Book I
E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-4835-4514-1
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
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3 From outside Darren could tell Malik was setting up for the short night rush. The short night was an unofficial name for the passing of a shadow across the northern half of the planet. Once a day, on the junkyard rock, the smaller moon passed in front of the sun causing a solar eclipse. The eclipse lasted for several hours signaling the second shift end for most laborers. The long coat Darren acquired from a slightly barrel chested man on his way through the markets, hung loosely around his shoulders. No one stood out in the crowd loitering around the entrance. He moved inside with a small group, and broke formation into a corner booth, to better observe the doorway. Once the short night rush was in full swing, he approached the bar. The hood of his new coat was pulled down to hide his face, but not so much as to diminish his peripheral vision. "What'll it be?" Malik asked. "How about your life!!!" Darren remarked coldly. Malik's eyes shifted toward a group of unfamiliar faces, and he motioned towards the end of the bar. The lighting was less pronounced, and the crowd was better for concealing an exchange. Signaling to one of the servers to cover the bar Malik walked down to find Darren seated on the last stool. "Why did you sell me out?" Darren asked, slowly looking up you see Malik's eyes. "The ship was planted, the bounty hunters found you". Malik said. "They're going to be looking for you here as well." "They say who was paying for me?" Darren asked. "Either way, they want you Darren." Malik snapped. "They want you bad enough to threaten my business, and my life." "If that's the case" Darren said "I need a good jumper". "You're right." Malik said "That a steep ride Darren I'll help if I can, but you need to go. Meet me at the sky watch observatory". The skywatch observatory was a relic. Before a planet could get support from the fleet, it had to either be of strategic importance, or house a reasonable population. The observatory was no more than a decommissioned security system, from a time when the planet was scarcely inhabited. Its replacements were orbiting the planet. A number of the Greatan fleets unmanned interceptor stations kept valiant watch over the flights on and off planet. When the interceptors arrived the observatories continued to function during the interceptor setup, but sat untouched after its completion. Complacency and overconfidence were the defining characteristics of the Greatan, and Ifrian armed forces. Darren had made his living exploiting them. Malik hadn't specified a time, but Darren Knew he would close up his business as usual, to avoid suspicion. A whisper in the darkness startled Darren awake, "Who's there?" he whispered in response. Malik stepped into the dim moonlight, which shone in through the abandoned lobby's skylight. He was accompanied by two additional shadows. One of the men stood in the shadows, slightly taller than Malik's height, and towered over them all. "Bad news" Malik said. "The local jumpers were paid off by the bounty hunters Darren" The taller shadow pushed Malik to the aside, and the shorter one stepped into his place. Darren could see the shorter strangers face enough to know he wasn't ifrian. Genetically modified sentient beings, weren't approved by any nation officially. Darren wasn't sure what creature the man had been combined with, or why, but he knew genetic mods were illegal in most of governed space. Because modified men were illegal experiments, they weren't typically known for their pleasant line of work. "I can't pay you enough to double cross the bounty hunters" Darren said, "not with Money" "I'm listening" said the man-beast. Darren was glad loyalty was for sale, but his mind was racing for his next move. Reaching into the inside pocket of his new long coat he remembered something, and removed the glowing egg. The Man-beast stepped back with a gasp as if Darren had pulled the head of an emperor out. The larger shadow stepped forward, and looked closely. He was silent for a moment, and then laughed a little. His laughter grew to a thunderous level. "Look Elemis, it's your baby brother" The tall man said. The man-beast Elemis didn't look as amused; something in his eyes showed a pain that he quickly regained his control over. The taller man, Darren could tell was Greatan, taller than Darren originally thought, the towering jokester, was a giant. He was almost half of Malik's height taller than Darren. Malik was the second tallest in the room, and had been teased as a child for his height… "I'll take the little guy" the shadow caster bellowed snatching the egg from Darren's hand, and pocketing it. Darren wasn't sure why the giant man wanted a vicious monster, but he didn't care. The quickness that he had accepted Darren's off made him consider the possible value of egg, but he had a plan for the situation. Darren had a contingency for most situations, and he always tried to come out on top. "Follow me" Elemis said. He beckoned to Darren, directing him toward a balcony. He proceeded to give Darren the wonderful news that a landing was canceled by the crew who were supposed to be smuggling him. "They say a lot of bad people have been seen recently, and they think it's you they are after" he told Darren. "So" Darren prompted. "So if they won't come down, I'll have send you up" he said to Darren grinning. The smile was cold, and grotesque because of the mouth full of razor-like utensils. Something about a man shaped face, containing the teeth of a hound bothered Darren. "It works fine" Elemis reassured Darren. "Don't let him tell you" the tall one said laughing again, "he used it once when he looked like you" "Shut up you over grown child" Elemis retorted. Teleportation wasn't widely used or trusted when Darren went into hiding. Darren turned toward the big one, and pushed past him to address Malik. "You trust these guys?" Darren asked "I don't even trust you my friend" Malik said smiling. Darren knew Malik saw what he had done, as he brushed the giant in passing. Malik had taught Darren how to do it. The big guy grabbed Darren, and lifted him from the ground over his head. "What are you doing?" Darren yelled. "You paid for a ride brother" the giant yelled. "Have a safe trip" "Now" Elemis commanded. The giant hurled Darren from the balcony through a jump ring. "How was the ride?" asked a strange voice. "I never used Jump technology before" Darren said, "I'm old-fashioned. After getting his balance back, Darren checked his long coat. Just inside the pocket he could see the faint glow. He had purchased his ride for nothing, and swiped the egg from the giant. Malik had seen him do it, and Darren thought it a nice memory to leave his friend with. The pilot introduced the crew by turning in a circle. Wreck, was the ships maintenance officer. Crash, or the equivalent in his language, was the medical officer, and the pilot was reverently referred to as Collision. Darren was used to aliases in his lifestyle, he just hoped the crew was labeled for shock value, and not there defining talents. The pilot asked where Darren was planning to be dropped, and he could only think of one planet. The Ifrians wouldn't think he would be stupid enough to return to their territory, least of all the capital planet. Darren was tired of running from bounty hunters from this or that nation. Although he thoroughly enjoyed his career in the business of warfare, he wanted a way out. He had been on the run, trying to gather the funds necessary to disappear, for a long time, when he'd come across a certain high ranking Ifrian Armada officer in need of his skills. Darren thought the pay would allow him to disappear, and live comfortably, but things went astray of his plans. The Ifrian high council had placed him at number three on the kill or capture for reward list, making it unreasonably tempting for everyone to betray him. The General of the ifrian armada had been the catalyst for Darren's worst offence. He had unknowingly aided in the liberation of three planets. In the ifrian territory, one shipment of light conversion rockets were worth a fortune, so he had trouble saying no. The ifrian equivalent General played him like a pawn. He used Darren to supply his home planets rebel fighters, without ever touching a weapon. The use of Darren's hardware had never been of great concern to him. His philosophy was that if he didn't supply the weapons, someone else would. The only difference he could see was who would get paid. Unfortunately for Darren, General Aviones Gash was a skilled backstabber, and with an anonymous call, identifying the group's supplier. Darren was recorded, doing the deed in digitally recorded splendor. He saw the footage on transit craft windows, sky port gates, and even replayed across the surface of small planetoids. He had dreamed as a child he would be a celebrity, but never wanted his fame to come from terrorism. Darren's brother Victor was the lead investigator for the high council's war criminal task force. That was where he was heading. The only leverage he had to reduce his kill or capture bounty was resting against his chest. He had his own footage of the weapons exchange. His...
