Jeq was dressed in nondescript fatigues. He diplomatically decided to say nothing else.
“When we get out there, let me do the talking,” Tarillion ordered.
“Of course,” said Jeq. “My Cirish was never as good as my Tynish…”
“It’s a beautiful language,” Tarillion said, toying with his collar. “You should learn it.”
Jeq grunted. He had insisted on coming, even though Tarillion had wanted to go alone. In the end, he was grateful for Jeq’s impressive bulk. The man was a good bodyguard.
“I’ve brought the data prepared by the data analysts,” Jeq said. “It’s not much, but we have an image that supposedly represents the Lords in the holy books of Albion and Senorat. If we show it around, maybe we can find something.”
“We’d better find something, and we’d better find it quick,” Tarillion muttered.
The door of their shuttle opened, and they navigated quickly into the marketplace. Seo Cire was their last chance to find a clue to the Locc in the Seo system. They’d already spent days on Seo Tyne and Seo Albans, finding nothing.
Seo Cire was the third planet in the Seo system, and the least populated. In Tarillion’s mind, it was the wildest planet, its cities filled with human and alien traders passing through. If they couldn’t find anything on Seo Cire, then they would have to leave for Ultaxe, which was two jumps away.
By then, who knew where Heik would be?
Tarillion glanced at Jeq. His XO was still ignorant of Karsath’s threat against the Lusus, and Tarillion had every intention of keeping it that way.
He had no intention of failing his crew, either.
“Faster, Jeq,” he said, stepping into the busy crowd. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Chapter 3
Two days and eighty bribes later they were deep in the underworld of Cire. It was literally the underworld, a complex series of underground structures where Cire’s illicit business was conducted. By Jeq’s estimation, they were a mile down from the surface of the city.
Tarillion took a deep draft of the cheap mead that was the drink of choice among Cire’s more disreputable residents. They sat in an open air tavern with no natural light, moisture dripping off the awnings and onto their backs. By now Jeq’s once-blank fatigues were stained with sweat, dirt, and Lords knew what else.
The mead sloshed over the side of his mug as he saluted Jeq. “You look like a local now,” he shouted over the noise of the tavern, and the beings milling around them.
Jeq grimaced. “Sir, why are we here?”
Tarillion wiped the foam from his mouth and leaned in towards Jeq, dropping his voice. “The last contact said they’d put us in touch with someone at this tavern,” he said. “You’d know that if your Cirish was better.”
Jeq looked faintly disapproving. “Sir, how do you know that person wasn’t just lying to get the bribe?”
Tarillion knocked back another mouthful of mead. “I don’t,” he said bluntly. “There are no guarantees out here, in a place like this, Jeq. But when I talked to him he recognized the symbols before I even explained what they were. The data we got from Karsath’s old. Some of it hundreds of years old. I’d take a live man’s word over a dead one’s any day.”
Jeq was about to respond when Tarillion sighted a woman standing at the far end of the bar. She had black hair—Tarillion’s favorite—in a crown braid on the top of her head. She was beautiful, with sultry eyes and a body to match. She was dressed in utility clothes to blend in with the crowd, but as far as Tarillion was concerned, there was nothing about her that was ordinary. A feathered alien stood next to her, its proboscis whispering in her ear.
Tarillion took one last swig of mead and walked towards her, forgetting about Jeq. She took notice of him quickly, her movements delicate and birdlike. He tipped his hat at her as he settled in next to her at the bar. “Fine day we’re having down here,” he said.
A smile blossomed across her face. “It’s night, you know,” she said, leaning her head against her hand.
“It’s always night down here,” he said. He decided to test his theory. “Too dark even for the Lords of the Dark.” Casually, he drew an ancient symbol for Locc on the condensation on the bar with his finger.
Her smile vanished and she wiped it away quickly with her hand. “So you’re the one,” she whispered, her voice careful and measured.
Tarillion touched the brim of his hat in acknowledgment.
She looked around them furtively and got off her bar stool, her feathered companion lingering close. “Let’s go,” she said, shortly. Tarillion tossed a few coins onto the bar and made eye contact with Jeq. The large man followed, eyeing the woman with suspicion.
“Your name?” he asked, walking beside her.
“Apta,” she said. “Qloe Apta. This is my associate, Xee.”
“Where are we going?”
“Back to my ship,” she said. “Everything I have on them I keep in my ship databanks. We can negotiate the price when we get there.”
“The price for what?”
“Information,” she said. “I’m a bounty hunter by trade, but I sell information on the side. If you want me to actually go with you, that’ll be extra.”
Tarillion glanced at Jeq, who shook his head just slightly.
Suddenly, she picked up speed. “We’ve got friends,” she said grimly. Tarillion glanced behind them. There were men in Imperial uniform trailing behind them, roughing up the people in the market as they made their way towards them.
They were dressed in uniform. Idiots, Tarillion thought to himself. He had a good idea of who had sent them—it could be no one else but Adon Heik. Only someone as arrogant as Heik would send his men down in uniform and expect to get results. Brute force and intimidation—that was his modus operandi.
Apta was moving swiftly through the crowd. Xee, her associate, took to the air and had disappeared from sight. Apta covered her head with a loose brown scarf to blend in, and ducked down low to avoid being seen. She was clearly an expert at dodging unwanted attention.
But Heik’s men had caught sight of their prey and were still closing in.
“How far?” he said to her, following her zigzag path. Jeq cursed behind them, his bulk making it harder to weave through the crowd.
“Ship’s above ground,” she said breathlessly. “At GXT station twelve. We just need to get to a lift.”
“There,” he said, pointing to a narrow gray door in the distance, streaked with brown rust.
She tugged her scarf tight over her head and ran even faster. Tarillion and Jeq followed, taking different paths to avoid being seen as easy targets.
They skidded into the lift. It was only meant for a single individual, so he was thrust uncomfortably against Apta.
Oh Lords, he thought when he felt her unmistakably feminine curves pressed against him. The lift doors closed. He was so close that he could smell the faint scent of a musky perfume mixed with sweat.
“Where’s your friend?” Tarillion gritted out, trying to keep his mind off her body.
For her part, Apta seemed unbothered, taking the chance to whisper into his ear. “Xee’s taking another way back. It helps to be able to fly, even underground.”
The lift jolted, knocking Tarillion against her. She grunted. Tarillion decided to focus on Jeq’s painfully hard muscles crushing him instead of Apta’s soft curves.
After ten minutes of torture the lift finally shuddered to a halt. Tarillion took a deep breath as they ran out of the lift, Apta immediately taking the lead. They were on the outskirts of Cire City now, in a virtual graveyard of old and abandoned vehicles.
“This way,” she said, pointing to a worn path. They stepped on the path and it lurched into motion, allowing them to cover twice as much ground as they ran along the moving pathway.
More people and aliens appeared as they neared GXT station twelve. No one took notice of the three of them running. They were forced to slow down as they neared the platform where
Apta’s ship was docked by a growing number of beings in their way.
Apta had abandoned all caution. Her scarf had fallen down around her neck, and strands of her black hair came loose from her braid as she ran. Tarillion kept up easily—Imperial officers were never out of shape—but wondered how long she could keep up her speed.
There it was. Apta’s ship was blocky and dark gray—telltale signs that it was a Caderan built ship. He wondered where a bounty hunter had managed to buy a ship like that. After the Empire had conquered Cadero, its finest shipwrights and engineers had been conscripted into the Imperial navy. The famous Caderan shipyards had never recovered.
She hurriedly placed her hand against the control panels that took a minute sample of her blood, confirming her identity and admitting her into the interior of the dock where her ship awaited.
“You prepared?” She asked, turning her head to glance at him and Jeq.
Jeq looked at Tarillion and Tarillion gave her a quick nod.
“We’ll have to go quick,” she said. “They might have a warrant out for—”
The doors slammed shut behind them. Tarillion reached out and grabbed Apta’s shoulder, pulling her back.
In front of her ship, five Imperials waited.
One of them held Xee prisoner by its long proboscis.
“I’m not leaving Xee with them,” Apta hissed as he dragged her into the temporary safety of a service niche.
“I’m not suggesting that you should,” he snapped at her. “I’m saying—trust me.”
Her hands touched his sweat-soaked shirt. Her eyes widened, then narrowed. She pulled his shirt open to reveal his insignia beneath.
“You’re one of them,” she said, angry.
“No,” he said. “Well—I am. But I’m not with them.” He jerked his chin towards the five men waiting in front of her ship. “If I was one of them, wouldn’t I have turned you over already? You have to trust me,” he said to her. “I don’t see that you have much of a choice here.”
She let him go, her eyes dark and hooded. “Get Xee free,” she said, “and I’ll do anything you want.”
Tarillion gestured at Jeq to follow. He left Apta in the niche, striding out towards the ship, keeping his walk calm and deliberate.
The men waiting there seemed surprised to see him. They didn’t recognize him at first sight.
One of them aimed a lasgun at his head. “Stop right there,” he ordered.
Tarillion loosened his shirt, showing his insignia. “My name is Lees Tarillion,” he said. “Captain of the Lusus.”
By their uniforms he knew that they were low-ranking soldiers. It was unlikely that Heik bothered to tell them who their opponent was—or brief them about anything other than their main objective.
The man lowered his lasgun. “Sir…?” he said, doubtfully.
Jeq flashed his insignia at the man. “My first officer,” Tarillion explained. “What were your orders?”
The man glanced at Xee, its feathers quivering. “We were ordered to secure this ship, sir,” he said. “And its owner—a bounty hunter.”
“I’m giving you new orders,” Tarillion said. “Take the ship back to the Secace as ordered. As for this alien, it’s of no use to you. Release it into my custody, and return to the Secace.”
“The alien’s not the owner, sir,” the man explained. “It’s supposed to be a woman. Name of Apta.”
Tarillion hardened his composure. “Are you questioning my authority?”
The man was beginning to look nervous. “Sir…”
Time for drastic measures. Tarillion pulled something out of his pocket. It was Admiral Karsath’s personal seal, which both he and Heik had been given for the mission.
He opened his palm. The man’s eyes widened and he put away his lasgun. He turned to his compatriot. “Release it,” he said, indicating Xee. The feathered alien beat its wings and hissed as soon as the soldier released it.
Tarillion grabbed Xee by its throat. “You’d best get going,” he said to the five-man squad. “I know Captain Heik, and he does not like to be kept waiting.”
Apta threw her cloak over Xee and they ducked away into a nearby anonymous aircar for hire. Tarillion pressed a few coins into the automated system and darkened the windows.
She was looking at him quite differently now, he realized. He wasn’t sure how to read her expression.
He nodded at Xee. “They had him, but they were waiting for you,” he said.
She smoothed her hair back. “All my data is in my ship’s ‘banks,” she said.
“No,” he cut her off. “You aren’t going to go pretending now that you can’t help us.”
She glared at him. “What are you going to do, kill my associate? Threaten to kill me? That’s what Imperials do, isn’t it?”
“Your friend’s free to go,” he said. “I don’t do torture. Or threats.”
She turned and whispered to Xee. She flung open the aircar door and the feathered alien dove through the door, its wings beating hard as it took flight. She turned back and looked at Tarillion and Jeq as if challenging them to say or do something.
Tarillion said nothing, merely waited. She closed the door.
“Are you really an Imperial?” she asked, now unsure. “No Imperial I’ve ever met would do what you’ve done.”
Tarillion leaned forward. “I speak for myself and my crew,” he said firmly. “No one else.”
“And I’m a woman of my word,” she said, finally. “I’ll help you.”
Chapter 4
“Why is the Empire interested in the Locc?” Apta asked.
Tarillion folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. It had been days since they’d left orbit around Seo Cire, and they were en route to a portal that would take them to the outer reaches of the frontier. They sat among the hundreds of datapieces sent by Karsath to the Lusus, trying to reconstruct the data that Apta had lost in her ship’s ‘banks.
She had promised that much of it would make no sense to Heik. But Tarillion knew that Heik was no fool.
He was fast realizing that Apta was exactly the person they needed to complete the mission. For her part, she played coy much of the time, revealing just enough information to capture his interest without giving him real answers.
“I don’t know,” he answered.
Her eyebrows rose, then fell. “You’re telling the truth again,” she said, as if in disbelief.
“Why should I lie?”
She shook her head. “It’s just...I’m not used to Imperials like you,” she said.
He ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. “My superiors were not exactly forthcoming about why they’re interested in the Lords,” he said. “And what I know about them is based on old myths and nursery rhymes,” he said.
She seemed to have come to a decision about him.
She toyed with a stylus as she spoke. “The Locc and the portals are intimately related,” she said. “In fact, from legends I’ve encountered, the Locc came from the portals.”
“And?” he had quickly learned that with Apta, there was always something more that she left unsaid.
“And that if you control the Locc, then you control the portals,” she said.
“And?”
She smiled. “I can imagine the Empire wanting to control the portals,” she said. “Can’t you?”
“‘Control’ can mean so many things,” Tarillion said.
She put down the stylus. “There’s more, of course,” she said. “That the Locc eat the souls of human beings that come to them. That they are always hungry.”
“If that’s the case, I wonder why there haven’t been more sightings,” he said. “Like the Vehn. Always trying to eat any human that comes along.”
“Vehn eat human flesh. Locc eat human souls.”
Tarillion smiled faintly. “I’ve served the Empire for twenty-two years,” he said. “And I can tell you that there’s no such thing as a human soul.”
She leaned forward, her eye
s glittering. “That’s where you’re wrong,” she said.
It had taken weeks of discussion and hundreds of man hours from his data analysts, but they had pieced together what seemed to be a primitive map. In Tarillion’s opinion it was less a map than a puzzle; it led them to one place and then they would find a scrap of a legend or a story hewn into rock that would guide them to the next location.
Forty standard days after Karsath had given Tarillion his mission, and it seemed that they were no closer to finding the Locc than ever before.
Today they were on a planet so distant that the Imperial cartographers hadn’t even bothered to assign it a name. It was known simply by a series of numbers and letters instead. 837YQ.4 was a planet with a thick jungle at its equator, and they’d come to find an ancient temple that held the next clue.
The minute his boots hit the wet, sucking ground, Tarillion knew that it was going to be a bad day. It was humid, so stifling that he swore that he could drown if he breathed in too much.
Apta didn’t seem bothered. The heat flushed her cheeks a bright pink, but she seemed completely untroubled, springing forward through the jungle on light feet.
She beckoned to him. “Come on, Lees,” she said. “It’s only a little wet out here. Nothing that an officer in the service of His Imperial Majesty can’t handle,” she said.
“If this is a ‘little wet’ then I’m the Lords-damned Emperor,” he said. “Qloe—”
But she was already out of sight. He cursed and followed her. It was starting to feel as if they were going nowhere. But the further they traveled, the more confident Apta became. That had to mean something. There had been no sign that Heik and the Secace were on their tail, either.
Either they were far ahead of the Secace or they were going in the absolute wrong direction.
He touched Apta’s shoulder. She turned and smiled at him, pointing at a small pyramid emerging from the plant life that blanketed the ground. “There it is,” she said. “We found it!” Laughing, she threw herself into his arms. He held her, still smelling her sweet perfume even in the wet heat. She pulled herself away just slightly, her arms still wrapped around his neck. “You see?” she said. “You just had to believe.”
Lords of the Dark: A Darkspace Saga Novella Page 2