On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (27 page)

When he arrived at the spaceport, Trix was walking down the ramp of her ship, casually tossing an object into the air and catching it. She walked around to the front, and then used the object to open a maintenance hatch. Nero walked over to her, and stood behind her. He hadn’t realised how small she was before, having only seen her from a distance.

“Nice ship,” he said, startling her. She spun around to face him, looking up into his eyes.

“Erm, yeah, it’s actually a piece of crap, but I appreciate the sentiment.” She turned back around, and lent back into the hatch. “What do you want?”

Straight to the point, Nero thought. “I hear you’re recruiting,” he replied simply. “And I’m looking for a job.”

She glanced at him before responding, as if to determine whether he was serious. “And what gave you that idea?” she asked.

“Oh, you know, I hear things. I’m not wrong, am I?”

“No...” she admitted.

“Excellent,” Nero replied, a slight rumble making him look up at the sky. He froze when he saw the shuttle that was coming in to land, causing Trix to glance up at whatever had attracted Nero’s interest. She looked back at Nero, a curious expression on her face.

“You know that shuttle?” she asked, a slight smile on her face. Nero looked down, failing to hide the expression on his face.

“You could say that,” he said, having recognised the high-tech shuttle from the night he’d abandoned the warehouse. The night he’d seen it fly back towards the city.

“And...?” Trix prompted after waiting a moment.

Nero wasn’t forthcoming, instead watching the shuttle land on the other side of the spaceport. The pilot surely couldn’t have seen him, he thought, but he didn’t want to stay out in the open any longer. He glanced over at the small single-seater ship he’d arrived in, sure that Aegis would recognise it. He turned back to face Trix. “Why don’t we go into your ship?”

She gave him a wry look, before agreeing with some reluctance. They walked around to the back of the ship, past the ion engines that were currently off and angled downwards, and climbed up the boarding ramp to enter the main cargo area.

“So,” Trix said once they were just inside, turning to face Nero. “Let’s start over, shall we? I’m Trix.” She held out her hand.

“Nero,” he said, shaking her hand.

“Good, so now are you going to tell me why you’re so interested in that CSG ship? Or will we have to cut this conversation short?”

Shit, he cursed under his breath. He hoped he could trust these people. “I think they’re looking for me. I had a minor run-in with some CSG forces on another planet.” He didn’t want to mention that this was actually an Aegis ship. CSG was bad enough.

“And you think employing you wouldn’t be a bad idea then, with the CSG looking for you?”

“I think you want to avoid CSG notice anyway, regardless of who is on your ship. If you know what I mean.” She gave him a look, as if to inquire what he knew, but then thought better of it.

“You’re an interesting man, Nero. You seem to know all about us, and you have the CSG looking for you. And you look to be more machine than man,” she said, glancing down at his augmented arms. “So what can you do, Nero? Would you be any use to us?”

Nero smiled. “Give me a test,” he said, conscious of the truncated timetable he had for finding a way off the planet.

“A test? Alright, hang on.” She walked towards the back of the cargo area, and climbed the stairs that presumably led to the living quarters. Nero took the opportunity to look around the ship, noting the current lack of cargo. There were a few hover-boards at one side of the cargo hold, leaning up against the metal walls, and there were also a couple of small crates scattered around. But otherwise the hold was empty.

Trix returned a couple of minutes later with Reese in tow, who introduced himself. He took one look at Nero before proclaiming “So I guess you’re good in a fight, then?” Nero glanced down at his augmented arms, before nonchalantly shrugging.

“I thought so,” Reese continued. “Okay, you might be able to help us out. We had a buyer for some goods lined up, when we got here. Some valuable goods, if you get my drift. But when we visited him, he decided that, nope, he wasn’t going to pay that much, and offered us half what he’d originally said.

“If you can convince him to up his offer, then maybe we’ll find a place for you here. I can’t promise anything, though.”

****

Trix watched as Nero walked down the ramp, black metal limbs glinting slightly in the harsh sunlight. She turned to Reese once he had disappeared from sight. “What do you think of him?” she asked, always ready to listen to Reese’s opinion. More than once his instincts had saved them from a risky situation.

“I’m not sure, Trix,” Reese replied, a thoughtful look on his face. “I like him, there’s something genuine about him, and I’m sure he could be deadly with those limbs.”

“But...?” Trix prompted, when Reese paused.

“But, I’m not sure. He’s obviously running from something, or someone. Maybe that’s good for us, maybe it’s not.” Reese shrugged and turned around. “Let’s see how he does with that buyer.”

They walked up the steps, and entered the ship’s living quarters. They walked along a narrow corridor, passing closed hatchways, and entered the small bridge. Trix went to the captain’s chair, and sat down, bringing up the ship’s scanners as she did so.

“I want to have a little snoop around that CSG ship,” she explained. She leaned over the ship’s console, waiting for the scanners to tell her what was inside the sleek shuttle. But after a minute, nothing had come up, and the ship instead flashed an error.

“‘Unable to scan’?” Reese said, leaning over the console as well. “Well, I’ve never seen that before. What sort of shuttle is it?”

They both looked out of the panoramic window in front of them, at the futuristic shuttle parked on the other side of the spaceport.

“I don’t know,” Trix said. “I don’t know.”

****

He ran, slightly crouched, across the rooftop, and jumped off the end. He went sailing through the air, and smashed through the window of the adjacent building, the glass shattering into a thousand shards as he did so. He rolled on the floor of the room, and leapt up onto his feet.

The door burst open to the room, and three heavily-built men came in, brandishing ancient laser rifles. Nero smirked at the state the weapons were in, before he crouched down, stuck his leg out, and spun, sweeping all three off of their feet at the same time. Nero stood back up, stepped over the men, and walked out the door.

Outside, a fourth man was running towards him. Nero gave him a disdainful look, and sprinted forward, arm out to the side, and knocked the man flat to the ground. He heard a thud as the man’s head impacted the floor, knowing that he would have a splitting headache when he regained consciousness.

Nero kept going, aware that the first three, if they were particularly dense, would be following him. At the end of the corridor, he turned right, and entered the open-air court in the centre of the building. Stood in the middle of that court was the man that Reese had described, surrounded by a few other men and women, both human and alien.

“Sol?” Nero asked, walking up to the stunned man.

“And who the fuck are you?” he demanded. He turned to the beefy man stood next to him. “Get him out of here,” he ordered, turning back to Nero.

“I just want a quick word,” Nero explained, watching the large man approach, and giving him a sinister smile. The man hesitated briefly, perhaps noticing Nero’s arm augmentations, but continued on regardless.

Nero sighed, and once the man was near enough, he used the power of his legs to jump up and over the man’s head, landing directly behind him, facing his back. Nero pushed, hard, and the man went flying forward, and headbutted the hard wall in front of him. Nero winced at the sound.

“Ouch,” he said, turning back to Sol. “Anyway, as I said, I just want a little chat. But your men are being very unhelpful. I had to come in the side entrance.”

The man, a small, pathetic looking specimen, had a nervous look on his face, and was looking at his bodyguard, sprawled unconscious on the floor. His beady eyes then flicked back up to Nero’s face.

“Look, I don’t know who you are, or why you’re here, but I don’t want any trouble.” The man backed away a step, and Nero edged closer. “Maybe we can work something out, okay? I’m a businessman, maybe we can come to some arrangement, yes?” The man glanced around as he was talking, as if looking for an exit. None came to light.

Nero smiled, amused at the man’s discomfort in spite of himself. “That’s very generous,” he said, still approaching the businessman. “And good to hear, since I’m actually here with a business proposition in mind.”

“Oh?” the man asked, wariness evident in his tone.

“Yes,” Nero replied. “Perhaps you remember Trix and Reese?”

Comprehension dawned on Sol’s face, which seemed to give him a little bit more confidence. He stopped retreating at any rate. “Ah. I already offered them a deal, but they--”

“You offered them one deal,” Nero interrupted, “And then changed it. They didn’t appreciate that, so I’m here to renegotiate on their behalf.”

“Look--” the man said.

“Yes?” Nero prompted, stepping close to the smaller man again.

Sol hesitated, once again losing his cool. Nero was amazed at how easy this businessman was to manipulate. Perhaps things were run more honestly on this planet, as unlikely as that seemed.

“I appreciate they didn’t like the new deal, my friend, but I have a business to run. After we negotiated the first deal, a couple of other ships brought in more of the same stock, and the prices plummeted. I couldn’t pay over the odds just as a favour, could I?”

“Look, Sol,” Nero said. “I don’t really care for reasons. I am simply here to ensure you pay what you agreed.” He shrugged. “I’m not going to leave until you do.”

Sol looked around again, at the few people still standing in the court. They were all watching intently, some with a slightly predatory look in their eyes. They smelled weakness, Nero realised. “Shall we go somewhere more private?” he asked.

The businessman agreed, and led them back inside the building, heading into what was obviously his own office. There was a large desk in the middle of them room, which Sol promptly sat behind. He placed his arms on the desk and leant forward, in an obvious effort to exert some dominance. Nero remained standing up, arms folded.

“So?” he prompted.

Sol sighed, and slumped slightly. “Very well. But don’t broadcast the fact, yes? I have a reputation to maintain here.”

Nero tilted his head, accepting the terms.

“Have Trix and Reese bring the stuff here. I’ll pay them when they get here, okay?”

“Superb, Sol,” Nero said, turning to leave. “Maybe stick to your word next time, yes?” he added, and stepped out of the room.

****

Pieces of fabric were draped from the walls, lending the small cabin a cosy atmosphere. There was a small bed that folded out from one wall, and a large holodisplay covering the opposite wall. At the far end was a desk and a chair. Not bad, Nero thought as he looked around his cabin. It would do. It was more than he deserved, he realised, as his thoughts briefly returned to Ami, and to Talyah, and to those who had died because of him.

He slid the door back open, not wanting his thoughts to drift down that route, and entered the main corridor of the ship. He spotted Trix walking towards the main cargo hold, and squeezing down the corridor, he then followed her down the steps.

“Nero,” Trix said, hearing him approach. “Room okay?”

“Cosy,” he replied.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” she shrugged. “And good work with Sol. No idea how you convinced him, but he didn’t try to haggle the price at all when we delivered the stuff. We’ll have to use you as a negotiator more often.”

He smiled, and helped her stack up the crates that had just been delivered. A hover truck was just driving out of the hold, driver smoking something that left a trail of purple smoke behind him. “What’s in these crates?” Nero asked.

“Med supplies. They’re worth more than platinum to some planets, and they provide good cover for other stuff, too.” She glanced at Nero, seeing his disbelieving look. “They really are,” she continued. “The CSG limits supplies to most of the planets in this area, so simple med supplies are always in huge demand. Transporting them is our main business, really.”

“The CSG limits supplies?” Nero asked.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty well-known fact. They stop trade from more central planets, purely to keep us isolated out here.”

“I thought, well, I never knew they actively limited supplies.” He had never considered that the CSG would even bother in their affairs out here. “I guess I just assumed that there weren’t enough med supplies to reach us out here.”

“Not what I hear,” Trix replied. “But whatever the reason, it’s good business for us, eh?”

They continued working in silence, Nero managing to move a lot more of the cargo than Trix, and very soon the last load had been delivered to the freighter, and it was all stacked up in the hold. Nero stood back, and looked around. The hold wasn’t full, not by any means, but at least it wasn’t empty any more.

Reese came down from the bridge, to check on their progress. “Everything okay, Trix?” he asked.

“We’re just about done here,” she replied, walking over to the steps. “I want to get this ship in the air as soon as possible, and I suspect that our friend here does as well.” She glanced at Nero as she said that, a knowing look in her eye. “Round up the stragglers, and I’ll get the ship ready to go, Reese.”

“Sure thing, cap'n,” he replied, giving her a slightly mocking salute. Then he walked across the hold and went down the boarding ramp, a slight swagger in his step.

“The stragglers?” Nero asked, watching the man go.

Trix replied as she walked along the corridor to the bridge. “Yeah, there’s another three guys that crew this ship with us. They’re in town somewhere, having a good time, no doubt. Hey, Nero?”

“Yeah?” he replied.

“Run out and check the maintenance hatches are all sealed.”