"Okay, we are in position. Just say the word and we'll come in."
The waiter came back out of the kitchen with Ari's order. That was fast. She studied him more closely now. He had long, dangled earrings with what looked to be, upon closer inspection, tiny skulls on them. The earrings hung down almost to his waist. As did his blonde hair, which may have been why she missed the earrings the first time.
He noticed her staring at him and visibly hardened. He was spooked, but he gently placed her basket of burgers and fries down on the table, along with her beer. Then his left hand went into a gigantic pocket and wrapped around something.
"Don't," Ari said.
"So, it's you?" he asked.
Ari calmly reached out, grabbed her burger, and took a bite to make him feel a little more at ease. She knew that it was important to set a relaxed and cooperative tone in these types of situations. This guy looked a lot rougher than the Vega high rollers she was used to dealing with. Plus, she was hungry, and it smelled delicious. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're not what I expected either. Please, sit down."
Much to her surprise, he took his hand out of his pocket, looked around to see if anybody was looking, and then sat down. "About time," he said, "I was getting bored."
"That explains the whole waiter thing. Trying to lay low. I get it," Ari said in between bites. That made sense, seeing as he's made of banned biomatter. The only question was, why had he been waiting for her? She wanted to ask him, but she didn't want to let on that she didn't already know.
A smile creeped across his face. It was more terrifying than the scowl. "Lay low? On the contrary. I kicked over every rock in Vega, got arrested a dozen times, and was beginning to think you weren't coming at all. I only took this job so that I could learn how to make these burgers." He stared at Ari eating her burger. "They're amazing. The only thing worth saving in this stupid galaxy." He grinned again. "And now I'm done with that. Finally, we can get down to business."
Ari was confused. She was getting more worried by the second. She came in here expecting to interrogate him a little bit, find out where he was from and why he was setting off the alarms. What was he talking about?
"Boss?" Chip's voice said in here ear.
"Just hang on a minute," Ari answered. "That goes for everyone." She looked at the waiter. "First things first. I'm Ari and I'm in charge of security for the entire city of Vega. What's your name?"
"Kruxx."
"Sure. Ok. Kruxx. Got it. And what business with me are you talking about?" Sure, she felt stupid asking him what he was talking about, but the situation felt like it was escalating too quickly to not know what was going on.
It was Kruxx's turn to look confused. "I said I'm Kruxx. From the Aurelian Empire. I'm here to negotiate, of course."
"Negotiate what?" Ari asked.
"The destruction of your galaxy. Or not. Depends on how things go." He stared at Ari. "You people are not off to a good start. Usually, these things are boring, but I have a feeling this one's gonna be different. Yup," he said, cracking his neck, "this one's going to be fun. I can feel it in my bones."
17
Kirian's mind was racing as she made her way back through the crowds out of the jail.
"You're better off without him," the bail clerk's voice yelled again on her way out the door. But she didn't turn around. She had to get out of there and think. None of this was making any sense.
Once she got of the building, Kirian felt like she could breathe again. She headed off down the crowded city streets toward nowhere in particular.
Was Fleek really going to spend the rest of his life in prison? He wasn't built for a lifetime of incarceration. She felt awful for him. And what was that about being framed? He was Fractal. He had never tried to hide it from her. And how was she supposed to go to see his dad and yet not get him involved. Was that even possible?
First things first, though. Find Fleek's dad. Which was a problem, because she didn't know Fleek's real name. But she met him that one time on Fleek's spaceship. And he was some kind of famous lawyer here. Nyx, Kyx, what was that guy's name? She strolled through downtown Arcturis looking around at any billboards or advertising that didn't have Floyd's face on it. Thankfully, that really narrowed it down.
Then a billboard caught her eye. The law firm being advertised had a ray gun pointed at a monster and the lead attorney was named Bryx. That's it. That's the name. And the law office in question was right down the street. She could walk in, pretend to have a legitimate legal problem, use a fake name, and hopefully that would be enough distance to escape the type of scrutiny that Fleek was worried about. It was as good a plan as any.
She passed another park bench with Floyd's picture on it. It reminded her that she was here to kill Mantix, not tour Galactic prisons and legal offices. This mission was off to a bad start. There was nothing she could do about that now, though. She located the correct office building, threw open the door, and made her way to the legal office of Fleek's dad.
"Kim Regal," Kirian said, staring down the snooty front desk clerk who wasn't giving an inch. "I have an appointment."
"With whom and at what time?" He adjusted his glasses at her.
"With Bryx." She had no idea what time it is and wondered if looking at her watch would be a dead giveaway that she was bluffing. "And I'm a Regal. I get seen. Why the hell do you think I would even be here wasting my own time if I didn't have an appointment?"
For the first time, she saw a hint of doubt in the clerk's gigantic eyeballs. It's working, Kirian thought. When in doubt, lean into it. She bent down to go face to face with him now. She had the full force of conviction for her next line. "I guarantee you that Bryx wants to see me. And if you don't let that happen, you're going to be in big trouble." She stood back up and spoke louder. "Bryx? Hello? This idiot won't let me in to see you."
"Fine," he said, pushing a button. "Mr. Bryx. There's a Kim Regal here to see you."
"I’m not expecting any appointments," the intercom buzzed back. "What's this about anyway?"
The front desk clerk shot her a new look of disdain.
Kirian pushed the button herself. "It's about Fleek."
"Send her in immediately."
Kirian made sure to give him a smug look of satisfaction before she went into the office. She'd rather have punched him in the face. All this sneaking around and being civil to people wasn't her style.
She opened the door to Bryx's office. He immediately motioned for her to shut it again and to sit down. She complied and sat. She wanted to give him the message and get on with killing Mantix, and if she had to take a few stupid orders from other people to get there, then so be it.
"Are you aware that your son is in jail?" Kirian wanted to know how much he knew and how involved he already was.
"Yes."
"Why would he use his one phone call on me?" Kirian asked him since he wasn't volunteering any information. "You're the one who's rich and politically connected. There's not a wormhole's chance that I could afford his bail. They set it so high that you're the only one who can. And yet you know and you're sitting here in your office. What's the deal?"
"They won't let me," he said. Then he rubbed his face in his hand. "With my money and resources, they said that he'd be a flight risk. So, I can't do anything to help him on my end. Which is probably why he called you."
"What does he want me to do?" Kirian asked. "Start a fundraiser? Oh yeah, he said something about being framed."
"He is being framed," Bryx answered back.
"You know that he really is Fractal, right?"
"Oh, he's Fractal, all right. But none of this is legitimate. The evidence they have on him, it's all wrong. It's all fake."
"That's exactly what he said. So, wait. You're saying that he's being framed for being Fractal, even though the whole thing is true?"
"He was Fractal. I know it, you know it, and he knows it. These people though, they don't know it and they don't care. With the evi
dence they have, Fractal could be anybody. They specifically targeted him."
"Why target him with fake evidence when they could have just investigated and found actual proof? And how would any of it hold up in court?"
"Exactly. Why? And it gets worse. Whoever did this must want him out of the way. They put a hit out on him in prison. They're going to kill him, Kirian."
"Wait," said Kirian. "Who are they? And why would they want to kill Fleek? It doesn't make any sense."
"I don't know who they are. My best efforts to find out so far have failed. That means that they're very powerful, very secretive, and very connected. And worst of all, with all the Overlord contest stuff, nobody is even paying attention to me. Or to anything. There's nobody to appeal to right now. It feels like the timing is suspicious. Like whoever is doing this is trying to sneak it in under the radar."
Kirian couldn't believe what she was hearing. Who would want to hurt Fleek, much less kill him? Especially now that he's a beloved, famous rock star? "Why?"
Bryx shook his head. "I just don't know. There is one thing you can do right now to help me. To help Fleek."
Kirian stood. "What is it? I'll do anything. You want me to find a way to funnel the bail money to him?"
"No. If we get caught doing that, I and everybody associated with it will be immediately banished from the galaxy."
Kirian felt woozy. Whoever these people were, they were powerful. "That's not legal. I've never even heard of that kind of threat. The only person in the galaxy that can do that is the Overlord, and even then, it's unheard of. And there is no Overlord right now. So where is all of this banishment power even coming from?"
"That's the question I have as well. And the only people I trust to help me figure it out work at the Arcturis City Examiner."
Oh hell, thought Kirian. I have to be a messenger girl again. A ragey, heavily armed messenger girl.
Bryx continued. "Find Trisha and Brad at the Examiner office. Tell them everything. Ask them to help. I'd have contacted them myself, but it's obvious that my devices are being monitored. It was very smart of you to show up here with a fake name instead of trying to call." Bryx stood up.
"Once a secretive government agent, always one, I guess," Kirian said.
"And if anybody asks, you were never here. I spoke with Kim Regal. Understand?"
Kirian nodded. The impossible had happened. Her day had just gotten worse.
18
Trisha heard the sound of a breaking coffee cup and looked up from her desk. She put her hand in a drawer and reached for a weapon. When you work for a tabloid newspaper and spend most of your time investigating conspiracy theories, you never know which crazies are going to walk through the door.
"Brad?" she called. "Are you alright?" She crept around the corner to peek and as soon as she did, she understood the cause of the commotion. There, standing in the doorway, was Kirian, Destroyer of Planets. Brad was such a fanboy. Apparently, he had dropped his coffee cup when she walked in the door. Kirian's gaze swung around to Trisha, who lowered her weapon. "Hello, Kirian. You surprised us. Are you okay, Brad?"
"I'm fine. Yes. Kirian. Welcome," he said.
Smooth, thought Trisha. Kirian came in and took a seat. Trisha went to sit next to her. "What are you doing in town, Kirian?"
Kirian laughed. "I came here to kill Mantix, but so far it's not working out the way that I hoped."
"The Overlord battle," Trisha said. "Whose side are you on?"
"Mine. I just want to kill him because he's a brainwashing megalomaniac. And also a tool. And if I don't kill him, then he might win. And who wants that?" She shook her head, causing the light to play with the tips of her hair.
Cool, thought Trisha.
Kirian shifted in her chair. "But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because Bryx sent me."
Kirian had Trisha's full attention now. "Bryx? Why didn't he just contact me himself?"
"You guys don't even know, do you?" Kirian asked, looking from Trisha to Brad and then back again. "Fleek's been arrested."
Trisha frowned and ran to her computer. She looked at the official police arrest report. She checked it every day and so far, there were no arrests of note all week. There was still nothing. "I don't understand. I'm not seeing anything on my end."
"It's not local," Kirian answered. "Galactic Police. Very hush-hush."
Trisha switched screens and brought up another database. Then she gasped. "That's so weird. They arrested Fractal? But Fractal is a made-up, hacker name. Even if they're arresting him for being Fractal, it makes no sense to charge him that way. It was never a legitimate identity. How can you charge a fake identity?"
"It gets worse," Kirian said. "According to both Fleek and Bryx, Fleek is being framed."
"That makes no sense," Trisha said, shaking her head. "Fleek IS Fractal. He told us himself."
Kirian stood up and started pacing. "I know that, and you know that, but the people charging him don't. And they don't care. Bryx told me that the evidence they are using is fabricated. They aren't interested in the truth, even though it would get them to the same place."
"Why would they do that?" Trisha asked.
"To get him out of the way. A hit has been put out on him in prison. His bail has been set astronomically high, so that only Bryx can afford it. And Bryx was threatened: if he tries to bail him out, he'll be immediately banished from the galaxy."
"Banished?" Brad finally got a word in edgewise. "Nobody except the Overlord can threaten that. And we are in between Overlords at the moment."
"Exactly. The question is what in stars name is going on here. And Bryx thinks that you guys can help figure it out. He just wasn't able to contact you through official channels, because of the threats."
"You're right," Trisha said. "This is much worse than we thought. And you'd think that with all his connections, Bryx would be the one guy in a position to see this coming. Somebody obviously went to a lot of trouble to keep him in the dark, and then to threaten him to keep him from fixing it. I'll get a hold of my unofficial sources and start sifting through online paperwork filings. By the way, how did you find out all of this from Bryx if you weren't allowed to contact him?"
"In person, on a surprise visit, and with a fake name," Kirian said.
"Good thinking," Trisha said.
Kirian shrugged.
"And I'll jump on the internet and find out what the latest conspiracy rumors are," Brad added. "It sounds like whatever is going on here might be even bigger than Celestial."
Kirian forced a smile, grabbed a pen, and wrote something down on a nearby piece of paper. "Okay, it sounds like you guys have this handled. Here's my cellphone number. If you find out anything about Fleek or how to help him, text me right away. Ok?"
"Promise," Trisha answered.
"Are we good? Can I finally go back and start kicking some Preying Mantis ass?"
"Have fun," Trisha said. "We're all counting on you."
19
Ari stared at the giant guy and tried to calmly take a bite of her burger. "You're kidding, right? You had me going there for a moment, threatening the galaxy and everything. One minute you're a waiter, and the next minute you're a supervillain. Fine, I guess I had it coming."
Kruxx leaned forward and cracked his knuckles. "Oh, I'm not kidding about that part at all. It's the waiter part that was a joke. In fact, I was about to give up entirely on the negotiations, go back to where I came from, and tell them to go ahead and invade this wormhole ridden galaxy. And good riddance, I say, burgers aside. But I know how to make them now, so it's all good."
"The negotiations?"
"Yes, the negotiations. What are you, stupid? We've already covered this. Try to keep up, will you?"
Ari shook her head and reeled for a moment. Who's this Intergalactic Professional Wrestler looking dude calling stupid?
Kruxx continued without waiting for her to respond. "It's the only reason this place is still standing. You see, the clients that I'm w
orking for right now are old fashioned, throwback invaders. They believe in the whole take me to your leader thing. To me it’s just a waste of time. I mean make up your mind already. If you're going to destroy a galaxy, just destroy it. That's my general philosophy. But the people that I work for made me the negotiator, so I'm here to negotiate."
Ari narrowed her eyes at him. "If you’re a negotiator, then who do you work for? Forgive me if I don't take your word for it that you're prepared to destroy the entire galaxy. Because I found you here, wandering around Vega at the Dizzy Dragon waiting tables."
"Not my problem what you believe," he said. "Hold on, I'm going to grab a burger and a beer and then we can get down to business."
That gave Ari a moment to catch her breath. "Chip, are you getting all of this?"
"Yeah, boss. What do you think? You think he's serious?"
"I think he's serious," Ari answered. "I'm just trying to figure out if he's dangerous or not."
Kruxx came back with his food and his drink. He sat down and took a long pull on his beer. Then he wiped his mouth with his hand, missing enough that beer dripped onto the table. "Now, where were we?"
"You're looking for our leader? For our galaxy's leader?" Ari kicked herself. She meant to press him more to find out who he worked for, but it bothered her that at the moment, the galaxy didn't have a leader. And if he was here to take over, why hadn't he started in Arcturis instead of Vega? He looked like the stupid one right now.
"Yes. I need your galaxy's leader to negotiate. And this galaxy's a mess. I read the papers every day here, and it seems you people don't even have a leader, or Overlord as you call it. Although I will go ahead and say that I respect the Overlord battle going on right now. It's a fun idea."
Ari blinked at him. "If you know that we're in between leaders, and you want to take over the galaxy, then why come here to Vega?"
"You," he answered, wolfing down his burger and talking with his mouth full.
Overlord Brawl: Book 1 of the Neon Octopus Ally Series Page 7