The Black Hole: Book One of the Shadow Order: A Space Opera

by Mike Robertson

  When Seb rounded the corner, his heart raced at the sight of the fighting pit. Having not come at it from this side, he stared at the back of it. When he got close enough, the huge cylindrical structure provided enough shade for him to relax the squint on his face, but just being in its presence sent a jagged anxiety rattling through his chest. This place had given him some hope of getting off the planet, but it had also clamped a ball and chain to his ankle.

  No sound came from the huge pit. Too early in the day for a fight, it stood as an abandoned structure. Besides, most of the crowd probably gathered around Mathusa’s broken form at that moment. Despite his enjoyment of the sport, Seb had no desire to fight again. It wouldn’t be ‘just one more fight’; Moses had plans for him, and Seb wanted no part of it. If he stepped back into the pit, he’d become the house fighter. Once that happened, there would be just one way out of it. He didn’t plan on being found over a fence with a spike through his gut. For all Mathusa’s bravado, the warrior had become Moses’ slave. Whether she killed herself or not, Seb wouldn’t go down that route.

  When Seb walked around the front of the pit, he saw the same two guards who’d been on the door the night of his fight. The orange porcine thug seemed to instantly slip back into its hostility towards Seb and gripped its blaster as it scowled at him. It had been funny before Moses had reached out to Seb. Now he saw the guard as another one of the army of people Moses directed—one more brute who could force Seb into a situation he wanted no part of.

  But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter what they thought or how they tried to intimidate Seb. Whatever move Moses made, Seb would resist. With the burn of the guards’ stares pressing into the side of his face, Seb looked ahead and walked straight past them. He stepped away from the pit’s cover, back into the fierce wind and glaring sunshine. The harsh gales launched their flapping assault against his ears all over again.

  ***

  Having put the pit and the hostile guards behind him, Seb passed a row of restaurants that he hadn’t seen before now. All of them looked like run-down dives. Jagged shopfronts with little care given to both cleanliness and aesthetics, they clearly served as a bare essential and nothing more. None of the business owners in Aloo seemed to put much stock in appearance. In such a hostile environment, any pride in presentation would no doubt be corroded away by the elements, or the patrons, within days.

  As Seb walked, he looked at all of the businesses and stopped outside a noodle bar. As ugly and run-down as the others, its windows caked in salt, paint blistered and flaking away from the woodwork, the bar still stood out as different. Something about it just …

  “The lights,” Seb said to himself. The only restaurant in the row to have its lights out. Sparks had been there.

  As Seb approached the place, he drew a deep breath that tasted of salt. Sparks didn’t leave people in a charitable mood or particularly willing to talk about how she’d screwed them over, but Seb had to find his necklace.

  When he walked through the gloomy entranceway into the dark restaurant, Seb screwed his nose up at the reek of dust. An all-wooden interior—from the walls to the floor to the tables—the place looked like it had never been cleaned.

  A creature rested on the bar with its back to Seb. Wiry and long-limbed, the furry, brown, bipedal being hunched over and shook its head as it muttered to itself. So quiet, Seb couldn’t make out what the creature said.

  When he cleared his throat, the creature spun around and glared at him. “Um,” Seb said, “I’ve been robbed recently.”

  With a mouth that stretched so far around its face the edges of it almost touched its tiny ears, the corners of it turned down as the creature frowned at Seb. Its bright blue eyes fixed on him as they glowed in the darkness like fireflies. The creature shrugged its slim shoulders. “So?”

  As the thing stood up to its full height of around eight feet, Seb took in its sinewy form. Long limbs, it looked like it had been made from tough old rope.

  “Well, I think she’s been here. She’s a short, human-looking creature with purple eyes and glasses.”

  The blue stare of the proprietor widened as it fixed on Seb. The creature brought its clenched fist down against the bar with a loud boom. “You know her? How do you know she’s been here?” The creature leapt over the bar and strode toward Seb. At well over eight feet tall, the being brought a wall of shadow with it and grabbed the front of Seb’s shirt. A sharp yank and it pulled Seb toward it.

  The stench of curdled milk came forward with the creature as it leaned close. So rancid, Seb pulled back and tried to breathe through his mouth.

  Seb’s world threatened to turn into slow motion as the creature leaned in and the heat of its stale breath pushed against Seb’s face. “How do you know she’s been here?”

  “The lights,” Seb said.

  “Huh?”

  “That’s her thing. She upsets someone and then blows their electricity. Like an extra kick in the gut, you know. She’s a spiteful little rat.”

  The restaurant owner released its grip on Seb and stepped back a pace. After a heavy sigh, its slim shoulders slumped and it looked at the ground. “She came here last night, ordered the biggest order we’ve had in years, ate the lot, and then asked for credit. When it became clear she couldn’t pay, we locked her out back. We had a few other clients in, so we planned on dealing with her after they’d gone. Except … she escaped. The first we knew of it was when the power went out. We went out back to find she’d busted free. Not only did she blow the lights, but every electrical appliance in the place too.” A shake ran through the creature’s voice as it clearly struggled to control its rage. “All of our food’s going to go off. She’s put us out of business.”

  The creature clearly didn’t know her whereabouts. Like many of the other beings that wanted Sparks—Seb included—if they got their hands on the little snake, they would have snapped her neck by now. After a heavy sigh, Seb nodded. “Thank you. If I find her, I’ll make sure I bring her back here so she can be held accountable for her actions.”

  Clearly defeated, the long creature stood with its arms hanging down and its head dropped. “Thank you.”

  Without another word, Seb left the restaurant.

  ***

  Seb returned to the hotel, none the wiser on Sparks’ whereabouts. Although, she probably still remained on Aloo. The restaurant owner had seen her the previous night, so she had to be somewhere.

  Sore from the salty wind and exhausted from his day, he walked across the hotel’s foyer to get to his room. Before he could make it to the stairs that led up to the floor he stayed on, the receptionist called to him.

  With a heavy sigh, Seb walked over to her. “Is it urgent?” he said. “I’ve had a long day and I could really do with resting up.”

  The receptionist looked down at the desk in front of her. “Um … well … it’s just … it’s … um.” Her two heads spoke in turn.

  A rush of anger snapped through Seb, and he spoke through a clenched jaw. “Just say it.”

  “Your rent has gone up.”

  “Huh?”

  “To fifteen hundred credits per night.”

  A deep breath and Seb glared at the receptionist as his world slipped into slow motion.

  “Moses forced us to do it.”

  Seb bit down so hard on his jaw it ran pains up each side of his face. As much as he wanted to shout at the receptionist, it wouldn’t do any good. His world sped up again. “Okay, I’ll pack my things and leave, then.”

  “Um …”

  “What?” Seb shouted, his voice echoing through the hotel’s abandoned and cavernous foyer.

  “We’re the only place on Aloo that’s allowed to have you as a guest. Every other place has been instructed to turn you away.”

  With his heart beating hard enough to burst from his chest, Seb turned away from the receptionist. She didn’t deserve to be on the end of his fury. Moses had made the call, not her. Without another word, Seb walked back to his
room and his feet dragged as he went. He’d have to get off Aloo sooner rather than later. If he hadn’t found Sparks within a day, he’d get out of there. With enough credits left on his card, he could afford one night in the hotel at their new price, and hopefully a safe passage off the damn planet with the change.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Before that night, if Seb had imagined staying in a hotel worth fifteen hundred credits, he would have imagined luxury beyond compare. A bed so soft that when he lay on it, he sank to the point where it felt like the mattress gave him a warm hug. Room service with anything and everything he could imagine, and all of it included in the bill. Hell, he’d even get woken with a massage every morning. As it was, Seb had the worst night’s sleep of his entire life. The mattress had so many lumps he might as well have slept on a sack of rocks. The wind’s cold fingers found their way through the smallest gaps into his room and poked and prodded him all night. The light from the hallway outside slipped through the large gap beneath the door to the point where he might as well have had the light on in his room, and the wafer-thin duvet felt like sleeping beneath old newspaper. At one hundred credits per night, none of it mattered, but his perception of what he found acceptable had been drastically altered by the hike in price.

  Up with the crack of dawn, Seb packed his small bag. Even a small bag had room to spare because he had so few belongings—and they numbered even less since Sparks had robbed him. He had enough credits to pay for last night’s stay and, with any luck, enough left to buy a safe passage away from Aloo.

  After he’d shouldered his backpack, he scanned his grimy room and shook his head. “Fifteen hundred credits per night. Ridiculous.”

  ***

  Down in the hotel’s reception, Seb smiled at the receptionist and handed his key to her. Now he’d had several interactions with her, he’d learned to look from one of her eyes to the other, not lingering on either one for too long.

  “You’re leaving?” she asked.

  “You expect me to stay with the rates you’re charging?”

  “Well, it seems that Moses wants something. I assumed Moses would get what he wanted and we could go back to charging you a sensible rate for the room.”

  Seb scoffed. “Not a chance. That criminal won’t bully me into fighting in the pit. No way.”

  Before the receptionist could say anything else, Seb nodded at her. “Thank you anyway. I understand that you could only charge me what Moses told you to charge me. I’m starting to see the power he has in this place, which is another reason for me to move on. Moses doesn’t seem like the kind of man to do business with.”

  The receptionist looked over into the corner of the foyer with both of her heads. Because the creature had been in the shadows, Seb hadn’t noticed him. Now he’d seen him, he seemed so damn obviously there. Seb stared at the lizard creature that had followed him the day before. With its clawed and three-fingered hand resting on its blaster, it scowled back at Seb.

  After a heavy sigh, Seb turned back to the receptionist. “See, Moses clearly isn’t a man to get involved with. The sooner I get away from this place, the better.”

  Paler than she’d been at the start of their conversation, the receptionist nodded before she picked up Seb’s room key, turned her back on him, and filed it away.

  Seb walked across the foyer and watched the lizard creature, who watched him straight back. His footsteps echoed in the quiet and cavernous space, and the hinges on the front door creaked when Seb pushed it open and walked outside into Aloo’s bitter wind.

  ***

  The change from the dark hotel foyer to the bright sun stung Seb’s eyes and he made a visor with his hand. The harsh wind burned the sores that had formed on his face. No other beings seemed to suffer with the atmosphere. Human skin didn’t have much resistance to Aloo’s weather.

  By the time Seb had walked a little way from the hotel, the lizard creature stepped out of the building to follow him. Hardly a surprise, really. Although what could it do? It had no reason to take any kind of action, and Seb had evidently said no to Moses. No way could the gangster force him to do anything he didn’t want to.

  Before he could pick the holes in his own rationale, Seb looked across the spaceport and froze. About twenty metres from where he stood, hovering around the mouth of an alley, he saw Sparks.

  Without thinking, Seb pointed at the girl and screamed, “You!”

  Every creature between Seb and Sparks turned to look at him—although he didn’t care. Seb broke into a sprint. With the wind in his face, his eyes watering from the salty onslaught, he remained focused on the small woman and ran with all he had.

  Before he got to her, Sparks ducked down the alley she’d hovered in front of. But she wouldn’t get away. Not now. No way.

  The second Seb entered the alley after her, an explosion of light blew up in front of him. A vast magnesium flare, it dazzled and temporarily blinded him, forcing him to stagger backwards. Seb stopped and rubbed his eyes, but no matter how vigorous his action, he couldn’t coax his vision back.

  With his heart on overdrive, Seb stood still, vulnerable to an attack from anywhere. No doubt the lizard remained on his tail. “Sparks!” he screamed, so loud it tore at his throat. “Where the hell are you?”

  A few seconds later his world came slowly back into view. The shop that she’d rigged to blow seemed like some kind of convenience store. What must have been the owner—a slug-like creature with a Mohawk—had come out the front and scratched its head as it stared at the destruction.

  When Seb checked behind, the lizard creature seemed to have gone. However, that didn’t mean anything; it could be anywhere. Seb would be an idiot to think he wasn’t being watched for the entire time he stayed on Aloo. He walked up the alley toward the shop owner. At least if he told the creature that his power wouldn’t be back on for some time, it would allow it to maybe save some of the stock that would otherwise go off in the broken fridges and freezers.

  But when Seb got to the shop at the end of the alley, the tight space opened up into a huge square and he saw her again. Across the other side, she was just about to round a bend behind a restaurant. With most of his vision back, Seb took off after the little rat again.

  ***

  Puffed out from the run, Seb kept on Sparks’ tail as he came to the side of the restaurant and saw her disappear around another bend. She might be cunning, but with small legs, she wouldn’t outrun him.

  When he rounded the next corner, Seb watched the little girl lift a metal cover from the road and disappear down into Aloo’s sewers. No wonder she remained hidden if she lived down there. The streets above were a vile place to exist, so the sewers had to be positively revolting. With one final chance to get his dad’s necklace back before he left Aloo, Seb followed after her.

  Seb climbed down the ladder into the sewers. Just two rungs down the heady reek of the waste of a thousand different creatures hit him like an uppercut. He had to hold on tight to the metal ladder to prevent himself from falling into the gaseous stink. Yet he pushed on, down into the dingy underworld of Aloo.

  Although a river of sludge flowed beneath the city, an elevated footpath ran alongside it. Seb would have waded through the mess if it meant getting his dad’s necklace back. Thankfully, the high ceiling and walkway meant he didn’t have to.

  Although he’d lost sight of Sparks now, mainly because of just how dark it had gotten beneath Aloo’s streets, he heard footsteps and followed after them.

  The sewers ran like train tunnels beneath the city. Every few hundred metres, a bridge would cross over and link one footpath to the other.

  Dark, although not completely pitch black, Seb followed the sound of the retreating Sparks, which fortunately led him toward the light.

  With just a few metres to go, Seb noticed the light he homed in on flickered. It had seemed like a natural illumination, but now he’d gotten closer to it, he recognised it as the beam of a torch. But why would they light this place with
torches? Maybe more than Sparks lived down here. Although, on a planet where anything went because of their lack of law enforcement, it seemed odd that beings would choose to come down here voluntarily. No matter; Seb hadn’t come for a visit. He would get to Sparks, get the necklace, and get out.

  When Seb got to the end of the tunnel, he poked his head around the corner and froze. The Sparks that he’d been chasing stood in full view in the centre of a wide-open space where several tunnels converged. As he stared at her, his heart sank and he whispered, “A hologram.”

  When the hologram flickered and vanished, Seb looked up at the other creatures gathered there, and they looked back at him. A quick head count showed eight of them. Two of them were the creatures he’d seen the other day, the ones with the fins that ran from between their eyes, over their heads, and down their backs—the ones that Sparks had robbed. At the time, the slippery creatures acted like they’d had something to hide, but Seb ignored it. Everyone in Aloo acted like they had something to hide. As he looked at the six others, all of them brutes, all of them a different species, and all of them packing at least one blaster each, his entire being sank. Sparks had well and truly set him up. She knew that these creatures wouldn’t let anyone set eyes on the deal and walk away afterwards.

  The eight crooks stood around two large crates, both with three creatures in each. Seb had just busted a slave trade. When he looked at the young captives, clearly all children, he ground his jaw.

  Something in their eyes pulled on Seb’s heart. Sure, captured children would always upset him, but he saw something of himself in them. Children without their parents. That couldn’t happen.

  From the look on the faces of those doing the deal, they didn’t plan on letting Seb leave. But Seb had plans of his own.

  Chapter Twenty-Four