The Circuit, Book 1

by Rhett C. Bruno

  The three of them began laughing so hysterically that it appeared to be the funniest thing they’d ever seen. Julius was in tears, and Vellish was standing next to his chair holding his gut, unable to bring himself to sit. Sage pursed her lips and tried to ignore them, but their reaction was making her so irritated that the glass she held with her synthetic hand shattered. She hadn’t even realized she was squeezing, but the high-pitched sound quickly silenced everyone.

  The men immediately looked up at her, a fear in their eyes which she’d seen all too many times before. She stared at the empty space within her cupped palm, Synthrol trickling out from the spaces between each metal plate. Then something happened to her, something she hadn’t felt in longer than she cared to recall. It started in the depths of her gut and worked its way up her throat, until from her mouth came a chuckle. It was far from boisterous, in fact it was barely audible, but it startled her so much that she covered her mouth. Then there was another and another after that, and before long she joined the others in honest laughter.

  “I…” she mouthed. The sensation was so unfamiliar that she had to pause for a moment to gather her voice. “I didn’t expect it to taste that dreadful.”

  “I swear I’ve ain’t never seen anybody react that bad,” a completely winded Julius huffed.

  “Seriously.” Vellish wiped his eyes and took a seat. “You almost burnt my legs off!”

  “Serves you right for letting me drink that,” Sage said. “What in the Ancients is wrong with all of you?” Her whole face was still scrunched in disgust, the foul taste still lingering in her mouth.

  “Better than being sober all day,” Ulson tittered. “You get used to it after a while.”

  “I’ll be dead long before I’m used to that,” Sage attested before realizing how wrong she might be. She had said the same thing the first time she tasted Crud on New Terrene, and now she craved it more than anything. Could I ever miss this? She looked up at the three Ceresian’s smiling faces, and then she gazed down at the fire and shook her head.

  I am a knight in the darkness, a vessel of their wisdom. I am the silent hand of the Tribune. She began reciting the Executor vows in her head, until something happened which robber her of her train of thought.

  “’Bout time you two woke up!” Julius shouted. “Care for a game?”

  Sage saw Talon approaching in her peripheries with a young girl walking behind him. She didn’t dare look at him directly, but as he approached them, the handsome lines of his face were painted by the flame in vibrant shades of orange and red. Their eyes locked for a moment too short to count, but a moment that made it feel like her heart was plummeting through her stomach.

  She quickly turned back to the fire. It took all of her concentration to keep her vision trained on the sweltering plumes as they licked at her supple flesh. Whatever conversation was going on between the four Ceresians was rendered muffled whispers.

  I am a knight in the darkness, a vessel of their wisdom. I am the silent hand of the Tribune. I will not lose faith amongst the faithless.

  She repeated the vows in her head, but by the end of them she could feel Talon standing over her. His shadow swayed with the wavering light, but there was no doubt he was there. It was too much to bear. Out of the corner of her eye she allowed herself a glimpse. His cheeks were red as the Earth’s core and a laughable smile stretched from one ear to the other. Seeing the expression was enough to make one end of her lips curl upward. It happened before she could stop it, and by the time she was able to he was already gone.

  “Alright, Agatha, you ready? Agatha?”

  Sage didn’t hear who was speaking to her until a card fell flat onto her lap and caught her attention.

  “You ready?” Julius asked again. “I’ll teach you as we go.”

  Her mouth opened to say she was ready, but when nothing came out she nodded instead.

  I will not lose faith amongst the faithless.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE—TALON RAYNE

  Taking the Circuit for all it’s Worth

  Talon and Julius spent two more weeks scouring all of the districts and Domes of Ceres Prime for a group of mercenaries willing to take up the risk of attacking a Tribunal freighter. Most scoffed and claimed it was impossible, but the promise of wealth was irresistible for some, not to mention a chance to take on Tribunal soldiers. By the end of their search they had twelve others in their squad, enough to fill a small transport, though none of them had any clue how many it would take.

  It was the eve of their departure, and Talon stood beside Julius atop a small promontory overlooking their housing district. Elisha and her mother sat a short distance behind them in the shadow of an overhang, waiting for them to conclude their discussion.

  “Tell me straight, Julius. You think the squad we have is good enough to get this done?” Talon asked.

  “Honestly Tal, I have no idea,” Julius replied. “We’ve been through our share of shit, you more than I, but this.” Julius grabbed his friend by the shoulders and turned him so that the girls watching wouldn’t be able to read their lips. “More I think about it, the more it seems like suicide.”

  “Sounds perfect to me.” Talon grinned complacently, masking his true outlook on the idea.

  “We’ll come back alive.” Julius nodded sharply, as if trying to provide himself with some level of assurance. “I won’t let you go out like this. If and when you die, she’ll be at your side, Tal. I promise that.”

  “When,” Talon lamented. “I sure hope she isn’t. I hope she’s far away from here bathing in the sun somewhere with grass wriggling between her toes.”

  “Yeah, and I hope Earth’ll be green and beautiful again,” Julius jested. He lightly jabbed Talon in the chest.

  Talon glanced over at Elisha whispering with her mother, a blithe smile prominent on her small face. “Maybe one day it will be…”

  “You okay? You’re startin’ to sound like one of them!” Julius chuckled. “I’ll always look after her, Tal. You know that. We may not be blood, but she’s my daughter too.”

  “Then can I ask something of you?” He reached out and laid his hand on Julius’ brawny chest. “Something I would never trust with any of the others?”

  “Anythin’.”

  Talon took a deep breath. It was as difficult for him to ask as he knew it would be for Julius to hear. “Stay here with her. I can’t go back, but there’s still hope for you.”

  “Wha…” Julius mouthed, unable to get the full word out.

  Talon pulled him closer. “If we fail, I don’t think Zaimur will hold up his end of the bargain! I know it. He’s not the man his father is. When she’s old enough he’ll sneer as the vile men of this rock fuck her until her eyes goes white.”

  Julius pushed Talon away and protested: “What about her mother?”

  “If she isn’t playing with needles, she’s got some piece of shit buried half inside her. You think she’ll do anything to keep Zaimur’s hands off of her? She’d probably take the credits and watch. No, I can’t let Elisha follow that same path.”

  Julius’ bulging eyes began to well up and his hands trembled. “No, you guys need me,” he implored. “I…I don’t want to be stuck in the mines my whole life. You don’t understand.”

  “I know I don’t, and I know we need you…that’s what makes this so hard to ask.” Talon swallowed hard. “But she needs you too, and I know you love her as much as I do.”

  “Tal…”

  “I’m dying, Julius. I feel it every damned day. Every time I wake up, I’m sore all over. Every time I run, my lungs are ready to burst out of my chest. But as long as I still have something left to give, I’m going to fight for her to have a better life.”

  Tears began to dribble down Julius’ cheeks in reedy streams. “Then stay with her! I’ll lead the men. You can have everythin’ I earn, just don’t leave me behind.”

  “No. This is my mess.” Talon reached out and wrapped his hand around his friend’s neck before staring
solemnly into his wet eyes. “This is the last thing I’ll ever ask of you. Everything I own. Everything I make. I’ll leave to you and her.”

  Julius wiped his tears away and let his forehead fall against Talon’s. “Fuck,” he exhaled and stood up straight. “I’ll do it for you, but you need to make me a promise too.”

  Talon bit his lower lip. “Of course.”

  “When you do get back, we’ll leave this place. We’ll be pirates or smugglers out on the Vergent Cell, living the rest of our lives the way we were always meant to.”

  “Taking the Circuit for all it’s worth?” Talon asked. He lunged forward and embraced Julius, squeezing as hard has he could manage around Julius’ thick frame. “Thank you, Julius. I wouldn’t trust her with anybody else.” Then he backed away so that they were at arm’s length. He wasn’t used to seeing his hulking friend so somber.

  Julius did his best to smile. “I know. You ain’t givin’ me much of a choice here. But we’ll see you soon anyway so it don’t matter.” He pulled Talon back in and crushed him with another hug.

  “I hope so,” Talon wheezed.

  “Hope is for pussies.” Julius patted him on the back and nudged him toward his daughter. “You ain’t one.”

  Talon laughed as Julius turned around and sat with his feet dangling off the edge. Talon had always known him to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but the giant man never liked showing when he was upset.

  “You two lovers done over there?” Vera commented as she picked at her teeth with her long fingernails.

  “For now,” Talon replied. He shot her a smirk and knelt down in front of his daughter who had been watching him keenly. “Hey sweetie.”

  “Don’t leave, Daddy!” Elisha burst into tears and buried herself in his chest, her tiny hands grabbing his wrists as if to hold him down.

  He threw his arms around her and pulled her close. He rubbed his face through her hair, hoping her scent would rub off and stick with him. “It won’t be long.”

  Her watery blue eyes met his as she said worriedly: “I heard Julius saying you could die the other night. I don’t want you to die.”

  Talon allowed himself to grin and ran his covered fingers through her hair. “Julius was only exaggerating. You know him. A week or two tops and I’ll be back.”

  “You promise?” She sniveled and wiped her nose.

  “Yeah,” he lied. “Yeah, I do. And you promise you’ll be nice to him while I’m gone?”

  Her lips curled into a sinister little grin. “I’ll try,” she said.

  Talon laughed and hugged her one more time. “I love you, Elisha,” he whispered. “More than anything.

  “I love you too, Daddy.”

  Talon did his best not to whimper in front of her. He tenderly placed his lips in the center of her forehead and then quickly got up to walk away. Vera caught up with him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She said something, but he didn’t hear it. It was all he could do to hold the tears back, and when he was far enough away they began to flow unimpeded.

  Never looking back, he traversed the series of bridges and lifts leading to his home, keeping his head down to avoid any conversation. When he reached his shack, he pushed through the rickety door and switched on the faulty lights. Then, Talon knelt down and pulled an old trunk forward from beneath his hammock. Wiping away the dust, he placed his CP card into the slot at the top. There was an audible click as it unlocked and the lid slid backward to fold over the rear.

  Inside laid a customized pulse-rifle. There was an interchanging pattern of blue and gray coating each part of the weapon, with the serrated barrel striped in those colors. A few cases of clips were nestled against the side, and below it all was the composite-armor suit Talon had worn during his days serving the Morastus clan.

  He reached under the hammock again, this time dragging out a helmet. The smooth, convex visor was covered in grime. He spat in his hand and rubbed it down until he could see his reflection in the glass. His eyelashes were matted with tears and his cheeks wet and dirty. He hated to see himself appear so weary; to see his infected veins coruscate like blue webs over his temples.

  He took a deep breath. “Too late to turn back now,” he whispered to himself, and then he reached into the box and pulled out his rifle.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX—SAGE VOLUS

  A Small Part of Her

  Sage stood at attention. She was at the base of a tall hangar carved up through the core of a tremendous pillar of rock. The entire shaft was intended only for the personal use of the Morastus clan and its affairs. A group of guards in blue and gray were running a background check on the squad beside her. She wasn’t nervous. She had faith in the Tribune’s diligence.

  She looked to her left and right. There were ten other mercenaries, including Vellish and Ulson. The others were little more than guns for hire, each of them in unique and relatively battered suits of armor. None appeared to be anyone extraordinary, but they were in the same precarious position as her. She guessed from their noticeable edginess that they probably wouldn’t try to help stop her if she attempted to escape, considering all of their likely checkered pasts. The Morastus guards across from her, on the other hand, would.

  Tinted visors gave them an air of mystery that attempted at being intimidating. Stationed amongst them were at least half a dozen, useless androids armed with rifles. It wasn’t a threatening sight but she still began to chart out an escape route with her eyes. She figured she had just as good a shot of getting out as she did of being killed if things went sour. Fifty/fifty odds—not bad considering how deep she’d wound up undercover in only a few weeks.

  An important looking man stepped away from the nearby engineering station. He approached them, walking behind a host of guards. “I must say, Talon put together a clean squad,” he said.

  She’d heard his name was Zaimur Morastus from Julius, son of the leader of the troublesome Morastus Clan which had been around since even before the New Earth Tribunal. His wonderfully combed hair fell to rest gently on the vibrant shoulders of his robe, bouncing with each of his haughty steps. A fearsome beast lurked at his side, its voracious, black eyes moving across the line of mercenaries as if all it saw was a meal.

  Sage was so distracted by the animal that she barely noticed Zaimur walking directly toward her until he was only feet away. She didn’t let it show, but she carefully positioned herself so that she would be able to deliver an incapacitating blow with her artificial arm if it came to that.

  “One stunning woman,” Zaimur said, licking his lips as he reached up and affectionately ran his fingers through her hair. Her immediate response was to break his arm in half, but she restrained herself. “You could make a much better living away from all this violence.”

  The beast began to sniff her legs. As it moved around her, baring the end of its white fangs, she knew it was far more of a danger to her then the pampered Morastus Prince.

  “A shame to see such beauty go to waste,” Zaimur concluded.

  “Not wasted!” Talon responded brashly as he entered the hangar just before she could respond.

  His sudden entrance was enough to earn her attention, and this time she didn’t look away. His armor looked as though it had survived a thousand battles and he had a specially designed pulse-rifle slung over his shoulder. In the other arm, he carried a helmet that was the same as the Morastus guards. His smoldering blue eyes glared forward with the sort of quiet confidence she’d only ever seen in the finest soldiers. He looked ready.

  “We won’t fail you,” he said.

  “And I hope you don’t,” said Zaimur. He turned from Talon to give Sage one last look over. He reached out and let the back of his long, manicured fingers run down her cheek. Under any other circumstances she would have made sure her face was the last thing he’d ever touched, but again she restrained herself. “But it would be quite a shame to lose her.”

  “Look who finally decided to show up!” Vellish remarked with obvious sarcasm from the other
end of the line. He gave Talon a friendly pat on the back and they embraced.

  “Where’s Julius at?” Ulson asked. He was adjacent to them. “The big man decide to sleep in?”

  “He didn’t tell you? I sent him on another mission,” Talon stated firmly as he greeted Ulson.

  Vellish stepped forward and shook his fist. “You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me!” he barked. “Right as we leave? Don’t tell me he chickened out!”

  “Julius would’ve done anything to be here with us, but I needed him for something more vital. Without him all of this would be for nothing.” As Talon explained the situation Sage could infer from the tone of his voice that there was something he wasn’t saying.

  “Just saw him last night. You’d think he woulda told us.” Vellish sighed and returned to his position.

  “You’ll see when we get back how crucial his role is. He isn’t a fighter anyway, you both know that.”

  Talon put a hand on each of their shoulders and offered a heartening nod. It was enough to make them both feel at ease. She remembered then how little she knew about Talon. All Julius revealed was that he was a miner, but judging by how much his reassurance comforted his friends, she knew there was something more to him than that.

  “Fuckin’ gentle giant.” Vellish snickered under his breath.

  “I assume you’re all chatting about that mountain of a man?” Zaimur asked, reaching them along his line of inspection. The dog began to sniff them one at a time, and only afterwards did Zaimur get any closer to them. “Good. He’s a hell of a miner.” Finished with his assessment, he moved in front of the entire squad in order to address them. “The Morastus Clan values your service. Now, all of you but Talon onto the transport.” He bowed his head and offered a haughty smile.

  The guards came forward to lead Sage and the others up the ramp of the ship. It had a wide, rectangular hull sitting under notched wings and one flat ion engine. On the underside was a collection of long, sharp chambers which jutted out like the legs of an ant.