On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (22 page)

He caught up with the others, who were well on the way back to the shuttle, when the buildings around him appeared to flash bright orange in colour. Moments later, he heard a huge explosion, and a blast of air knocked him forwards, causing him to stumble into Onon in front of him. He turned around to see a great fireball rising into the sky.

“Keep going!” he yelled. The others didn’t need prompting, and they were very shortly back on the shuttle, and taking off. As much as Nero wanted to get back to the base as soon as possible, he flew via a meandering route, hoping that any watchers would lose track of them.

One question was going through his mind the whole flight back. How did they find us?

****

Sevi was enjoying herself, having recently found a new passageway in the warehouse. It was a shaft, really, that was hidden behind the walls of the building, leading from the upper to the lower floors. She had discovered that it was directly behind the main meeting room, but was completely undiscoverable from the room itself, the entrance being on the upper level.

Sevi had been in there when the alarm went off, and everyone rushed into the room to grab their weapons. She had heard Nero say he was heading off, and had heard him tell Nate to keep an eye on her. That had amused her. Nate’s offer to stay here had confused her, though. He was the one who always wanted to be at the front of the action. She admired him for that, and she wanted to find out why he wasn’t going with them.

Climbing back out of the shaft, she was getting annoyed at the droning siren, and the voice that kept saying ‘Code Red’. “Yes, I know, thank you,” Sevi muttered, as she stood up again in the upper room. She looked out of the window, which looked down onto the main area of the warehouse, to see Nero and the others running onto the matte black shuttle that Nero was so proud of.

The ramp closed in short order, and the brilliant blue engines lit up, turning the interior of the warehouse a bright blue. The ship spun sharply around, the warehouse doors already opening, and accelerated hard out of the building as soon as the doors were open enough. The warehouse reverted to its much darker state as soon as the ship had left, the light now coming from standard white lighting strips in the ceiling, and the strobing red warning lights.

As soon as the shuttle had left, Sevi watched as Nate emerged from the meeting room, heading over to the small side door in the warehouse. Her curiosity piqued, Sevi climbed out of the upper window, and climbed along the side of the office building within the warehouse, soon reaching the metal skin of the main warehouse building. By this time, Nate was at the side door, and was just passing through. Sevi slid down a metal support that was part of the warehouse’s structure, and landed on the ground.

Carefully, not wanting to be caught, she moved over to the door that Nate had just passed through. Pushing it open a crack, she stuck her head out. No sign of him. She opened it a bit more and slid out into the night air, closing the door behind her. She was in a wide alley, and to the left and right there was no sign of Nate. That left just the one option really. There was a smaller alley that led off this one, a short way up the alley she was in. She headed that way.

On rounding the corner, sure enough, she saw Nate’s back disappearing along the alley, moving at some speed. Sevi ran to catch up to him. Eventually, Nate slowed, glancing behind himself as he did. Sevi, ever quick to react, dived behind a nearby dumpster, her heart hammering in her chest. She didn’t think he'd seen her. She risked a peek out, and was relieved to see Nate walking slowly along the alley now, still away from her.

Sevi moved forward at a crouch, seeing an old discarded box up ahead that would serve as cover. Once she reached that, she saw that Nate had stopped just up ahead, at the intersection of another alley, and had turned to face someone. She couldn’t see who, since they were just around the corner. And, cursing herself, she realised she was too far away to hear what they were saying. But it looked to be important. Nate’s face, which she could see side-on, was very serious. More serious than it ever normally was, and they were talking for a long time. Sevi looked for any more cover up ahead, but she knew she’d be seen if she risked approaching.

“Shit,” she whispered to herself. Knowing that it was growing ever riskier staying here, she decided to head back up the alley, before Nate turned and discovered her. Checking that he was still in conversation, Sevi retreated back up the alley. She was pleased with herself for not being seen, and once back in the warehouse, sat down in the meeting room to wait.

She was still sat in there when Nate returned, five minutes later.

“What’cha doing?” she asked nonchalantly when he came in.

“Doing? Coming in here to find you, what else?” He gave her a smile. She returned it, not about to let him get off that easily.

“I saw you leave after Nero flew out of here.”

“Spying on me, were you?” Nate grinned, and tousled her hair. She pushed him away, eliciting another laugh. “You’re right, I went to meet someone. An old friend contacted me, saying she needed help. Turns out some gang killed her partner, and took all her possessions, but it’s not like I could do anything about that, was it? I don’t know why she contacted me, if I’m honest.”

Sevi stood up from her chair, satisfied with his explanation. “So why did the others head off so quickly?” she asked, walking over to the weapons rack to fondle one of the rifles.

Nate took it out of her hands, and replaced it on the rack. “You know you’re not allowed the rifles yet,” he said. “And I don’t know, is the answer to your question. We’ll have to find out when they’re back.” Sevi harrumphed, and left Nate in the meeting room.

CHAPTER TEN

THE WAREHOUSE

The man screamed. The sound echoed through the building, and it brought a smile to the man standing over him. The screaming man couldn’t see that, though, with the full-face helmet covering the other man’s face. He could hear the faint laugh, though, echoing from the voice unit.

“Come now,” the helmeted man said. “Why not tell us something? It will end all this.”

A slight gurgling sound came from the prisoner’s throat, as bloody fluid made its way down into the man’s lungs. He struggled to lift his head up, and faint words came spluttering from his mouth. “I... I don’t know. I just... I just distribute. The drugs. I... don’t... know.” The man’s head collapsed back onto his chest, his breathing coming ragged. Bloody froth began to ooze from the corner of his mouth.

The armoured man stood watching, towering over the man tied to the chair, and saw the other’s breathing become more and more shallow. Finally, the man started shaking uncontrollably, knocking the chair onto the floor, until finally he stopped moving, and stopped breathing altogether. The man watching turned to leave the room at that point, but before he could reach the door, it slid open of its own accord. Another armoured man stood in the doorway, and stepped through into the dark and smelly room. He glanced at the dead body sprawled on the floor, the head resting in a pool of red froth.

“Another one, ensign? Did this one have anything useful to say?”

“No, lieutenant. Nothing new.”

“Very well,” the lieutenant said. “Dispose of the body, and then we are leaving.”

Without waiting for a response, the lieutenant turned and left the room, heading back into the largest and most opulent room of the complex they had seized. He looked out of the view from the penthouse suite, in one of the more impressive Scrapers, and was amazed at how small the city was. He had never visited one of these planets all the way out on the edge of the galaxy before, and the dated infrastructure surprised him.

Turning back to the room, he saw the vacso still sitting on one of the vast, sunken, semicircular couches in the centre of the room. Also in the room were the other members of the lieutenant’s infiltration squad, complete with helmets and high-energy weapons strapped to their sides. The alien sat there in the middle looking like he wanted nothing more than to run out of the room, but didn’t dare. The lieutenant smiled to himself, behind the helmet.

“It is time to make yourself useful, alien.” It flinched slightly, when the lieutenant addressed it.

“Of course, lieutenant.”

“Good.” The lieutenant let the pause drag out. “Now, you were saying you were still in contact with your old organisation. Am I correct?” The alien nodded, staring at the lieutenant. “Excellent. We have a task for them.”

The lieutenant explained what was required of the alien, and then led the alien out of the apartment, together with his infiltration squad. They ascended to the building’s roof, and entered the lieutenant’s stealth-drive equipped high-speed shuttle.

****

A scene of carnage greeted Nero as he walked into the small home. The tables were upended, surfaces smashed, and there were small packets of qiameth pills strewn across the floor. Red powder covered the floor where the pills had been walked on, and over in the kitchen, a small pool of red liquid could be seen on the counter. He walked over to it, and saw that it was indeed blood. There was no body, however, which was the most worrying aspect.

Taking the time to pick up the few intact packets of qiameth, Nero turned and headed out of the apartment, back down in the lift to the ground floor. He emerged onto the street to find it was still pouring with rain outside. He looked up into the late afternoon sky and let the water droplets run down his face, closing his eyes for a moment.

Nate walked up as Nero stood there. “No luck?”

“No,” Nero answered without looking at Nate. “Same as all the other distributors. Trashed, and no sign of our guy.” He looked down at Nate, and tossed him the few packets with red pills in. “They left a bit of the product this time, though.”

Nate put the packets into one of his pockets. “So that’s all of them then. All missing.”

“Yep.”

“How are they finding them all?”

Nero sighed, and started to walk back down the street. “I don’t know, Nate. They must’ve got someone to talk. More than one person.”

Silence descended between them for a time, as they headed further into the city, walking past the odd pile of rubbish in the street. They changed to an adjacent street when the one they were walking down became almost completely blocked by a fire, the pounding rain doing nothing to put it out.

“I don’t understand why Aegis are involved,” Nero said, after a time. “Everyone knows they only bother with matters in the central systems. Why the hell are they out here?”

Nate glanced at Nero. “Well, you did bring down one of their cruisers. I doubt they’ll get that flying again.”

“It’s just a freighter. It’s not like it’s that important, otherwise why would they even send it all the way out here?”

“Maybe it was more important than we thought. Maybe it was carrying some other, more important cargo. Who knows. Or maybe, Aegis just wanted to pick a fight, and we were the unlucky ones that attracted their notice. But does it even matter? They’re here now.”

“They’re here now,” Nero echoed, “and I don’t know what to do. I can’t fight them. I can’t negotiate with them. I can’t do anything. They’re just toying with me. With us, and they know I can’t do a single damn thing in response.” The admission hurt more than he cared to admit, even if it was just Nate he was talking to. He hated feeling powerless.

“You could always go quiet for a time, wait things out. They’re not going to stick around for long,” Nate suggested.

“I’m not going to just roll over for them, Nate. You know I can’t do that. Even if there’s no hope, I will fight them. Otherwise what am I? A nobody.”

Nate looked down at the ground. “I knew you’d say that, man. And I admire you for it. Even if it is utterly stupid.” He looked back up at Nero and grinned. “So I take it you have a plan in progress, then?”

“Yeah, well, I’m not sure it can really be called a plan, but yeah. Remember those new weapon emplacements we got?” Nate nodded, having obtained them himself a couple of months back. “I think we might be able to put them to good use.”

Nate didn’t get the chance to reply, however, since both he and Nero spotted the flames licking up in the distance. “Oh shit...” Nero said. They were still a few streets away from whatever was on fire, but Nero had a feeling he knew what it was already.

He ran forward, accelerating away from Nate, and emerged into the street to see a large building engulfed in flames. All three stories of the place were glowing orange, and a pillar of smoke was snaking its way up and away into the sky.

Nate caught up with Nero a minute or so later, and stood next to him as they watched the furnace. They were the only ones around.

“Isn’t that...?”

“The bar. The one we often meet our distributors in. Yep.”

“Is there anywhere left they haven’t got to?” Nate asked.

“I--” Nero started to respond, but then a thought struck him. He hadn’t been to see Ami since the whole mess had started. If Aegis was so well-informed, was there a chance...?

“I’ve got to go, Nate,” Nero said, and not waiting for an answer, he turned around and ran. He stretched his augmented legs as fast as they would go, buildings rushing by him in a blur, passing street after street in virtually no time, finally arriving back at the warehouse barely out of breath. He headed straight for his shuttle once inside.

****

The door slid open without warning, and Ami jumped up from her seat, her book forgotten on the table. Standing in the doorway, a relieved expression on his face, was Nero.

“Where have you been?” she asked, once she’d recovered from the shock of him bursting into her apartment. “We were meant to meet last night.” The dark look in her eyes gave Nero pause for thought.

“What?” he said, taking a moment to switch context. “Oh, I’m sorry Ami. Something important came up. I had to leave for a short time.”

That wasn’t a satisfactory answer. “Of course you did, Nero. You’re always having to leave, or forgetting me altogether. I’ve had enough of it. I can’t take it anymore.” She turned her back on him, and walked over to the window, visibly calming herself down. “I hardly ever see you anymore, Nero. You’re always running your ‘business’, spending the night at the office, or wherever. I haven’t a clue. Do you remember the last time you spent the night here?”

“Look Ami,” Nero said. “I’m sorry you feel that way. But things are pretty fucked up at the moment. I’m in huge trouble and I’ve lost loads of people in the past couple of days. So I can appreciate how you feel, but this is the least of my problems at the moment. Okay?”

Ami sighed. “What trouble, Nero?” she asked in a deadpan voice.

“It’s not im--”

She cut him off. “What trouble are you in, Nero? And I do not want to hear that it’s best I don’t know. Tell me.”

He stayed silent for a moment, considering what to tell her. He walked over to the window to stand next to her. “You were right about the cruiser,” he finally began. “It was me. Though it was actually an accident. We didn’t mean to crash it, just to take some items from the cargo hold, but things sort of went sour.” Ami turned to look at Nero, who remained looking out of the window. “I also run a few other enterprises, that I guess most would frown upon. The qiameth, for instance. I import that stuff. Or at least, I did,” he said.

“You did?” Ami asked.

“Yeah, see, I think that cruiser crash may have annoyed the CSG. We stopped receiving the qiameth shipments a few days ago, so I went to the planet we get the stuff from. The whole place was deserted, with just dead bodies left. Strange, you know...?” Ami waited for him to continue. “Anyway, when I got back, I found one of my storage areas destroyed, and now all of my distributors are missing. And I’ve seen Aegis agents around.”

Ami turned fully to face him now, and reluctantly he did the same. “Aegis?” she said sharply. “Aegis agents are out here? On Dimora?”

“Yeah,” Nero replied.

“Oh shit, Nero. That’s bad. That’s so bad.” She brushed her hands through her hair, and walked back into the centre of the room. “Why did you have to make such a mess of things, Nero? What are you going to do now?”

“I haven’t decided yet, Ami. But I think you should move somewhere else, just to be safe. I don’t think anyone knows about us, but maybe you should go to your father. Just until things quieten down a bit, you know?”

“My father?” she asked. Perhaps that had been a poor suggestion. “You’re saying I should run back to my father? That’s not going to happen, Nero. And how can you think you have the right to tell me what to do, anyway? This is my life. I’m not going to run just because I didn’t ask the right questions when we met.”

Nero smiled faintly, attracted to her resilience in spite of himself. “Alright, Ami. In the meantime, I’m going to have to go. There are things that need to be sorted, okay?”

“Very well Nero,” Ami said “But I want to see you back here, soon.” He gave her a kiss, and headed towards the door. Before he could open it, however, Ami stopped him.

“Wait. Do you know what happened to my last boyfriend, Nero?”

He didn’t like to think about previous boyfriends. “No, I don’t,” he said, confused at the randomness of the question.

“He died,” she said, abruptly. “It was a stupid way to go. We’d had a bit much to drink at a club, and he decided he wanted some fresh air. So we went to the top of the Scraper, to the roof. And it was a beautiful night. There was a clear sky, and you could see the entire streak of stars across it. But then we went to the edge of the Scraper, and he climbed over the barrier. I think he was trying to impress me. Anyway, I let him. I’d had a few drinks as well, and he was being pretty funny. But then the wind kicked up, and I tried to persuade him to climb back over. And he did, but he stumbled part way over the barrier, and he went backwards. I watched his eyes go wide as the ground disappeared from under his feet, and he went over the edge. I heard him scream as he plunged downwards, into the darkness.” She paused, and gave Nero a piercing look. “I already lost one boyfriend, Nero. I don’t want to lose another.”

He didn’t know what to say in response. He just nodded, and silently left Ami’s apartment.

****

Talyah watched as Nate set up the last of the turrets. They were big, brutal looking machines, each with a laser mounted on a base that could spin around, and track targets. The laser itself could emit a continuous beam of energy for up to five seconds at a time, before requiring a moment to cool down. They looked like they would be able to repel a significant opposing force. Talyah hoped that they would be effective against Aegis.

She walked over to stand next to Nate, who looked up when she approached. “Tal, you good?”

“Everything is fine, Nate. This is the last turret, correct?”

“Yep,” Nate said, turning back to manipulating the controls on the holodisplay. “Five outside, and five inside. Let me just...” he finished setting up the turret, and stood up. “There. They’re set up to fire at anything moving, within their cones of vision, once we hit the activate button. Here,” he said, handing over a small control pad, with a holodisplay showing a pulsing red button. “Just hit that and these things activate.”

“Thank you, Nate,” Talyah said, pocketing the device. “I’ll try to make sure you’re behind them when I press it.”

“I would be grateful if you did. I quite like living.” Talyah gave him a small smile as she turned to head back to the main meeting room. Nate fell in beside her. “Do you know where Nero rushed off to?” he said, changing the subject.

“No, Nate. He didn’t elaborate on that point.” Talyah did have her suspicions about where Nero disappeared to on occasion, not that she’d ever let on to anyone. “I suspect he’ll be back soon.”

Indeed, not five minutes later, the warehouse doors opened to reveal Nero’s shuttle swooping in, which landed next to the other shuttles. Talyah went out to meet him, and on an impulse, once he had descended the boarding ramp, she reached out and gave him a brief hug.