As we arrived at the city, our towing vessel steered us toward one of the outlying domes. I assumed this was the Port Authority that Matthew had mentioned. Sticking out of the dome still encased by the water was a series of industrial-looking docks stacked on top of each other at varying heights. Each dock was connected to the bubble dome by a tube bridge, the end of which looked to be sealed with the same type of magical tech that created the bubble on our transport.
The larger towing vessel handed our bubble over to a smaller submarine, which served as an underwater tug boat of sorts. It maneuvered our bubble to the end of one dock, and I noticed our air bubble merged with the bridge tunnel, connecting us to the rest of the port. Large mechanical grips extended from the dock and locked on to our ship’s anchor pads. This was a standard docking mechanism for space vehicles. As soon as the grips engaged, full power returned to the transport. Lights flickered back on and systems hummed as the dock supplied power to the vessel.
The breach side of the ship still faced outward with a view of the city around us and the canyon beyond it. The passenger hatch, which faced the main docking platform, swished open and Cash wasted no time vacating the ship.
“If I never have to see this death trap again, it’ll be too soon,” he said, inhaling deeply and spreading his arms out wide in jubilation.
Dick was the next to take the platform. “Well, guys! As nice as it’s been getting nearly killed with you repeatedly, I think I’m going to take off. Nothing personal.”
He nodded to Cash before turning to me as I exited the transport, as well. Dick let his eyes wander leisurely up and down my body before meeting my gaze and giving me a rakish wink.
“Who knows, maybe I’ll see some of you around before I leave. For a drink.”
And with that he headed down the tunnel toward the port’s main gangway. As appealing as his blatant invitation sounded, and I admitted it was quite tempting, I figured there had to be at least a dozen less complicated guys to scratch an itch with in this city.
“Well, if we’re all parting ways, I’ll be needin’ to return this to ya,” Ryuuk said, holding out Cash’s rifle. “She’ll fire, but you’ll need to get the power core replaced if you want it to hold a full charge anymore. It'll do in a pinch, though.”
“Thanks man,” Cash said in what felt like a rare moment of complete sincerity. “I really appreciate this; you’ve no idea how much.”
Ryuuk just tipped his hat in response as Cash started loading up his rifle and gear for departure. Most of our items had survived relatively unscathed in the passenger luggage compartments. As Cash was turning to wave a good-bye, Vomero emerged from the hatch. Matthew followed close behind.
“Guys, there’s something you might want to know about this planet before you go...” Vomero said. He looked around at the people on the platform. “Where’s Dick?”
“He already took off,” I said.
Vomero shrugged. “Oh, well, he’ll be back.”
“What makes you think that?” I asked.
“Turns out Matthew here took us quite far off course,” Vomero explained.
“How far?” Cash said.
“Well, there was nothing about this planet programmed in the ship’s original database. Once we hooked into the docking station, however, the ship automatically updated the database to this sector of the galaxy. As far as I can tell, this planet isn’t part of the Pact Worlds or even in the same quadrant we left behind.”
“The Pact Worlds span nearly half of this galaxy,” I pointed out.
“Yes,” Vomero confirmed.
“And this place is so far out that it’s not one of them?” Ryuuk asked.
“Also, yes,” Vomero answered.
“Exactly where the hell did you manage to dump us with your portal?!” Cash fired at Matthew.
“Apparently, it’s some place called Kilo-Mahooey or something like that,” said Dick from behind them.
He emerged from the tunnel with his hands raised casually to his shoulder height. Three individuals who looked local followed him.
The newcomers were primarily humanoid in biology with strong affinities to the aquatic Merdudes we had encountered earlier. They seemed like a slimmed-down, further evolved and civilized version of their fellow planet dwellers. The shades of their skin varied in hues of blue, green and grey. A set of gills was also prominent on the neck, as well as fin flaps that rippled down their forearms and calves. The general style of their attire reminded me of a wet suit, tight fitting for moving in the water but flexible and hydrophobic. Slits in the arms and legs allowed their fin protrusions to be used despite their clothes covering most of their body.
The two on each side of Dick were armed, though their weapons were strapped across their chest in a leather-like sling. The contraption looked like it allowed easy access to the weapon without the need to always keep it in hand. The individual in the middle sported a more administrative air about her. Her attire was also more loose fitting than the two armed guys.
“It’s Kalo-Mahoi,” the administrative one said.
“Isn’t that what I said?” Dick quipped.
“I’m afraid not,” she spoke, her Common was formal and her tone all business. “Though I do find it curious how an entire group of refugees managed to land on our planet without even knowing its name. Mine, by the way, is Serak.”
“We’re not refugees,” I explained. “We’re stranded travelers. Our transport encountered...difficulties in transit, which crash-landed us here. We’re grateful for your assistance and rescue.”
She pulled out a tablet from a bag at her side and tapped repeatedly on the screen as she studied her notes.
“Mmmm...yes, well you might want to wait till you see the bill before thanking us,” Serak said, never looking up from her tablet. I shared a look with my companions. “But whether travelers or refugees, you’ll still need to go through a vetting and identification process before you’re allowed to leave Veridi. I must say the state of your transport, lack of registration, and the dead Tritons that our officials report seeing tossed from the ship as you traveled all pose serious security concerns we must clear up before just letting you go along your way.”
“Tritons?” said Cash. “You mean the Merdudes I tossed out on our way here?”
At this, Serak finally looked up from her tablet to cast a disapproving look at Cash.
“I have no idea what a Merdude might be, but the bodies of the local indigenous tribesmen you were tossing out were, in fact, Tritons. Luckily for you, they are well-known for their feral behavior and not considered a species that falls under our purview. So, killing them in self-defense is not against any Syreni laws. Though I imagine you should steer clear of any more of them in the future. They do have their own crass system of justice.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“So, are we being taken into custody until you can verify our story?” I asked, focusing on what I considered the most pressing issue.
“Of course not,” Serak said. “You will be granted temporary visitor passes for identification purposes. You’ll find that it is vital for carrying out most business and travel around our capital city, and just to be completely forthcoming, it will also allow us to keep somewhat track of your movements. Until your story can be corroborated, however, you will not be granted passage out of the city, off planet or to any other Syreni cities, townships or settlements.”
She removed a contraption from her satchel that looked like an oversized shackle with blinking lights and a digital display on the top.
“Step forward one at a time please, and we’ll get your passes processed.”
“Alrighty!” Ryuuk said, stepping up with more enthusiasm and less reserve than the rest of us could muster. “A new place to explore is always sumthin’ I take a shine to. They don’t call me Ramblin Ryuuk for nothing, ya know.”
She placed the shackle around his wrist and punched in something on the tablet. The contraption flashed to green and a bright light appeared inside the cuff as it read out information.
Guest pass authorized for Ramblin Ryuuk. Thank you for visiting the Kalo-Mahoi's Capital City of Veridi.
“Well that’s uhhh....” Ryuuk stumbled over his words, realizing she had mistook his boasting for his actual name. “Ya know what? Why not! That’s fine.”
When the light faded on the machine, Serak reached out and removed it from his wrist. A thin, luminescent cord was now around his wrist. A tiny starfish trinket was integrated into the middle of it. I guessed this was some sort of data device.
“Next,” she said, and we all looked at each other again. Vomero, seeing the reluctance on Dick, Cash and my face, rolled his eyes and stepped up next. “Name please.”
“Vomero Maldorani,” he said.
She placed the machine on his hand and went through the same process as before. While the contraption read out the standard message, Serak took time to explain some important details to us about our “passes.”
“Keep in mind that these bracelets are removable, but doing so is against policy, especially for you given the situation, and will alert authorities immediately of a breach in protocol. Our enforcers will respond and bring you in to assess the situation if this occurs. Should you not have a valid reason for the bracelets’ malfunction, well expulsion is typically the process. In your cases, however, it would be more punitive since you cannot leave until the verification process is complete.”
“So don’t break it and don’t take it off,” Vomero said as she removed the machine from his arm. “Got it.”
Besides my own, passes for Theodoric Cash, Matthew Atreus, and Dick L’Amant were issued, the last of which I felt confident was made up.
The final survivor of our traveling band stepped up for his pass.
“Name?” Serak asked of the old man.
“Jack Trader,” he replied.
* * *
“Ryuuk....” I called to the Avian man as I watched the Veridi port officials leave. After finishing our passes and giving us some final instructions to keep us out of trouble, the three had departed.
“Yeah?” Ryuuk said, sticking his head out of the transport hatch. He had been gathering his things from the ship since getting his pass. Now as he emerged from the hatch once again, he gave me a questioning look.
“Let me see that book you had earlier.”
Ryuuk looked confused.
“Ya mean, Total Recall?”
“That’s the one,” I said.
“Ooookaay. But I want it back as soon as yer done. There’s useful stuff in there, and I’m not explorin’ a brand new city without it.”
He handed me the digital device, and I tapped the screen to bring up the title.
“Total Recall,” I read aloud. “Jack Trader’s Compendium of Indigenous Species.”
“Are you kidding me?!” Dick exploded, rounding on the old man who was fiddling with his bracelet. “You wrote that piece of garbage that nearly got us skewered by a bunch of savage fish people? You're the one who got us into this mess?”
“What?” Ryuuk said. “No, no. He didn’t write the book. He just gave it to me. He said it would come in handy, and he was right. Look where it got us!”
“Ryuuk,” I said, interrupting. “He just told that woman his name was Jack Trader.”
“No way,” Ryuuk said, pausing to think on that for a moment. “Well if that don’t beat all.”
His face went through a gamut of emotions, from confusion to contemplation and, finally, to elation as he threw his arms up in the air and let out a loud whoop.
“This. Is. Great! We’ve got the real life source right here with us. Oh man, and to think you shoulda’ probably died in that scuffle earlier. What a loss that would have been.”
I was starting to believe people really did call him Ramblin’ Ryuuk, just not in the way he meant. He paused in his prattling as if suddenly struck by a revelation.
“Wait! Nooooo! It all makes sense, now! Of course the one and only Jack Trader would find a way to survive against all odds.”
“He said Tritons were Merdudes!” Cash cut in. “And then I called them Merdudes and looked like a total idiot! That’s what you should have named the book, old man. Total Idiot!”
Cash had the old man by the front of his crumpled shirt as he yelled into his face. Suddenly, a shot rang out, halting his tirade. A bullet zinged off Cash’s cybernetic hand, causing him to let go but not leaving a mark. Suddenly, everyone on the platform was quiet as we all looked toward Ryuuk.
He was standing feet apart, one hand flexed at his hip, the other holding a smoking six shooter revolver. His wide-brimmed cowboy hat shadowed his face, which was tilted slightly down to the ground. He looked like some caricature from a spaghetti western shootout. His voice, when he spoke next, was slow, low and dramatic.
“That man... is a galactic treasure. If you wanna threaten him, you’ll have to go through me, and I’ll shoot you dead where you stand before I let you harm a hair on his head.”
I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation as Cash muttered a “Why you little shit” and lunged at Ryuuk.
“Hey! Hey! Hey, now!” the old man finally spoke. “Let’s just all calm down. This is all a big misunderstanding.”
Ryuuk and Cash, who had each other by the shirt collar at this point, paused to look at him.
“I’m not really Jack Trader,” the old man said. “I just told them that.”
“Why would you claim to be Jack Trader if you’re not him?” Dick asked, accusingly.
“Basically for the same reason you made up that ridiculous L’Amant name,” the old man rebutted, and Dick tried to adopt an innocent look.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, his earlier indignation deflating.
“I didn’t want to tell these folk my real name,” the old man continued. “So, I used the name of my favorite writer.”
“You need to expand your library, old man,” I said, dismissively.
“Oh now, don’t be like that. Jack’s got some good stuff in that book. I mean nobody is right 100 percent of the time, but most of the time his information is spot on.”
With that, the old man went back into the transport to gather his stuff. He and Ryuuk had plans to explore the city together.
“You think he’s telling the truth?” Matthew asked. “You think he’s really not this Jack Trader person?”
“I don’t know,” Vomero commented. “He was a little too passionate defending it to just be a fan, in my opinion.”
“Then, you haven’t met as many cult-classic nerds as I have,” Skye said. “It’s plausible.”
After everyone calmed down, we all agreed to go out and explore the city before meeting back at the ship later that evening, or whatever counted as evening in a city with no sky. Serak had told us that until the transport company could be located and verified, we were responsible for the ship—along with any docking and maintenance fees it accrued. Any charges would be distributed evenly among our guest passes, and each account had to be settled before that person could leave the city.
“Aren’t we supposed to be the victim’s here?” Vomero asked, as he, Cash, Matthew and I made our way down the port’s central gangway. “Why do I feel like we’re getting the shaft?”
“I’m sorry guys,” Matthew groaned. “This isn’t seeming much better than the situation I rescued you from.”
“Speak for yourself, kid,” Cash said, slapping a hand on his back. “They may both be underwater death traps, but at least this one’s not leaking.”
He cast a disconcerting glance at the trillion tons of water beyond the dome bubble above us and shuddered.
“Yet.”