Humble Beginnings

by Greg Alldredge

  Nev jumped from her seat. “Activate repel borders program!” she shouted while she ran to the door. Her fist slammed into the controls, sealing her and Jayden inside.

  “Nevaeh…” Jayden’s word gurgled from his lips. Blood bubbles foamed from his nostrils. “I’m sorry.” His clenched fists relaxed with his final breath.

  The woman knelt to reach her lover but found herself handcuffed to the table in the interrogation room.

  “That was it?” the voice asked.

  Nev ignored the voice, her head lowered to the table, the tears flowed in silence.

  “Was that it?” the insistent voice asked once more.

  “Isn’t that enough?” Nev balled her fists and forced herself to maintain what little composure remained. This must be some new form of questioning. Somehow the authorities were using her memories, her mind, against her. The bastards would pay for their mistreatment. When her mother discovered they intruded on her memories…

  “And next?” Not one but many voices said in unity.

  How could the voices remain so cool, so calm while they tortured her?

  Nev’s stomach flopped when her memory blasted into full view.

  <=OO=>

  The dimly lit bar wasn’t the best place to hold a meeting, but the atmosphere suited her dark mood. Besides, this location held the added benefit of drinks strong enough to degrease her main engine. It should help ease the pain in her head.

  “You should know, the Corker station is holding you and your ship responsible for the deaths and damage caused by the riot.” The meeting had been going on for a while, but Nev had a hard time focusing on what the male said. He seemed to bloviate more than most. “Station personnel have impounded the Mia-Sama during the investigation.”

  The words caused her heart to skip a beat.

  Nev recognized the creature who sat across from her immediately. It was her mother’s off-planet solicitor. The Saravipian male looked more like a viper than many of his brethren did. The type was easy to spot. Looking snakelike must have been a prerequisite for entering the interstellar legal profession.

  Nev left her bottle and glass untouched, despite her intention to get falling-down drunk before the end of the day. “How can I be blamed? I was in the galley. I have no idea what happened.”

  “The Corkers who survived maintain that your first officer… a human… started the argument that led to the violence. A master is responsible for their ship and crew…”

  “I don’t believe it. Jayden would never…”

  “The security footage backs up the dockworkers’ version of the story.” The male rummaged in his case, searching for some unneeded object. “If the court sides with them, you stand to lose your mother’s ship, perhaps your freedom.”

  “My ship…”

  “And freedom…”

  “Without my ship, I have no freedom…”

  “As you wish…” The serpent lips pulled back in a nervous smile.

  “Can I see it?” Nev lifted her gaze to look into the cold eyes of the male across from her.

  “What?”

  “The footage.”

  “I don’t recommend it…”

  “Have you seen it?”

  “Yes, the file is damning to your case.”

  “Then I need to see it as well.”

  “You will not like what you see.”

  “Probably not, but… I need to.”

  The male didn’t have eyebrows so much as bone ridges that melded into the horns that jutted from either side of his head like a thorny crown. Somehow, he was able to raise his eyelids enough to convey the meaning of surprise to Nev. With a slight nod of his chin, he agreed.

  The security file slipped into Nev’s mind via an airdrop.

  “Please wait until I have departed the premises to view the evidence. I’m not fond of overt displays of female emotions.” The male closed his case and abruptly escaped the scene.

  Nev didn’t care if her mother’s lackey stayed or jumped out the nearest airlock. If she lost her ship, she’d be ruined. There was no way her mother would front the cash for another. It took all Nev’s influence to weasel the Mia-Sama from the woman in the first place.

  The pair never got along. After years of abuse, Nev threatened unending political unrest if she was forced to stay on Prodian Prime. Finally, her mother acquiesced and granted Nev the ship, on the condition she never returned home. Such was the normal unconditional love of an influential Prod female towards her strong-willed daughter. The strongest women were routinely forced out of their homes by their mothers. Space only gave them farther to roam.

  A raised finger from Nev and the barkeep brought another liter of the intoxicating liquid to her table. The first bottle miraculously emptied while she sat there dreading the impending viewing. To pass the time, she nervously fiddled with a trinket that hung around her neck.

  Despite her better judgment, she needed to see what happened on the docks for herself, but there was only so much pain her heart could withstand. The bottle at hand, all she needed was a little more liquid courage.

  Three more shots of the warming liquid and she felt fortified enough to bear witness to the carnage that waited. The death she barely escaped.

  Seconds into the file, it was apparent the raw video had been cut. It started with a wide establishing shot of the full loading dock. Several of her crew were standing, supervising the Corkers while they moved the cargo. Nearby containers were staged, waiting to be loaded as soon as the Mia-Sama was unloaded.

  Damned if the little furry creatures weren’t efficient.

  The view zoomed in and followed Jayden when he left the bay doors and walked up to the furry standing on a crate, directing traffic.

  Her first officer pointed to the creature’s chest. There was no sound, but from this angle, heated words were exchanged. Just like the lawyer said, it looked like Jayden started the whole thing.

  In a flurry of movement, Jayden’s hand pushed the Corker’s representative in the center of his chest. The first officer turned his back on the male. Even zoomed in, Nev couldn’t tell why Jayden attacked the furry male.

  The short creature jumped on Jayden’s back and sank his teeth into his neck.

  The video pulled back, and all hell broke loose on the docks. The Corkers attacked all of her crew. How could a single argument escalate so fast to involve the entire dock?

  In the distance, just out of frame, there was more she couldn’t make out. It appeared at the adjacent berth. The dockworkers attacked the next ship as well.

  After reaching safety, she’d heard the fight spread to the majority of the docks before everything was brought under control. So much death and the blame landed right at her feet.

  Not satisfied with living targets, the short furry creatures started attacking the material handling equipment, the security systems, even the lights. They pummeled, scratched, or bit anything in sight.

  Jayden stumbled for the airlock with three little monsters latched onto his limbs, clawing and biting into his flesh. All struggling to drag him to the ground.

  Nev lost sight of his bloody form, but the busted bodies of the aliens flew off her ship.

  A few seconds later, the small arms of the Mia-Sama opened fire on anyone who approached.

  Nev turned off the feed. She didn’t have the stomach to watch the carnage.

  With her ship sealed against the threat, she did the only prudent thing. She blasted off that dock and made for greener places. Her first stop was this out of the way place and the familiar surroundings of the bar. Refining station CM-88B was the next stop on her outer planets run.

  Probably not the smartest thing she ever did. When she ran for her life, she must have given the impression she was guilty of something.

  Raised voices next to the bar pulled Nev from her miserable memories. It was the lawyer, sharing heated words with a Saravipian female. “I don’t care what you want, I’m not in this universe to service your beck and call.” His voic
e grew louder with every word.

  The female didn’t want to take no for an answer and grabbed the male by the hips, grinding her body into his.

  The lawyer shoved his attacker away with enough force that Nev heard the female’s bones crack against the bar railing.

  In a flash, the female grabbed a bottle and broke it over the lawyer’s head.

  The strange voice echoed in her head, “Freeze.”

  Nev struggled to catch her breath. She knew what was about to happen in that little bar on a remote outpost at the edge of the known universe. All hell was about to break out. Souls were going to die.

  “That was it?” the voice asked.

  “Why are you making me relive this?”

  “You are missing something, or you have decided to ignore the obvious clues.”

  “I’m… just leave me alone.”

  “You need to remember this. You need to understand. You are the key.”

  “You make it sound like it is my fault. I’m… I’ve just had a spate of bad luck.”

  “On the contrary, I would say you have been very lucky. Three riots with hundreds of deaths involved, and you have escaped without a scratch. Extremely lucky, indeed.”

  “Three… that was only two.”

  “Ah, lest we forget your latest brush with mob violence.”

  “I—” Nev never had a chance to finish her sentence.

  The voices drowned out any thought she might have had.

  <=OO=>

  “You need to get out and bring in some cash.” Nev opened her eyes, and there she was, standing before what passed as her home. The discarded shipping container she now lived in, deep in the maintenance tunnels that burrowed through CM-88B.

  The access tunnels ran below the habitation sections of the station. This deserted place was where the homeless of CM-88B congregated to keep warm and safe from the Rankin authorities. Down here, homes were made of recycled material. Not as some trendy political statement but as a matter of survival.

  Nev begged, “I can’t do it any longer. I’m too sore.”

  A hand reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. It was her business associate. Her pimp, a nasty piece of shit. A huge monster of a Strobertzy that went by the name Lenny. The brute thought it made him seem more approachable. Three times her size, his race was best known for having big muscles, small brains, and smaller dicks.

  Nev knew the only thing that would make him seem nicer was a muzzle, cuffs, and heavy sedation.

  “If you don’t have the water, I can’t keep offering you protection.” The monster shook her limp body.

  Nev pleaded, “Listen… I can’t do it anymore. I’m not cut out for this line of work.”

  She didn’t lie. The longer she fulfilled the subservient role, the greater the likelihood she would revert to the male form, then she would surely starve. Few people wanted a sniveling Prod male hanging around.

  Nev needed a break, a vacation from the vocation thrust upon her. She needed time to return to the dominant role in her life, or she was doomed.

  Out of reflex, she reached up and gripped the small gem that hung around her neck.

  The voice said, “Freeze.”

  And her memory halted mid-playback.

  “What is that marble?” the voice asked.

  Nev mentally shrugged. “It’s nothing, only a charm I’ve worn… for a long time.”

  “No, it is something… Tell me what it is… Where did you get it?” It was the first time she heard any emotion from the voice. It sounded hungry.

  “I… I don’t remember.” Tears flowed down her cheeks.

  “Then let me refresh your memory.”

  In an instant, she was back in the galley of the Mia-Sama. Jayden’s blood covered the deck, but Nev ignored her fallen lover. Instead, her attention was drawn to what the dead man released from his clenched fist.

  A small orb, no larger than an olive, held on a chain like a charm. The object glowed and flowed like irradiated quicksilver. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

  She screwed her eyes shut and screamed. “No… I don’t want to remember!”

  “You must!”

  In horror, the images shifted back to the bar. The trinket she played with around her neck was the same orb, taken from Jayden’s dead body.

  Her fingers rubbed the object just before the fight started at the bar… So many people died there.

  “It can’t be.” She slammed her head against the bar table. The quickly shifting locations made her head spin. She couldn’t hold back any longer, she vomited between her legs. The barf splattered her blood-covered shoes.

  “You know the truth.”

  Nev lifted her gaze. Filth dripped from her chin. There, in the observation window, stood an army of children looking back at her. Her hand reached for the necklace, but it wasn’t around her neck.

  “You know what happened,” the voices spoke together.

  Nevaeh whispered, “Lenny…”

  In the beat of her heart, she was held off the ground by her pimp’s massive hand. She clawed at his wrist to no avail. Faster than she expected, he reached out for the necklace around her neck and popped the chain with a swift jerk.

  “Please, that is worthless… give it back,” Nev pleaded.

  The monster held the marble just out of reach and let it dangle from the chain. “I should be able to get a wee dram for it.”

  “Please don’t.” Nev knew what came next.

  Out of only what could be considered evil, Lenny flicked his wrist and caught the charm. In the blink of an eye, he crushed the glass in his grip.

  The quicksilver bled from his hand, but instead of dripping to the deck, it flowed up his arm.

  “Freeze!” Nev screamed. Surprisingly, the memory halted. Lenny stood there with a blank look of disbelief on his face.

  A deep voice growled from her throat. “I’m tired of this shit. I’m not playing anymore until you tell me who or what you are.”

  Lenny’s grip tightened on her shoulder. The voice pounded into her skull. “Tell me or I will snap you like a twig.”

  “Bullshit. This already happened, and I survived.” Nev gritted her teeth in pain and spat out the words. “Who the fuck are you?”

  The single voice merged into a cacophony of voices, none stronger than the other. “You already know… we are Legion. We are strong, for we are many.”

  Nev returned to the interrogation room. Handcuffed to the table, she had little choice but to stare into the mirror. Standing behind her reflection was an army of children, her army.

  With one voice, they cried out, “Mother!”

  Instinctively, Nev knew they addressed her. The end was upon them all.

  The voices wanted her to understand what was happening, but she didn’t want to believe. Somehow, the voices didn’t lie. Nev was responsible for it all, or at least what happened from this point forward.

  When the babble was broken, something was released. Damned if she fully understood the creatures now running free. She’d never understood herself.

  The door opened with a swish. “We need to get you out of here.” The gray flesh of the cop flushed green from all the excitement.

  “What’s going on?” Nev couldn’t bring herself to get overly excited. She had a pretty good idea: the station was dying in anarchy.

  “The station is going insane. It’s like everyone lost their marbles… We have riots in every quarter. It has no rhyme or reason, just chaos.” He unkeyed her cuffs. “Can you move?”

  “Of course, but we have nowhere to go…” Nevaeh stared at the children smiling back at her.

  “Of course we do… Your ship. The miasma is still here… I have released the lockdown order.”

  “It is pronounced Mia-Sama.” Nev rubbed her wrists. “How far is it?”

  “Close enough with this.” He motioned out the door with his weapon. The wicked-looking pistol might come in handy… deadly. “If I can get you to your ship, will you get me off this r
ock?” he asked, vocal cords strained.

  “If you survive, yes…”

  “Then let’s get out of here before the crazies return.”

  One last look was required at her new family. Her fingers drifted over the glass, while she whispered, “I have become Legion, the destroyer of worlds.”

  The officer stuck his head back inside the room. “We need to leave… Are you coming?”

  “We wouldn’t miss it.” She left the door open when she left so the others might follow.

  Murder 2.0

  Chapter I:

  The repeating display of a kitten spinning in low gravity was interrupted by an incoming message. “We got another male body, locked in a VR couch,” The dispatch call came over Rollin’s communication implant. Unfortunately, the signal overrode all other tasks. Rollin couldn’t ignore the thing; the system logged the message as received. A recent development, someone always watched an officer’s every move.

  Another death of a Virtual Reality user — the deaths were becoming too common an occurrence. The powers that be rode Rollin’s ass to find an answer he wasn’t sure he would ever find. Tracking a killer that moved over the wires and airwaves proved difficult, near impossible. A ghost killing without any chance of being caught. These locked-door murders were the stuff of ancient crime dramas. Plenty of motive, not enough evidence or opportunity. A detective’s nightmare.

  He set his amber drink down on the auto-table. “The body got a name?” the detective asked over the comm link.

  “Coming over the wire as a human, identified as Burke Hare,” the voice whispered in his mind. The coordinates of the scene filtered into his consciousness. His implants doing their job filing images and facts into separate memory folders, while increasing his awareness of the location. Everything displayed on an overlaid 3D grid map of the surrounding area. They called it augmented reality, Rollin recognized it as the modern life of a cyborg. Mostly it served to give him massive headaches. If he didn’t have increased computer processing power inserted into his brain, he was certain his head would explode from the added workload.