Void Star (7 page)

     Render watched Dacian's ship enter the docking bay and land next to them.

     His guards came out first, and then the pale, wrinkled face of their leader appeared. Judging by the look on that face, he wasn't too pleased.

     Dacian saw Render go down on one knee as he approached. No amount of bowing would soften his punishment. Dacian ignored the assassin and walked past.

     He stood before everyone else, Render's crew.

     "Ruvera hasn't been successful because of failure. It is successful because we crush the weakest links out of our organization." Dacian continued to eye the worried faces unable to make eye contact with his disapproving glare. "So that can only mean one thing, I'm afraid. We are at an impasse. A parting of the ways."

     The crew looked from one to the other, scared and confused.

     "But there is one thing we'll all learn from this." He motioned for his armed guards. "We'll see which one of you can hold his breath the longest."

     There was a short scuffle as the crew was apprehended and led away. The airlock wasn't far, and soon, their bodies were floating outside the ship.

     "Render." He looked to his assassin.

     Render rose back up.

     "You are lucky you still are still of some use to me. Let this be a reminder to you should you decide to fail again."

     Render didn't answer; just nodded once.

     "Well, do you still have the Salarian you captured?"

     "Yes, sir," came the robotic reply.

     "Good. Something came out of this absolute failure. Anyway, we have things to discuss. An old friend of yours has become involved with our situation. Someone you know well. I'm sure you remember the son of Scott Andrews?"

     Render passed a hand along the scar that ran underneath the dark helmet from the wound that had mangled and transformed it into the disfigured living robot that remained.

     "Yeah. I thought you'd like to see him again."

     Dacian led the way back to his private ship. There was much to discuss.

Chapter 6

     The Endari Energy Ribbon ripped and roared across them once more. Violent bolts of lightning struck randomly, and one outer panel exploded. Nathan ducked and dived as best as he could through the unpredictable storm, calm as could be. Then, in moments, he pulled the
Wrath
out of it. They surfed the calm space beyond the ribbon.

     Thankfully, there weren't any Ruveran Breakers waiting for them. That meant they had a little bit of a head start for the moment, which was good, since they were nearly completely out of fuel and needed supplies.

     Nathan brought the ship down into the atmosphere of the world of Flora.

     Centuries ago, Flora had been another dead planet, devoid of life. But an ancient, unknown people seeded the world with Loira'lei trees. Loira'lei could grow in the harshest of circumstances and created their own ecosystem by producing a type of oxygen through nexra-synthesis; other plants and life were soon able to thrive. With the introduction of water, strange new life found a way, and soon Flora was a fertile planet upon which plants and animals of all kinds flourished; one of the busiest spaceports was housed there due to the lack of tax rates. Flora's name derived from the colorful and rare flowers that grew so abundantly there.

     Flying through flocks of Cumera, a type of flying squid, Nathan zeroed toward the ground.  The landing pad was packed, like it usually was, when they came through. The cityscape rose to meet them with spires and tall business headquarters. Nathan had to take vectors around as other ships took off. As soon as their landing gear touched ground, a ground crew rushed over to refuel them. Flora was all about getting you in and out—for a price.

     After powering the ship down, Nathan gathered everyone in the passenger compartment. Before he spoke, he went through the list in his head again to be sure he didn't forget anything. They had a dead alien in the cargo hold; he had an encrypted data pad in his pocket; there were two Ruveran battleships after them; and he still needed to get his passengers to Mara VII, a two day journey.

     Trevor passed out hot cups of coffee as they waited. The hairs on the back of his neck were upright, like when he was about to have an attack. He focused on his breathing and remained calm.

     "All right," Nathan began. "I know you weren't up front when everything unfolded, so I'll just say that Ruvera was out to capture the alien. For what, I'm still not entirely sure. But the fact of the matter is, by helping him, we have endangered you."

     Trevor knew his uncle was lying about not knowing why Ruvera was after the alien.  His uncle never lied.

     It looked like Ruvera’s pursuit wasn't news to anybody except for Daphkalian, whose face lost a little color. "Wait. You mean they're still going to come after us?"

     Nathan nodded. "Yes. They will hunt us down for as long as we live."

     Daphkalian's expression grew dark. "I had no idea I was getting myself involved in stuff like this."

     "I told you there would be risk when I hired you," Kaida spoke up.

     "Not like this," Daphkalian huffed. "My brother was right about you when—"

     Trevor had had enough. He knocked the coffee out of Daphkalian's hand. "Clearly, you're not paying attention. You would have died in that rift if not for us. If that ship hadn't crashed and we hadn't rescued that alien, we would've been on the surface of Aquaria and been sucked into oblivion."

     Daphkalian's much larger form towered over Trevor's. There was a considerable size difference, but Trev was scrappy, and for a moment, things were tense enough for a fist to fly, but the moment passed when Kaida put a hand on Daph's.

     "I'm sorry. This is my fault," she pleaded.

     Daphkalian stared them all down. His tail whipped about furiously.  "I'm over this." He turned and stormed out through the back.

     Nathan's eyes searched the ground for a moment, and then they came back up to Kaida. "The Ruverans were looking for someone else besides the alien. They were out to kill that person. I don't think it was Daphkalian."

     Kaida was quiet for a long moment. She searched his eyes for a way out, and when she didn't find one, she looked away. "I can't say."

     Nathan breathed out through his nose. "That's what I figured." He pulled out the data pad the Nymarian had given him. "Do you recognize these?"

     Kaida's head came back around. For a moment, she thought he meant the data pad, but on closer inspection, she saw he was talking about the figures on it.

     "It's Tharitian mathematics. Yes. I know it," she answered.

     "Well, neither I nor Trevor can make sense of it. We need to figure out what's on here, and seeing as we are in this together, we could use your help to unlock its secrets."

     Kaida hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Of course I'll help." She took the data pad in her hands, and then she added, "Please don't tell Daphkalian. I don't want him any more involved than he already is."

     "Agreed," Nathan replied. He turned to Trev. "I need you and Boost to take care of the Nymarian."

     Trevor was ready to object, but he decided it was more important to appear united as a crew. "C'mon, Booster."

     Trev left with Boost in tow.  They respectfully carted Cleph’s encased body across the landing area toward the trade city and disappeared.

     "How much you need?" a voice yelled from outside the ship. It was one of the refuelers.

     "Full!" Nathan barked back.

     In the passenger compartment, Nathan realized he had just gotten himself alone with the enticing redhead. His fingers lightly touched the ring around his neck. She was eyeing him too; whatever weight she had been carrying with her was suddenly gone. The feeling of familiarity returned.

     "Can I ask you something?"

    Nathan knew he had to stop this now, before she got ideas. She would just keep coming if he didn't keep her in her place, business only. But for first time in eight years, he couldn't.

     "Since we'll be together a little longer, I was wondering something. What is the deal with you and your copilot? Are you family?"

     Nathan allowed himself to breathe again. Crisis averted. He was getting too old for these games.

     "He's my sister's kid."

     "And you look after him?"

     "Since the end of Earth, yes." He sat down at the table in the middle of the compartment and sipped what was left of his coffee. "He's the only one in my family who survived."

     "I lost a lot of family too." Kaida didn't want to bring up Gastoff. She needed never to think of him again and to move on with her life, so she shifted the conversation. "I was wondering one more thing."

     "Shoot."

     "Why does he carry that sword? He doesn't look like he knows how to use it."

Nathan released a long sigh before answering. "His father was killed with it. Trevor said he found his father with that sword through him as the murder was happening. When he stumbled upon the scene, he fired on the killer. According to Trev, the intruder was hit in the face, and the impact flung him out the window. The fall was too great for any man to survive, let alone the shot. He didn't see anyone on the rocks below. Then he says he saw a rogue Ruveran ship take off before it cloaked."

     Kaida tried to hide her surprise. "Does he know who did it?"

     "After all these years of digging, Trevor can only find rumors and whispers. Whoever the killer is doesn't leave too much of a trace…only appearances of his ship."

     "That sounds terrible. I wonder why his father was assassinated. Was he military?"

     Nathan shook his head. "That's the mystery. He was an engineer. I think they went after the wrong target. Scott was harmless."

     Kaida thought about everyone she had lost. Ruvera murdered at will and without cause. Sometimes, there was no reason to the madness. "So he carries that sword in hopes of using it?"

     Nathan nodded. "If I know my nephew, he's looking for the assassin's ship right now."

-o-

     "Anyone coming, Booster?" Trevor was just finishing up going through the police data. He had jacked into an access terminal. He had his head and sword hidden beneath a dark cloak as he worked.

     "Forty-seven meters and closing," Boost announced.

     Trevor completed the search and found that the killer's ship had actually passed through recently but had left thirteen days ago. Another missed opportunity. He slammed the computer access shut and left as inconspicuously as he could.

     He patted Boost's head. "Good work."

     After finding a burial service that handled Ecath and Nymarian rites, he had to excuse himself at the service station for another one of his tremor attacks. This one had put him on his back and almost caused him to black out. To make matters worse, his veins were turning a lighter shade of blue and he had a headache he couldn't shake off—more reminders his time was running out.

     The two pushed their way through the crowd of traders, visitors, and locals. He nearly tripped over the large roots of a Loira'lei tree, which pushed through the cement walkway. Flowers were in full bloom and floating through the air, bringing acidic rose flavors to the air.

     The cities of Flora had pretty heavy speeder traffic too. Hover cars and bikes thundered overhead on aerial roads. Ground level had crowded foot traffic. With the glowing blue leaves of the Loira'lei growing around buildings into the sky, it was truly a city that was always aglow. It never slept, and on this side of the world, it was forever night.  He placed a hand on a nearby tree’s bark and heard the odd whispers of the tree.  It eased his pain with a song he couldn’t understand.

     Then, he wound his way around the bustling streets and found the bar he recognized. As soon as he entered, he heard the usual grumbles of "Earthborn." It was a slur throughout this part of the universe; "as stupid as an Earthborn" was a common insult. Just another aide-mémoire that those still left from Earth had lost their world and their respect in the universe.

     Trevor pulled up a seat at the bar and ordered two Ecath dishes with which he was familiar. Since it was always dark on this side of Flora, it was always time for breakfast.

     The barkeep was a female Ecath, a deviously beautiful, long-eared, furry-skinned version of Daphkalian. She, like all Ecath, was a tall mix of feline features though the female’s ears were as long as a rabbit's. "Impatient to die like all Earthborn," she sneered.

     Trev realized he was cutting in line to order at the bar. He apologized and waited his turn.

He realized he wasn't the only flight crew member out to get a quick meal. There were some common alien species like Asterions; Preslich, which were like large thin snakes with two arms and legs; other beautifully feral Ecath; and Gymon, which were a purple-skinned telepathic race that looked like what might happen if whales and humans were combined into something. One large Gymon in particular was leering at him over his drink, wide-set eyes unblinking, and skin appearing sickly wet and slippery. Trev turned away.

     Boost popped up next to him. Oblivious.

     "Did you get the usual supplies?" Trevor asked him.

     Boost nodded.

     An order of oddly colored meat and eggs appeared before him. He picked up a fork and knife and went to work. Like a starving man, Trev plowed through the meal in minutes. He washed it down with an orange moko, which was basically all alcohol with a bite of citrus.

     "Ready?" Trevor asked pushing himself from the bar.

     Trev paid his bill at the exit, scanning his wristband.

     "Should we get some more…" Trevor began. His voice trailed off when he saw Daphkalian a good hundred meters away talking to a dark-cloaked figure. He could really be talking to anyone, but Trev felt in his gut it was sinister.