Starblazer- Through the Black Gate

by Reiter

  “I trust you will not mind giving me a lift to the end of the row?” Mel’s response was a bright smile as he cued the throttle to open up for more speed.

  “No one needs to know everything,” Dungias thought. “… but this mind needs to know more!”

  They sped down the avenue, quickly reaching a speed most hovercraft could not. Dungias could feel the young man’s exhilaration and he released the hold on his face in order to allow himself a smile.

  Jocasta’s goggles formed without her needing to touch them, and she chuckled at the unspoken rule Dungias might as well have shouted. She laughed before looking at the bike. Her smile fell from her face as the goggle’ heads-up display for the bike’s controls showed her altitude, power, direction and speed. She could also see on the menu of options the ability to dock the sky-bike with her fighter.

  “Open a channel to Z, Satithe,” she requested as she revved the engine.

  “Channel open.”

  “Yes, Captain?” Dungias asked.

  “Icarus,” she said, leaning forward on the bike and engaging forward thrust. Before she knew it, the bike was up and over the estate. She wailed with excitement as she took the bike into a banking turn. The feel of the vehicle was beguiling to her at first. She had to remind herself that she was not in the sim-room aboard her ship – that crashing now would actually hurt – but the way the sky-bike responded was so close to the program she had spent hours mastering that she felt completely at home. She spun through three barrel-rolls and came to the conclusion that what she was riding was only slightly slower than the vehicle in the simulation. She immediately could see the sense of it: she had been trained to handle something faster, heavier, and more sluggish. Flying Icarus would come as easy to her as walking. Now was as good a time as any to take a stroll.

  “Would that mean the fighter then is Daedalus?” Dungias asked.

  “You better believe it!” Jocasta barked.

  “Fly well then, Captain,” Dungias said softy as he climbed into the spacecraft they had recovered from the warehouse belonging to Hennix, Deolun, and Bruveia. “And welcome, Icarus!”

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  It had taken some time, but the effort had been well spent. At last the room was at the proper lighting. Nulaki had turned off the music, as it only made him sleepy, and this was certainly no time to be taking a nap. Silnouria did not like him. She probably wanted to kill him, but she could easily see the value in not doing so. She had relieved him of his two living parcels and had given him a room where he could wait and… entertain himself until the Madam could arrange for a means to exchange the stones for credits. In the meantime, the Madam of the Euphoria Palace had arranged for companionship for the Fazbred thief.

  After nearly half an hour of picking over each of the offerings that had been paraded in front of him, Nulaki had at last settled on one woman. She seemed the least like a courtesan and more like an assassin. Something in her eyes just screamed ‘don’t touch’ to him. Nulaki always appreciated a challenge.

  “Am I not to your liking, Master?” the red-headed woman purred as she climbed up onto the foot of the bed.

  “I’ve always had a soft spot for redheads!” Nulaki grinned as he lay back on the pillows he had stacked at the head of the large circular bed. The red silk robe fit him perfectly and he was partial to the aroma of the chamber as well. “Something about their passion has always mystified me!”

  “I am pleased that you are pleased, Master,” she cooed.

  “Stop right there,” he said, holding up his bare foot in front of the woman. “You have to pay homage to the toes!”

  “The toes, Master?” she said, looking at his feet. To say they were in a state of disarray would have been too subtle a statement. He nodded as he smiled. “Surely you want to taste of my lips first,” she said, caressing his feet and finding them hard and odorous.

  “Oh, I’m not kissing you. Are you insane?!” Nulaki asked. “There’s probably more miles on those lips than I have on my boots. No way are you kissing me!” Nulaki shook with disgust before pointing at his feet as he wiggled his toes. “And here’s just another reason! Get to it, Red!”

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  Though the manacle had been removed from her neck, Pristacia felt no closer to freedom as she stood awaiting inspection and cleaning. There were at least twenty females in the room who had been made to stand against the wall, along with seven males. Their ages ranged from early teens to early thirties; and it was obvious that Madam Gassio saw to the tastes of many races. Still, every one of the initiates was very attractive in one way or another. They were kept in a tight pack and made to march into a large processing area.

  “Has anyone ever escaped this madness?” Pristacia asked in a very soft voice. The woman in front of her turned to tell Pristacia to be silent and to make the best of what could be a much worse situation.

  “It is too late for us,” a soft voice whispered from behind her. “You were brought in by yourself, and probably by someone new to the trade. The rest of us are already wearing these.” Pointing at her left arm, just below the shoulder, the young woman drew Pristacia’s attention to a slender band of metal that had been made to look like gold. “They touch one button on those black rods they wear and it can deliver anything from a slight pricking pain to something like your heart seizing up in your chest!” Pristacia looked at the men who were moving them along. Not all of them had the device the young woman had mentioned. She could only count three among the half score of people she had seen.

  One by one they were led into a device that scanned their bodies and when Pristacia entered the machine, she could see the faces of the men who were reviewing the results. They were pleasantly surprised, and one turned to confirm Nulaki’s claim to Silnouria. The smile on the round woman’s face turned Pristacia’s stomach, but she made no sign of her feelings. With a single motion from the Madam, Pristacia was grabbed, taken from the line, and brought to her new owner.

  “You are everything the Black Scarab said you would be, child,” Silnouria smiled as she looked over Pristacia’s form. “He is not known for his integrity, but his skill leaves little to question… obviously.” Silnouria put her hand to Pristacia’s face and gently stroked her skin. “Very little indeed. I might even be able to forget his wayward tongue for this… but I suppose that is a moot point now.

  “Take her to my chambers,” Silnouria commanded. “My sampling of her will not change her value!” Pristacia whimpered as she was dragged away from the processing chamber. Silnouria turned to follow, giving one last gesture to the men in the processing chamber. “As for the others, you already know the drill. I want them ready for tomorrow night’s extravaganza!”

  Pristacia put her feet down and devoted only a portion of her strength toward resisting the men holding her. She managed to bring her forward progression to a halt before they picked her up and resumed walking.

  “Save your strength, girlie,” Silnouria called to her. “You’re going to need it.”

  “Of that, I have no doubt,” Pristacia thought. “I just wanted to tap my earring. And draw you closer, eyeing your prize!”

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  Annsura had sheathed her swords some time ago, but her efforts to remain observant had never been discontinued. She had walked Ephaliun over into a corner and made him close his coat so that the customers could at least somewhat put their minds to ease. With her back to the wall she looked at the patrons, the ones who had been there when she arrived and the ones that had come since Nulaki’s departure. She was waiting, watching the front door, and keeping an eye on the guards who had yet to look as relaxed as they had before they knew there was an ion bomb in their presence. The young woman decided to play with their minds a bit as a means to keep them at bay and afraid of both her and Ephaliun.

  She reached into one man’s plate and removed a large meat-covered bone. The man said nothing, as he had been in the room when it was revealed th
e young woman was the trigger on a living bomb. Taking a large bite of the meat, Annsura chewed once before moving to Ephaliun and kissing him on the mouth. When she pulled her lips away he was chewing and swallowing. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and tossed the bone back into the man’s plate. There were a few muttered comments, but nothing was said directly to the woman and most people just turned so that they would not have to see anything else.

  “Wasn’t expecting that,” Annsura thought, suppressing a smile. “But I’ll take it!”

  Annsura heard a soft and low moan coming from Ephaliun. She turned her back to the bar to get a look at the chamber. She had not seen a side entrance to the building and it certainly had not been in the blueprints they had studied… but it was being used, and though she could not see the faces of any of the three figures being escorted into the establishment due to the hoods on their cloaks, Annsura could make out the staff that was Nulaki’s target. Her brace-com captured a frame of it and sent it to Nulaki before opening a channel to all receivers.

  “This is Cutter, the stick has entered the pool hall. I repeat: the stick has entered the hall. No positive identification on the courier, but we have confirmed the stick!”

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  Nulaki leaned back with his eyes closed as his foot was massaged. He opened his eyes to look at the woman as she was lying down, propped up on her elbows to rub his foot. She actually appeared to be happy that she was pleasing him and he shook his head at her professionalism. “Ol’ Silly does bring in the best of them. That’s what I’ve always heard.”

  “Are you pleased, Master?” the red headed woman asked. A flash of yellow light came from Nulaki’s belt buckle; it was Annsura’s signal. It was quickly followed by a flashing red light which was Pristacia’s warning signal.

  “It wouldn’t be me otherwise,” Nulaki thought. “My prize is in the building, and Fat Sil’s pulling a double-cross of some sort. Wonderful!

  “I am in heaven, woman!”

  “Then perhaps I should do away with the rest of my clothes,” the woman said as she rose up on her knees. “… and please the rest of your body.”

  “Oh, you got to kiss it first,” Nulaki said, holding up his foot again. He untied the knot of his robe and smiled. “… a nice, wet, kiss on that big toe. Then we can get down to business!” the woman blinked several times, looking at Nulaki and his foot.

  “One kiss and then you will take me?” she asked.

  “Oh, baby, will I!”

  “If it pleases you, Master,” she smiled before taking a gentle grasp of his foot. She closed her eyes, licked her lips and touched them to his big toe. Nulaki thrust his toe into her mouth and the near microscopic barbs that extended to enable his wall-crawling were applied to the inside of the woman’s mouth as he brought her face down to the bed. A twist of his foot and the false skin clinging to the woman’s face and neck came right off. She coughed and gasped as she rolled off the bed.

  “You’d be surprised what pleases me, lady,” Nulaki said, jumping from the bed to the chair where he had placed his clothes. He removed the robe, revealing that he was still wearing his bodysuit. He rolled down each pant leg using his feet as he reached for his shirt and pants. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that false skin turning black around your mouth. Poisoned lipstick went out with nuclear drives, baby!

  “Whoa!” Nulaki dropped his clothes and hopped back from the chair as the redheaded woman’s fist just missed his head, hammering into the wall. Nulaki grabbed his weapons belt and backed away quickly.

  “I’ll have to note that for the Mistress,” the woman said as her eyes flared with a pale red light; the tell-tale sign of electronic visual sensors. She pulled her hand easily from the wall paneling. “In the meantime, I still need to be about the business of killing you!”

  “Then you shouldn’t have let me grab my belt,” Nulaki smiled just before the android leapt forward. Nulaki jumped back again, taking hold of the machine’s forearms, lifting his feet to its chest. The power of their mutual leaping effort carried them to the wall, and they both phased through it. Nulaki pushed off from the android and the moment he was clear of it, there was a muffled explosion. Stuck in the wall, the android’s systems began to fail. “You really shouldn’t have.” Nulaki was quick to get up and jump back through the wall to put on the rest of his clothes.

  “So… we’re using Black Widow Bots, are we?” Nulaki muttered as he donned his belt and opened his holding area to get out the rest of his weapons and equipment. “This bitch needs to be brought down a peg or three!” Donning his brace-com, Nulaki quickly opened a channel to everyone. “Rack ‘em, Cutter. I’m going for the break!

  “Satithe, please tell me some good news!”

  “I have located the woman in question,” Satithe reported. “She is on the third sublevel of the building, cell number twelve. According to the facility system, she is in perfect health, but each sub-level is well-guarded, Mr. Conadier.”

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Nulaki said as he ran for the stairway. “I have the perfect sauce for that roasted bird.” Looking down the center of the stairway, the Black Scarab smiled at the proximity of the flights. He jumped over the railing and started flipping from railing to railing, keeping his descent speed manageable.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  Annsura picked up her drink and looked at it as she received Nulaki’s transmission. She poured it out on the bar and started to rock left and right, as if she was inebriated. She looked at the shot glass in contemplation as her nostrils flared. She could feel it again, ‘the twinge’ they had come to call it; the feeling of anxiety just before a fight. In the pits, fights were often life or death, so this moment was nothing new to her. It was, however, the first time she had looked forward to experiencing the sensation.

  “We don’t have eyes on Z,” Ephaliun whispered, hardly moving his lips as he spoke.

  “And you didn’t hear him asking us to hold, did you?” she quickly returned. “We keep the plan and trust the man!” Annsura threw her glass at the large mirror behind the bartender and screamed with rage.

  “I have had it!” she roared. “I’m sick of these bottom feeders and all of this diseased-ridden filth!” Her face broke into a smile as she looked at a very slender young woman who was too terrified to move. “Except maybe you, baby. Hell, even if you’re sick, I’ll join you!”

  “I think you need to remain calm,” one of the guards said as he approached.

  “Why?” Annsura asked before connecting with a lightning jab that rocked the man’s head back. She stepped forward in a flurry of Wing Chung strikes that paralyzed the man where he stood as she hammered into his body. She stepped back, landing a spin punch that might have broken his jaw. “… do I look distressed?

  “And it’s because of people like you,” she said, looking at one of Silnouria’s patrons who started looking around for some protection. “Just because you have coin and cred, you think you can have anything you want – at any cost! Well, deep pockets, let’s see if you can buy me out of yanking your ass out through your nostrils!” Some of the patrons laughed, a few others decided that now might be a good time to take their leave of the establishment. One particular pair of eyes looked on the scene with curiosity.

  It was not as if Thrydias had seen enough; the InvokeR was very curious to see just how many of the guards the comely and yet very capable woman could put down. What else he saw, however, was an opportunity by which he could make this particular visitation to the Euphoria Palace less impacting, financially speaking; a favor for a favor, so to speak. This would not be the first time he was able to leverage his services to ensnare a discount. His visits to Black Gate were already so expensive.

  “Student,” he said, touching the young man to his left. “Restrain that woman.” Pulling back his hood, the young Terran man put his eyes on Annsura as he nodded in acknowledgement of his master’s orders. When Annsura took hold of her chosen target’s shirt, draw
ing back her first, the young man moved quickly and lifted his hand as he spoke.

  “Wait!” he called to Annsura. “If it is a fight you want, try me!”

  “Trust the man… trust the plan,” she repeated in her mind as she turned to face the young disciple. She released the man she was holding who was quick to run away. She looked back at Ephaliun, chuckling when their eyes met as she pointed at her opponent.

  “Do you see this?” she asked before waving Ephaliun off. “Hell, do you see anything?!” Looking again at the InvokeR student, she nodded as she looked over his body. “Nothing I’m packing tops MajiK,” she admitted. “… but a good friend once told me something that’s gonna let me take you up on your invitation… and it’s gonna be the very thing I use to kick your ass!”

  “And tell me, what was this gem of wisdom that is about to lead you to your downfall?” the young student asked with his hand still elevated.

  “I don’t have to be faster than MajiK,” Annsura replied as she set her feet, still wavering as she spoke. “I just have to be faster than you!”

  “You mean faster than this?” he asked, thrusting his already lifted hand toward Annsura. A small orb of light flew from his palm and burst against Annsura’s drawn and swung blade. Both combatants looked surprised at the outcome, but Annsura was quicker to recover.

  “Yeah,” she said, nodding. “… faster than that!”

  “Enough of this,” Thrydias said as he leveled his rod toward the woman.

  “I concur,” Dungias said as he grabbed the man’s wrist. He had dropped his stealth field the moment the MannA Bolt spell was dispersed, and he found himself quite proud of the woman his Captain had named Cutter. He spun, back-kicking the second assistant and bringing the InvokeR’s arm down over his shoulder, hyperextending the joint. The young man flew to the wall and bounced off of it, unconscious. Thrydias screamed as his arm was debilitated. A lift and sweep maneuver slammed the InvokeR’s head to the floor as the rod landed in Dungias’ grasp.