On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (14 page)

As he turned to leave, he took a final look at Ami, still sleeping on the bed. Then he went to the door, and emerged into a large, sweeping corridor outside. The walls lit up automatically when he stepped out, providing a clean, uniform light along the length of the corridor. Nero set off to the roof, where his shuttle was still parked.

Twenty minutes later, he slowed his ship down as he approached a seemingly-abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. From a distance, it looked just like the many other abandoned factories and warehouses in the area, but up close, in the pre-dawn haze, lights could be seen in some of the windows.

Nero brought the ship around to the front of the building, slowing down as he approached. When the shuttle was just a short distance from the building, a double beep sounded in the cockpit. Moments later, there was a loud rumbling sound from the factory, and the large metal doors at the front began to open. Grating slightly, having not been used much for a long time, they slowly opened to reveal the cavernous interior of the factory.

Flying the ship forwards slowly, Nero entered the factory, aiming for an area to the side that had been cleared to act as a landing pad. The ship’s ion engines emitted a deep bassy note as he was maneuvering the vehicle, causing a few small items to vibrate nearby. As the ship touched down, the engines flared, lighting up the factory an electric blue colour, before the ship finally settled on its landing gear. Nero cut the engines, plunging the factory back into comparative darkness.

Waiting at the bottom of the boarding ramp as he got out was Talyah, looking up at him with an unashamedly concerned expression on her face.

“You didn’t call us last night Nero. We were concerned,” she said, cutting straight to the chase.

“You didn’t need to be. I’m perfectly well equipped to take care of myself, you know,” Nero replied, holding up his carbon-metal arm, and clenching his fist.

Talyah rolled her eyes. “I am well aware of that Nero. What worried me was the fact that you were going in search of the Nostra. They generally have weapons, and you may have fancy limbs, but your chest is still meat.”

“Well, I appreciate your concern, Tal, but it was fine. There were only three of them. And now there’s only two. Besides, I did get some useful intel from them. You remember Zyras? The druggy guy we took out?” Talyah nodded. “Well, he was working for the Nostra. And they’re getting annoyed.”

“That does not sound good.”

“Well, we can deal with them. But they’re ‘working on other leads’ within our organisation, Tal. So we do have to be careful.”

“Shit, Nero. That--”

“We’ll be fine, Tal. If they find another mole, we’ll find that mole. And we’ll kill them.” Talyah didn’t look convinced, but there wasn’t much that could be done yet. “Anyway,” Nero continued, “how are things going here?”

He looked around at the factory. It wasn’t the largest of buildings, and they were only using a relatively small part of it, but there were still a good number of humans around, working at the machines. In front of each of these large pieces of machinery were the large cubes of metal ore. Valuable material, Dimora was lacking in metal resources of its own. Instead, these resources had to be shipped in from external sources, one of which was Kaza'ona. It could be a lucrative trade, but it wasn’t why Nero was interested in shipping over metal ore.

“Fine Nero,” Talyah replied, accepting the change in subject. “The process is a lot smoother now that we're accustomed to it.”

They walked over to the nearest machine, past empty boxes and discarded tools, strewn over the floor. “Not very tidy in here,” Nero commented.

“No, it is not,” Talyah said with a distasteful expression on her smooth features. Her large, golden eyes still fascinated Nero, not that he ever let on to her.

The machines themselves were about the height of a man, and were relatively featureless metal constructions, except for a large conveyor that ran through the centre. Onto one end of this, the cubes of metal ore were loaded, which were then transported into the middle of the machine. There, the machine’s operator could see the cube thanks to a large holodisplay, and he or she was able to use a high-powered cutting laser to break through the metal casing of the cube.

Inside the nearly hollow cube were the drugs. A potential small fortune’s worth inside each one, the drugs could then be collected by a grabber arm, and fed out of the machine through another conveyor belt. The empty metal cube could then be melted down into a smaller, solid, cube.

“Have you found a buyer for the metal yet?” Nero asked Talyah, as they stood watching one cube being dealt with. He glanced at the large pile of solid metal cubes that were building up.

“I believe so, Nero. I’m going to meet with him later today.”

“Good. And the drugs?”

“We have the last of our distributors set up now, so it’s just a matter of shipping this stuff,” she gestured to the qiameth that had just come out of the nearest machine, “to them.”

“Great.”

They carried on walking around the factory, pausing to check on some of the men operating the machines, before Nero was finally happy with how things were running. As he was about to suggest that they both leave, Talyah interrupted his thoughts.

“Nero?” Talyah asked.

“Yes, Tal?”

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something.”

“Sure.”

“I think we need to be more... discrete, in what we do,” she said, eliciting a quizzical expression from Nero. “We all know the Nostra are beginning to take an interest, and--”

“Tal, I already told you not to worry about them.”

“I’m not the only one, Nero. The rest of the men... They won’t say anything, but I can sense their thinking. And they’re worried. None of us want to kick the Yeb nest, and if the Nostra decides they’ve had enough of us... Well, I don’t want to find out how strong they are. Do you understand, Nero?”

“Sure I understand, Tal. But we’re strong. If they decide they want to test us, we’ll be ready.” He flashed a smile at Talyah, but she only seemed more distressed at the gesture.

“Look at last week, Nero. Two of ours, missing. Perhaps they deserted, or some street thugs got them, but they’re not the only example. It’s becoming too regular to be a coincidence.”

“So what do you suggest we do, Tal?” Nero asked, finally getting annoyed with Talyah’s constant worrying. “Cancel this whole operation? Send the drugs back to Kaza'ona with an apology?”

“No, Nero. I am just suggesting that we need to take things slowly. Watch our backs.”

“I am already. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the mountain.” Nero turned, not waiting for Talyah’s response, and strode back to his shuttle. Talyah stood where Nero left her, watching him disappear, a concerned expression on her face. Finally, as Nero’s shuttle rose up into the air, accompanied by the grating of the hangar doors opening again, she glanced back at the factory, before making her way over to her own shuttle.

****

The two aliens walked down the street, both casually holding heavy-duty laser rifles over their bony shoulders. Other people walking along the street took one glance at the aliens, dressed as they were in long black flowing clothes, and with such a confident attitude, and quickly melted into the background, waiting until the two had passed.

It was very late at night, or perhaps it was early in the morning, and not many people were out on the streets. A few homeless humans and aliens, and a few small-time gang members that never seemed to sleep. All of these immediately recognised the vacso aliens for what they were, though, and gave them the respect they demanded.

“Look at that one!” one of the aliens remarked, seeing a human child run out onto the street, and freeze when it saw the aliens.

“I love kids,” the other said, its eyes on the child. “More satisfying,” it continued.

The first alien shouted out to the child. “Hey, kid. What you doin’ at this time of night? No parents, is it?” This seemed to startle the child into movement, and it turned and started to run away down the street.

“Hey, I was talking at you, kid!” the first alien yelled. “Don’t you fuckin’ run away from me! Don’t you know who the fuck I am!? No respect for Nostra anymore,” it muttered as it lowered the laser rifle from its shoulder.

“Hey, let me do this one,” the other alien interrupted. “You know I love kids. Great targets.”

“Hurry up then.”

The second alien looked through the holo-sight of its gun, lining up the small child’s back in the centre. “Stupid child,” the alien muttered. “Not ducking into an alley, are we...?” When the sight was locked on, the alien squeezed the trigger of the weapon. The characteristic whine accompanied the massive discharge of energy, as a blue bolt of light shot from the end of the weapon. In the sight, the alien watched as the bolt hit the child’s back dead-centre, the energy instantly piercing straight through the child, leaving a hole visible even at this distance. The now-lifeless body went flying forwards, its momentum carrying it forward a couple of metres on the ground, before it came to a halt.

“Nice shot,” the other alien commented. “I would have gone for the head myself.”

The second alien shrugged, its shoulders moving both upwards and outwards at the same time as it did so. It rested the rifle back on its shoulder.

“So where’s this place then? I thought it was meant to be close.”

“It is. Apparently they’ve set up in a small place near the outer Scrapers, near Scraper 259.”

The two aliens continued along the street for a few more minutes, before stopping outside a three-level building, on the boundary between the Scraper-dominated area of the city, and the wastelands where the industrial buildings were.

“I’d say this looks like it,” the first alien said, stopping outside, and looking at the place with a glint of malice in its eyes. “What say we go and pay them a visit, eh?”

“Sounds like a plan,” the other responded, pointing its own rifle at the door. “Ready?”

The first alien fired one shot at the door locking mechanism, melting it instantly, and letting the door swing inwards. The two aliens quickly pushed the door all the way open, and strode into the building’s interior, glancing around for any threats.

There didn’t appear to be any. Then they heard a faint noise, that sounded like it came from the back of the building.

“Did you hear that?” the second alien asked. The other nodded, and both strode towards the rear of the building, to discover a room that looked to have been recently abandoned. There was no sign of anyone now, though. What they did find, however, were a few crates mid-way through being loaded up with small red pills in plastic bags. Qiameth.

“Well, I think we found the right place,” said the second alien, again resting its weapon on its shoulder. “Shame we missed them.”

“Idiot,” the other alien muttered. “Go check out the back, see if there’s any sign of them out there. I’ll take a look around in here.”

When the other did as directed, the first alien checked the remaining rooms briefly, finding no signs of anyone. It then returned to the prep room to find the other stood there waiting.

“Why are you just standing there?” the first demanded.

“What? There was no sign of anyone.”

“Then get packing these drugs up. We’ll bring them to the boss. It’s better than bringing him nothing... or do you want to face him and say we missed them?”

The other hesitated, a nervous expression clouding its features, before it responded. “I’ll start packing them up.”

“Good idea.”

There weren’t many crates to fill, and it wasn’t long before the portable hover-board the aliens had brought with them was loaded with the crates of qiameth. They pulled it out of the building, and only thirty minutes later, they were back at what served as one of their bases above ground.

“Report,” came the abrupt order when the two aliens were inside the unassuming building.

“It was empty when we got there, signore. We did find these drugs that were kept there, though,” the first alien said, handing over the hover-board to the boss.

“Very well,” the boss said, after taking a look at the crates of qiameth. “You,” it said, pointing at the more senior alien in the pair. “I need help with an inquisition. You, take this to the store,” it continued, pointing at the other alien.

Both hastened to obey, the more junior alien jumping to as if it had been given an electric shock. It veritably ran away with the hover-board, not wanting to spend any more time than was necessary in the presence of the boss. The first alien, the more senior one, waited for more instructions from the boss. It didn’t have long to wait.

“Follow me,” the boss ordered.

“Yes, signore.”

He led them through a maze of rooms and corridors, too many for the lackey to remember his way back, turning left through this living area, right through that eating area, and straight on through this communal space, before stopping in front of a door.

“You’re just to be a grunt. Stand there, look sinister, but don’t say anything. Understood?”

“Certainly, signore,” the alien responded, composing its features into the most aggressive look possible. The boss then opened the door, and they entered the pitch-black room. As the door slid shut behind them, the boss turned on the blindingly-bright room lighting. Sat in the centre of the room, blinking its eyes in response to the bright light, was a human male.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about it, but the alien could guess as to why it was here. Sure enough...

“You’re to tell me about this Nero,” the alien’s boss said, its voice brokering no argument. When the human didn’t respond, the alien continued. “Fine, it’s more fun this way.” It opened an elaborately-designed metal box, inside of which were a variety of metal implements, all of which looked very painful to the alien watching.

The boss continued, partly talking to the human, and partly to the other alien. “You really can’t beat the classics. I’ve tried lasers, I’ve tried psychological tricks, but these things never fail to work. It’s just a matter of how long it takes,” it said, running a hand over some of the implements. “And I’ve got a lot of time today.”