Local space around Cavaras, Corti Directorate Core World
Darragh Houston wasn’t really sure what the hell was going on. Which was not to say that he didn’t know what was happening; there wasn’t much to interpret about the fact that they were dropping out of warp into local space around Cavaras, a Corti core world, nor that they were there to find the legendary Adrian Saunders. What eluded Darragh was any kind of understanding as to exactly why it was happening and why it needed to involve him. It was no secret that the Corti Directorate had voted in favour of containing humanity and as far as Darragh was concerned if the Corti wanted nothing to do with humans then the feeling would be mutual.
Then there was Jennifer, whom the others affectionately called Jen, or Miss Jen. Darragh did not feel comfortable doing either as she was by far the most terrifying person he’d ever encountered. There were those incidents of her own that she blamed for her demeanor, and those would have been very unpleasant experiences to be sure, but how much of that was simply an excuse to do whatever she pleased?
Darragh had seen the dressing down she’d given a few of the aliens who had apparently already known about what Adrian Saunders was up to; she had been quiet, firm and so intense that Darragh would have preferred getting into a fight with a Vulza over being on the other end of it.
She had also ignored any queries about what she intended to do should she actually find Saunders – Darragh didn’t think it likely on a world of Cavaras’ population – and Darragh suspected that she didn’t really know. These were the confusing actions of a woman responding to her emotions, and therefore no logic could apply.
He just had to let the whole mess unravel and hope to survive it. This was a Corti world, of course, so that was far from encouraging for his prospects of dying from old age or natural causes. He might have joked that if he had to die then he wanted to go quietly in his sleep and not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car, but upon recent reflection he’d be fine if it wasn’t in somebody else’s fight, or indeed in his own.
“Not that I want to suggest that you don’t have some kind of plan,” he said to Jennifer as their vessel slipped into a holding orbit and began relaying ID information to the Planetary Control operatives who had no doubt shit themselves when a Celzi Alliance Cruiser decloaked in high orbit. “But…” he continued, “do we actually?”
Jennifer sighed. “It’s more like a work in progress.”
Darragh’s heart sank. “So that’s a no, then.”
“Look, it’s a big planet, but we know where all the violence has been happening so we don’t need to search the whole world over,” she said. “He doesn’t know we’re coming, unless he has spies I don’t know about, and we’ll be in disguise.”
Darragh raised a questioning eyebrow, although he was relieved to know they wouldn’t be going in a as widely feared and despised humans. “Disguise?”
She held up some hairy masks, her lips twitching with a hint of amusement. There seemed to be some unexplained joke that only she was aware of. “Oh yes,” she said lightly, “we’ll be going in as uman-hays”
+++++
Cavaras, Corti Directorate Core World
Adrian had just finished his morning exercises and was drinking a big glass of water when the sensors lit up.
The water ended up everywhere else as he saw exactly what had dropped into orbit. A Celzi Alliance Cruiser this far from the front was not a likely scenario, or at least not as likely as the odds that it belonged to a certain pirate crew.
“Charming,” Askit said, his voice dripping with sarcasm every bit as much as the rest of him dripped with Adrian’s backwash. “This is why we don’t need a pet.”
“That is a fucking cruiser!” Adrian exclaimed, looking at the scans in more detail. “With extensive aftermarket modifications!”
“Yes,” mused Askit as he wiped himself dry. “Planetary Control must be wiping off their chairs just about now. Can I assume that this is the person whom you do not want to see?”
Adrian frowned. “It’s not that I don’t want to see her, mate. It’s just that…”
“It’s just that you don’t want to see her,” Askit finished. “You really are useless outside of a fight, aren’t you?”
Adrian felt his expression harden. “That’s why I don’t want to see her.”
“If that’s true then why have you been so meticulous about grooming yourself?” Askit asked pointedly. “I note the blue hair is gone and your skin is back to a vibrant red.”
“There are two fucking problems with what you just said,” Adrian replied as he glared at the little Corti. “Firstly, this is the godawful fucking rash from the reversal treatment, and second, this is scratching not grooming. My fucking skin is driving me fucking nuts.”
“Ah,” Askit said, enlightened. “It was so vivid that I thought it must be some sort of mating display.”
Adrian paused, frowning. “You’re just fucking with me aren’t you?”
Askit smirked. He had been.
Adrian laughed. “Well, not bad. You had me going for a bit. But what do you do when someone you’re trying to avoid comes looking for you in something like that?”
“Pretend that we’re not home?” Askit suggested weakly. “Or you could follow Gdugnir’s advice and shoot her.”
“I don’t want her dead!” Adrian said firmly, although he knew the Corti wasn’t being serious. “I just want her safe.”
“Really?” ask Askit in mock surprise. “Because I just happen to know someone who is not to be messed with. He even destroyed a few teams of mercenaries and took down a corporate conspiracy. With the help of his trusted and absolutely amazing Corti companion, of course!”
“And pilot,” Gdugnir added from where she had been quietly watching the exchange.
“And pilot,” Askit repeated. “Do you think he might be up to the job of protecting someone who has her own warship?”
There was silence for a moment; Askit had said some things that made too much sense to ignore, but it wasn’t the answer that Adrian wanted. He was an attack dog and that might be good when something needed destroying but when something needed to remain standing it really didn’t help at all.
He should run, but there wasn’t really anywhere to run to. In the whole universe there didn’t seem like there was any place for him to be. Not since the Zhadersil had died.
He sighed. “Fuck it. Send them a message. Let them know where to meet us.”
“Good idea,” Askit replied. He didn’t move.
Adrian stared at him dully. “You’ve already done it, haven’t you?”
Askit smiled. “I said it was a good idea. I just came up with it first.”
+++++
Jennifer Delaney. Mid-twenties, space-babe pirate queen and colonial governor. Big step up from I.T. when you thought about it, even if none of it could be put down on a resume.
She was also surprised and confused, two emotions that normally appear when your secret visit not only turns out to be expected but you also receive an invitation.
“What are we waiting for?” Darragh complained. “Let’s just go meet him so we can leave. The Directorate aren’t happy we’re here.”
“The Directorate can all stick it up their arses,” Jen snapped. “I’m trying to decide what to wear.”
“Those are guns!” he replied. “I thought you just wanted to meet this fellow!”
Jen sniffed. They weren’t all guns, one was a prototype stun baton, but she took his point. She didn’t want to kill Adrian… well, she didn’t want to kill him right now, anyway. “Maybe just the baton,” she decided after a further moment. “And the anti-tank gun.”
“Jesus,” Darragh breathed, somehow managing to grow a little paler than his normal milky white pigment.
Jen considered him for a few moments, and frowned. Once upon a time she would have considered a stout Irish lad like Darragh to be a good catch. Now he just seemed like a weakling, like someone who might get in her way.
That bothered her for some inexplicable reason.
“If we do meet him,” she told him as she holstered her gear, “leave it to me. Don’t try and fight him.”
“I’m not weak,” he protested. “If he tries to hurt you-“
“If Adrian tries to hurt someone,” Jen interrupted bluntly, “he’ll bloody well do it.”
He turned his eyes downward at that.
“And Darragh,” she continued, pausing for his attention before continuing. “You are weak.”
He was taken aback by that; he was lost for words and she knew she had hurt him. It felt good to hurt someone else for a change – a human that was, aliens didn’t count – even if it made her feel a little guilty. That he was hurt only showed she was right, and if he wanted to survive in this miserable fucking universe he’d have to learn to be strong. Otherwise you were just a target; White had taught her that.
“Take a standard pulse gun,” she told him. “It’ll help against the locals but it won’t force Adrian to kill you if things go bad.”
“Is that likely to happen?” Darragh asked, looking at the gun with a worried frown. She wondered if that meant he’d never used one before, and reckoned it likely.
Jen sighed, she was tired of waiting, tired of chasing after Adrian, and just plain old fucking tired. “Who even fucking knows anymore? Let’s just get this over with, whatever it is.”
+++++
Askit sat on the big and important chair and waited for the human woman to arrive. He wasn’t sure why Adrian was so afraid of her – everything he said of her was nice – but he had an unpleasant feeling that in spite of Adrian’s assurances that this meeting would go ‘fucking pear-shaped’ even if he wasn’t there.
At least he had the decency to be observing by hover camera, if you could call that decency. Askit wasn’t sure why he kept doing what the mad human told him to, but he was increasingly suspicious that it was against entirely against his better judgment.
The place that Askit had chosen had been a well thought out exercise, or at least it had seemed to be at the time. An unused warehouse with plenty of space and nowhere from which a cunning trap or ambush may be sprung. Now that he was here, however, it just seemed like an elaborate ruse to make everybody think that way. Or maybe that was just him.
It wasn’t just him.
The doors to the warehouse swung open, and a red-haired human woman strode in. She had a stern expression, an obviously tailored outfit, and an anti-tank gun. She was flanked by a pale skinned human male, less finely dressed and less well armed, and an uncomfortable looking pair of soldiers comprising of a male Gaoian and a male Chehnasho. Most likely the ‘Chir’ and ‘Kermit’ that Adrian had spoken to him of.
Jennifer Delaney immediately took in her surroundings and aimed the anti-tank gun directly at Askit. “This is a trap, isn’t it?”
Askit shrank back into his seat and raised his hands, all too aware of how ineffectual hands were against a weapon that would turn him into a grey coloured smear.
“It’s not a trap!” he called out. “I know it looks like one but it isn’t! It’s just a very poorly chosen building!”
“I was expecting… someone else,” she said, still keeping the gun aimed. “My men are going to come over there and search you now. If you try anything, I’ll have you know that I’m as fine shot as you could hope for.”
Askit fervently hoped that she was actually a terrible shot like Adrian had described, and not a lethally accurate sharpshooter like he had the feeling she’d turn out to be. It was beginning to seem as though Adrian’s information was out of date.
Or maybe this was just his way of getting back for the irritant Askit had snuck into the skin balm Adrian had been using. That sneaky bastard hadn’t shown any sign of knowing, though… surprisingly cunning from a man who so often seemed like a blunt instrument. At any other time Askit would have been pleased by the improvement.
“You’re looking for Adrian Saunders,” Askit told them as they checked him and his chair over – it was just a chair, what did they think they were checking for!? – and proceeded to fall back in line with Jennifer once satisfied. “I’m his associate! And his unwilling volunteer as envoy.”
She stared at him, her eyes narrowed. Some sort of human death stare, he was sure of it; he could practically feel the intense fury coming off of her. This human may actually be more terrifying than Adrian in her subtlety.
“So he’s run away again?” she asked, her words slow and clear. There was a tightness in her voice that indicated stress, and she was still pointing the gun at him.
“No!” Askit cried out. “Please, I don’t want to die just because he’s shy! He’s watching through the camera!”
He pointed at the hover camera nearby, and they turned their attention to it. Jennifer shot it out of the air with the kind of precise aim that Askit had been afraid of.
“Do you think I conveyed my disappointment?” she asked tersely, then turned the weapon back to Askit. “Tell me where he is.”
“Alright!” Askit cried out. He wasn’t being paid enough for this kind of treatment. He wasn’t being paid at all!
“Please, just relax and focus on not shooting the innocent Corti who hasn’t done anything wrong,” he said, still pressing himself back into his chair. He wondered what it was about humans that made them so… this!
“Just tell me what I want to know,” Jennifer Delaney told him. “Then we can part ways.”
“Yes, alright,” Askit said. “He’s-“
The micro-communicator in his ear activated.
It was Adrian. “Askit, you-“
“I’m not cut out for this Adrian!” Askit hissed back, interrupting him. “I’m just going to tell her!”
“No, that’s not- Fuck!” Adrian was interrupted by the sound of an explosion.
The noise was painful through the communicator, sitting so close to Askit’s eardrum, but then he heard the same explosion without it.
All eyes turned to the exit.
“What was that?” Jennifer demanded, looking at Askit in immediate suspicion.
“I’ve got no idea,” Askit replied, listening for anything more from the communicator and getting nothing. It was possible the intense sound had killed it, but it was also possible that it hadn’t been what had been killed. He grimaced. “I need your help,” he said. “I think Adrian is in serious trouble.”