Chapter 14 - Sea of Venus(6) - Enforcer

“Control?”

The old man smiled and continued to water the plants. A patch of dark blue and purple flowers with silver and golden leaves opened as he shot a small stream of water into the colorful mass.

Zero asked Larry, “What control?”

Larry stared at the old man, “Their all senile. Stuck in the old ways.”

“What old ways?”

Young stared at the boy, “More information that you’ll get in school.”

Zero pouted as he watched the old man finish watering the plants.

Young walked over to the old man and asked something, and the old man nodded.

Young turned around, “Me and Larry are going to catch up. You can chat with these guys while we’re gone. You’re probably tired of me after an entire day.”

Io, Jupiter.

A girl squealed “I can’t stand the smell. When do we get to go to Lire?”

Her father sighed, “You just have to put up with it for now. Just for a few more months.”

“Months?”

The girl kicked an oddly shaped yellow rock down the stone steps of the house, “This rotten smell is nasty. How does anyone live here?”

“We’re here because nobody lives here.”

“What was this place called again?”

“Tvashtar Paterae”

The girl laughed, “That sounds funny. What’s the name from?”

Her father shrugged, “Some ancient Hindu god.”

“Are they as powerful as the world serpent?”

“Who knows.”

A small rover drove up to outside the walls of the compound. The sign above the airlock flashed blue as it depressurized and then repressurized. A woman stepped in with a few dusty crates, “I got food for the month.”

The man smiled, “How was it?”

“Ah. It’s as usual. The contact said we’re moving up our schedule.”

“Which one?”

“Contact three.”

The man nodded and then pointed, “Well we should clean up first since it stinks.”

Outside of the compound, a jet of molten silica shot out of the ground like spring. Her mother turned around, “Looks like we’re not going outside for a bit.”

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The father laughed, “You cut it awfully close this time.”

Orbital Ring Mira, Jupiter.

A retired marine slammed a glass down on the table, “How’d I fucking miss em? They were right in scope!”

“Bah, the rickety old piece of junk! No wonder yah missed em. Right mate?”

A chorus of laughter filled the bar as the soldiers drank. One of them flicked a coin towards the bartender, “That’s enough yeah?”

The bartender gave a quick nod and left the room.

“Gather round gather round.”

“We talkin bout the new contractor?”

“Yeah.”

“Target’s a couple.”

“They’s got a daughter huh?”

“Yeah?”

“What if we urph *thwack*”

“Eyy, stop it! Contract said two targets and two only. We aint doin more work.”

“Nah.”

The old soldiers sat in silence for a few minutes, “I was thinkin of training her.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. She got the blood you know?”

The other man laughed at the words. One pointed at him, “You’re right! Almost none of her kind left in the outers.”

“We could sell her to Pluto in the best case.”

They collectively roared in agreement.

The men finished their drinks and left a pile of credits on the table. Outside, eight heavily armed soldiers in full double plated power armor were parading a viscous translucent blob. The soldiers turned away and one muttered, “Damn.”

“Shut yer trap. Stay low.”

“Gah.”

Behind the parade were eight snake like Xenos with glowing hot armor. The soldiers stared at their shoes as the procession passed them.

A rat like slave was crawling behind them waving a banner with the words, “Jovian Planet Alliance Celebration.”

Once the procession was out of view one of the soldiers sighed, “When’s the celebration?”

“Gah, does it matter? If we don’t work we won’t get any more ash.”

The other soldiers looked gloomy at the reminder, “How much time you guys got?”

“A week.”

“A month at most.”

“Two days.”

“Three days.”

Many more numbers were yelled out among them. The soldier looked down, “We’re accepting the contract then?”

“We have to.”

“Okay.”

The soldiers entered a small building. A woman with white hair and blue eyes looked up from the small wooden desk at the end of the room. She greeted them and motioned for them to sit on the floor, which half of them proceeded to do. The others leaned on the walls.

She tapped a pencil on the table, “I assume you’re here to accept the contract.”

“Yeah.”

“What is going to be the name of this mercenary group?”

The soldier looked behind him and at the eyes of his brothers, “Bloodshot Brothers.”

The woman clasped her hands together, “A fine name. Do you agree to the terms provided by the Mira Mercenary Guild?”

The solder stared at the small woman, “We need to see half the payment first.”

“Sure.”

The woman produced a small pouch from a drawer and put it on the desk. The man picked it up and took a sniff into the pouch. He gasped, “Oh shit! That’s… Oh my…”

“Satisfied?”

“Yeah. Give me the details of the contract. I know the two targets.”

The women looked at the men with a satisfied expression, “Go to Jorden C. You’ll find a second war cruiser with twelve corvettes. It’s loaded with pods and weapons. You’ll find the details uploaded to the mainframe.”

“Where do we receive the payment?”

“After you eliminate the target, we’ll talk.”

Zero started walking down a hallway with the old man when the man pointed his cane at Zero, “I’ve seen kids like you before.”

Zero looked up at him in confusion.

“Do you know why they call us enforcers?”

“Why?”

The two of them arrived at an auditorium-like room with a large screen displaying a massive hologram. The man pointed up at the screen, “If the military protects us from the outside, the temples is like the glue to keep the empire together.”

“Glue?”

The old man looked at the boy, “You know how a theocracy is generally more stable than a republic yes?”

The boy stared at him, “Yes?”

The old man paused, “And you know about the downfall of a theocracy. Yes?”

“The romans.”

He nodded, “The temples suppress the heretics using any means possible.”

“Suppress?”

The old man laughed, “Suppress is a strong word. If you change your faith, it isn’t your fault. It’s the fault of the emperor not proving himself worthy of your faith.”

Zero was shocked, “What?”

The old man glanced at Zero, “Oh yes! You’ve never heard that before, right? That’s just one ideology of the temple. Other branches believe in purging every heretic.”

Zero looked at the screens, “What do you do?”

The man smiled, “We vote by the case.”

Zero watched the screens showing average citizens walking about their daily lives.

“What control were you talking about?”

The old man smiled, “It’s a matter of preference. I didn’t want to give away my body so easily.”

“What do you mean?”

“These are things you’ll read about in school.”

“Why can’t you just tell me!”

The old man laughed, “Life is long. Live while you’re still alive little man.”