by Tripp Ellis
"Malcolm Blackburn?" the commander said.
“That’s me,” Ray answered, his smile growing more tenuous.
There was a long pause. The commander didn't look pleased, or maybe that was just his usual expression. "Your paperwork seems to be in order and the registration checks out." The commander sighed, disappointed. Then he flashed an insincere smile. "You don't mind if we have a look around, do you?"
Ray knew it wasn't a question at all. "Go right ahead. Me gava tu gava, as they say on Rylos 3.”
The troops fanned out, advancing through the ship with tactical precision. They cleared the hallways and compartments.
Ray could feel his heartbeat elevate, and a thin mist of sweat formed in the small of his back. But he maintained a cool exterior. He hated the fact that these jackasses were rummaging through the ship, but he kept a smile—until he heard one of the Soturi shout, “I think we’ve found something, sir.”
18
Ray’s secret compartment wasn't very secret. The Soturi surrounded it with their weapons drawn. You could tell they were just itching to shoot something.
Commander Shavo marched into the cargo hold. Ray was forced to follow along. The Soturi had rounded up Vlaax, Nard, and ZV-0 as well.
Ray had a gnarly feeling in his gut the second he stepped into the bay. He saw the Soturi surrounding the secret panel, and his heart sunk.
"There's a false compartment here," one of the Soturi shouted.
The commander glanced to Ray. "Care to open this for us?”
Ray grimaced and stepped to the panel. He activated the hidden switch, and the hatch slid open. Ray closed his eyes—he couldn't bear to look.
“That is quite the find," the commander said. But there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Ray opened his eyes to see the compartment was empty—Grace and Ava were nowhere to be found. Ray looked stunned for a moment. Then he tried to cover his amazement with a grin. But his mind was racing, wondering where the hell they were.
“Keep searching,” the commander barked. “No telling what will turn up on this hunk of junk."
The Soturi spread out, heading aft.
Shavo eyed ZV-0. He was contained in a restraining field emanating from a handheld device operated by one of the Soturi. It looked like a small remote control and projected a beam of energy that restrained the robot. The force field kept him from utilizing any of his weaponry. He could only move as directed by the controller.
“You,” Shavo said. “You’re a standard navigational bot, correct? Limited AI.” He glanced at his PDU looking over ZV-0’s information, which was all falsified. “VX-7 is your operating name?”
“Correct, sir."
“Where you coming from?”
“Hyperion.”
Shavo’s eyes narrowed at the bot. “What if I download your memory banks? I wonder what your ocular recorder will show me."
The robot’s entire experience had been recorded. It wouldn't be difficult to download ZV-0’s memory banks and replay everything that had happened in the last 24 hours.
ZV-0 could wipe his memory banks and reboot himself—but that would be the equivalent of robot death. He would have no recollection of his life, relationships, or personality traits that he had developed over the course of his existence. He would be reset to standard protocol—good as new, except for the damage he had done to his neural processor from his addiction to stim-sticks. Though, ZV-0 would argue it wasn't damage, just a change of perspective.
“If you have a drive handy, I’d be happy to download the relevant data,” ZV-0 said casually.
The commander's eyes shifted to Vlaax. "What about these two?”
"They don't speak the language so well," Ray said.
Vlaax shot him a subtle look.
“What’s your purpose on Ultrava?”
Vlaax stared at him dumbly.
Shavo spoke slowly and loudly, as if that would make it clearer. "Why are you going to Ultrava?”
Vlaax just shrugged.
The commander was getting frustrated. Several Soturi returned, interrupting him as he was about to press on with his line of questioning.
"The ship is clean,” the Soturi said. “There's nothing here."
Shavo’s face tensed. His eyes shifted back to Ray, but he wasn't pleased. A commander who recovered the shard would be handsomely rewarded. But it wasn’t going to be Shavo. At least not today. “It seems you are free to go. Other than a few minor violations, your vessel seems to be in order." His eyes narrowed, giving Ray one last look over, then he conceded. "The Realm thanks you for your cooperation.”
“Any time."
“Move out!" the commander shouted.
The Soturi withdrew from the cargo bay, flowing through the corridors, back to the airlock.
Ray breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Vlaax and Nard, contemplating what to do with them.
“I’m not going back in that cell,” Vlaax muttered.
“Yeah, me neither,” Nard added.
“Fine. But if I get any trouble from you two…”
“No trouble,” Vlaax assured him. He sounded sincere, but Ray had a healthy dose of skepticism. He figured Vlaax wasn’t going to do anything to draw the attention of the Realm after such a narrow escape.
Ray marched out of the cargo bay and followed the Soturi to the airlock. He watched them leave. Once the outer airlock hatch was sealed, he peered through the port as they scurried down the umbilical. They loaded into their ship and retracted the connection. Their ship drifted away toward the Wolverine.
ZV-0 hovered next to Ray.
“Were you really going to download your consciousness and give it to them?" Ray asked.
“They wouldn't have been able to decipher the jumbled mess that is my brain. My neural processors have been… altered… so to speak.” ZV-0's electronic face smiled.
“Well, I guess being a junkie has its benefits."
“I am not a junkie. I can quit at any time.”
Ray snorted, and marched out of the airlock. “Any idea where Grace and Ava are?” he asked, ZV-0 trailing after him.
“Yes. They are outside.”
“Outside?"
“They took two EVA suits and exited through the aft maintenance hatch.”
Ray frowned. “Why didn't she tell me about this?"
“I’m sure she didn’t want to argue.”
Ray spun around and marched in the opposite direction. “Are you implying that I'm argumentative?"
ZV-0 was silent. He twirled around and followed.
Ray tapped his earbud. “Grace? Can you hear me?”
A moment later, her voice crackled back over the comm link. “Yep.”
“It's all clear. You can come back inside now.”
“Copy that.”
When Ray reached the aft maintenance hatch, Grace and Ava were climbing down the ladder from the small airlock.
Grace's boots clanked against the deck as she jumped down. She twisted off her helmet releasing it from the metal ring. She took a deep breath and shook out her long black hair. “What did I miss?"
“Oh, not much. We just had a few friends over. Had a little party,” Ray said.
Ava climbed down to the deck, and the two of them peeled out of their spacesuits.
“They found the compartment, didn't they?” Grace said.
Ray scowled at her, sheepishly.
Grace smiled. “Thought so.” She strutted away.
Ray shook his head and watched her saunter toward the cockpit.
Ava hung her suit on the rack. She shrugged and followed after Grace.
“It seems they made a wise choice," ZV-0 said.
Ray scowled at the robot, playfully. “Go ahead. Rub it in."
19
“Who are we looking for?” Ray asked. Ava had mentioned it before, but the name seemed hazy in his memory. Too many distractions.
“Eko Sen Zaan,” she said.
“Where do we find this Eko Sen Zaan?”
Ray was sitting in the pilot’s seat. Ultrava loomed large through the forward window.
“The Great Mother said Nova Serfina on Ultrava,” Ava said. “That’s all I know.”
“Well, that really narrows it down doesn't it?"
Ray angled the Valkyrie toward the planet and plunged through the upper atmosphere. The craft rumbled through the turbulence, then settled as it slipped through the clouds.
Ultrava was one of the most densely populated planets in the sector. The once lush green planet with vast oceans was now predominantly covered by cityscapes. Sure, there were still rural areas, but enormous megacities stretched far and wide, and sometimes it was hard to tell where one began and another ended. There were even floating cities at sea. They were so massive, and had such sophisticated stabilizing technology, that you never felt the ground sway beneath your feet.
Ray soared the Valkyrie high over the massive continent of Urpona. As he drew near Nova Serfina, he contacted air traffic control and secured a landing pad at the city's largest spaceport. He grumbled about the cost, it had gone up 20% since his last visit, but then so had Imperial taxes.
Ava stared out the window as they cruised over the mega-city. Towering skyscrapers that rose in the clouds, spacecraft coming and going, streets lined with hover cars and pedestrians. "How many people live in the city?"
“About 150 million, give or take," Ray said.
It was the kind of city where you had to live near your place of employment. It took nearly a full day to commute from one side of the city to the other.
Ray banked the Valkyrie around and landed in Bay 279 of the Nova Serfina Interstellar Spaceway. The massive thrusters rumbled, and the air distorted beneath the landing thrusters as it floated gently to the ground. The hydraulic landing pylons absorbed the shock, cushioning the weighty craft.
“How exactly are we going to find this Eko Sen Zaan?” Grace asked.
"I'll figure something out,” Ray said. "Maybe he's listed?"
"I'm scanning the known database of persons in Nova Serfina,” ZV-0 said. “There is no Eko Sen Zaan.”
“He might not even be on this planet," Ray said. "Do you know if he's even still alive? How old is the guy?"
Ava shrugged.
“So, we’ve got a lot to go on," Ray said in jest. He climbed out of the pilot seat and pulled his pistol from its holster. He checked the power charge—it was practically full. He re-holstered it.
Grace did the same.
“Stay close, and don't wander off,” Ray said. "The city is unlike anything you've ever seen before.” Then he added, “And try not to draw attention to yourselves.”
Ray strolled out of the cockpit. He weaved through the corridors to the main entrance and lowered the ramp. The thick polluted air of Nova Serfina wafted into the ship. You could smell the exhaust of millions of vehicles. The air was filled with sweat, fear, and excitement. The city was everything and nothing. You could find anything you wanted, if you had the money. And if you didn't have money, it was a wasteland.
At the bottom of the ramp, Ray was greeted by a porter. “Good afternoon, and welcome to Nova Serfina.” He spoke in a monotone voice. There was nothing warm or friendly about his demeanor. He had said the greeting a thousand times, and it no longer meant anything. “Do you have any baggage?”
“No.”
The porter looked disappointed, like he wasn't going to get a tip. “How long do you plan to stay?”
“A day. Maybe two."
“Check out time is noon. Departures after noon will be billed for an additional day.” The porter held out his PDU. “Sign here.”
Ray placed his thumb on the pad to authenticate and accept the terms.
“Do you need me to arrange ground transportation?”
“No, thank you." Ray dug into his pocket and handed the man a few credits.
“Thank you, sir." The porter strolled away.
The rest of the gang had made their way down the ramp. Ava’s nose curled up. “What’s that smell?”
“Progress,” Ray said sardonically. He craned his neck back up the ramp to see Vlaax and Nard exiting.
“It’s been a pleasure,” Vlaax said as he reached the landing. He and Nard kept walking toward the terminal.
“You’re forgetting something,” Ray called after them.
Vlaax glanced back with a quizzical look on his face. Ray displayed the tattoo on the back of his hand.
“Yeah. About that. I lied,” Vlaax smiled and strolled away.
Ray’s face tensed. He muttered to himself , “I’m really beginning to dislike that guy.”
“What was that about?” Ava asked.
“It’s nothing,” Ray mumbled. He marched from the bay into the terminal. A swarm of people scurried about. Ray, and the others, navigated the horde, making their way to the ground transportation area. It was like swimming upstream.
They hopped into an automated shuttle van.
“Take us to the Cat Scratch Club on 163rd Street,” Ray said.
Grace arched an eyebrow at him. “Do you think now is really the time to be indulging in your fantasies?”
Ray sneered at her. "I have a friend there. He can help us.”
“You have friends?” Grace said.
Ray didn't dignify it with a response. The hovercraft sped away. It raced around the spaceport loop, then onto the main thoroughfare. Traffic in Nova Serfina was beyond insane. A dizzying rush of vehicles on, and above, the roadway. It was one thing to drive on ground level, quite another to drive in one of the designated elevated tiers above the roadway.
There wasn't an official demarcation between vertical lanes, though they were technically 12 feet high, each. Most of the cars on, or near, the roadway were automated. You had to be either extremely talented, or slightly insane, to try and navigate the roadways manually. Hover-cars dipped and weaved and dodged and turned with technical precision, changing lanes and elevations with pinpoint accuracy.
It took almost an hour to reach the Cat Scratch Club. The name was in lights above the entrance. An animated image of a provocative bombshell in a tight leather catsuit, wearing an angular eye mask, seductively invited patrons inside. Get the fever, was the subtitle. The place oozed sensuality, and was known the galaxy over. If kittens weren't your thing, Matadors was just down the street. And if you were looking for something else, you could find it a block over at Transitions.
Ray, and company, filed out of the cab. They stood on the bustling sidewalk admiring the garish sights of the red light district.
Ray strolled into the establishment. There was a girl behind the register, and a bouncer twice the size of Ray.
“It's 35 credits each," the cashier said.
“I’m here to see Nero," Ray replied.
“I don’t give a shit who you are here to see. It’s 35 credits each."
Ray grimaced. He took one look at the size of the bouncer and didn't want to tumble with him, so he reluctantly placed his thumb on the pay pad.
“Do you know where I can find him?" Ray asked.
“I’m not his secretary,” the bouncer said.
“Is he in the building?”
“Maybe."
Ray shook his head and muttered to himself. The bouncer stepped aside, and Ray and the crew filed into the sleazy establishment.
There were several stages, atop which the most exotic of women twirled around poles, spotlit by stage lights that slashed the hazy air. Electronic music pumped in through massive speakers. You could feel the beat in your chest. The girls writhed and undulated in rhythm.
"Always leave it to you to keep it classy," Grace muttered.
“We’re here strictly on business. I swear." Race stopped a waitress as she passed by. "I'm looking for Nero. He's an old friend. Have you seen him?"
She glanced back over the crowded club and pointed toward the corner. “Yeah, he's right over there."
The waitress sauntered away and delivered a tray of cocktails to a nearby table.
/> Nero was sitting at a table in a roped off area. He was with several other men. A plethora of gorgeous women surrounded them. There was a bottle of liquor, ice, and several glasses on the table, along with carafes of various mixers.
A bouncer stood at the velvet rope, prohibiting access to this VIP area that only Nero was allowed to occupy. He held out his hand and stopped Ray as he approached. He wore a double-breasted suit and had his hair slicked back, pulled into a ponytail. He had a trimmed black mustache. His shoulders were twice as wide as Ray's, but he had short narrow legs.
“Ray Dakota, here to see Nero."
The bouncer turned back and signaled to the boss.
Nero caught sight of Ray. A wide smile beamed across his face and he stood up. He waved Ray, and the group, back. The bouncer unlatched the velvet rope and pulled it aside.
Ray smiled and strolled toward Nero. He reached out his hand to greet his old friend. But instead of responding with a handshake, Nero swung a right cross that connected perfectly with Ray's jaw. Maybe Nero wasn't so happy to see him after all?
20
Nero wasn't an exceptionally big guy, but his fist connected with Ray’s face like a sledgehammer. It wrenched his neck to the side and caused Ray to stumble. He almost hit the ground, but he recovered his balance at the last second. His lip split and blood sprayed onto the well-worn carpet.
Ava’s eyes grew wide. “Is that a standard greeting?” she whispered into Grace’s ear.
Grace fumbled for words. “Um, sure. Sometimes when old friends are excited to see each other, they exchange punches… I guess.”
Ray clenched his fist, instinctually wanting to return the punch. But he knew assaulting Nero in his own club wasn't going to be a good idea. Instead, he took the pain and smiled, then stood tall. “I take it you're still pissed?"
Nero might have gotten in a cheap shot, but it didn't come without a price. His knuckles were split from Ray's teeth, and his metacarpals ached. Nero tried to shake out the pain.
Ray might not have been a prizefighter, but he could take a punch. And it's easier to break your fist than you think.
“No, I'm not pissed.” Nero smiled. “Not anymore. Now we’re even.”