Universe of the Soul (26 page)

Adri sighed judiciously. “And here I wanted a quiet visit.”

The gorgeyns began cheering as the leader threw the first punch.

They say that those with gifts are given heavy burdens. I doubted that statement for many years, since, apart from the disappearance of my parents, my life carried no unordinary weight. It was peaceful and fulfilling. I was never plagued with visions, or a sense of doom, nor even much by way of premonition that was not connected with common sense. My gifts gave me nothing but a keen sense of self, and if I was a little smug about them, I was only a child.

Things change so quickly sometimes, it leaves the mortal mind reeling.

The first time I had the dream, it was on the eve of my ascendance ceremony, where I gained my gem to safeguard my journeys into the Spirit Realm. I am not a visionary, nor do I have the gift of foresight, like some of my brethren do, so when it came, I was not concerned with memorizing details, as I would be later.

I was standing in a beautifully lit courtyard, with a strange moon rising over the distant hills. At first I thought I was alone, until a soft sound alerted me to another's presence. It was a woman, dressed in a long, flowing dress, staring off at the moon like I had been. I was surprised to see her so close, only a hand span away. But the surprise was quickly lost as she turned to me, her eyes wide with knowing. She didn't speak, nor has she ever spoken since, but there was a sense of… awareness between us.

I woke knowing that I had just seen my destiny, although I had no idea what the dream meant. Nor did I come any closer as the months passed with nothing to break the monotony of the monastic life I had always known. The dream came again periodically, with no new turn of events.

Until one night, as I looked at the sky in the dream, the stars wavered and changed to a familiar view, and the moon became the one that shines softly down on Junus. Suddenly the woman was with me, pointing to the sky. I followed her view, and saw a meteor shoot down, burning its way through the atmosphere.

The next morning, an Adept crashed into my world.

A
dri managed to duck the first swing, but there was no avoiding the second. She absorbed the punch to her face, allowing the motion to fling her head back. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the high bench that sat in front of the bar window. In a lightening fast move she whipped up her legs in a double kick, scattering her adversaries. Adri completed the move as a flip, landing feet first on top of the bench. She barely noticed that the moves were far smoother than any she had performed before, almost effortless. Seriously outnumbered as other gorgeyns joined the fight, she wished vainly for her ATF. Or a blaster. Or a heavy stick. Or even a stunt double. As it was, her best weapon was her feet, so she leaped over one pair of reaching arms, kneed a face that got too close, kicked a second, then leapt over yet another, pushing off from his shoulders to land a short distance away. If all this superb acrobatics were connected with being and Adept, she thought, then she was seeing the first upside.

Naturally, all she'd done was made them angry. Their scaly hides were as tough as their tempers were short. They whirled around, eyes gleaming, and rushed towards her. Now she had her feet on the ground, and some room to maneuver. Adri braced herself, fisted her hands, and prepared for a hell of a fight.

Five minutes later, the thoroughfare was littered with rubbish, bodies were strewn in heaps on the ground and over the bench, the bar window was shattered, and Adri felt as though Kobane had beaten her bloody again. With a solid thwack, she knocked her last opponent to the ground with the longer half of a service pole that had broken when she'd landed on it. Blood partially obscured her eyes, but a quick swipe with her arm cleared it up. A glance around had her whistling. So much for passing unnoticed. The fight had become pandemonium as some of the more rowdy patrons had left the bar joined in on either side.

Movement from the far corner by the door had her head jerking up in time to see that one of the remaining gorgeyns had finally cornered Blair. She ran towards them, not pausing as she bent to scoop up a blaster pistol someone had dropped in the confusion.

She needn't have bothered. The moment the gorgeyn raised its fist to begin pummeling, another figure appeared between the two. Adri skidded to a halt and blinked to bring him into focus, realizing it was the man who had been sitting next to her at the bar, the man who'd been the object of the gorgeyns' ire right before they had switched their sights to Adri.

“That's quite enough of you,” the man said softly. Even Adri, still several feet away, could hear the menace in his tone. “I suggest you stop now before you find yourself in worse odds than one human female and a handful of drunken idiots.”

The gorgeyn gaped. Adri didn't feel less surprised. The area had suddenly become full of men who looked very similar to the first. All tall humanoids with long hair either white or black, all with dark intense eyes; and all held postures that screamed predator. They had moved so silently that even Adri hadn't heard them. At last it clicked. The earlier taunting by the gorgeyns, the swift and deadly silent movements, and the human build with the exception of the elliptically shaped eyes. They were undarians. The gorgeyn must have realized the fact too, because his stance immediately became less aggressive and he took a hasty step back from the man and Blair.

Adri really couldn't believe her own assumption. Undarians weren't known for their space faring. In fact, she had never heard of anyone seeing an undarian so far from their homeworld, which was located on the other side of the Galactic Commonwealth. Yet here they were, looking sleek and ruthless enough to live up to the legendary reputations they had earned over the centuries as relentless predators and sleek, silent killers.

Whatever might have happened next was averted at this moment by the arrival of a small entourage of uthribs, who glided up to the poor excuse for a street without comment. The leader sighed loudly before calling out, “What's this? We can't be having such unpleasantries here!” His tone was easy, almost jovial. “Draen, didn't we have a talk about intimidating the patrons of my establishments?”

The undarian who had intervened on Blair's behalf gave an elegant half bow. “Bathus, you flatter me, but we were not responsible for this… interesting bit of entertainment.”

Adri recognized the name as the uthrib Arkow and Jiko had gone to meet. She didn't see them anywhere, however.

Bathus made a
tsking
sound and turned to the gorgeyn, who was blocked from any kind of escape route by Draen's men. “Quarreling again, Hrkelk? You know I hate having to replace the entire facility every time you boys get a hankering for a fight,”

Adri could have laughed at the fatherly reprimanding tone being used towards such a vicious creature as a gorgeyn. No one else in the bar found this to be particularly amusing though, so she refrained. The gorgeyn didn't think it was funny either, because his eyes began to glow fiercely amber in his reptilian head when he replied. “It was a provoked case, Bathus! Here we were, minding our own, waiting for our shipment that you promised us. Is it our fault that it was late? Can we be blamed for wanting to discuss the tardiness of its arrival with Arkow's little space fly? How were we to know she'd rather do us injury then talk the matter out like civilized creatures?”

Bathus glanced around the room, spotted Adri, still holding the blaster in her hand, and said, “This little
agazi
attacked you? Provoked a fight?”

“Enough of this talk Bathus,” another gorgeyn called from another corner of the room. Adri's adrenaline perked at the sound of his voice. While the first gorgeyn was dangerous, this one was obviously the leader. “This little
agazi
laid out my entire crew present. That adds injury to the insult of the late shipment. But we're willing to overlook that if we can get our shipment. At a reduced cost for the inconvenience.”

This was obviously not the time for cajoling. The underlying menace in the gorgeyn's tone had been very much in evidence. “Yes, yes, we can talk cost in my office. Arkow is unloading the shipment now, so feel free to pick it up at your convenience.” Bathus spoke in a conciliatory tone, quickly waving the gorgeyn and his conscious followers away from the bar. Adri hoped that would be the end of the matter, but the moment the gorgeyns had disappeared, Bathus turned to her. “Now, young lady, why don't you follow me? I believe we have damaged property and other fascinating topics to pursue.”

With a resigned sigh, Adri jerked her head at Blair to have him follow, and walked with Bathus out of the bar. She wondered just how much the uthrib would charge for damages, and if she could possibly pay him off with her lack of funds. She also wondered if Arkow had used her and Blair as his excuse for the late shipment, and if Bathus would have the need to cast blame. It couldn't be easy to deal with the gorgeyns in any sort of business transaction – a snag could bring them down like a pack of man-hunting jackals.

“I must say, you caused quite an uproar for such a small
agazi
.” Bathus commented breezily as they walked.

Adri narrowed her eyes slightly at the derogatory term for a human. “I tend to bite back when bitten.” she replied. It was as much a statement as a warning.

“I see. And what is your name, my dear? I really must say I am in a bit of awe, if you really did take out an entire street full of gorgeyns by yourself.”

“Adrienne Rael. And I did, for the most part.” The latter statement was another warning. Adri wasn't beyond the suspicion that Bathus would try something underhand to get back at her like the Gorgeyns, or try to recoup losses. Human slavery was very popular in some corners of the galaxy.

“Adrienne, what a lovely sounding name, yes?” Bathus replied gushingly. He stopped outside an unmarked door. “This is the private entrance to the casino. Unless you have a very large amount of credits stashed somewhere on your person, I advise you to make use of it – by tomorrow morning. Three thousand should satisfy me for the damages,”

The amount nearly made Adri choke on the indignation of it all, but she held her peace. There really wasn't another way out of it, unless she and Blair miraculously managed to find a captain leaving port today who didn't mind the prospect of gorgeyns on their trail.

“I might remind you that I have just saved you from gorgeyn retribution, sweet. You owe me for that little favor as well.”

Both Adri and Blair watched as the uthrib drifted away. “Was that a threat?” Blair asked, speaking for the first time.

“In his way,” Adri replied dryly. “I'm sure he'd like us to remain in his debt for a good long time. Let's hope we have better luck with the cards than we have had so far.”

Blair frowned slightly. “I do not know how to play cards.”

“Right. Of course you don't.”

The casino was filled with all manner of species, all bent on playing the various games the uthribs had to offer. Adri could see that many were professional gamblers, the kind that went from one gaming den to another, making fortunes only to turn around and try to make more. Unfortunately, most of the best gamblers gravitated towards the high-end tables, and it was to those tables that Adri had to go if she was to gain as much as she needed by the following morning. So Adri split the measly amount of credits she and Blair had between them, and prayed that the doctor could hold his own.

The uthrib dealer announced that the game would be Whimsy, and after a quick run through of the rules (which Adri hoped Blair caught), dealt the cards. Whimsy was a tricky game, as the rule changed continuously depending on what cards were placed down. It was no game for amateurs, and a few players were forced to fold within a few hands. Luckily, nine years as a soldier had taught Adri every gambling game and strategy known to the Commonwealth, and even a few of the Coalition. She was vaguely satisfied to see her chips multiplying at a steady rate, but not fast enough to draw unwanted attention. Blair, after losing steadily for over twenty minutes, suddenly had a turnaround, and while not doing as well as Adri, did better than many at the table.

Adri suspected that he was using his gifts to cheat.

After a few hours in which neither Adri nor her companion joined in the mild conversations floating around the table, she finally ventured to ask her neighbor, a wolf-like tukusan, “I've never seen undarians this far away from their homeworld, have you?”

The tukusan gave a grunt. “Never. Undarians terran-bound. Not fly through realm of stars.”

Adri had to sift through his heavy accent to understand his words. While most of the universe spoke Galactic Standard, it was not many species' first tongue. “That's what I always thought. But here they are,”

The tukusan grunted again and glanced around the room furtively. For a moment, Adri thought he would end the conversation there, but he continued in a quieter voice. “Rumors, bad rumors.”

Playing her cards, Adri leaned closer. “Rumors?”

“Bad rumors. Say that undarians flee homeworld.”

“Flee? Why?”

The tukusan shifted uneasily and lowered his voice even more. “Rumors say that undarian homeworld destroyed.”

Adri choked back disbelief. “Destroyed? Like pulverized?”

“No, not broke. Like poisoned.”

“The planet was poisoned?” Now this was beginning to sound crazy. “How can that be?”

“Secret secret enemy kill off undarian world.”

Something in the tukusan's tone sent a shiver down Adri's spine. She had a sudden feeling that this was no rumor. “Who?”

“Top Men. Top Men kill world, as experiment for new weapon.”

Top Men. It was common alien slang for the upper workings of the Galactic Commonwealth. Adri's head reeled. It was impossible. The government she fought for would never destroy one of its own planets! It could never – she pulled herself out of that line of thought, shoving it away for a later time.

Hours passed, in which Adri and Blair drifted from table to table. The players at each table also changed, and Adri would quietly question the most obliging of them from time to time. Yes, something had happened on the undarian homeworld, the government may have been involved, and no, they were not journeying towards the galactic center and had no room for passengers. It was enough to give Adri a headache.

During a lull, when Adri desperately needed a little rest to sharpen her focus, Blair sidled up beside her and whispered, “These rumors bother me,”

“Me too. How could anyone think that of the Commonwealth? Why would we destroy one of our own planets?”

Blair patted her shoulder lightly. “Even if they didn't,
something
did.”

“That's easy, the Belligerent Coalition did, if there was some outside entity involved, which there might not have. Planets have been known to grow inhospitable in the past.”

“True,” Blair replied in a placating tone, which only annoyed Adri more. “But a natural occurrence would have been preventable, or at least, planned for. Or do you think Commonwealth scientists never studied the planet enough to account for some kind of dangerous anomaly that could become genocidal?”

That, of course, was absurd, and they both knew it. Even Junus, a sparsely populated border planet, had been deeply explored and documented by Commonwealth scientists for further reference and study. Having dealt with some on her campaigns, she knew for a fact that the GCNSA, or Galactic Commonwealth Natural Science Association was dedicated to what they did. Dedicated to the point of stupidity in wartime situations, in fact. There was no way Adri couldn't conceive them overlooking the possible extinction of one of the core planets.

That left the Belligerent Coalition theory, but that made no sense either. How were they to sneak all the way to the center of the Galactic Commonwealth without detection? And why, if they somehow could, did they choose such an obscure planet as Undaria? Why reveal such a lethal weapon without using it on a better target, like the Commonwealth capital? Adri had better respect for her adversaries to think them that foolish.