by Celeste Raye
The city itself lay underground. Although the surfaces of the land masses were much warmer there than on the outlying planets, nothing grew there because of the lack of sunlight. The seas often came up too high and ate away large chunks of the land as well. The city had been cleverly built inside the highest peaks of the land, and as they flew into a docking port, the walls of those mountains closed in around them, sheer rock everywhere.
He wanted to get violently sick. He hated being there. The place reminded him too much of the mines where he had been forced to slave and labor for so many decades, and he knew that that place had the same effect on his brothers. It was their last resort, always. They only went there when they had no other choice, and at that moment they had no choice at all. They had to find Dirk Bates, one of the most notorious space pirates of all time.
He didn’t go by that name anymore, of course. His father had faked his son’s death, and Dirk must’ve been aware of that. He now used the name Blade, a sort of riff on his given name or perhaps a testament to what he hoped to be against The Federation.
Talon spoke. “I say it would be perhaps best if Jessica, Margie, you, and I were the only ones to leave the ship at the moment.”
Jeval nodded. “He knows us. If we try to overwhelm him with too many people, he might sense something is up and run.”
Talon said, “Or fight. Neither of those is the best option.”
Jeval gave Margie a smile. “You can stay here if you choose to.”
She said, “No, thank you. I’ve been to worse places.”
He wasn’t sure if that were true or not, but he decided not to argue the point. They strode off the ship and into a long tunnel made of solid rock. Again, the memory of the mines came up. Claustrophobia set in. His heart constricted as it pounded too loudly. His eyes flicked ahead to where Talon walked, and he found himself wondering if his brother too felt that same near-panic in those halls. He would never ask, and Talon would never say, but he wondered anyway.
Margie’s hand found his and gave it a gentle squeeze. He looked down at her. She whispered, “This is so much like the Below. Oh, we had smooth walls and not rock ones but in so many ways it’s the same, and that frightens me.”
He whispered back, “It reminds me of the mines.”
Her face held empathy and understanding. “I’m sorry.”
Somehow that simple compassion, that understanding of his emotions, made them flatten and settle. He felt immensely better for some strange reason. Knowing that she, too, was having difficulty made it easier to navigate the place. They came to the mouth of the tunnel, and Talon stood to one side, waiting for them to catch up. As always, he was overwhelmed by the enormity of the place.
The city sat in a bowl-like depression below the mouth of the tunnel. It spread out, hundreds of thousands of hectares wide and long.
Margie whispered, “My God! How can all of this be here?”
He answered with, “For centuries this has been the hideout for those who would earn their living in a not so savory manner. It began as a few huts and dwellings and became this.”
She surveyed it. Her voice was hushed. “It sort of gives me hope that eventually home shall be more civilized, but it terrifies me too.”
“You have every reason to be afraid. For people here, death is their trade.”
She muttered, “You really need to work on your reassuring skills.”
They started down the steep slope that crawled through the rock face in a circular pattern that would have them enter the city from the eastern side. That too was part of the city’s defenses. Every tunnel had a wide ledge, but all of the ledges were situated up high. There was only one way to exit the ledges safely, and that was to take the winding shelf that ran before all of them and joined into others then led to the city’s eastern gate.
Attempting to jump from the ledge into the city itself meant death. Not only was it much further than it appeared, the optical illusion that the city was right below the shelf was just that; in fact it sat many hundreds of feet below, but a poor landing was the least of the worries that anyone foolish enough to try to jump it find themselves faced with.
The tech there was rudimentary but present. There was a wide net-bar across the city’s top. It was invisible for the most part, but it was deadly. Any who fell into it would find themselves decimated.
Any being who somehow managed to first make the jump and get past the netting safely as well was still not safe. There was no quarter given to anyone who entered the city through any path other than through the eastern gate. There were roving bands of pirates and crews, and there was always an argument or fight. Entering into territory that some had carved out for themselves and fought for on a daily basis meant declaring oneself an enemy. Here, an enemy was killed without question. There was no judicial system, but there were plenty of executioners.
At the east gate, they met armed guards. Those guards peered down at them and then, recognizing them, waved them inside. The gate opened with a loud clatter and bang that set their teeth on edge. Jeval’s hands never strayed far from his weapons and he saw Margie’s hand drop to first her belly and then to her hip. She must’ve secreted more than one weapon there under her clothing, he deduced as they walked past the first part of the buildings that made up the city known as End-World.
Chapter Nine
Margie was utterly terrified. The city was filthy, for starters. Packs of mongrel beasts that resembled a cross between a bear and a dog roamed about, their teeth showing and their eyes glittering. Beings from all different galaxies and star systems also hovered near them. Weapons were everywhere, and the air was one of rich copper and tension.
The buildings had been built from recycled ship parts and other space refuse. Nothing looked sanitary, and it certainly didn’t look safe. The very bowels of the mountain served as both street and flooring. That stone was slick, and she feared she would fall more than once. The darkness was lit by some sort of techno-lighting, but she couldn’t discern the source of it. There seemed to be some type of air circulator system in place as well because cooling air met her body and face, but it was thin, and she felt like she couldn’t drag enough into her lungs to keep from hyperventilating or starving for oxygen.
The buildings on the left side were obviously gambling and dance halls. To her horror, she saw females and males of all species standing in windows, their chains marking them as slaves. Many of them looked beaten down or drugged, and terror rose up inside her. She had nearly ended up in a place like this, may have very well ended up in a place like this if the four brothers hadn’t come to her rescue. As inadvertent as the rescue was, she was now gladder for it than she had ever been since that day.
Talon led them onward, through twisting streets that snaked, serpentine and shining with refuse and garbage, to a series of small buildings hunkered up against one stone wall. These buildings seem to be cleaner, and there were none of the wolf-bear creatures about, thankfully. Those things had made her adrenaline level race so high she was sure she was going to faint at the sight of them.
A voice rang out from the darkness behind the building. “Stand or die, stranger.”
Jeval spoke softly. “No stranger. It is I and my brother Talon. These women are our mates. We seek an audience with Blade.”
A figure moved out of the darkness. He was human, of that she had no doubt. He was tall, very much so, and very well-built. He had wide shoulders, a lean waist, and long legs, all of it shown off to great advantage in some sort of ragged uniform. His hair was a thick shock of flaxen locks and his face, despite the dimness and darkness there, held a slight wash of color. His lips parted to reveal strong and even white teeth. “So it is you. What can I do for you?”
Talon said, “We need to speak with you. Privately. This is a matter of great urgency, and you are not going to like what we have to say.”
Blade, and it must be him that they sought, answered, “I never like much of what anybody has to say. So there’s that
.” His eyes roved over Jessica and Margie. “Those are your mates?”
The words that Jeval had uttered earlier and the way his hand came up and rested lightly on her shoulder made something dissolve and melt away inside Margie’s heart. He had claimed her, and there was no doubt about that now. His voice was soft, deceptively so. She heard the steel below it. “Yes. We will not have them touched.”
Blade chuckled. “I can see why but I would advise you to keep them close. Many of those here tired of the ones they’ve held prisoner for far too long.”
Margie blurted out, “Why do you not release them then?”
Blade ran a hand through his hair. “Because they are not mine to release. Here, touching another man’s possessions is death. I choose not to die for them. I have larger fish to fry.”
Disgust raised its head within her heart, but she shut that down. They needed his help whether they liked him or not, and she really didn’t like him.
Blade said, “You may enter. I cannot guarantee that you shall leave breathing though.”
Talon said, “No being can give that promise, not here in End-World.”
That seems to be a standard form of greeting, so Margie disregarded it even though unease drifted upward into her heart. Blade opened a door, and they stepped through into a fairly well-appointed open room that held long and rather luxurious sofas as well as a long table set with several chairs. Blade said, “I have drink. It’s not pure water, but it’s fit for human consumption, and yours as well.”
Jeval and Talon both said they would take it with thanks. Blade poured from a strange pitcher system, passing the cup to Talon first. Talon sipped and then passed it on to Jeval. Jeval sipped and handed it to Margie. Margie handed it off to Jessica, who drank a mere sip and then passed it back to Talon again.
Talon handed the drinking vessel back to Blade and he set it aside. His hands went to his lean hips. His eyes, shrewd and appraising, leveled on their faces. “Speak now. I have much to do before I depart the planet.”
Talon said, “We need to go to war with The Federation. Not just rebel, not just a small uprising. We need full-on warfare. We need your help. You command an army. You command most of these here whether you admit it or not.”
Margie held her breath. Her eyes slid to the side, and she appraised Jessica’s face. She had decided that she would take her cues from Jessica. However Jessica acted, that was how she would act as well. Right then, Jessica stood silent and unmoving; her face betrayed nothing.
Blade burst into laughter. “Have you lost your minds? Open warfare against The Federation is a death sentence.”
Jeval said, “So was the rebellion that you have engaged in. So are the uprisings that you have helped put into place. So is supplying the rebels with weapons and water. All of that you have done. So is harrying Federation ships and wrecking them. Also something you have done. So is disrupting their supply lines and forcing them away from planets that can no longer sustain them. Also you.”
Blade went tense. His body was rock-hard, and Margie could see the lines of tension running upward from his neck and into his face. “We are speaking quite plainly then, aren’t we?”
Jeval said, “Not many here would live to tell what they overheard, and you know it. And those who would live to tell would have their lot cast with yours anyway.”
Blade’s fingers drummed at the thick weapons belt around his lean waist. “So you say. How dare you come here and bring this into my life.”
Talon said, “We have no choice. What we are to tell you now, it seems unbelievable. Yet it is true. We’ve heard whispers and rumors. Jeval and Margie there went on a spy mission and learned a small part of it before they returned. The intel we got after they returned is good, the best. My sibling assures me, after having walked about the informant’s mind, that there are no memory blocks or implants in that mind. What that informant told us is the truth.”
Blade asked, “And what has that to do with me?”
Jeval asked, “What do you know of The Federation’s new wormhole?”
Blade’s eyebrows lifted toward his hairline. “What new wormhole?”
Talon said, “Oh. I see you are not quite as in the know as you would have us believe.”
Blade’s fingers went to his weapons. His voice held death. “Watch what you say to me.”
Jessica spoke then. “He was not speaking offensively. He was speaking the truth. We need your help. The Federation has indeed found a new wormhole.”
Blade shrugged. “So? What of it? They may hold that route for a hundred years or more and destroy an entire system with their trade, but what of it? It’s happened before and will happen again.”
Jeval said, “Not this time. This wormhole does not have an exit in our universe.”
Blade snorted. “So let the fucking Federation send their ships out into nothingness. What do we care? Just less of them to kill.”
Talon said, “If it were just that, we would not be here, now would we?”
Blade’s head tilted to the right. His eyes narrowed. “I suppose not. Where does this wormhole end?”
Jeval said, “In another universe. One whose beings closed the wormhole against us.”
Blade hooted with laughter. “Well then, perhaps we should take it for ourselves in order to have an escape route from those bastards.”
Margie spoke. But her voice was not her own. It came from deep within; it came from within the mind of the child that she carried. “The beings on that side of the wormhole are far more technologically advanced. They sealed the wormhole millennia ago when they began to see the beings in this universe make great strides toward travel.
“They are determined to live in peace. They have managed to bring peace to their universe, or rather to their corner of it. They have managed to hide the fact that the universe extends further than we could ever know by sealing not just that wormhole, but the space around it. It is like a seam, and once punctured, that seam will split open and be forever open. The Federation knows this. They seek to travel there and attempt to take over that other universe. But they know not what they will get into. They know not that doing so will be the end of this universe.”
She felt limp and shaken. Blade stared at her, as did those other members of her party. Talon asked, “How can you know this?”
Margie shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I will tell you. Just not right now. This is too important to get off track.”
Blade said, “All you have is a woman. And what she says. We all know women talk facetiously. For all you know, she is leading you on a fool’s errand.”
Talon said, “We have your father.”
Dead silence ensued. Blade’s hands went to his weapons, and he drew them. His weapons pointed directly at the four of them. Blade’s voice was thin with anger. “Do not speak of him in my presence.”
Jeval said, “We would not seek to displease you in such a way. We have no choice. He has decided to throw his lot in with the rebellion. For whatever reason, he is now on your side. He has been on your side this entire time. How do you think you have escaped so often? Even you, with all of your arrogance, cannot possibly believe that it was skill and luck that kept you alive.
“Your father has falsified documents and sent ships away from your position deliberately. He has striven to keep alive the myth that his son died many years ago. He wants to make amends, and he knows just how foolish opening this wormhole is. He fears opening this wormhole. And, perhaps the greatest reason he has for doing this is because The Federation recently destroyed old Earth.”
The weapons didn’t lower. “I had heard of that. Millions died. Just one more crime for The Federation to answer for.”
Jeval urged, “You want to fight The Federation? Then now is your chance. Your father has brought an armada with him. Federation ships, all of them capable of great warfare. If we put them up with your army and the army of the other rebels, we can stand against The Federation, but we have to st
and as one. It’s time for us to put our differences aside. It’s time for us to unite. All of us are rebelling. All of us are rising. But we are rising like ants against a massive army that can crush us like those very same insects. Together we can be mighty. Apart we are nothing.”
That voice, the voice of her unborn daughter, came back again. Margie’s mouth and throat worked. “The Federation would sacrifice all for a chance to rule more. You would know that. You’ve seen it firsthand. This is your chance to stand against them. To do real damage. Would you turn away from this now?”
Blade asked, “Does she always speak so freely?”
Jeval said, “I’m afraid so. But she does speak the truth, and I stand with her. If you would stand against us, then say so now. If you do not have the guts to join us and help us, then say so now. We shall seek aid elsewhere.”
Blade lifted the weapon a little bit higher. He said, “And now you call me a coward? You come into my city and call me a coward?”
Talon said, “Should we tell all of End-World that you have refused to go after The Federation in a real and valid way? That we have information that could take The Federation down and are willing to use it but that you balk because you are frightened?”
Margie held her breath. This was a dangerous game they were playing. This was one seriously dangerous human being, and she was afraid of him even as she knew that he was far more dangerous to The Federation than he was to her. There was ruthlessness about him, a sharp and unrelenting air of sheer power coming off him that was impossible to deny or mistake.
Blade said, “If you are attempting to shame me into joining you then you are playing a foolish game. Of course I wish to strike against The Federation, and in a large way. But what you’re asking me to do would require more than just my army. I do not see an army here.”