Weeds of Eden

by Christopher D Schmitz

  Julio still didn't understand and began creeping back towards his friends to try and understand Joliver's message. Julio stumbled as he tried to rise from his crouch; his foot kicked a suspension joint and rattled the cables with aloud, metallic shiver.

  He looked back down to the pod just as Prognon Austicon looked up. Their eyes met and the killer sneered and raised his gun. Julio froze--his heart plummeted in his chest.

  Suddenly, loud footsteps rang through the room as Joliver tramped across the catwalk, sprinting across the suspended walkway. He leapt forward and grabbed a lever on the wall and yanked the toggle into a downward position. "Now, Tina!" he yelled. "Do it now!"

  Austicon hesitated and turned to try and find the teen whose voice shattered the silence. He twisted and craned his neck around to find the boy. Austicon snapped his weapon up to aim when the pod suddenly turned white with a frosty blast of cryogenic gas, freezing the villain solid, locking a look of surprise on his face.

  Tina's com began squawking. "This is the Outpost 7 constabulary office. Sorry about the wait. What's the nature of your emergency?"

  #

  Dekker, Vesuvius, and Shin, stealthily worked through the hallway alongside Murtaugh and Rock as they all hurried through the doors of the cryostation. They cased the room with practiced skill, each covering the flanks of the others.

  They stayed away from the center of the room where they would be most vulnerable as the team systematically checked the entire place. After clearing the edges they moved towards the middle.

  Something caught Vesuvius's eye and she walked forward to scout it out. A few moments later she whistled. "Dekker, you'd better come get a look at this."

  Dekker and the others followed the sound of her voice. They found her near one of the cryopods in the center aisle. Unlike the rest of the units, the glassine encasement nearest her had frosted white.

  Wiping away the icy fog, Dekker peered into the tube. Prognon Austicon had been caught inside, flash frozen and perfectly preserved in cryogenic stasis.

  Dekker, Vesuvius, and Shin could barely react to such a strange turn. The three had been chasing the criminal for much longer than any of the others.

  "Well it looks like our jobs just got a lot easier," Murtaugh quipped.

  Rock checked his timepiece and looked back towards the exit where Guy and the others worked to defuse the planet killing bomb. "I guess things will be easy for about another ten minutes or so. Then they're gonna get real chaotic for a few seconds and be over entirely... unless Guy and Nibbs figure something out."

  Shin and Vesuvius watched Dekker as he hovered near the glass. He wordlessly worked his mouth, having a private conversation with the helpless prisoner. Dekker may have holstered his weapons, but his hands twitched as they hovered millimeters from their grips.

  Vesuvius looked him over, wondering what he might do. Nobody would blame him for taking the shot. Everyone knew Dekker and Austicon had bad blood between them, even if none knew their true, dark history.

  Dekker didn't break eye contact with the figure on the other side of the glass. Austicon's frozen, opened eyeballs seemed to look right through him. "Does anybody know if a cryoed body stays conscious?"

  Nobody knew the answer for sure.

  "I have heard that the brain remains awake for five to ten minutes before it fully shuts down," Murtaugh mentioned. "But I've never been iced, so I can't say for certain."

  Dekker used his thumb to write backwards letters in the crystalline frost so that his prisoner could read them. ALEEL. He made his fingers shaped into a kind of gun and pointed it at Austicon's face; he squeezed his thumb like the gun fired.

  "Here's hoping," Dekker muttered.

  Vesuvius pulled her com to her mouth. "Guy, how's it coming? Are we all gonna die, or can I make dinner plans?"

  #

  Guy snatched his com. "Dinner will soooo be on you if I can pull this off," he quipped. "Just don't let Dekker pick the restaurant. He tried to take me to eat Ahzoolien decapod once."

  He dropped the com right after the joke and directed traffic. "This is all gonna hinge on you," Guy said to Nibbs.

  Nibbs didn't look up. He stared at his computer and tapped away.

  Guy didn't press him further. They hadn't had enough time to do the math and had to feel it out.

  He walked around the heavy laser drilling equipment and peeked over the edge of the hole that they'd expanded and checked that the rest of his crew down below was out of the way. "Are you guys ready?"

  Corgan flashed him a thumbs up. They'd cleared as much rubble as possible from the rail system so that the underground transport could still make it through the sub level of the tunnel below them.

  "Here it comes!" Guy yelled unnecessarily. The train's approach rumbled through the tunnel and shook free even more debris from the laser-cut aperture.

  Nibbs pressed a key and the wheels of the tube car locked. It skidded to a halt leaving the middle trucks exposed to Guy's hole.

  Guy took careful aim with the laser cutter and peeled away the roof of the monorail. Corgan, Jamba, and Dirk climbed out of the hole on the far side and grabbed the load lifters.

  Ahmed spread industrial grade agglutinatives across the fuel cells and solidified the polonium rod clusters so that none of the delicate sensors could get jostled during transport. He finished spraying the last of the bubbling aerosol adhesive and covered over the timer and detonator computer with barely more than five minutes remaining. "Finished," he yelled.

  Guy peeled off the last segment of steel and shoved the laser aside. "Ready!" he hurried out of the way as Corgan, Jamba, and Dirk lifted the pallets with the loaders. As a team, they pushed the massive bomb cluster towards the hole as fast as they could manage and flung the whole thing into the pit where it lodged into the train.

  "Go, go, go!" Guy howled, yanking the laser back into place as the others moved the polonium stores away from the wall as fast as possible.

  Nibbs hit the button, blasting the deadly rail convoy as far away as possible, before joining in to help with another load lifter. Guy cut through the floor and segments of walls to collapse the pocket.

  Guy waved the boring beam in wide swaths, collapsing enormous chunks of stone and concrete into the rail tunnel. He nearly brought down the polonium warehouse over their heads as he mowed through the hardened surfaces like a knife through cheese.

  He risked a glance at his watch while sweat beaded on his brow. He had to seal the hole as tightly as possible. The rest of his crew ran from the warehouse and Guy began backpedaling towards the entrance.

  With only seconds left he cut more of the ceiling away to bury the polonium in the rubble and further buffer it from any of the blast leakage.

  Right on time, the floor buckled and shifted as Austicon's bomb erupted in the distance, miles away from sublevels of Halabella's Outpost 7. The air filled with deafening, cracking sounds. Dust rained from overhead and the entire Ioan tectonic plate seemed to rumble with tenuous unease.

  Structures around Guy and his team began to crumble and sections of ceiling broke free. Everyone scattered and leapt for cover, trying to evade the falling skies.

  Finally, the vibrations settled.

  Guy touched himself to check that he was still conscious and alive. He jumped into the air, pumping his fists, howling with victory.

  Leaving the collapsed pile of rubble with a broad grin on his face, he shouted to find his comrades. "Someone owes me dinner!" Guy strode confidently through the central section and then stopped in his tracks. His grin faltered and drooped.

  The Dozen's medic, Ahmed, worked feverishly on Dirk who'd been caught beneath a pile of rubble. Jamba, Corgan, and Nibbs used a hunk of metal to lever the collapsed masonry off their friend. Guy ran forward to help Ahmed drag Dirk to safety.

  Ahmed scowled as he looked over their friend. "It doesn't look good," he mumbled and struggled with his belt to make a tourniquet.

  Groggy from the pain, Dirk chuckled. "Hey, doc.
Keep yer pants on til you've bought me a drink, at least."

  Ahmed forced a plastic smile for his patient's sake. "He'll be fine," he said, but he caught the eyes of his fellow Investigators and shook his head to admit that he'd lied.

  #

  Dekker and the others huddled close, near the petrified body of Prognon Austicon. Vesuvius stood closer to him than the others and her thigh touched his, transmitting intense heat and distracting him.

  "We checked all the pods and still don't know where the creepy mask guy went," Rock noted.

  Dekker nodded. "We can cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's get Austicon into custody so we can finally bring him to justice."

  Shin put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "MEA custody and justice, or yours?"

  Dekker bit his lip and entertained notions of killing the enemy who had done such unspeakable evil to him over the years. "Let's just get him onto the Crusader for now. I don't trust the bureaucracy of the MEA constables--even if they did happen to get the trial right, they'll probably screw it up before they ever get that far."

  His teammates agreed with his logic--though none would complain about missing their cut of the obscene bounty if they put a bullet through Austicon's brainpan. The reward for dead delivery would be significantly less, but the galaxy might be better off for it.

  Before anyone could disconnect the stasis pod and prep it for transport the doors flew open. The Investigators had guns and swords drawn and ready in a flash.

  "Lower your weapons," commanded a constable holding a retractable baton. Nearly a dozen other men followed on his heels, similarly armed. Shielding the brave officers were three teenagers who practically pulled the men along.

  "I said lower them," he called over the heads of the strong-willed kids.

  Dekker and Vesuvius traded glances. If they didn't decide to voluntarily disarm these men could not force them.

  Vesuvius looked at the three youth and her face softened. She sheathed her blade and raised an eyebrow at their leader. It was time for Dekker to decide.

  He dropped his pistols into their thigh holsters and sighed. The constables rushed forwards and checked over the cryopod.

  "It's him, see," the shorter of the two boys exclaimed. "We caught Prognon Austicon. Will we get the reward?"

  "Of course we'll get the reward," the other teenager interjected, looking to the lead officer for some kind of verification. The constable nodded vigorously, likely plotting to somehow interject his own name into the capture narrative.

  Dekker wordlessly worked his mouth when his com crackled. Guy's voice broke radio silence. "Dirk's not doing well--the blast kinda dropped a building on him. How far away are you guys? If we don't get him to a hospital right away he's probably gonna lose his arm."

  He fingered the transmit button. "We caught Austicon."

  "What? That's awesome; we'll never have money problems again!"

  "We aren't gonna get paid for it," Dekker responded.

  A nosey peacekeeper looked Dekker up and down with a scrutinizing stare. His gaze lingered on the pistols at the Investigator's sides and he narrowed his eyes to slits. Projectile weapons were outlawed in MEA territories and only energy-based weapons could be permitted by those lucky enough to acquire even that.

  "Ah crap," Guy hissed. "Don't tell me those idiots in the MEA have him already! They couldn't keep track of their own..."

  Dekker switched it off before Guy dug too deep of a hole.

  The officer used his weapon to point at Dekker's guns. "Aren't those things illegal?"

  Dekker bit his lip, searching for some kind of excuse. The chief officer's com erupted with an emergency alert.

  "Available units please respond. We have a murder in the government center. Jai Janus and Jace Strengen have both been murdered."

  The officer looked at Dekker and his face fell. He hesitated only a moment and then pointed to half of his men. "You guys watch these kids and get that criminal's stasis pod locked in storage--with the highest security possible!" he ordered.

  He turned to leave and engage in what would undoubtedly become a political nightmare. Firing over his shoulder he warned Dekker, "Get out of my city. I'm gonna have enough paperwork the way it is."

  Dekker nodded. His pager chirped and reported that Zarbeth waited for them on OSH3. He and his crew hung their heads and exited the cryo facility empty-handed.

  #

  Leviathan tossed the contents of President Janus's desk onto the ground. He rummaged through the trash and file cabinets of the company president.

  Austicon's favorite creature knew the Red Tree's prize had been somewhere in Janus's office. He'd seen it through his master's eyes and borrowed the memory.

  Leviathan finished trashing the office. Finally certain that the arbolean seed wasn't present, he realized that there might be surveillance somewhere outside Janus's office that could help him determine where the item had disappeared to.

  His com chirped and he wiped Jai Janus's blood from his hands before opening the channel.

  The Shivan pirates alerted him that they'd made groundfall and had commandeered a transport. They would arrive at a shipping dock shortly.

  Leviathan needed to catch that ride.

  He took one more look around and then ducked through the door.

  There would always be another opportunity to locate the item so fervently desired by the old women.

  Leviathan paused in the shadows as he crept through the back hallways of Outpost 7. A guard stationed at a security outpost listened to a news feed. The broadcast reported the apprehension of Prognon Austicon.

  If the assassin still had lips he would've frowned. The Watchman had stopped another one of his master's plans.

  He cocked his head and got to work. All mistakes could be corrected in due time. Leviathan pulled a knife from his boot. Only a single guard stood between Leviathan and his freedom. He could eventually correct the mistake and reclaim his master.

  The guard looked up at a ship that suddenly docked without clearance and Leviathan crept up behind him.

  #

  Zarbeth walked towards the exit ramp as the Rickshaw Crusader descended towards the lawn of the Pheema's compound. He glanced back to look at the injured Investigator who had his right side bandaged with his arm tightly immobilized.

  Guy waved excitedly to the Krenzin.

  He turned his back on the mercenaries and exited the ship. It barely touched down before climbing skyward again on its VTOL thrusters.

  Zarbeth shuddered, happy to be away from Guy, and headed into the building where his nose detected a familiar smells of trace ammonia and dander. He walked directly for the Pheema's office.

  The Pheema stood when his servant entered. "Do you have it?"

  Zarbeth locked the door behind him and then rummaged through his robes. Finally, he withdrew the pod which contained the seedling. "The child of New Eden, Holy One," Zarbeth reported. His fingers traced the strange markings etched into the glass.

  "Excellent," the Pheema hissed as he drew a molecular disrupter. "We must take snsure that no one ever suspects the Right Hand of the theft."

  "I understand," Zarbeth kneeled and bowed.

  The Pheema raised an eyebrow and pursed his whiskers. Zarbeth seemed a true believer. Unquestionably loyal minions were worth their weight in gold, and then some.

  "Your silence is assured?"

  Zarbeth bobbed his head. "You have it, my lord."

  The Pheema hid the disrupter back within his robes. "Excellent. Tell me everything."

  #

  Dekker shuffled back and forth on his heels, trying not to pace. Shin and Vesuvius leaned against the wall of the waiting room and watched the news feeds.

  The redhead's gaze shifted between the talking heads and Dekker. More than happy to push an agenda heralding increased peace in the galaxy, footage of Austicon's retrieval played on an endless loop.

  Finally, a doctor met them in the waiting room. Dr. McBain was human, but
the lapel pin affixed to his breast identified him as a member of the Krenzin led Peace For All Races group; it was little more than the nonKrenzin arm of the felinoid race's religion. Dekker rolled his eyes when he spotted the PFAR logo.

  "I'm afraid your friend is in bad shape," Dr. McBain lamented. "We did have to take his arm, and he's not out of the woods yet, though I do expect that he will make a recovery... such as it may be for people in your line of work." His eyes tried to hide their disdain for the mercenaries--anything touched by Krenzin ideology opposed violence by any means or from any source.

  Dekker nodded and the doctor continued.

  "Have you all ever considered another line of employment? You could each end up suffering a similar fate, you know... or worse."

  Dekker gave the doctor a stink-eyed look and then left the hospital. His friends followed him.

  "As if we each haven't counted the cost before every mission," he seethed.

  Vesuvius put a hand on his chest to calm him down.

  They took a walk back home on the streets of Reef City, taking the long way around.

  "Maybe we can grab a bite to eat?" Shin suggested. "It is my last night before I must return to Master Muramasa."

  Dekker shrugged, still irked by the casualties--even though Austicon was finally out of the picture. "I don't really feel like going out," Dekker admitted.

  "Perfect," Vesuvius interjected. "We'll order in... besides, if we don't feed Guy he's going to whine about saving an entire planet and not even getting a free lunch out of it."

  Dekker shrugged, knowing she was right. He nodded and Vesuvius hung back a few paces as she call for a delivery.

  "What should I tell Master Muramasa?" Shin asked his friend.

  Dekker raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

  Shin looked back towards his cousin.

  "Oh. Yeah."

  Chuckling, Shin shook his head. "You see so much at times--and yet you're so blind to some things. The world was meant to be a certain way, Dekker Knight... Prognon Austicon is never meant to be a part of it--and you and Vesuvius were meant to be together. My father has always believed this."

  Dekker offered his friend a half-grin. "I guess I can be pretty inept at times... but maybe now with Austicon behind me."