Lynch looked at the small note. It was such an innocent thing only holding four little words. System User need assistance. It had arrived from one of his dimensional drops where he normally received and sent information to his agents among the enlisted soldiers. The note could be a trap from Emperor or it could be a dare to an unwitting young private. Or it could be a legitimate message from a new System User. He wouldn't know unless he answered it. Lynch gently stroked his chin considering the possible consequences and risks associated with answering the note. Finally, after much deliberation, Lynch stood up and walked to the desk in his small cabin and scrawled out a note. He dropped it in the dimensional dropbox knowing that it would get into the correct hands just as the thousands of messages he had sent out before had. Turning away from his desk he grabbed a heavy coat and one of the large kinetic rifles by the door and left the small cabin. Counter to the low light interior the outside was blazing with the brightness of a noonday sun. He was glad when his optical implants automatically dimmed the incoming light as he slowly walked towards a small shuttle of common design.
"Fire it up, Lynch were going out." He spoke to his AI who immediately activated the shuttle's preflight checks. By the time Lynch got to the ramp the engines were beginning to spool up. Looking back at his small cabin one last time he climbed on board gently tapping the shuttle's name where it was printed by the door.
Maria.
_______________________________________
Ice leaned against the wall in his quarters they had been waiting for several days past Brigham's guarantee of three days. On day two Brigham had handed Ice a small yellowed piece of paper that said "Wait." So Ice had agreed to wait for an extra week. That was all they had supplies for. Not to mention the people on the Docks were questioning if they were smugglers since no one saw them unload any cargo. Ice was worried every time he saw another uniformed guard walk by that gave the ship a suspicious glance but so far no one had come up to the ship. He was moving to sit on his bunk when he heard a voice come over the intercom asking for permission to board. The voice sounded tired and had a certain authority in the deep gravely tones. Ice panicked for a second then took a deep breath. Drake had said this might happen and all it would take was a small bribe to get rid of the official anything from the small ship safe Ducky had given him access to should do the trick. That had been another surprise. The small vault-like safe full of gemstones in the ready room was… helpful… but also very surprising. It had been well hidden to the point Ice didn't find it until Ducky showed it to him.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Ice went to the ready room and grabbed two gemstones after asking Raven her thoughts on the matter. She had formed a nano body next to him and was moving down the hallway with him to meet whoever was at the hatch. When he got to the hatch he activated the external camera using the panel on the bulkhead by the airlock. What he saw was… not what he was expecting. A large man wearing a black coat with the hood pulled low and a large bag over one shoulder stood outside the hatch waiting patiently. Ice stood there unsure for a moment before sending a quick message to Drake about what was happening and telling him to arm himself and Brigham just in case. After receiving a confirmation from Drake Ice hit the button to open the hatch and lower the ramp.
The man at the bottom of the ramp simply nodded to him as he walked onto the ship and went straight to a room and shut the door after merely saying the words "Shadow Man" as he passed Ice and Raven. Ice hit the button to shut the hatch after the man was inside and just stared after him as he walked down the corridor.
"Uhm… Raven, what just happened?" Ice said, completely puzzled.
"Well we did ask for assistance…" Raven said, sounding just as puzzled.
Drake walked towards them carrying his bolt pistol and a short sword in two of his four hands. "What's going on? I thought you said someone was trying to get aboard?"
Ice nodded at the closed door to the cabin the strange man had entered. "No idea he just said the words shadow man and went into one of the empty…"
The intercom buzzed again. This time when Ice looked at the small view screen there was a smiling woman in brown leather carrying another large black bag. Ice shrugged and hit the button to open the door and lower the ramp again. "HI you must be the one Shadow told me about!" The woman said brightly, shaking his hand with all four of hers. "So where's my room?" She said taking off down the corridor without waiting for an answer.
At this point Ice just stared down the corridor nodding to Drake to follow her and telling him to show her to an empty cabin. He leaned against the wall tapping his blue fingers against the bulkhead lightly waiting for the intercom to buzz once more. Ice was more than a little surprised when the door opened and a slim man wearing a black coat carrying another large duffle bag and a second long slim black case stepped on board. "Looking for Brigham." The man's voice was almost melodic.
It was at that moment that Ducky appeared next to Ice. "Ice, something is wrong, my security protocols have been bypassed… Lynch?" The duck stopped mid sentence eyeballing the man in stunned silence.
"Hello Ducky. What did you do to the Forge? Also.. who is this?" The man looked at Ducky and indicated Ice with one obviously mechanical hand.