Cutlass Sharpened (50 page)

“
Time to go boys!” Jessica
yelled out loud over the clatter of blades.

Oliver and Stone had labored breathing and
the former returned the knife that slipped back into hiding within
the forearm. Stone huffed as his helmet retracted “Practice is
certainly paying off. Your precision is better than when we last
exchanged blows.”

“
I find moving through the
motions I was taught is as beautiful as a woman’s body.”

“
As do I, Brother!” Stone
slapped a heavy hand on Oliver’s back. “It gets the blood pumping
and adrenaline flowing like a really good woman.”

“
That’s because it’s the
same thing.” Told Renee. “Both require a battle with our bodies to
achieve victory.”

“
Too true, Ms. Dorgen.”
Stone smiled calmly as they filed into the sailboat shuttle and
were soon off to return to Verard. They entered the thick
atmosphere and aimed mostly at the monolith of King’s Tusk Tower.
Jessica flew this time and both Oliver and Stone spoke of
yesterday.

“
Speaking of the lab.”
Jessica jumped in and the two men as well as Renee looked to her.
“I did digging on my own.”

“
Did you find anything
interesting?” Renee wondered.

“
I’d say so. It’s one hell
of a conspiracy. There is no way the prison could afford the tech I
sifted through from finances, not even for a single clone stasis
and growth chamber could be bought. Cloning is punishable by death
to begin with and those experiments clearly overstep that ironclad
law. Whoever sponsored them is a mystery and whoever procured it is
in for a class one felony by having Keptl spores on hand, they
deserved to be castrated
before
being hung. They hid their tracks even from me
which is remarkable. I can’t even find where Wrangler was getting
the supplies, but I did find out why he was complicit in such
grievous experiments.

“
His wife Juliah died fifty
six years ago. He was trying to bring her back to life. Apparently
the Keptl spores were used to gather the essence of her very energy
we lose upon death. The theory is sound since spores do in fact
absorb the host’s psionic energy. The problem is there is no
solution to
stop
the infestation from taking over the body and becoming Keptl
influenced and go on a murder streak. Wrangler was trying to
resurrect his own dead wife.”

“
How did she die?” Renee
asked. “Did Papa do it?”

“
Not directly, no. There was
a rogue faction who pirated off the helpless. Rape and murder was
their calling card. Jake had the Dorgenox respond to an emergency
beacon and went in alone to deal with the bad kind of pirates who
was not aligned under him as king. Apparently before Jake’s arrival
Juliah Wrangler and the warden were hiding, but he was unconscious.
The bandits found her and slit her throat after raping her
repeatedly.

“
When Wrangler eventually
came to, Jake stood over her. He was beyond reasoning that Jake
didn’t do it after he had saved the remaining crew and killed those
responsible for a long list of crimes that still makes my hair
stand on end to this day. Ever since, Wrangler blames Jake for
Julia’s death and has been focused on bringing her back and didn’t
care who stood in his way.”

“
Why do I feel sad?” Oliver
asked.

“
Empathy.” Jessica looked
over her shoulder to smile kindly. “Hearing that can make you
associate that no matter how much of a monster he had become. His
misguided life was all to bring back a lost love.”

“
But I’m confused as to why
cloning is illegal.”

“
Renee, you better take
this.” Jessica said.

“
Sure.” She turned to her
match. “Well, originally cloning was seen as a religious taboo, but
once it was discarded to the winds of time, cloning took off. The
clones of those days revolted. Sometimes medics of old used to
clone just organs to repair degraded organs that were failing in
people. With the discovery of bio-immortality, organs now
regenerate like limbs on reptiles. The need to clone organs became
obsolete, but full clones were found to be mentally unstable. They
weren’t stupid, but they had anger issues that make a swarm of
Keptl look like cuddly puppies. Their revolt killed nine hundred
and sixteen million people in a fifteen year period. Since we
regenerate all damaged organs anyway, we don’t need to clone
organs. Besides, I can make up a solution to increase cellular
division to fully grow back any organ in no more than six hours.
Add to the fact of nanites, cloning isn’t a more efficient method
anymore. There is no more genetic birth defects with every known
human malady being cured. Good health is no longer a struggle. Why
create a defective creature if there is no need? Our lives are
indefinite if we are carful. Cloning doesn’t matter. And after the
revolt it was illegal to clone. If a clone was found the creator
was hung and the creation sent somewhere remote to not be a danger
to anyone. If they were too dangerous they would be humanely
killed.”

“
Oh, that makes sense. But
what do Keptl spores do?”

“
Well all Keptl spores are,
is actually their dried blood. When mixed with fresh, they mutate
humans or other creatures like a virus. It not like spores plants
make. We call it infestation due to the fact the spores reshape
parts of the body and the individual becomes a destructive killing
machine doing whatever they are commanded, which usually ends up
being told to kill and eat. Watch out for Defilers. They spit their
own blood and if it gets on skin it’ll be too late. Spore
infestation is fast, agonizing and evolving faster than any cure
can be made. It is a mercy to behead the person before being taken
over.”

“
Before becoming full
Hunters, young children spend twenty years on the front lines. We
fight both Beast and Keptl, but no one would dare touch an infested
corpse barehanded let alone roast it over a fire for eating.”
Satellite chirped.

Oliver filed that knowledge away as they made
ready for landing.

As a group they made way for the pyramid
shaped main hub of Galicom. The road was as busy as last time, but
the crowds gave extra room. Not because of three breathtaking women
in lovely sundresses and high heels nor the green and pinkish
Drakes, but for the two overgrown men capable of crushing skulls
with a single hand.

Oliver smiled as Renee took control of his
hand by threading her fingers with his. He was in awe of her styled
beauty and the flattering dress that lightly caressed her curves.
He swallowed hard as she noticed his gaze linger on her chest and
discretely made the material expose slightly more cleavage and
winked. His stumble had her hiss lightly “Keep gathering,
Idiot.”

“
Then
stop
doing that. You know what is does
to me.”

Renee grinned wider. “Yup.”

He could only chuckle as they walked through
the doors and called the elevator they all fit inside with room to
spare.

The renewal section opened and again the room
was as sparse as before. Renee’s gaze didn’t take long in locating
bright blue hair and she released holding hands to loudly click her
heels on the hard floor. Soldiers from last time instantly
recognized the fiery redhead and the armored giant and went to lay
hands on their weapons. Sparky though entered their minds and
whatever he said had them relax.

The woman behind the desk smiled brightly.
“Hello. And welcome to Galicom. My name is Mary. How may I help
you?”

“
Ah, I forgot how annoying
your screeching voice is! Look here utters, where is my visa
pearl?”

Mary tilted her head and at last recognized
who stood before her. She smiled manically. “Oh, it’s you. I
thought you were taken to jail.”

Renee grabbed the table so hard her knuckles
went white and leaned in. “We didn’t have anything to do with the
bombing, Bimbo. You accused the wrong people. Now renew our
visa.”

“
Like, have you been in
prison or something? Don’t you know, EEK!”

Mary squeaked as Renee went to jump over the
table and strangle her, but Oliver’s large arms were steel bands
around her waist as he lifted her kicking and cursing. He stepped
away and yelled “RENEE!!! ENOUGH!!!”

“
No one this fucking
annoying should be a receptionist!”

“
People skills, Red.” He
said, letting her feet hit the ground.

“
My people skills are just
fine!” she huffed. “My tolerance for morons, that needs work.” Her
chest heaved.

Sparky stepped between Renee
and the woman to look at Mary who seemed so oblivious to the danger
as she still had that plastered smile on.
“Mary, tell us why you cannot renew the visa. It is imperative
you do not anger my rider further, nor me.”

“
Oh, well our operations in
Galicom are being denied access. The servers that run basic space
travel and starship manufacturing are being hijacked. Here is the
news report.” She twirled her finger in the air and a holo-screen
appeared.

“
This is Amanda Lockwell
reporting from GNN on Verard, the Galactic News Network. Today is
day three of the lockdown at Galicom’s primary starship factory.
Millions are still without any hope of many basic Terran Network
access. Marines sent in were all expelled completely naked as the
terrorist Davan Took finally had this to say.” The screen switched
to a grainy video of a blue skinned man with two black lines
running vertically over his head. The lines pass over his eyes and
near encircles everything. His voice was as soft as his features.
He was far from intimidating, but it showed his strength lay in the
mind. “My name is Davan Took, former employee of Galicom’s
scientist division concerning Time-space Energy and Warp
Technology. I was fired for no other reason than an incident not of
my own doing. The footage of me killing my own assistants was
falsified by someone in the upper echelon of Galicom who wants to
steal my research. Until I either get the footage of the murders
cleared and get my innocence proven or I get ten billion credits,
I’ll make
sure
no
one will enjoy the ease that Galicom has pulled the wool over your
eyes with convenience and shiny new things to buy. Those are my
demands. Chose well.” The screen switched back to anchorwoman
Amanda Lockwell. “And there you have it folks. As of right now the
Marines are not saying a word as to the validity of the suspected
murders and all attempts to gain entry have been proven
ineffective. Since our soldiers cannot gain entrance, Captain Stav
is calling for any class one Hunters who can root out the madman.
As to other news, President Chandler of Galicom has this to s…” the
screen disappeared.

Mary’s manic grin stayed on. So did her high
pitched voice. “So, like, as you can tell… my hands are tied. You
can feel free to leave a complaint, but till that terrorist is
found you’re out of luck. You can come back later when the
situation is like, resolved.”

Jessica said “Then can’t you suspend the
hours the Dorgenox has left before we start getting fined?”

“
Without the servers, the
time will continue to accumulate.” Mary responded matter of
fact.

Oliver kept one hand on Renee who still
smelled of hatred, but turned to Stone and Satellite. “What do you
two think? Should we go and try our luck?”

Hunter and companion looked to each other.
Satellite shrugged his wings. “Beats sitting around, Stone. It’ll
be like old times breaking into Valdez square all over again.
Perhaps Galicom defenses may be interesting to run as a
gauntlet.”

“
I like the way you think.”
Stone calmly smirked and went to the desk. “Miss, which factory is
the criminal hiding in?” Mary gave details.

“
Are you seriously going in
there?” Renee had to ask. He nodded. “Fine, but you’ll need a medic
as backup. You head that way and I’ll go get my synthesizer I left
back in my med bay.” He nodded and she passed Sparky to hold her
hand out to the woman. “I want the visa pearl back right
now.”

Mary pulled out her desk and gave over the
topaz marble. “Please come back if you don’t die. And if you do,
it’s been a pleasure.” It was impossible to tell if she meant
it.

“
Sparky, want to fly out
that window to get my ship?” He dipped his muzzle.

“
What about us?” Jessica
asked as Renee climbed up on her partner.

“
You’re in Galicom.” She
rolled her eyes. “Spend the day shopping or go to the movies. This
place can keep you entertained for weeks. We’ll be back long before
then.”

“
You had better be careful.
If Jake finds out…”

“
You won’t tell Papa
anything. I’m just as capable of doing this as he is. If
he
goes all hell will
break loose. At least with me no one will get seriously hurt.”
Sparky went to the nearest window which opened to a balcony both he
and Rose took off from.

“
Enjoy yourselves.” Stone
told the two women. “Brother, we should arrange
transport.”

The shuttle wasn’t long in coming after being
called and soon they landed behind a ring of hovering soldier
crafts. Someone of rank was ordering the shuttle to leave and it
did, but not before dropping off its three passengers. Oliver
stared over the approaching men to find the building to be gigantic
to be putting it mildly. It was easily sixteen kilometers long by
twenty wide and five tall. It clearly produced some massive
starships. The officer touched his collar and his helmet retracted.
He was clearly displeased, but said “Give me one good reason you
flew in a no fly zone?”