After an hour of paperwork, bureaucracy and a DNA test, Eyre was officially the trustee of Allison’s trust fund. Allison couldn’t comprehend the number she saw as she authorized all of it. She wouldn’t even lose a zero from the end if she paid for Oozie’s enzyme and special food. Eyre got pulled into a couple of things and ended up sending someone to pick up her skycar and drive Allison home. Allison had to use the hand scanner to get inside because of her ident chit malfunction.
Allison looked around the apartment and tried to figure out what to do with herself. Her eyes drifted to the hanger then she shook her head. She’d been doing way too much military training lately. She needed a break and so far, the visit to Earth had been great. She was already feeling her stress evaporate. She’d solved Oozie’s problem. She would be incredibly rich one day and Bit was back. She shrugged and finally turned on the main wall screen. It was easier to watch in two dimensions than three. Apparently, she had full access to Alliance-Net she put on a live broadcast of a soccer game. Plopped on the couch and put her head on a pillow.
One benefit of being on Earth was live feed of sports. They only got pre-recorded ones on Eden Prime. Even with wormhole links there was still too much delay. This week happened to be the Intergalactic Soccer Cup. Today was NAFTA vs New Toronto. New Toronto was only about thirteen light years away from Eden Prime. So, Allison was obviously cheering for them. She watched another match after that.
The latest match was almost done when she heard a buzzer. She blinked a few times and tracked down the source. It was a video screen attached to a wall by the main elevator. On the display was a man who was likely in his thirties, he had dusky skin, long black hair, a thick black beard and a lot of cybernetics. He was also armed with a couple of pistols. Honestly, he looked like a mercenary. A dangerous one at that. Oddly he seemed nervous. He buzzed again. He ran his hand through his hair. He was talking. She pressed the button to listen.
“Hazel, are you there? I caught an order here. Hazel, please tell me if you’re back.”
Allison had heard the name before. She pressed the speak button.
“I’m sorry, sir, Hazel is gone. My parents gave me this apartment. You should probably leave before security notices you.”
He paced back and forth.
“You sound a lot like her. Hazel? What gives? You vanish for twenty years, your mother gives me a cryptic message from you. Now you ghost me?”
Allison bit her lower lip, she flipped the control to show her image to him.
“Look, sir, she’s not here. I promise you, it’s just me and my Aunt Eyre here. You know the really old and powerful vampire?”
He looked shattered. Allison’s heart broke. This guy really loved Hazel.
“Sorry, sir, I’m not sure who Hazel was, but I can tell you loved her a lot. I’ll tell everyone you stopped by. What’s your name?”
He looked like he was about to leave then he turned around and pressed the button.
“My name is Miles, and if you want to know about your Aunt Hazel, you can usually find me at The Harbor.”
He turned and left. His shoulders were slumped. Allison closed the call and wandered back to her new couch. She lay there until the match finished. She let it go to the news next. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. She heard her name on the TV, and that got her attention she looked at the screen, the image was a picture of her standing beside her fighter in her old armor with her helmet under her arm.
“We have a breaking news story that a hostile alien fleet was engaged and successfully defeated in the Andromeda Galaxy by the System’s Alliance Space Navy. The image displayed is Ensign Allison Wanjala, System’s Alliance Space Navy, sources say she was the pilot that single-handedly ended this threat to our colonies in the Andromeda Galaxy in the Allen Sector. We will be giving more in depth coverage as details become available.”
Allison hit her head against her pillow. So, her attack on the Sal’nash was no longer classified. Soon everyone would know she was responsible for a genocide. Her holo-phone started buzzing. She looked at the call display. It was a news network, already. She flicked it away and let it go to voice mail. More calls started flooding in. She flipped on auto-decline unless they were on her contacts list. The Alliance-Net comm unit in the apartment started going crazy. The apartment must have popped up under her name. She folded the pillow up to cover her ears and yelled.
“Computer mute comm unit!”
She pulled her pillow down and it was still going off. She shouted.
“Computer, mute the damn comm unit!”
Nothing responded. She walked over to a wall panel and opened up the holographic controls and muted it herself. She sighed. The apartment did not have its own VI. What kind of high-priced apartment didn’t have one of those? Every house on Eden Prime had one. She saw hover units start to appear. She powered on the holo-shades that blocked the view from the outside. She wasn’t going to get a moment’s peace. She briefly considered flying home but then realized she’d need to file an FTL flight plan.
Allison thought about that rough looking, broken hearted mercenary and then figured that if Hazel had lived here before, there was a good chance he was a contact in the comm system. She rushed over to the comm’s list and there it was, Miles. Last contact, a month ago. He’d left a bunch of messages under Hazel’s name.
“Yesh, if I ever have it that bad for someone, I hope someone shoots me and puts me out of my misery.”
She called him from the apartment’s comm link. He picked up immediately. She could hear road noise.
“Oh, its you, not Hazel, what do you want kid?”
Allison tried to act casual.
“So… you’re like a mercenary then?”
“Yeah, kid, that’s what I am, what do you want?”
Allison bit her lower lip before answering.
“Look, I don’t have any money but I could use some help getting out of my apartment. There are a bunch of people looking for me and I’d really like to be anywhere but here.”
He sighed.
“I’m not a charity, kid. You got a job, you tell a fixer, you pay them the money, I do the job, they pay me. That’s how it works so no one gets burned.”
Allison tried to remember back to the last Merc-based show she’d watched. Neon Streets it was called. Then she remembered a lot of crews would do favors in it.
“Hey, I don’t have money, but I do have a very particular set of skills.”
He laughed.
“Kid, you’re what sixteen at the most, what can you do that more experienced people can’t?”
Allison shrugged.
“I’m a pilot who can plot FTL jumps and has military clearance, oh and access to a fully armed personal Athena class starfighter.”
That seemed to get his attention. He pulled over to the side of the road.
“Wait, you have Hazel’s fighter?”
Allison shook her head.
“No, mine’s brand new, I kind of blew my last one up. Anyway, I figure a mercenary might need a pilot, maybe some air cover sometime, you know with active stealth and cloak systems?”
He closed his eyes for a few seconds.
“Okay, there is a back staircase, take it down four flights, get on the cargo elevator take it to the sub-basement. I’ll meet you there. Make sure you cover up. If you got the same armor she had, put it on.”
He started turning around and ended the call. Allison followed his instructions. Adding her combat vibro knife and Qual’sa pistol to the mix. She set it to stun before holstering it. She pulled on a very bulky hoodie and pulled the hood up before following Miles’s instructions precisely. She realized she was doing something really crazy right now, but it was also extremely fun, especially after being under house arrest for six weeks.
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Miles was leaning against the cement wall with his arms crossed. Allison felt her heart skip a beat. She had a new crush. The man was built. And his beard! He motioned for her to follow after looking at her hip.
“Funky gun. You shouldn’t need it.”
Allison shrugged and tried to sound overly cool.
“You know, I shouldn’t have needed grenades and an antimatter torpedo on a routine trip to Earth, but you better bet I was upset I didn’t have them.”
He shook his head.
“You’re a weird kid. So was Hazel, I don’t know why I’m surprised. Her family was fucked up. Your family I guess.”
Allison blushed.
“I just… my parents were friends of the family, that’s all.”
He motioned at her hair.
“Well, your hair parts just like hers and her mother’s, and her sister’s; Could have fooled me.”
He led her out of a service entrance. There was a black motorcycle waiting for them. Now she really was crushing hard. Bad boy mercenary, who rides a motorcycle. Tyler had nothing on this guy. He pulled on a helmet. She got on.
“Come on kid, get your helmet out.”
Allison blinked as the helmet formed over her head. He shook his head and leaned forward.
“Hang on.”
Allison wrapped her arms around his waist, and he pulled away from the curb. He sped past several news vehicles that were all apparently trying to catch a glimpse of her. He shook his head. He opened a comm link so they could talk directly without the road noise getting in the way.
“What a gong show, are they who you are trying to avoid?”
Allison sighed.
“Yep. Would have been nice if someone warned me it was coming, I could have flown home first.”
“Where are you from kid? You seem pretty wealthy; I’m guessing NAFTA dome.”
Allison shook her head.
“No, the only money I have currently is money from my part time job. I’m actually from a colony world.”
He laughed.
“God, this must seem like an absolute zoo to you then. Where are we headed?”
Allison shrugged but maintained her grip on him.
“How about the Harbor? Not that I saw a lake or any boats or anything.”
He laughed.
“It’s a merc bar by the dome’s reservoir, guy named Harbor used to own it, name stuck. So, going to tell me why the news is all over your place? Did you murder someone? Run away from home? Have an affair with a famous married man or woman? Are you an anti-corp terrorist?”
Allison tightened her grip.
“None of the above. Though I’m sure some of the corps think so now? You don’t watch the news, do you?”
He shook his head.
“No, I do not. Always bad news or Corp propaganda. Or too outdated to be useful in my line of work. So quit playin’ kid, what has the vultures looking for a piece of you?”
“I’m not sure what I can say, I blew up a really really big bomb. Like the biggest ever recorded. Probably had an electronic disruption about a month ago?”
He looked back at her as they stopped at alight.
“No shit, that was you?”
Allison shrugged.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting the pulse to travel through hyperspace. It’s not like anyone warned me it could happen, y’know? Anyway, that’s about all I can say. Watch the news if you want more because no one has given me any talking points.”
“Wait, you talk like you’re in the military, how the hell is that possible?”
“Well, on the colonies, especially on ones in a different galaxy they have an expanded list of who can join the defense forces. Including kids my age, though, to be honest, usually its seventeen-year-olds.”
He pulled into a spot set aside for motorcycles. Allison hopped off and so did he. He pulled his helmet off and hooked it on the bike. He just left it like that. A few mercs who were hanging out in the parking lot smoking vapes nodded to him. He nodded back. He ran into a woman who was also cybered up. She offered her hand and he grabbed it. They pulled each other in for a hug.
“Fuck, Hawk, you finally give up on that wolf girl?”
Miles shook his head.
“Nah, Tee, this is a client. She needed some place to lay low. Give me a heads up if you see any reporters skulking around, will yea?”
Tee gave him the finger.
“I haven’t been your look out in a fucking long-time dickhead.”
He motioned to Allison.
“Come on Tee, she’s just a kid. They’re all over her like Kitch on a fucking bottle of Screech.”
Tee pointed her chin at Allison.
“Yeah, just a kid with a fucking zapper. Aww fine, I’ll spread the word. No reporters tonight. But you owe me a fucking drink, off the top shelf you cheapskate.”
Miles pushed Allison inside.
“Don’t mind Tee, she’s actually got a heart of gold under all that chrome.”
The pair went inside. There was a throbbing beat playing. People were dancing on the dance floor. Numerous private soundproof booths were scattered around. Then just some normal booths. The bar was covered in graffiti. It was like every merc bar she’d seen in every holo-novel, holo-show and holo-movie about the merc life. All combined into one. Along the walls were photos and holos of mercs past and present. He motioned to the bar.
“Have a seat kid.”
Allison shrugged and sat down. The woman behind the bar was completely cybernetics free as far as Allison could tell. She could tell quite a lot with her contacts and her holo-phone. She was in her thirties. She had sleeve tattoos and wore a pendent of the Dark Mother. She had her hair dyed dark blue. The bartender motioned at Allison’s Dark Mother pendant.
“What can I get you sister?”
Allison looked at her hand and realized she had a non-functional ident chit.
“Uh, sorry, I don’t have any credits…”
The woman glanced at Miles who gave her a wave before heading into a private booth. The woman pointed at a news broadcast playing on a screen behind her, they were showing Allison’s picture again.
“Is what they’re saying on the news true? You fought off some aliens?”
Allison sighed and nodded. The bartender slapped the bar.
“Yeah, no I get it. Here’s one on me.”
The bartender put down a non-alcoholic soda. Then she whistled loudly. The music stopped. Heads popped out of the private booths.
“Hey, no reporters in here tonight, alright? Private members club tonight. And buy this kid a drink, she saved the goddamned Andromeda galaxy.”
The bartender pointed at the news which was showing more details of Allison’s heroics. Allison sunk into her stool and stirred her drink, she looked up at the bartender.
“What’s the legal drinking age here?”
The woman chuckled.
“Whatever we want it to be. You want something stronger?”
Allison shrugged.
“I don’t know I’ve never had anything stronger.”
The woman laughed. An older man down the bar who was wearing a surplus System’s Alliance Space Marine combat jacket motioned to the top shelf.
“Give her a shot of tequila. On me. The good stuff.”
He touched Allison’s forearm.
“Thank you for your service.”
He gave her a nod then went back to his friend. Allison looked at the shot of tequila, then rolled the shot glass between her fingers and she chugged it. She coughed as it burned. The bartender laughed.
“Yep, that’s how you know it’s the good stuff.”
Miles was in the soundproof booth for a couple of hours. Allison’s glass was never empty. She had downed at least fifteen shots with various people and she was feeling a bit lightheaded. Mostly she was just feeling really hungry. Like she always felt after she healed. Miles saw the empty shot glasses and looked at the bartender.
“Ah, Widow, what do I owe you?”
The bartender laughed.
“Nothing, Miles, kid’s a hero, people have been falling over themselves to do a shot with her. You might need to carry her out of here.”
Allison held up her hand.
“I’m fine. Just really, really hungry. You carry Synth-O by chance?”
Widow gave Allison a look but then pulled out a bottle of Vodka infused Synth-O.
“Don’t carry much of that. Vampires don’t tend to come around here much. You’re not one of those types are you?”
Allison shook her head and chugged the Synth-O.
“No, only half vampire. A vampire… was my surrogate mother or something? Really I’m still trying to sort it out. Why am I so hungry? I know I didn’t eat lunch but this is ridiculous.”
Miles offered his hand.
“Come on kid, I know a place nearby, best noodles in the dome.”
He looked at Widow.
“Thanks, you’re amazing as always.”
Widow shook her head.
“I know, so when you going to give up on Raptor’s Sorrow and give this wolf a chance?”
Miles shrugged.
“Maybe one day. Hey, you might want to introduce the kid to your tribe. She’s Hazel’s niece.”
Allison was about to protest when the mercs in her vicinity went quiet. She looked around and saw Numari who looked about as pleased to be here looking for Allison as one might expect. Most of the mercs stepped aside. A few tipped their hats to her. Numari finally stopped when she was standing beside Miles and Allison. She crossed her arms and glanced down at the row of shots.
“Hawk, what the hell are you doing here with her?”
Allison held up her hands she wasn’t drunk, but she had overwhelmed whatever resistance her body had to alcohol so her words were slightly slurred.
“Hey, Numari, its fine. I asked him to get me out of the apartment, there were all these reporters and they wouldn’t stop. He showed up looking for Hazel and I figured he could get me someplace with less reporters. And he did, here. Then people saw the news and kept buying me drinks. So many drinks. I think I like rum, I’m not sure about tequila.”
Numari rolled her eyes then looked at Miles.
“Hawk, if you know what is good for you, you’ll go get her some food, and some Synth-O, don’t worry, my client will pay for it. Just hurry.”
Miles just nodded and ran off. Numari sat at the bar and held up three fingers.
“Let’s try that Fieldman’s Rum, three shots.”
Widow took the bottle from the top shelf and poured out three shots. Numari slid one to Allison, and the last she pushed to Widow.
“Come on, I know you can’t get drunk but let’s drink to the hero of the hour. That’s the tradition right?”
They lifted their glasses and clinked them together. They all drank them down. Numari patted the glass.
“Two more.”
Widow looked at Allison.
“Are you sure she should?”
Numari nodded.
“Once she eats, she’ll be sober as a High Priestess at Sunday Mass.”
Allison drank the next shot. Then touched Numari’s arm.
“Wait, I thought you hated me.”
Numari nodded.
“That’s when I thought you were some spoiled brat my mom had a soft spot for because she squirted you out. Now I know you’re a righteous bad ass. In case it wasn’t clear, no matter where you are from these are your people.”
Numari had spoken loud enough that a portion of the bar heard her. They all lifted up their glasses and drank. Numari pointed at a photo on the wall. It was a girl with long white hair, blue eyes. She was about six inches taller than Allison she was built like a truck though. Muscles for days.
“That’s Hazel. You know why she’s up there?”
Allison shook her head.
“She ripped two crusader tech battle-bots apart with her bare hands, or well claws, and then stole an antimatter bomb that was meant for New Amazon. She’s a legend. That’s what it takes to get on the wall here. Isn’t that right Widow?”
Widow nodded. Numari pointed at the news.
“Widow, you think saving an entire galaxy from a bug invasion is legendary?”
Widow nodded again.
“Got a spot all picked out for her. Right there beside Hazel and her mother.”
Numari took a drink of the beer that was put down in front of her.
“Why there?”
Widow shrugged.
“She’s Hazel’s niece, isn’t she?”
Numari shook her head.
“I don’t think so. Everyone’s being all cryptic about whose kid she actually is, I think they have no idea. Whatever. I mean, they say the Dark Mother saved the universe. She saved a galaxy, they probably belong together.”
Widow nodded. Miles showed up with a bunch of food and put it in front of Allison who tore into it like she was starving. Miles scratched his beard while he watched the feast.
“She sure eats like Hazel.”