> After Nova, Mira was broken. I tried so hard to be there for her, to help her heal, but she needed something I couldn’t give her. In the end, that’s why she needed to go off on her own. Me sticking around was only going to make things worse.

Patrick Ward

"Oh, grow up. It’s just a flesh wound,” I said to the ridiculous man writhing on the ground. My shot had barely even clipped him, and though its passage had taken quite a bit of flesh with it, it wasn’t anything to get worked up about. Of course, I had a bit of a skewed perspective when it came to injury. I blamed my propensity for getting into dangerous situations where my body was put through a blender, but it probably had just as much to do with my mindset and the effects of my skills.

“You shot me!” he hissed. “You fucking shot me!”

“And I’ll shoot you again if you don’t shut up,” I reminded him.

That definitely closed his mouth, but as the other man approached, I could still hear Captain Tightpants’ whimpers. They were almost soothing, after a fashion.

Finally, the newcomer arrived. He said, “I suppose you’re the muscle of the operation, huh? Interesting.”

“Something like that. What do you want?” I asked, tiring of the charade. I nodded at the man on the ground and asked, “Want me to take care of him?”

“As annoying as he is, no. I don’t –”

“Wait – no. Wrong idea. I didn’t mean take care of him. I meant take care of him, you know?” I said. When he clearly didn’t understand the difference, I shook my head and elaborated, “I wasn’t asking if you wanted me to kill him. I’m not that big of an asshole. I meant to ask if you wanted me to treat the wound. I have a skill.”

“Medic and muscle, huh?”

“Something like that,” I said. My Triage ability wasn’t all that impactful, but it did enhance my ability to treat injuries by no small amount. I also had a couple of flashier abilities, but I didn’t want to reveal the extent of my power. These people were strangers, after all, and giving away too much information was a good way to get killed. Still, I had no intention of letting a man bleed to death just because he was annoying.

“Sure. We have a medic back at our camp, but…”

“But they’re all the way back there. I get it,” I said, stepping forward. I trusted Patrick to have my back, so I wasted no time in kneeling beside my victim. Or patient. He was both, I suppose. In any case, I retrieved a foam bandage, a bottle of water, and a med-hypo from my arsenal implant and went to work. In only a few moments, I’d done enough that I felt sure he would make a full recovery, which was probably more than he deserved. After, I stood as I knocked imaginary dust from my hands, saying, “All fixed up. Maybe next time keep your mouth shut.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, the man just glared at me. I took it in stride. If I got all worked up over every man – or woman, come to that – who looked at me threateningly, I would’ve long since gone crazy. It was easier to just ignore people like him.

Or shoot them. Maybe blow them up. There were lots of ways to deal with those sorts, I guess.

“So,” I said, looking at the brother. I noticed that his eyes never drifted below my chin, which struck me as stupid. I wasn’t certain if he meant it as an ill-considered attempt at chivalry – after all, I was still half-naked – or if he intended it to show he didn’t fear me enough to keep track of my weapons. Either way, it wasn’t the smartest course of action. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“No witty name for me?” he asked, smirking slightly.

“No. You’re too normal,” I said.

“My name is Isaac. My brother is Huascar,” the man said. “And your name?”

“You don’t know?” I asked. “You did come to us, you know. Figured you’d at least know who you were coming to see.”

“We know the other one,” Isaac stated. “Patrick Ward. The pilot. You…are...a mystery.”

“That’s me. Miss Mysterious. Or maybe Miss Sterious,” I said. “No – that sounds like a bad clothing line. Either way, my name’s Mira.”

“Mira,” Isaac said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, yeah – fucking great to meet you!” growled Huascar, who was still sitting on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. “Just amazing.”

“Quit whining,” I said, my tone dismissive. “You’ll be fine.”

“You fucking shot me!”

“Call it an aggressive hello,” I advised. Then, I said to Isaac, “So, as much as I’ve enjoyed this – God knows I love shooting arrogant assholes as much as the next girl – I’m going to have to ask you once again why you came here.”

“It’s simple. You have that,” he said, nodding to the Leviathan.

“You need a ship. I gathered that much. What for?” I asked.

“A job.”

“What kind of job?”

“A confidential one,” he answered with another slight smile. “And it will remain so until we come to an agreement.”

“And if we can’t find common ground?”

“Then I’ll collect my brother, and we’ll be on our way,” he said. “No muss, no fuss. Just a missed connection. But I promise you, you’re not going to want to miss this opportunity.”

“Yeah? Why is that?” I asked.

“Because we have access to what you need,” he said. I expected him to keep going with an explanation, but he didn’t.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Seriously? Am I going to have to drag it out of you? Just tell me what you want, what you’re offering, and give me a risk assessment. Otherwise, we’re done here.”

“Fine. Risk is moderate.”

“Be more specific,” I said. I’d taken plenty of jobs before, so I knew precisely which questions to ask in order to determine whether or not I wanted to hear more.

“Aliens. They’re actually called Dengyts. They have peak weaponry, good armor, and almost impenetrable defenses,” he said. “Most of the time. But we have a way to mitigate the risk, so we’ll just have to kill twenty or so to get what we want.”

Aliens. It had been more than seven years since my Awakening, and I knew there were only a couple more to go before the Integration began. When it did, the system-enforced quarantine would lift, and the aliens would descend upon us like locusts. Many were already on Earth, having used various smuggling skills, abilities, and classes to circumvent the system’s quarantine. And ever since I’d been on my own, I’d made it a point to kill as many of them as I could. So, he was definitely speaking my language.

However, my hatred of the invaders did not overwhelm my good sense, and I knew there were alien enclaves and strongholds I could not assault. More than once, I’d been forced to retreat from such enemies.

Still, he had my attention.

“I’m not familiar with Dengyts,” I said. “What do they look like?”

“Short. Maybe three feet tall, but with normal proportions. Otherwise, they look almost human, except for having pointed ears and slightly exaggerated features.”

“They’re gnomes!” exclaimed Patrick, who’d been listening in via our secure connection. I winced at the volume of his excited voice. One thing I’d learned since we’d gotten back together was that Patrick had a thing for fantasy stories, and anytime we ran into alien races, he would try to categorize them according to Earth’s mythology. I would’ve objected, but calling something an orc was far easier than trying to remember its proper name. Which was Eahimajeaakavith, by the way. The word ‘orc’ was much easier to swallow.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“They’re extremely advanced from a technological standpoint, but they lack physical abilities. As far as I know, it’s a racial point of pride that they don’t go down that road of development,” Isaac explained, completely unaware of Patrick’s outburst.

“And I’m assuming they have something you need,” I said.

At the same time, Isaac said, “Information. I won’t say more than that until we’ve agreed to terms.”

Information. I wasn’t certain what form something like that might take. Perhaps the gnomes – damn Patrick for putting that in my head – had a data chip that contained said information. Or maybe the would-be thieves intended to kidnap someone knowledgeable. I had no idea, but the basic idea seemed plain enough.

“And what are you offering?” I asked.

“The gnomes have a store of high-capacity Mist circuits intended for mechanized armor suits,” he stated.

Obviously, he thought that meant something to me, but it might as well have been gibberish for all I understood why I should care about such a thing. Sure, it was interesting, but I wasn’t exactly a mechanic or an engineer. And –

“Tell him we’ll do it!” screamed Patrick, eliciting a wince on my part.

“What’s wrong?” asked Isaac.

I held up a finger, adjusting my perspective so I could project a question toward Patrick without having to give it voice. I asked, “What? Just like that? Why?”

“This…it’s something I was working on for the year we were…you know…split up,” he said. “I’ll explain everything once these guys are gone, but…I need those circuits. Like, it’ll change everything.”

I frowned. I hated being reminded of the time we’d spent apart. It had lasted a little over a year, and in that time, I’d engaged in quite a lot of self-destructive behavior. More than that, I’d had to go through it alone. Sure, there were other men. Even a woman or two, just because I saw no reason not to explore. But none of them were Patrick.

I’d always assumed he’d gone down a similar path, but we shared an unspoken agreement that we didn’t talk about any of it. It was in the past – just like Nova – and it didn’t need to affect our current relationship.

But it seemed that wouldn’t always be true.

Shifting back to verbal communication, I said, “And do we get a cut of whatever it is you want to steal?”

“It’s not monetary. As I said, we’re after information. But whatever else is there, you and…Mr. Ward will get your share,” he said. “And before you ask, just know that the Dengyts are extremely wealthy.”

I shook my head. “Maybe it seems like that to you, but none of the aliens on the surface are well off,” I stated. My every experience with the invaders told me that the smugglers who’d taken the chance of subverting the quarantine were usually desperate, ill-equipped, and weak. Sure, they seemed advanced and powerful to most people on Earth – the ones who even knew they were around, at least – but that was because we were a newly Initiated planet, and people hadn’t had the chance to grow into their power. “But I can tell you from firsthand experience that’s not the case.”

I’d spent quite a bit of my time since the fall of Nova robbing aliens. At first, I’d tried running the Rifts myself, but it didn’t take me long to realize just how dangerous that kind of thing was. A few near-death experiences, and I decided it was much easier just to rob the alien mining operations than to risk my life in the Rifts.

Of course, that had the side effect of slowing down my leveling speed, but slow and steady was better than quick and dead.

“I think you underestimate them,” he said. “They are not the aliens you’ve seen before. They sent an entire battalion down here. A research division as well. And they have almost zero interaction with humans.”

“Why go through so much trouble for a few Rift shards?” I asked. The little crystals were extremely valuable, but I’d found that mining them was far more complicated than my first two Rifts would suggest. Certainly, I’d nearly died both times, but looking back, those two experiences were nothing like what I’d seen since. As such, mining Rifts was a risky – often deadly, in fact – venture that was often proved more trouble than it was worth.

For me and the aliens.

“They’re not here for Rift shards.”

“That…they’re all here for Rift shards,” I said. Indeed, I’d come to believe that the Earth held no other resources the aliens might find valuable.

“Not true. Rift shards are a valuable commodity, and there’s always a market for them,” he said. “But for a well-prepared and well-equipped venture, there are some resources that, to the right people, are even more valuable. The Dengyts are one such group. As I said, they sent an entire batallion down here, all to protect their operation.”

“What resources are they here for?” I asked, getting annoyed at having to drag every little piece of information out the man.

“We’re not sure what it’s called, but it’s a mineral of some sort. Perhaps a metal that’s useful in their technology. I don’t know more than that.”

“Unobtanium,” provided Patrick.

“What?” I asked silently.

“That’s what Remy used to call it,” Patrick answered. “It’s a made-up name. Like, it’s meant to refer to valuable, hard-to-get resources.”

“That’s a stupid name,” I said.

“It’s better than ‘the mineral to be named later’,” he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes, which Isaac clearly thought was a bit odd. One of the perils of carrying on two conversations at once, I suppose. If my Mind attribute had been any lower, I might not have managed it.

“Did I say something amusing?”

“Not you,” I said, choosing not to elaborate further. “So, let me get this straight. You want Patrick and our ship. In exchange we get these circuits and whatever we can steal from these gnomes.”

“Gnomes?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. Almost instantly, his face softened, and he gave a soft chuckle. “Ah. I see. An apt label.”

“Right. So, did I miss anything?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Not really,” he said. “But I should point out that, while we didn’t come here specifically for you, we will not refuse your help.”

I wasn’t certain how I felt about being a tagalong. Usually, I was the driving force behind whatever Patrick and I chose to do. He wasn’t passive – not exactly – but he was a reasonably easygoing guy. And he only objected to our chosen course if I’d made some grave miscalculation in my decision-making process. Which happened more often than I liked, but in my defense, he was a lot more conservative than I was.

“Alright, then – you’re going to need to give me a few minutes,” I said. “If you or your people do anything, you’ll see the business end of the Leviathan’s cannons. And let me tell you – when Patrick shoots, he doesn’t take it easy like I do.”

“Understood. We shall await your answer,” he said. Then, he dragged his brother to his feet before helping him back to their convoy. I didn’t move until they were firmly ensconced in one of the trucks. Then, I retreated to one of the Leviathan’s hatches, which opened as soon as I got close. After that, it only took me a few seconds to reach the cockpit, where I found a grinning Patrick.

“I like this look,” he said, leaning back in the pilot’s chair and gesturing to my ensemble. “Very sexy.”

“I didn’t have time to get dressed before they reached us.”

“That’s not even close to true,” he said. “But whatever you need to tell yourself. You won’t hear me complaining, either way.”

I rolled my eyes and sat in the navigator’s chair. The cockpit was big enough to accommodate three more people, but we’d never really invited anyone else onto the Leviathan. Patrick and I were more than capable of flying the ship by ourselves.

“So? What do you think?”

“We’re obviously doing it,” he said. “Money and killing aliens – what’s not to like?”

“The part where the aliens have unknown power?”

“We’ll scout it out.”

“You mean I’ll scout it,” I corrected him.

“Yeah. That. C’mon. You’re not going to let that trip us up, right?” Patrick asked, an eager expression on his face.

“What’s with the circuits? What are they? Why do you want them?”

He sighed, then ran his hand through his hair. “Okay, so when we were…on a break,” he said. “You know I stayed with Cy for a while, right?”

“I’m aware,” I said, knowing that Cy was short for Cirilla Montague, his onetime [Cybernetic Engineer] instructor. Or boss. Maybe friend. I didn’t really know the nature of their relationship, and I was well past the point where I wanted to find out.

“Right. Sure,” he said, sensing my suddenly icy demeanor. Just because I didn’t want to investigate what those two had been up to didn’t mean I was happy about it. I didn’t know when they’d progressed past a mentor-mentee relationship, but it was hard to believe that it hadn’t started in Nova City. “Anyway – so, while I was staying with her, we started working on a project together. It was her idea, actually. When she found out that I had a Pilot ability under my belt, she –”

“Just spit it out, Pick,” I said.

“Mech suits,” he answered. “We were going to build mech-suits, okay? But we ran into an issue. Because it would function as an external cybernetic – kind of like your Cutter – it would necessitate very different inner workings. But no matter what we tried, nothing really worked, and eventually, we just gave up. It wasn’t until about six months ago when you and I were visiting that town in the mountains that I found out that there was a way around that kind of thing.”

“And I’m guessing the Mist circuits are the answer.”

“Good guess,” he said. “They’re only made on one specific planet in the whole galaxy, and they’re protected by anti-tampering mechanisms that –”

“So, you need these circuits to make your…mech-suits work, right?”

“That’s right,” he said. “It’s…I mean, this would be a game changer for us, Mira. I could finally keep up with you, which would mean we could hit Rifts more reliably, and…I don’t know. It’s also…I mean, it’s incredibly cool, right? A suit of armor that functions like a cybernetic but can hit like a tank? Come on. Tell me you wouldn’t want that kind of weapon on your side.”

It was a good argument, and one that brushed up against the one touchy subject between us. Patrick never really mentioned the disparity in power between us, but I knew it was on his mind. How could it not be, after the last time we’d tried running a Rift together? As it turned out, the first experience, where the Rift had manifested as a derelict space station infested with mind spiders, was an aberration. The only other time I’d dragged him inside of a Rift, we’d both nearly died. I’d come close to losing a leg, and he was in a coma for weeks. To say it was an eye opener was an absolute understatement.

So, it was no wonder that he’d sought out a way to augment his own lacking power.

“If we do this, you know they’re going to try to betray us, right?” I said.

He shrugged. “It’s not a trap if we see it coming,” was Patrick’s reply.

“And if we don’t?”

“You always see the traps, Mira,” he said with perfect confidence. Did he really have so much faith in me?

“Okay. I guess we’re doing this, then.”

He couldn’t hide the wide grin spreading across his face in response to my declaration.