Chapter Twenty-Two – Brenog
Nick was fascinated by Tran’s trading technique. The mission that Holas had set them had seemed simple: acquire foodstuffs and drinks for the ship. They had visited dozens of markets and stalls and yet still, they had yet to actually buy anything.
At each stop, the same formula had been repeated. Tran would spend a few minutes talking to the proprietor about everything and nothing before bringing the conversation around to the foodstuffs on offer.
Then they’d launch into talks about ingredients; the methods of preparation; the lifespan of the food and finally, costings. At each place, Tran would have them sampling the food or drink. Nick had completely forgotten the names of most of the weird and exotic foods that he’d eaten. All he remembered was the vast array of tastes and smells that had assaulted him.
He’d braved some pretty revolting-looking food, delighting in the astounding and delicious tastes they’d produced. There was one that even seemed to come close to resembling chocolate.
Amazingly, he found that no matter how much he’d already eaten, as soon as they reached the next place, his mouth would begin to water all over again.
Thinking through all of the conversations that he’d watched Tran have, it seemed to him that every merchant they’d left had had a broad grin plastered across their face. Tran had seemed to promise that they would buy vast amounts of produce without ever actually saying that they would or for paying for anything.
Just now, Nick was only vaguely listening to the conversation happening around him. His attention for the last few minutes had been caught by Tran’s amazing tail. Its usual swaying motion had been replaced by a deliberate movement towards the vendor’s table.
Nick shifted slightly, trying to fathom what had caused this change in behaviour. His eyes caught the sight of five knives lying haphazardly atop the table. Each handle was made of bone with gold filigree twirled around the small glittering jewels inlaid in it.
Tran’s tail lightly caressed the end knife. It swept forward, bringing the knife to the side of the table. Nick watched as it curled possessively around the handle, before tipping the knife off the table. Within seconds it had disappeared inside Tran’s knee-length brown coat. The black-furred tail reappeared, minus its newly-acquired knife, to begin its normal swishing motion as though nothing had just happened.
Nick grinned. The merchant hadn’t noticed a thing and Tran’s conversation hadn’t wavered in the slightest. He wondered how many other items had been relieved from their proper owners that day.
Once again, they left the store with the merchant smiling broadly, expecting them to return the following day to purchase a significant order of vranis meat.
“Nice trick, Tran,” Nick said quietly as soon as they were out of there.
Tran glanced at him blankly.
“Your tail. The knife,” Nick said bluntly.
Tran’s ears flattened slightly as he shook his mane-like hair. “No idea what you’re talking about,” he said airily.
“Sure, Tran. Your secret’s safe with me,” Nick replied with a grin.
Tran opened his mouth to respond, but shut it quickly, steering Nick towards a glass store window. Nick began to sweat slightly. He watched Tran’s eyes closely. They seemed to be staring intently inside the store. Nick glanced inside; trying to see what was so enticing. His eyes swept across a storefront filled with bolts of fabrics and dresses.
“This way,” Tran said suddenly.
Nick found himself guided across the street in a hurry. They worked their way across storefronts, pushing their way past aliens of different sizes, shapes and colours in their haste. Tran seemed to hesitate and look behind them as they turned a corner. At the next turn, Nick stole a look behind as well. He frowned, not knowing what he should be looking for.
The streets steadily became less crowded, the buildings more like warehouses than storefronts. Tran hurried them along, only pausing at each corner to quickly check behind them. Slowly, Nick began to get a sense of what it was they were running from, for he was now sure that that’s exactly what they were doing.
At four corners in a row Nick made out the sight of a group of three of the ugliest aliens he had yet encountered. Each had rough, sickly yellow skin. They were bare-chested, with tight-fitting black leather pants. Around their waist was a wide belt, the handle of a large gun sitting low on their hips, a coil of rope in their hands. Atop their bald heads, two ridges swept back from each eyebrow. Their beady eyes seemed to be seeking them out, their mouths pulled back in grins.
Tran led him around the back of a particularly dirty-looking warehouse. He paused, checking behind them.
“That way,” he ordered.
Nick nodded as he hurried past him. A blow exploded on the back of his skull. His eyes lost focus. His ears rang. Nick felt his legs go wobbly and he fell. Half-dazed, confused, he felt Tran catch him before he could hit the pavement. Through blurry eyes, a dark shape came into view. Nick felt himself lifted, tipped and placed on a hard, damp surface.
“Sorry, Ace, it’s for your own good. You saved my life, my turn to return the favour.” He vaguely recognised Tran’s voice from afar.
Darkness loomed in the shape of a lid. It clanged painfully, shutting him in. The darkness overwhelmed him and Nick lost his battle with unconsciousness.
---
The world returned with a jolt as Nick felt the lid of the container he was in thrown back with a crack and shudder that vibrated through the metal. His eyes jerked open and he snapped them shut in pain. Carefully, he tried again and immediately wished he hadn’t. A massive, scaly hand clenched around his jumpsuit. He was yanked up, out and slammed against the wall of the metal container.
“You. You were with that Ok’neie,” a low voice growled at him.
Nick shook his head, mostly to get the foul breath out of his nose. He was brought forward a few centimetres and slammed back again. Nick felt his bones rattle, his head exploding with renewed pain.
“You were with that Ok’neie,” the voice repeated slowly, menacingly.
“Ok’neie?” he managed to gasp.
A deep growl erupted from the big alien. Nick screwed his eyes shut, expecting more pain.
“Don’t kill it yet, Jarog,” a deep voice snarled.
“What is it, Drox?” another asked.
“Small. Pink. Pathetic,” his captor answered after a moment’s thought. “Where did the Ok’neie go?”
He shook his head. “If you mean Tran, I don’t know.”
“Tran,” the ugly alien’s grin was enough to stop Nick’s blood cold.
“Where’s the ship? Where’s Black Lightning?”
“The Bubble,” Nick managed to gasp out. He was being held far above the ground and it was getting hard to breathe.
“Where’s the Ok’neie?” he growled again in Nick’s face, his putrid breath nearly overwhelming him.
“Don’t. . . know,” Nick finally managed, fighting hard not to throw up all over the alien.
“Leave it, Jarog, it’s not worth killing. Too small and weak to make a decent trophy of. We’ve got enough for Cap’n Drangage.”
Nick peered through slitted eyes, waiting. After what seemed an eternity, he was dropped to ground.
“If you see Tran alive again, you tell him he owes us and we will collect,” the alien snarled.
Nick lay there, panting, as they sauntered out of the alley. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned and threw up and didn’t stop until he’d gotten rid of all of the great food that he’d eaten that day.
---
Some minutes later, Ace slunk around the corner of the alley. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve as he carefully followed the three huge brutes. He ducked from side to side of the roadway, keeping to the shadows and whatever cover he could find along the way. Doorways, crates and land-cars became his second skin.
The only way he could think of to help Tran was to follow the aliens. Really, it was the last thing that he wanted to do, but he did it anyway.
You never left a crewman behind. It’d been drilled into him by his father from as far back as he could remember. Tran was a crewmember of the Star Runner and his partner. It was as simple as that.
He ducked in behind one of the big metal bins that seemed to line the roads and alleys at an almost regular interval. Taking a careful look ahead, Nick squatted down and pressed two buttons on his watch.
“Nick to Alex,” he half-whispered.
“Alex here. What’s up, Nick,” his voice blared from the comm.
Ace quickly slid one of the bars down, nervously checking on his quarry. They didn’t seem to have heard anything.
“Alex. Tran’s missing and there’re three great, big, ugly, aliens after him,” he said in a rush.
“What? Where are you? Are you okay?” Alex asked after a beat.
“I’m fine. I’m following the aliens,” he answered.
“What do they look like?” Zheen cut in.
“Really tall, bald, yellow scaly skin, couple of ridges on their head, big black boots and pants, no shirt. And they’re very strong,” he summarised.
“Brenog,” Zheen hissed.
“We’re on our way,” Alex said decisively. “We’ll use the transponders in the comms to home in on you. Stay out of their way, Nick. Don’t do anything to attract their attention.”
“No worries there. I’m not planning on getting close to those guys again,” Nick said wryly. “Out.”
Ace shut off the comm and ducked out in pursuit of the Brenog. They didn’t seem to have any particular direction in mind. Nick followed them, being careful to stay well out of sight. Losing them was just not going to be a problem. They were big and bad and they knew it. They moved aside for no one, seemingly quite happy to push their way through any sized crowd.
A muffled shout caught Nick’s attention. He looked out in time to see the three Brenog racing up the street. Nick shot after them. Abruptly, they turned at a right angle and disappeared into a side alley. Ace raced after them, heedless now of being seen. Whatever it was that the Brenog were in pursuit of had their total attention. They rounded corner after corner, delving deeper and deeper into the warehouse district. The alleys became smaller, darker and dirtier the further they went.
Rounding a corner, Ace skidded to a stop and scampered back. Panting hard, he peered back around the warehouse, his face pushed up against the brickwork. There, he could see the three Brenog spread out across the alley, slowly making their way past the crates and containers towards the dead-end. Two of them had unslung their whips. The half-dozen tails on the end crackled yellow with energy.
Nick looked further down past them. A dark shape moved from side to side down the alley, looking for a way out. Tran.
A slight crunch behind him had Ace whirling around in a panic. Alex, Zheen and a skinny blue alien knelt beside him.
“You okay, Nick?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, but Tran not,” Ace answered with a short nod back towards the alley.
“Alright. Nick, Sfolan. Sfolan, Nick,” Alex introduced quickly.
Alex, Zheen and Sfolan huddled together to peer down the alleyway. Vaguely, Nick noticed a long, black cylinder strapped to his brother’s back. He leant back against the warehouse, gathering his breath. He had no doubt that Alex would know what to do now. He always knew.
Nick watched as Alex sat back and shook his head.
“It’s a dead end,” he said. “There’s no way to get Tran out.”
“What about the door at the end?” Zheen asked.
“Locked. Tran would have used it if he could,” Alex pointed out.
Nick closed his eyes in shock. He’d felt how strong those Brenog were. He’d seen their anger. If they got their hands on Tran, he doubted that he’d survive.
“We could still use that door,” Sfolan said slowly, looking directly at Alex.
Nick watched as Alex stared back. “They’d still catch him. Us too, most likely,” he said slowly.
“Only if they were free,” Sfolan answered.
Alex nodded. “Alright, here’s what we do.”
---
Ace waited uneasily. He was crouched behind a pile of crates. Across the alleyway, Sfolan knelt behind a similar stack. His comm beeped, making him jump. Looking across at Sfolan, he gave a curt nod. Taking a deep breath, he pushed against the crates in front of him. Slowly, they started to wobble.
He pushed again and they teetered before crashing to the ground, scattering everywhere. The pile in front of Sfolan tumbled across the alleyway as well.
Nick watched in horrified fascination as the three Brenog whirled to face them.
“YOU!” one roared.
Behind them, the door to the warehouse crashed open. The Brenog spun back in time to see Tran grabbed and dragged through the still swinging door. An arm snaked out, snagged the door and slammed it shut. The three aliens stood, stunned.
“After the Ok’neie!” the middle one bellowed.
In three bounds they were at the door. They ripped it open and plunged through. Nick raced after them, nearly tripping over all the crates strewn across the alley floor. He hit the door, slamming it shut, just as Sfolan joined him. They darted back across to one of the big metal bins.
Heaving, they shoved it towards the door. It screeched piercingly against the concrete in protest; clanging as it struck the building. Nick turned, leaning against the bin, panting and grinning at Sfolan. His new friend grinned back.
Alex, Zheen and Tran appeared at the far end of the alley. A sharp clash and a tremor spun Nick back towards the door. Above the bin, a window shattered as a scaly fist was smashed through it.
“You’re dead boy! You too, Luitian! You’re both DEAD!” one of the Brenog roared in rage.
Nick didn’t wait. He grabbed Sfolan’s arm and took off at a run towards his shipmates.
Star Runner Page 22