by L. S. Mercer
The accounting officer stared blankly at Damon, not sure of what to do. He looked to Striker for help, but Striker simply stared at him, waiting for him to make a move.
“An extra thousand trits?” Asked the officer.
“A thousand!” Replied Damon. “Is that all your life is worth?”
The officer rolled his eyes.
“Two?”
“Make it six.” Said Damon, sporting a grin.
“Fine.” Grumbled the officer.
Striker nodded at the officer before turning away from him.
“Scoundrel.” Muttered Striker, only loud enough for Damon to hear.
“Drone.” Replied Damon.
The two walked away from the counter, back toward the bench where Alloy and Copper were examining some trash they’d found in the bin next to it. Striker sat down first, and then Damon. The moment that he sat down, Striker turned his body toward him and looked at him with a strict, almost heated stare.
“When we go to the palace, I want you on your best behavior for Aela.” He said.
Damon shot him the most innocent look he could muster.
“Why on Ostillion would I ever do anything different?” He asked in a sarcastic tone.
“I’m serious Damon, this is a serious matter.” Said Striker.
Damon turned very serious as well.
“You have my word Commander, no funny business.” He replied.
Striker nodded and then glanced over at the two Eyres, who were paying no attention to anything around them.
“They can’t go.” He whispered.
Alloy turned immediately, staring at Striker as if he’d just slapped him across the face.
“They go wherever I go.” Replied Damon quickly, holding out a hand to keep Alloy silent. “Without them, you don’t get me.”
Striker let out a gruff sigh, knowing that there was no use in debating anything with a Blackwing.
“Breaking news from the planet Voore!” Said the loud G.C. News17 screen above them. “The execution of outlaw Adrian Blackwing, former pilot of the voorian fleet went awry today, the pulse generator melted down, resulting in many casualties and a massive prison break.”
Damon stomach flipped as he stared up at the screen. He didn’t even know that his brother was imprisoned, let alone executed.
“Master Gorgoth has politely refused to reveal any information until investigations can take their course, we will update the public as we learn more.”
He was never very close to his brother, they’d both chosen different sides in the last space war and been out of touch ever since. No matter how distant they were, it still caused his heart to jump even at the thought of his brother’s death, while his stomach only continued to knot more and more with every word said on the screen.
“I’m sorry Damon.” Said Striker, placing a hand on Damon’s shoulder.
Alloy and Copper both stared at the screen as well. They didn’t know Adrian at all, but Eyres have a way of sensing their master’s emotions, so they knew that he had some kind of connection with the guy.
“I’m sorry Damon.” Repeated both Alloy and Copper in unison. Alloy placed his tiny hand upon Damon’s leg in an attempt to comfort him.
Damon looked down at them and smiled, brushing his hand through Copper’s hair.
“It’s fine guys, thanks.” He said, trying to look like nothing was bothering him.
Striker look surprised at how well Damon treated the Eyres, which was something that he’d never do for any other species than his own.
“Anywho, are you ready?” Asked Striker.
Damon nodded.
“Wait.” Said Damon. “I promised Alloy that I’d buy him something.”
Striker raised his brow at the little creature and then looked back at Damon.
“Fine, meet me at the palace when you’re done playing daddy.” Striker muttered, getting impatient.
Damon laughed and nodded at the Commander.
“Let’s go.” He said to the Eyres.
Alloy happily hopped along next to Damon with Copper in tow, both knowing exactly where they were going.
* * *
Walking into a Tracer shop was always exciting, especially if you had a couple of Eyres with you. Copper and Alloy excitedly ran back and forth through all of the clearance bins, squealing to each other in excitement.
“Interesting bunch.” Said the shopkeep to Damon.
“Yeah, aren’t they?” He replied, watching the Eyres with a smile on his face.
“How’d a human like you pick up two Eyres?” Asked a Tracer who’d been browsing the wares.
“Ah, long story.” Said Damon. “They lost their parents in a sea shift18.”
“Oh.” He replied, his face twisting into a frown. “Well they’re lucky I guess.”
“A fighter pilot with Eyres, I wouldn’t consider them lucky.” Muttered the shopkeep. “Just gunna get em killed.”
“Mind yourself Kenneth.” Said the other Tracer, tapping his finger against the counter.
Damon figured the browser must have actually been the guy’s boss, judging by how Kenneth responded with a mimicky face the moment he’d looked away.
“Damon!” Shouted Alloy, wobbling up to him with an old remote control car in his hands.
Damon knelt down in front of him, grabbing the toy out of his hands.
For the first time, Damon realized how young his two Eyres really were. It was always hard to tell since they live for hundreds of years but never change, so that made it easy to forget. He wondered how they’d feel if he just left them at the outpost when he went on missions.
“Can I have it?” Asked Alloy, clapping his hands together.
“Get a bin, put whatever you want in it.” He said, handing the toy back. “You too Copper.”
“What?” Screamed Copper in disbelief. “Whoo!”
The Eyres shot through the store like a tornado, sweeping up as much as they could fit into the bins. They were so excited that they’d started singing to themselves while they collected, which was a very Eyre thing to do.
“Guess I’m going to need to pick up a few extra missions.” Muttered Damon to the boss.
The Tracer smiled at him, giving him a nod of approval.
“You’re a good friend to them.” He said.
“Thanks.” Replied Damon.
“Six thousand trits.” Said the shopkeeper.
Damon’s eyes widened in shock.
“Six thousand?” He asked, looking at the overstocked bins.
Alloy immediately thought he was in trouble, Damon saw his lip quiver a little.
“Sounds good.” Said Damon quickly, looking down at Alloy. “Good thing I haggled that officer eh?”
Alloy giggled with delight, clapping his hands again and hopping up and down.
“Have a good one!” Shouted Damon, walking towards the exit.
* * *
The palace looked so much nicer on the inside than it did on the out, and that was saying something. The walls were adorned with intricate carvings of various things throughout the galaxy, all made from cardis crystal and very careful hands. Damon admired the gold plating of the walls and wondered how much the palace was really worth, as if he’d be able to ever know. As he walked through the corridor to the communications room, he found way too many things to distract him from his goals. Every little thing that you could see was worth ten times as much as its cheap brother from the peasant shops, it seemed kind of unnecessary to him.
The Eyres had decided to return to the ship in order to play with their new gadgets, which was okay on his part since Striker hadn’t wanted them in the palace anyways for some reason.
“Glad you could make it.” Said Aela, standing in the hallway.
“Same.” Replied Damon, still distracted by all the gold.
“Touch anything expensive and you’re fired.” She said with a very polite smile.
Damon nodded, still not really paying attention.
“D
amon.” Greeted Commander Striker, who was sitting at a terminal, going over battle strategies with a recruit.
“Heya.” He said.
“So, have you fully decided whether you’re staying or not?” Asked Aela.
“Depends on if you really want me or not.” Said Damon with a grin. “I’m pretty expensive.”
“As all good pilots are.” She replied.
“Good?” Asked Damon, trying to look surprised. “I’m the best baby.”
Striker cleared his throat and glared at Damon, silently reminding him of his behavior issues.
“Right, I mean, yes I’m pretty good.”
Aela allowed herself to giggle for a second before returning to her ever so serious array of facial expressions.
“Right so, why am I here?” Asked Damon.
“Missions.” Replied Striker, getting up from the terminal and patting the recruit on the back.
“Okay what mission am I here for?” He asked again.
“We need scouts more than anything.” Said Aela, bringing up a holographic map of the three Kharan planets.
“Scouts.” Repeated Damon.
He gave Aela a look of confusion.
“Come on Captain, not every mission involves combat.” She said, knowing that he’d protest.
“Sorry, but I was told you needed me.” He said. “It doesn’t really sound to me like you do.”
“We do.” Replied Aela, giving him a strange glare.
“Then send scouts, not me.” He argued. “I’m a fighter, I don’t do recon.”
Aela continued to stare him down, while Striker stood next to the two, simply listening to the conversation.
“I give the orders here, we need fast ships to scout out the Kharan.” She claimed. “Our stingers aren’t equip with the necessary tools to move without detection.”
“And a duster is?” Asked Damon, his knuckles turning white as he pressed into one of the tables.
“Your duster is.” Interjected Striker, clicking a button on a remote.
The screen next to them shot to life, showing footage from one of the stingers of the duster escaping from Drago.
“If you can almost escape that situation, Kharan scouts won’t stand a chance against you.” He said.
Damon took it all in for a moment, deciding to himself whether he wanted to really go on boring scout missions for the Alliance. The Eyres came back to mind, as long as they were on scouting missions, they’d be relatively safe. At the same time though, they were scouting missions, which meant a lot of boring, actionless, sleep inducing floating. In the end, the Eyres being as safe as they could be was the better bet in his opinion.
“Fine, I’ll take on your lame scouting missions.” He muttered.
Aela clapped her hands together and rubbed them, shooting him an excited look dripping with sarcasm. He was really starting to like her attitude.
“Yeah your Grace, I’m all yours.” Joked Damon with a bow.
“It would be selfish of me to keep you to myself.” She said.
Aela rested her hands against the table, turned her head to Damon, and shot him a wink.
“Alright.” Interrupted Striker, giving Damon another heated glance. “So it’s settled?”
“Yeah, I’ll send him over a few locations to scout out.” Said Aela, returning to her business mode. “For now Captain, get some rest.”
Damon smiled and gave her another bow before turning away. He once again admired the decor of the ship as he was leaving, still wondering what he might be able to swipe and get a bonus check on.
“Damon!” Shouted Striker, running down the hall after him.
“What?” He asked, alarmed.
“The Princess wanted me to give you this, it’s a bonus check for saving the fleet.”
Damon’s face went red, remembering what he’d just been thinking of doing.
“You alright?” Asked Striker.
“Yep!” Said Damon, pushing the check away. “Tell her it was my pleasure.”
Striker looked as if he’d just seen a ghost.
“You’re kidding me right?” He asked.
“Commander, I politely decline.” He said, grinning widely.
Without another word, Damon twirled back around and continued his slow escape from the eyes of authority. Confident on the outside but very torn about that bonus check on the in. He tried to tell himself that not everything was about money, but after trying, he also realized that he didn’t like to lie to himself. Too late now, all he could do was go back to his cabin and whine to himself about how he much he hated being the good guy sometimes.
17 G.C. News- Galactic Communications News channel
18 Sea shift- Quakes that shake the ground of the Tech Sea, causing all of the tech to move in waves.
Chapter 7
The stars flew by in a whirl of white as the transport shot towards Kharan territory. Adrian admired each little planet or asteroid he could catch as they flew by, only the big ones could really be seen. His mind was overloaded with anger and frustration, the only slight relief being Elias continuously checking in on him, even though he hated the mechanical little demon.
His anger continued to well up inside of him as he stared out into space, desperately trying to contain the rage. What was making it worse is that no matter how much he stared outside, he could still sense every single passenger that walked by, staring at him as they did so. He understood that he looked very dangerous, which he was anyway, so it made sense for people to be scared, but it was just making him more and more likely to snap with each one.
After a while, he couldn’t take it anymore. In an attempt to ease his anxiety, he lowered himself to his knees and entered a meditative position. For the first time since he’d been transferred into the metallic box of a body, his vision actually cut out as if he’d closed his non-existent eyes, going black for a moment. Suddenly, a new location came into sight, still on the transport ship for sure, but definitely not where he was. Sebastian and Elias came into his view and they seemed to be looking for something.
“He’s too dangerous!” Hissed Sebastian, throwing something into a bag.
Elias continued to follow his master.
“I like him.” He replied.
Sebastian gave Elias an angry look as if he wanted to disconnect him right then and there.
“Staying with Adrian will only result in our deaths.” Said Sebastian.
Elias crossed his arms, displaying a sign of disapproval.
“I do not believe that sir.” He said.
“Believe what you want, but the moment I get a chance, I’m out of here!” Replied Sebastian as he continued to search for supplies.
The vision shifted, this time to a planet that Adrian knew all too well, his home planet of Ostillion. His eyes glided upon the terrain like a low flying aircraft, all the way to a strange and extremely large cave system that seemed as if it could span throughout the entire planet.
“You see?” Asked a voice, almost giving Adrian a heart-attack as it intruded on his mind.
Adrian looked around the caves, trying to figure out what the voice was getting at.
“See what?” He asked.
“Your future.” Replied the voice, almost hissing the words as it spoke.
Adrian remained silent, watching as the vision began to move him once again.
“I have given you power.” Said the voice, sounding much more aggressive than before.
Even though he couldn’t see the being, he figured it could see him. He nodded in response.
“Teach me how to use it.” He said.
The voice laughed inside his head, a piercing, maniacal laughter that Adrian would not soon forget.
“Soon.” It whispered. “Soon.”
The vision cut, and his normal sight returned to him, finding himself with four of the transport guards surrounding him as he’d been meditating. He slowly raised his head, as he did so the guards all took half a step back, unsure of what he was capable of.
“S-s-sir.” Stammered one of the guards. “You are n-not supposed to be here.”
“Oh?” Asked Adrian in his low, angry voice. “And which one of you is going to remove me?”
“Fire!” Shouted one of the guards.
All four carbines lit up, firing ceaselessly into Adrian’s metal body. The bullets seemed to bounce off of him as they hit, his body’s energy creating a shield around him. Once the firing stopped and the smoke cleared, the guards were horrified to see Adrian still standing in the center, without a single scratch in his shiny, impenetrable body.
“Now.” Growled Adrian. “It’s my turn.”
Slowly raising his hands, he imagined lifting the guns out of the guard’s hands, forcing the energy to do his bidding. As the guns were forcefully removed and began floating, the guards all immediately attempted to take off running. Adrian then thought about the door to the cargo room that he was in shutting and locking the guards inside. The door closed as if following orders, for a second he stopped and looked down at his hands, finally realizing just how much power he truly had.
“Please, please stop!” Begged what looked to be the leader of the little squad, judging by the badges on the side.
“You interrupted my meditation.” Whispered Adrian. “Now, watch as I interrupt your breathing.”
He walked over and grabbed him by the back of the neck, placing his hand just over his mouth.
The man began to choke as if every bit of air had been sucked out of him with a vacuum, while other guards stared in horror as their captain screamed at the top of his lungs in agony. Before he was completely disabled, Adrian decided to let him go, moving his hand away from the man’s mouth and allowing him to breathe again.
The captain fell onto the ground on all fours.
“Now.” Said Adrian, kneeling down next to the fallen captain. “Leave me alone, and I’ll let you live.”
“Y-y-yes, sir.” Stammered the captain.
“Good.” Said Adrian, as he pointed his hand towards the door, causing it to slide open. “You are dismissed.”
The guards all fled, leaving their captain to limp out of the room on his own. Adrian watched as they all ran, pleased with himself for having his little breakthrough. His power was definitely growing, and it was no accident. He recalled the pulsecutioner back on Voore, how he’d vanished just before all hell had broken loose. It had to be that man who was speaking to him, even though it sounded nothing like him, but who else could it be? There was no other explanation for it, he could have altered the flow of power, or maybe he used the generator as a distraction while he did some strange sorcery on him. There was no way of truly knowing unless Adrian somehow learned how to conjure more of those visions, maybe then would the mysterious being be able to explain things more clearly.