On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (11 page)

“Of course. Even when I was a baby.” Nate gave Jerad a sly glance, before returning his gaze to the planet below them. Jerad grumbled in response, and continued to watch the planet as they neared it, the grey ball resolving itself into what looked like a very rocky body.

As the shuttle entered the atmosphere of the small planet, for it was small, much smaller than their own planet of Dimora, it began to shake quite violently. The ship’s computer slowed them down to compensate for the resistance of the air particles, allowing the three of them a stable view of the surface of the planet, miles below them. From this distance, it didn’t seem very remarkable to Nero. There were a number of mountains, and even a large shining area - which he guessed must be an ocean of some sort - but there didn’t seem to be any signs of habitation. No artificial lights, no cities, no other vehicles in the air. Just a lot of barren rock.

“Well... this should make finding the source pretty easy. There’s no one living on the planet!” Nate said, as it became clear that there were no cities in sight at all. “You sure you got the right planet? I know it must be confusing... there’s so many around here.” He glanced up at the empty space above them.

Nero cast Nate a disparaging look. “Yes, pretty damn sure, Nate.”

“Where would you like me to land, Nero?” came the artificial female voice of the ship’s AI computer, as he was still looking out on the planet.

He glanced around, looking for any likely place. “Are there any signs of life down there?” he asked the computer. Immediately, it fed the information to his holodisplay, highlighting a small area on the far side of the planet. “My sensors are detecting some unnatural activity in this area. Would you like me to take us there, Nero?”

“Please.”

The ship banked in the high atmosphere, turning to head towards the indicated area, part way around the planet. At the speed they were going, it only took a minute before they were above the likely location.

“Can you guys see anything?” Jerad asked, straining to see something below them.

“No--” Nero started, before Nate interrupted him.

“Yeah, are you guys not looking at the same thing as me? There’s a huge complex down there,” he said, pointing to a more uniform grey area below them. On closer inspection, Nero realised he was right. It looked huge, something like ten or fifteen miles in diameter, if the guides the ship was displaying on screen were reliable.

“What is that...?” Jerad asked

“It’s a gigantic circular building,” Nate replied, as if explaining to a child.

Exasperated, Jerad sighed. “Yeah, I guessed that much Nate. I was really asking about its function...”

“Well, as to that, I haven’t a clue. But I’ve never seen something that big before.”

The ship descended further, and now that they were closer, Nero could see the building in more detail. It looked like a very large, very flat disc had been dropped onto the surface of the planet. Made of metal, there looked to be a lot of vents on the top of it, as well as a transparent area in the centre, presumably to allow light in. Looking down through that vast window, which was itself at least a mile in diameter, Nero was surprised to see the building descended far into the ground, much deeper than he could see. There must be space for hundreds of millions of people in that one building, he thought.

“Bloody hell,” Nate said as he fully realised the size of the place. “Still, at least we know where we’ll be able to find the qiameth. Just a matter of talking to the right person.”

“Just that indeed,” Nero said.

****

With their shuttle parked on one of the landing pads on top of the building, Nate, Jerad and Nero were greeted by two armed humans as they exited their ship. The guards didn’t appear to harbour any particular malice, but their fingers were covering the triggers on their weapons nonetheless. Despite this, Nero and the others were distracted by the wind. It almost knocked them over as they stepped off the ramp, blowing viciously over the top of the building. Nero was amazed the two guards could stand there so steadily.

Before they could say anything, one of the guards indicated that they should follow him, evidently aware that a discussion in this wind was virtually impossible. They were led a distance towards a set of steps that descended down into the building, through an open hatch. Climbing down, Nero and the others emerged into an open space on this, what must be the only level above ground. They were at the very edge of the building, and the room they climbed down into had panoramic windows looking out onto the dull, rocky surface of the world, stretching endlessly around them.

“We don’t get many visitors out here,” one of the guards started saying, the voice coming out harsh and muffled through the full-face helmet he had on. He reached up, and pulled the unit off, evidently only requiring it on the surface, perhaps to reduce the sting of the wind.

“Sorry,” he continued, once his head was free. “Anyway, what brings you out here?”

It was at once refreshing and confusing to speak to an official who didn’t look like he wanted to kill them immediately.

“Um...” Nero started, cursing himself for not thinking things through first.

“We have some business with a merchant,” Nate finished, covering Nero’s hesitation.

“Very well, do you know where to find them?” the guard asked. Was this a test, or was he being helpful? Nero wasn’t sure.

“We don’t know, actually. We were told to look him up once we arrived,” Nero informed the man.

“Would you like me to search for them?”

“No, that’s fine. We’ll use one of the public search stations. There’s a couple of other people we want to meet while we’re here, anyway,” Nero replied, hoping the man would accept that. He didn't want to have to invent a name that might not be in the system.

“Certainly, well, have a good time here on Kaza'ona,” the guard said, hesitating momentarily, before continuing. “You’ll be very popular if you visit a bar, you know. We don’t get many foreigners out here...” the guard said, giving them a slight wink, as if to infer the popularity might be with a particular sex.

“We surely will,” Nate replied, genuinely thankful. “We appreciate your help.”

They left the guard, and headed out of the room into a large, gently curving corridor. On the ceiling, there were helpful illuminated direction signs, pointing them to particular places on this level. Spotting a sign to the public information station, Nero led them over that way.

Passing a number of people, human and alien, all of whom stared intently at the foreigners dressed in their strange clothing, the three of them reached a holodisplay mounted in front of a wall. It flashed up a greeting as Nero approached, before reverting to an image of the building they were in. Apparently, it descended over three hundred levels into the ground.

“How many people do you think live here?” Jerad wondered as he looked at the plan. Before Nero could answer, the holodisplay flashed up some information, in answer to Jerad’s question. Apparently, there were only 87,648 people living in the building, scattered over the top few levels. The other levels weren’t used at all, except for some storage areas.

“Well that’s... hardly anyone,” Jerad said.

“That’s what’s happened on a lot of these galaxy’s edge planets,” Nero responded, having been taught more history than most people he knew. “Apparently there used to be a lot more people living on them, but the numbers just keep decreasing. Don’t ask me why,” he added, in response to Jerad’s enquiring look.

“Enough with the history, guys,” Nate said. “We need to find those red pills. Any ideas where to start? I’m thinking...” he said, glancing at the holodisplay, which was currently showing them nearby locations. “...how about this bar?”

Nero looked at where Nate was indicating, seeing a bar labelled on the plan. It was only a few hundred metres away. “Looks like as good a place as any.”

****

“Bloody hell, that’s cheap!” Nate said. “For all of them?”

Their search had proven shorter than they could have imagined. The bar they first went to had been rather quiet, but there were still some customers around, a couple of whom were evidently high on a drug of some sort. When chatting with them, they happily told Nate where they had got their drugs from. Apparently, there was a well-known shop not far away that sold the drug, and it was in this shop that Nate, Jerad and Nero could now be found.

“Certainly,” the alien in the shop told Nate, with a slightly confused look. After a slight pause, it continued. “You are not from around here, are you?”

“Now what makes you say that?” Nate asked the shopkeeper, in a playful tone.

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all. Just a guess, signore.”

Nero stood back from Nate, keeping an eye on their surroundings as Nate was talking with the shopkeeper. The shop they were in was remarkably modern, and very-well kept. It struck Nero as quite a contrast to the dull, often dirty world they came from. Perhaps more surprisingly, though, were the objects on display in the shop. There didn’t appear to be any security covers, or anything else to stop someone walking off without paying. It was slightly baffling.

Behind the shopkeeper, somewhat protected on the wall, was an array of what Nero assumed must be stimulants and drugs, of varying sorts. In a prominent position on the display were the packs of qiameth, on show for all to see. It hit Nero then that he hadn’t actually tried the red pills himself, having just taken Talyah and Nate’s words on the effectiveness of the drug. He resolved to do something about that.

“... so where do you get this stuff from?” Nate was saying to the shopkeeper, casually referring to the qiameth he had in his hand.

“Oh, it’s made here. We’re known for pharmaceuticals on this planet, actually it’s pretty much all we’re known for. That’s why this building was built here, to allow access to the chemicals produced under the planet’s surface. You can’t find them anywhere else, and no one’s figured out how to synthetically make them yet,” the alien finished with a shrug - or what approximated to a shrug.

Nate nodded, feigning interest in the history of the planet. The alien continued. “Of course, most of what we produce is of a more legal nature, but with all this equipment around, some took to making pharmaceuticals of a more... entertaining nature.”

Nate grinned. “And you keep them on this planet?” he asked.

“As far as I know. You’d really have to talk to Heldine if you wanted a more detailed answer. She’s my supplier. Good person, slightly odd though.”

Was it really as easy as that? Nero had never known a people so open about things.

“Thanks man, we’ll do that.” Nate answered.

“You should be able to find her on the manufacturing level. Try the testing lab.”

“Appreciated.”

Nate picked up the pills he’d bought and headed out of the shop with Nero and Jerad, back into the large corridor.

“It’s hardly a secret operation, is it?” Jerad said as they set off to find another information station.

A short way up the corridor they found another info station, which informed them that the manufacturing level was three floors down, with the testing lab a small area near the centre of the building. The terminal then directed them to a nearby lift, which, on approach, they found to be massive. The closed metal door was at least ten metres wide, and gave the distinct impression that it was thick enough to prevent anyone breaking in. Perhaps the planet had suffered from security issues in the past, Nero thought. Maybe they still did.

They stood in front of it in silence as they waited for the lift, and watched the glowing green light move along the top of the door. Since only a few floors of the building were apparently in use, it didn’t take long for the whole bar of light to flash green, and for the thick door to slide downwards, into the ground. But before Nero, Jerad and Nate could think about stepping forward, they saw the group of ten heavily-armoured men, not one of them less than two metres tall, stood in the lift. Each had a hand casually resting on a horrifically large laser weapon holstered in their belts, and all ten of them slowly turned to look at the group of three young men stood before them.

Nero, for his part, froze, heart suddenly racing. Perspiration appeared on his forehead, and he took an involuntary step backwards, away from the men in the lift. The first of the men began to step forward. Looking identical to the other men, he wore form-fitting armour that covered his entire body, a dark military grey in colour. On his head was a full-face helmet, with a complex and asymmetrical set of cameras and lenses where the visor might normally be. They looked rather like the glowing ice-blue eyes of some sort of horrific creature. The helmet also had a large, very heavy duty rebreather built-in, protruding in a slightly ugly manner. It looked like it would allow the man to survive the worst chemical or gas attack.

Nero shuddered as he took all this in, recognising the men for what they were. His eyes were drawn to the subtle symbol emblazoned on the mens’ right breasts, which looked a bit like a shield, with an old-fashioned ship design on it. It was a symbol that Nero recognised, and for those that knew what it meant, it plunged icy daggers of fear into their heart. These men were the highest level of Central Systems Government enforcement. They were Aegis agents.

“Out of the way,” the nearest man ordered, his voice rasping out of his helmet’s voice unit. Nero and the others hastened to obey, moving back like they would for no one else. They, as had most who lived on the edge of the galaxy, had heard stories about Aegis.

Nero’s heart rate calmed a bit as the agents slowly marched past, metal boots thumping as they walked, evidently disregarding the three men in the middle of the corridor. He watched as they slowly disappeared from sight, a shiver making its way down his enhanced spine. What were they doing out here? It was not a nice thought.

“Fuck me,” Nate breathed, some time after the armoured men had gone. “That’s a sight you never want to see.”

“It wouldn’t be anything to do with us, would it?” Jerad asked, his voice uncharacteristically nervous.