Ozzie smiled, exposing a set of busted teeth. “Not quite that. Any human that travels in space needs to undergo an alteration. Without one, you are sure to get killed. What that means is that you will have to decide between let’s say, a touch pad inserted in your forearm or a robotic appendage. Laser vision, perhaps? Steel hands with fingers that can form into scissors. We have a lot of choices so you can decide which one it’s going to be. Don’t worry, it will be removed after the mission and you will look the same as you do right now. I’ll have Roland give you the comprehensive list. You have about an hour to decide and then the alteration process must begin.”
2
Roxelle Idris-U472Z
“I’m one badass bitch. I’m one badass bitch.” Roxelle repeated her mantra as she waited inside the pressurized cabin of the Foribus Oraculi.
She stared at the mesmerizing blue pulsar named Densive 11 through the viewport on the right side of the cabin. She stared at the brilliant blue rotating oval with beams of argent-tinted light bursting from both poles and extending thousands of kilometers in either direction. The rapidly rotating neutron star was set to the black backdrop, sprinkled with different sized dabs of bright white light.
She pulled up her GravSuit and mentally prepared for the dangerous work ahead. The purple-fleshed female being tucked her long black braids into the neckline.
“Arrib. Check me out,” Roxelle said, pointing to the back of her neck with her thumb.
She could smell his minty breath as he approached. He pushed a few stragglers into her suit and patted her on the right shoulder.
Roxelle Idris-U472Z walked to the other side of the cabin and only fourteen meters below sat the surface of the gleaming carbon planet named Dia 447. The pull from the pulsar caused the carbon to be compacted so tightly, most beings referred to it as a diamond. The sight still awed her even after seeing it thousands of times.
Roxelle’s sponsors were assumed to have the only WARPDRIVE in the universe, so the company she worked for, TJ9974 Interstellar Mining Corporation, was the only company that could access the endless reserves of the precious gem.
Some inhabited terraformed planets had mines of diamond reserves, but nothing compared to an entire Earth 43-sized planet. Her company had a stranglehold on the interstellar market.
The scientists who worked for her company knew that the gravitational pull of the pulsar was going to tug in and obliterate the diamond planet. Even the gravity of the diamond planet was dangerously increasing by the day because it was getting closer to the pulsar. However, her greedy sponsors weren’t going to quit mining until the shimmering sphere disappeared.
Another peek out the viewport made her cringe. Her co-worker, Diandre, was the first to test the ever-changing conditions today. Her suit wasn’t calibrated correctly and buckled under the increased pressure. She was crushed by the increased gravity and Roxelle couldn’t do anything but shake her head in disgust. The limp suit and helmet lay on the surface of the glimmering planet.
A monotone voice came over the intercom. “We need to recover that suit. Lord Ingram said we can’t lose any more equipment. And hurry in case the manual pressure valves have been moved.”
A long pole with a soft hook on the end extended from the bottom of the spaceship and moved slowly toward the white suit. The yellow hook got under the suit and lifted the dangling polymer uniform and helmet. A side compartment of the ship opened and the hook dropped the suit into the opening. The black door slid shut and the rod and hook retracted into the bottom of the ship.
Roxelle put on her green helmet with her lucky number 7 in gold above both ears. The tinted visor helped with the glare of the diamond surface.
“Arrib. Can you connect my helmet to the suit?”
The stout green male being nodded and motioned for her to lean down. The tall woman lowered her shoulders to help the short man out. Roxelle hated this part because she knew they were only required to connect the helmet so the sponsors wouldn’t lose the suit if someone got smashed like a pancake.
Roxelle neared the departing door as two porters dragged the recovered suit into the cabin by the legs. The two men lost their respective grips and nearly fell to the ground. The sloshing of blood and the sounds of bone scraping bone that came from inside the uniform sent a chill up her back.
Another being went out on Dia 447 and her uniform held up. Roxelle breathed a sigh of relief as a technician came over to adjust the pressure levels of her suit.
Now we are going to need two more people for the secret heist. I don’t know where we can find two beings on such short notice that we can trust. If we lose one more person it might be time to call off the big robbery. I love that we can afford to lose a being, but not a stupid suit. Assholes.
Roxelle took a deep breath as the door automatically opened. Nervous energy shot through her thick body. She leaned out and grabbed the guidance rod. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She tried to calm down, knowing any moisture could fog up her visor.
She floated, suspended in space, and placed gloved hand over gloved hand along the black guidance rod as she worked her way down to the surface of Dia 447. Her boot soles hit the surface and her knees buckled a bit. The waist high electric power drill was lowered down from the craft followed by her partner Senti.
Roxelle was considered one of the best miners because she had a rare combination of strength and delicacy. She was shocked that her company hadn’t developed or bought droids to do the mining and eliminate the need for beings. They would be considered illegal by the Interstellar Council, but she knew her sponsors’ greed would outmatch the possible ramifications.
She turned on the power to her A447 Drill crafted especially for mining diamonds. The flat edge of the drill head had a slight curve that helped Roxelle shape the diamond with more accuracy. All stones still went through the refinery, but a perfect mining of the gem saved a lot of time and money.
Roxelle held the vibrating drill steady as small fragments chipped away and sparkled past her helmet. Her partner, Senti, held the enormous vacuum head over the area she had been chiseling. They worked as a team for the next three hours until they were called back to the spacecraft.
They waited in the cabin as the last group took their shift. Senti threw up in his hand as some of the nasty remains of Diandre were being dumped out of the helmet. This further reinforced the plan Roxelle had been crafting. She knew the sponsors didn’t care about her or her life or safety.
The last team finished up and Captain Steevens set a course to get back to Centimore. Roxelle took a nap during the ever-dangerous intergalactic commute on the long space shuttle with four boosters. Arrib woke her up when they arrived at Centimore and broke through the atmosphere. The shuttle landed softly on the continent of Panmay.
The four sponsors of the entire company lived and stored the diamonds here. Roxelle carried out her other duty as a miner and transported the diamonds into the warehouse. As she went to exit the ship, an intercom next to the door asked, “Planet of origin please?”
Roxelle said, “Alperia.”
A slot under the intercom slid open and Roxelle grabbed the small white pill inside. She chewed it up and swallowed it before hitting the green button above the intercom. A door opened and she jumped out. The pill made it so she could breathe on this planet. Senti got out after her. Roxelle pulled the leathery flesh above her wrist away and used her forearmScreen to call for a hoverHauler from inside the warehouse.
A small platform, the size of a twin bed mattress with raised edges, floated out and came to a rest next to Roxelle’s ankles. She and Senti grabbed the biggest diamond first, which had to be about five times the size of her head. Her muscles tightened and shook as they tried to set the precious stone down gently without damaging it.
They unloaded the rest of the stash and Roxelle stared through the garage-sized door as the hoverHauler floated back inside. The door closed slowly and she walked down the street to the AirPort. The DMC83 Jet took sixte
en people to their home continent named Marigold.
Aside from the sponsors on this planet, Roxelle was one of the wealthiest workers, especially in Marigold. Most people with as much money as her lived on another continent called Ashmore, which was safer because it contained fewer dangerous people.
Roxelle liked danger and being a rich person on Marigold had tremendous perks that appealed greatly to her. The aircraft landed and she got on the HyperLoop to get to her favorite bar. The Loop raced along the raised track for three hundred kilometers before coming to her stop.
She got off and walked into the concrete jungle known as Ridmore. Ridmore was the biggest city on this continent and the only one worth a good damn if you asked Roxelle. She walked two blocks up and two blocks over to get to her favorite watering hole. She ducked down to get through the low entrance door of the Buzzed Being.
The theme of silver immediately caught her eye from the tables to the bar to the ceiling fans that didn’t work. A soft beat of rhythmic digital music hummed in the background because it was still early. She could smell the hot sauce in the air and couldn’t believe that beings still bothered with eating.
The reminder precipitated her to reach into the inside pocket of her black leather dovetailed vest and grab a green pill. She popped the equivalent of a well-balanced meal into her mouth and lightly bit her tongue to release some saliva so she could swallow the pill. She pushed the mushy pill to the back of her tongue, leaned back and took a deep gulp.
The pill had a minty aftertaste she needed to chase away, so she went to the long bar. A gold-tinted droid stationed on top of the bar zipped over to her.
The round garbage can shaped droid stopped in front of Roxelle. A computer-generated voice asked, “May I take your order please?”
Roxelle said, “Give me two shots of Green Goddess and a double Hegrins and soda water.”
Red lights started flashing on the droid and it said, “That will be 8.88 trolodites please.”
“Scan it,” Roxelle said and held her wrist up to the front of the droid.
A red glow scanned her wrist and the purchase was approved. Within thirty seconds, a server with pale yellow skin brought out her drinks on a circular black tray and set them on the bar one by one.
Roxelle grabbed the plastic shot glasses with both hands. She banged down the one in her left hand first and followed immediately with the other. The Green Goddess left a harsh, spicy fennel aftertaste that Roxelle chased with the Hegrins and Soda.
Roxelle started to work up a buzz as she stood at the bar and looked around. Harrins, her girlie werelion friend, and the half-droid Mimick were by the pool tables, waiting to hustle someone, no doubt.
Boggle Ritby slammed a red shot at the bar and her blue face turned almost black as she choked on the liquor. She pounded her fist on the bar and bobbed her flushed face up and down to the rhythm of the soft music playing. The short female with shaved blond hair limped down to the end of the bar to say hi to someone. Her leg had been broken badly by her sponsor for missing one day of work and she still carried a grudge about it. The sponsors or owners were allowed to punish derelict workers in any way they deemed fit.
Oswell Hawkins came into the bar, ducking his bald, reddish brown head to get under the entrance and the lanky, totally hairless male went toward the buffet. He walked awkwardly due to his size, leaned down, grabbed a chicken drumstick and shoved it in his mouth. He pulled out a meatless bone and threw it back on the buffet. He was looking for a way out of his shitty life as a as a data entry specialist because on this planet, your job was your life.
Roxelle tried not to make eye contact with any of them as she panned the room again.
Roxelle turned around and took another swig from her double. She almost choked as a small, but firm, hand smacked her right butt cheek and a sharp set of fingernails dug in. She tensed her frame and peeked back at a weretiger who started purring seductively in her ear.
“You trying to get lucky or what?” he asked and moved his crotch closer to her.
His warm breath stinking of raw meat tickled the back of her neck. She could feel his increasing manhood on her ass and in one quick move, she reached back and grabbed his semi-hard penis and testicles. She thought about how much she loved her giant hands as the weretiger whimpered in agony.
Roxelle said, “I think I’ll go with ‘or what.’ I would say don’t ever approach me again, but this will serve as a better reminder if you ever even think about it again.”
She twisted her huge, powerful hand and yanked as hard as she could. She smiled as injured animal yelps came from the weretiger until she finally let go. The man slithered away, having injured his manhood in two ways.
She pressed the button to fetch the bartender and saw that the red light was already on in front of several other people seated at the bar. The number 12 appeared on the bar in front of her, which meant 11 people still needed to be served. She held up a half-empty double and tried to estimate if it would last until the bartender got to her
The red male next to her was up next as the bartender droid settled in front of him. The man placed his order and Roxelle leaned over.
She said, “If you let me add my drink on, I’m buying.”
“Yeah,” the man replied.
Roxelle ordered and went to scan her tracker when someone shouted, “What the fuck? You can’t just jump in and grab a drink, bitch.”
Roxelle peered down the bar at the pale orange man with balding brown hair and a patchy beard. She shouted, “Shut the fuck up and sit down before you get your ass whooped by a woman. Then you’ll see who the bitch is.”
She knew it must be his first night in the bar if he was picking a fight with her.
The rotund man said, “I don’t usually hit women, but you keep talking like that, I’ll have to shut your mouth for you. Now apologize and we can all have a nice time.”
People around the bar started to shift around as the music and murmur of conversation wasn’t loud enough to drown out the argument at the bar.
Roxelle said, “You’re right. I should apologize for talking back to a man.”
She walked over in front of him and said, “Look, I’m sorry…”
Roxelle blasted the man across his cheek with a clenched right fist, knocking him back into the bar. He smacked into the two people next to him who jumped up, ready to fight. One of the men went after Roxelle, who flattened him with a straight left jab.
Mayhem.
A huge brawl broke out and Roxelle found herself right in the middle of it. She had only wanted to hit one man, but people kept coming after her and she had to handle her business. She found the fat guy who had been talking shit, grabbed him by the left shoulder and ploughed her right fist into his nose several times.
Thick, crimson blood came pouring out of his wide nose as her right hand lunged for his throat. Several other brawlers came crashing into her and separated her from the balding man. The chaotic scene caused Roxelle to spin around several times to scan for her enemy.
The short man appeared in front of her and held his hand in front of her chest. The fighting died down and nearly came to a stop as Roxelle held her hands up. She looked down the barrel of a white plasma blaster.
The brawling patrons gathered around Roxelle and several people tried to convince the man to put down the gun.
Roxelle said, “You sure you want to do this? If so, you better turn that thing straight around on yourself. I am worth more than a being like you could ever pay the fine for. So do you want to commit suicide?”
The man’s hand was shaking, making Roxelle even more uncomfortable. He said, “How do you know how much I’m worth?”
She answered, “I don’t. I know how much I am worth. I only know that I am a Level 1A Miner on Dia 447 and there isn’t anyone other than a sponsor who could afford that fine for murder. So kill me, you are just killing yourself.”
The man said, “This planet is fucked up. Because you have a better job than me, that g
ives you a license to kill and I am powerless to do anything.”
“You could get a better job.”
“Bullshit. All the rules and regulations are bullshit. I should just do it anyway. Who cares if I die?” the man asked and looked around the bar. He seemed to notice that several people had their guns pointed at him.
He started to back away from Roxelle and said, “I see how it is. I’m not going to do anything.” He pointed his gun at the bouncer and told him, “Open the door.”
The bouncer obliged and the fat man slithered out backwards.
Roxelle took a deep breath and sighed out straight relief. She looked around and made quick eye contact with Harrins and Mimick before turning away.
She went back to the bar, glad to be alive and happy she wouldn’t have to pay another fine for murder. She hated the whole process of having to go through all the paperwork to get out of the cell. It normally only took a few days, but with her normal lifestyle, it was a major cramp.
The night wound down and the siren rang again for everyone to leave. Roxelle stood with her back against the bar and no plans to go anywhere. The bouncers tried to chase out the last dozen patrons by the pool table as five other beings lurked at various spots along the long bar.
Everyone left except for her and the people at the bar as the doors sealed shut and more security cameras popped out of the walls and ceiling. The servers, cooks and bouncers left through the back and a tall man with yellowish skin popped out of a side door with a smile on his face.
Roxelle spoke in a sober tone. “We lost Diandre today. We’re probably going to have to push back our date now. That puts us down two people on outside lookout duty. I don’t feel comfortable with only one person out there. I don’t even want to try it with two.”
Glint Chesswell, one of the owners of the mining company, was a tall, thick man with ashy white skin that he tried to cover in an artificial golden glaze. “Do we know anyone that could fill the void?” He looked around the table. “It’s only lookout, they don’t have to even know anything about the mission.”
Cosmic Diamonds (Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventures Book 4) Page 2