by Tripp Ellis
Ray said nothing.
“That's something I can easily find out. Don't make me go to the trouble."
“Okay. Yeah.”
“Says here you were SOCT class 234. Is that correct?"
Ray nodded.
“I was 202.”
O’Malley had Ray’s full attention now.
“Was Master Chief Worthington still there?”
Ray chuckled. “The Worm.”
The two men had a moment of recognition. SOCT wasn't anything like basic recruit training. Only the toughest of the tough made it through. 80% of applicants dropped the program within the first week. By the third grueling week, 90% were gone. Everyone who graduated SOCT shared a bond that lasted a lifetime.
The Realm hadn’t always been evil. It was originally a free republic of planetary systems with open and honest elections. But the government was infiltrated from within. And as the Empress rose to power, she eliminated her political opposition and instituted a totalitarian regime.
O’Malley pulled up his sleeve and moved aside his watch. On the inside of his wrist was a secret resistance tattoo. O'Malley covered it quickly, and pulled his sleeve back down. “Now, do you want to tell me about this stone?”
25
Commander Shavo marched into the precinct with a squad of Imperial Soturi. Detective O’Malley greeted them, but Shavo was short on pleasantries.
“Where are the prisoners?”
“This way.” O’Malley led them down a corridor to the interrogation rooms. “I must say, I was surprised at your interest. This was a routine stolen car.”
“The description matches a group of wanted intergalactic criminals. Very dangerous. We’ll take them from here.”
O’Malley twisted through the hallways, then pushed open the door to one of the interrogation rooms—it was empty.
O’Malley’s eyes went wide. “I don’t understand. He was here just a minute ago.” He frantically rushed to the other rooms, pushing open the doors. They were all empty.
Shavo glared at him.
“They must be in the building somewhere.” O’Malley pressed a button on the wall and the alarm sounded.
“Incompetent fool!” Shavo shouted, the veins in his neck protruding. “I want copies of your surveillance video.”
Officers scurried about in the chaos.
“Certainly,” O’Malley said. But the surveillance video had been mysteriously deleted.
RAY, and the others, huddled in the back of a police transport van. They weaved through the city for several minutes, then the van pulled into an alleyway and came to a stop. Ray heard the driver exit from the cab and slam the door. He heard his boots against the concrete as he marched around to the back of the van. The lock released, and the rear doors flung open, revealing a gruff looking officer.
Ray stared at him a moment.
“This is the end of the free ride,” the officer said. “Get out.”
Ray didn't hesitate to crawl out of the van.
The officer un-cuffed him, and the others. The officer handed back their weapons and personal items, and gave Ray the shard. “Disappear. Get off the planet. You get picked up again, O’Malley can’t save you.”
“Thanks,” Ray said.
“Don’t thank me. Just stick it to those Imperial scumbags.” He closed the doors to the van, marched back to the cab, and drove away.
“How did we get out of that one?” Grace asked.
“It seems some people are still fighting for the resistance, in their own way.” Ray grinned, thinking of O’Malley. Thinking there might still be hope to someday bring the Realm down.
“What do we do now?” Ava asked.
“We get back to the Valkyrie and get off this rock,” Ray said.
“Then what? Keep running from the Realm?”
“If we have to.”
“Do you really think there is a place outside the universe where the shard can be destroyed?” Grace asked.
Ray shrugged. “I don’t know if there’s anything out there or not. I’ve never met anyone who’s gone beyond the bounds of this universe.”
“If there is something beyond, we have no guarantee the same laws of physics would even apply,” ZV-0 added. “There are infinite possibilities.” He paused a moment. “Instead of trying to keep the shard from the Empress, why don’t we steal the other four shards from her? The one who possesses all five shards is invincible, or so the legend goes.”
There was a glimmer in Ray’s eyes. “Not a bad idea, Egghead.”
ZV-0’s display flashed a digital smile.
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Grace said. “You can’t be serious?”
“Think about what you’re suggesting,” Grace said. “That’s insane.”
“What, you scared?”
“No. Just not suicidal. You’re talking about infiltrating the Empress’s flagship. Stealing her most coveted possessions and escaping. Dream on.”
A wave of concern washed over Ava’s face. “The stones should never be reunited. It’s too much power for any mortal to handle. It corrupted a demigod.”
“I’m not a demigod, so no worries there. We’re just going to collect them and keep them safe,” Ray assured her.
“Sometimes I think both of you are brain damaged,” Grace quipped.
“No, just him,” Ray said, motioning to ZV-0. “I was born this way.” He smiled.
Ray’s mobile buzzed. He pulled the slim device from his pocket. Nero’s angry face appeared on the display.
“Do you have any idea what happened to my apartment?"
“Yeah, about that. Sorry. Circumstances beyond my control.”
“It’s a disaster. The Picazio is destroyed. That painting is over 600 years old. Do you know how much I paid for that at auction?”
“But hey, we're still alive. Most of us, anyway.”
“I don't know if that's a good thing.”
“Dietrich is the one that you should be mad at. It was his men.”
Nero grumbled.
“I’ll make it up to you, I swear."
“No, listen, Ray… don't bother. Call it severance pay. I don't ever want to hear from you again. You try to come around any one of my establishments, I'll have you shot on site. Go crawl off to some other part of the galaxy and live a miserable existence.”
“Hey, now, that’s no way to talk to a friend…”
But Nero was gone. The transmission had ended.
“He'll cool down,” Ray said. “He's a little hotheaded sometimes.”
“I was beginning to worry it was just me that got so infuriated with you,” Grace said. "Good to know it's everyone." She strolled down the alley toward Thackston Avenue. Ava followed after her.
“You love to hate me. Admit it,” Ray called to her, his voice echoing off the brick walls. He turned to ZV-0 and muttered, “She’s crazy about me, really. She just can't admit it to herself."
“My sensors detect she was being truthful when she said she can’t stand you.”
Ray scowled at the robot. “Well, your sensors suck.”
“Actually, they are functioning properly.”
Ray sneered at him.
The robot tried to appease him. “There is an off chance that I could be malfunctioning.”
Ray smiled. But his grin quickly faded. Ava and Grace had reached the sidewalk. A black Cadismo Escavante pulled alongside them. Two goons jumped out and threw them into the SUV, then sped away.
Ray cursed and sprinted down the alleyway. It had to be Dietrich's men, he thought. By the time he reached the sidewalk, the Escavante was already a few blocks down Thackston Avenue.
Ray glanced around, looking for a method of transportation. He drew his weapon and stepped into a lane of traffic, aiming his weapon at an oncoming hover-cycle. “Off. Now!”
The rider jumped off, and Ray commandeered the vehicle. He sped into traffic, weaving through the swarm of hover cars.
The cycle was faster and more nimble. Ray twisted the throttle an
d the cycle lurched forward. The acceleration was so intense, Ray almost fell off the back. He clung to the handlebars for dear life. Wind blasted him in the face as he sliced through narrow gaps in the traffic, zigging and zagging. He flew through the air, ascending several lanes. His heart was pounding in his chest. Riding one of these cycles was the thrill of a lifetime, if you were brave enough to get on one. There was nothing as exhilarating or fast, in terms of street-level vehicles. Ray threaded the traffic, narrowly missing several collisions. The cycle would occasionally scrape a door panel. Clipping a side mirror could send you tumbling to the pavement. It was controlled chaos as he chased after the SUV.
He was gaining ground until the streetlight changed ahead. The SUV slipped through at the last moment as the light flashed from yellow to red. Ray tried to push his luck. But this time he pushed it a little too far.
He rocketed through the intersection on a solid red light, just as a car barreled through the intersection. Ray swerved and pulled up on the controls, but it was too little too late. The front end of the bike clipped the vehicle, sending Ray tumbling through the air. The cycle spiraled in one direction, and Ray in the other.
He was traveling well over 100 miles an hour, and the fall was equivalent to three stories. Ray hit the pavement with a bone crunching smack. No pads, no helmet, no protective gear whatsoever. The impact knocked the wind from his lungs, and it seemed like a minute before he could take a breath. Ribs cracked. His elbow shattered. His femur and tibia cracked. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. His skin burned with abrasions from the concrete.
Ray had taken plenty of falls in his life, but this was the worst.
26
The traffic ground to a halt. Ray lay in the street, trying to regain his composure. His vision was blurred and looked like a kaleidoscope of lights and colors. Horns honked. Nobody gave a shit about him, only that he was blocking traffic.
Ray managed to crawl to the side of the road and pull himself over the curb. The traffic moved on like nothing had happened. Ray crawled onto the sidewalk, and pedestrians stepped over him. He left behind a trail of blood from the roadway. It was an impersonal city. Nobody wanted to stop. Nobody wanted to get involved. So what if this guy died on the sidewalk? There were too many people in the city already—that was the general opinion.
He spit a mix of pinkish blood and saliva onto the sidewalk. He tongued the row of upper teeth, several of which had been cracked in half and were now jagged and sharp.
The dull numbness was beginning to fade, and the true pain of his injuries became apparent. A throbbing, stabbing, aching, burning, kill me now type of pain. He really screwed up this time, he thought.
Ray was no stranger to injury. He had been shot and stabbed before. He had been on the brink of death many times, but something always pulled him through. He had always been lucky. There was a time on Renvir, when the outpost had been overrun, and his entire company had been slaughtered. Somehow, Ray managed to emerge as the only man standing after an evening of intense combat. Long after the plasma charges had been drained and all the thermal grenades exploded, Ray had continued fighting with nothing more than an old-fashioned blade.
Every close call in his past flashed through his mind—every time that he had walked away from an incident unscathed, when he knew that he shouldn't have. All those narrow escapes. For a moment, he wondered if this was it? Had his luck really run out?
The impact had caused massive internal bleeding. His thoracic cavity was filling with fluid. A broken rib had punctured his lung. He was going to die without immediate medical attention.
His attention focused on the shard, radiating in his pocket. With his left arm, the only one still working, he dug awkwardly into his pocket and pulled out the crystal. It was glowing blue. He gripped it tight, and could feel its energy flowing into his hand, down his forearm, and up to his shoulder. The energy flowed into his chest. It felt warm and his skin tingled. It was a sensation unlike anything he had ever felt before. A thousand times more powerful than any narcotic.
As the energy expanded, the pain evaporated. It flowed down his right arm and leg, erasing the pain as it advanced. He felt his face grow flush, and his scalp tingle. The tinny, metallic taste of blood in his mouth disappeared. And when he tongued the row of upper teeth again, they were unbroken.
His eyes grew wide as he stared at the glowing shard. If he hadn't experienced the transformation himself, he would never have believed it. He still wasn't sure he believed it. All he knew was that he wasn't feeling pain anymore. He pushed himself off the concrete and staggered to his feet. He looked over his once mangled body—it was now pristine.
The concrete had worn holes in his pants and sleeves. The skin underneath had been covered in road rash. But now it was smooth and fresh.
People on the sidewalk began to stare. Traffic accidents and death were a part of routine life. But seeing a man stand up and walk away after something like that was unheard of.
Ray glanced around at the crowd, then stuffed the shard into his pocket. He took a step, putting his full weight on his right leg. It was fine. No broken bones. He made a fist with his right hand, and bent his elbow, then opened his fist again. It was like nothing had ever happened. Like the crash hadn't taken place.
Perhaps the crystal did have some power after all, he thought. Perhaps now, he was a believer.
ZV-0 floated along the sidewalk, finally catching up to him. “What happened?”
“I’m not exactly sure."
“You let them get away?”
Ray’s eyes narrowed at him.
“No, I didn’t let them get away. If you would have seen the fall that I just took, you’d have a little more sympathy."
“You look fine to me.”
Ray growled at him.
“What?” ZV-0 shrugged.
“Come on. Let's get out of here before we get arrested again."
A blue sports coupe whipped around the corner and double parked in the roadway alongside Ray. A burly guy hopped out with a scowl on his face, pointing at Ray. “You. Dipshit. You trashed my quarter panel. You’re gonna pay for that.”
"Give me your info, and I'll make sure you get taken care of."
"Where'd you learn to drive?” The man’s face was red, and the veins in his neck were bulging.
By this time, the owner of the bike had arrived on the scene. He had a look of horror on his face as he saw bits and pieces of his cycle scattered across the roadway. He looked like he was going to cry. "What did you do to my bike?"
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Ray said, trying to be optimistic.
The burly guy was seething. “You stole this guy’s bike?"
“Borrowed. It was an emergency."
“It's jackasses like you that give this city a bad name." The burly guy stomped toward Ray.
"No need for hostilities,”Ray said, easing backwards along the sidewalk. “Just give me your information, and I'll make sure you both get compensated.”
“Bullshit,” the burly guy said. “I’m calling the cops, and your ass is going to jail.”
27
The burly guy grabbed for his mobile, but Ray had already drawn his pistol. "I didn't want to have to do this. Put the phone down."
The burly guy grimaced, then knelt down and set his phone on the concrete. After he stood up, Ray blasted the device with a plasma bolt.
"Nobody's calling the cops today. Tell me your name and ID number, and I promise I will transfer credits into your account when I have the funds available."
“Right,” the burly guy scoffed. "A guy like you is never going to have enough money to cover this fiasco."
“Fine,” Ray said. “Don’t believe me. It's your call."
The owner of the cycle spoke up. "Jake Fisher. 179763851.”
ZV-0 entered the information in his database.
The burly guy grumbled, then relented. "John Vacon. 183659382."
"Now get back in your car and drive away,”
Ray said.
John scowled at him, then stomped to his car and sped away. Jake Fisher backed off and disappeared down the street.
Ray holstered his weapon and sprinted down the block. He ducked into an alleyway and cut across to the next street.
ZV-0 followed behind. “Are you really going to reimburse those guys?"
“I said I would, didn't I?"
ZV-0 looked skeptical.
“Don’t look at me like that."
“So you’re gonna do that after you pay back Nicotero?” ZV-0 looked at him with skeptical eyes.
“Yeah, something like that." Ray sneered at him, then hailed a cab. An automated car pulled to the curb and the two got in. "Take us to the spaceway."
“What are we doing?”
“Were going back to the Valkyrie, and were going to figure out how to get Grace and Ava back."
The cab zipped into the flow of traffic and sped down the street. As they moved through the intersection, Ray could see cop cars pulling up to the scene of his accident the next block over. The wreckage of the cycle still lay in the street.
Ray’s mobile buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket and swiped the screen. Dietrich appeared on the display. Ray’s face tensed. “If you hurt either one of them, I will make it my life’s mission to see you suffer.”
“Relax, Ray. They’re fine, and they’ll stay that way, provided you cooperate.”
Ray glared at him.
"You know what I want, and you will deliver it to me in exchange for the girls. It's very simple."
“Where?”
“GCT in an hour."
“That’s going to be tough with traffic.”
“If you are late, I’ll kill one of the girls.” The transmission ended.
“I really hate that guy,” Ray muttered.
“What are we going to do? We can't just give him the shard. He's going to sell it to the Realm."
“I’ve got a plan."
“What is it?”
Ray shrugged. “I’m still working on it."
THE SOUTHEAST SIDE of town was an industrial wasteland. It was its own incorporated sub-city with the aspirational name of Galexa Park. But it was anything but a park. The landscape was dotted with refineries, power plants, intergalactic docks, and low rent housing. It was the kind of place where you didn't drink the tap water. Toxic waste from the refineries seeped into the groundwater. There were large cancer clusters among the residents. They were a population that couldn't afford treatment. The refineries pumped out clouds of smoke. The air was filled with a perpetual fart smell from the chemical processes.