by E. A. James
Alaria continued to walk further into the establishment, scanning the handful of faces around her. When she found who she was looking for—an older Terran woman, with wrinkled skin and dark, heavy bags around her eyes—she let out a squeal of excitement.
The woman appeared to share Alaria’s excitement. She hurried over, faster than Kira imagined she would be able to, as Alaria rushed in her direction. They embraced tightly, and the squeals of joy continued to ring out.
Dario followed Alaria to speak with the woman, leaving Thor and Kira hovering by the door, ready to make a quick escape if the need arose. Thor glanced nervously out the door, looking for any signs of their pursuers.
“Can we trust them?” Kira asked once they were alone.
“At the moment, we don’t have a choice,” Thor replied.
She turned to look up at him. There was still a burn mark visible on his neck from where the pirate captain had pressed the baton into his skin. It was faint, but the sight of it brought the dire reality of their situation crashing down on her quickly.
“That’s always a good reason to trust someone—no alternative,” Kira replied sarcastically, shifting her gaze up to his eyes.
He looked at her with a somewhat amused expression on his face. “That’s why I trusted you, and it seems to be working out well.”
“Oh, yes. It’s going great. This is just how I wanted to spend my time off—running from pirates and bounty hunters in the Galactic Bazaar.”
“Again, I’m happy to oblige.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the dynamic that had somehow formed between them. Few people rarely followed her banter. At least they provided each other with some sort of temporary relief from the impending doom that seemed to follow them everywhere they went.
“We’re good!” Alaria’s voice called out to them.
They both turned to face her. She was smiling at them excitedly and waving them over. For a small woman, she had a lot of energy surging through her. Her petite frame and delicate features didn't seem to match her spirit, which, apparently, was locked into a perpetual high.
Thor and Kira followed their new companions over to an isolated corner of the room, where the group settled into a booth. Shortly after sitting down, the owner of the establishment came marching towards them, juggling four plates of warm, albeit questionable looking, food in her thick, stocky arms. With a toothless, gummy smile, she set the plates down in front of them one-by-one, insisting that they let her know if they need anything.
Although the food in front of her was a collection of things Kira would have normally tried to avoid—parts of animals that simply were not meant to be eaten and a collection of vegetables blended together to make a mushy, liquid sort of puree—the hunger churning in her stomach convinced her to dive in.
“Time to tell us what the hell is going on,” Thor said to Dr. Marner as he shoveled a fork-full of the off-white mush into his mouth.
"Well, as you know, I'm a medical doctor. In medical school, I specialized and excelled in genetic and cybernetic medicine, believing the field to be very exciting and fruitful. My interests were research based, and I published a number of papers in the field over the years. Little did I know, there were those who were following my work with great interest. Five years ago, one of those interested in my work—Colonel Grimm—showed up on my doorstep to offer me ‘the opportunity of a lifetime'. He recruited me to work with the Arcanum and paid me very well to do so. The only caveat was any discoveries we made would remain classified per Arcanum protocol.”
“At first, the opportunity was too much to pass up and I was overcome with professional excitement to work on the cutting edge of my field,” Dario continued.
“As time progressed, it became clear to me and my colleagues that Grimm’s desire to improve the soldier’s under his command was beginning to trump the laws in place to preserve human life. He continued to ask us to push beyond the Modessi Limit in an attempt to speed progress.”
“Initially, my colleagues and I refused, but we were swiftly punished and summarily threatened – our lives, our families. In one case, he brought one of my colleague's children to the research station. It was touted as a family visit, but we all understood the dark threat that lay beneath.”
“Slowly, as time marched on Grimm’s madness became apparent to us all. Sadly, out of fear for my own life I continued with the experiments, all the while plotting an impossible escape. Two soldiers died under my medical watch – brutal deaths, death’s I would not wish on anyone.”
“After those deaths, I decided that escape would not be enough. I began to sabotage the procedures being carried out through the facility. Simple things, like altering implants to make them unusable or spoiling our supply of anesthetic.”
“Shortly after I began to undermine the research, one of my colleagues found me out, and out of fear that Grimm would discover my actions pleaded with me to stop, and I refused.”
Dario stopped for a moment, his head hanging low and a wash of sadness crept over him. When he spoke again, his voice was weak “When I refused, he attacked me, demanding my surrender and saying that he would not be found an accomplice to my actions. He said that Grimm would kill him too, and he tried to strike me down.”
Another long pause followed as Dario tried to compose himself. Alaria leaned over and rubbed his shoulder, empathizing with his pain.
Dario continued, “He attacked with blood lust in his eyes, as only a man who is fighting for his own life could, and we struggled against one another for a time until I was able to throw him from me. He landed awkwardly and…and, he was a frail man. His head struck a metal bulkhead and he fell unconscious to the floor. I rushed to his aide and tried for some time to revive him, but I was unable.”
Tears flowed openly down Dario’s face now and he held his head in his hands. “I…I never meant to kill him, he was innocent like we all were. He was only afraid for his life.”
“Your actions were in defense of your own life, Dario. His death cannot belong to you,” Thor interjected. “His death belongs to Grimm, like so many others before him.”
Thor’s words struck Kira, this was the first time she had heard Thor talk with such insight and it only increased her opinion of him.
“After his death, I was forced to flee. Timing or risk of capture no longer mattered, if I did not escape I too would die,” Dario replied. “During my time at the research facility, I became quite close with one of Grimm’s aides. He secretly opposed Grimm’s actions, and remains in his service working to do all he can to slow Grimm’s progress at great risk to his own life.”
Dario stopped again, but Kira noticed that it was not sadness that held him now, but fear, and maybe something more, something that Kira was not yet sure she understood.
“He helped me hide the body,” Dario said. “Then he found me safe passage off the research facility in a merchant cargo ship that was contracted to deliver supplies to the facility. Six months ago that cargo ship delivered me to Vandor, and I have been in hiding since.”
“Unsurprisingly, a bounty was placed on me immediately after my escape was discovered,” Dario added, “and I have been pursued since my escape. I have nearly lost my life on a number of occasions in the last half year. I dare say I’m getting used to it.”
“Thank you for enlightening us Dr. Marner,” Thor replied, a great deal more respect in his tone than before. “In your time there, were you able to discover what Grimm intended to do with the Arcanum once he completed his experiments?”
“Grimm hid his intentions well, even from the research team,” Dario replied. “But my source in the research facility was adamant that Grimm intends to rebel against the Terran Alliance and establish a new order, an order intent on Terran domination through the galaxy. He is secretly recruiting through the military, finding sympathizers to his ideology in an attempt to stage a coup when he is ready.”
“He talks of supremacy and domination, his lust for power has seemin
gly consumed him, and his reason has all but abandoned him,” Dario concluded.
Thor looked over at Kira, raising his eyebrow as if solidifying that what he had told her previously was true.
Kira gave up on finishing her meal and turned her attention to the Telani woman sitting across from her. “How do you fit into all of this? Are you part of the dead or alive bounty club too?”
“No,” Alaria said, shaking her head with a small smile. “My connection to Dario goes back farther. As a child, I was a Telani orphan, my parents died in a mining accident when I was still too young to remember. I was mostly left to fend for myself, although there were attempts to find me a permanent home. My class in Telani society is quite destitute and it was difficult to survive let alone provide for a child. My life was further devalued when it was discovered that I had a rare genetic condition that I was told would kill me before I was 16. It was believed to be incurable.”
With a stroke of luck, I met Dr. Marner. He was still working as a medical doctor at the time and he was hired by the Telani Empire to visit remote mining colonies and offer medical care. He manufactured a genetic implant that cured my condition. Since then, this man has been like a father to me, and shortly after, he adopted me, well, unofficially at least.”
Her voice, usually filled with bounce and life, reflected her gratitude to Dario. She spoke softly, almost whimsically, as she recounted her history with the man who saved her life.
“He gave me a wonderful life,” Alaria continued. “He funded my education and gave me the opportunity to make something out of myself. Today, I’m an engineer, educated through some of the finest schools in the Telani Empire.”
“And a wonderful engineer at that,” Dario added, his tone dripping with a father’s pride.
Alaria blushed slightly as she continued, “I worked on several Bandurian and Telani military projects after graduating until I received news of my father’s situation. When I heard, I secretly abandoned my work and found my way to him, though it required a great deal of time and persistence.”
“I appreciate your honesty,” Kira replied. “I’m sorry for our aggressive demeanor earlier; we’ve just had way too many people trying to kill us over the past few days.”
“I’m still not clear on how you were able to track the cargo ship? The aide?” Thor inquired.
Dario’s cheeks blushed slightly and a small smile appeared on his lips. “Indeed,” he said, his tone cheerful and remorseful at the same time.
The light bulb finally went on for Kira as she remembered the handsome young man who approached her about meeting with Colonel Grimm. “Thane?” she asked, recalling her uncomfortable interaction with him.
Dario’s face lit up at the mention of the man’s name. “Yes,” he said, “Thane. We worked together closely, and somehow a relationship blossomed between us. We fell in love, hopelessly and completely in love. When he helped me escape, I quickly devised a secure way to send messages back to him. Now, he sends communications when he can, and he’s risking his life to pass confidential information to me in the hopes that we can stop Grimm.”
Kira sat back in the booth, letting all the information she had acquired in such a short amount of time wash over her. Everything was complex and intermingled in some way. The three individuals sitting with her had personal and emotional connections to what was happening. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, she couldn’t help but look at the faces of the people around her and feel as if she, too, had somehow become a part of their story. She felt the urgency with which they recounted their experiences. She sensed the sincerity, the fear, the anger and the sadness they all portrayed.
“I want, desperately, to stop Grimm,” Dario said softly. “I have to stop him before he carries out his plans. I have to get to the bottom of everything before the man I love is discovered and his life taken. I need your help. Please, will you help me?”
He looked at Kira and Thor with an impassioned expression of hope.
“Yes,” Thor said immediately, his eyes burning with determination. “If we don’t find a way, many will die at the hands of his madness.”
Every eye at the table fixed on Kira. She sighed softly with a look of mischief, “well, I’m clearly out of a job and have absolutely nothing else going for me at the moment - what the hell have I got to lose.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Do we get started now?” Kira asked, after the moment of excitement dwindled.
Thor chuckled softly and turned to look at her. “You’re a go-getter aren’t you?”
“I like to keep busy,” Kira said with a shrug. She turned her attention from him to Dr. Marner. “But, seriously, what do we do now?”
“It’s getting late, and returning to the ship at this hour would be nothing short of a suicide mission. I say we stay here for the night, rest up, and regroup tomorrow to figure out our next move.”
“I’m not sure returning to the ship will be possible at all” Thor said.
“Probably not,” Dario admitted, “but I’m afraid we don’t have a choice. I left the device I’ve been using to communicate with Thane on board. It’s vital that we retrieve it.”
“Then we definitely will need our rest,” Kira concluded, remembering the Arcanum soldiers they saw pacing around the docks.
“I’ve already spoken to the owner and she said we can have two rooms for tonight if we need them,” Alaria spoke up.
The group agreed to spend the night and meet again in the morning, early, to return to Dario and Alaria’s ship. As they bid farewell to the odd duo, Kira and Thor walked side-by-side down the creaky, dark hallway to the room they were forced to share.
To their surprise, the room contained only one bed. It wasn’t small but it wasn’t large, either.
“This is awkward, hope you like the floor,” Kira said, crossing the room and eying the lumpy mattress suspiciously.
“For the trouble, I’ve indirectly caused you, I won’t complain,” Thor offered, following her in and closing the door behind him. “It’s not the first time I’ve gone without a bed in my life.”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” she said, walking along the foot of the bed. “It’s big enough for both of us. We need to be well-rested for tomorrow, and sleeping on the floor is not the best way to prepare for that.”
The wooden floorboards under her feet let out a long, loud squeak as if agreeing with her sentiment. She turned around to face him and shrugged.
“As long as you keep your hands to yourself, we shouldn’t have a problem.”
“Fair enough,” Thor said, walking past her and sitting down heavily on the bed and leaning forward to begin untying his shoes.
Kira went to the bathroom, finding it to be nothing more than a hole in the ground and a faucet sticking out of the wall that sputtered out brown-tinted water, but only if twisted just the right way. She washed up the best she could, although she felt slightly dirtier afterward.
Returning to the room, she found Thor sitting shirtless on the bed, his head down examining his clothing. Her eyes went wide as they ran over the detailed tattoo that covered most of his left chest, and a small, unwitting gasp slipped out of her mouth.
“Sorry,” he said, standing up quickly and turning to face her.
Even though the lighting in the room was low, the fluorescent glow of the busy, never-sleeping market poured into the window behind him. She couldn't help but let her eyes drift over him, his muscular chest and defined arms, his tanned skin and dark brown eyes almost hidden underneath his tousled black hair. When her gaze met him, she felt her cheeks flush red.
“I didn’t have anything comfortable to sleep in, and I usually sleep like this anyways,” he explained quickly. “If it bothers you I can…”
“It’s fine,” she cut him off, trying to sound as if his physical appearance had made no impact on her. “But, if it’s okay with you, I’ll keep my shirt on.”
“It might make me feel less awkward if you didn’t,
” he said jokingly as he crossed his arms over his chest. He shifted his weight back and forth on his feet, clearly feeling uncomfortable in his own exposed skin.
“As much as I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, I wouldn’t consider being chased by Roughnecks and hunted by Arcanum soldier’s foreplay,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“You’re a hard woman to please.”
“You have no idea,” she replied.
They laughed, almost nervously, as an uncomfortable silence spread through the room. Neither of them wanted to make the first move towards the bed.
“Do you have a side preference?” he asked.
“Left, I guess,” she said with a shrug.