I find myself dreaming, or more accurately, reliving a slice of my past.

I pulled into a conspicuous alley amongst the buildings at the street sublevels below the much wealthier high-rises above, After turning into this dark alleyway, I pulled into a small garage barely big enough to fit the newly commandeered vehicle into before the door shut. Upon exiting the vehicle I was greeted with the sight of a brown-haired Japanese woman in a long coat, hands in her pockets. She looked Human, but one could not tell who was a human and a Chimera without looking at their paperwork or ID at times, since some, like her, looked exactly like a human. The Federation had built a database of all Chimera and kept records of their travels and occupations. The fear was that Chimera would be prone to violent actions against Federation citizens, military personnel, and even their government.

“I see you have finished your task, Miss Nakamura.” the woman stated, whom I knew as Miss Kimiko. My point of contact for this job. “I have. My payment?” I enquired, not forgetting why I came to this hole in the wall. Kimiko reached into her jacket “I have your payment here. By the way, Miss Nakamura? Your service is... Appreciated.” I raised an eyebrow as the other woman produced a gun, which she pointed in my face. I reacted to this gesture of betrayal with brutally efficient strikes; Starting by punching Kimiko in the face twice, then after stripping her former contact now enemy of their weapon and turning it on them; I voiced my disappointment in the tone of voice I started using. “Yeah.” I spat on the floor “So why betray me, Miss Kimiko? You could have just paid me, and I would have been on my way. But now I assume that is impossible?” Kimiko gave her a wry smirk “Afraid so. Where will you go once my body is cold on the floor?”

“Away.” I did not bother to waste more time and pulled the trigger, the bullet going through Kimiko’s forehead. A trickle of blood poured out of the small hole and down her face, with Kimiko’s eyes glazing over, and rolling upwards as she fell backward onto her back. After her body hit the floor, I started rummaging through Kimiko’s person for anything of value, including her Omni-com and mGlass; the first object, the Omni-com, is a thin, black forearm band. The mGlass is a glass-slab device with a holographic user interface projected over it. Humanity’s war had also created quantum leaps in technology as both sides vied for supremacy and an easy victory with it; Both of these devices were developed during the war to allow on-demand long-range communications and data management; even while light years apart thanks to quantum entanglement. Kara was intimately familiar with both.

I pocketed both devices before searching the building, After my investigation I stashed Kimiko’s dead body in a trash recycler before starting the recycler with the press of a button on a nearby console. Grisly, but it leaves no recoverable body for local authorities to find.

I got back in the vehicle parked in the garage, gathering my thoughts. Why would my employer betray me? Who were they? Kimiko offered the job, but now she is dead. I did not get paid. This meant I had to get off of Earth and out of Sol, first and foremost, before the authorities caught up with me, and I also had to find work elsewhere. I have no idea who I can trust, or who I can expect to betray me. With no money on hand, limited resources, and a list of people who want me dead in the system; My first step was to find a way to get off of Earth. To do this, I would have to call in a favor. After a moment of thought I invoked the holographic interface of my Omni-com over my right wrist and, swiping to contacts, initiated a call to an old friend.

Before dialing, I made sure I was alone. One had to ensure they were alone when discussing such sensitive matters with another person after all. Ensuring our Quantum chips were aligned, and that no one was listening, I spoke first. "Ramon?"

“It has been a long time, Chica.” A male voice on the other end of the line stated.

I knew that voice, Ramon. A small-time fixer I had helped out of a bind long ago who owed me a favor. “I need your help, Ramon.” I kept my words small and direct. It was the best way about business. “Name it”

“I need to get out of Sol.”

There was silence on the other end of the comm, and I could hear a soft thrum of Ramon’s thoughtful humming. After a few moments, Ramon answered “I can do that, but it will take calling in a few favors from back when. Where are you?”

“Over in the old Shinjuku ward, lower streets. Kabukicho area. In some abandoned garage. Lots of old trinkets in here.”

“I’ll have someone over in a flash. Get what you need and hunker down, Chica” I could imagine Ramon’s big grin; it was no less audible on the comm. The man has a way of conveying emotion in his voice.

“I get the feeling you’re enjoying this a bit too much, Ramon,” I smirked to myself wryly, Ramon did enjoy people owing him, so naturally, he’d enjoy one of the most successful mercs alive owing him. Ramon’s sarcastic reply came just a short moment later. “Oh si, Chica! Music to my ears, owing you!”

I simply nodded to myself “yeah. You have not changed one bit, Ramon. Be seeing you.” after that, I hung up before searching around the building for anything useful. Finding Kimiko’s portable computing station, a qGlass by the looks of it. I put it in a duffle bag I had found laying around; and changed out of my newly ruined clothing and into a zip-up black blazer, a set of thigh-high jacks, and matte black and red slim-fit pants.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

No sense holding onto them for sentiment, so after putting my ruined clothes into a box I went outside to the back alley. Discarding the box in a garbage receptacle. As I organized all of my gear and changed into some new clothes; I started thinking about my next move after getting off of Earth and out of the Sol system.

The first problem was getting paid since my contact decided that paying me was out of the question. Now I had to find a new client with which I could find a job.

My first thought was to visit the Altherian Commonwealth. The Altherians were a mercantile race, and would surely appreciate the assurances of a gun for hire they can pay for their protection. Especially if that meant they were facing a more… Unwilling clientele. They also hired mercenaries for their corporate armies as irregulars.

Another option was the Gravidans. A race of warriors, they have been in a state of endless conquests and bloodshed since their empires’ inception a few hundred years ago; but working with them limited her options as far as secondary clients. While it was a very assured bet on finding work, it also limited her ability to go elsewhere. Not to mention Gravidans have a distrust of Humans. After the Gravidan-Commonwealth war several hundred years ago, and the formation of the iridian-commonwealth-altherian alliance.

Speaking of ICAA, the Iridians were the least favored option up there with the Gravidans. Iridians are unreliable and reclusive. Preferring to work with their kind and only with other species if there are no other options. And doing business with an Iridian usually comes at a price.

I decided on the Althierians. They were easy to read, so long as they paid instead of betraying me as my previous clients have. There was one small problem, however. Althierian space was bordered by the edge of humanity’s colonial sphere. If I intended to reach the Altherians to request asylum, I had to cross through what was considered the Badlands of the colonial spheres. That means I ran the risk of discovery by the Federal Bureau of colonial affairs. Which has close ties with the Terran Federation’s Federal enforcement bureau and the secret service. So I had to formulate a plan to get across to Altherian space using any means necessary.

it is then I decide to look into the mirror in the restroom of the run-down apartment after washing my face. I was incredibly attractive by human standards and appeared ageless. With waist-length, straight black hair, Alabaster-color, flawless skin, thin feminine lips, and a defined nose with a soft, rounded jawline that cut into my chin softly, Striking electric-blue eyes peered back at me that also had specks of purple in them, no doubt a side-effect of the mutation process that made me a Chimera. After looking at myself in the mirror for a few moments, I found a towel on the counter next to the sink bowl and dried my face off. It had been a while since I last had the leisure to relax like this in a safe location.

Then, I remembered my successful assassination of a prominent figure. Though this thought never manifested further as my vision went white and faded into a familiar face, someone I swore to never forget even though I had lost most of my memory of previous events and why I went into cryostasis. A middle-aged man with stubble on his chin and thick, brown hair. He spoke as he looked into my eyes "Tell me, Kara, what did you gain by running?"

My lip quivered, was this the universe's way of punishing me? Showing me the dead I held close? "Freedom."

"you can't run forever, you know." He smiled back at me. "I know that you know that."

He held a set of holotags out to me in his hand.

SYSTEMS COMMONWEALTH DEFENSE FORCES

MILITARY SERVICE ID NO. 8495-377-44-8B

NAME: NAKAMURA, KARA

GENDER: F

BLOOD TYPE: O-

HEIGHT: 5'9"

WEIGHT: 150 KG

MOS: 13X

ADDITIONAL SERVICE CODES: 100X, 265B, 377A, 444T, 66W, 11B, 92X, 1G

I felt my heart palpitate in my chest, pounding against my ribs as I felt a bead of liquid roll down my cheek. I wondered if that was a tear or sweat while I looked back up at the man. "Jack, I-"

He put a single finger to my lips "Shhh. Dont." After a pause, Jack continued. "Those are tears, by the way. I know you won't turn yourself in, but promise me you will survive whatever the universe throws at you, okay? Just as you promised me then."

My head nodded silently and Jack faded away with a smile on his lips as I felt myself rouse from sleep.

***

I opened my eyes, head tilted towards the clock on my nightstand next to the queen-sized bed in my quarters on Void Star. The clock blinked back at me with '03:30' on the face. I moan, stretching my limbs out.

As I stretched, a playful voice cajoles. "Sleep well?"

With a pause, I sat bolt upright in my bed, and my head turned to the voice. "Vlondril. Why are you in my quarters?"

"Checking up on you, since you went to your cabin quite early and never returned." Vlondril smiled. "I was worried about the captain." She sits back in the chair in the corner with a thoughtful hum "You talked in your sleep by the way."

I blushed profusely in embarrassment. Curiosity piqued within me and I had one interrogative "What exactly was I saying?"

Vlondril shrugged. “I could not quite hear you, but you were mumbling a name repeatedly, ‘Jack’.” she smirked coyly. “Past lover? Brother?”

I scowled in annoyance. “I will not talk about it.”

Vlondril frowned at being stonewalled but said nothing further about the topic. After a few moments of silence, she added "If you wish to talk at some point, I'll be around, Kara." She stood and paused at my liquor cabinet a moment. "And... For the record, you always had good taste in wine." She smiled at my blush deepening at her compliment. "Just take the compliment, Kara. you'll feel better." She cackled on her way out.