The large foreboding greenish-blue planet loomed in space. From space, I could see the numerous craters, the results of many random asteroid impacts, line the northern hemisphere. Sanctuary's major landmass covered almost seventy-five percent of the planet’s surface; leaving little moisture in the atmosphere. Oddly enough, an abundant supply of water existed below the surface in the form of underground lakes.
Sanctuary had once been the last refuge of political dissidents and revolutionaries escaping a war on the Trokus system’s main planet of Anderia, in the days before the Republic stretched into the stars. I marveled at the view as it hung in space, its four moons circling in slow methodical orbits. Two of the moons had been part of the nearby asteroid belt. Eventually caught in Sanctuary’s gravitational pull, they settled into high orbits around the planet.
As we turned in toward the planet and picked up speed, my mind drifted back to the problem at hand. Kelvis had confirmed the meeting; I just hoped that he could help to illuminate the situation.
Landing in Sanctuary City's main starport with little fanfare, the main core of the city to the north was lit up with multiple displays in various colors and styles. Holographic billboards flashed advertisements from the latest in home appliances and cerebral implants to casino games and hair care products. All the while, transports and personal vehicles created a thousand multi-colored stars in the air above the city.
Exiting the spaceport, the parched air burned in my lungs. It reminded me how much I had despised the planet’s seasons the last time I had been here. I hailed a cab to the center of town and settled into the seat. My mind raced with information I had, as well as the holes that needed filler.
Once in the Relagen district, the ritzy-glitzy part of town, old patterns began to take over as I headed toward a hotel I had used on two earlier trips to Sanctuary. Reluctant to pick habit over security, I picked a less chic hotel further down the street. This wasn’t something I liked to do, but then the circumstances called for doing thing out of the ordinary.
The room was smaller than I was used to, but I'd make due considering the circumstance. I spent a few minutes getting the feel for the room and checking for surveillance devices. It could be considered paranoid when I thought about it, but after the week I'd had, I couldn't take chances. A quick shower and a change of clothes later, I stepped out onto the bustling city street, breathing in the warm evening summer air.
All manner of wheeled and hover vehicles zoomed past, their drivers oblivious to the city around them. I walked along the street as crowds of people weaved in and out of each other, bound for destinations unknown. People dressed in business suits heading home from work, as well as people dressed in slick, fashionable clothes on their way to a party or club, crowded the streets as I walked.
My attire was stylish but plain in comparison to those around me, which was intentional. How I dressed was a way to hide in plain sight. Flashy attire drew attention, and now was not the time for attention. I strolled through city streets, taking in the ambiance and keeping my eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary. Upon reaching the part of town I was looking for, I smiled when I saw the small café set into the corner of an apartment building located where the high-end residential and commercial areas came together.
The Three Moons was a local favorite, with a regular crowd of patrons. Kelvis and I had used it the last time I was on Sanctuary to pass mission details. The warm homey café feeling made it easy for two people to talk in private and not raise suspicions. Wondering if Kelvis had arrived first, I entered. The heavy aroma of kava and steamed borva filled my nostrils, bringing a smile to my face as I moved through the lounge area.
I ordered a small kava drink and settled into one of the soft plush chairs along the side wall of the lounge where I could see the doors. As I sat and inhaled the aroma, I stared down at the cup in my hand. The off-white borva foam mixed with the soft brown kava to form a gentle, mesmerizing pattern. It occurred to me that I hadn’t had fresh Kava in a few weeks.
I sipped my drink as my eyes scrutinized the random patrons and my ears gathered whatever tidbits of information I felt could be useful for later. It didn't take long for Kelvis to arrive. He grinned as he entered, I presumed from catching me sitting inside already, but showing little acknowledgment of my presence. His tall broad frame had the look of an athlete. Kelvis kept his long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, causing the angular lines of his cheeks and jaw to stand out all the more. A pair of wire-rimmed glasses sat on his hawkish nose, and the soft blue tint of the lenses kept his eyes hidden. He wore baggy pants and a pull-over top with a hood, which allowed him to blend in well with the laid-back patrons.
After ordering his drink, Kelvis moved to the back of the cafe. I took that as my cue to join him. The seating arrangement caused me to smirk. He had picked a seat that was far away from any doors or windows, yet provided him a good sightline to both. We sat with our backs to the wall, yet kept space between us in case of a hasty exit. It would have been obvious to another operative what we were. Kelvis nodded as I sat, his expression held the small smile from when he entered, as if my appearance had been part of a joke he heard earlier in the day.
"I'm glad to see you got my message." My voice resonated low enough to mix in with the natural chatter in the cafe. "I'd hate to think I came all the way out here for nothing except a chance to drop off the grid."
My comment caused a slight shift in the muscles in his face, something a normal person may not have noticed, but something hard to hide from me.
"If you're running from someone, I'm not sure I can help. Your targets tend to be a little out of my league."
I frowned. He knew that I knew his true purpose on Sanctuary, and where he got his support.
"To be honest, I just need two things. I need a quiet way to contact my handler, and I need a buyer for a hot piece of tech I’d like to get rid of without a hassle. I'm sure a few corps in the Freehold would be eager to buy it."
Behind his glasses, I could see the edges of his eyes wrinkle as he considered the situation. Kelvis was a fixer, a black market jack-of-all-trades who found solutions to his clients’ problems; his general modus operandi would be to put them in touch with operators like me. What most of his clients didn't know was that he was also a mole for the Republic, always trying to get a sense of the black market players who used the Freehold and Sanctuary as their playground.
Kelvis had connections that most people in his place wouldn't have, and I knew it.
"What can you tell me about the tech?” he whispered from behind the cup he held up to his mouth.
"Biogen recently lost a DNA lockable organic data crystal. The news doubtless reported it as a malfunction during a test that destroyed the western wing of one of their research labs on Talmeria. But I assure you, I have it."
Kelvis nodded a little as I talked, taking mental notes of the situation and likely already thinking about how he could go about filling the request. "I take it you've tried to contact your handler through the usual channels?"
I nodded.
"And I assume back channels aren't working because you're concerned about how compromised you are?"
I nodded again, knowing that Kelvis' handle on how things are should be good enough.
"Are you staying nearby? Where can I get a hold of you when I figure out what I can offer you?"
Realizing the meeting was ending, I sipped the last of my Kava. "I'm at the Polaris Hotel, under Robert Hamilton. When you have something, leave me a message and we'll meet back here."
Kelvis nodded in agreement.
"Sounds good,” he said with a smile. “It'll probably be a day or two before I have anything. Try to keep your head down."
He upturned his glass, draining the creamy brown liquid. Without further conversation, he walked toward the door. I watched as he left, making sure no one was paying too much attention to his departure, then I stood and made my way toward the door.
***
I had spent much of the next two days wandering the streets and searching through the web traffic for my usual contacts. It was intimidating that the deeper I looked, the more I realized everything was out of sorts. As I tried to put all the pieces together, nothing seemed to fit well enough to form a picture. There wasn’t all of the usual web traffic from other operatives and handlers. After years of regular use, I had grown familiar with difference between seemingly random user and covert activity, and there hadn’t been any covert traffic to speak of for the last week.
I couldn't think of a reason why all operative traffic would stop without notice, which bothered me even more. I needed answers and all I seemed to find were more questions. I hadn’t heard from my handler in over a week. Had we been burned, or just compromised? The gravity of the situation was weighing on me. After almost ten years of service, I was suddenly without support on a planet I'd worked on only twice. I was a little bit anxious about the whole situation, regardless of what my calm demeanor showed.
On the bright side, I had a habit of siphoning large portions of my operational credits to ghost accounts throughout Republic space, to ensure that I would never be short on funds or resources in a bad situation. Thanks to a cyber-accountant, I had started using several years ago on an operation, moving credits without footprints had become quite an easy job. The real question was how long being on the run would become a way of life for me.
Being cut off and alone was having an effect on my psyche, which illuminated the elation I felt when I received Kelvis' note to meet. It was ironic that the location he chose was a local museum dedicated to the drive and determination of the colonists who escaped persecution and war on the home planet of Anderia and moved to Sanctuary to be free of the sentiment of the Republic’s greedy expansionist drive.
I was studying the Sanctuary Charter, which established the lead government of Sanctuary and their stance on Republic interference, when Kelvis stepped up beside me.
"They really had rather vocal feelings about the Republic back then, didn't they?" he whispered, not showing any sign of acknowledging my presence.
Before I could reply, he turned and moved deeper into the more isolated exhibits of the museum. I turned to follow him, but stayed back, stopping at intermittent artifacts and pieces of art before moving toward him. We entered a deeper section of the museum that housed the exhibit on the history of Sanctuary before, during and after its terraforming and eventual colonization. Some displays discussed the environment of the planet and how it affected the process of terraforming, along with what the process, while others talked of the struggles of the first colonists to find the resources to live.
While I found much of this interesting, the lack of patrons in this part of the museum led me to believe that it wasn't the most popular exhibit. Kelvis stood near the far wall, looking at a large laser-etched crystal display of the planet and its moons. By my understanding, the moons were important due to their very abnormal effect on the planet’s atmosphere and gravity. The display faced the far wall, which kept our conversation hidden from onlookers.
"You have no idea how hard it was to get this information for you. Many of the normal channels are being monitored or locked.”
"I know. I made several inquiries of my own since we last met, and it wasn't encouraging."
Kelvis smiled at my comment as if he knew something I didn't. "I have a buyer for your item. He's on Taldera. I've worked with him before, so I'm not sending you to a random buyer whom I've never met. He'll give you a good deal. I've set the meeting for four days from today. That'll give you enough time to get into Drandelion space and set things in motion. As for the other part, I have what I could find."
He held out a small data crystal. "It's not a lot, but it should get you close enough to figure out parts to the puzzle. The buyer's info is on the crystal, too."
I looked down at the small smooth crystal rod. It wasn't an explanation wrapped up with a bow and ribbon, but to expect that would have been out of character for me. I palmed the crystal, holding it between my fingers until I had a chance to slip it somewhere secure.
"Thank you, Kelvis. You've never left me hanging in the past. It's good to know I have at least one person I can turn to in a bind." I smiled, thinking that at least I was no longer alone in trying to solve this puzzle.
"I'll keep looking. If I find anything, I'll contact you through the channels you used. I'll figure out a way to embed it or transmit it to you."
"It's always a pleasure working with you my friend," I responded, reaching over to offer my hand. "Stay safe."
He returned the handshake. "You too, Rah. Good luck." He turned away from our meeting place, his nonchalant path carrying him through the exhibit.
I stood quietly staring at the display, turning the crystal between my fingers as I thought considered my next steps.
My thoughts wandered as I walked the city, stopping eventually at a local interweb café. I committed the information for the buyer from Kelvis’ crystal to memory, then I opened the details Kelvis had given me about my handler. He was right, it wasn't much, but it pointed me in a direction, which was more than I had. There were keywords and clues that pointed me to a planet, and other information that pointed me to where I might find him. Since contacting him wasn't working, a face-to-face conversation would be necessary.
I wiped the crystal and cleared any record of my access. It was never a good idea to leave any trace of a search, and the fact that I needed to do all of this on a public terminal meant that further compromise was likely.
I headed back toward the hotel to grab my things and book a ride off-planet. A trip to Taldera would be three days, assuming no issues. “No issues” generally relied on the Drandelion trader guilds keeping the space lanes into the Freehold from Sanctuary clear of pirates or scavengers. On the bright side, if this contact gave me my asking price for the Cypher, I'd be more than set to track down the answers I needed.
The midday streets were bustling with business as I flagged down a taxi. "To the spaceport, and there's an extra fifty credits in it for you if you get me there fast."
The driver wasted no time revving his engine and squealing down the street. A high speed vehicle moving through traffic would be harder to follow but more easily seen.
My hand turned Kelvis' crystal over and over inside my pocket as my mind ran through the nuggets of information he had given me. I knew the crystal was blank. The only copy of the information was now in my mind. The sense of the direction that his information had given me became the first comfort I’d felt in weeks.
Chapter Two
Mr. Hood stood stoically behind the case that carried his terminal. He'd pushed several buttons and keys on whatever interface he had connected to the system before placing the Cypher in the test machine. As he placed the crystal in the slot, a dark shadow drifted over his eyes. His brow furrowed more and more with each passing second as his eyes looked at me, then back to the display. The eventual look of intense anger filled his face along with what I was guessing was blood under his skin as his hand reached inside his jacket.
What happened next broke into a slow motion moment seen in vids, which was why it turned out to be such a tragic yet comical event. I noticed his hand as it tightly gripped and pulled the butt end of a pistol out of his jacket. His eyes locked on me, the flush red skin grew darker. Just as the gun broke the fold of his coat, the world exploded into a flurry of action and debris. The display on his case shattered outward toward him as something punched through the back of the case.
Glass and ferroplastic and metal exploded into the surrounding air. At the same time, several other items shattered into pieces as I noticed the unmistakable report of weapon rounds impacting nearby. The next moment, his chest blossomed into a splash of dark red as a large gouge appeared just below his collarbone.
My instincts took over, and I immediately took cover. Thankful he’d set his case down by a thick ferroscrete block wall, I hunkered low, trying to
regain my composure.
As Mr. Hood fell to the ground, his case followed him. As time sped up to normal, clutter, shrapnel and debris rained around me. I looked down to see the Cypher and the credit chip he brought to the exchange lying on the ground in the shattered case. The report of rounds still tearing into ferroscrete filled the air, three-round bursts by my last count.
I snatched up the Cypher and the credit chip, stuffed them into my coat pocket, and pulled the pistol from Mr. Hood’s hand. My assailants would be on me in seconds. I had to find a clear path out or I was following the late Mr. Hood. After my eyes adjusted to the dull moonlight, I searched the few other walls nearby that I could use for cover. A run along them might expose me for a few moments, but it was better than the alternative.
My heart thumped in my chest and blood rapped at my ears as I waited for a lull in the shooting. I hoped they were reloading or looking for new targets. I took a deep breath, knowing that I couldn’t hit a thing with my heart racing.
Four random shots from Mr. Hood’s gun in the general direction of the assailants signaled my departure. I took off running, my hand behind me squeezing off more shots. To my amazement, the return fire impacted the wall I ran past, close enough to my head to feel the impacts.
It was fortunate that we planned the exchange at night in a secluded location. A lack of the normal daytime security presence at this moment was a good thing. There wouldn’t be a problem with scared civilians clamoring for cover. The downside was that I was running blind in the dark toward an uncertain escape route. I only hoped that my assailants were just as blind.
Cypher: Chronicles of Rah Page 3