On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (12 page)

Nero didn’t answer immediately, instead trying to think if there was any way Aegis could be interested in them. “No,” he finally replied. “No, it wouldn’t be. We’re nothing to them.” He was partly trying to convince himself. “I’ve never even heard of them coming this far out before. They normally just deal with central systems stuff.”

“It must be something big, to affect the Central Systems Government,” Nate said, stepping forward into the lift, the door of which was about to close. “Come on, it’s got nothing to do with us. Let’s just go and see this Heldine, yes?”

Jerad and Nero followed Nate into the lift, who had selected the manufacturing level on the lift’s holodisplay. The door slid up with a slight hiss, and quickly descended, whisking them away from the mysterious armoured figures.

****

“Heldine?” Nero asked, speaking to the room at large. There were a few people in this testing lab, or ‘looplab’, as someone had written below the official sign. A few humans, and a large number of aliens too. A couple looked up when Nero spoke, with one woman continuing to look after the others had returned their attention to their respective tasks.

“Heldine?” Nero repeated, addressing her.

“Yes,” she replied. Nero wasn’t usually one to get distracted, but he couldn’t help giving this Heldine an appreciative look. She was startlingly attractive, her blue uniform tight-fitting and emphasizing her shape, and matching her eyes perfectly.

“I understand you’re the person to talk to if, er, I was interested in some particular pharmaceuticals,” Nero tried. He saw comprehension dawn on her face as he said so.

“Ah,” she said. “Follow me, if you would.”

She turned around and headed toward a door at the far side of the room, glancing back once to check that Nero, and the others, were following.

“Look at her!” Jerad muttered to Nate as they crossed the lab, passing a number of machines that were doing who-knew-what to a variety of substances. “I’ve never seen someone--”

“Easy lad,” Nate said. “If anyone gets her, it’s me.” He flashed a big smile at Jerad, who rolled his eyes up.

The room they entered, where Heldine was already waiting for them, had a large window in the far wall, with a desk in front of it. The view out was astonishing, Nero thought, as he moved over to look. The window looked out into the vast central area of the building, with the mile-diameter transparent window to the sky at the top of the shaft. Light poured through this and lit up the shaft, and Nero looked down to see it descending far away towards the centre of the planet. It quickly became lost in shadow.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Heldine commented, watching them stare out of the window.

Déjà vu, Nero thought. “No, we’re not. That’s really why we’ve come to see you.” He turned away from the window, to face Heldine, to see a curious expression on her porcelain features. “We’re interested in setting up a business partnership with you.”

“Oh?”

“We understand that you don’t currently export the more... illicit substances you make?”

“Only very occasionally. I take it you’re proposing something a bit more significant, mister...?”

“Leydon. Nero Leydon. And these are Nate and Jerad,” Nero replied, gesturing to the other two in turn. They each nodded in greeting.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Nero, but I’m afraid we don’t have any way to export on a larger scale. It would be frowned upon by other... parties.”

“Officially, I’m sure it might be. But, I was thinking of a less obvious way,” Nero said, turning to look out of the window again. On the far side of the shaft he could just make out some illuminated windows, though they were far too distant to see anything through them.

“I did some research on your planet before I arrived, Heldine,” he continued. “I understand that you produce a lot of metal ore, as well as the pharmaceuticals?”

She nodded in confirmation.

“And your biggest market for that ore is our planet.”

“Ah, so you’re from Dimora?”

“Precisely,” Nero said. “Which gives me an idea.”

****

The wind had increased even more when Nero, Jerad and Nate were leaving the planet. It almost knocked them over as they emerged onto the top of the building, next to the landing pad. Pulling their hoods up, to no avail, they hurried forward, swiftly climbing up the lowered ramp into the blessedly still confines of their ship. Jerad hit the button to close the ramp as soon as all three were on board, shutting out the biting wind.

“That went well,” he said, after the door had shut.

“Surprisingly well,” Nate replied, taking off his coat and tossing it on one of the shuttle’s seats.

Leaning over the console, Nero set the computer to fly them back home, pleased with how it had gone. As the shuttle’s engines powered up, taking the ship upwards, back into space, he popped out one of the small red pills that Heldine had given him before he’d left. Pausing momentarily to study the innocuous little tablet, he opened his mouth, and tossed it in, waiting for its effects to kick in.

CHAPTER SIX

AMI

It was late in the evening, and the rain had started pouring down. It made a slight pinging sound as it hit the metal ground, a noise that sent Nero’s mind tumbling back to his childhood. It reminded him of the corrugated metal roof of their small house, which had always made a terrible racket when it rained. But he had grown used to it. He missed it sometimes, when he thought about it.

Shaking his head, he looked back up into the sky, again searching for a sign of the expected lights. With the pouring rain, it was hard to make out much, but finally he saw a faint blue glow in the sky, towards the north-east. The glow rapidly got brighter, and started to move across the sky at the same time.

He glanced back at the empty spaceport in front of him, and seeing nothing amiss, continued to watch the ship approach. It was too dark to see any detail, but at this time of day, he didn’t expect there to be many other ships approaching a spaceport, let alone this small one on the edge of the city.

A deep rumble soon accompanied the ship’s approach, audible over the din the rain was making. It grew steadily louder as the ship approached, causing the ground to vibrate a little, even though the ship wasn’t that large. As it came overhead, it slowed its descent, aiming for the centre of the large, open space of the landing pad. The fine layer of sand that covered the metal pad was blown up into the air as the ship neared, forcing Nero to cover his eyes until the blast of air decreased. When he looked again, the ship had landed, and the ion engines had been shut down, plunging the spaceport back into near-darkness.

He walked up to the ship, in time to see a small ramp descend from near the front. Down this walked a slightly portly human male, clothed in coveralls that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time. He wiped his hand on them before offering it to Nero, who reluctantly accepted the handshake.

“Nero Leydon?” the man asked, his voice low and gravelly. It was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes.”

“You’re expecting ten containers, right?” the pilot asked in his bored tone of voice. His body language, and the slack expression on his face, suggested that this was something he’d done a thousand times already this year. And by the look of him, it was something he’d been doing for decades previously.

“That’s right. I’ll load them into my shuttles,” Nero said, jerking his head towards the gleaming black ships slumbering behind him.

“Uh huh,” the man said. “Well, yours are right near the entrance. You got an h-board, or do ya need to use mine?”

“I’ll use yours, if that’s alright,” Nero responded. This elicited a grunt as the man turned and headed towards the back of his cumbersome-looking transporter ship. Hitting a disguised button, there was a slight screeching sound as the heavy ramp at the rear of the transporter vessel started to descend.

“Nice planet,” the pilot commented as the ramp descended, eyeing the rainy sky above him.

Nero glanced at the pilot, not bothering to respond to his sarcastic remark. He knew that his home planet could be a miserable place. With the ramp finally down, he could see into the cargo hold of the transporter. Lit by a few lighting strips in the ceiling, the hold was crammed full of metal containers stacked two-high. There were about a hundred in total, the remainder after Nero’s presumably destined for other planets.

The pilot extracted two hover-boards from the side of the hold, and turned them on once they were on the level. A faint hum accompanied this, as the boards hovered steadily a few centimetres above the ground. Pushing one over to Nero, the pilot slid his hover-board into the slot in the bottom of a container.

“These are yours,” the man said as he pointed at the nearest containers, waiting for Nero to slide his hover-board into a crate. Obliging the man, Nero inserted his board into the slot, and flipped the switch to raise the board and container further off the ground.

The humming sound increased as the board struggled briefly with the weight of two heavy containers, taking a moment to settle. Then the pilot and Nero pulled the containers down the ramp, the hover-boards remaining level, and headed over to Nero’s shuttles, pushing their way through the driving rain. Jerad and Talyah, he thought, were presumably still waiting in their shuttles, keeping dry for as long as they could. That won’t be lasting long, he silently added.

“Which ship you want these in?” the pilot demanded as they approached.

“That one,” Nero said, referring to his ship with the ramp already down. He saw the ramps of the other two shuttles begin to descend as they drew closer, Jerad and Talyah each looking miserably at the overcast sky as they made their way out into the rain.

Nero followed the pilot up the ramp to his own ship, and just managed to squeeze the four containers into the small confines of the shuttle. Jerad and Talyah quickly loaded up their own shuttles, working quickly so as to get out of the driving rain, and soon the three black shuttles took off, leaving the lumbering transporter ship alone in the spaceport.

****

Half an hour later, Nero received a message on his holographic display unit. With Jerad and Talyah, he was in the abandoned warehouse that they’d found after returning from Kaza'ona, and was in the process of removing the great lumps of metal ore from the containers.

The video message played in the corner of Nero’s vision. It was from one of his men.

“Nero. We’ve been tracking the Nostra’s movements as best we can, as you know, after what happened with Col. We haven’t found any sort of base yet, but they do seem to visit the Mondo club a lot. You know the one? The fancy club inside the Scraper. No idea why the fuck they’d be going inside a Scraper, but there you go. Anyway, you might wanna check the place out. Catch you later mate.” The video stopped playing.

“I’m gonna have to leave you guys,” Nero said to Jerad and Talyah, after the video had disappeared from his display. They glanced up at him, in the process of opening up more containers.

“We’ve got a lead on the Nostra. I’m gonna head to this club they’ve been seen in.”

“Okay Nero. Please be careful, though,” Talyah said.

“I’m always careful,” he replied, with a faint grin.

“You do not want to underestimate them,” she continued, ignoring his comment. “I could come with you...?”

“I need you here, Tal. We need to get the qiameth out, to the distributors.”

“If you’re sure, Nero. Just look after yourself, okay?”

Nero smiled, and headed towards his shuttle, just outside the warehouse doors, the lights at the front of it glowing in a menacing way. He boarded it. The familiar interior greeted him, complete with slightly tattered seats in the small living area. He remembered the last time he’d been sat on them, playing a game with Talyah. How long had it been since he’d had time to relax? Too long, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it now. He had a job to do.

Moving over to the console at the front of the ship, he activated the ship, causing a slight vibration as the engines powered up. Within the ship itself, a few holodisplays turned on, displaying numerous pieces of information. Nero couldn’t see the use in knowing things like air speed, but the fact that the ship knew these things was good, he thought.

He gently massaged the flight sticks, and raised the ship up off the ground. With a glance out of the window at the dark, rainy sky, the raindrops just in front of the window flashing in the ship’s lights as they fell, he pushed the metal sticks forward. The ship accelerated quickly as the ion engines flared, sending the sleek metal vehicle out and up into the night sky.

He reached the central Scrapers in very little time, but it took a little longer to find the Mondo club. He’d never been there himself, but he had heard talk about the place. It was said to be the height of fashion for residents of the Scrapers, and was a very difficult place to get into. The fact that the Nostra was using the place was worrisome, and slightly strange.

Eventually he found the Scraper that housed the club. It was one of the largest in the city, piercing the night sky like a cold, glistening blade, but though the building narrowed as it rose, there were still enough landing pads on the roof to accommodate many shuttles. That said, there were only a couple of free pads left by the time Nero arrived.

He spotted a vacant one near the centre of the roof, and angled the ship towards it, passing below a much larger shuttle hovering over the building, evidently too large to fit in any of the remaining spaces. Nero carefully brought his shuttle down, squeezing in between a couple of medium-sized shuttles that were obviously much more expensive than his own. The engines on them were much larger, and they were adorned with decorative styling touches that could serve no practical purpose, as far as he could tell. They were just there to look good.

As the ramp at the rear of Nero’s shuttle descended, a man in a sharp suit approached the ship, waiting at the bottom of the ramp. The rain hadn’t let up yet, but the man’s clothes were managing to repel all of the water. It looking like he was stood in a water-free bubble of air.

“Are you here for the gala, signore?” the man asked as Nero walked down the ramp.

“I am,” Nero answered, without hesitation. The other man appeared to accept Nero’s answer.

“If you would follow me...”

He turned on his heel, and briskly led Nero to the rooftop entrance of the Scraper. They entered the building to see a bank of lifts opposite, and took one down a couple of floors to a large entrance hall. Overhead was a large glowing sign proclaiming this to be the Mondo Club. Here, the man left Nero to return to the building’s roof, leaving Nero to gaze at the opulence of the scene in front of him.

He was relatively used to the Scrapers by now, having been in a few over the years. But he’d never seen anywhere like this. There were grand chandeliers, hovering a few metres above the guests’ heads. There were tables almost groaning under the weight of food. And everyone was dressed in the most outrageous style, some wearing the most elaborate clothes Nero had ever seen, and some wearing hardly anything at all. Nero’s eyes lingered on some of the women dressed the in latter style.

Not wanting to be too obvious, he headed over to one of the tables of food, and, helping himself to a few strange purple cubes, he watched the guests in the room. There seemed to be distinct groups of people deep in conversation, with a few individuals stood by the bar, though that didn’t really help identify any who might be with the Nostra.

Putting the rest of the soft purple cube into his mouth - it was actually surprisingly good - Nero set off to have a walk around the room. Before he’d gone no more than a few metres, though, he was accosted by a rather elderly woman. She looked as if she had passed sixty years of age a good while ago, yet still dressed as if she thought she was twenty.

“Hi there, I don’t think I recognise you,” she said, her words coming out slightly slurred.

“No, you probably don’t,” Nero replied, not wanting to talk to her. Considering the state she was in, he didn’t think he’d get away that easily, though.

“So you’re new around here?” she continued, oblivious to Nero’s brusque tone. “What happened to your arms?” Evidently she had spotted the augmentations.

Nero rolled his eyes. “I punched a nakalaa. It took my arms off.” A nakalaa was an almost legendary creature that few people had ever seen. Most people didn’t even believe they existed.

“Oh...” the woman seemed at a loss for how to respond. “Well, that’s--”

Nero cut her off. “Well, it was nice chatting to you.” He moved away, and headed towards the bar. Glancing around, he realised that most of the people attending this gala were of a similar age to the woman.

The people standing around the bar, on the other hand, were generally closer to Nero’s young age. They were also the ones that seemed to prefer clothing that revealed rather more than Nero was used to. Well, them, and some of the older guests too, who weren’t so pleasant to look at. Stopping when he reached the bar, Nero ordered himself a drink.

“What will it be, son?” the smartly-dressed man behind the counter asked. Nero didn’t know what sort of drinks they served at an event like this, so to cover his ignorance, he just asked for whatever the bartender recommended. A glowing red liquid came back, with bubbles that appeared to release flashes of light when they reached the surface of the drink. Nero had never seen anything like it before, but a drink was a drink. He downed it in one, immediately regretting the action. The fiery liquid burned his throat on the way down, and he only just managed to stifle a cough. The aftertaste was quite pleasant though, he thought.

A few minutes stood surreptitiously listening in on the conversations around him didn’t, however, reveal anything about the Nostra. Either they weren’t at the party, which was entirely likely, or they were somewhere else in the vast hall. He decided to head towards a more secluded corner of the room, thinking that if he were with the Nostra, he’d probably want a bit more privacy. Finishing his second red drink, he slid the glass back to the bartender, and walked away.

It turned out he was in luck. The first area he came to that wasn’t as crowded as the rest of the hall had a small group of aliens standing there. They each had a drink of some sort, but their behaviour struck Nero as slightly strange. They didn’t exude the impression of complete confidence and belonging that the other guests did, as if they knew they didn’t quite belong there. Nero knew the feeling well, and edged closer.

“...getting nowhere. It is becoming quite an issue, I would say.” One of them was talking as Nero casually walked past, feigning interest in some humans a short way from the group of aliens.

“Issue? You’re reading too much into this, I am thinking. They’ve done a couple of jobs. Yes, that’s unacceptable, and we will have to deal with them. But an issue...?”

“They’re doing more jobs. They’re taking more of our business. I think that will become a bigger issue. If it was the same guys that killed Zyras, then they’re already becoming ballsier.”