The Meeting With the Contact

In one of Unity’s darker and less maintained districts, several miles down an unassuming maintenance tunnel, Aster knocked on a rusty steel hatch. The moment her knuckles finished rapping on the metal door hidden mechanisms squeaked as an internal bolt was undone and the door swung open. She heard the soft ween of servos as they struggled against the bulk of the door.

Without a moment of hesitation Astarte strode through the door knowing full well that the dark corners of the room could have held a waiting ambush. It did not do to show any fear when dealing with the mysterious shadow league. She had heard from Greyson how the contacts valued confidence above everything else. She wasn’t sure why, but had followed the advice anyway.

The contacts never worked through proxies. They had no known dead drops. And were notorious for handling everything in person.

It was a strange practice since logic dictated that information brokers as influential as the Shadow league should act with much more caution. But that same flaunting disregard for common convention was the trait that unnerved Astarte the most.

It unnerved her because it proved that the powerful brokers had nothing to fear.

Maybe it was arrogance, but her instincts said otherwise.

The door closed behind her, the harsh clunk telling her that she was now locked in. Soft lights in the room flicked of a slowly grew brighter to a level comfortable to human eyes. Aster’s cybernetic eye went red and flickered through several different spectrums of light as it scanned the room.

“An interesting piece of hardware.” A soft murmuring voice said from behind the desk in the center.

Astarte momentarily ignored the voice as she finished her scan. Her eye picked out only a single camera behind a fake patch of wall that looked completely normal from the outside. She focused on the camera, telling the rooms only other occupant that she was fully aware of the device.

Her scan complete she turned her head to focus of the short fuchsia froglike person within a bubble-like excursion suit. No word in the Union’s common tongue, or her own could pronounce the name of the person before her. Instead the Union had simply labeled them as Toxoid amphibians. A rather cold, but concise name.

There were many defense mechanisms used by prey species to ward off predators. Some opted to be big, strong, and move in large herds like the Trikes. Some just flew away. Others hid. But very few instead went for the survival strategy of being very visible and toxic as hell.

The creature before Astarte was one of only three Toxoid species in the Union. While safe to members of their own species, their skin could instantly paralyzed and kill any non-deathworld species on Femeri. And if Astarte had touched that bright purple skin she would be instantly floored with the worst pain imaginable. Not dead, but really wishing she was.

The Union definition of Toxoid was any highly toxic species, regardless of the atmospheric conditions. Though this particular species did in fact come from a world with high methane and ammonia content, less then Venus, but still deadly to Terrans. The only reason they weren’t classified as deathworlders was because the low gravity and gentle nature of their star made the claim seem a little absurd compared to your average Deathworlder.

The Toxoid met her gaze and held it without fear. Knowing that Astarte wouldn’t/couldn’t do anything to harm them. There face was pulled into a constant smile. Though this was a factor of their facial structure and not any sort of actual pleasure. This, matched with their small colorful appearance gave off the vibes of something small and harmless. An instinct she would have to actively suppress.

“Surprising, most of your kind are overwhelmed with nurturing instincts upon first seeing me. Especially females of your age.” The creature commented. The internal translator of her suit taking the creature’s hypersonic humming and giving it a squeaky, almost cartoonish, tone in galactic common.

“I’ve encountered your kind before, and the pain I felt that day from just one touch is enough to wipe away any cute impressions.”

The creature made a sounding like birds chirping “So its true, humans really can touch us without dying?”

Astarte grimaced at the memory “Yeah, but I sure wished I was dead. Only touched them with my hand, but in seconds my whole body was wracked with the worst pain my nerves could conjure. Couldn’t black out either.”

The Contact looked amused “And yet you survived.” They said pointedly. “We are in our own ways more dangerous than deathworlders. Even the Kruhur leave our few ships alone. As do most pirates. So why would you attack that particular merchant ship six of your Terran years ago?”

Aster wasn’t surprised by their knowledge, the sources of the shadow league stretched far and wide. “They had something I wanted, so I took it.”

The big eyelids of the Toxoid closed slowly. “Yes, weapons grade plutonium. I heard you made good use of it. Such inventive weapons too. Most think fusion weapons are pointless in space compared to pulse cannons and conventional missiles. Leave it to a human to find a way to make good use of an underutilized weapon.”

Astarte kept her face placid, but on the inside she was roiling at the knowledge that the Shadow League knew about the shield breaker cannon.

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“You needn’t worry” the Contact continued “the Union doesn’t know, and even if we stole the plans we would be troubled to find crews with the nerve to detonate a super critical mass of plutonium within their own ship. My kind are quite cowardly compared to your people.”

“Fools rush in where angles fear to tread.” Astarte remarked absently. Downplaying their achievements.

The Toxoid leaned forward “and yet those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”

This time Astarte couldn’t hide her surprise. “Kennedy? Really?”

More bird chirps “Yes, I am quite amused by human history and the words of your past leaders. Your people strove for the stars long before they had the proper technology to reach them like every other species, on a high gravity world no less. And despite these hurdles you made it to your moon in record time, had stable colonies on a barren world like Mars, and launched one of the most interesting if a bit crude ships. A ship you recently purchased. Had you not met the Union so soon then I believe your people would have continued to shock the galaxy. In some ways your people were cut short, and yet in other ways they were given the opportunity to leap into the future. You are most intriguing, and it would be folly to not keep an eye on you. The Union believes your people to be on the decline, soon to be no longer a threat to their might. I am of a different opinion.”

It was surprising to meet a person who had her completely figured out. From just the subtext Astarte was sure this contact knew all her plans and secrets, or had at least a few very good guesses. And seemed to want to help her out.

Astarte gave the Contact a shrewd glare. “What are you playing at?”

Their heavy eyelids dropped into a lazy half blink before opening back up. She thought the gesture was either one of annoyance or amusement. “A favor, given to the right person, can pay dividends in the future.”

“And what kind of returns are you looking for?”

Another half blink. It probably meant amusement. “That isn’t for me to say. You’ve had a very positive relationship with our agents in Femeri, or Orion as you Terrans call it. it is the League desire to continue nourishing that relationship.”

Suspicious, but one didn’t deal with the galaxy’s most powerful info brokers without some ominous undertones. “Then I take it you know why I’m here.”

Another long blink, this time fully closing their lids. “Yes.”

“Can you tell us where it is?”

“No. Amaterasu was thorough in covering their trail. I can only say that its still on Unity.”

Fuck. Why can’t things ever be easy? “Can you narrow down our search?” Astarte asked changing directions.

“Yes. Property info, delivery schedules, informant reports. And much more. It’ll take time to narrow things down.”

“I’m not short on manpower. Or patience.”

“Good. Now there is just the matter of the price.”

“I get the sinking feeling that you’re not talking credits.” Astarte stated dryly.

“An accurate feeling.” The Contact retorted. “We are an organization of information brokers and middle men, but even we need our own middle men. We cast a wide net to pull in much, but sometimes our needs require a more direct approach.”

“Spies?” Astarte guessed.

“Yes, or simple muscle to get what we need. Lately that muscle has been disappearing, I’m sure you noticed the aggressive way the Station Security treats your kind.”

“Yeah, the charges they tried to stick my men with were downright asinine, never would have stuck.”

Another long blink. “Yes, but the Union doesn’t need to make them stick. You more than most should know that the Union will imprison individuals on suspect of a crime before an investigation can be done to assure innocence.”

Astarte almost heard a click in her head as she connected the dots. The charges had seemed absurd and unfounded, and she had wondered why they bothered. But the Union could, in cases of an extreme crime, arrest and imprison without a trial or evidence. It was one of the major ways the Unions legal system differed from the local laws of the Sol system.

Guilty until proven innocent. It was the precedent that had gotten her mother imprisoned when Aster was four. While they had arrested a terrorist responsible for thousands of deaths and billions in property damage, they didn’t actually have the evidence. And once the lack of evidence had been undeniably proven in a court room Lucile’s sentence was ended and her record expunged of the black mark after spending ten months in the prison on Parox.

Asters throat was tight “How many have been…”

“Thousands. Tens of thousands. I would like to give you a better number, but someone has done a remarkable job at obfuscating that information. People are arrested on petty misdemeanors, if any, and then prosecutors from the central office apply some grander crime. They’re taken to a holding facility, where they stay for a short time before a ship comes to take them to parts unknown.”

“And no one’s done anything about this?”

“Oh, no. There were plenty of riots. But shouting, screaming Deathworlders committing acts of arson and clashing Station Security did little to sway the public. And after the ADCU was born things got even worse for the Terrans.”

“Motherfuckers” Astarte growled through her teeth. She didn’t know where all those people went, but everything so far pointed to some sort of genocide. Unity was purging itself of its Deathworlder nuisance.

“Yes, as effective as the ADCU has been at rooting out actual criminal organizations they have also been a highly effective at smother discontent.”

“And what do you want me to do about it.”

Their head tilted to the side. “You already have an in road with one of their top Officers, one who is the personal protégé of Chief Gin.”

“Do you want me to see where they’re taking people, or figure out why?”

“Both if possible. This has all the odious whiffs of politics, and the League needs to know why the Union is making such bold moves. Any and all information you dig up will be appreciated.”

Astarte drummed her fingers on the desk as she worked through the problems. Something dangerous was happening in the heart of the Union. Something that threatened her own plans. She had idly wondered why Amaterasu had been so bold in making their terraforming equipment disappear, why openly slaughter an entire office of insurance investigators? But now she saw it was par for the course her, and she was only now noticing the rot.

The contacts request was also in her own best interest. She needed to know where this all led.

But you never took the first offer. That was just good business. “It seems to me that our own investigations might help you in yours. I don’t see why we can’t do both at once.”

Another long blink. “You won’t be overextending yourself?”

Aster scoffed “of course not.”

The amphibian’s permanent smile became a little wider, “good. Its always a pleasure working with a professional.”

The contact then reached under their desk to retrieve a small flash drive, preloaded with all the info Aster needed.

“Just a heads up” Aster said as she retrieved the flash drive. “Our plans usually end in chaos and bloodshed.”

“Oh, I know. I’m looking forward to it.” the contact said with a self-amused giggle like gurgling water.

Their business concluded Astarte stood to leave. But the door she entered through didn’t unlock itself. Instead a hidden panel Astarte hadn’t noticed during her scan slid open and revealed a hidden stairway.

Astarte blinked in surprise before shaking her head. never underestimate the Shadow League.

She walked through the door, and ascended several flight of stairs until she exited into the reception room of a small law firm. The Drohodron attendant nodded their furry rabbit like head and gestured towards the exit.

The ride home was mostly uneventful. A group of SS tried to tail her, but some speed walking and a sudden turn down an alley was all it took to shake them.

She left the tram station and entered the industrial district where her ship was moored. She had been so relaxed on her walk back that she even began to whistle a jaunty little tune. She almost mixed the gentle thump behind and slight rush of wind as a blade swept from behind her, nearly taking her head off.

She had only an instant to lean forward to avoid the strike. With the strike barely avoided she took one step forward before drawing Tenken in swinging overhead chop.

Two green tinted blades strapped to her attackers wrists rose into a crossed guard to catch her sword the two of them struggled against each other’s strength. Aster was surprised at the strength the assassin possessed.

They struggled for a few seconds before breaking apart just as swiftly as they had met.

They both took several steps back and began to size each other up.

The assassin was short, standing at maybe 160cm. Their tight-fitting clothes marked the assassin as both human and female. Two curved blades were attached to the assassins wrists, looking like the curved pincers of a praying mantis, which matched the mantis-like mask she wore.

The assassin despite her failed sneak attack, and their inconclusive clash, had the gall to look smug. “Glad to see you haven’t grown weak in our time apart, Daisey.” The assassin gurgled through a heavy voice filter.