by Martin HC
After disembarking they were all led towards a small and oddly built structure which stood alone in the middle of a giant hall, like the one they'd come from but smaller and empty.
Damon decided to use the brief walk to recap on last nights discussion.
“OK, so we're meeting with a woman called Feissa and she works for the Sirens, they're a major cartel on this station, do not be fooled by her in any way, she's as brutal as she seems nice.”
“I thought you said we were meeting a collector of some kind, not a gangster,” Haydn answered.
“I told you all this last night after getting back, don't you remember me telling you this?” Damon asked.
“Damon have you seen how I look today, I remember my birth better than last night.”
Damon sighed as they reached the building's door.
“She'll want something back for her time, so think up something of value you can give in exchange for information and no matter what, don't mention...”
The door swung inwards, cutting him off and leaving them all hanging as an incredibly beautiful woman stepped out and smiled. She was at least a foot shorter than Haydn, her lips were a deep red and her long golden wavy hair shone in the station's light as she emerged.
Her thin clothing moved like silk over her toned and perfect skin, the upper buttons on her silver blouse were undone, helping only to encourage the imagination and she wore a black skirt, ending just above her knees to reveal two perfectly shaped lower legs atop a pair of black heels.
She slowly scanned the group, her smile and polite appearance never faltering, then spoke.
“Please come in, all of you, don't let these big muscled meanies make you nervous, they're harmless,” she told them, and slapped one on the shoulder without breaking her lovely smile as if to prove a point.
Haydn looked at the meanies as he followed in behind her, the heavy weapons hanging by theirs sides and the brutal expressions they wore showed nothing akin to harmless.
A Confrontation with a Viper
She led them into a large room with a bar and to a table at it's centre, taking a seat she gestured for them to do the same.
Damon counted at least twelve armed guards around the walls of the room, none were slouching, smoking or staring into empty space, they were alert and the situation was starting to make him tingly. Apparently Jill also noticed, her now jet black hair had tinges of shimmering green running through it, a signal which Brenn was familiar with, evident by him discreetly opening the safety clip to the holster strapped against his right leg.
“OK, first things first, would anyone like something to drink?” she asked.
“No, thank you, we're a little delicate right now,” Damon answered for the group.
“I wouldn't mind a pain killer if you have one,” Haydn threw out.
Damon tensed at this unwarranted breach of etiquette but relaxed again when their host laughed.
“Yes, quite a late night for you all from what I hear, but sadly I don't have any to hand.”
“Yeah, quite late,” Haydn confirmed. “Well I could use a strong drink then.”
Brenn grunted, Damon hung his head slightly and Jill tried to conceal a grin.
“The poison already in your system still hasn't cleared,” Tiralyn told him.
“Well I need something to numb the pain and enough of the poison nonsense.”
“It won't help with the pain, you'll just end up up drunk again, but this time with a headache,” Damon could see the switch in her persona as she forced out her reply.
“It's just one drink,” he came back feebly.
“And I'm telling you, now is not the time for a drink,” Tira answered, putting her foot down.
“Fine then,” he said, looking back to the blonde beauty. “I guess I'll have nothing.”
“Well for what it's worth my dear, I think your friend is right, the stuff is nothing but poison,” she replied.
Feissa looked at Tira, the woman noticed there was no friendliness in her eyes, an unfriendliness the girl now maintained, as a saddened sigh followed by an inaudible mumble came from Haydn.
“I'm sorry dear, I missed that.”
“I said my head is killing me.”
“Indeed, now then down to business I suppose, I of course need no introduction, you'll be Damon, Jane and Brenn, yes we've seen you before but you two are new, Haydn and Tira is it?”
“Yes, and that's scary,” Haydn admitted.
“Oh don't let it upset you, we like to do our homework of course,” she told him, all the time never dropping her friendly smile and disarming gaze. “I'm told you're looking for information with regards to a background signal emanating from the Darkspace region, do I have that right?”
She leaned forward towards Haydn as she asked, he passed the test and kept his eye level high, fighting the urge to take in what she put on show, Brenn and Damon failed, Jill only rolled her eyes.
“Yes we are,” Haydn answered her.
“Why?”
“They're trying to gather information before they go there,” Damon answered her dryly.
“Do you know anything about the region? Is there anything you know that could help?”
“Oh sweety, we've just met, why would I pass up such valuable information on a first meeting?” she asked, sitting back up straight again. “What would I have to gain from it?”
Tira leaned over to Haydn's ear and mumbled quietly.
“What was that my dear, I don't believe anyone else in the room could hear,” Feissa said aloud, turning her attention to Tira.
Tira looked to Haydn, who shrugged, so she replied.
“I said that you're lying, I said you know nothing of anything within the Darkspace but you do have something in the room behind you.”
The girl's insolence upset Feissa, her rise in temper was offset only because she was correct, this was for her one of the oddest meetings she'd ever started, it was amusing though to watch the pair in front argue.
“Pray do tell love, the room behind me is shielded from any known scanning technology, so how can you know what I have in there?” her flawless smile turned to ice and her eyes narrowed.
“Obviously not all scanning technology, but as to the object that's in there, I don't yet know what it is, but I will when I see it.”
“You presume a lot,” Feissa told her with steel in her voice, and not liking where the girl was taking them. It wouldn't do to be spoken to like this in front of her minions, it indicated weakness, and in her world weakness was death.
“I presume nothing,” Tira fired back, defiantly.
The guards around the room began to shift slowly, tightening their grips on the weapons they held, it wasn't inconspicuous and it was noticed by everyone. Brenn's hand hadn't moved from his leg and no-one noticed when both of Jill's slid under the table.
“Tell me my dear, what makes you think you'll ever walk out this room let alone into the one behind me?”
Feissa began to stand slowly, while the surrounding guards tensed and raised their weapons. Although Tira looked non threatening, those raised in the darkest of the fringe regions learned the hard way, the best weapons were made to completely deceive. A harmless teenage youth for example, could also be a weaponised android.
“I'm curious, who in this room do you think could stop me?” Tira questioned back with eyes as cold as Feissa's own.
Maybe it was the tension in the room, the threat of ensuing violence, or how cold the cartel boss became, but with the feeling of last night's festivities still in his head, Haydn decided to interject.
“Erm... ladies... I don't think we need to blow things out of proportion here. What Tira means is that she would like to have a look, please?” he began, cutting through the silence. “And Feissa, if it came from the Darkspace, then I'm guessing you don't actually know what it is you have next door, Tira might be the one person that could tell you... besides it would be a horrible waste of effort to get yourself dressed up like that and
looking so good, just to start a fight.”
Everyone at the table turned to look at Haydn, Damon's face was a picture of horror, while both Tira and Jill just stared at him incredulously. The ice in Feissa's eyes on the other hand mostly melted and her expression was more of amused bewilderment, the timing of the complement unbalanced everyone.
Despite having mastered her facial expressions, they betrayed her now but she quickly recomposed, the interruption gave her time to think and calm herself. If what he was saying was true, then she would want to know what the girl could tell her about the object, so far to date no professional could tell her anything about its purpose or design, they couldn't even identify its material composition.
She never looked away from Haydn as she spoke her answer.
“Very well, I will let you see it. Perhaps you might actually be able to tell me what it is, but I promise if you're wasting my time, there will be no rocks to hide under.”
Everyone in the room other than Feissa and Tira breathed again, Haydn only realised how tense he'd become himself as the guards lowered their weapons. Jill moved her hands back up from under the table, and finally there was a very audible click from Brenn's right leg.
“Well haven't things gotten a little heated in here, lets say we calm everything down and have a look in the other room,” the smile was back as she gestured for them to follow, “please, this way.”
A Flashy Exit
The other room was much like the size of the first but empty, except for a single object sat in the middle, it appeared damaged with a large hole at the front. The object was shaped like a round sea stone, had an ominous black colour to it and was as smooth as glass, it was large Haydn thought, taller than him and at least six metres long.
“So this is it my loves, our hidden treasure, the only surviving piece of a Darkspace ship found long long ago,” she told them. “We have no idea what it is naturally, we know only that it's damaged and was found amongst the wreckage of a Desian fleet battle.”
“This is part of a weapons system and the damage is only superficial, it likely still works.”
Tira's statement was sudden, the room fell quiet as everyone looked at her, then to the object, and finally back to her.
“How can you know this?” Feissa asked her, cutting through the silence.
“Its construction is similar in design to one of my own secondary weapons, it just requires a power source.”
“Are you saying we can operate it?” Feissa asked her.
“I could, but you don't have the power control requirements or the knowledge to construct them.”
“What are you saying, please clarify,” the warmth of the beauty's smile and pleasant attitude evaporated again, she just found out that the most powerful weapons system in their known existence had been sat in her lap the whole time, better than that, the person who knows what it is can also operate it. She could not let the Ferren's take them now, this could change the game completely.
“You can hand a caveman a torch and he might learn to switch it on and off, but he'll never understand what a battery is, or how to recharge one so in the end he'll just use it for hitting things,” Haydn clarified for her.
“Haydn, we have to get this back to our ship, I need to analyse it properly.”
“Excuse me, but I think you'll find no one is going anywhere,” Feissa told them all, “and it finally becomes clear why the Ferren's have a hunter fleet looking for you.”
“They've been chasing us for a while now,” Haydn told her, undisturbed by the revelation.
“They're on their way here, now, you don't seem upset to find out.”
“It's not the first time we've run into them,” Tira told the room passively, never taking her appraising attention away from the Darkspace weapon.
“I was to hand you over to them, but I can't of course let you go now so help me to help you, show me how this works and we'll help you all to live.”
And there it was, the deception laid out at everyone's feet and the worm at the end to help get the fish to bite, not quite a useful worm though when the fish is holding a hook detector.
“She's lying again,” Tira remarked.
Feissa's frustration became evident now, she tried to explain their predicament calmly, which only gave the blonde an almost psychotic appearance.
“Regardless of lies or truth, what makes you think you'll have a choice in the end, better to cooperate willingly or be forced to watch your friends get torn apart.”
“There's a fleet inbound, they're twelve minutes out,” Tira told the room.
“They're early, they weren't supposed to get here for hours yet.”
“I'm really really sorry, you seem like a beautiful, lovely person and all, but we really need to go, with the weapon that is,” Haydn said, gesturing with his head to the centre of the room.
“Guards, take them...”
She didn't finish, what followed was immediate, violent and was started by Jill. She threw out two knifes, and so much force was put behind them that each passed cleanly through the heads of their victims to embedded themselves in the wall. Before anyone else could react she'd already drawn two lethal looking daggers from her back, and turning she sunk them into the necks of two other men close behind her.
Brenn cued almost as fast as Jill, his left hand threw out a dagger of his own which took his first victim down, at the same time he drew his pulse pistol in his right and killed the last two. Damon moved to the door, slamming and locking it shut.
Haydn was stunned still. Damon hinted previously at Jill's lethality, but to witness her killing four men in as much as half a second done a lot to reinforce those hints. His stunned silence was broken by the remaining guards trying to shoot their way in through the door, the shooting stopped to the sound of a high pitched yelping.
Feissa stood one metre in front of Haydn during the entire exchange, watching him like a predator before breaking the new silence of the room, “well the door is shielded so the yelp we all heard, and I'm guessing here, was a rebounded shot,” she told them all, “it's hard to find intelligent help in places like this.”
“You should tell your men outside that door to stop trying, if they make it in here I can't guarantee you'll survive.”
To his surprise it worked, she lifted her sleeve to her mouth and told them all to stand down, which they dutifully did.
“Haydn, the fleet will arrive close to the station but outside of weapons range, the ships are those of the second hunter fleet that's been chasing us,” Tira told him.
“You have two hunter fleets chasing you, well you are popular, but take it from me when I say that you'll never walk through that door alive,” their beautiful host told them as she slyly began to pull something from her other sleeve.
“Then we'd be as well just killing you now,” Jill spoke menacingly as one of her lethal daggers snapped up to Feissa's neck, the blonde hadn't heard Jill move behind her. “What do you have in your hand?”
Feissa opened her palm showing Haydn the contents.
“It's a lollipop, Jill,” he told her.
Jill removed the blade as Feissa unwrapped and lifted the sweet, staring innocently into Haydn's eyes she put it in her mouth. He noticed a line of blood make its way down onto her collar bone before staining her blouse red.
“Trust me when I say we'll get out of here just fine, sweetheart,” Haydn told her. “I'm going to vouch for you now not to do anything stupid, OK, that way Jill won't have to get excited, so please, pretty pretty please, go over to the other side of the room and away from the door,” she did as instructed, walking around a dead guard to reach the wall.
“Haydn, we should leave,” Damon spoke impatiently from across the room.
“Tira get that thing to the ship then open a door for us.”
She gave no confirmation, she only looked to the weapon and the room lit up with an energy, a jump bridge tore itself into existence beside the machine, the air crackled with white energy wh
ich arced itself from the borders of the bridge to the walls and ceiling.
As it stabilised, the arcing energy from the poorly controlled and rapidly opened doorway stopped discharging. The jump bridge swept itself over the weapon, once it had enveloped it completely, the bridge dissipated leaving only the scarred walls and ceiling with a hole in the middle of the floor.
A second smaller bridge formed in a wall and to their credit they didn't hesitate, Brenn, Damon and Jill all stepped through, knowing the gut wrenching assault on their bodies waiting for them on the other side, Tira followed as Haydn turned back to look at his host one last time.