The Quant appeared closer to Den, “You have no other choice. You can never beat me.”
Den stared at the Quant, through the blinding pain that was beginning to make it hard to think. His brain was reaching a state of dangerous exhaustion. Soon it would be too tired to maintain his connection to the quantiverse and his body. It was now or never. Reaching deeply into himself to find his last remaining reserves of strength, he melded completely with the suit.
The suit reacted instantly and felt his mind drift as his brain divested itself of control over his body. When it was complete he smiled at the quant and stood, slamming his fist into the Quant’s chest. “Then decode this bastard,” he snarled, bursting his data rate to the spetabyte level.
The quant’s eyes widened, and Den felt tentacles of code slam against him as the Quant furiously tried to push him back and recode itself. He ignored them, grimacing in pain as each attack slashed through his own mind, but he held on. Femtosecond stretched into femtosecond and then Den felt the first of the Quant’s internal systems begin to fall.
“No,” breathed the Quant his face whitening. ‘It’s not possible, you can’t beat me.”
Den pulled his fist back and smiled in satisfaction. He’d done it; he’d proven a normal human could defeat a quant. He leaned back placing his foot on the Quant’s chest and kicked, enjoying the sheer unnecessity of the movement. The Quant fell backward with a howl and then his avatar burst into a cascade of code before disappearing completely.
Den pumped his fist, “Atlas is back!” he shouted.
Then he dropped his hand, feeling his exhaustion set in. A man had lost his sanity he reminded himself, and the realization dampened his feeling of success. It didn’t matter though. He’d chosen his crew. He touched the ship’s network again, opening all the doors, and shutting off the alarms. He watched through the cameras as Stella, Akatski, and Tan raced out of the hold.
He let go of his connection to the quantiverse and watched them emerge from the ship through his own eyes. The three of them raced down the gangway and stumbled to a stop as they saw him. Anger flitted over Stella’s features, “What the kriff are you doing here? I thought I told you…”
“That’s a rude way to greet the person who just saved your life,” he said. “Do you think those doors opened on their own? You have no idea how hard what I just did was.” Exhaustion made his words sharp.
Stella took two steps forward and dragged him close by the front of his shirt. “You want to talk to me like that and I’ll kriffing blow your head off. I said I’d kill you the next time I saw you or did you forget?”
Sudden fear filled Den at the crazed look in her eyes. He leaned back. “Look, I saw the quant when I came to the spaceport and I came back to warn you, but you’d already left.”
“So that’s how it is then,” snapped Stella. “Weakling. You weren’t even strong enough to leave Rocquamport. People like you don’t even deserve the air they breathe.”
“When the kriff are you going to understand?” he growled. “I’m part of this crew now and whether you like it or not, you need me. If I hadn’t come back, you’d still be rotting in there.”
“Hah, you think I’d let a weakling like you join my crew,” said Stella. She pulled her gun. “I should kill you right here and now for having the audacity to say such a thing. You’re nothing more than a two-faced traitor. You already left.”
Tan stepped forward, “Stella, maybe we should…”
“Shut up Tan,” said Stella not turning away from Den. “You watched him leave, didn’t you?”
Den looked towards Tan and felt his hopes crumble as Tan stepped back, his face tight.
“I came to Rocquamport for a reason,” said Den. ‘I’m here to earn enough money to buy my way back into the UPC and I’m not leaving until I do.”
Stella stared at him for a long moment and he watched her finger in terror. Then the gun wavered, and she began to laugh. She laughed until tears ran down her cheeks, and then continued to laugh as she wiped her eyes. “You’re the biggest idiot I’ve ever met. You want to join my crew, so you can rejoin normal society?
Hah!
No one on Rocquamport is fit for normal society, that’s why we’re here, or hadn’t you kriffing noticed? I’ll let you live because I find you interesting, but you cross me again, and I’ll kriffing kill you.” The evil half-light returned to Stella’s eyes. “You got that Den?”
He nodded feeling shaky with relief.
“Good, then go help Tan and Akatski with the drugs.”
“The what?”
“If you don’t want to get caught then hurry up. We came here for a job and we’re not leaving until it’s finished.”
“Oh, y-yes,” he stammered and quickly started walking towards the gangway. Tan and Akatski fell in beside him. He struggled to reorient himself as they walked onto the ship. Battles in the quantiverse always felt longer than they were. In fact, the clock on his HUD told him his battle with the quant had only taken fifteen seconds.
“You know Stella’s not as bad as you think,” said Tan softly.
“What are you talking about?”
Tan pushed something hard into his hand. He looked down. It was a black switchblade. “Stella told me to give you this to you if I ever saw you again.”
“She what? But… how did she know?”
Tan shrugged, “Stella’s always been good at reading people. The man she killed at the bar was holding it in his hand, his left hand.”
Den frowned, “But…”
“He was there to kill you.”
Confusion filled Den, “But why? How does that make any sense?”
“You can come to Rocquamport, but no one ever truly leaves their past behind Atlas.”
“Surprise and fear washed over Den. “How do you know my tag?” he whispered.
Tan raised an eyebrow, “Like I said, you can hide out here on Rocquamport for as long as you want, but your past will always find you. If you live long enough, you’ll understand. Stella doesn’t take on new crew members often, but when she does, people take notice and some of them don’t like the idea of her having a person with your background at her beck and call.”
Den struggled to comprehend what Tan was saying, “You mean like Krell,” he managed finally.
“Or others,” broke in Akatski. “Stella’s good at making enemies, that’s why we’re here.” He shot Den a level look. “We live to protect her.”
“I understand.”
“You’re starting to. But do you know why we didn’t say anything at the bar? It’s because we trust her. If Stella thinks someone needs to be shot, then he needs to be shot. We trust her to tell us the why afterward.”
Den glanced at Tan, but he was uncharacteristically quiet and he found himself unwilling to break the silence. What had Stella done that made Tan and Akatski trust her so unequivocally? She certainly didn’t seem the type to inspire that level of trust.
“Here we are,” said Akatski, pointing to a pallet with several 50 lbs. bags on it.
“Those are the drugs?”
“What, you’ve never seen synth composite before?”
“Never had a reason too.”
“The stuff’s highly regulated by the UPC but it’ll fetch a good price on the black market. This is quite the haul,” said Tan. He and Den each shouldered a bag and Akatski took two. Then they began walking off the ship.
Stella fell in with them as they left the gangway. “Oh, and by the way Den,” she said sweetly. “What the hell did you do with my kriffing car?”
Keep reading in Oblivion, Episode 2 of The Captain’s Inferno…
Oblivion Excerpt
12,246 A.D.
Rocquamport
Colony World, Third Horizon
“Kriff you.”
Den smiled as he pulled the pile of chips toward himself. “You always say the nicest things when we play Stella.”
“Cheating bastard,” muttered Stella, flicking her cigarette bu
tt over her shoulder. “Pass me another cigarette Tan.”
“What?”
“She lost again,” answered Den.
Stella kicked him under the bar. “No one wants to talk to you, newbie. Where’s your smokes Tan?”
Tan shrugged, “I already gave you the last pack.”
“Burn me.” Stella pushed out her bar stool unsteadily. “Looks like I’m going out to go pick up some more then.”
“Can’t, we don’t have any money,” said Akatski.
“Kriffing hell!” growled Stella swallowing the last of her beer. “When the kriff did that happen?”
Den felt his haze of victory beginning to thin as his empty stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten anything since the morning. “We haven’t had any money for three days.”
Stella turned on him, “Don’t whine to me newbie, it’s been a slow couple of weeks.” She wiped her lips with her sleeve.
“Try a slow couple of months,” grumbled Tan.
“You know what? I don’t need this!” Stella weaved across the living room. “I’m going out to go get some cigarettes, and by the time I get back the three of you better be ready to find some kriffing clients.”
“Maybe we should take a look at Shawna’s list,” said Den tossing his cards on the bar.
“What the kriff did you just say?”
“I-I just said maybe we should look at Shawna’s list.”
“And you just said it again,” said Tan putting his face in his hands.
“Is it just me or is everyone around here kriffing stupid?”
“Well, where were you planning to look for clients?”
“You had better stop speaking before I throw this bottle at you.”
“Hey, look at you two improving your relationship,” grinned Tan. “Your first month she would have just thrown it at you.”
His smile disappeared as Stella’s bottle bounced off the side of his head. “Shut up Tan.”
“Was that really necessary Stella?” said Tan glumly, wiping beer off his forehead.
“Just be ready when I get back.”
She swept towards the door with a regal turn that ended in a wobble and a curse as she overcompensated and crashed into the wall. Stella sat up, swayed, and reached for the door handle to pull herself up. Then fell backward with another curse as the door opened.
“Kriffing hell, why does the house keep moving!” demanded Stella, finally rolling to her feet as a huge shadow filled the doorway.
“Is this where I can find Captain Stellamina Throm?” boomed a haughty voice.
Stella put her hands on her hips and looked up as the man stepped inside.
From his seat Den watched the shadows resolve into the outline of an aristocratic face with an unhealthy pallor. The man definitely wasn’t from Rocquamport.
“Is this where I can find the Night Lady Transportation Agency. Or a Captain Stellamina Throm?”
“Who the kriff’re you and why are you asking? ” slurred Stella.
“My name is Trevor Dark,” said the man. “And I’m looking for…”
“Yes, yes, Captain Stellamina Throm, we established that.”
“Careful now Stella,” spoke Akatski. “This man might just be a client.”
Hope filled Den’s empty stomach at the words, a client! The thought was quickly followed by an uneasy dread. What kind of job did the man want them to do?
Stella glared at Akatski before looking Trevor up and down. “What do you want to talk to Stella for? ” She said drawing out her name.
The man’s brows furrowed, and he did a double take as he took in Stella’s ratty tank top and wildly tangled hair. “You are Captain Stellamina Throm?”
“Yes, I’m Stella,” she snapped. “Now what the hell are you still doing on my doorstep? Either step in or step out.”
Annoyance flickered across the man’s face and he jerked forward, almost unwillingly, and pulled the door closed behind him.
No wonder why we haven’t had any customers, thought Den, sipping his beer while he watched. The acrid taste reminded him why he had been drinking it slowly and he set it down on the bar with a sigh. It was impossible to get good beer on a planet that didn’t grow any wheat with a Captain too cheap to buy anything but cigarettes.
“You have to help me,” said the man with an expression that managed to be both condescending and hopeful. “My daughter has been…”
“Cut the crap,” growled Stella. “We’re not a charity around here. Do you have money?”
Trevor’s lips twisted, and he glanced down at Stella with distaste before taking in the rest of them. His eyes settled on Akatski. “Yes, I have money. I’m here because my daughter was kidnapped and I’m willing to pay fifty thousand marks for anyone who…”
Stella clapped her hands. “I’m right here, you kriffing idiot. You wanted to talk to Stella, right?”
Trevor’s jaw tightened, “Can you find her?”
Stella snorted, “For fifty thousand? We’ll find her.”
“But I haven’t even…”
“Is she on Rocquamport?”
“Y-yes,” stammered the man, obviously unused to being interrupted.
Stella paid him no heed, “You pay half now, and half on delivery.”
Trevor nodded uncertainly.
“Good, then show Den here what she looks like and where you saw her last.”
Den slipped off his stool and joined Stella.
“Um, sure,” answered Trevor, subconsciously rubbing an angry red mark on the side of his neck.
Den opened his connection and accepted the data files as Trevor synched his implants. Making his view public Den cast a 3D screen into the center of the living room. A 3D image of a pretty girl in a high school sports uniform filled the area between them over an aerial view of Rocquamport that spread across the space beneath. A red dot glowed in a corner of the city he hadn’t been to yet.
“Kriff me,” swore Stella. “Who did you say kidnapped her?”
“I didn’t. It was a man named Carlton.”
Behind Den, Tan’s breath hissed through his teeth.
Stella pressed her palms together, eyes narrowing, “Kidnapping’s not Carlton’s style.”
A vein pulsed in Trevor’s forehead, “She was kidnapped.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Two months ago,” admitted Trevor.
“Turn the screen off Den,” muttered Stella looking disappointed. “It’s not even worth looking. If Carlton’s had her at Castle Limbo for that long, then she’s long dead by now. If you wanted her back, you should have come sooner.”
Den bit his tongue.
“No, she can’t be,” said Trevor, looking suddenly desperate. “That was the feed from her bio tracker. It’s still functioning, so that means she has to be alive.”
Stella shook her head, “I think it’s time for you to leave.”
Trevor’s lip pulled back in frustration, “You have to help me,” he demanded.
Stella stared at him impassively.
“Her name is Evelyn. she was supposed to graduate high school this year,” moaned Trevor putting his face in his hands.
Den felt his heart lurch, “Stella,” he whispered. “Maybe we can…”
Stella made a sharp cutting motion with her hand, “Did she have access to money?”
“Some,” nodded Trevor. “We froze her bank accounts three weeks ago though.”
A calculating look came into Stella’s eyes, “Well perhaps there is some hope then.”
Trevor straightened, “So you’ll take the job?”
Stella stared at him evenly, “Do you know what Carlton is?” she said finally.
Trevor’s face fell, “A flesh merchant,” he whispered.
Den felt his stomach drop and bile rose in his throat.
“We’ll take the job,” said Stella. “But you are aware that there may not be much left.”
“Just get her out of there.”
“Agreed, I woul
dn’t want her separated from such loving protective parents for another day.”
Trevor’s shoulders shook, “All I care about is her safety.”
“If that were true, then you’re two months late,” said Stella, sending Trevor their bank numbers. “We’ll start when the first twenty-five thousand is deposited.”
“Well, there is one more thing.”
“What?”
“I know that her time with, with…”
“The flesh merchant,” said Stella her tone flat.
“Yes that, well I know that likely she will be changed.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
Trevor glared at Stella, “Well what I’m trying to say is that I’d like you to make her presentable for her mother, of course, before you bring her back, and make sure you give me at least three days notice. I live in the Gamarian System, so it’s not far from here.” He synched his address to their implants.
“So cosmetic expenses are reimbursable then?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll take care of it,” said Stella sticking out her hand. “Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Dark.”
“Of course,” said Trevor. “When can I expect to hear from you? ”
“When we have your daughter and not a minute before, but I doubt a busy man like yourself will even notice.”
Trevor’s cheeks flushed. “I love my daughter!”
“I’m sure you do,” said Stella. “And I’m also sure you have other matters to attend to. Like the ones that kept you busy for the past two months. Let me do my job and you do yours. You can you can save the antics for her mother. I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think of your daughter.”
“Very well then,” said Trevor the emotion slipping from his face. “Just make sure she doesn’t look too bad. Her mother is… Well just get it done all right.”
“You can trust us, I understand,” said Stella with a smirk.
The moment the door closed behind Trevor, Stella bent over with a harsh laugh. “Did you see that bastard’s face?” she crowed, clutching her sides. “I think that was the easiest 25k I’ve made in a long time.”
The Captain Page 6