by E. A. James
“If anyone can find a way to do it, it’s you, sir,” she replied, shooting him a thankful smile as she pushed herself up. “Is that all?”
“Yes,” he said with another sigh. “It’s easier to write this if you tell me less rather than more.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“You are officially on leave, Captain Winter,” Artanis replied. “I hope three weeks is enough time for me to forget how difficult you are to keep around,” he said wryly.
“I appreciate that sir” Kira said shooting him one last smile over her shoulder. The heavy security door closed behind her as she exited the room. Kira proceeded to head straight for the locker room. She had spent the last several hours dreaming of a nice, long, hot shower. It was her preferred way to relax after a mission—stressful or not.
As the warmth of the steam wafted around her, and the piping hot water cascaded down over her, she thought of her upcoming leave. Three weeks was a long time, although being active for six months meant it was more than deserved. She had plans to return to Earth, to meet up with some friends she hadn’t seen in ages, and to even spend an afternoon with her sister, who she hadn’t seen or spoken to in nearly a year. Hell, maybe she’d even find time for a date.
Her mind at ease and her body cleaned, she wrapped her towel around her and made her way to the locker room. To her surprise, someone was waiting for her.
“Captain Winter,” he said as she walked towards him.
“What is it?” she asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the fact that she was speaking to the young man while wrapped only in a towel.
“My name is Thane, I’m Colonel Grimm’s personal aide,” he introduced himself. He was slender, with dark hair and penetrating eyes.
He held out his hand for her to shake but quickly pulled back, realizing that the situation they found themselves in did not dictate physical contact, professional or otherwise.
“Grimm? I haven’t spoken to Grimm in years,” Kira said, leaning against her locker, confused.
Colonel Grimm was her commanding officer before Admiral Artanis. He had recruited and trained her right out of the academy. Grimm had encouraged her as she rose through the ranks of the Alliance Forces and gave her many opportunities that put her ahead of her peers.
But, when he got promoted five years ago, he simply dropped off the map. Rumor was that he had been assigned to lead the Arcanum—the highest-ranking military division in the Terran Federation - and completely classified.
At first, she was slightly hurt that he had so quickly tossed her to the side, but over the past five years the memory of her former mentor became more and more distant and their relationship felt like a lifetime ago.
“Yes, well he did say to apologize for that,” Thane said quickly.
“It’s so nice of him to tell you to tell me that,” Kira scoffed, pushing herself up and pulling open the door to her locker. “I’m guessing you didn’t invade my privacy to apologize by proxy for Colonel Grimm,” she said. “Surely he didn’t just send you here for that.”
“No,” the man replied, shifting his weight around nervously.
Kira turned to look at him again, impatiently waiting for him to continue. “Well, what’s the real reason you’re here?”
“He sent me with a rather sensitive and classified mission request.”
“Well, what is it?” Kira asked slightly annoyed, pulling her clothes out of her locker and slamming the door shut. “I’m supposed to be starting my leave,” Kira replied.
“Unfortunately, it will have to wait Captain. This is a top priority and highly time-sensitive,” the man urged.
“Well, it doesn’t sound like I have a choice, has Admiral Artanis signed off on this?” Kira asked, leaning back against the locker, looking suspiciously at the young man.
"Not exactly," the man replied, wringing his hand nervously in front of him.
“What does that mean?”
“It’s not an official mission. I was asked to deliver the request personally, not through official military channels.”
“Ah well that explains why you’re here in the locker room with me,” Kira noted wryly.
Thane looked at her nervously, the awkwardness of their encounter once again filling the air. She continued to hold onto the towel tightly as she stood, clutching her clothes in her free hand as she contemplated what he had said. Something about the situation seemed off to her.
It must be something urgent if Colonel Grimm was going to such secretive lengths to contact her. Still, something didn’t feel right.
“Alright, I’ll at least look at it,” she said finally, the discomfort of the circumstances driving her to make a quick decision.
“Great,” Thane said, reaching into the bag draped across his shoulder and pulling out what must have been the mission brief.
He held the electronic file out to her, suddenly realizing that she had no free hands to take it from him.
“Just set it down there,” she said, shifting her gaze to the bench behind him.
“Thank you, Captain, I will let Colonel Grimm know you are reviewing the brief,” Thane replied.
He set the small table device down and turned to face her quickly. He had a look on his face as if he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. Nodding to her politely, he turned to hurry out of the room, finally leaving her in peace.
Changing into her clothes quickly, she picked up the brief and began flipping through it. The first thing she saw was the time and location of the meeting— 20:00 hours today at the Rusty, a dive bar on a small space station orbiting Mars. Kira recognized it because it was a bar she and her classmates from the academy would frequent during their basic training days.
“Why would Colonel Grimm want to meet all the way out there at that dump?” she wondered to herself as she collected her things and headed to the mess hall, realizing she had time for a quick meal before departing.
It didn’t matter. In her mind, she had already agreed to the mission, if only just to satisfy her curiosity. As she sat down to a quick meal, she scolded herself.
“You were so close to leave,” she thought. “It was right there. All you had to do was walk out the door and tell the creepy man to go away.”
As she poured over the brief she was surprised by the lack of detail. Usually, her mission briefs would give her enough information to carry out the task with no further instruction.
This one, however, was replete with blacked out sections of text that left her considerably unaware of the mission’s intent. “I guess this is what I get for talking with strange men in the women’s locker room,” Kira mused.
Kira finished up her meal and headed back to her quarters to retrieve some personal effects. While she was gathering up her things, she caught a glimpse of her Phantom M9 - her favorite plasma pistol. She stopped and thought for a moment, and then decided that it better be on her hip in the event that this went south.
Finally organized, Kira left her quarters and made her way to docking bay 32 where her personal use vessel was docked. She stopped in with the attendant and signed out her vessel.
Boarding the small craft, Kira couldn’t help but renew her skepticism - “What the hell am I doing?” she mumbled to herself. As she throttled up the vessel and crossed the barrier of docking bay 32 into open space she sighed and audibly exclaimed “if this takes up my entire leave I’m going to be pissed”.
CHAPTER THREE
The Rusty was not the sort of place Kira had expected to meet with a commanding officer of the Terran Alliance Forces, let alone the commander of the most classified division in the Alliance. Any bar would have been a strange local for these purposes, but this felt like the place you got drunk and embarrassed yourself when you were a fresh TAF recruit, at least that’s how Kira remembered it.
She walked through the door slowly, scanning her surroundings. The lights were a dim orange, and the air seemed almost stale with a haze that draped the room. The jukeb
ox quietly played some painfully obvious lounge music from the 20th century.
There were only four people inside. The first was clearly the bartender, a short and plump fur covered Rengar who paced back and forth as he cleaned some glassware behind his bar. He looked nervous, even for a Rengar.
Leaning against the bar were two large, muscular men with several tattoos and worn rugged faces. Even from where she stood, Kira was able to spot their cybernetic implants. “Arcanum soldiers,” she thought. They regarded her with a cold disinterest that unnerved Kira. She couldn’t help but notice that they bristled with weaponry. She swallowed hard and realized that the Phantom on her hip wouldn’t be much help if things got crazy.
While the members of the Arcanum were soldiers of the Terran Federation, they weren’t just any soldiers. They were the highest ranking, most well-disciplined, well-trained unit in the entire TAF. They lived their entire lives in full-fledged commitment to the Federation, going so far as to denounce their given names upon joining, opting instead for a call sign to which they responded.
The rumor was that they were often cybernetically and genetically enhanced in one way or another, making them stronger and more lethal opponents. Kira could now see that these were obviously not just rumors.
She didn't have time to continue examining them, though, because, in the far, dimly lit corner of the room she spotted Colonel Grimm puffing slowly on a large cigar. She recognized him immediately. His tall, muscular frame and silver hair were unmistakable. He was a middle-aged man with black eyes, a tightly trimmed beard, and a rather commanding presence that caused a slight shiver to run down her spine as she approached him.
“Colonel,” she said respectfully as she inched closer to his table.
“Captain Winter,” he replied in his trademark deep voice, looking up at her quickly. He took another puff from his cigar, as he motioned for her to take a seat across from him. “It’s so good to see you again, I wasn’t sure you would come.”
As she did, he waved to the bartender. “Another Bandurian whiskey,” he ordered. The bartender’s fur-covered face flitted quickly in their direction, and without a word, he went to work preparing the Colonel’s drink.
“Would you like a drink, Captain?” the Colonel asked her.
“No thanks sir,” she said shaking her head. “I have to fly home tonight and I dock better when my depth perception is intact.”
“Such a responsible pilot,” Grimm said, stroking his beard with his thumb.
“That’s not what most people would say,” she replied with a chuckle. “But, I appreciate the sentiment.”
He let out a half-laugh as he contemplated her words. “I suppose you’re right,” he said with a nod. “You have developed a reputation as something of a risk-taker. But you always seem to get the job done, don’t you?”
“Given the risks I usually take, if I didn’t get the job done, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you right now,” Kira replied, raising her eyebrow. “Which leads me to ask, why am I sitting here with you right now, Colonel?”
The bartender scurried over with the Colonel’s drink in his hand, visibly agitated at the Arcanum soldier’s presence. “Here you go,” the Rengar said quickly as he set the glass down on the table. “Can I get you anything else? Perhaps another cigar? I may have some stashed away somewhere—the good ones, too. I’d be willing to dive into my personal stash for you, for a price, of course.”
“No,” Grimm said, waving his hand in the air.
“Are you sure? I think it’s the least you can do for commandeering my bar for an evening.”
“I’m quite certain,” Grimm replied.
The bartender shrugged before turning to walk away in a huff.
“The Rengar can be pushy at times,” Kira said as she turned back to face the Colonel. “You just have to be firm with them, and they’ll leave you alone. I’m assuming you wanted to be alone, given the place you chose to meet me. So, again, Colonel, I ask: why have you called me here tonight?”
"Straight to the point, I always enjoyed that about you, Captain," Grimm said, taking a sip from his drink followed by a puff of his cigar. His eyes narrowed and he continued “I find myself in an unusual position, one that makes me generally uncomfortable.” Grimm seemed to choke on his next words “I find myself in need of help.”
“Recently, I came to be in possession of a man that, while extremely dangerous to the pursuits of the Terran Federation, is still entitled to his life,” Grimm continued. “As such, I find myself in need of a pilot that is capable of transporting this prisoner to the high-security prison Jaantu 7 in Bandurian space.”
“Jaantu 7?” Kira responded. “They call it the black hole – prisoners go in, but they don’t come out.”
“Indeed,” Grimm said with a dark scowl and Kira noted the anger that seemed to burn in his eyes.
“Okay, so it’s a simple transport mission, that still doesn’t explain why you decided I was the best person for this job, or why this mission isn’t officially credentialed,” Kira replied.
“Given our past relationship and my high regard for your ability to carry out this task, I thought of you first,” Grimm said.
“Truthfully, I needed someone I can trust to complete this mission and uphold its classification. That is the reason my shortlist is only one person long.”
Kira wasn’t sure if she should allow herself to be flattered, or indulge the nagging feeling that she was being manipulated.
“Alright, we’re two for three now Colonel. That just leaves the question of why this mission isn’t credentialed through Terran High Command,” Kira said.
“I’m afraid that is the chapter of this story that must remain in secrecy,” Grimm responded.
“Let me see if I have this straight Colonel – you have a prisoner that you’re honor bound not to kill that you want to deposit into one of the worst places imaginable and, most importantly, you don’t want your own fingerprints on this,” Kira said with a bemused look.
“Perceptive,” Grimm replied. “That was another quality I admired.”
“Your admirations aside, this is a big ask Colonel. You’re really stretching the definition of a favor here.” Kira responded. She thought she noticed the Arcanum soldiers at the bar shift uneasily in their stances when she said this.
Grimm seemed mildly annoyed at the amount of effort that he was expending. Kira figured he was not used to asking for much at this point in his career.
“Alright,” Kira sighed. “If I did agree to this, what would it look like?”
Grimm smiled slightly in relief. “Two Arcanum soldiers will accompany you to secure the prisoner. You will be in an unmarked vessel with a specially fitted brig to contain the prisoner – you will have no interaction.” Grimm explained.
“You will rendezvous with a third party that will complete the transfer to Jaantu 7 – that should ensure you are never connected with this mission. I’ve arranged for a meeting in a remote area of space near the facility, where a bounty hunter will wait for you. Nico Rax is one of the best in the business, Captain. He will take the prisoner the rest of the way, shielding your involvement with the mission completely.”
“So, all I have to do is fly this prisoner to an isolated location in space and wait for the bounty hunter to pick him up?” she repeated, creasing her brow. Something about the plan continued to strike her wrong—something was definitely off.
“Precisely,” Grimm replied, not noting the skepticism on her voice.
“Why not send a military escort?” Kira asked.
“We don’t want to divert too many resources and we can’t risk the publicity,” Grimm replied quickly.
Kira thought for a moment, stealing a glance at the Arcanum soldiers. She sighed deeply and said, “Alright, I’m on board, but I have conditions.”
“The best way for me to keep my head above water here is to know as little as possible. Basically, I’m telling you to keep me in the dark. I’ll run your mission as a pers
onal favor and a thank you for everything you did for me at the Academy, but after this, whatever debt you feel I might owe you from our past has to be considered paid.”
“Consider your debt transferred to me when this is all over, I’ll be the one who owes you something,” Grimm responded.
“I’m not asking for that,” Kira responded. “You put me in a position to succeed early in my career and because of that, I’m where I am today. That’s the only reason I’m saying yes right now.”
“Fair enough,” Grimm said. “Kira, please know that I’m asking you to do something in the best interest of the Federation. I wouldn’t dare be reckless with you or your life unless it was of great importance.”
“You have my trust Colonel,” Kira replied. “I’ll make sure this gets done. What are the next steps?”