He asked: “What will you do with me?”
I said: “As soon as I can return to Union space, I will have to do what my superiors tell me to do, but that might still be a while, since I have a mission here I must complete.”
He bowed before me. “I will be your prisoner and will not seek to harm you or anyone aboard this ship as long as you are in Command. The moment you transfer me to others I must try to escape. On this you also have my word of honor.”
I sighed and opened the door. “I will have guest quarters assigned to you but there will be areas that are restricted to you.”
He was still bowing and said: “Your conduct is nothing I expected and more than I could have hoped for. I will show you that Nul are not the mindless brutes your propaganda makes us to be but that we value honesty and truthfulness beyond all else.”
***
The Pirate market was not far from the space port, located on a cleared field of perhaps six thousand square meters completely surrounded by a ten meter high wall with several gates in each side.
The event was sponsored by the local syndicates and was still being held despite the recent turmoil in their ranks.
A small city of tents, and other temporary buildings had sprung up inside the walls. Not only pirates set up shop, but also weapon dealers, scavengers, scrap and second hand commodities buyers. The sad tents and pens of Slave dealers as well as exotic liveform merchants and ship part sellers intermingled with bar tents and food stalls where the guests and visitors to this market could drink and eat.
The Sojonites had placed one of their pink tents at a prominent location near the main entrance and most likely did brisk business. Other establishments of similar business were represented in every flavor imaginable. There were tents of Mercenary outfits offering their services as well as places where the Assassin guilds and similar organizations recruited and offered their services.
Wares and Slaves from all corners of the Galaxy were displayed on carpets, pallets and platforms.
The tents were marked and advertised with an ocean of colorful flags, signs and banners. Beings of every known world and quite a few unknown worlds mingled in the aisles between. There was an air of commerce and a din of busy noise everywhere and the scents, smells and odors that wafted over the place formed a cloud of indescribable stench that was overwhelming.
Even though the diversity of beings here could not have been greater, our arrival caused a stir with many stares and whispered comments.
Looking over my crew I had to admit we were quite a unique collection of individuals. Krabbel, Hans, TheOther, four Pertharians a Quadiped, the Togar female who had her fur dyed black. Mao with naked upper body full of tattoos, Har Hi in Dai Armor bristling with knives and weapons. The other in a shiny golden robe looked regal despite the x shaped branding that was of course only simulated. Elfi in an outfit that consisted mostly of semi-transparent veils that highly contrasted to the H&K Missile rifle she carried like an afterthought over her shoulder. Circuit had come along after all, since he realized we went to a market where we could shop had disguised himself like Narth in a Non-Corp suit with mirrored face plates. The NWC Battle walker manned by the three Mini Terrans stomped at the end of our group, looking particular menacing with an added Missile launcher pack on its back.
Holden, the little rodent, was riding on Hans shoulder and thus was able to tower over almost everyone. It was obvious he enjoyed both the view and the safety his big ride provided.
Most of us were dressed in black leather and armor. The eight human marines that also accompanied us had beards and wore black bandanas. Everyone was armed to the teeth with blasters, boarding axes, swords and other weapons. TheOther carried a full size H&K Chain cannon with missile ammo container that was normally carried in the field by Battle robots, easily weighing a full ton. Hans held a Nuc-Flamer, an almost forgotten weapon of the Piostla war, able to project the heat of a nuclear explosion in a devastating beam of fire. It was usually mounted to landing tanks
Shea wearing a bathing suit like bodice with thigh high boots, was armed with her mysterious sword.
As I saw her with it I remembered I wanted to ask her about it and again she promised to tell me the story how she got it later.
Sobody had put a black leather vest over his golden costume and smirked: “Ah what an entrance! I wish we could be here for real business. We made quite an Impact already!”
The crowds parted before us as we walked through the aisles.
We stopped here and there and inspected the wares put out for sale and slowly approached the center of the market that way. A sales stand kept in a red and golden theme, with half tent and a big standard container caught my eye.
A row of S 10 Robots stood in a half open shipping crate, with stacks of passenger luggage, bales of Saresii Silk and cases of Terran Liquors on one side. A large cage with about twenty Humans and four Klack was behind that. On the other side, a closed Shipping Container. In the middle was a raised podium with a throne like chair shaded by a red fabric roof held up by flag tipped poles on each side. On this throne like chair sat a red and gold dressed individual. He wore a deep red uniform richly adorned with golden embroidery drawing swirling patterns all over the shiny fabric. He had well defined muscles, broad shoulders and even sitting appeared to be tall. The man wore a wide brimmed hat of the same color as his uniform.
Like me, he did not show his real face to the world, but wore a disturbing looking skull mask with black eye sockets and a lipless grin made out of the exposed teeth.
He was flanked by a rowdy looking crew. I counted nine humans, five Togar two of them female, seven Karthanian, three black furred Nogol, three Oghar, and two Insectoid beings looking like man sized mosquitoes with silvery wings on their backs. Narth as usual filled the gap in my knowledge and said: “These are Frudians.”
I acknowledged and then noticed a beardless Kermac in the crew of the Red Dragon. He was beardless and I was almost certain he was the same Kermac I had met in the Slave pens of Alvor’s Cove.
The man in the frightening mask got up and stepped in my way, made an elaborate curtsey and held his head before his chest. “If your face is only half as lovely as your body then I am sure you are among the most beautiful women this side of the Orion arm. You must be the Black Velvet that I have heard so much about.”
I put my hand on the heavy blaster that Har-Hi was raising and said: “And you must be either very brave or perhaps insane to step in my way, whoever you are.”
He put his head back on. The jaws of the Skull masked moved only a little while he talked. “You must surely have heard of me, I am the bane of the Union, the living nightmare of merchant captains and the new incarnation of the Dark One himself. I am the Red Dragon.”
I made an airy gesture and said: “I don’t keep up much with gossip and I don’t subscribe to the newsletter of the Self-help group for delusionally challenged egos, but I am sure this is what you are. Now that does not explain why you found it necessary to interrupt my business.”
He put his hand on his chest. “Oh my, you are as cold and arrogant as they say you are. I love that in a woman. Besides I am in a good mood so I will overlook the insult for now. Our community of freelancing entrepreneurs is a small one and new players are scrutinized, especially one that operates under the identity of a 500 year old Pirate that suddenly reappears.”
I looked him up and down and said. “So you decided to scrutinize me? I don’t particular care what you do in your spare time, Red Dragon, but it can be very unhealthy to stick one’s nose too deep into my business.”
His voice lost all friendliness and he said: “I am very impressed by your display of fighting skills in the arena and I am certain it was you who clipped the fat Dukes wings. Rumors have it that you stole his Loki torpedoes, too, but make no mistake. I am not a little planet bound gangster. I am the Red Dragon and I command the Sinister Alliance.”
I also put more edge in my voice. “Then it comes to n
o surprise to you that I am not impressed by Alliances and groups. Duke Donheer wasn’t so little just yesterday. I wonder if you would have said the same thing three days ago. Now come to the point why you stopped me or make way. I intend to do business here.”
He held up his hands. “Maybe this is going into the wrong direction. Come and see what I have to offer. I see three lovely ladies and I do have loads of Union fashion.”
I looked over his offerings and said: “I don’t wear second hand cast offs, but I might be interested in these rolls of Saresii silk I see over there and perhaps the slaves.”
He walked over to the silk and said, “You have a fine eye, this comes from the Gahabee Looms of Sares-Four and would bring enough credits to buy a new ship if one had access to a Union Xchange. The slaves are all healthy. I got rid of the rubble at Alvor’s Cove, those only good for the stew pots of Togr. The liquor, the robots and most of the rest are finest Union wares.”
I waved to Sobody and said. “I’ll have my associate check your offerings if you don’t mind so I have a clearer understanding of the actual value.”
He nodded and gave Sobody access.
While my golden Friend checked the wares with obvious expertise the skull masked pirate said: “Having a Golden in the crew for such business matters must be a great bon.”
I watched Sobody as he looked at labels and said: “He is my quartermaster and has proven his worth many times.”
He looked over his shoulder. “Even I have not seen a crew like yours. Is that a real Y’All?”
I waved at Sobody and said: “Let’s go, the proprietors of this business are a little too nosy for my taste.”
To the Red Dragon I said: “It is no one’s business to question the origins of anyone in my crew. If you really want to know, go ask him. I doubt you’ve brought enough men or weapons to survive the answer.”
He spread his arms. “Captain Velvet, I am sorry. I admit I am a bit curious and I see you are as no nonsense as they say you are. Now let’s do business and I promise I won’t ask any more questions.”
I nodded and Sobody haggled with the man and at the end we agreed to purchase the Liquor, the Slaves and the silk. Sobody said: “The Robots you can keep. Without the proper Factory registration and activation codes, they are as useless as scrap metal.”
He sighed. “He is quite correct. I guess I have to find another fool to get rid of those.”
Even with his mask he could not hide his feelings as Sobody did his key routine and opened the Polo chest, carried by the NWC Battle suit. “Business must have been good for you Black Velvet and I wonder where you do business. I have never seen such a magnificent fighting robot outside of Union tech. This machine looks as if it could go toe to toe with a Union Cerberus and come out on top, yet I can’t identify the society that might have produced it.”
Before I could say something he said. “It was a rhetorical question. I don’t expect an answer.”
One of his Oghar took the 20 bags of Polo coins and said after scanning them. “It is all there Red Dragon. The money is genuine and full weight to the last coin.”
He still eyed the chest and said: “I heard how you dealt with Dentar Bloom and I know you sold the Mighty Nine. The Volting commanding her was an associate of mine. All this and your decisive action against the Duke show me you are not to be trifled with. Maybe you are the perfect addition to my plans. This peddling with second hand merchandise is not what you and I are about. You delegate it to a Golden and I do it out of necessity but I have bigger goals.”
I said with a slight amused tone: “Ah right I think I heard of that one. Attacking a Union Outpost, from what they said at Brahma Port it wasn’t exactly a very lucrative venture and very costly to those who decided to partake.”
He almost hissed like a snake as he answered. “Yet I managed to do it. I attacked a Union Outpost and got away. I dared what no one dreamed to attempt. This was not an undefended colony and we managed to land troops. The prize would have been Translocator cannons, shiploads of Union tech and thousands of slaves. Yet I am no longer interested in Union tech, I found something much better and the day I will be able to fly openly all the way to Arsenal or any other planet in the Union and lay waste to their fleets is not so far away.”
As delusional as he sounded there was something in the way he said it, that I almost believed him. I said: “What makes you think you could challenge the cursed Union in a way not even the combined forces of Kermac, Nul and Shiss could?”
He laughed silently. “By doing the same thing as the eternal soldier did. Going somewhere and gathering technology beyond anything they have. ”
I gestured to the robots. “Sounds like the phantasies of a mad man who has to sell scrap metal to pay his crew. No one knows where Stahl got the Devastator or the Translocator tech.”
The Red Dragon cursed under his breath and then said. “Maybe you are 500 years old, but you know nothing of the Union and the Devastator. It is a Celtest ship and the Translocators are Celtest technology. The entire Union military might is centered on a single weapon system. Imagine what would happen if an enemy shows up that is immune to that weapon? If that enemy had shields that neutralizes the TransDim abilities of that cannon? The entire Union fleet has suddenly no teeth and even Stahl could do nothing but run in his big ship.”
He stepped towards the closed shipping container and said. “Come Black Velvet, I will show you something that will change your mind about me.”
He opened a secure door by touching a biometric lock.
Of course it was not the brightest idea to follow an obviously mad pirate with a violent temper inside a metal box alone, but I was well armed and my friends were outside so I followed him
It was dark inside the container except for a single transparent show case, illuminated by a single spotlight. Inside the showcase was a dark grey one piece coverall like garment. It was like a cat suit with shoes, gloves and a tight fitting hood that would leave only the face uncovered if worn. It hung in an ArtiGrav field and looked pretty unspectacular. I said after he remained silent. “Okay, so you like to display your underwear in a fancy manner. I fail to see the point.”
He snickered and said. “Very funny but if I tell you that this is a Celtest Battle suit, the Tech level 11 equivalent of a Union Quasimodo. It has more firepower than a shipload of Nul, better shielding than a Union Battle ship. It is deep space worthy and you can travel vast distances with greater speeds than a Wolfcraft. Its shields are completely immune to Translocator fire.”
I knew of the powers of a Seenian battle suit first hand and while he somewhat exaggerated the abilities of the suit. I was very concerned if he had access to this technology. He was right, an enemy with Seenian technology would be more than just a serious threat to the Union. I said to him: “If this is all true, why are you not wearing it?”
He opened the seams of his uniform blouse and said with pride in his voice: “But I am! I am wearing a similar suit. This is but one of many pieces of Celtest technology I have. Not broken artifacts, but fully functional and well maintained.”
I tried to keep the distress I felt about this information out of my voice and asked: “Why peddle scrap metal and petty things if you have Celtest artifacts worth billions?”
He said: “Because I am going to use it. These things will be my sword of vengeance and my tools to true power. I was not joking when I said I will be the reincarnation of the Dark One. I will march right to Pluribus and give them a choice. Proclaim me sole ruler of the Union or be utterly destroyed! He raised both hands to the ceiling. “I know the location of a Seenian War depot. An entire planet full of automated Seenian factories, continent sized warehouses full of ships, robots, weapons and more. Technology to gain true immortality and I will use it all and become the ruler of this Galaxy. Those, Black Velvet, are worthy goals and I’ll soon have all the means of making them a reality! I will be the Power supreme.”
I said to him: “Why are you telling me all th
is?”
“So you know on which side to be. To show you how unwise it is to make me your enemy. Perhaps there might even be a place for you in all this. The Celtest Depot is far from here, almost 25,000 light years deep in the unexplored regions of our Galaxy. An almost impossible trip for one space ship alone. Fuel stops have to be made, engines repaired and overhauled and all this without any known places to stop and get spare parts. But a small fleet, a convoy if you will, of eight or ten well equipped ships can make it and return in two years with a fleet of unstoppable Celtest ships loaded with the finest tech the Galaxy has not seen in a million years. Only I know where it is.”
“Are you asking me to participate in this expedition?”
“I will be here on Sin 4 for a few more days as I expect the arrival of another Pirate I want to talk to. Then I am off to Itheamh. Meet me there, and if you come and I haven’t changed my mind about you, I might make such an offer.”
After we had finished our business at the Pirate’s market we returned to the Tigershark. I went straight to my office and contacted Cherubim. I got her right away and after I started my report she asked me to hold on as she wanted McElligott to hear what I had to say as well and made a conference connection. So I repeated and finished my report to both of them.
McElligott said. “I just come out of a staff conference of the highest level as our sources confirmed your initial Intel report. The Nul were preparing for war. Only two days ago we received the first official communiqué from the Nul-Nul Empire in which they accused us of having committed an unforgivable act of war by abducting their prince and selling him to the arenas of Sin 4. Just as we were about to end the conference and call for open preparation for war, we were contacted again, this time the Nul apologized for the misunderstanding, and offered to open diplomatic relations between our nations.
While all this went on I had no time to check on you but I should have, since it turns out you were in the middle of it again!”
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 120