by Gavin Magson
“I’m so sorry, Duke, I did not mean to bring back painful memories. I don’t know what has happened in all these years, but you’ve always got me as a friend if you want to talk about it.”
Duke cleared his throat and, by the time he had drained his tankard, his eyes no longer threatened tears and his face had softened.
“It’s been, what? Nineteen years, I think, perhaps more, since she passed. I was there for her in the end; it was not easy when she called me by my father’s name, when she wept because he had finally returned to her after all those years. I did not have the heart to correct her, and when she asked where their children were I lied, saying that they were waiting in the next room. After she passed I reached out to my siblings, but they did not attend her funeral. Father had been dead for a year, according to his widow. I had known where to find him for a long time, but I kept that information from my mother; better to believe him stranded, enslaved, or dead.
“You knew I had to choose Konar over trading with Troy; I could never leave my mother, not without someone to care for her. That was really the only thing keeping me from making Troy my permanent home; I wanted nothing more than to build a life with you. For a long time I contemplated returning, but by the time I’d buried my mother I hadn’t seen you for five years. It would have been wrong of me to expect you to wait.”
Duke signalled to their waiter and his empty tankard swiftly disappeared. Lorna reached across the table and did her best to cover Duke’s hands with her own, rubbing her thumbs across his scarred and battered knuckles. She flashed him a smile that raised Duke’s spirits, and he could not resist grinning back at her.
“I’ve not told anyone about her final moments before; my friends aren’t the kind that you open up in front of. Thank you for listening, I know that this is not what you were expecting from our catch-up, but there is something about you that just makes talking easy.”
“Duke, you can always talk to me about anything that is on your mind, and I would never think any less of you for it. At one time I was imagining our life together, the children that we might have, and the memories we could have created; I would have been there for you for the best and worst of it. As much as it hurt me when you left I only wanted the best for you, and never harboured ill thoughts. Now, let’s get past your famously tough exterior and actually talk like the friends we are.”
“Lorna, I have truly missed you. You’ll have to tell me everything about your life that I have missed.” said Duke, a fresh tankard in his hand and a smile upon his face.
The candle at the tables centre guttered and died, it’s wax pooled into the glass bowl and the wick finally all burnt up. Duke managed to steel his eyes from Lorna as their waiter replaced both the extinguished candle and Dukes empty tankard.
“He left me in the end, claiming that because I was barren he could never love me. Thomas wouldn’t entertain the idea of adoption; he could not love anything but his own flesh and blood. I’ll admit that I haven’t felt so hurt as that day, and for years I harboured that pain. I didn’t care that Thomas was leaving, there wasn’t all that much love in our marriage, but for him to say it was purely my fault, that really hurt deep.”
Duke took several big swigs of his ale, allowing time between Lorna’s words so that his anger could quell; he knew she did not want to hear him attack her ex-husband, but rather speak compassionately.
“Lorna, what Thomas said was so fucked up I don’t even know where to begin. I am sorry that your marriage was not a successful one, although if that is the man he was then I am happy you did not suffer longer than you already did.
“Personally, I regret never settling down and having children. There was a time that I hoped that would have been with you, and since leaving Troy I must admit I haven’t given it much thought; I never found someone I could love. However, I know that you would have been a great mother, whether to a child that shared your genes or not; you have a lot of love to give.
“If my time wasn’t so short I would probably do something foolish and tell you how my love for you has ever ended over the years, and that I wish we could reconcile; if you wanted to, of course. No, it’s wrong of me to ask that of you. I’m sorry.”
Lorna studied Duke’s face for what felt like an age to the captain, his heartbeat slowly increased as his nerves got the better of him. By the time Lorna broke the silence Duke’s palms had begun to sweat.
“Thank you, Duke, your words mean a lot to me. You spoke of things I truly wanted with you, and I must admit that, after all this time, they are hard to hear. I don’t think my love for you has ever changed, rather I have buried it to cope with when you left. I must ask, why is your time short? What now calls you back to Konar?”
“Nothing calls me back anymore, save to die. I have been given a death sentence by a physician, and not even the princely profits from this voyage will cover the costs to remove my tumours. I’m sorry to unload that news on you, but I have never had the desire to lie to you, and it has never been challenging to open up to you. I haven’t told anyone else yet; please don’t mention it to my crew, if you see them. I…never mind. Thank you for seeing me tonight, it means the world to me.”
Lorna had let out a gasp at Duke’s news but managed to compose herself until he soon lapsed into silence. She was surprised by the change in his voice, gone now was the joy of reuniting with her, replaced by a heavy sorrow. Duke’s expression soon became perplexed when he saw the half smile break through Lorna’s frown.
“What do you find so amusing?” he asked.
“I think Yadriel knows, either that or he has some eerily coincidental timing. I would place money on him knowing though.”
Duke considered the possibility that Yadriel did not just scan those he greeted audiences to for weapons. It would make sense to confirm there was no illness present that would harm him or his advisors, but would such a policy confirm a person’s overall health as well?
“What makes you believe that he knows I am sick?”
“It seems too much of a coincidence that one of his advisors would instruct me to offer you a job the next time I saw you. I always knew that the Bronze Keep was heavily monitored, so it wasn’t a surprise that they knew we were meeting tonight for a meal, but the request itself is not one I have ever had before. If you don’t mind my asking, how much profit are you estimating you’ll make from your trip to Troy, and how much short are you of enough to treat the tumours?”
“I hope that your reason for meeting me here tonight wasn’t purely to carry out Yadriel’s wishes.” Duke said, his face too welcoming to believe his forced gruff tone. “After all deductions, and the significant bonus I was going to award the crew, I am looking at one and a half to two million credits in profit; more than enough for a grand tour to enjoy my time left. The physician said that surgery to remove the tumours and replace my spine would give me, at best, a fifteen percent survival rate, with a bill north of three million credits; I’d rather invest what money I have in enjoying the time I have left.
“He advised that my best chance of survival was for a full spine growth and transplant, along with surgery to remove the tumours around my brain. Unfortunately, I cannot think of a way to raise the full sum, even with the profit from this voyage. If, and it’s a big if, I survived the surgery there’s the risk of infection and the threat that the tumours may return, not to mention how quickly Konar’s authorities would be investigating the sudden exchange of illegally gained money; I think I’ve painted you a sufficient picture to explain why the surgery won’t happen.
“If I were to have the surgery I would have to leave Konar behind for good, as would the physician, of that I am certain. It wouldn’t take long before officials knew about such a sum of money moving around and I was having to explain myself under torture. I have lifelong friends and a great crew that I’d be leaving behind, and for what? No, I’ll return to Konar and see out my days in good company.”
“I wouldn’t give up hope just yet. You say you�
��re shy a few million credits? Are you sure that you haven’t told anyone about this, not a soul in Troy? The job is high risk, high reward, to the tune of three million credits plus a further one million to share between each of your crew members.”
Duke felt his pulse quicken at the thought of raising the money to afford his surgery; he had accepted his fate and had not even entertained the idea that he might live to see the winter. Was the gamble, and exile, worth it to fight this disease? He tore his eyes away from his amber reflection in the ale and looked at Lorna, at the woman he had dreamt of for decades. Finally, he was reunited, even better she did not spurn him for leaving her behind. This was his best chance of a happiness life had denied Duke.
“Four million credits? I don’t know if it is wise to even ask what kind of job would warrant that amount of pay, but my curiosity is too much; what is the job?”
Chapter 13
“Three hundred thousand credits each, five years’ salary, and all we have to do is transport some live cargo back to Konar? There’s no other catch to the job?” asked Greg, keeping his voice low in the near empty restaurant.
“No other catch, save that if we are caught we’d be lucky to die quickly.” chimed in Deborah. She kept her eyes focused on the glass bottle that she rolled from hand to hand, ignoring the stare Greg gave her.
“Deborah is right, this is high risk for a high reward. I’m not going to push for the crew to agree on this job, and we only go ahead with it if we are in it together. Three hundred thousand credits apiece to smuggle two hundred men and their ship into Konar’s orbit, with no guarantee that we will pull it off successfully. Talk amongst yourselves and I shall come find you in a couple hours’ time.”
Duke stood up from the corner table, dropped a credit chip on the metal table top, and turned to filter through the remaining diners. He soon disappeared from view, not that the crew noticed as they began a whispered conversation.
“You and Lev will have to argue amongst yourselves over this; I’m all up for taking the risk.” said Deborah, interrupting Greg as his mouth opened to speak.
“I was hoping for a little more debate on the subject.” he said, seemingly deflating before Deborah’s eyes. “I expected you to put up more of a fight than that. Looks like we are all in agreement then.”
Lev turned to his partner, who began to cower at the look of anger in the giant’s eyes. Deborah steeled herself, her body shaking gently as she tried to suppress her giggles at the sight of an enraged Lev.
“Don’t be so hasty to speak for me, Greg. Despite the money on offer I do not feel comfortable smuggling these men to Konar. We all know that they aren’t going to be upstanding citizens, not for the money being offered; there’s going to be a lot of questions asked when those men are discovered. How are we expecting them to go unnoticed? It will be essentially impossible to conceal another ship leaving our hold whilst docked at Aurora and releasing them beforehand would only see their ship boarded or destroyed before it even reaches Konar’s orbit.”
Greg shifted along the curved wooden bench, putting some much-needed space between himself and Lev’s anger. He considered the man’s question, and realised that he had rushed his decision, clouded by the thoughts of so many credits.
“You are right, Lev; it would be no easy thing for their ship to leave ours so close to Konar. However, if Duke’s description of the craft is accurate, I suspect we have less to worry about than you might fear. I believe that their ship is actually a diplomatic vessel, used for transporting a delegate and his or her staff from a Konarian planet when King Diamond demands an audience. At least, that is my theory, based on what Duke has mentioned.” said Deborah.
“A diplomatic vessel would be spared any thorough scans on arrival, which could leave it unnoticed. How do we unload their ship and explain it to any of Aurora’s staff? Scans are one thing to evade, but its highly unusual to transport a perfectly functioning ship inside of a mining tug; someone would start asking questions and then we are destined for torture.” Greg lapsed into silence as he considered the problem before them.
“What if it wasn’t fully functional when we rescued them, that could explain why we were transporting a ship within our own.” suggested Lev.
Greg opened his mouth, as if to speak, and paused as he repeated Lev’s words in his mind.
“That’s not as bad of an idea as it sounded. I don’t mean any offence by that, Lev.” Deborah flashed an uncertain smile that the man merely shrugged at. “It’s not unheard of for a hyper gate to overload the more delicate components of a smaller ship; we could say that the Illicit Jane picked up their distress signal after one of our jumps and offered safe transport.”
“I have to agree, it’s a good idea, Lev. However, we can’t move forward without agreeing on taking the job; where do you stand now?” asked Greg.
Lev did not answer immediately, his gaze seemingly far away as he mulled over the options before him. It was obvious that he was in a minority, Duke would not have mentioned the job if he did not think the risk was an acceptable one, and both Greg and Deborah were more than willing to accept.
“I do not like the job, especially since we know so little about those we will be allowing on board. If the two of you are so eager to take on the risk I will join you. Be warned, if we end up caught in the act I will not let you forget how stupid it was taking this job.”
“Thank you, Lev; we will have to all make sure it never comes to that. Let’s enjoy the rest of our meals while we wait on Duke’s return. It wouldn’t hurt to plan what we are going to do with that money either.” said Greg with a smile across his face.
“Duke Kefo, I would like you to meet Boden Shaw.”
The man had introduced himself as Harric, an unofficial employee of King Yadriel, though Duke doubted it was his true name. The fact that the ruler of a rogue city would need to have unofficial employees surprised Duke, but then the job proposed to him could have severe repercussions for Troy.
Before Duke was a man who, in several ways, reminded him of Ajax, though he was thankful that there were some obvious differences. Boden was nearly a head taller than Ajax, who was already considerably taller than Duke, which resulted in the mercenary staring down on the captain and making no effort to hide it. The thin smile Boden permitted his scar riddled face did not extend to the eyes, which were a dull grey and seemingly lifeless.
Lorna had not supplied many details on the package Duke would be expected to deliver, but he did not believe it was intentional on her behalf. Yadriel most likely did not want it openly discussed in the restaurant that Duke would be transporting mercenaries to Konar, which could easily be construed as an open attack on Konar. Duke had committed himself to treason and was hoping not to stay around long enough for the fallout.
Duke extended his hand and braced for the grip, his eyes drawn to the visible muscles under the seemingly paper-thin skin of Boden’s arm as they began to ripple and tense. Boden was a killer, of that there was no doubt, but there was no joy or happiness in the man, which Duke thought was the major difference between him and Duke’s dead friend. That and the braided white hair that Boden had tucked into his jackets collar, which stood out even more against his youthful appearance.
“It is good to meet you, captain.” said Boden, his voice, though quiet, came out as more of a bark than human speech. “Harric tells me you were the only man brave enough to take this job; I hope that you are prepared for the challenge.”
“That does not surprise me, there are few willing to carry out such a task when Konar is involved. My crew have presented a sound plan of how to explain your ships presence within my holds, of which I am confident in that it’ll work. We have the space to accommodate both your ship and crew in relative comfort, although I would ask that your men do not leave our hold; the Illicit Jane is a very old mining tug, and it’s for both their safety and the continued operation of the ship that I ask them not to stray.”
Boden’s face remained impassive, i
f nothing else he seemed entirely uninterested in what Duke had to say, which only served to irritate the captain.
“Your ship, your terms; I will ensure my men stay out of your crew’s way. We will organise provisions for the journey, as I wouldn’t expect your ship to have food for an additional two hundred men. How long do you estimate it will take us to arrive at Konar?”
“At least five weeks, it is hard to say as we did not take a direct path to Troy. If you purchased enough to last you and your men for two months I would imagine that should be more than sufficient.
“The Illicit Jane will leave Troy a day before you do and wait outside of the asteroid field. It will be very easy for your pilot to land within our hold; she is used to far larger cargo than such a vessel.”
“I shall make the necessary arrangements with Harric to ensure our provisions are on board and shall see you out there, captain. Until we meet again.”
Boden left with a forced grin that was more grimace, the act of pleasantries seeming an alien sight on such a man. Duke was glad to see the back of him as he opened the shop’s door and stepped out into the darkness.
“A formidable man, though I had expected he would be.” said Duke, when the silence became uncomfortable.
“He is a savage killer of men, aye, women and children too; make no mistake, he would kill me for a single credit, if the mood took him. The good news, Duke, is that no one has hired him to kill you, and that man does not kill unless there is money involved.”
Duke turned to Harric and, despite the low light, could see the wild look in his eyes as he spoke of Boden’s less than savoury nature; the sight before him scared Duke even more than the mercenary.
“That’s reassuring, I suppose. I do not relish another minute in that man’s company, this journey home will feel like an age. I just hope that Yadriel is sure that Boden can be trusted long enough for me to leave him at Konar.”