by Gary Weston
And she was. Tempering her anxiety, she did feel pride. Her man with his pilot had taken on a well-armed gang who produced the most pernicious drug in several solar systems. For years, innocent people on many planets had fallen victim to other slaves of the drug. The DSI had been almost fully occupied engaging the enemy at every opportunity; agents like Tagg Raven, her Tagg, making it their life’s work, doing all they could to stop the spread of it. Putting their lives on the line, prepared to pay the ultimate price, trying to make a difference. Yes, damn it! She felt pride. She was proud. A solitary tear ran down her cheek.
‘Thanks, Vickie.’
‘Real friends call me Shorty.’
Chapter 100
Shaking hands undid the glass vial. There was a distinctive aroma of decomposing meat. It was the smell of drixolate solution. The owner loathed it more than life itself. Life. His life had been ruined, taken from him. One minute healthy, ambitious, a good career ahead of him. Now a life that was not a life.
The temptation was not to use it, but let his organs shut down, one by one, until, at the height of the excruciating pain, a final blessing, the heart would stop, releasing the victim. He put the stopper back on the vial and sat down and waited to die.
From the window, moonlight glinted on the glass, almost pretty. A pretty vial of slow, lingering death, or, and this no choice at all, the life of a slave, doing anything to cling on to a wasted life. All he was expected to do was to keep his position in the organisation, and feed enough useful information to the Masters, so that they would supply him with what he needed to stay alive.
The penalty for possession of even the smallest amount, was death. No excuses, no trial. A few years earlier, often not even a laser shot to the head, or a lethal injection. Simply withdrawing the drixolate to let nature take its course. A lesson to everyone. Eventually, public reaction and understanding that the victims were not always suppliers or runners, did allow a compassionate lethal injection to end the suffering quickly.
It wasn’t his fault. He had been selected, because of his trusted position. He knew he could walk into the medical centre with the glass vial, explain what had happened, fill in a form, and minutes later, be dead. No more pain, just a swift release.
He knew dying wasn’t happening that moment, because of his earlier fix from that morning, when he had wiped the drops from the stopper of the vial onto his arm, that would still be working. But his mind was telling him that his organs were starting to react, liver, kidneys, lungs, then finally his heart. Paranoid thoughts insisted his organs were beginning to decompose internally. He still had a little time. He could take the easy option, walk into that medical centre with the little glass bottle of death, and with no shame, could have the injection to end his life.
The light from the full moon seemed to pinpoint the vial, making it glint like some precious diamond. The shining glass transfixed him hypnotically. A cloud passed across the moon, breaking the spell. He looked at the door, on the verge of walking out to go to the medical centre. He stood up, walked to the door, his hand on the sensor, ready to walk out of the room. The cloud passed, the diamond shone again, enticing him to it. He sighed, picked up the vial, removed the stopper, let the few drops fall onto his naked forearm, and rubbed it into his skin. Replacing the stopper, he went to his bed and lay down, weeping, knowing he would live another day.
Chapter 101
The green liquid was so viscous and dark, it was almost impossible to see what lurked within it. A shape. On the bottom of the tank. Perhaps a little larger and longer than a man. Something, like a frill of fins around its…head. Eyes. Possibly. The head had no neck. There were arms. Four of them. Hands of sorts. A tail.
Raven had seen a photograph in an old Earth book. In a museum on his home planet. The book, so rare, had been copied, and the holographic, three-dimensional projection displayed the book, that one and thousands of other books, saved from Earth just before the planet had died. One image was that of an alligator. A ferocious beast, hide like armour, teeth designed to rip and tear animals apart. There was something about the creature in the tank that reminded Raven of that alligator.
There was more than just one of these creatures. At least five. It was hard to tell, they blended in so well with their surroundings. One approached the glass and stared at him. Then it spoke to him. He felt his mind being violated by the intrusion of the creature’s thoughts. In his mind, it spoke.
‘Raven. You have caused us much aggravation.’
‘Delighted to hear that,’ said Raven aloud.
The white hot spike of metal rammed into his brain dropping Raven to his knees. It lasted just a second, but in that second, he would have happily died. He heard his own advice he’d given Casey coming back to him. Don’t aggravate them.
Unable to fight it, he felt the probing of his mind, his deepest thoughts and memories. Nothing was sacred. The creature had open access to everything, nothing could be denied. Every secret, every desire, no matter how dark. It was as if his very soul was being systematically uploaded to the creature’s mind. The probing stopped, but the voice didn’t.
‘It remains to be decided, not if you die, but how and when. It will amuse us much to debate this. It is a remote possibility that keeping you alive may be of small use to us. I am doubtful of this. To me you are nothing but a human cockroach. We wish to digest your memories, now. Perhaps, some indication of your future value will help us determine your fate.’
Raven heard the door open behind him, the light flowing into the dark room giving him a better view of the abomination in the tank. His natural disgust for the loathsome things in the tank, rushing to the forefront of his mind. He was rewarded with another searing bolt of pain in his head. He rocked unsteadily, but didn’t fall this time.
‘Go. Cockroach. Next time we see you, we may not be quite so benevolent.’
The pain vanished and Raven staggered out, almost collapsing, caught by the metal arms of the robot. His mind cleared, the guards watching him, unsmiling, indifferent to his suffering. They escorted him back to Karma Casey.
Casey held him and helped him to sit on the floor. ‘Tagg. Are you ok?’
‘I feel like I have a rabid dog in my head, eating my brain. Otherwise peachy. Did that thing hurt your head that way?’
‘I felt no pain. Tagg. What did they do to you?’
Raven was glad Casey hadn’t apparently suffered as he had done. ‘For one horrible moment, I thought I was going to be thrown into that tank to feed that…whatever the hell that was. They sure know everything and anything in my mind.’
Casey said, ‘What are those things? I’ve never seen anything like them.’
‘Unbelievably, they’re in charge of the drixolate running.’
Chapter 102
Two full days had passed, Casey and Raven had been fed, but hadn’t left the room during that time. That suddenly changed. Fritz opened the door, two armed runners with him.
‘Hands out to the front.’
Raven and Casey complied. Black cuffs were locked to their wrists.
‘Just so we understand each other…’ Fritz had a tiny device on his own wrist. He squeezed it and the charge that the cuffs shot into his prisoners made their teeth rattle and had them yelling in pain. ‘Play up, you get zapped. That was minimum voltage, by the way. Now, out.’
They were taken along the doughnut to the cross tunnels that led to the docking stations. They had no doubt that the ship was full of drixolate. Their presence was simply to provide insurance against possible DSI attack.
Minor modifications had been added to the ship’s cargo-hold. Rather than waste runner’s time guarding them, steel-wire rope had been made into lockable belts that were fitted to them. Four feet of wire rope was secured to the side of the ship. They were going nowhere.
‘Buckle up. Buckle up. Two minutes to take off.’
Raven and Casey sat on the floor. In front of them were hundreds of cubes of drixolate. There was a slight sensatio
n of movement from the ship as it un-docked from the double doughnut space station. There was a pause as the ship hung in space, then it accelerated away into deep space.
‘Well, this is cosy,’ said Raven
‘Only by the Tagg Raven definition.’
Raven stared at the tons of drixolate. ‘This next part fascinates me.’
‘What?’
‘Ok. Well. This drug is all about control, right? Rub some on a person’s skin, you have a slave for life. Total control. I get that. Also, out and out bribery and backhanders. I get that, too. But, ships can’t just land and unload on planets anywhere and anytime they want. There’s still enough military and DSI to know when an authorised ship wants to land. Radar. Satellite observation. Ships are big. All ships on any populated planet requires authorisation. You know what I’m talking about, Karma. What happens if you landed at a planet’s landing station without authorisation?’
Casey said, ‘Other than circumstances such as an emergency landing? I’d be up against the Interplanetary Registered Pilots Panel. My tickets would be docked, a heavy fine. Possibly even loss of my pilot’s licence.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Maybe that’s how they recruit pilots for running. Ones that have lost their licence.’
‘Hmm. A possibility. Right. Licence or no licence. You’re at the pointy end of this ship with a payload that would get you an instant ticket to the morgue. Are you going to land this ship?’
Casey said, ‘No way. Oh. I see what you’re getting at. How do they get the drixolate down? Well. Even landing in a remote area wouldn’t get past radar or the satellites. The DSI military would be scrambled and the ship pounced on before it even landed.’
‘Correct. Bribery and having drixolate controlled slaves would only work so far. Not every time. Do you know what our success rate for catching ships delivering to populated planet’s is?’
‘What?’
Raven said, ‘Zero. Never happened. The only successful busts are ones like what we just did on Foregone.’
Casey waved her cuffs at him. ‘That was successful? Don’t invite me along on your unsuccessful busts.’
‘Ok. Poor choice of words. I meant busts where we found out where the drugs were manufactured. That’s our only success rates. Add a few suppliers and users who get caught, that’s about it. Why haven’t we nailed a ship like this one unloading?’
Casey had no answer. ‘I got nothing.’
‘Which is what makes this fascinating.’
Casey stared at the agent. ‘Anybody ever tell you, you’re weird?’
‘Not today.’
‘Well, allow me. You’re weird.’
Chapter 103
The answer to the riddle came sooner than they expected. Two more full days and the doors to the passenger section opened. Not for feeding the prisoners or allowing them one of their regular toilet breaks. Fritz entered with one armed runner. Fritz unlocked the steel-wire rope from the wall. His fingers went to the control on his wrist and Casey and Raven flinched, waiting for the pain. It didn’t come.
Fritz grinned. ‘Just reminding you. On your feet.’
They went into the passenger section. Four runners were fully suiting up. The runners also had jet-packs on their backs. Casey and Raven exchanged puzzled looks.
The runners checked suit pressures, temperatures and air. They went through the still open door to the cargo hold and the door closed behind them, sealing the air in the passenger section.
‘We’re slowing down,’ said Casey.
‘And that’s why.’
Raven was looking out of a small observation window. Another ship came into view.
‘A DSI ship,’ said Casey, excitedly. ‘We’re being rescued.’
‘You wish,’ said Raven. ‘Keep watching.’
The runner’s ship was piloted expertly towards the stationary dark grey DSI ship. There came a sound from the rear of the runners ship.
‘That’s the hatch,’ said Casey. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Keep watching.’
Minutes later, the drixolate cubes, secured to a sled, were being towed by the runners using the jet-packs, over to the DSI ship. The cargo-hold of the DSI ship opened. The payload was exchanged, the runners returned, the ships went their separate ways.
‘Did that just happen?’ said a shocked Casey.
Raven nodded. ‘I’m afraid so.’
‘But, DSI?’
‘Drixolate slaves. They had no choice. All that is needed is a DSI ship manned by drixolate slaves, on a scheduled patrol, a training exercise, anything not raising suspicions. Nobody on the planet will check the ship when it lands. The goods are unloaded, job done.’
Casey said, ‘So who can we trust?’
Raven sighed. ‘Nobody, Karma. Nobody. That’s why I told nobody where you and I were headed. Not even Boss.’
‘Boss? You can’t suspect him, surely?’
Raven shrugged. ‘Until I know for sure, I suspect everyone.’
Casey held Raven’s hand. ‘Now I’m really scared.’
‘So you should be.’
Chapter 104
As Raven suspected, the huge quantity of drixolate was more than enough to supply one planet. They journeyed on for six more days, and the routine was the same. A DSI ship piloted by drixolate slaves, known as runners, rendezvoused on an authorised scheduled flight, the runners transferring the drugs to be smuggled onto the planet. It was likely that others on the ground were also slaves, assisting in despatch and supply, snaring countless others into the control of the suppliers.
‘This is some kind of take over,’ said Raven, back in the empty hold of the runner’s ship, secured with the steel wire rope.
‘By those creatures in the tank?’
Raven nodded. ‘No other explanation. This has been going on for years. Brilliant in its simplicity. Those things in the tank can control humans just with the power of their minds.’ Instinctively he rubbed his head, recalling the searing pain induced by the thing in the thick green liquid. ‘When it was hurting me, I’d have done anything to make it stop. Including using the drixolate to control others. One by one, planets fall under their control. Fighting back would mean death.’
Casey let his words sink in. ‘I knew drixolate was a problem, I had no idea how big a problem. And now we know we’re alone, or as good as.’
‘Sorry I dragged you into this, Karma.’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t be. Tagg. You’ve been carrying this around on your shoulders by yourself. I think you’re amazing.’
Raven gave her a wry smile. ‘I’m just somebody lucky enough not be made into a slave. Karma. I need to know. Getting out of this alive is…let’s face it, probably not going to happen. If we can just get the sniff of a chance to do them some damage, are you with me?’
‘Yes. Anything. I’d rather die fighting if we get the chance.’
‘Me, too. We could be all that’s standing in the way of total domination of the human race.’
Karma chuckled. ‘No pressure, then.’
Chapter 105
Boss asked, ‘How are you feeling?’
Tilly Jordan keyed in her reply and it came up on the screen.
Boss chuckled. ‘No need to swear. I only asked. The doctors say the operation went well. The bionic jaw will function normally, once the supporting muscles learn to control it.’
More typing.
Boss said, ‘It all depends. They don’t want to add the synskin until they’re sure the jaw is working well. They also want to fit in the new voice box. The new tongue is growing nicely in the laboratory. When everything is functioning right, they’ll add the synskin. They don’t want to be cutting into it after it’s healed up, to avoid unnecessary scarring. A good few weeks yet before it’s all over.’
Typing.
‘Well, going home for a couple of days in the meantime is your choice. The doctors advise against it. They want to keep you here to minimise the possibility of infection. I thin
k you should stay here.’
Typing.
‘Tagg? Nothing. I fear the worse. Sorry. We can hope he and Captain Casey are ok. Joy? On her way back here. Until we get a possible fix on Tagg, there’s not much we can do. Between them, they created mayhem on Foregone. Killed a few runners; ruined the whole operation.’
Typing.
‘No. I’ll not give up on them. If there’s any way we can rescue them, we will. Ok. I’ll call in here tomorrow and see how you’re doing. In the meantime, you want anything, anything at all, you let me know. If it’s anything I can do, it’s yours.’
Typing.
‘Hell, no,’ said Boss with a laugh. ‘The doctors would chew my ears off if I brought you booze. Tilly. Heaven knows I’m not one to preach. But, try to look at this as a turning point in your life. A fresh start.’
Typing.
‘Yes, you can do it. You’re one of the gutsiest women I know. One of the best field agents I ever met. This next fight is you against your demons. I’ll be there for you every step of the way.’
Typing.
‘Ok. Rest now. You’re not alone, Tilly. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Boss left the ward and walked out of the hospital.
Chapter 106
Joy had time to think. She tried to think happy thoughts, and the happiest thoughts she could think of was her future with Tagg. She had never met a man less likely to be the settling down kind. Probably why he had chosen the career of DSI agent. Never in one place long enough to settle down.
And yet, that wasn’t strictly true. He and Tilly Jordan had been lovers for some time, and Tilly had been enough for Tagg. The idea of liaisons with other women simply never occurred to Tagg. They were together most of the time, working in the DSI, then living together.
Joy had no doubt Tagg Raven and Tilly Jordan would have stayed together, had it not been for Tilly being shot and horribly disfigured. Such had been Tagg’s love for Tilly, not once had he thought to abandon her. In the end, it had been Tilly, rejecting Tagg. Perhaps at the time, to spare him a lifetime of being with a freak. Perhaps the hate she felt for him had come later, like some long festering cancer.