preferred the fish.”
The orb vibrated in a manner I could only rationalize was probably laughter. “Well, that can always be arranged. I am going to be gone for a while. I need to set up my replacement. It will be a few seasons until you see me again,” Goldie said excusing himself.
When he vanished at the back of the room Perci grumbled and said, “Wonder what that is about. Oh, hello new princess.” She paused, likely speaking with a new storage master. “Ah, I do understand some breaks are needed at times. Yes, we thank you for your time.”
When she stopped talking to the air she furled her brows with a perplexed frown. I guess a replacement arrived instantly. Whoever ran the trade market was efficient. Daxstar flittered to the deck before I could ask her what the problem was. A personal sled carried a sack that bulged with pointy objects that glowed. Hmm…
I was not a retard. I figured out what was happening. One glare from Daxstar asked for me to trust him. My eyes went to my loving Perci. So much rested on keeping her safe. If I let this owlvini out of the portal with us I knew she would go into further danger. I also knew this was our chance at revenge. Oh Lilith, the webs you weave. I straightened my back finding my spine.
“Took you long enough, Daxstar. Daxstar, this is your Queen, Perci. Perci this is my first official advisor, Daxstar. Come Perci, we’re showing our latest employee all the hard work he has signed on to help with,” I said nudging my forever girl forward. We crossed through the threshold and I felt the evening chill of the late spring day.
“The sky is so clear here,” Daxstar muttered.
The owl’s neck was twisted sideways and at a very odd angle to stare straight up. Finally I was not shocked when an alien did a weird thing. Now if only I could get over big machines moving fast.
“Why is that?” Torrez asked, shuffling loot into the golden shimmer.
Daxstar’s head swiveled quickly to focus on my friend. “Your legs, they are a generation above your technology. A marvel of their time. I would like to correct them when you have a moment. As to the sky, where I come from we had many planets and moons to habitats around a single sun. There is but one planet with one moon in the hospitable zone of this system. Sad.”
“So, going to go out on a limb here,” Torrez said with a wink and I groaned at his pun. “But you have wings. Wings cannot -”
We paused as a large section of loot lifted off the gravity sled and zoomed into the golden shimmer. The process was repeated. An imaginary force was lifting sections of manufacturing parts and hurling them into the portal. Up and in, up and in. The entire load was finished in a matter of seconds.
“Right, so that just happened. Side note boss. Purchase more telepathics,” Torrez said with a jolly smile.
“Telekinetics, but we understood your point. I am Daxstar, advisor to King Eric. Again, I highly recommend you see me when we both have free time,” Daxstar said to Torrez. “I can improve your legs to make you superhuman.”
“Impressive,” Perci said, walking for AH1. “Time to go home. I bet the sluggeros are going to go crazy.”
“I just want to see my new home,” I grumbled, hoping to not be interrupted this time.
CHAPTER 3
“King Eric, you need to hear this,” Dorthy said from the communication station.
And there it was, the inevitable imperative side issue that had to be addressed. A wing landed on my shoulder from Daxstar who said, “This is a worthy cause. You need the loyalty of your troops to know -”
“I don’t need you to patronize me, Daxstar. I may not be perfect, and a human, but I think the citizens of Bastion prefer I decide who lives and dies at a moment’s notice,” I said, cutting off the tall owl. Apparently he was able to bend metal with his mind to fit in the doorway. Aliens… “Play it on the speakers, Dorthy.”
Dorthy adjust a few inputs and the flight deck of AH1 echoed a frightened voice.
“I escaped my cage,” the voice whispered. “We are on the edge of Reno, please help. I am so scared. Ah!”
The scream split the room.
“Ah, think you’re smart do ya little pretty,” a voice bellowed with an evil cackle. The sound of a smack landing was the last we heard as static filled the room.
Dorthy cleared her throat. “That was through our expanding Gpad network. Which the idiots have all turned on now that they are working again. Surprisingly they are surfing porn even when they have human sex slaves and even contracted slaves for the same thing.”
“Huh?” Perci said, confused. “How do you know that?”
“The Gnet is up, they have cameras in their facility. A Nevada Museum of Arts. There are a bunch of these buildings in Reno with large storage basements. This one had the largest underground network. There are two more small groups in the city that are trading. Both of those have humanity in the sense that they are not brutal,” Dorthy said. The little mounamine was clearly sad and frustrated. “I don’t have a full count of hostiles but a few hundred in the shelter. A dozen or so guards and their best weapons are old Earth technology. Nothing that can get through a shield.”
I sighed. The back wall populated a map. Reno was mostly destroyed. Buildings were crumpled, cars littered the streets, and you would think the city desolate. Yet three groups lived here. Survivors of the apocalypse by scurrying below ground. There was an irony here. I wondered if all those strongholds we flew over had bunkers of some sort.
Mitchell approached and said, “Thoughts?”
“Get in, kill the bad guys, and then
cram the hold. If we’re empowered with shielding, acrium, and carrying weapons of war they cannot oppose it is fairly simple. Today is the day we start to clean up humanity,” I said with a grunt. I turned to Perci. “Flight time to Stronghold Castle?”
“Thirty seven minutes at full speed,” Perci said.
I glanced at Daxstar who gave a nod in understanding.
“Take us a half mile off objective Rescue,” I said, applying the name to the map. “I will go with Mitchell. You’re to proceed to Castle and then return. Understood?”
“Yes sir,” Perci said. I saw her wanting to comment but she stayed mum.
“Smash and grab. This ought to be fun,” Mitchell said. “You want to deal with the other groups too?”
“Sure, they have let these assholes live by them. We will at least let them know a new sheriff is in town. The Bastion community is in charge. I guess we will start administering laws once we make them. For now, caging people is a good enough reason for me,” I said with a shrug.
“ETA to drop sixty seconds,” Perci said in a calm, even tone.
“Good luck Eric, I shall be ready to brief you when you finish,” Daxstar said.
I replied with a thumbs up while exiting the captain’s bridge. The weapons rack outside held my sniper rifle and close-ranged Big Sploosha. I snatched the weapons off the holder and powered them onto my body.
Mitchell gave a loud clap to the scouts below in the hanger. When he had their attention he said, “We’re going into a human city called Reno. Intelligence indicates our foe is under-geared and not prepared. They have prisoners not bound by contracts and those with contracts. Which, we are going to fix. If you get a target, hold for orders. If fired upon,” Mitchell said, waiting.
“Kill, kill, kill!” The troops echoed back.
“There are friendlies in the area. Our main goal is the extraction of the vulnerable. The King is joining us. The man negotiates with the barrel of a gun, so expect the unexpected,” Mitchell said.