War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past

by Conner Walworth

  He got up from the table and grabbed the key's to his mom's truck from off of the key rack. Anlon went outside, opened the door to the black pickup, and jumped in the driver seat as he put the address in his mapping system. He wasn't sure if the officers had gone yet, but doubted it because they had many other things to worry about on this case.

  Anlon knew he was headed for one of the bigger cities in the District of Hassental, but wasn't exactly sure how to get there because he had never traveled to the city before. He followed the directions out of the country and into the big city. Upon entering the city limits, he could tell that this definitely wasn't one of the big extravagant cities that he had heard about from his father. He hit pot hole after pot hole and many of the buildings he passed looked vacant. Humans and other races roamed streets, seemingly unaware that none of the buildings were vacant, and continued on with their lives as the if the buildings were thriving with business. He glanced down a couple of alleys as he passed and saw races huddled up, sleeping by fires to keep warm.

  His mapping system went off as he pulled in front of an old apartment building that stood a hundred stories tall, but looked abandoned from the outside like all of the other buildings. There were broken windows with boards covering only a few of them, graffiti on the walls, and parts of the building that looked like they were about to completely collapse. Anlon double checked the address that he had typed in the mapping system before slowly getting out of the truck.

  Anlon slowly meandered towards the apartment building, still unsure whether he should waste his time going inside or not. He saw that the upkeep inside wasn't any better than the outside of the building once he entered as the tile floor was broken and cracked. The glass from the broken windows littered the floors inside and three chandeliers lay broken and scattered across the floor. The paint on the walls looked to have once been white like the floors, but were now covered in so much dirt and grime that they were almost black.

  Anlon stopped in the middle of the room and looked around to see if there was a reception desk somewhere with directions, but saw none. The only thing that he saw were five elevators, and by looking at the rest of the building, he highly doubted that they were operational.

  Anlon let out a deep sigh. "I'm never going to find Moran."

  All of a sudden he heard the crunching of glass and quickly turned around to see where it had come from. "May I help you find a room?"

  Anlon was surprised to see an older model robot standing where he had been only moments ago. The robot looked just as old as the building and he guessed that it had probably been here when it had been originally built. He had no idea where the robot had come from, but there was no way that he was going to decline the offer.

  "Yes. I'm looking for Moran Borislav. Do you know if he lives here?"

  The robot stood quietly and Anlon wondered if it was ever going to respond. After several silent seconds he decided it was broken and turned around to try one of the elevators.

  "Fifty-second floor. Room number two forty-seven," The robot responded as Anlon reached the elevator.

  Anlon pressed the call button for the elevator. "There's some good news! Now I get to find out if I can use the elevator to go up or if I have to walk up fifty-two flights of stairs."

  To Anlon's surprise, the elevator door opened and he reluctantly got inside. He slowly reached out and pressed the fifty-second button not sure what to expect from the elevator. It jerked hardly up and he waited nervously for the ding to get off so he could exit the elevator. As soon as the doors open, he got off and looked down the musty halls.

  There were no directions on the walls telling him which way to go, so he decided he would start with the hall on the left. He walked the hallways for a couple of minutes, and noticed that these hallways were as silent as the lobby had been. The floors didn't look well traveled and he saw no signs of even the slightest movement. The apartments seemed like they had been abandoned for years.

  "Two forty-five, two forty-six, two forty-eight?"

  Anlon stopped in his tracks confused because the numbers on the doors had completely skipped number two forty-seven. He could've sworn that the robot had said room two forty-seven, and even if it hadn't, it still shouldn't be missing. He walked back down the hall to see if two forty-seven had come up a little bit earlier and he had somehow glanced over it by mistake, only to realize that he hadn't missed it at all.

  He decided to knock on two forty-eight to see if he'd get a response, but he didn't hear a stir from within. He knocked on the door harder this time, waiting to see if anyone would answer, but he still got the same response.

  As he turned around to leave, he noticed a small bug flying in front of him and it continued to fly in that one spot, as if staring at Anlon. He moved his head to get a closer to look at the bug and it immediately darted away to the ledge of room two forty-eight, still continuing to watch him. Anlon stared at it another moment and then turned back around to leave until he heard a voice come from somewhere in the hall.

  "What do you want?"

  He quickly turned around to see who had asked him the question, but he didn't see anybody in the hallway. Anlon wasn't sure whether to respond or not, but decided he may as well since walking the hallways wasn't getting him anywhere.

  "I'm looking for Moran Borislav. Do you know where he is?"

  There was no response for a couple of seconds. "And why are you looking for Moran?"

  "I think he was a friend of my father. If he was, I thought Moran could tell me more about my dad. Some stuff happened the other day and I'm just confused and need help figuring some things out."

  Anlon couldn't think of anything else to say at the moment and thought that that sounded like the best answer. He was trying to find some more out about his dad, and a couple of other things, but that didn't matter to whoever was talking to him.

  "What's your name?" The voice asked.

  "Anlon Valens."

  Another pause. "Where do you live?"

  "903 Oceanic Drive."

  There was another moment of silence and then the fly flew back in front of Anlon's face. He tried to swat it this time, but it moved out of the way before he could hit it.

  "I would appreciate if you didn't try to break my things," the voice said.

  Anlon stood confused for a second and then understood the voice was referring to the bug. He didn't know how to respond, so instead of saying anything he just stood there silently.

  "Just hold on a second Anlon. Let me disengage the illusion and I'll let you in."

  In an instant hallway changed as the hallway flickered and door two forty-seven appeared right in front of him. The door opened and a very large man emerged from the doorway. Anlon hadn't seen a shot of the face at the police station, but he would've never guessed Moran would be this big. He stood 6'5 and was twice as large as Armino had been. He had very dark tan skin, dark green eyes, and scars marking his body. The man's head was bald and had strange markings branded on it.

  "Don't be afraid. You can come in Anlon."

  Anlon walked up to the doorway and stopped a second before he made his way into the dim room Moran had disappeared back into. He shut the door behind him and turned to see Moran pressing a series of buttons on the wall from across the room.

  "What are you doing?" Anlon asked him.

  "I'm putting the illusion back in place so we can talk without interruptions. As you have probably already guessed, I like to stay hidden from the prying eyes."

  "How does that illusion thing work exactly?"

  "I have transmitters placed around my door. They're set to make an illusion that my door is completely missing. If I want, I can set them to create multiple doors for my room or many other cool things."

  "But what about the other people who live on this floor? Don't they ever get confused?"

  Moran smiled. "I bought out the whole floor. Actually, the whole building, not just the floor. This is just the floor that I use regularly for living."
/>   Anlon just stared at him. "Why do you own this whole building, but have no one else living here? And if you have no one else here and own the whole building, why use the illusion in the first place?"

  Moran walked over to one of his couches and plopped down on it, kicking up his feet. "You said you wanted to talk about your dad? Then let's talk about your dad. You don't really need to worry about why I own the whole building and use the Illusionaire right now. I may tell you later, but I can't trust you right now, even if you are Armino's son. Trust is something that you have to earn."

  Anlon sat on one of the chairs in front of Moran. "My father was killed the other day."

  Moran straightened up. "Yes, I know. I was informed of it the night that it happened and I have been briefed on the details of the murder. That is one of the reasons the Illusionaire is in place and why I have the robot stationed on the ground floor."

  "So you have reason to believe that whoever killed my family would come after you?" Anlon asked without thinking.

  Moran stared at him. "Not particularly, just taking necessary precautions in case they do."

  Anlon bit his lip. "Look, it's true that I want to find out more about my dad, but there are also some other things on my mind. I have a feeling that you may be able to help me with all of them."

  He hadn't planned on coming out straightforward, but he saw no other way. He wouldn't gain Moran's trust by lying to him, and if he really was friends with his dad, he should be willing to help him find out more about the murderers. Even if Moran didn't help him out, he would gain his trust and maybe a second friend.

  Moran raised his eyebrows. "Really? I kind of guessed that when my robot told me that you had arrived in the lobby. You definitely didn't waste any time getting here, you even beat the officers who I'm sure will be by later sometime today."

  "How did you know I'd be coming today?" Anlon asked.

  "Same way I know that you went down to the database yesterday and found my name and address. And that was right after you found out your dad was a part of the Queen's Galactic Special Operations Unit."

  Anlon's jaw almost dropped open. "How could you possibly know that I went to the database? No one knows except me and the officers that went down with me."

  Moran grinned. "You really think I work closely with the Queen and don't know anything that goes on with my partners and their families? Just remember that it's my job to know things that other people don't want me to know."

  "But the database."

  "Don't worry about how I know things Anlon, I just do," Moran repositioned himself on his couch. "So how much more do you want to know about your dad? I mean, you found all of his mission reports and stuff last night, so that had to have filled you in on a lot of information."

  "How," Anlon started.

  Moran held up his hand and winked. "I was one of your father's partners and closest friends in GSOU, but you should already know that. It's a very dangerous job and your father knew that at the time that he accepted the job. He told me if anything ever happened to him that I was to keep an eye on his family and make sure that they stayed safe," He pointed at Anlon. "You're all that's left and I'm going to keep good on my promise to Armino. He left everything you found in his study on purpose, it wasn't an accident that you found all of those things last night. He wanted his whole family to find it after his death so they'd know what he'd died doing."

  Anlon let out a deep breath. "I want to find out more about the races that killed my Dad."

  "Why do you want to know more about them? How will that help you?"

  "Well, there were three different races that just murdered my family and I thought that it was odd. I was hoping that you may be able to tell me more about them, and maybe, where exactly I could find them."

  Moran leaned forward. "Find them? Are you out of your mind!"

  "I just,"

  Moran interrupted. "That's not going to happen. These races are obviously tied to something with the GSOU. The people your dad and I went after are very dangerous criminals. We trained for years before we even went out on our first mission! And you... you have absolutely no training at all of any kind and would surely be killed within days of going out on your little mission."

  "But," Anlon started.

  "No. I'm not helping you get yourself killed. I promised Armino that I'd keep you safe, not help you go out on some impossible mission of avenging your family."

  Anlon clenched his fists. "These races executed my whole family in front of me Moran!"

  "Executed? What makes you think that?"

  Anlon stared at him expressionless. "They had the whole entire thing planned out before they even came to our house. They were talking about it while they killed my family one by one, each one with a different type of weapon. The black Malak, Donnchadh, said he wanted to make Armino suffer the same way the he suffered for something that Armino had done do him."

  Anlon saw Moran's facial expression flicker. "Are you sure his name was Donnchadh?"

  "Yes! There was also a Darza named Sanguinarius and an Arachnid name Ulisse."

  "They're part of a group called Deimos Brotherhood. Your dad and I went after them on more than a few occasions, but that's all I'm telling you about them."

  "Who exactly is Donnchadh? He seemed to know my dad very well."

  "Your father and I have been following him recently, he's one of the newest members of the Deimos Brotherhood. The past few years he has been the go to guy for Kirill and hasn't failed an assignment given to him yet."

  Anlon couldn't help but feel like Moran was hiding something from him. He believed that they had been following Donnchadh, but that still didn't explain why he seemed to have held so much hatred towards Armino. Anlon figured this wasn't the time to push for more and held back the urge.

  "Is there anything more that you can tell me about the races?"

  Moran shook his head. "There's nothing more that I can tell you Anlon. I have told you much more than you even need to know. I promised your Dad I would keep you safe and I'm going to hold up on that promise until the day that I die."

  "I understand Moran. Thank you for everything that you have told me."

  "If you need anything else don't be afraid to let me know Anlon. I'm always watching you and I'm always ready to help."

  He smiled. "Actually there is one more question you may be able to answer right now. My father was pushing me through college before he was killed, but he knew I hated school and wasn't any good at it. Do you know a reason why he would do that?"

  A big smile crossed Moran's face. "He wanted you to be in GSOU. He always told his unit and the Queen that you'd be part of it one day. He was pushing you through college so you'd be qualified educationally, but he had no doubt that you were physically and mentally ready to join."

  "Thank you. I had a feeling after I went through his stuff last night, but I couldn't be sure."

  "Well you better get out of here before those officers show up and see you got to me before they did," Moran turned off the Illusionaire and opened the door for Anlon. "You can come back anytime you like Anlon."

  "Thank you, I will Moran."

  Moran watched Anlon walk down the hall, seeing a younger version of Armino. He had known Armino since they had joined the GSOU together and couldn't believe how long it had been since that day. He wanted to avenge his death as much as Anlon did, but he knew that it wouldn't be the smart thing to do. The Queen was very unlikely to approve of it.

  Moran shut the door behind him and laid down on the couch, not bothering to turn the Illusionaire on since he knew that the officers would be arriving anytime now. He wished he could've told Anlon the truth about Donnchadh, but that's one more thing that would have to wait until he had some more time to think things through. He knew that Anlon wasn't ready for it yet and it would just fuel his rage that much more. Moran shut his eyes and waited for his next visitors to arrive.

  Chapter 5

  Kanti woke up just in time to head to t
he Hassental District Prison. Her first couple of months on the job had been eerily slow, and according to everyone she had talked to at the station, that was normal for this District. Her regular routine was to go in and do paperwork most of the day before packing for home and repeating the next day. The mysterious tip that came in alerting them of the events at Anlon's house was the first case she had picked up since joining the force. Since that call, her life had been turned upside down and was a hectic mess.

  Giustino had allowed her to work with him on the case, saying that it would be a good learning experience before taking on cases completely by herself. Cases like this had been why she had chosen to be a police officer after running from home. Helping the unfortunate and unlucky was what she knew she wanted to do. There was a connection she felt like she could make with the races from her own experiences, and right now, she was determined to help Anlon.

  She quickly put her uniform on, ignoring the wrinkles from laying on the floor, and grabbed some fruit to eat for breakfast before heading out of the door. Ten minutes later she pulled into the parking garage of the prison and took her reserved spot up front. She made her way through the circular door and into the station where it was still as chaotic as the previous day. Giustino's office was the first place she went, only to find an empty office.

  "That's strange," She peered through the window. "He hasn't even come in his office for the day yet."

  Kanti turned and made her way to her office, immediately firing up the computer to do a search on Moran Borislav. She had plans to run by his place today and ask some questions, but she wanted to see if she could find a little more on him online before popping up unexpectedly at his place. After entering his name on the Net, she was surprised to see that not a single result for his name came up.