Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series

by Kallias, Christian

  “Boomer? Is that you?” Kevin asked as his heartbeat played a speed metal version of Flight of the Bumblebee’s drum line.

  “No,” said a deep voice. Kevin could feel each of the booming syllables trembling through the scales he sat on. “I’m the fucking mailman, of course it’s me!”

  Kevin let a long sigh of relief escape his lungs.

  “Boy, your timing couldn’t have been better.”

  “Yeah, I gathered that. Now what’s the plan?”

  “We have to destroy it.”

  “Mind providing me with some cover fire?”

  “Wish I could, buddy, but my armor is dead.” Kevin shrugged, “Battery Aziz!” He added in a funny Middle Eastern accent.

  “If you spent a tenth of the time you waste watching movies and played chess instead, you wouldn’t be in this predicament, you know that, right?”

  Kevin knew. Most of his life he had preferred instant gratification over careful strategizing, something requiring long periods of uninterrupted focus. Not exactly Kevin’s or his generation’s forte with all the distractions of social media and online video-watching binges.

  Not having a fallback position or trying to think more than one move ahead could cost him his life today. He was fully aware that he had to work on that in the future.

  “Yeah. But right now, I’m just deliriously happy to see you.”

  “As long as it’s not the Megan Fox kind of happy, so am I.”

  And right there Kevin made another mental note about things you should and shouldn’t do in front of your pet. You know, should he one day be given speech.

  “Ten-four!”

  Boomer chuckled, which resulted in a weird tingly sensation for Kevin. “You’re such a geek.”

  “Gonna be hard to argue with you on that one, but what do you say we go Dragonheart on the Thing?”

  “Sounds about right. Hang on tight!”

  Boomer stabilized his position with well-balanced wing flaps and fired at the Thing again. The metallic beast became engulfed in a scorching inferno. Three large plasma bolts emerged from the flames heading toward Boomer’s face but he saw it in time and dodged by throwing his head to the right.

  The unfortunate side effect of the move sent Kevin hurtling to the side and rekindling with his friend, aka gravity, in a manner he neither expected nor cared for. For some reason, now he had the same thought as the proverbial ball of petunias.

  Not again!

  But his fear was short-lived as Boomer’s tail cradled him and threw him back in place with great dexterity.

  “What part of hold on tight didn’t you understand? I can’t fight that thing and worry about you falling off every few seconds.”

  “Cranky, are we?”

  “You know me, especially when I haven’t eaten in hours, and believe me, I really had to restrain myself from having a cat entree for dinner today.”

  Was it night already?

  When half a dozen plasma projectiles screamed past both Boomer and Kevin’s ears, Kevin said: “I think we need a change of strategy.”

  “Tell me about it, I really thought this thing would have melted by now.”

  “Could be using some sort of shielding or fire-resistant coating.”

  “I doubt it’s just fire resistant.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Uh-huh. Watch this.”

  Boomer did a round fly-by as the Thing emerged from the inferno and sent more plasma attacks their way. Boomer flew with the precision of an eagle. It was impressive to be a witness to it and a little soil-your-pants scary.

  While Kevin had experienced flying a dragon in VR, he now realized how far the tech still had to go to be totally immersive. The smell of sulfur emanating from Boomer’s nostrils, the wind in his hair, and the near-miss plasma bolts that made him feel like his heart would stop; these were all too real. On the other hand, Kevin would gladly swap the ‘immersiveness’ that comes with near death experiences with playing a relaxed VR game with his pals.

  Boomer flew with agility and precision to dodge the incoming plasma fire when his eyes lit red and two rays shot at the Thing. Upon impact, it quickly shrunk to the size of a soda can. Boomer landed next to it.

  “Won’t you finish it off?” asked Kevin.

  “I thought I’d let you do the honors, after all, it seems only appropriate since you fought the entire day.”

  “Thanks, buddy!”

  Kevin slipped off Boomer’s back and landed with both feet onto the Thing, smashing it to bits with small sparks and what sounded like a tiny woodland creature screech as he did.

  Boomer’s dragon morphed back to its original Beagle form, and he barked.

  “Did your armor run out of energy too?”

  “No, but it’s running on fumes, so now that there’s no more danger, better not drain its power source too much seeing that we now know it can disable it completely.”

  “Good thinking. I should have kept an eye on my own reserves. I think I bricked mine forever.”

  “Well, if all it takes is Ziron to spit at us to make a new one, I think we’ll be fine.”

  Kevin smiled. “Hopefully. How did you think of miniaturizing this thing?”

  “From one of those weirdo science comedy flicks you once made me watch. The one with the shrinking kids.”

  “Right—all I remember from that movie is falling asleep pretty fast,” said Kevin.

  “Lucky you. I was wide awake the whole time. Not your best movie night pick, by the way.”

  Kevin smiled. “Well, let’s be thankful for that, it did just save our hides.”

  Boomer joyfully barked in agreement.

  A circular trap on the high ceiling opened and a column of blue energy fell in front of them.

  “Congratulations,” said the deep female voice. “As promised, you can now get up to the seven-hundredth level. Step into the circle.”

  Kevin and Boomer did and soon gravity lost its grasp on the both of them as they began to ascend.

  16

  The seven-hundredth level was nothing like Kevin expected. There was someone on a big worn-out faux-leather chair looking at multiple holo-feeds, with their back to Kevin and Boomer. The person swiveled and Kevin was surprised by what he saw.

  “That doesn’t look like Jared Trax,” said Boomer.

  “Who?” asked Kevin.

  “You really need to start paying attention to our mission briefings. Jared is the person we were supposed to meet up here. The hacker, ring a bell?”

  “Riiiiiight.”

  Kevin always had trouble remembering people’s names. He was, however, very good with faces. And the young girl sitting in the oversized luxurious chair he had seen before, even though she looked different now. Her hair was cut shorter and was blue, but Kevin was certain it was her. The warrior girl he had met in the VR simulation before coming here for his mission.

  “Hello,” he said tentatively. “Do you know where we can find Jared?”

  “Who’s asking, not that it matters, really,” she answered.

  There was no doubt about it, Kevin could tell from her voice that she was the same girl he met in VR. Well, technically the first one had been a holographic representation, and whatever data Ziron had siphoned off Omicron’s online databases was certainly not fully up to date, since she looked like the girl in the horde of freedom fighters trying to ascend the echelons of this place in the simulation.

  And here she was, sitting her pretty self atop the seven-hundredth level clearly meant that she was not what she appeared in the simulation.

  Mira, could Ziron’s simulator algorithm have made such a big miscalculation?

  But Mira didn’t answer. And Kevin knew why. She functioned with the help of the portable energy cell that powered his armor, so when the armor ran out of juice, Mira had been disabled.

  “Why doesn’t it matter?” Kevin finally asked.

  “How do I put this mildly?” she said, delicately resting her index finger on her
chin. “He’s pretty much dead.”

  “As in?”

  “As in—I killed his ass and now I’m sitting at his desk. What is it to you?”

  “That’s a bit of a problem,” said Boomer.

  “Are you aware your walking lunch is talking?” she said.

  Boomer growled.

  “Nobody’s eating Boomer, he’s my best friend.”

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist, big shot. I must admit though, I was impressed when I saw you fight my security, well, technically Jared’s security. I’m quite new at the helm here on seven-o-o, but I expected someone with more of a military look. You know, big tough warrior. Imagine my surprise when your advantage crapped out and I saw a boy underneath all that armor.”

  “I’m not a boy, I’m a…” but Kevin let the sentence trail as he looked for the right word to use.

  Boomer cleared his throat. “Man.”

  “Right,” said Kevin with a smile before continuing. “Well, what I lack in age and experience I make up in wit and panache.”

  The girl laughed. “Whatever you say. Now, unless you have a business proposal for me, and I sure hope you do after wiping out so much of my tech, I’m all ears.”

  “Do you mind if I ask your name first? I’m Kevin, by the way.”

  “Don’t care, Kev. But if that helps speed up the process, I’m Lacuna. I would say it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, but you’ve cost me millions of credits today, so…”

  “Not Kev, but Kevin.”

  Now Kevin understood why Ziron didn’t enjoy being called Zee all that much.

  Lacuna shot daggers at Kevin.

  “Never mind that,” he chuckled uncomfortably. “We were told Jared could give us information on how to locate a friend of ours.”

  “And that concerns me why?”

  “Well, we’d like that information. That’s the reason we came all the way up here, which was no easy feat.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think you understand how these things work; if you want me to give you something, especially after the mess you’ve left in your wake, you need to give me something in exchange, of equal or higher value.”

  Crap. This is not going well.

  “No, believe me I—I get that, but I’ve spent hours fighting my way to this floor and was hoping I could give this day a rest.”

  “Might not be what you had in mind, but if all you want is to sleep, I can easily arrange that.”

  Boomer started growling and he morphed into a Doberman.

  “Neat trick, but you may want to keep your pet on a leash or you’ll lose any chance of making a deal.”

  “I think the reason Boomer is unhappy is that he’s reached that conclusion already. You don’t seem too interested in helping us.”

  Lacuna leaned forward and her look turned as cold as ice. “Helping you? No, I don’t do help.”

  Kevin really wished his armor were working, at least a little bit. He didn’t see how to make himself more convincing with his rather frail human features. Not to mention he literally had no poker face, but he tried anyway.

  “Well, you’ve seen what Boomer here can do, I think the smoldering pile of scrap metal and wires that were once your big elaborate security system is still smoking…so at the risk of sounding rude, we need to find Princess Kalliopy and we won’t take no for an answer.”

  Lacuna delicately got up from her chair and walked around the desk to come nearer to Kevin. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she walked toward him gracefully.

  “Hey, Boomer,” she said, “catch!”

  She threw a stick in the air and Boomer instinctively jumped to catch it. But the moment he grabbed it with his teeth, lightning sparks engulfed him and he fell to the floor like a rock, unconscious.

  “Boomer!” screamed Kevin as he lunged to his dog’s side, who had returned to Beagle size.

  “Don’t worry, he’s not dead. I just granted him your wish, so he can have a little nap while grown-ups do the talking. Well,” she sized him up and down a couple of times. “Kind of grown up anyway.”

  Kevin grimaced. “That’s not cool! I should—”

  “You should what?” she interrupted. “Without your tech you’re just a boy, one I can take down without breaking a sweat, and well, with your pet now unconscious, he can’t turn into a beast and swallow me whole if I don’t comply. That’s what you just did, isn’t it? Try to threaten me. The way I see it, it’s only fair I remove the threat altogether.”

  “Look, Lacuna, I know you don’t know me—us, but we don’t mean you any harm, we just want—”

  “Yes, yes, rescue Princess Kalliopy. And that happens to be one of the files inside Jared’s computer I took a peek at. But, like I told you before, this isn’t a charity-type deal. If you want that information, you need to give me something I want in exchange.”

  “I don’t have time for this.”

  “Oh, but if you want the information I hold, you’ll want to make time. Or I can have you both killed and sold to a food recycling company. Lots of people craving proteins on this planet. Sure, that wouldn’t bring me much money, but hey, that’s still an option I’m willing to consider.”

  Maybe I can take her out myself and try to fetch the information from her computers. I’m good with computers. Kevin told himself to try and bolster some courage that he was currently lacking.

  “But, then again,” she added, before Kevin had time to do anything. “I really don’t think the information will do you any good. Unless you went to her rescue with a fleet of ships, that is.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Lacuna swiped some controls on the underside of her wrist and a holo-screen hovered over her device. It showed a fleet of ships in space. “This is where your precious Kalliopy is. You see that big badass Kregan ship with dozens of smaller ships in escort? That’s where she is being held right now.”

  Kevin had to admit that this was not the sort of news he hoped to hear. But one problem at a time. If what Lacuna was saying was the truth and she wasn’t trying to mislead him, he would deal with the fleet later. Right now, he needed to get the exact position of these ships.

  He cursed himself for letting the power cell run out. If it hadn’t, Mira probably could have calculated the coordinates of the ships based on the star alignment.

  “What proof do I have that this isn’t a fake holo-vid you’re showing me that has nothing to do with Kalliopy?”

  “I happen to have a spy on that ship. Well, technically Jared did, obviously—which I think is the reason you came here in the first place.”

  “You telling me this still doesn’t constitute proof.”

  “Alright, you want proof, how’s this?”

  Lacuna entered more commands and Kevin saw an image of a beautiful young girl being held by levitating restraining devices. Her blonde hair covered her face but when she raised it, he knew immediately who it was.

  Crap! That’s her.

  Incarceration had not been kind to her. Her captors had clearly inflicted physical pain, perhaps even torture, which angered Kevin to the core.

  “From the look in your eyes, I take it you know her and that we can now deal.”

  “Now that I know what I’m looking for, I don’t think I need your help. But, thank you, you’ve been more helpful that I thought you would be,” Kevin smirked.

  Kevin was taking a big gamble, but he had a very good memory, so he committed the ships and their shapes to mind, and while he couldn’t possibly remember all of the stars, he had no doubt that Ziron could recover a perfectly actionable image the moment his neuronal link with him was re-established.

  “Wait a minute,” protested Lacuna. “Even if you could find their location on your own, you’re not taking out that fleet without at least some sort of help.”

  “And I take it that it’s the kind of services you can oh-so-generously provide?”

  “Well—not per se, but there might be an option that’s beneficial for both of u
s.”

  Kevin crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m listening.”

  “What do you know of the Ghost Fleet?”

  Kevin tried hiding a grimace but was less than successful. “Let’s pretend I’ve never heard of it.”

  Lacuna raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, tough guy, let’s just pretend.”

  “Alright—I never heard of it. I’m not exactly from that part of space. What’s the Ghost Fleet?”

  “In the height of the Wraith War about a thousand years ago, legend has it that the Arcadian lost an entire fleet in a part of space I do happen to have coordinates for.”

  “Another of Jared’s post mortem gifts?”

  “You could say that.”

  “And?”

  “On one of those ships is a relic I’m very interested in getting my hands on.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “You don’t need to worry your pretty little eyes about that, Kev.”

  Pretty little eyes? Da fuck?

  “So what is it you want us to do in exchange for giving us both the coordinates of Kalliopy and the Ghost Fleet?”

  “I just want to come along while you get your hands on the ships, and I’ll be on my merry way. I might also need a transport, doesn’t have to be fancy, and then we can part ways once I get what I want…” She drew closer to his face, he could smell her perfume, which was quite intoxicating. She put two fingers on Kevin’s shoulder and let them slide downward. “Amicably, of course.”

  The caress, while not something Kevin had wanted, gave him goose bumps, the good kind.

  He took a deep breath in trying to regain some sort of composure. “Alright then, I think we can deal. We go together to the Ghost Fleet, you get your trinket, we give you a shuttle, and we part ways. You wouldn’t happen to have some sort of proof about the fleet?”

  “You mean the holographical kind that can help you locate it by triangulating star patterns?” She smiled widely. “I can appear stupid with my sexy exterior and mannered ways, but don’t push your luck, Kev. After all, if you help me, I might feel generous and even offer you a bonus.”