Kaleb circled the block for the third time. He was beginning to think Rokka had lied to him. But, Farrah assured him that a Ciliaton would not have lied in that situation. Kaleb stared at the cemetery as he turned right again. No matter how many times he circled around it he couldn’t see where he was supposed to knock.
“Maybe park the car and walk through?” Farrah suggested as Kaleb turned again.
Kaleb nodded his head wordlessly and parked his car across the street. He was happy his car was holding up, but it was drawing the occasional stare. He crossed to the cemetery then followed the fence around toward the entrance. There was a road cutting through the middle of the cemetery but it was illegal to park on it. So Kaleb just walked down the road.
The grey headstones stuck up from the ground in neat little rows. The trees looked well cared for and nicely trimmed. Overall, Kaleb felt it was a large, nice looking cemetery. But, not somewhere where he could learn to fight. As he approached the middle of the cemetery, he spotted the caretaker’s small shack. The small two-room building sat surrounded by trees with yard working equipment leaned against it.
But, as Kaleb got closer he noticed a small green word to the left of the door. He realized it was the word ‘safe’ in a small green print. Various graffiti and other unintelligible scribbles surrounded the door and sandwiched the word. But, to Kaleb the word was plain as day. Kaleb hoped that the clan-less didn’t think this constituted a secret entrance. While Kaleb questioned the intelligence of the clan-less Farrah asked a question.
“What are you staring at?”
Kaleb was about to point out the obviousness of the word when he figured it out. “Farrah does the game translate your species’ language for a player?”
Farrah seemed to get it too. “Ohhhh, yes it does. Can you read some of those scribbles?”
Kaleb nodded as he approached the door. “Yeah it says safe. I imagine the rest of these scribbles say something.”
He knocked on the door twice and waited. He was standing outside the door for a full minute and was about to knock again when the door opened. For the second time today a door opened itself for Kaleb. Feeling apprehensive Kaleb stepped into the dark interior hearing the door shut itself behind him leaving him in pitch blackness.
“Of course.” Kaleb said sighing loudly as he groped around for a light switch. As his fingers fumbled around the wall, the floor suddenly gave way under his feet.
“EEEK!”
Kaleb let a sound of surprise and terror as he felt himself slide down. Quickly gaining his senses, and readying himself for Farrah’s teasing, Kaleb closed his eyes and let the slide take him. He had no sense of anything as he continued down for several minutes. He caught sight of the circular exit long before he hit it. It was the only sign of light in the dark slide.
He exited through the circular hole and onto the hard dirt floor of a massive well-lit cave. He caught and steadied himself without falling. As he took stock of his surroundings, he couldn’t help let out a gasp of surprise. There was an entire community under Austin. The city sprawled as far as he could see and the streets were packed with people. The first thing Kaleb realized was that most of the people down here were Aliens, there was the odd human here and there though.
Kaleb gaped at the town. The buildings weren’t exactly pleasing to look at, being made of sheet metal and cloth, but it was bustling. Kaleb looked around and noticed that his slide let him out onto the main road.
A rough voice came from the ground near Kaleb. “It is something, isn’t it?”
“Yeah” Kaleb responded without thinking.
“First time down here?” The voice asked curiously.
Kaleb looked down to see who he was talking to and saw a short mottled green frog standing on two legs. The frog-man had a short beard and a cane in its webbed hands. Kaleb didn’t think the old amphibian would be too dangerous, so he answered honestly.
“Yeah. Someone who broke into my house gave me the address.”
“HA!” The short frog barked out a laugh. “Not the strangest way people find their way down here. But by-far the most entertaining. I am Devron Necrass, my young friend, and you are?”
Kaleb took Devron proffered webbed hand and shook it. “Professor Pack Rat.”
Devron gave a loud croak and stared up at Kaleb. “Your parents hate you or something?”
“No. It’s my Super name.” Kaleb explained.
“Oh, you're a Super, boy?” when Kaleb nodded Devron continued in a whisper. “I’d be careful who you tell that to. We are not exactly the law-abiding type down here.”
Kaleb nodded having figured that would be the case. He turned to stare back at the city while he asked Devron another question.
“What is exactly is this place?”
Devron gave another croak before answering. “This is Under-Town. Home of the lost and forgotten. This is where those of us with no people end up. Of course such a place seems to attract the more villainous types.”
“Without people?”
“Near extinct Aliens, clan-less, half-breed children thrown away because their cultural doesn’t allow that sort of thing. Things like that.” Devron explained as he looked into Under-Town.
“Who runs this place?” Kaleb asked.
Devron chuckled to himself. “It changes week to week, and it depends on who you ask. But mostly the big clans or criminal organizations stick to their own turf.”
Kaleb nodded. “Thanks for the information.” He said as he prepared to wade into the hustle and bustle of street. He felt a tap against his leg and looked down to see Devron standing there cane held out.
Devron gave a loud croak. “That info was free my boy. But, if you have anything in particular you would like to know…” He tapped his pockets and stared up at Kaleb with his big frog eyes. “… donations are always welcome.”
Kaleb laughingly shook his head. “You know there is something I would like to know. Are there any Basilinoids down here?”
Devron took out a silver credit stick and waved it up at Kaleb. Kaleb sighed as he took the stick and tapped it to his communicator. As he did Farrah spoke in a professional tone.
“How much?”
Kaleb stared down at the elderly frog. “Make it 100 credits.”
Devron smiled wide with his lip-less mouth. Frankly Kaleb found it creepy, but he handed the Devron credit stick back to him and waited for and answer. Devron’s long tongue slithered out of his mouth and he licked his non-existent lips as he pocketed the money.
“There are members of the Brute Clans everywhere these days. Anywhere you can find a town like this, you can find one of them big bastards.” Devron caught himself as he looked apologetically at Kaleb. “No offense.”
Kaleb waved him off. “None taken. So my people are down here?”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Devron gave Kaleb a weird look before nodding slowly. “Wouldn’t call them your people exactly but yeah. They have a small community of about 30 living out by the arena. The work as gladiators or hire themselves out as Muscle for whoever can pay their fees.”
“Where is the arena?” Kaleb asked.
Devron pointed down the main street. “Center of the town. Really, you could follow any street there. The town has a kind of wheel pattern. All roads lead to the arena as long as you can keep your heading.”
Kaleb stared down the street it was a fair distance away but Kaleb thought he could make out a building. He nodded thanks and Devron and began his walk down the street.
“One last thing.” Devron said from behind him. Kaleb turned to face the old frog as Devron spoke. “I have a small curio shop called the Hopping Kickshaw. It’s about halfway down the road here. Please stop by.”
Kaleb nodded again and continued his walk. He had to shoulder his way in a few places as people stopped in the street to buy things from the odd vendor. Vendors lined the streets either seated on carpets with their wares in front of them or in stalls selling things from carts. The street assaulted Kaleb with the noise and smells of a bustling market street. The vendors sold a wide variety of things. From clothes to exotic foods.
Kaleb had walked 30 feet before a wondrous smell tickled his nose. Kaleb felt his feet turn him toward the smell almost without his conscious thought. Before he knew it he was standing before a food stall with several skinned rodents hanging off the stall. The orange and yellow reptile was stirring a stew while a small grill cooked pieces of rat meat.
“Oh god.” Farrah said disgusted.
Her voice caught the stall vendor’s attention. When he saw Kaleb, he smiled wide and placed a blackened credit stick on the counter.
“Its 20 credits for a burger and 50 for a bowl of stew, my man.” Said the vendor waving his hand over his stall.
Kaleb whipped his arm over the credit stick saying. “60 Credits. I’ll take three burgers.”
Kaleb could feel saliva building in his mouth as he watched his fellow reptile place rat meat between the hamburger buns. The vendor didn’t have a bag or anything but Kaleb didn’t care. He carried a burger in each hand as he practically crammed the third in his mouth. Once again the taste of a pizza and fries and hamburgers exploded in his mouth. He moaned in pleasure as another noise resounded from nearby.
“Urgh!” Farrah retched loudly.
Kaleb ignored the unpleasant noise and continued chewing. As he continued down the street, he heard the vendors shouting about their wares. Every now and again he could hear what he was sure was a player's voice.
“I WILL HENCH FOR CREDITS!”
“SELLING 1 UNKNOWN GREEN LIQUID! NAME YOUR PRICE!”
“FRESH FRUIT!”
“NEED ONE FOR SECRET MISSION! NO NOOBS OR MUNDANES!”
“NEED THREE FOR SUPER SECRET MISSION! MUNDANES ONLY!”
“K-TECH BRAND EQUIPMENT, GREAT PRICES!”
Kaleb snapped his head around. Searching out for who had shouted about K-Tech. Licking his fingers after finishing his last hamburger, Kaleb found the vendor. He was a broad chested human with pointed ears and teeth selling various bits of equipment from a stall positioned at the entrance to an alleyway.
Kaleb looked over the equipment as he gave the vendor a wide smile. He looked through the bits of tech finding that all the proprietary batteries and power sources had been removed. Either that or they never had them. The vendor had a Mark I Cybar pistol without a power source and the vents seemed to have been improperly covered when the gun was constructed.
Holding up the gun Kaleb asked. “How much?”
“600.” The vendor responded brusquely.
“Ha! Are you serious!” Kaleb said loudly. “There is no power source and someone sealed the vents. This is a glorified hunk of metal. I’ll give you 100 for it.”
The vendor narrowed his eyes at Kaleb hissing through clenched teeth. “If it’s so useless then why do you want it?”
Kaleb spoke even louder trying to draw a crowd as he replied. “Because I can repair it. If not completely, then I can make it work somewhat.”
Kaleb glanced around as he boasted loudly. A few people seemed to take an interest in what he was saying, but most people were ignoring the transaction. As the sharp-toothed vendor started to respond a voice called out from the dark alleyway behind him.
“Show.” Said a gravelly accented voice.
Kaleb focused his attention on the smaller man. He looked like the vendor with sharp-pointed teeth and pointed ears. The shorter man stepped out of the dark running a hand through his black slicked back hair. His three piece suit and dress shoes were at odds with their surroundings. As Kaleb took in the man’s appearance the man spoke up again in broken English.
“Please, Eidechse. Show us how you repair.”
Kaleb thought it over for a few seconds. He was hoping he could figure out who was behind selling K-Tech equipment if he made a scene. Looks like he might have succeeded. He glanced down at the Cybar Pistol thinking over how he would fix it. Nodding to himself he acted on a sudden idea.
He took out his Sun Gun and placed it on the counter. Ignoring the vendor who looked ready to attack at the sight of the weapon Kaleb removed a spike from his arm. Using the spike and heavy piece of scrap from the vendors stall he hammered the vent holes of the Cybar pistol open. Thankfully, the metal wasn’t too strong, and it only took a few taps to open the vents.
He replaced his spike and opened his Sun Gun removing the red crystal. He had to jury-rig the crystal into the power housing of the pistol but he made it work. He looked over his work, The crystal sat awkwardly, and the wires sparked if he jostled it too much. Kaleb nodded and aimed at the alley wall, he hoped his rush job would allow for at least one shot without exploding.
*Paa-Zooo*
The gun made a weird noise but fired a circular ring of energy that burned a ring into the wall. Kaleb smiled at the vendors and the small crowd. Undoing his work Kaleb replaced everything and put his equipment back together.
“Well, that is the best I can do without my lab. But you get the point.” Kaleb said staring the shorter man.
The man had a hand on his chin and was studying the burn marks on the wall. Looking back to Kaleb he gave him a thin smile.
“You do good work, Herr Doctor…?”
“Professor, actually. Professor Pack Rat, I collect a lot of stuff.” Kaleb explained.
The man in the suit approached the stall counter and held out his pale hand. “Good to meet you Professor Rat. I am Herr Blutschläger. You come work for me?”
Kaleb tried not to smile too wide as he shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t know, I have other pursuits. What exactly would I be doing?” Kaleb tried to seem interested without seeming overeager.
Blutschläger smiled a toothy smile. “You come once a week. You repair little trinkets, make look pretty. I pay you in credits.”
Kaleb nodded good-naturedly before making a counteroffer. “How about you pay me in some of this equipment?”
“Ha! This is good. Sehr gut. We pay in equipment.” Blutschläger said thrusting his hand out. “Deal?”
Kaleb gave his own toothy smile while shaking the old man’s ice cold hand. “Deal. I’ll stop by later this week. Ok?”
Blutschläger looked a little annoyed, but he nodded agreement. “You come before the end of week. Good?”
“Sehr gut.” Kaleb mimicked Blutschläger’s earlier words.
Blutschläger roared with laughter as Kaleb returned his attention to the tall man who was manning the stall. He held up the Cybar pistol, but the vendor held up his large hands.
“Take.” he said.
Kaleb shot a glance at Blutschläger to see the shorter man nodding. He waved his hand at Kaleb and the gun motioning for him to take it. Kaleb smiled at them and waved happily as he walked off with his new gun. Kaleb had walked a few blocks before Farrah spoke up just barely loud enough for him to hear.
“What was all that about?”
Kaleb raised his wrist to his face and answered her. “I have a quest to investigate whether K-Tech is selling to less than reputable buyers.”
“Whew, that is not an easy task. And I doubt that is what’s happening with them.” Farrah said.
Kaleb weaved his way through the crowds in the street as he asked. “What makes you say that?”
“The Quinica are scavengers. They probably stole that stuff from K-Tech’s dump site.” Farrah explained.
“The Quinica? What kind of Aliens are they?”
“Space-Vampires.” said Farrah.