The fleet scanned the mansion, searching for the final targets. I sensed Tony’s mind as he considered the risks of killing either the Warlord or the Red-Rotono, and more importantly each’s effect on his promotion to first-class-citizen. I sensed something else in Tony, it was something primal, something instinctive, Tony was hungry. Tony reached into a spare ammo compartment and drew from it a Regimental Breakfast Sandwich. The label revealed the sandwich contained egg, bacon, and cheese. He set the sandwich down next to Lynyrra’s Tea set, as he poured some tea. Tony took a sip of tea, then part of the mansion exploded and the mansion started to burn. Tony drank up the last of his tea and returned the breakfast sandwich to a spare ammo compartment, as Ugians fled the fire. I reached out to Tony’s mind through the cyber-link and he accepted the connection.
“Can you see what’s happening?”, I sent my thoughts to Tony.
“Eventually I will, but my guess is arson. It’s clearly an inciting incident. Someone walked into a trap.”, Tony’s thoughts reached me through the cyber-link.
“If you expect a trap, and the warlord is dead anyways, we can just leave with the money we got now, the contract doesn’t require the entire list, and the Protectorate has your money not the Confederacy.”, I shared my thoughts with Tony, through the cyberlink.
We both sensed more than half of the fleet supported my recommendation, however almost the entire blockade fleet wanted to find out if the Red-Rotono survived.
“We need to cyber-link, but in private.”, Tony sent his thoughts to me as he disconnected from the fleet. I disconnected from the fleet and sensed Tony’s direct cyber-link.
“Disconnect Ylisaya, she’s too important for all Rylkonians. If there’s another one of those strange bullets, we have to make sure she remains safe.”, Tony sent his thoughts to me.
“I figured you’d be more skeptical of a chosen one prophecy. Do you believe she actually is the chosen one? Is this really about her individual importance? Or is this about her re-sale value?”, I sent my questions through the cyber-link.
“I’m her owner, so protecting my property is my decision. Let’s assume we make it to the point of sale, I get promoted, and she’s just a normal Rylkonian girl. That means I got one hell of a bargain. Now let’s assume she does have some sort of all important destiny. That just means I’m right. It looks like a win-win for me, so I don’t see a difference. Besides a prophecy I haven’t heard yet, I haven’t seen anything that compels me to identify Ylisaya as the chosen one. Do I have to order you to protect the the crew of the ship we rely on for money?”, Tony’s thoughts reached me through the cyber-link, as we disconnected.
The broker called Tony as soon as our cyber-link ended, and I resumed my cyber-link to the fleet. Tony took their call, however he wasn’t linked to the fleet, so the fleet could only hear his end of the call.
“I don’t need to worry about that. The fire might solve both of those problems.”, Tony responded to an unknown question. After a few moments Tony responded to something else the broker asked.
“I was hit with a unknown weapon that also hit the entire fleet. Testing my cyber-link’s disconnect safety is the priority right now. You might think the war is over, but if the Confederacy’s list is accurate, then they don’t actually know who’s in charge, and no-one will know if I just cash out.”, Tony seemed to protest. After a few moments Tony responded to something else the broker asked.
“How much money?….uh hmm…uh hmm…Do we have a contract?”, Tony asked.
A contract arrived through the communication array, I wondered if I should read it or just keep watching.
“I’ll get started.”, Tony replied to the broker as he vanished into a distortion.
“Disconnect. I’ll cover the fleet for the rest of this mission.”, I instructed Ylisaya.
Through the mirror I watched Ylisaya’s concern over the Red-Rotono. Ylisaya’s eyes rapidly moved side to side and I ceased sensing her mind through the cyber-link. Yet through the ship’s systems I sensed Ylisaya’s mind access the targeting scanners.
“Something Clever, why did you lock weapons on the City?”, I sensed fleet command reach me through the cyber-link and they detected Ylisaya’s use of the targeting scanner.
“Our captain just started a second contract on site, he might need a supply drop, and we’re kind of fans of the Red-Rotono.”, I sent my thoughts through the cyber-link to fleet command.
“You do realize that the Red-Rotono is a target, if you try to verify the target for profit that’s a conflict of interest.”, the fleet command sent to me through the cyber-link.
“So is sending an assassin after an idol…we haven’t broken any rules yet.”, I sent my argument through the cyber-link.
“You may continue scanning in the interest of your captain and crew. Please review your contract.”, the fleet sent through the cyber-link.
The fleet and Ylisaya watched through the scan as Tony’s distortion moved around the burning mansion. Tony moved from corner to corner and from shadow to shadow, as the fire spread and slowly reduced places for Tony to hide. With each movement, Tony activated his scanners, and the scans leaked over the cloaking device. The fleet concluded that Tony was searching for someone inside the mansion, but the only two people the fleet expected to find in the Mansion were the warlord and the Red-Rotono, the only two people the fleet could not confirm a location. I sensed a disturbing observation from within the fleet. As they watched Tony’s distortion, they also observed new fires whenever Tony moved, leaving a trail behind him. The fleet suspected this was a result of a tool or weapon Tony obtained from the Enforcer, but while Tony remained cloaked, nothing can be observed within the distortion. I was surprised that Tony would consider such a method, since light, heat, and energy conflict with cloaking tech. I guessed either Ylisaya or I would have to read the contract.
The Red-Rotono crashed out of a window from the Mansion holding a Rotono-Blade that shined with a bright blue. The warlord chased after the Red-Rotono and he was holding his black steel Rotono-blade in one hand as well as the Rotono with a red blade in his other hand. The warlord attacked the Red-Rotono with a mechanically empower strike from the black steel blade. The Red-Rotono evaded and attempted strike back with the blue-steel blade. The Warlord swiped the non-powered attack aside with the red blade and forced the Red-Rotono to retreat. I reached out to Tony through the cyber-link, and he connected. I sensed Tony’s mind as wondered how or when the warlord obtained the Red-blade, as Tony started moving towards the warlord and Red-Rotono.
“Why did you burn down the house of the Black Dragons? This was the destiny of all Ugians.”, the warlord said in Ugian to the Red Rotono, as he coughed and forced a breath.
“You’re not even Ugian, you just want to be some sort of pretend king. If I will not be accepted as a Black Dragon, then there will be no Black Dragon anything.”, the Red-Rotono said and then attacked with all the might of Tri-tech armor, but not a mechanically empowered Rotono-blade, since the Blue sword belonged to another. In that moment, credits were added to the ship’s account.
“Your father’s sword can’t protect you, if you can’t unlock it’s power. Let’s see how you feel when something important to you is taken away.”, the warlord said as he sheathed the black steel blade, reached inside the hand-guard of the red-blade and ripped out one of the levers.
“No! How dare you dishonor a Rotono-blade!”, the Red-Rotono yelled at the warlord.
“You never finished the trials, you’re not a true Blade-master. You wear a gift, others of low birth have to earn.”, The warlord protested.
The warlord shifted the red-blade to one hand, drew the black-blade with his free hand and attacked the Red-Rotono with mechanically empowered, but unstable slashes from all directions, as he attacked, stepped around his opponent, and prepared another attack.
As the warlord attacked with an unstable but mechanically empowered red-blade, then with the black blade. The Red-Rotono deflected and evaded, but could not unlock the blue-blade. The Red-Rotono activated the red-cloak to escape. The fleet watched the Red-Rotono’s distortion begin to flee but then completely stopped. The warlord pursued the Red-Rotono, and found the Red-Rotono’s foot steps. He saw the steps did not continue, though he could not see the distortion of neither the Red-Rotono nor Tony’s. The warlord held out the two swords to his sides as if probing the space around him searching for his opponent. Tony was now close enough to intervene yet he remained cloaked. I sensed Tony’s mind as he tasted an egg sandwich.
“My father’s words were Loyalty, Honesty, and Strength before Honor.”, the Red-Rotono said while cloaked.
The warlord slowly examined the direction of the Red-Rotono’s voice and advanced still searching for an opponent.
“Loyalty is in one’s heart between both hands.”, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord continued searching.
“Honesty is every word spoken on one direction.”, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord slowly moved closer.
“Strength is not order and not chaos, but balance.”, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord now seemed to know the Red-Rotono’s location.
“The spirit of every Rotono-blade…”, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord prepared to attack, raising the black-blade for an empowered attack.
“Is honor!”, the Red-Rotono yelled as she deactivated her cloak and attacked with the blue-blade as the wheel unlocked and mechanically empowered the strike. The warlord attempted to deflect the blue-blade using the red-blade, but the red-blade became unstable as it seemed to jumped out of his hand.
The Red-Rotono attacked with the blue-blade’s mechanical power, reset the wheel as she held the sword pointed upwards near the shoulder of her sword arm, and waited for the warlord’s counter attack. As the warlord watched the mansion burn around him and the weapon of his former master fell under the control of his opponent he found breathing becoming more and more difficult.
“You’re a fool, without the House of the Black Dragons, you’re no-longer a high born Ugian.”, the warlord declared to the Red-Rotono, as he began gasping for air.
The pain from breathing brought the warlord to a knee and he rested his weight on the handle of his sword as he stabbed it into the ground.
“I don’t care about being high-born, I burned it down because you betrayed my father.”, the Red-Rotono said as she stood over the warlord.
The warlord’s breathing accelerated, and he removed his helmet with his free hand. The veins in his eye burned as the blood began to drip from his eyes, nose and ears. He touched his ear with his free hand and also found blood on his fingers. The warlord looked up as he lost consciousness and collapsed to thee ground. The warlord’s life vanished from the fleet’s scan, and credits were added to the ship’s account. The Red-Rotono dropped to her knees and could barely lift the blue-blade.
“I thought I didn’t use enough venom to kill him this fast.”, Tony said as he deactivated his cloak.
He walked up to the warlord with only an egg sandwich in his hand, as he continued to nibble on the left-overs from breakfast.
“It wasn’t your venom. Not only. He’s allergic to eggs.”, the Red-Rotono said as the voice changing effect of her armor faded and the fleet could now hear a woman’s voice.
“Why are you here? What happened in your fight with the enforcer?”, the Red Rotono asked Tony, as Tony finished the last bite of the breakfast sandwich.
“Let’s see…well I think I won. Maybe you recognize his cloak? But now I’m under contract to eliminate the leaders of both the Lahnthanos and Black Dragons, and now only one target remains.”, Tony replied.
Through my mirror I could see Ylisaya’s eyes moving fast. I knew she was searching for something.
“I’m the last target! My armor is out of power. I can’t fight. I can’t run. I can’t even hide, but can I have a honorable death?”, The Red-Rotono asked Tony, as she removed the armor from her hands and chest revealing the woman beneath it.
“What do you need from me?”, Tony asked.
“I need a blade I can lift, it only needs to be long enough to stab the heart.”, the Red-Rotono said as she lifted her mask and kissed the hand-guard of the blue-blade.
The Red-Rotono dropped the blue blade and returned her mask to over her face. Tony walked over to the black-blade, stepped down on the handle, lifting the blade, and he drew his battle-axe. He activated the battle-axe revealing it’s red-blade that glowed like lava and slashed through the black-steel blade, leaving the blade with a crude point, but also reducing the blade to the Red-Rotono’s specifications. Tony used his super strength to rip apart the track of the wheel, and he presented the black-blade to the Red-Rotono.
“That will do…thank you, Phantom.”, The Red-Rotono said to Tony, as Tony stood beside the Red-Rotono and disconnected from the fleet.
“Battle Axe Execution Mode.”, Tony said as his battle-axe reconfigured to it’s green blade.
“You’ve done this before?”, the Red-Rotono asked Tony.
“Lynyrra.”, Tony replied.
“I see…Did she betray my father too?”, The Red-Rotono asked Tony.
“Yes, for Behrahn”, Tony said.
“I see. I guessed there was something between those two.”, the Red-Rotono said.
The Red-Rotono picked up the broken black-steel blade, took two deep breaths and held the blade with both hands. As she pulled the blade towards her heart, Tony swung his battle axe, and knocked the black blade out of her hands, as the Red-Rotono fell to the ground. I thought something was wrong when I didn’t hear, “For the Auro-Blade!”
“Why did you stop me?” The Red-Rotono asked.
“I just learned that you’re not the target I’m getting paid to kill, so you get to live.”, Tony said.
I sensed Ylisaya disconnect from all of the ship’s systems. I looked into my mirror and I saw Ylisaya rest her mind as if she was returning to her body. Ylisaya fell back into the flight engineer’s seat and appeared quite content with an achievement.
“I don’t understand. Who’s the target?”, the Red-Rotono asked.
“Well…They’re looking for a male, disguised as woman, member of the Black Dragons, has a red-sword, and holds the title of sword-master. Then I need at least one of the battle ships in the sky above to say that I can kill you to get paid. The fleet has been watching us since yesterday, and testimony has been provided all concluding there’s an eighty-eight percent chance the client will refuse to pay me for an assassination of someone who doesn’t even match the description of the intended target. Even if you are their enemy and they want you dead, I might not get paid.”, Tony said.
“So I get to live, because I’m not valuable?”, the Red-Rotono asked.
“You get to live because your enemies are stupid, and I don’t work for free.”, Tony replied, as the broker closed the contract and credits were added to the ship’s account.
“Can I hire you if you’re available?”, the Red-Rotono asked.
Through the cyber-link the fleet command contacted the entire fleet. Fleet command instructed all gun-ships with no crew on the surface to cease scanning the surface of Mars, effective immediately. As gun-ships complied with the order, the surface of Mars vanished. The broker tried to reach Tony through the Cyber-link, but he didn’t respond. The broker then tried to reach Tony directly, and Tony again didn’t respond. I reached out to Tony’s mind.
“The broker’s trying to get a hold of you. Are you gonna take their call?”, I sent my question to Tony through the cyber-link.
“Not this time.”, Tony’s thoughts reach me through the link, as we disconnected.
The broker reached out to me, and I connected. I sensed the minds of several Protectorate Officers, and through the cyber-link the entire fleet could observe me.
“Hi Jhessyreen! It’s been a long time.”, the broker’s thoughts reach me.
“How can I be of service?”, I returned my thoughts through the link.
“Two matters. First, we wanted to say how impressed we are with how your crew handled so many contracts, helped the people of Mars, and avoided a long and expensive war.”, the brokers made their thoughts clear.
“I’m glad it was worth every credit. Winning wars is our captain’s speciality. What’s the second thing?”, I sent my question through the cyber-link.
“Please discourage your captain from taking this client’s newest offer.”, the broker’s thoughts became clear to me.
“You know how this works. A first officer needs substantial evidence to influence their captain like that. What’s your evidence?”, I sent my question to the broker.
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“We believe the client is Meiyo Ymiri, which means her mother is Ayah Ymiri, the President of the Venus Cooperative, and we believe she can be better serviced directly by the Protectorate. If she is who we think.”, the broker sent their thoughts to me.
“That’s only suspicion, I need proof.”, I sent my thought to the broker.
“Proof will be difficult because it will also reveal how we obtained this information, and implicates the President.”, the broker’s thoughts were clear, and I then knew how.
“The only time those words are used in that order is if the spymasters are involved, so this contract is not within my power to affect, and not even your domain.”, I sent my thoughts to the brokers, as a contract arrived in the communication array.
“We were mistaken, the client does not appear to have any interest in starting a war. We have insured your new contract and client. Please don’t cancel for another assassination.”, the broker’s thoughts reached me and we disconnected.
“Delivery of one passenger to Venus or nearby space station. Why does that sound easy?”, Ylisaya said as she read the new contract.
“I wish that were true. We’ll have a dread-pirate and a political passenger onboard. If we head straight to Venus, we’ll be flying right into a space pirate trap.”, I replied to Ylisaya.
Through the ship’s systems I sensed the gunner’s systems powering up, and the targeting array was locking onto something on the surface of Mars. I turned to Ylisaya and I did not detect her using the Flight Engineer’s seat. I checked the internal sensor and the prisoner was still unconscious. The fire control system was locked out and being accessed from outside of the ship. As the pilot, I’m the only one who can use the ship’s navigation system from the outside, which means only the gunner can fire the ship’s weapons. I moved from the pilot’s seat to the gunner’s seat and accessed the direct connection to see what the gunner’s seat was trying to look at.
Tony was already outside of the city, and the Red-Rotono was not with him. Tony stopped in the middle of a Confederate supply cache, surrounded by Confederate cavaliers and enforcer mechs as they loaded ammo and fueled up vehicles. The pattern of moment suggested the Confederate Cavalry was preparing to enter the city. I could only see Tony as he wasn’t using the targeting array to lock on weapons. Tony only wanted to watch the base he was inside. I was confused at first since Tony wasn’t cloaked, in fact he was talking to several high ranking Confederate officers as they examined a large hologram of the city. Each officer had an oxygen tank connected to a breathing mask, wore a gray uniform, a vest made of Tri-tech armor, and a hand-gun on their hip, hanging from a belt with spare ammo compartments. Then I understood, The Confederacy bought the fleet scans, but probably couldn’t interpret the hologram. Tony would be an ideal consultant, since he understood the tech, had walked through the city, and was available. I wondered what the value of scanning a non-hostile military base belonging to a customer and with a Protectorate citizen inside might be. All I knew was that Tony was using the ship’s scanner to look for something.
“How do I use the scanner to hear what people are saying?”, I asked Ylisaya.
“Find materials the scanner can see, that also responds to sound, like metals, liquids, sometimes even the ground, then convert those vibrations into sound waves. Keep calibrating to hear voices and words.”, Ylisaya casually replied.
I adjusted the data from the sensor as Ylisaya instructed and I started to hear sound. Then I slowly heard voices as I continued to adjust the scanner. I heard a voice I didn’t recognize.
“If an air-strike destroys the atmosphere dome, the City is lost anyways.”, the voice said, but I was uncertain to whom the Confederate officer was replying to, or what statement they were responding to.
The officer speaking to Tony was a Naphridahn, a faction of the Earthborn whose people were subjugated by the Aurovean nations, and accepted the Protectorate’s offer to colonize Mars, Venus, and Mercury, along side the Ugians and Lahnthanos.
“General, the gauss rifles are there, but the Black Dragons will have difficulty shooting them, because I took all the gauss rifle ammo I could find and they disbanded. The city cannot offer any more resistance against the Confederacy.”, Tony said as I recognized his voice.
“Phantom, will they really surrender without a fight?”, the general asked.
“If you think a fight is necessary the Ugians and Lahnthanos will fight, because they were sick of Confederacy not being there to protect them, when all someone needed to do was stop them from fighting each other. All they got left is their city. If you have no other questions, I’ve been alerted to the fact that you hired a U.D.E. consultant, and I’d prefer to avoid them, and he’s almost finished inspecting your troops, he’ll look for you next.”, Tony said to the Confederate General.
“I have more questions, Phantom. Would you mind turning invisible and waiting?”, the General asked Tony.
Tony seemed to acknowledge as he vanished into a distortion, and moved into a nearby shadow without making any sound. The U.D.E. officer approached the General and he was a tall Lahnthano man with big shoulders and a solid chin. He wore a blue U.D.E. uniform, a vest of unknown design, possibly Tri-tech, along with a pistol and ammo belt, but his air tank seemed to be part of his vest and his breathing mask, which didn’t appear to have a visible tube.
“Most impressive General Aplas, you turned a rebellion into troops that could go toe-to-toe with the Protectorate Fleet.”, the U.D.E. officer said to the General.
“Major Ruvez, do I need to remind you the U.D.E. didn’t send you here to turn us against our allies. You are here to judge the weaponry and only weaponry, not my mission, and not the troops under my command.”, the general reprimanded the UDE officer.
“But general how can I do my job, if our lives are in danger from an assassin preparing to eliminate us? This hitman’s goal is to prevent this deal between Mars and Earth.”, Major Ruvez said.
“What are you talking about Major?”, General Aplas demanded.
“The Rylkonians have a weapon that can reveal any invisible enemy nearby without damaging any of your own equipment. They call it Flash Pulse. It overloads cloaking tech, and a cloaked enemy is forced to move slowly. Allow me to demonstrate.”, Major Ruvez said.
Major Ruvez revealed a small round device from his ammo belt and dropped it on the ground. The device exploded in a flash of bright light, as it touched the ground. Tony’s cloak deactivated, as the Confederrate officers all drew their hand-guns, and each aimed at the Major Ruvez.
“Well, if it isn’t the Invisible hand of the Free Market? Antonio Christopher Romen! Your under arrest!”, Major Ruvez said to Tony.
“Did you forget which planet you’re on Major. Explain yourself!”, General Aplas demanded.
“This man is a fugitive, he refused to fulfill the military service he owes to the U.D.E. He should be arrested and handed over to my government.”, Major Ruvez said to the Confederate officers, as he pointed at Tony.
“Consider my government’s need for this soldier, and how the Confederacy needs the Earth’s markets. You should be aiming your guns at him, not me.”, Major Ruvez said to General Aplas. Tony gestured for the Confederate officers to lower their guns, and slowly the Confederate officers rested their aim.
“Look Major, I already applied to join the U.D.E. military four times, and all four times I was rejected. But now, I am no longer a U.D.E. citizen. The U.D.E. is not at war. Not…at…war! There’s no need to draft troops. That means the best-case-scenario is that the U.D.E. only wants me so they can dissect me, to copy, and steal the cybernetic enhancements and genetic modifications the U.D.E. is unable to duplicate, so you make an army of super soldiers. Worst-case-scenario, the U.D.E. plans to start a war and send me to kill anyone that the U.D.E. thinks is in their way. And I have no guarantee that the U.D.E. won’t hesitate to change their minds at any time. So no, I will not hand myself over to the U.D.E.”, Tony declared to Major Ruvez.
“Then can you prove to me that the Rylkonians aren’t controlling you with the computers they put in your brain? Show me, that you can even choose who you work for!”, Major Ruvez demanded.
“So I’m supposed to prove I’m free to choose, by doing exactly what you demand? This is why I don’t work for the U.D.E. in any capacity, they think like children! Actually, now I think you want to annoy me so I try to kill you, because the U.D.E. wants me to kill one of you, so they can approve the funding of their own super soldiers, new weapons, stronger armor, and better tactics. But if I leave you idiots alive, none of you can evolve into an actual threat. Nobody in charge of the U.D.E. would last five minutes in an alternate universe. And I don’t work for free.”, Tony objected.
“So you admit it then? You’re not a free man who can choose, you’re just their robot slave!”, Major Ruvez insulted Tony.
“Imagine…If you’re the model example of how a human from the U.D.E. represents Earth, and I have a choice to be human or robot… I choose robot…all day, everyday! You’re a major, I’m a ship captain. I outrank you! And you can fuck off!”, Tony laughed at the UDE officer.
“This man hasn’t broken any Martian Laws, so the Confederacy will not extradite him to the U.D.E. You’re out of your jurisdiction, Major.”, the General said to the UDE officer.
“Does the same apply to his client? That’s right. We know about the Red-Rotono. The Venus Cooperative does love to talk.”, Major Ruvez gloated.
“Major, under what authority does a U.D.E. officer, take the word of a Cooperative Spy, to critique the Laws of the Confederacy? The Phantom is a consultant, which is better than how you represent the U.D.E. If you knew half as much about the Phantom as you claim to know the Confederacy, then you should also know that nobody here has a weapon that can even hurt him?”, the General Aplas yelled at the Major Ruvez.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, General.”, Major Ruvez said, as he drew his hand-gun.
Before Major Ruvez could line up a shot, Tony moved at blinding speed, stole the hand-gun out of Major Ruvez’s hand, and knocked back Major Ruvez to the ground.
“I know that smell.”, Tony said as he examined the hand-gun, removed the ammo, and ejected the bullet in the firing chamber out of the top of the hand-gun.
The ejected bullet tumbled through the air, over the holographic map, and was caught by one of the Confederate officers. Tony tossed the empty hand-gun back to the U.D.E. officer, as he smelled the stolen clip of bullets.
“Where did you get these?”, Tony calmly asked Major Ruvez, as the U.D.E. officer holstered his empty gun and slowly stood up under the watchful Confederate officers.
“The U.D.E. has it own research and development! Keep them as a gift, Phantom. I can also give you the user’s manual. It’s not a problem for the U.D.E. We have more where that came from.”, Major Ruvez said, as he pulled a data stick from his ammo belt and tossed it to Tony. A few Confederate officers aimed weapons at the U.D.E. officer, as Tony tucked the ammo and data stick into an ammo compartment.
“What is this?”, the Confederate officer said while examining the isolated bullet.
“It’s a bullet designed to kill me. One was fired at me today, but it didn’t go as planned. That one was stolen from the Confederacy. Keep it if it brings any forgiveness for Rhetonis, from me.”, Tony said to the Confederate officers.
The Confederate officers seemed concerned if Tony might turn hostile, as he just accused their government of owning a weapon designed for killing him.
“Is there anything else you need from me General? I’d like to receive my payment if you’re ready to enter the city.”, Tony asked General Aplas.
“Phantom, you and the girl are free to leave Rhetonis. Please don’t actually consider renouncing your humanity, just because of the U.D.E.”, General Aplas said to Tony, as Tony nodded and walked away from the holographic map and deactivated the ship’s targeting scanner.
“Jhess, meet me on Deimos. Be alert for any U.D.E. Agents. And lets see if we can sell the ship’s atmosphere.”, Tony sent his thought to me through cyber-link. I acknowledged and disconnected.
I returned to the pilot seat, broke formation from the blockade fleet, and set course for Mars’ second moon.
“We’re leaving? Where are we going?”, Ylisaya asked me.
“Mars’ second moon. We’re leaving the planet, it’s no longer safe to stay.”, I said to Ylisaya.
“What about the captain?”, Ylisaya asked.
“He’ll meet us there. He might even get there before we do.”, I replied to Ylisaya.
“How is that possible?”, Ylisaya asked.
“His..super jump, but he has to do it in secret, immigrations tends to panic, when a combat cyborg falls out of the sky.”, I replied to Ylisaya.
“Now I have even more questions.”, Ylisaya replied.
“Listen carefully chosen one. The Protectorate might say they’re on friendly terms with the Confederacy, the Cooperative, the Commonwealth, and whatever savage warlords ruling over Earth, but they can just change their minds and they have factions within that are enemies, and want to be enemies. And those enemies have set their sights on the captain, because the Protectorate needed a cyborg super soldier powerful enough to kill a Dark Tyrant. So the captain doesn’t like to discuss his limitations, because those enemies will always use that information to scheme plans to control him, develop weapons to use against him, or copy the technology that made him, and there’s nothing he can do about that, except hide. They even came after me, to find something to use against him, and I’m not about to let Rylkonians become the slaves of Earthborn masters who oppress us with an army of super soldiers…Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to.”, I admitted to Ylisaya.
“I understand. Some knowledge is dangerous, and even if the Captain’s enemies simply suspect someone has that information, they become a target.”, Ylisaya said as she forgave me.
“Let me know if there are any other questions about forbidden knowledge, that make you a political target, or that I’m not allowed to answer.”, I said to Ylisaya, though she didn’t find my remarks to be amusing as she focused on the console of the flight engineer’s seat.
I found Deimos by looking for a beam of sunlight from Mercury across the sky delivering the needed sunlight that makes life on Mars possible. The first stop is Deimos. The light is focused, refracted, and reflected to Phobos and to the Surface of Mars. That’s how I find Deimos. Through the navigation sensor I can see the surface of Deimos. Mars’ second moon has an irregular shape, but I can clearly see the three habitation domes, the solar array, the abandoned tower, and the inactive hyper-jump gate. While Mars’ first moon was currently dedicated to military operations, the second moon still had a thriving economy. Although the patterns I saw indicated that more ships were leaving Mars’ ports than arriving, also motivating the refugees trying to escape the war. As I landed the ship at the edge of the habitation dome, I could see Tony talking to a Confederate officer who wore a space suit. I never really learned much about Earthborn need for spacesuits other than the spacesuit contained atmosphere that non-cyborg Earthborn needed to survive. A Rylkonian can survive for about half a microcycle in the vacuum of space, and up to two micros if they’re lucky and can be rescued in time before revival is impossible. To my understanding, exposure to the vacuum of space for even an instant is fatal to non-cyborgs. We watched Tony try to negotiate with the Confederate officer, through the ship’s navigation sensor.
“Five thousand B.T.U.s just arrived from Mars.”, Tony said to the Confederate officer
“Seriously? This is just the atmosphere from your ship.”, the officer protested.
I disconnected from the flight systems, and gestured for Ylisaya to follow me. I picked up three oxygen tanks from the space-walk kit, one for Ylisaya, one for the dread-pirate and one for myself. I entered the brig and saw the dread-pirate was still unconscious. I opened the cell, saw the dread pirate did not respond, and I slipped the oxygen mask over his face, and locked the cell. Ylisaya and I, departed the brig, entered the airlock of the ship, and prepared to exit. I placed my mask over my face and helped Ylisaya adjust her mask. The mask is extremely useful, because it does more than provide oxygen. It has a device called a lip reader. It doesn’t actually read lips, but it displays the words we say in common text.
“Testing. Testing. Red buggy baby bumbers.”, I said while facing the window of the airlock to see my reflection, and my face mask typed my words.
“What? What are you doing?”, Ylisaya asked, as I watched Ylisaya’s mask type her words.
“Testing the lip readers, the atmosphere is too thin, so there’s almost no sound.”, I replied to Ylisaya.
The airlock switched from ship pressure to external pressure and Ylisaya followed me to join Tony.
“What are you trying to pull here, Phantom? The only thing I can use a ship’s atmosphere for is drying the air pumps, and I have to vacuum it out of your ship to get it… I can give you five-hundred credits, but I need air for farming towers, and your crew will give me that just by existing. And how did you fall out of your ship anyways? Nobody does that!”, the officer said to Tony.
“I’ll ask you. How did your Captain get to this moon?”, the officer asked as he turned to Ylisaya.
“I’m new. I just work here, but I’ve never seen anything like these two.”, Ylisaya said.
“You’re a pilot. What did you see?”, the Confederate officer asked me.
“Well…I was flying the ship and my Captain was on the planet. He ran up the side of a mountain, jumped, and landed here. But I didn’t really see that, I was busy flying the ship.”, I said to the officer.
“Bunch of clowns. Now I have to report that a killer cyborg fell out of the sky, like it’s some Assassinator movie!”, the officer complained.
“We’re just here to pickup a client, find a secondary contract, make a cryonic sleep appointment, and we’ll leave. Here’s my merchant license.”, Tony said, as he handed a sheet of plastyn to the officer.
“You’re allowed anywhere, except onto anybody else’s ship, the jump-gate tower, or the residence dome, unless you know someone there. The Zoo is open for a few more hours, and then we send the droppings to the farming towers. The city center is always open, but most of the staff goes home at the end of the day. Class three trades do not require a trade record. Only class one and two trades require it. There’s no easy rule for what’s a class one, two, or three trade. So just check in with a trade officer, even after class three trades. They’ll be wearing this badge. Unless you trade using a kiosk, the reports are mostly automated.”, the officer said as he point to his own badge, handed Tony his license back, and gave each of us a stack of trade plastyn record forms.
The officer wore his badge over his uniform, as the badge tilted slightly towards the shoulder. The badge looked like a bank vault’s door, stamped into the back of a copper plate, making the front push outwards to create the image. The edge of the copper plate was lined with tin, and he might have owned this badge for a while, or the officer obtained the badge from another. Unless he just had a habit of wearing the badge while working in tight spaces, as the badge was old, but the uniform was new.
“One last thing, all adults are required to carry guns, we’re still in the Confedracy. Only special exceptions for religious or ethical work can be granted at the embassies in the city center. If you see an officer with a tin-star badge, he’s officially on-duty. If you trade with either type of officer, it’s our job to fill out the trade forms. Cause trouble and we call in Tin-Stars, Cause more problems and we call in Enforcer mechs.”, the officer said, as he turned towards me.
I lifted the side of my jacket revealing the revolver under my arm. The officer, acknowledged that I carried a weapon, and then turned towards Ylisaya.
“She’s not an adult yet.”, I said to the officer.
“Well, if you have no other questions…” The officer said, as he was interrupted by Ylisaya.
“Excuse me, but if the traders don’t need to fill out forms if they trade with the moon’s officers doesn’t that give the moon’s government an unfair advantage?”, Ylisaya asked.
“You seem smart kid, so I’m not gonna get mad. But if you haven’t noticed the big red planet in the sky is at the brink of war, the other moon’s trade port was closed to turn it into a military base, so all of Mars’ imports, exports, traders, and refugees became our problem. I thought Rylkonians were supposed to be good at living in an alternate universe.”, the officer said.
“We’re good at space travel, but she’s new. Thank you for being patient.”, I calmly said to the Confederate officer.
“So I’ll level with you, Deimos is just an outpost that barely qualifies as a colony. I’ve been here since they shut down the jump gate. I’ve only ever known this moon to be kind and welcoming, but ever since the war started, people have changed. Please don’t judge us when we’re not at our best. Some people only deal with hostility the same way they deal with Space Pirates. Since you’re the crew of an Ambush-Class, I think you know what I’m saying. Ship docking fee is fifty credits per day, due on the day you launch. I’m off duty, now. Enjoy your stay on Deimos, visitor-non-citizens receive fifteen percent off at the Confederate gift shops.”, the officer said as he returned to the dome.
“How did you get caught?”, I asked Tony as soon as the Confederate officer was far away.
“I might have created a shockwave on my way down, and that shockwave might have knocked a few ships off course…Don’t look at me like that. A lot can change in four seconds while jumping through space. Good news is knocking them off course is all that happened, it could have been a lot worse.”, Tony said.
“Yeah. You’re lucky you didn’t blow up the moon.”, I said.
“I’d never be able to explain that to the Confederacy.”, Tony laughed, though it seemed disproportionate to the danger of being stranded in space.
“So what’s the plan?”, I asked.
“The client is traveling in disguise and arrives in less than an hour, on a refugee transport. You’re going pick her up at the transfer hub. She’ll have some luggage, but most of it is getting delivered to the ship. When you have her, reach me over cyber-link. Tomorrow is the appointment for cryonic-freeze, so we can put the dread-pirate and any passengers on ice.” Tony said, as he handed me a slip of plastyn with the client’s passenger information.
“You and I are going to the zoo. We’re gonna look for any other clients going to Freya station.”, Tony said to Ylisaya.
“What does the client need on Freya?”, I asked.
“Nothing, besides Freya is approaching Venus . The client’s final destination is Venus, but not ours.”, Tony said.
“Why Freya station, instead of just going directly to Venus?”, Ylisaya asked.
“A few reasons. Because planet to planet travel is a known shipping lane and that’s where the space pirates will find us, when we’re far away from any protection. Because the cheapest ticket to Venus from Mars right now is working for half a mega-cycle on Odin station, because Odin is passing Mars in three decka-cycles. And because the dread-pirate is wanted by the Protectorate, so we just want to drop him off at any of the space stations on our way. Right now from Mars to either the planet Venus or Freya Station with a gunship is about one and a half decka-cycles, and they pass near eachother in two full decka-cycles from now. Our Captain is correct. We want to get to Freya station, for the most profit.”, I said to Ylisaya.
“Fine, we want to go to Freya station. So, why do they call it a zoo?” Ylisaya asked.
“A lot of those traders, imports, exports, and refugees had animals.”, Tony said.
“Umm. Tony, are you sure you want to bring a slave to a place where living creatures are bought, sold, and traded? Especially while the Protectorate evaluates your promotion to first-class-citizen?” I asked Tony.
“It’s fine…I’ll go, if it helps.”, Ylisaya said.
“I knew I was gonna make mistakes owning a slave. I never realized it was this tricky. I guess this is why my religion forbids slavery.”, Tony said.
“Doesn’t your religion also forbid murder? You should probably read that holy book if it’s so important to you.”, I said to Tony, and with those words I doomed humanity.