Starship Magic 1: Broken, page 13
part #1 of Foremid Saga - Starship Magic Series
Kat only knew about it from the stories that filled her with anger and hope. Don’t forget the black raid being the rallying cry. An outpost on the dark side of the moon, made as a last defense point for Earth, caught undermanned and unprepared. It would have been the fall of Earth if the rebels got control of it. A small group of soldiers held back more than twenty rebel battalions, land and space. It is an amazing story but Kat wanted to hear about it from him.
Graven looks away from her face with conflict in his eyes, “Yea it was like that during the raid. I didn’t want you to learn about it that way.” He pauses for a second and looks her in the eyes with a steeled gaze, “I’m not that thing.”
“You don’t have to defend yourself. I just want to know how that happened.”
“It first happened at the raid. The mages had us surrounded, there shouldn’t have even been mages fighting with the rebels but there they were. Tossing in a volley of fireballs. I threw Jack, Hanna, and Zane underneath me. I didn’t know I would absorb the spells, I just wanted my friends to survive. From there it was a bit of a haze. Blood, bodies and some of my own unit were all around me. I had started to look like a horned wolf, which Hanna drew the short straw to tell me.”
He pauses for a moment, turning away from her face. Kat waits silently for him to continue.
“I know the way it sounds but I go berserk with that magic inside me. A little magic absorbed and I am fast, strong, heal quickly, and I’m near indestructible. A prolonged fight, though. Well, you saw it.”
Images of his dull rainbow eyes and horns come to mind. She had never seen or heard of anyone, or thing, absorbing magic before. It would make sense that if there is such a thing the Guild would want it secret. They always were the type to show superiority over everything else.
Kat says, “I did see it but you controlled it.”
He shakes his head, “Not really, I snapped back to my senses right at the end looking into your eyes. Anyway, I was sent to my parents to recover after the raid. I told them what happened and they told me I was adopted. Through a private adoption, that was off the books. My birth parents were members of the Guild and I wasn’t a planned child with Guild authorization. When the Guild found out I was conceived, they ran a test on me while I was still in the womb. They showed I was going to have no magical abilities. This didn’t stop my parents, they still tried to show that I would have the aptitude for magic but I failed. The Guild then forced my birth parents to give me up, in secret, or they would be banished from Guild space. That or they could terminate me.”
“That’s horrible and I’m glad you have such good parents. But your background says that you don’t have a family anymore. So your birth parents are still alive?”
“No, they aren’t. Shortly after my parents told me about my birth parents, we scheduled a meeting in Conglomerate controlled space. Away from any Earth or Guild territory. A group of rebels mixed with banished Guild members bombed the area they were staying at. I hadn’t gotten there yet. I was running late because I wanted to give all of my parents a gift. So I was out grabbing flowers while the bombs happened.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
Graven cuts her off, “It’s ok. I found out who did it and have been hunting down the men who issued the orders ever since. But you know that.”
Whisper says, “Kat we have an incoming call.”
Kat says, “Not now.”
“It’s Bob and he says it’s important.”
“Great so now he calls. Do you know what he wants?”
“No, I don’t. He says he won’t talk to a V.I. Only to you.”
Kat kisses Graven again with the same tingle coming from it. “Get some rest and let me see what he wants.”
He says, “I’ll be fine in a couple of days, promise. And yea, rest sounds great right now.”
Graven starts snoring before she gets to the doors. She smiles and places her fingers on her lips. It was the first time, well second time, that she had ever had a kiss like that. Now she just needs to see what the hell Bob needs.
28
Weeks went by with Kat trying to get ahold of Bob, the lecherous asshole, to only have him contact her now. Something is up, she didn’t know yet what it was but she already knew she wasn’t going to like it. Bob is already on the center screen as she walks onto the bridge. The smile that crawls across his face sends chills down her spine. This is already bad and Kat is pretty sure it’s about to get worse.
Bob says, “Well there’s my little Kat on the run. How are you doing?”
Kat crosses her arms, “I’m fine, could be better. Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for weeks.”
“I’ve been busy. This might be my deliverers dry season but for me, I always find ways to keep myself busy. Like uncovering that you’re piloting the stolen prototype ship the Empire was building alongside the Conglomerate and Guild. The first collaborative work in their history where information was equally shared, stolen by an unknown thief. Which each of the powers think the other did it. I’m pretty sure you know the true story.”
Kat feels like she’s running a marathon just standing there. Sure it wasn’t that far off from the truth but how did he even think to look for that information let alone connect it to her. She knew when she got out of bed today that it was going to be one of those days.
Trying to keep a neutral yet uninterested tone she says, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bob.”
Bob smiles and nods, “Sure you don’t and honestly I don’t care. I just hear things from all the stewardesses that I have come around. They are the best source of information gathering, if you know the right ones and have the right amount.”
Stewardesses. Kat despised their work. It is just a legal way to whore women and men out without having to call them whores. Their official stance is a neutral party to all sides, a place of middle ground or person someone could confide in without worry. Client confidentiality. Stricter than even that of a doctor or lawyer. Most of the confiding happened in the bedroom. With any loose lips getting strict sanctions and punishments. Some as severe as death could be brought down on the stewardess that blabs anything of real worth.
Kat says, “So you called me up to tell me about a rumor you heard from a whore that you don’t care about?”
“Not entirely. Just want to confirm my suspicions and tell you I have a job for you.”
“A job. I thought it was the dry season. I thought that you didn’t have any.”
“It just came in yesterday. A sealed special request. Once it's accepted it has to be completed. It's guaranteed not to be anything dealing with human trafficking, or drug dealing, or anything overly illegal. If it is the courier can contact the supplier and decline the job without a loss of reputation. Which you may not know is everything to a courier like yourself. The more completed jobs, the better your reputation gets, the better jobs you get. Which all adds to more credits to line your pockets.”
“What’s the deal with the special request and why is it sealed?”
“I have some clients that can’t officially use me. So they have a messenger send me a request with payment. They are mostly deliveries of restricted or banned goods. There are lots of worlds out there with lots of weird rules about what its citizens can and can’t have. This is where people like you and me come in. We facilitate people's needs.”
“So if I take it I have to finish it or else what?”
“You start your little courier service with a 50-50 shot of successful deliveries. Your rank would go from A to D. Which means you won’t get any of the premium jobs or even the mid-list jobs. You would basically be committing business suicide. Which is totally up to you but I do know how much you need this. With how many times you’ve contacted me recently. This job is a rank S and it pays triple what the last one did.”
He’s right. Kat hated to admit it to herself but not only did they need this job they can’t survive without it. They need to eat and she needs to keep this new business she has afloat. She would never take a courier that only delivered 50% of the time, so she couldn’t expect anyone else to.
Kat breathes a heavy sigh, “Alright Bob, I’ll take it.”
“Excellent. Now if you don’t mind I will go ahead and open this and send you the instructions. I always love these, never know what's going to be asked.” Bob’s face changes to disappointment. “I guess not all of them are exciting.” He waves hand toward Kat and the information fills the lower right portion of the screen. “It seems that Chef McElroy is asking for hamburger meat to be delivered to planet Mal-Tech.”
Kat feels her heart skip a beat.
Bob says, “I know, I was totally thinking that it was going to be something dangerous or exciting. How boring.”
Kat couldn’t speak. This is possibly the worst thing that could have happened to her. Planet Mal-Tech is Ryker’s home planet which he purchased once he became the seventh head of the Conglomerate. It didn’t take him long after to surpass the other six and become the CEO of the Conglomerate. His augment and virtual gear revolutionized how everyone interacts with their devices. Another reason the Empire couldn’t just haul his ass in when they found out he might be part of the rebellion. Anything less than damning evidence wouldn’t have stuck in court and his legion of lawyers would clean up the mess and turn it positive.
Bob says, “Katrice, is something wrong?”
Kat says, “Yes, very. I can’t go there. My…” She pauses for a second, thinking about how much she should reveal. She goes with honest and detail-light. “My abusive ex is more than likely there. I can’t have him catch me. If he does he’ll more than likely try to kill me or worse, control me like a doll.”
With a sympathetic voice, Bob says, “I understand my dear but you’ve already agreed to do the job. Like I already said with these sealed requests, once you accept them their yours. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see you hurt but there isn’t anything I can do. I can tell you it's in a less populated part of the planet in a valley. It's quite the romantic spot. I’m not sure if you know this but cow meat isn’t allowed in Conglomerate space. You can have it on your person or vessel as long as it isn’t cooked or packaged for human consumption. They want their citizens (to which I use the term lightly) to be healthy. Cow is not one of those. He will want to be as discreet as you. So I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Graven comes up from behind on a single crutch under his right arm. “We’ll do it.”
Bob perks up to that and looks past Kat. “Who might you be?”
Kat says, “No one.” Turning and shooing him away.
Graven says, “A new member of the crew, her first mate. My name doesn’t matter, we’ll take the job and get it done quick.”
“A get-it-done sort… I like you. Because right now you are about to make me a lot of money. The coordinates for the meat and the drop will be sent to your virtual intelligence shortly. Remember the quicker the better.”
The screen cuts out and returns to the view of space around the ship. Kat turns around and looks at Graven with a livid look on her face.
She says pointing at the empty screen, “What was that?”
“We got an easy job and are about to get paid. That's what.”
“But its heading right into Ryker’s home territory. Don’t you think that's a little dangerous?”
“Not really, no. When you think about the size of the planet and the likelihood that he’s going to find you on it. Na, I’m not worried.”
“But his surveillance systems…”
Graven cuts her off and says, “Hey Katrice, how about you and I go on a date?”
Kat tilts her head sharply to the side, “What!?”
“You know that thing that a man and a woman do, typically when the man is interested in the woman.”
She shifts her weight to one side and can’t believe what she’s hearing. “I know what a date is Graven, we are hardly in the best situation to do that right now for starters. The second thing is, what makes you think I would want to go on a date with you?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that I saved your ass and you saved mine. That or all the time you spent next to my bed watching me recover. No, actually it was those two kisses you just blew my mind with.”
Kat feels like someone just turned up the heat. She’s glad to hear that he is just as moved by those two kisses as she is. There is something she caught in that last phrase which made her think.
She asks, “How do you know about the time I spent at your side in the medical bay?”
“Whisper told me.”
Kat’s rubs her palm into her forehead, “Of course she did.”
“I coerced it out of her a little.”
“Oh yea, how’s that?”
“I have a stash of money set aside I kept in case of emergencies. I gave her some so she could download those romance novels she keeps talking about.”
“No wonder she’s been quieter over the last few days.”
Whisper says, “I heard that and I will choose to talk when I choose to talk.”
“Whatever Whisper, you traitor.”
“I am no such thing. I just think the monkey has a point.”
Graven raises his hands up shaking his head, “I didn’t put her up to that.”
Kat glares at Graven, “What do you mean Whisper, what point is he making?”
“That you need to blow off a little steam, get a little crazy. Let your hair down.”
Kat rolls her eyes, “This isn’t one of your romance novels and we are kind of trying to keep a low profile here. Then there is also the little fact of the matter that we now have a delivery to make. To Ryker’s home planet no less.”
Graven says, “The delivery will be easy. So for the date let’s try and make it the same time. We are going to a restaurant after all.”
“In the middle of enemy territory.”
“It could be a little adventure, plus I’ll pay.”
Kat sighs, “Alright fine, but afterward, you and me.” She says pointing her finger back and forth, “Are going to have a little talk about this emergency fund you have and what you consider an emergency. It’s raining like a Venus typhoon around here.”
29
It takes them three days to get to Hilton Station where the hamburger meat is. Once there all six crates are loaded into the cargo bay hold and attached to the power. Each is a ten-foot by ten-foot refrigerator. Then another four days to planet Mal-Tech. The whole way there all Kat could think about was eating a juicy burger because they didn’t have any real food for themselves. The broken containers of food were all burnt or spoiled inside. So Kat and Graven were down to just the soylent and MREs. She kept telling herself that it was all another thing to put down in her I can’t believe this shit is happening journal—which isn’t a real journal, just a mental list of the messed up things that have happened to her throughout the recent years.
As they approach the planet Kat readies herself for the worst. There is always the chance that the scanners or automated defenses of the planet will shoot them down. She puts the planet up on the main screen. There is a light pink blanket around the planet meaning the shields are active. There are six moon-sized satellites emitting the shield over themselves and the planet. In all of Kat’s time with Ryker she only came to Mal-Tech once and it is still just as foreboding as the last time. Outside of the planetary orbit are small space stations placed near the orbit the planet has around its star. Each is outfitted with the newest military technology Mal-Tech has to offer.
Kat has to get in line for entry. She can feel her palms getting clammy on the controls and wipes her hands on her pants. Then tries to do a little dance in the chair to calm herself. Telling herself there isn’t anything to worry about. She has new IDs for her and the ship. Also, this is a regular security station with regular guards. If they knew about her, Graven, the ship, and Whisper and Fury something would have leaked onto the net about how Ryker or Mal-Tech lost prototypes. Which hasn’t happened per what Bob had found out. She knew Ryker too well for him to ever let something that damning leak. He would try to save face at any opportunity he could in the middle of a crisis.
Her turn is next and Graven is in the cargo hold just in case they asked about the crates they could give answers. Officially, they are there to see Chef McElroy and visit with him. The crates are for their own personal use. A guard shows up on the main screen. He is, as expected, in security black and looked absolutely bored out of his mind. Kat could see the look in his brown eyes and drooped facial expression and she didn’t blame him. She was bored out of her mind too when she was working communications. At least until the death threat she intercepted which lead her to this point.
The guard asks for ID and purpose, both of which Kat gives freely and quickly. He tells Kat they are now going to scan her ship for ID’ing purposes and anything done on the planet against Conglomerate rules can and will get the ship and its crew grounded. He looks away from Kat for a long pause and taps at something out of Kat’s view. Then shrugs and tells her she’s clear to go and to enjoy her stay. Once the guard turns off the connection, Whisper tells Kat that she had to manipulate their scan a tad. They were doing thermal ID scans and Graven was in the middle of the middle of the crates as they scanned which masked him. Whisper found out through her own quick scan that Graven has a unique thermal signature. There is a small sphere-shaped area near his heart that is extremely hot and it's all contained in the sphere. Whisper didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when she was operating on him but his thermal suggests that something is definitely there. Kat thanks Whisper and tells her to keep a camera on it because that was the easy part.
Now they have to get down to the planet and make their delivery without getting caught. Approaching the planet Kat gets into another line. There is only one entrance and one exit into and out of the planetary shields which are right next to each other. Gigantic rings large enough for a small space station to pass through open and close per ship. A matching one is to Kat’s left for the exit. Ryker was always anal about security and around his planet shows no less than that.
