《Battle Mode》


 Chapter 1 - The Story Teller

    The only way to fight a space pirate is to think like a space pirate.


    I woke up just in time to clean up, and I still managed to grab the three most important things. I got out of my space ship just in time before the rest of the space station filled up with customers. I reached the promenade and I saw all the shops and vendors already preparing displays, merchandise, and food for the day. I can smell the sweet aroma from each kind of breakfast, but I have no time to stop. I already paid for my reservation, and if I start late, some of my audience might grab breakfast instead, and I might be wasting the time I paid for in the morning portion of my reservation. I felt my folding chair, slipping off my shoulder. My chair was wrapped up in a slim sleeve case, with a wide strap making it nearly weightless even in the artificial gravity of the space station. I thought I should change the strap to something that can grip the material of my flight jacket, or maybe I should just carry my jacket. I remembered the first day the Protectorate government awarded me the flight jacket for pilots who fly in combat. I took a moment to think about how I might tell the story about each campaign patch in a row running down my right sleeve, and then another patch for each of the enemy ships I shot out of the skies, on my left sleeve. I wished I could tell a story as good as the story my jacket tells.


    I passed the last vendor, and the promenade was now behind me. I saw the door to the stage, and the crowd had doubled since yesterday. I approached the door and the crowd greeted me. We exchanged kind words, but I kept moving, because I¡¯m the only one who can open the doors. The doors detected me and that caused them to unlock. We shuffled into the reserved hall and while I made my way to the stage, the audience found their seats or other places to recline in the open spaces. The space station mostly uses this place for concerts, but has explored it¡¯s diverse functions such as a forum for government, as well as renting it out for story tellers like me. It would be helpful if my guests could provide a little more than donations, but for now their time to hear me tell a story is more than enough. I reached the stage and as I stepped on it, it began to rise. In the center of the stage the control orb raised out of the stage floor. The orb sat on a pedestal which raised to the height of my hands and stopped. I dropped my chair behind the pedestal, and the chair responded to the pressure from the ground, and I wondered if it responds differently from artificial or planetary gravity. The chair¡¯s springs and metal rods of precise lengths spun and locked into the shape of a chair, and two spans of fabric formed the chair¡¯s seat and back. I¡¯m always amazed that no matter how far the people of Earth advance they still decide to build machines that do not require cybernetic controls. I turn my focus to my audience who have mostly found their places in the seats, some have even brought their own memory metal chairs.


    I placed my hand over the control orb and room responded to my thoughts. My cybernetics allowed me to command parts of the room, lights, voice amplification, and even the height of the stage. By dimming the lights over the audiences¡¯ seats, my guests were compelled to hurry. I was once told that non-cyborgs need to see the lights on the stage, to help them watch and focus, but neither situation is a problem for someone who sees with cybernetic eyes. But if the practice still works, it must be true, because it worked perfectly yesterday, and it seemed to work again. I glanced up as the room¡¯s lights slowly responded. Yesterday the lights took a while to respond to my commands. I think the control orb was slightly less responsive than my ship, and I don¡¯t expect I would need the control orb again, or until I needed an intermission. I considered an intermission to get some breakfast. As the lights finally dimmed to my desired settings, and I could see the starry sky through the dome above.


    When I¡¯m in the flight seat, all the ship¡¯s sensors are connected to my mind. When I¡¯m off duty, I looked for anything to distract me from the emptiness of space. I guess that¡¯s why so many recently converted cyborgs, spend a few solar cycles just staring out the windows, just to realize it¡¯s actually quite empty. While space is full of endless possibilities, most of those possibilities are actually painful and tragic, even for cyborgs specialized in space travel.


    I looked around the audience and saw everyone has settled into their seats or chosen areas. I connected my cybernetics to the control orb, so the room can amplify my voice and I started telling my story.


    ¡°I am Jhessyreen Errysa¡¯ad, and I am the last Rylkonian in this Universe. Some of you may remember we chased the Dark Tyrant and his army of mind controlling parasites, a race known as the Kanyrites, to this Universe. We Rylkonians realized that we couldn¡¯t defeat the Kanyrites, if we tried to fight alone. We needed the help of the Earthborn, weapons, supplies, and at least one Earthborn volunteer to join us. Earthborn is what we called your ancestors. Yesterday I wasn¡¯t able to finish the story of when we defeated the Dark Tyrant. So let¡¯s start there¡­ I was once the pilot for an Ambush Class Gunship named the ¡®Something Clever¡¯ for those of you joining us today. In the final battle against the Kanyrites, only one gunship was still flying, and the Dark Tyrant¡¯s flagship, named the ¡®Omen¡¯ was disabled, but it was still filled with warriors controlled by the Dark Tyrant. One of the crew of the Something Clever was the Earthborn recruit who was converted into a cyborg and became our most powerful warrior. We eventually gave him a new name, we called him the Phantom. Near the end of the war, the Phantom became the captain of the Something Clever.¡±


    I took a moment to look at the far edge of the audience to see if they were ready to hear about the death of the Dark Tyrant.


    "We Rylkonians were the first to have the ability to temporarily link our minds, to share our knowledge and increase out intellect, we gave this ability to the Phantom as well, and then the rest of your kind that followed him to our enterprise. In the final battle against the Dark Tyrant, the entire crew, even our cook, gave our increased abilities and skills to the Phantom, and we used the cloaking device of our ship to sneak him onboard the Omen. Through our linked minds, we could watch the Phantom move from room to room on the Omen destroying the systems of the enemy flag ship, fighting the Dark Tyrant¡¯s warriors, and doing everything to ensure the Dark Tyrant would not escape. The Phantom finally reached the Dark Tyrant in the Bridge of the Omen, and they fought for the fate of the Rylkonians and Kanyrites. Through the Phantom¡¯s eyes, I watched him fight against the Dark Tyrant, who fought back with weapons and abilities of evil design. The Phantom won, and the Dark Tyrant said these final words..."My death will not be the end for anyone. So let your blade fall and you will learn how much the Creator is like us. When you meet my brothers, they will teach you the Creator can still make things worse than I.¡± The Phantom only said, ¡°For the Auro Blade¡± and decapitated the Dark Tyrant. The Phantom¡¯s Battle Axe cut with a burning blade, as destructive as lava, melting through armor, and leaving only cinder and ashes. That¡¯s when he started using the name ¡°The Phantom.¡±, as his moniker. We handed over the Omen to the Protectorate government, and they examined the technology and physiology of the Kanyrites and the Dark Tyrant¡¯s dead body. Where they discovered three very disturbing facts. If the Dark Tyrant had infected the people of Earth with parasites he could have won the war, the Dark Tyrant himself was not infected with parasites, but was actually a cyborg, and the most disturbing of all the Dark Tyrant and the infected Kanyrite hosts were also Human, just like us Rylkonians.¡±, I said.


    I looked around and I saw my last statement had the entire audience waiting and anticipating for the next chapter. I paused to collect my thoughts and I continued the story, ¡°Soon after end of the war, the nations of Earth celebrated the Phantom as a hero, and the propaganda corporations of Earth even turned the story of the Parasite Wars into an action adventure movie. They made toys and all forms of merchandise, based on the movie. The entire crew was represented, but only the Phantom was given a positive portrayal, so as a crew, including the Phantom, we stopped taking money from the movies or sales of the toys. We lost control of the propaganda, and then we saw the rise of something far worse than a Dark Tyrant with an army of parasites¡­The people of Earth believed conquering space shall be their destiny, and slowly we started seeing more and more space pirates. Even though we didn¡¯t glorify piracy and the idea wasn''t even part of the movie, somehow the Phantom was still blamed. I think the governments of Earth just didn¡¯t plan to solve the problem of piracy. It became just another problem for space travelers, but not planet based governments. This will be today¡¯s main story, the Protectorate¡¯s plan to end the problem of Space Pirates. At the center of it all, was our ship, the ¡®Something Clever¡¯ and the choices made by the Phantom. The Phantom began life as something he hated, he lived as a man. Even just as a boy, he saw the evil his kind was capable of. Even with just a child¡¯s sense of right and wrong, the problems were obvious, but the choices were not so easy. That was from the movie. Throughout his journey, he became something he hated even more, he became a god. In the era of this story, the Phantom was tragically unaware of his fate to slowly turn into the Dark Tyrant''s successor. He banished my people, the Rylkonians from this universe, he found the chosen one, and he destroyed the planet Earth¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold it! I didn¡¯t destroy Earth! Just look in the sky, it¡¯s still there!¡­¡±, another voice said from the corner of the stage behind me.


    I was so annoyed I almost forgot I had an audience. I recognized the voice, but if I couldn¡¯t even detect the presence of someone that close to me with my cybernetic enhanced senses, they had to be using a cloaking device. I even lost my connection to the sound amplifying stage. If I stayed connected to the stage, I might have yelled at the audience. I needed to focus on the interruption.


    ¡°What are you doing here, Tony?" I demanded from the unseen voice.


    I could barely see a figure walk into the light. Each step made no sound as the figure moved out of the shadows into the lights of the stage. The figure was now standing just four paces away from me stopping at the edge of the weakest shadow of the overlapping lights. The illusion fell away and now I was looking at the Phantom wearing his power armor. What a coward! Absolutely no-one wanted to pick a fight on this space station, I knew he was sneaking around just to avoid crowds. He should have just kept the cloaking device on, and said nothing. I could tell from his choice to hide on stage he was looking for something or someone, but no matter whatever he was looking for, it was here. I wasn¡¯t sure if deactivating his cloaking device was his response to my question, a show of bravado, or some other arrogant thing that Earth born do. His eyes scanned around the room. All I could see of his face was his eyes looking over the edge of his cloaking device, that wrapped over the nose and mouth of his skull mask. His true face looked less human and more demonic, and the reason he stayed hidden under a hologram is whenever his mask isn''t available. Some people still don¡¯t know he has a holographic disguise, but anyone with cybernetic eyes can see through the hologram. If they knew what he really looked like, they might think his title as the Dark Master of The End Times was more than just figurative. I wondered if the monster he looked like, compared to the number of people he¡¯s killed, or would be enough to actually make people believe in religion again. The Phantom finished looking around the room, and after one scan he was now focused towards me.


    ¡°Nashara needs to borrow the key, and we can¡¯t find it¡­I was going to wait for you to take a break, to ask you to summon the key.¡±, he finally answered my question.


    I started reaching in my jacket to put my hand around the most valuable object I carried, but then I realized that Tony said something, he should not have known.


    ¡°How did you know I take breaks?¡±, I asked.


    Tony tipped his head to the side, still focused on me. I suspected he was estimating the consequences of his reply, as he responded.


    ¡°I was here yesterday¡­¡±, Tony admitted.


    I now understood why Tony didn¡¯t interrupt during my version of the war against the Dark Tyrant, just like the other Earth born and just like in the movie, he enjoys when gets to be the hero. This interruption needed to be punished, and I knew just how. I reconnected the stage¡¯s sound amplifier to address my audience, ¡°This is a rare opportunity everyone, let¡¯s ask¡­the one¡­the only¡­The Phantom!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing? Just summon the key with your mind. I don¡¯t have time for this¡­¡±, Tony whispered just loud enough for me to hear.


    ¡°Time! Really? Don¡¯t have time? I¡¯m the one who¡¯s paying for time on stage!¡±, I thought.


    ¡°The key is in my jacket, my audience wants to hear a story...just like the good-old-days¡­you work for me and I pay you with the key¡­¡±, I whispered back.


    I switched my attention to the Audience, to see if they were interested in my proposal.


    ¡°So who has a question for the Phantom?¡±, I asked the audience.


    I saw almost all of the children and a few adults raising their hands, some even waiving and gesturing to draw my attention. I wondered if they realize it takes a cloaking device to hide from me, I needed to set some rules.


    ¡°Lets keep it simple, just¡­five questions¡­¡±, I said.


    ¡°Just three questions.¡±, Tony objected.


    However the entire audience began protesting.


    ¡°Five questions¡­Five, Five, Five¡­¡±, the crowd chanted.


    ¡°Fine¡­Five questions.¡±, Tony relented.


    I recognized Tony¡¯s strategy, the audience thought they were going to lose two questions, so gaining five questions seemed like a victory. Tony turned towards me and spoke just above a whisper,


    ¡°Some answers are going to be dangerous.¡±, Tony whispered.


    Dangerous? What a funny word to hear from him! I wondered why Nashara needs the key?¡­maybe I should just leave it with her. I looked up and I can see Tony has chosen the first audience participant. I think I can sit back for at least the next five questions. In fact, that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do, since I brought a chair. I lift the chair out of the sleeve and place it¡¯s feet on the floor in front of me. The springs of the chair spun it¡¯s rods into the shape of it¡¯s frame and stretched the canvas into the seat and back rest. I¡¯m always impressed by the Earth born dedication to non-cybernetic technology. Now I¡¯m just sitting and I can¡¯t imagine why I thought I was going to have trouble entertaining my guests. This is a lot easier than yesterday. A child with a hand raised caught Tony¡¯s attention, and Tony gestured towards him.


    ¡°Why do they call you the Dark Master?¡±, the child asked.


    Tony tilted his head to the side, his holographic face might have conveyed a puzzled reaction, he might have even raised an eyebrow. I suppose he answered in a way that made sense, at least for him.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a title, like a label. In the Parasite wars, I used surprise and sneak attacks, and I was called the Phantom, in the Era of Space Pirates, I used super weapons, they thought it was going to be the end of Planet Earth¡­which it wasn¡¯t¡­and that¡¯s just what they started calling me¡­I didn¡¯t steal any souls.¡±, Tony lied, he totally stole souls.


    I looked around the audience and I wondered if Tony could tell that his response was quite bad. I decided to offer my opinion.


    ¡°Try again Tony¡­¡±, I yelled.


    Tony pulled the wrap from his face and slid it below his skull mask. He removed the skull mask but only revealed his holographic face. His hologram glitched for a moment and a shimmer of his real face appeared at his chin, then his nose, then his eyes, but the hologram flowed back into shape like water as he continued.


    ¡°So, if nobody believes the religion that identifies a Dark Master, then technically nothing can make me into the Dark Master of The End Times¡­Now from what I read in the Holy Book, the Nation of Izrom, which was destroyed, was destined to face five named empires, and the Dark Master would be the leader of the fifth empire, as it was written. That Dark Master was the enemy of the Savior of Izrom, who was also identified. Earth has seen dozens of empires long before I was ever born, and the Savior and Dark Master lived, did whatever they needed to do, and fulfilled their roles, also long before I was born¡­So only someone who read the Holy book and believes in that religion is allowed to say that I am the Dark Master of The End Times, but even the Holy book doesn¡¯t identify me as this Dark Master. I never fought the nation Izrom, not as an empire, and I never ruled over any of the five named empires¡­However Jhessyreen, is right about one thing, in the era that she speaks of, that version of me had no idea what the universe would expect of me, and I was tragically unaware of my fate, which began with the death of the Dark Tyrant¡­Next question.¡±


    I didn''t say anything, but he should remember he''s the one who destroyed the Nation of Izrom. I don¡¯t care if Tony says I¡¯m right, he still interrupted me. Tony gestured towards another raised hand, and another child asked a question, as though he had been thinking about it for a while.


    ¡°Is the Dark Tyrant, your father?¡±, the child asked.


    Tony seemed surprised, and I would be less than honest if I even expected to hear that, and I wondered how Tony might respond, I found myself leaving my recline and compelled to focus on his next words.


    ¡°No, but I remember how yesterday¡¯s story was told, and the question does make sense, Why did the Dark Tyrant come here? How? Time Travel? Alternate Universe? And for a long time, we didn¡¯t have an answer to those questions, and even I had to keep that answer a secret when I learned it, but I think that is part of Jhesyreen¡¯s story today. So if she intends to talk about the chosen one, I don''t want to spoil anything. As for my parents, I lost both my mother and father when I was very young, and I was only able to bring back my mother, but the process wasn¡¯t perfect. She never made any indication that I was the son of the Dark Tyrant. I hope that answer is clear enough, because I don¡¯t think I can say more, without spoiling a major plot point.¡±


    Tony gestured towards another raised hand, and another child asked a question, as if she doubted her question would be as significant as the last two, but still wanted to ask.


    ¡°Are you¡­immortal?¡±, the child asked.


    Tony looked up at the sky for a moment, and then focused on the audience before he responded.


    ¡°Sure¡­I can answer that..I have lived for over a thousand years, and I imagine I will live a thousand more. I might even see the final star fade from the Universe, but I know it is possible for me to die, because I have died before. Each time I passed through Death¡¯s Door, I was reborn, as if the Universe demands my presence. In the era that Jhessyreen speaks of, only a few knew that I could move between the sides of the living and the dead. Most others believed that I successfully faked my death, it was only after I lived for hundreds of years, did everyone figure out they didn¡¯t need to keep experimenting with how I kept returning from death, as if my existence was just a toy for them to break. My life is no less valuable even if my nature is different. The funniest part about returning from death is lying about the afterlife, only a few can accuse me of lying, but somehow we tell a similar story¡­ funny how that worked. There are consequences for me and others like me returning to be reborn...If I can, I prefer to avoid dying so I usually wear power armor, it doesn¡¯t weigh much to me anyways¡­. I guess that answer depends on what you define as immortal,¡­If I could cheat death, I wouldn¡¯t have chosen this¡­I say Death cheated me. Our death¡¯s have different consequences.¡­Next question.¡±


    I didn¡¯t expect Tony to so casually discuss immortality, life, death, and rebirth. He motioned the next child to ask his question.


    ¡°Why did you destroy Earth?¡±, the child asked.


    Tony seemed slightly upset that he was going to return to this topic, but still managed to remain calm while responding.


    ¡°Why? Why?¡­.Why? The reason why, wasn¡¯t even mine¡­After I killed the Dark Tyrant, the governments of Earth wanted to make war against each other, and they each wanted me to fight for their side. Every nation of Earth asked me to destroy their enemies, and they tried every kind of persuasion. They even called me a traitor when I refused to fight their wars. I think they were all in agreement of the problem, but not the solution. The only part of Earth I destroyed, were the governments, and only the governments that chose to remain. They each got exactly what they asked for, none of them thought I could grant all their wishes in a single attack.", Tony replied.


    Tony paused and looked around, then continued.


    ¡°I found no satisfaction in destroying so many... an entire world¡­ but the planet was a necessary sacrifice. Besides, most of the human race was traveling in space and already lived on the other planets, moon colonies, and even space stations. At the time, I considered that to be the most merciful solution to the problem of space pirates. In my view we still had more planets, though the opposing view felt we only had a few planets left. Since the destruction of Earth seemed to be a quality I shared with the Dark Master as the Holy Book prophesied, I used it as the triggering event for later plans to ensure an era of peace, after the journey of the Chosen One. I actually regretted not capturing and imprisoning the Dark Tyrant more than what I did to Earth. I killed the Dark Tyrant in a moment of vengeance¡­what happened to Earth was intended as mercy...Next question, actually this will be the final question.¡±, Tony said.


    I wondered if Tony knew that question would be asked. His response made my job easier, but now I might need to explain how he made the decision to destroy the governments of Earth, and I will have to explain why the Protectorate government refused to stop him.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Tony gestured towards a single raised hand, and a girl asked a question as if her mind was perfectly clear.


    ¡°Are you the hero or the villain?¡±, the child asked.


    Tony froze for a moment. I watched him slowly turn his gaze far passed the child and then even further beyond the walls of the stage area. I didn¡¯t know if Tony was responding to the child, the audience, himself, or trying to rationalize the question as he spoke.


    ¡°Am I the hero? Or am I the villain?¡±, he repeated the question.


    Tony¡¯s focus shifted into the sky and he continued speaking his thoughts.


    ¡°The Earthborn didn¡¯t need a hero¡­they wanted a warrior¡­I could have been so many other things, but they were convinced only a ¡­hero, who would destroy, kill, oppress, and enslave their enemies, was all they wanted ¡­and they lied to me¡­or they can¡¯t tell the difference between wanting and needing?¡­Or they believed the Universe needs to fulfill whatever they wanted?¡±, Tony said.


    I watched Tony walk to the edge of the stage. His steps made no sound and the I felt no fluctuation of his weight through the artificial gravity of the space station. For a moment, I wondered if he was even really there. Did my eyes confuse a hologram for the living legend? I knew only he would dare challenge for the possession of the key, but I knew only one thing was more certain than facts, he wasn¡¯t leaving without the key.


    Tony sat at the edge of the stage with his feet hanging over the side. His hands dropped on his legs, as he faced the audience. His holographic face looked around. I wondered if he might deactivate the hologram as some substitute to an actual answer. Tony tried to answer again.


    ¡°If humans are at war, there has to be an enemy. So for people at war, warriors and champions can be heroes, but to the enemy, they would be villains.¡±, Tony said


    ¡°That¡¯s not an answer!¡±, I protested.


    My hand began moving fueled by my emotions. I reached into my jacket and gripped the key with my thumb and the curl of my finger. As if I was aiming a weapon, I revealed the key in front of the audience. I knew that Tony¡¯s motion sensors on the back of his head could see me, as he slowly turned his head. I saw a holographic eye and the glowing red cybernetic eye behind the illusion, completely fixated on the key between my finger and thumb. The key was one of the few objects in the Universe that could sway Tony¡¯s decisions, so I know I had his full attention. I am in charge here, today I make the rules, and I will tell him.


    ¡°Five questions and five answers, for the key! I still don¡¯t know what this little circle of mystery is for. All I know is that you designed it, I¡¯m the only one who can summon it, and it¡¯s dangerous if used incorrectly. After all the betrayal, deception, and lies¡­ Tony, you have to choose¡­Hero or Villain?¡±, I declared.


    Tony¡¯s focus shifted towards the floor in front of him, but I knew better than to think that stopped him from seeing everyone in the room. I knew even after a millennia, he still struggled with that question, but he was also intent on obtaining the key. Tony was about to give the most important answer of his entire existence.


    ¡°If I could, I would choose¡­neither¡­for a long time, I thought the choice didn¡¯t matter, but now I can only choose one. If I choose hero, I become an instrument of oppression, just an enforcer of someone else¡¯s desires. But if I choose villain, it means that every decision and the consequences truly become mine.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Father, we¡¯ve wasted enough time¡­the key is within our reach!¡±, another voice from the opposite side of the audience said.


    I watched another cloaked figure emerge from a shadow at the far edge of the audience. It stepped into the light, and deactivated a similar clocking illusion. The cloaked figure turned from an imperceptible distortion into another armored cyborg. This other cyborg removed his own cloak to reveal his face. I wondered why these Dark Lords keep interrupting. He was right about one thing, time is being wasted, which I¡¯m paying for. If I had planned this better, I could probably get breakfast. I could hear the audience whisper to each other as they discussed Zach¡¯s arrival, most of them referred to his title of ¡°Emperor.¡± Tony turned his focus toward¡¯s his son and responded with the tone of a parent addressing an aggravated child.


    ¡°Waste time, Emperor Zach? We are masters of time, and time obeys our commands. I have worked too hard to erase the stain of the unworthy from the universe, and I will not watch my own blood line to turn into oppressors.¡±, Tony objected.


    Zach watched the key slide from my fingers into my palm, as I let my arm fall to my side. As soon as the key was out of sight, Zach turned his focus across the stage towards Tony, to plead his case,


    ¡°Then teach me how to construct another key¡­¡±, the Emperor proposed.


    There was natural silence, as I looked at Tony consider his son¡¯s conclusion. Tony dropped his head as he replied.


    ¡°The sacrifices needed to make another key are¡­too high¡­If my enemies ever return, another key doubles their chances of stealing it. A million times a score times a million more vengeances hang over my head. No matter how many times I die, my crimes remain. I wait in my prison, and the Universe isn¡¯t allowed to forget me. And now you ask me to accept that my own son would dare make demands of the Universe? This is exactly why the key is always beyond our reach. How many within the Universe would dare the question, Which key is stronger? How many would look upon the lives of others, and only see them as toys to break? In the dawn of the star age, the unworthy believed my immortality made me exempt from the consequences of the future and they demanded I share the curse so war could evolve, so crime could evolve, and above all they demanded I allow their greed to expand beyond the limits of infinity. The worst was every calculation and justification claimed, my fate was their future.¡±, Tony said with regret.


    While Tony went off on his rant I was impressed by his awareness. Been a long time since I¡¯ve heard the name ¡°Unworthy¡±. I¡¯ve never used that word. Maybe Tony wasn¡¯t angry, or perhaps not angry enough. Whenever we want to politely insult an Earthborn, we usually called them ¡°Mud born¡± and that term is probably more accurate since they could technically be born on any planet or moon. But when ever they really make us angry, we can always resort to calling the most insulting term we figured out. But Rylkonians aren¡¯t as obsessed with our lineage as the Earthborn seem to be. At least we never even thought that we started as single cell animals swimming and eating in their own shit. We thought is was even stranger when the Earthborn claimed that as their heritage, and insisted they figured that out. Why are they proud of that?


    When Rylkonians meet different races, we would never say something so stupid, and we definitely wouldn¡¯t advertise it. In all my life, I never figured out why my heritage mattered so much to a planet that believed they were born from shit. Tony saved us Rylkonians from a lot of drama when he recommended we keep our races separated. I think the best advice Tony gave us, was a warning.


    Tony once said, ¡°The Earthborn think sex implies a slavery like level of commitment¡±, which would have been catastrophic for a race that depends on space travel.


    The mystery of their past, wasn¡¯t even their strangest claim about their identity. They always had this strange habit of never being happy with any government, but also demanding either more government, or promoting another government. I¡¯m not sure why, but Earthborn seem to really like overthrowing the leaders of their own governments, sometimes violently. I guess that¡¯s why Tony never wanted to hold political office, except for that election he won in the world of Aurble. I think I¡¯ll include that in my story today.


    I guess if a Rylkonian used the word ¡°unworthy¡± we might sound racist. Everything Tony warned us about every tactic and strategy the Earth born were capable of, and they proved him right when they learned about the existence of the chosen one.


    Oh crap, Tony and Zach are still talking. They might say something important, I should probably pay attention. At some point Tony started walking between sections of the audience. Zach was now standing at the opposite corner of the stage, watching his father move about the audience. Zach seemed to be observing Tony¡¯s speech,


    ¡°It¡¯s true, all of us cybernetic life forms are only using a fraction of our full power. I learned that every time I used my full power, people either cyborg or not, only feared the new abilities I discovered, and their fear only fueled their ambition to conquer, enslave, and oppress. The unworthy claimed that their place in the universe was to rule over all others, not to defend them, not to guide them, not even to provide for them. They desired power but only for their own benefit, and gave no concern for another. As soon as the Earth born learned that the Rylkonians could make artificial life forms, either completely machine, organic, or cyborgthey accused the Rylkonians of pretending to be gods, and demanded the Rylkonians provide new tools for enslaving and oppressing, to make the reality of being Earth born into something fair. When I first awoke in my artificial body, I understood what they feared, someone else more powerful abusing their power, their power being taken away, or power beyond their reach.¡±, Tony said.


    As Tony finished his argument, he started walking to the corner of the stage opposite from Zach. The audience began turning their focus towards Zach, who began to move to the aisles dividing the audience. I noticed some of the audience are missing. Where did they go? Maybe I should have started my story instead of letting these two Dark Lords use my reserved time? Maybe I could get breakfast?


    As Zach looked around the audience, the missing audience began returning with food and drinks. I could smell the freshly made breakfast and the freshly brewed caffeine. I missed a perfect opportunity to grab a snack. One of the returning audiences was a young woman with four drinks in a drink holding tray, and she walked in to the hall. I watched the young woman walking over to Zach to present him the tray of drinks. She started turning the tray so a very specific drink was now directly in front of Zach. As Zach made an attempt to lift the drink, he started lifting the entire tray from her hand, but Zach paused. As the girl grabbed the tray with both her hands, Zach and the girl slowly began separating the drink from it¡¯s nesting in the tray. Tony watched as the audience returned to their seats with food and drink being exchanged. However the girl didn¡¯t find her seat, at least not at this moment. She began moving towards Tony, with three drinks remaining in the tray. She presented the tray to Tony, and as Tony began removing his drink, the girl presented a pay code card to Tony. I couldn¡¯t hear whatever Tony was saying to the girl, but she placed the pay code card into her satchel as Tony dismissed her.


    The girl still didn¡¯t return to her seat however. She began heading towards me, with two drinks remaining. I could smell the sweet crisp aroma of Hazelnut. The odor was like a cloud drawing in my attention. As the girl drew closer, the stage started to fade away from my awareness, then the audience, and finally I only sensed the girl and the brew of caffeine in her hands. I refocused my thoughts and found only one question stirring in my mind, ¡°How did anyone here know my favorite coffee flavor?¡± As the girl began to present the tray to me, I realized the only way she could have known, if she¡¯s one of Tony¡¯s spies. I think it would be a good time to see if I¡¯m right. As the girl began to turn the tray, I found my body moving faster than my thoughts. I knew where her mark would be hidden. I grabbed her arm to see the palm of her hand, but she didn¡¯t struggle, or didn¡¯t have time to react. In a single move I could see the bare palm of her free hand in a narrow band spectrum scan. Tony and Zach could see what I was doing, but they said nothing.


    I could now see the symbol of the one eyed skull on this girl¡¯s hand. The mark was no bigger than a fingerprint, a swirl of lines that drew the visage of a skull missing it¡¯s lower jaw and one eye. True marks are perfect, and nearly identical, because the only difference is the hand it¡¯s inside. False marks also exist and its difficult to tell the difference. The mark is sometimes a tattoo, a line might be backwards, or the not so obvious, mark on the wrong hand. The image wasn¡¯t just placed there, her cybernetics consumed it, and it became part of her identity, her existence, perhaps even her soul, but most don¡¯t believe in the myths of Earth¡¯s archaic religions, at least not anymore. The girl looked directly into my eyes.


    ¡°Is the coffee to your liking?¡±, she asked.


    I sipped the coffee and my cybernetic sensors didn¡¯t detect any subterfuge, as I kept my eyes focused right back at her. My instincts tell me that the audience has brought their focus upon me, but I have no guarantee that two political opponents aren¡¯t targeting me in some way, shape, or form. The sip of hazelnut sits on my tongue and while it is delicious, it¡¯s being offered as a gift, from the hand of a potential assassin. I¡¯ve known these two men for too long, to think they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to replace me. The girl still didn¡¯t struggle and showed no fear. She was just waiting, for me to respond. I needed to respond,


    ¡°The coffee is great, thank you¡­ Sorry but I didn¡¯t order this.¡­¡±, I said.


    I released her hand and she didn¡¯t pull away from me, her hand just fell to her side as if she had no need to hide the mark of her master. The girl smiled with her reply,


    ¡°I will help in any way I can. I love your story. I watched yesterday¡¯s broadcast from the coffee bar.¡±, she said.


    I remembered that the space station is allowed to use their security system in any way within the station, but I didn¡¯t realize my audience was potentially the entire station. I wonder how many of this station¡¯s residents are loyal to Tony, or are even full members of the Brotherhood of the One Eyed Skulls. I took another sip. The girl started walking towards the exit, as the rest of the audience exchanged glances with each other, it would seem that some of humanity were not yet under either the Empire nor the Brotherhood. Did either of these Dark Lords decide they had enough power? I drank the few drops of hazelnut sitting on my tongue, and with just a thought I reconfigured my digestive track for ingesting and metabolizing caffeine. Like controlling a ship or aiming a weapon, my cybernetics responded to my thoughts. I can¡¯t wait for the caffeine to hit my brain and increase serotonin, I need it right now. Zach arrived at the center aisle and began his introduction speech.


    ¡°I was born after Earth was cleansed, only a few have any memory of the suffering and oppression inflicted by the ancient Earthlings, but I heard a name yesterday, which is why I returned today to learn more. That name is the U.D.E. I remember a few stories my mother said about my father, unfortunately my mother seems to think her place is to serve my father, but not my citizens, and in return he provides her with extended life, continually adding time to her existence.¡±, said the Emperor.


    Zach turned his focus towards Tony, then returned to address the audience as he continued, ¡°This drives her to give him children and while I¡¯m grateful for my brothers and sisters, her account of history is less than accurate. So as anyone can imagine, to find someone who knows of my parents before I was born, and is sharing that time as a story-teller¡­intrigues me. If the fact that most of you are here because we have a chance to find out what human existence was like a millennia ago, should I even be surprised to see my own father here and now, still impeding my efforts to learn the truth?¡±, the Emperor argued.


    Emperor Zach turned his focus towards Tony once more, and again returned to address the audience as he continued,


    ¡°I know defeating the Dark Tyrant wasn¡¯t the beginning of my story nor my father¡¯s, and I didn¡¯t hear about the end of the U.D.E yesterday, but if the Chosen One is the subject of today¡¯s story, then I wager everything I want to hear is scheduled for today. I would be silent and let our story-teller do as she pleases. However, as an Emperor I must answer any and all challenges. As to the matter of the key, I know it was placed out of my reach. After the empire was established, I thought it came into my possession once, but the key taught me three valuable lessons. First, the key cannot be manipulated. It isn¡¯t even possible to learn the secrets of the key, through observation. The key has the ability to become intangible to any unworthy of it. I only could place the key in a container, and move the container, but that¡¯s just moving the key, it can¡¯t provide any use from the key. The functions¡¯ of the key are beyond me, and that is by design. Second, I know only three who know the secrets of the key and are alive today, my mother, my father, and the keeper of the key. Among those three, only the one who crafted it, truly knows the key¡¯s full capabilities. Strangest of all, I learned all of my father¡¯s enemies, were just pawns in a game, making mistake after mistake, every time they thought victory was within their reach they incorrectly guessed, reaching the wrong conclusions, completely unaware of the true goals, or strategy. My father¡¯s enemies found they either were betrayed from within, walked right into a trap, or wasted their energy chasing a decoy. All the time they never realized my father¡¯s master plan was about that key. Nobody could see it¡¯s true importance, they only dreamed of the power it offered. Third and finally, a wise man would never create such a tool to attain so much power, a foolish man would have selfishly made it only for his own use, but my father instead bound the fate of the key to a woman, who had no attachment to him, because that is how it was written in the Holy Book¡¯s Armageddon Prophecies. Yes, I know Jhessyreen can summon the key or even send it away, and the key never fails to obey her.¡±, said the Emperor.


    For a moment Zach looked directly into my eyes, but his focus turned towards Tony, and then back to the audience. Zach continued speaking,


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard some of our neighbors asking why is the Emperor not in the capital, and now you can see that I¡¯m here. I actually have the ability to rule from anywhere in the star system. But the truth is that I was summoned here by forces I do not yet fully understand. Until that situation has further evolved, I simply need to wait, and I have all of eternity. As to the matter of Miss Jhessyreen¡¯s account of history, it can and will be revealed as she intends¡­¡±, the Emperor said.


    Tony seemed to slowly ponder Zach¡¯s statements, as Zach slowly returned to a shadowy corner. Tony began to stir and the audience and I could only watch Tony slowly walking. I suspect Tony¡¯s pace allows him to collect his thoughts. Tony was now standing in the center to address the most of the audience, and he began speaking.


    ¡°All that the Emperor says is true. The result I desired to create for all of our worlds came at a price, a heavy cost, and I was required to decide that sacrifice. The world now exists with three known realities. There are the mortals who are bound to the cycle of life and death. There are the sleepers who serve, dream, and live by the will of a master. Finally there are us ascended who command cosmic forces, time, and the very essence of reality, but that does not make us into gods.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony took a pause and started looking over the audience, but just as soon as Tony¡¯s vision finished scanning the room, he continued his rebuttal.


    ¡°Like me, my son was born as a mortal, lived, died, and was reborn as ascended. Upon his re-awakening, we agreed the path of ascension must remain locked, and only a few have the ability to even reach the lock. In the era before the empire, I believed that the cycle of life and death was inconsequential. Even as an ascended being, I was fool. The unworthy believed immortality was a prize. For the few of us who suffer immortality, we know it¡¯s a curse.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony looked up at the stars and continued speaking.


    ¡°In the era before the empire, the Earth born wanted to rule over the universe. In the era before the empire, the Earthborn wanted to claim the weapons, the technology, and the knowledge of the ascended who came before us.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony returned his focus to the the Emperor, then to me, then towards the Audience, and Tony continued speaking,


    ¡°In the era before the empire, the Earth born secretly planned to steal, enslave, oppress, and claim the universe. I was once Earth born, I watched royalty act like children. So when I call them unworthy, it¡¯s because they didn¡¯t care why something was there, the unworthy only cared about satisfying their own greed. They became so accustomed to taking away from others, oppressing an entire planet became easy for them, and that was their way of life. I tried to escape their madness, and they pursued me. If they learned anything about my family or the existence of my children, they would kill planet after planet, until I was their slave.¡±, Tony admitted.


    Tony turned his focus to the floor in front of him and continued speaking,


    ¡°And as their slave I would be forced to destroy every last freedom in the universe. They would have used me as a weapon to reshape the universe to their liking. Worst of all, they would have created a race of slaves from my own children. If they could have found just one like me, they would have made the same offers to them, to join their inner circles of power, any form of seduction, even all their promises of wealth.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony¡¯s focus returned to the audience and Tony continued speaking.


    ¡°For a long time I thought I would be the only ascended, that I would be alone at the end of time. I once thought I could only choose between two alternatives. I would either spend eternity alone or be a pawn for the tyrants and hope one of my own children can oppose them. That¡¯s when I had an idea. I found the answer to this conundrum, hidden in the cycle of life and death. What the Emperor doesn¡¯t, or actually cannot realize, is the function of the key. Although he does possess the knowledge to understand as we are masters of time, we are already more capable than the key, or anyone who holds it. If I said something about the true nature of the key, one may assume that I lied. If I lie about the nature of the key, the Key¡¯s true nature remains a mystery. The brilliance of the key is when it¡¯s existence becomes a valuable decoy. So if the Holy Book is prophetic, then the Key will unlock the Universe, the Cycle of Life and Death, and will be used by the Savior to triumph over Evil for all eternity¡­sounds like a good deal, right? However, if I made even the slightest miscalculation in my duplication of the Key¡¯s design, it would still be an incredibly powerful tool and an even more dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.¡±, Tony confessed.


    Tony slowly turned his attention to the stars again and continued speaking.


    ¡°Is it crazy to think that I don¡¯t completely trust myself, or even a valid elected government with access to the key? How easy would it be for anyone to just offer another a taste of such ultimate power? What would the entire human race do for even a chance? In the era before the empire, I gave the Earth born a test.¡±, Tony said


    Tony turned his attention back to the Audience again and continued speaking.


    ¡°All they had to do, was allow another to choose, choose the world they were gifted, and the family who loved them. Yet time and time again, they failed the test. Nothing was ever enough. I was offered anything and everything I wished for, if I would only share the power I was given to protect. As far as I knew, the key worked. Every war lord, prince, and chieftain made every effort, both noble and terrible to obtain the key for their control, or at least the control it offered, as some sort of symbol of authority. And yes, I chose Jhessyreen to be the Key¡¯s master, because it was written in the Holy book, but then again wouldn¡¯t that also be part of the specific qualities the key must have, or else it¡¯s function would be lesser or imperfect? To summarize, yes I created the key, yes I bound it to Jhessyreen, and yes only I know the key¡¯s true purpose. If the question is ¡®Can someone other than an intended user, in anyway use the key to attain a level of ascension?'' Then I have no understanding of what they believe the key is capable of¡­So now I come the true favorite question¡­ Can the key be used in any way to kill me or others like me?¡±, Tony said.


    Tony gave a glance towards Zach, and to be honest I was not yet focusing on the Emperor¡¯s reaction. Looking at the Zach, I remembered when his army hunted me across space and time, and inflicted all that death and suffering because of the desire to control the key.


    ¡°As I said if I am the author of Armageddon, naturally I would write my own victory, not a true victory. If Armageddon is just a myth, then victory is still possible. But if the result of Armageddon was written eons ago, then the key which is so perfectly aligned with the prophecy ensures that Armageddon happens at a time and place of my choosing. So besides from having near absolute control over the end of time, how do I further ensure my victory? It is a matter of the second condition, where the battle takes place. I never expected my own son to ascend the throne, we could just let the mortals decide their own fate, we could have escaped the end of time, and we could use the Exalted City to start over. But as long as an ascended sits on the throne, we are inevitably headed towards the conclusion of Armageddon.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Interesting, that you would reveal your intention to simply raise your own throne¡­Father!¡±, the Emperor argued.


    Tony paused in step and turned towards Zach, as the Emperor objected.


    ¡°The Exalted City isn¡¯t an answer, if there¡¯s nowhere to go. Why would we assume we¡¯re worthy of rescue, when another death is at the other end of the Exalted City¡¯s escape. For what exactly? A chance for a little more time after the end of the Universe? Escape to a different Universe? Where we might not even belong? Do we conquer? Do we bring slaves with us? Whom do we choose? How do we choose? It¡¯s the same flaw you assign to controlling the key, instead you pretend to control the future! And what if my goal is to save people from the end of time is a savior complex? Will that make me your enemy? Will you try to fight me? Just like how you killed the other imposter saviors?¡­You forget father, that only a few can see the truth behind your lies. The Exalted City is just another decoy, to keep everyone distracted from your plans towards your true goal.¡±, the Emperor said.


    ¡°Killing an ascended would only endanger the Universe, and leave me with nowhere to go either¡­The last thing the creator¡¯s servant said to me was this. ¡®What we are is not as important as the consequences of our actions.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure what he meant at the time, but when given the test, I failed. But I had hope that the chosen one could succeed, where I could not. The chosen one made sacrifices mostly of herself, to save others. Today it¡­should be her story¡­ not mine. My crimes shaped the reality we live in today, yet I have committed no crimes against the empire. The man I once was, did all I could to re-write the flow of time. The man I am today doesn¡¯t fear the truth.¡±, Tony said to the audience.


    Tony started moving towards me, each step was completely silent, and he stopped only two steps away. Tony extended an open hand and spoke with a still clarity, ¡°If you please, I am ready for the key. I am ready to make my choice.¡±

 Chapter 2 - The Chosen One

    In the era before the empire, Tony looked at his newly acquired slave and that time was one of the few times in the entire time I''ve known this Earth born super-soldier to see him regret getting paid. It was a very unfamiliar situation for Tony at just thirty-three years old. Protectorate law allows its citizens to pay their debts in this way, but even I was surprised to hear a tragic back-story that plagiarized the prophecy of the Chosen One.


    "It''s against my religion to keep a slave. But you were the most valuable asset of my last client, and if a client fails to pay a Protectorate citizen, then a claim is filed against them. A spy cannot afford to be revealed...So if this prophecy turns out to be true it means I was just paid with the destiny of the Rylkonians.¡±, Tony said.


    Ylisaya looked back at her new master with fear and confusion over what he had just said. I could sense her thoughts echoed the same questions over and over again, "How did this happen? How do I escape? Will I ever be the same again?"


    In terms of Earth years her age was around eighteen, and her Rylkonian appearance would only grow stronger as she ages from a child into an adult. Her eyes were silver and hair was gold. I could sense in Tony''s mind that Ylisaya reminded him of someone, but I never saw him around any Earth born woman that looked like Ylisaya. Ylisaya glanced at me and then back at Tony, then she asked him a question.


    "So why is the Chosen One of any interest to you?" Ylisaya asked.


    I thought it was strange that Ylisaya didn''t refer to herself as the Chosen One. I suspected that she didn''t quite accept the role.


    "Me? I''m not actually interested...but the Rylkonians are also the majority of Protectorate citizens...I assume that once you''re free, you will seek Protectorate citizenship. I''m currently a second-class citizen under consideration for promotion to first-class citizen. I intend to report your safety and freedom as one of my contributions...but that also means those things need to happen. Now that I hear myself say it, that sounds like a trade...you may trust that I intend to sell you to the Protectorate, not as a slave, but as a Chosen One... but only when you are ready.¡±, Tony said.


    I wondered, "What is a true chosen one?" Ylisaya looked at the shackles around her wrists and ankles, and bent forward so her hand could reach the large shackle around her neck. Tony de-activated the shackles with his cybernetic commands and they fell from Ylisaya onto the ground. Ylisaya rubbed her wrists and ankles and seemed relieved to be able to move her hands freely and take full steps. She looked up at Tony.


    ¡±What do I have to do?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "I actually haven''t thought that far. I''m a mercenary and a bounty-hunter, I''ve never owned a slave before...You''re not a warrior, you can''t fight my enemies...the safest place for you is back on the ship.¡±, Tony said.


    I gestured for Ylisaya to follow me, and she seemed to agree.


    "Where is he going?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    I saw that she noticed Tony went in a different direction. I knew he was going to meet the next client, and we hoped the new client had working Pay-Codes.


    "The Captain is going to see our new client... On the ship, you''re allowed to explore, but do not talk to the prisoner, he''s dangerous.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya followed me through corridors and elevators of the Martian launch facility. A magnificent and complex structure of industrial purpose. Without use of the Quantum-Hyper-Jump-Gates most ships rely the assistance of a mechanical launcher to achieve escape-velocity to escape the planet''s gravity and the Planet Mars has a network of launchers aligned with the independent orbits of each moon, Phobos and Deimos. The ships that are launched into orbit aim for the gravitational pull of either of the moons, to further assist in achieving escape-velocity.


    "Are we leaving Mars?" Ylisaya asked.


    "Eventually...and hopefully, but for now we need to get a blimp to get around the planet Mars. There''s a protectorate fleet of gunships, blockading the planet.¡±, I said.


    I pointed out the the rows of departing ships as soon as the docking bay was in view.


    ¡°Those are other gunships like ours. This will be your new home, the Something Clever, Ambush Class Gunship, features a coaxial-quantum-flux-hyper-gate-drive-core, ablative armor, top and bottom dual-function-fusion-pulse-cannons, a central gunner''s turret, so she can fire in any direction, four munition bays because we need a lot of ammo, six crew quarters, but with only three crew we each get out own room, and a three-layer-cloak for invisible operation...Let''s hope the prisoner hasn''t escaped.¡±, I said


    Ylisaya followed me into the Something Clever and she gracefully spun as she stepped into each room as she examined her new reality. I guided her to each room and the area of the ship that most intrigued her was the drive-core.


    "So it''s my fate to fight space pirates?" Ylisayah asked.


    "If by ¡®Fight¡¯ you mean hunt down and kill...then sort of. Space pirates always run from battleships...and merchant freighters are the usual clients. They hire us as security escorts...so it''s less fate and a bit more of a paid job.¡±, I explained.


    "But I could see the Something Clever was recently in battle the blast marks are all over the hull." Ylisaya protested.


    "Well I am embarrassed to admit we don''t always avoid danger, but we''ve taken hits from super weapons and survived...obviously...and we needed repairs, but...how does Tony say it?...You should see what happened to the other ship.¡±, I argued.


    "So do space pirates run away or fight, when they see a battleship?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    I thought about what she was asking for a moment and I replied.


    "In the context of your question...neither...they try to escape and always shoot back while trying to do so.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya seemed surprised to hear my perspective on space pirates and she paused for a moment,


    "Is it worth it?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "Well that depends on the client...or how much they''re paying...sometimes how much we salvage from any space pirates we encounter.¡±, I said.


    "But, does it make a difference? For every space pirate you stop, how many more are there to replace them?¡±, Ylisaya asked and seemed frustrated.


    I realized her perspective was more existential than economical,


    "Hold that question for now and ask again when the captain returns.¡±, I said.


    I gestured in the direction of the brig, and Ylisaya saw another Rylkonian sitting behind a force field. This Rylkonian had his arms and legs shackled and a cloth bag over his head. Stacks of glowing orange-red hexagons formed the semi-transparent force field that divided the prisoner''s cell from the rest of the brig. Outside the brig, Tony and I kept a carton of bio-gel medicine and stuck it to the wall. Ylisaya observed the box of bio-gel, as I took a bottle from the carton, and then turned her focus towards the entrance of the brig. I could see in her eyes, that she was reminded of her own situation when she saw we had shackled the prisoner''s neck, wrists, and ankles, although she didn''t wear a blindfold, and was never held in a cell, like the cell where we placed on our prisoner. Ylisaya wrapped one hand around her other wrist at the sight of the prisoner.


    "What''s the bio-gel for?" Ylisaya asked.


    "We''re waiting for a cryonic-freeze reservation, until then...we have no other way to feed the prisoner...this prisoner is being delivered to the Protectorate." I replied.


    "What did he do?"Ylisaya asked.


    I realized Ylisaya didn''t know his identity because his face was obscured by the blind-fold.


    "He''s the Dread Pirate Ryfez.¡±, I said.


    I entered the brig and closed the door behind me before Ylisaya could follow me. Ryfez seemed to notice my entrance into the brigg and he somehow managed to focus on me as I approached the cell, since the door does make a feint sound. I opened the pass through slot on the side of the cell and dropped the bottle into the cell. Ryfez heard the bottle land at the bottom of the pass through slot and he slowly moved to focus on what I was doing.


    ¡°Feeding time, I¡¯m guessing¡±, Ryfez said.


    Ryfez reached into the drop plate of the pass through slot and held the bottle of bio-gel, but he didn''t open the bottle. The shackles stopped Ryfez from removing the bag and blindfold.


    "You know this is medicine, not food...it''s actually more expensive...Well, let''s see who is my waiter?¡±, Ryfez said, as he started to smell the bottle.


    "Jhessyreen, how kind of you to visit¡­¡±, Ryfez said and turned his focus.


    Ylisaya opened the door and approached. I gestured for Ylisaya to stop, but Ryfez already heard her footsteps. Ryfez spoke, "Is that you Phantom? You lose weight?...hmmm no...this one is different...this new presence is...alive...I''m surprised, Jhessyreen...bringing kids while bounty-hunting¡­why?¡±, Ryfez argued.


    I grabbed Ylisaya''s arm, dragged her with me out of the brigg, and shut the door behind me. I pulled Ylisaya away from the brigg and I yelled, "This isn''t some game, he''s a liar, he''s a criminal, he''s a killer...stay away from him.¡±, I warned Ylisaya.


    "Why are you keeping him? Just to hand him over to the Protectorate.¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "We''re the bounty-hunters who have the privilege of being the only crew with a chance of out-fighting him...but right now he''s nothing but a headache, so we''re going to put him in cryo-sleep to safely and quietly deliver him to our Protectorate contact.¡±, I replied.


    "How much is he worth?" Ylisaya asked.


    I wondered if Ylisaya was asking about the bounty or if she was comparing herself as a slave to a prisoner with a reward on him.


    "The Protectorate has reason to be afraid of him...he''s the worst pirate threat... he''s not some thug robbing merchant freighters, he''s a traitor, used his status as a pirate to evade the Protectorate, and he is connected to the gang-war.¡±, I said.


    "But why?" Ylisaya asked.


    "Don''t know....don''t really care. It wasn''t part of the contract...Either way, we can''t let him escape.¡±, I replied.


    "What now?" Ylisaya asked.


    "Now, we get ready for our next client.¡±, I replied.


    I led Ylisaya to the bridge of the Something Clever, and I gestured for her to take the flight engineer''s seat. The seats were arranged to be visible and reachable from the captain''s chair, in the center. The seats beside the captain''s chair are the flight engineer''s and the gunner''s seat. My chair is the pilot''s chair and it''s in the front of the bridge and the space around it was also optimized like the cockpit of a single crew spacecraft.


    "But I don''t know how to be a flight engineer.¡±, Ylisaya protested.


    She seemed amazed at how easily she could reach both the flight engineer seat and captain''s chair.


    "All you''re going to do is sit there.¡±, I said as I took the pilot''s seat.


    I removed my jacket and set it on the captain''s chair. As I leaned back into the pilot''s seat the connectors built into the chair aligned with the connections running down the sides of my spine and allowed the ship to connect to my nervous system. The ship''s flight systems will now respond to my thoughts and obey my commands. I accessed the ship''s sensors and I can see what the ship sees. Around the ship there are several cargo freighters and fellow gunships to escort the freighters. Some ships were preparing to go to orbital launch, but I was following the group of gunships requested to follow the Confederate forces preparing to attack the Martian city of Rhetonis. I looked in the wide angle mirror at the corner of my battle station that allows me to see the faces of any crew in the three battle stations behind me, and I saw Ylisaya was staring at me.


    "What is it?..." I asked her


    "Ummm...the ship is asking me to connect to it.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    I accessed the ship''s diagnostic system and the wireless controls detected the captain''s ownership code on his newly acquired property.


    "Well connect to the ship already...If you''re going to be of any use on this ship, you''re going to have to learn a few things¡­Even non engineer cyborg crew can use the flight engineer¡¯s seat. Only the Captain¡¯s chair and the Pilot¡¯s chair have problems with the wrong crew trying to use them.¡±, I instructed Ylisaya.


    "The last ship I was on only allowed connection in Battle Stations...Why can I connect without touching any part of the ship but you have physical connection?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    I moved the ship along the track behind the row of other gunships and I switched my connection to wireless control. I stood up out of my seat, moved three steps, and stood over and behind the flight engineer''s seat. Ylisaya turned to look between the captain''s seat and where I stood.


    "I can fly this ship from the ground if I had to, but there''s a difference if I want to move or if I want the ship to move for me. Wireless control is good for long patrols, but if the ship is under attack the crew need''s their battle stations. Battle stations help the rest of the crew know what we''re supposed to do, in battle.¡±, I said.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Ylisaya looked at the captain''s chair and seemed to think about the few roles of the bridge crew for an ambush-class gunship.


    "Won''t the captain need his chair?¡±, Ylisaya asked


    "That''s his chair.¡±, I said, as I pointed at the gunner¡¯s seat.


    Ylisaya looked at the other battle stations on the bridge, and I realized I needed to explain more.


    "They''re technically both his chairs, but you''re the newest crew we''ve added, for a while.¡±, I continued.


    I returned to the pilot''s seat, where I saw a message waiting for me. Apparently the supply crew of the launch facility ran out of the atmosphere navigation blimps made for Ambush-Class-Gunships.


    "What''s wrong?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "They ran out of blimps.¡±, I replied.


    Ylisaya seemed puzzled as she accessed the navigation sensor and placed a highlight marker on a long blimp that a technical crew was attaching to the top of another ship. I realized she was smart enough to use a computer system connected to her brain, but she still lacked the experience of how a space crew gets the supplies they need. I pointed at other ships hovering above us.


    ¡°Yes¡­Those are blimps, but that doesn''t mean they''re included with our subscription. When we leave a planet, we actually don''t bring the blimp with us. Each supply crew specifically mixes the atmosphere in the envelope for the planet or moon they''re meant for use on, so a blimp from one planet is potentially worthless on another planet or moon. The system we pay a subscription for also adds cloaking device compatibility.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya resumed accessing the navigation sensor and placed a marker on an envelope with cloaking technology. I accessed the customer catalog to figure out possible financing options, because we¡¯re already paying a subscription fee. I saw the "contact a sales agent" feature was available in the catalog. I scanned the sales agent connection, my cybernetics linked to the Martian network, and I sensed the thoughts of another Rylkonian. The thoughts slowly became clear,


    "Hello valued customer...how can I help you today?¡±, she made her thoughts were clear to me.


    I quickly organized my thoughts and refined my problem to a single question,


    "Are there any available cloak compatible atmosphere envelopes?¡±, was the question I focused on.


    "Well the Confederacy recently reserved all the appropriate envelopes in your area, it also looks like they reserved three times more than they actually need. If you don''t mind waiting for their military to mobilize, they can provide you with one of their spares, and it won''t count against your subscription.¡±, she sent her thoughts to me.


    "But it''s a subscription fee, we already paid for a reservation.¡±, was the thought echoing in my mind.


    I realized the Confederacy didn''t need to reserve all the envelopes just to have spares, instead they simply didn''t want the gangs to have an opportunity to use them against the Confederacy. I refined my thoughts so the sales agent could hear my question.


    ¡±What''s the going rate for a passenger''s orbital launch out of schedule?¡±, I sent my question through the cyber-link.


    The sales agent quickly realized what I was checking for when a gunship is asking about passenger ticket rates, only meant I was comparing prices.


    "Yes, the Confederacy is allowing ships to escape, for cheap too. The blockade fleet in orbit is only preventing ships from arriving, they are permitting ship to leave Mars.¡±, she sent her thought to me.


    This was the Martian Confederacy''s opening move, to make resistance difficult and expensive, but make escape both attractive and encouraged. They always estimated that some of their enemy lacks either courage or loyalty, but they would have to realize that some of the enemy can also choose to resist. That was the Confederacy''s great strategy, some of their enemies will always resist but they will always have fewer enemies and those enemies will have fewer resources as any cowards depart the planet and take resources with them. I disconnected from the sales agent.


    "What''s going on?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "The Confederacy is preparing to send in their forces against the gangs, so they reserved all the resources that could be used to fight back, but opened up all the resources needed to escape.¡±, I replied


    "That explains the deployment of the Protectorate''s blockade fleet instead of using their own fleet for defending Mars, it leaves the Confederacy free to focus on the surface of Mars, and efficiently fight the gangs." Ylisaya realized.


    "You learn quickly chosen one...I need to tell the captain." I replied.


    I redirected my cybernetics to reach Tony. I sensed his mind and determined he was talking to the new client.


    "This better be important, I''m talking to the client right now.¡±, was the first clear thought I sensed from Tony''s mind.


    "We won''t be able to follow the Confederate Cavalry, the Confederacy has already made their first move. Only option is to leave the planet.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony


    "If you can''t get into the fight, then get into orbit and join the blockade fleet...I''ll just have to do all the fighting...from the ground.¡±, Tony sent his reply and disconnected.


    ¡°We''re leaving for orbit¡­¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    I returned to my chair and activated my chair''s safety restraints, so I could safely launch the ship into orbit without slamming into the floor of the bridge. I turned to Ylisaya and saw she hadn''t used her seat''s restraints.


    "You should anchor yourself into your seat, escape velocity is abrupt.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    "What about the prisoner?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "You saw him in the brig...He''s always anchored.¡±, I replied.


    I wondered if Ylisaya was being reminded of the fact that she''s still a slave, but that''s less of a problem than a human body bouncing around the bridge, during combat maneuvers. The ship followed a track that provided access to the different functions of the launch facility. This track has gaps, which is allows the ships on the track to change directions and switch to different tracks. I waited and watched to see what happened when the ship hits a gap. The ship shook and the disturbance almost knocked over Ylisaya. She grabbed the sides of the flight engineer''s seat and quickly understood the need for using safety restraints on a space craft, and she used her cybernetic connection to operate the functions of the chair.


    "You learn quickly chosen one.¡±, I said.


    The ship followed the track towards the orbital launch system. Earth born engineers are right about one thing, it takes a lot of energy to achieve escape velocity, and applying additional energy at the correct stage of acceleration is critical. But what they always seem to forget is a running start can start anywhere. The first stage of the launch is lowering of the ship into a long tube, much like loading a cannon. The next stage is charging the coils with energy, that will eventually pull the ship along the tube. The part we cannot see is the counter-weight that falls with the assistance of gravity that counters all the forces that the launcher exerts on the surface of the planet. The Earthborn once imagined that the counter-weight was dropped on a lever that lifted the space-craft. Ylisaya watched the launcher move the ship into the next phase. The lights closest to the bottom of the launch tube changed from blue to green. The lights illuminated six rails that followed the launch path inside the launch tube. The ship rocked backwards enough to make the sensitive and loose hanging systems and cargo straps swing side to side. Through the vibrations of the ship I could sense the launcher align itself to the ship. The ship settled into the launcher and the swaying immediately stabilized. I looked through the sensors down the six rails and as the coils charged, they continued to change from blue to green in sequence, that indicated the coils attained a sufficient level of power. The launch tube began to rumble.


    "Are we launching already?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "That''s not us, our launcher is only half ready...There''s a few other ships before us.¡±, I replied.


    I looked down the rails and light continued to change from blue to green. The ship''s systems asked if we wanted to restrain the passenger in the brig, except the ship also asked Ylisaya.


    "Why is the ship asking if we want to restrain the prisoner? He''s locked up, hands and feet are shackled, and he''s blindfolded...Why does he need additional restraints?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "Well we''re going to accelerate to half the speed of light and moving at that speed for a fraction of a nano-cycle...these restraints prevent out brains from liquifying in our skulls, avoid our nervous systems from overloading when we are trying to realign with normal phase time, and prevent our ribcages from shattering when the ship loses momentum.¡±, I replied.


    I activated the ship-wide broadcast system so the Dread Pirate could hear me.


    "Dread Pirate...stay still, I''m activating the stasis field...we''re going into orbit...just to be clear...The price on your head is dead or alive, so I have no regrets if the stasis field rips you apart.", I announced.


    I accessed the ship''s systems and reconfigured the force-field in front of the Dread Pirate''s cell into a stasis-field, through the ship''s internal sensor I could see that Ylisaya had magnetically anchored herself to the flight engineer''s seat. I activated the magnetic anchors of my seat. My cybernetic connection to the ship reached maximum alignment, I was now one with the ship. When this happens I risk forgetting about my physical body, and I have to remind myself that I am not an ambush-class gunship. I focus on the navigation sensors and I see we are second in line to launch. The facility rumbled and the launcher fired a ship, although to my eyes it only appeared as a beam of light, but to the ship''s sensors I could see it was a merchant freighter, probably also filled with passengers fleeing Mars which was at the brink of war. I sensed launch control was trying to call the ship, I responded with my cybernetic frequency. I sensed the mind of a Rylkonian cannoneer who was sitting in the fire-control of the launcher. His mind started asking me for my destination, but his thoughts were slightly unfocused.


    "I''m headed for the blockade fleet.¡±, I focused my mind and let the gunner hear my thoughts.


    "You might be an ambush class, but I have the roster of the blockade fleet and the Something Clever isn''t on it.¡±, the thoughts of the gunner were made clear to me.


    "My captain is with a client in Rhetonis, that''s where the Ugian and Lanthano gangs are fighting and the Confederate Cavalry is headed there to stop the gang war. My captain needs the ship to take our property and prisoner off the planet, and provide air-recon. Yes I know atmospheric stealth surveillance, is better. But the Confederacy is only allowing planet departure.¡±, I focused my thoughts and made them clear to the gunner.


    "I can put you in orbit, but room to fly around the blockade fleet is up to Fleet command. The Confederacy has designated everything between Mars¡¯ stratosphere and a gunship''s fusion cannon range as a kill zone. The Blockade fleet is cleared to fire on any ship approaching Mars.¡±, the gunner''s thoughts were clear to me, and the gunner''s mind disconnected.


    The launch facility rumbled the the ship before us launched into the sky. The facility slid our launcher into the main ramp. I looked around the bridge cabin with my eyes into my wide angle mirror and I saw Ylisaya was slightly more alert.


    "Where were you? Internal sensors showed your mind was working as hard as the flight computer, but you looked like you were knocked out.¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "I had to get permission for a flight path up to the blockade fleet. Fire control has a canoneer who is following the rules.¡±, I replied.


    "Fire control? Cannoneer? I thought this was a launch facility?" Ylisaya asked and seemed puzzled.


    "The Confederacy has a law, they don''t normally talk about. Every business, company, and corporation on Mars is allowed to be privately owned and financed, but has to be managed by a military reservist. And every resource and asset must have a defense application.¡±, I replied.


    "So every private business has some kind of loyalty to the Confederacy, at a minimum they''re all dependent on military policy.¡±, Ylisaya realized as she said her thoughts aloud.


    "You learn quickly chosen one.¡±, I replied.


    "But what''s the military application of a facility that launches ships, when they already have a fleet of battleships blockading the planet?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "They''re not restricted to launching ships. They can shoot as far as their second moon. Launching commercial ships brings in a lot of money for the Confederacy, but when they want to hit something, they won''t launch ships...instead they will launch explosives.¡±, I replied.


    Ylisaya remained silent as she processed the realization of the true nature of the launch facility. I wondered how she felt being inside a gigantic gun. The launch tube slid into the the main ramp and we now had a clear view of the sky. I activated the final launch procedure and deactivated all the sensors, since they may overload not because of traveling near the speed of light, but when the ship slows down, the light approaching from in front of the ship causes the sensor to think it''s pointed backwards for a fraction of a nano-cycle. The launcher rumbled and the lights were now completely green. The rumbling stopped as I activated the ship''s stabilizers. The lights turned red and a bright light flooded the ship as the objects in the bridge seemed to freeze and slowly float away. I know this was just an illusion caused by moving at half the speed of light, but this could fry the sensors.


    But in the next instant the ship was in the space above. Mars was far below us and the two moons were at the far edges of my view through the ship¡¯s sensors. I activated the navigational sensor and instantly found the blockade fleet. Over two thousand ambush gunships patrolled the planet, and luckily Mars is a small planet. The gunships could dock on the moons and if they were focused on the surface of Mars, they would most likely use the first moon of Mars as their Patrol base. Phobos was easy to identify, even without the assistance of the navigation sensor. A distant beam of light was always pointed at Phobos, the origin was from the space stations orbiting around the Sun, which was just focused sunlight, which the Sun made in abundance. The beam of light powered most of the major systems and sub-systems needed on Phobos. Phobos then reflected the majority of that focused sunlight towards the Surface of Mars. Anything that needs constant power or sunlight such as farming towers, city lights, or even defense systems pays a subscription fee to import sunlight from Mercury. Each customer can be found by following their individual light beam from Phobos to Mars. The company is called Solar Equality, and they operate the prism facilities on Phobos, but they are owned by the Mercury Commonwealth. Judging by the amount of energy they import to Mars as focused sunlight, it''s scary to think how could they would execute Martian Law if they were activated as military reservists.


    I activated my transponder and I called out to Phobos with my Cybernetic signal. I sensed the mind of another Rylkonian pilot, and I could clearly understand the other pilot''s thoughts.


    "We see you Ambush Class Gunship Something Clever. You''re not scheduled to be part of the Blockade. You can land on Phobos or Deimos, or leave. But you cannot return to Mars.¡±, the other pilot made their thoughts clear.


    "I need the fleet''s permission to orbit above the blockade. Our captain and a client have business in Rhetonis.¡±, I focused my thoughts to the other pilot.


    I sensed the pilot reach into the fleet''s nexus and then the presence of thousands of other Rylkonian minds. They analyzed my request from all the thousands of perspectives. They instantly considered the cost versus benefits of hiring the Something Clever and the cost of our salaries. I introduced the factor that we had a separate client and the situation of being deprived an opportunity to fly with the Confederate Cavalry. The fleet slowly reached consensus.


    "While you''re flying around us, one of your bridge crew must stay cyber-linked to the fleet and your navigational sensor.¡±, the other pilot''s thoughts were clear to me.


    I understood the fleet''s reluctance to simply give us an unearned and unrelated privilege that doesn''t benefit the fleet, as well as taking precautions to not push into our privacy, but still watch our movements.


    "If that let''s us fly. We''ll do it.¡±, I focused my thoughts so the other pilot could understand them clearly.


    "You''re going to cyberlink to the fleet and our navigation sensor.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    "What? Why me?" Ylisaya protested


    "Because I don''t want to do it, and you won''t actually do anything, except sit there and watch and listen to the fleet''s thoughts. They just want a way to watch us.¡±, I replied


    "Okay, how do I do that?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    "You''re sitting in a flight engineer¡¯s seat, use it.¡±, I instructed Ylisaya.


    A few moment''s passed, and through my wide angle mirror I could see Ylisaya was processing a connection to the entire fleet. Her eyes moved rapidly in all directions as she could picture in her mind the entirety of the fleet''s multiple perspectives.


    "What do you see?" I asked Ylisaya.


    "The fleet isn''t just watching the space around Mars. They''re also watching Rehtonis. Two-hundred gunships have weapons aimed at the city. They''re targeting scans are so detailed it''s as if I can see what''s going on in the city.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    "Taking aim at one of Mars¡¯ cities, even if it''s currently a war-zone, is an odd way ensuring the customer can pay¡­", I said as I learned this unusual action taken by a Rylkonian fleet.


    "No...The fleet didn''t decide that. It''s the Confederacy...the Confederacy wanted the gunships to keep weapons locked on the city.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    "What''s going on in Rhetonis?¡±, I asked Ylisaya


    "The rest of the planet is allowed to flee, but Rhetonis is under lockdown. There''s over five thousand enforcer mechs surrounding the city, under command of Confederate Officers. There are another ten Rylkonian Sniper teams also watching the city, but they have invisibility cloaking tech. The fleet only knows they are there because they are also crew from the fleet. The Enforcer mechs are the parts of the surrounding forces meant to be seen, and keep people in. The sniper teams are cleared to fire on anyone who tries to leave the city through any way other than being arrested by enforcer mechs. In Rhetonis over one thousand Ugian and Lanthano gang members are still fighting eachother.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    "How far away is the Confederate Cavalry?¡±, I asked.


    "The cavalry is already there, over two thousand cavaliers under the command of twenty confederate officers and six cloaked ambush class gunships are holding their location just outside perimeter of enforcer mechs. They''re going to continue to let the gangs fight each other.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    "Do you see Tony? Is he with the client?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    "They entered the city just five micro-cycles ago. There''s more, the confederate officers believe the client is Ugian, based on their weapons and armor. They also suspect the client is a woman.¡±, Ylisaya replied.

 Chapter 3 - The Battle of Rhetonis

    I connected to the fleet''s nexus of cybernetic minds. The blockade fleet surrounded Mars just below the orbit of Phobos, Mars'' first moon. Each Ambush class gunship had direct sight to five other gunships, but not even cybernetic enhanced eye-sight had that kind of range. Only the ships'' navigation and targeting sensors would suffice. The blockade fleet could see in every direction that could be used to approach Mars. The only blind-spots for the fleet were the moons, but both Phobos and Deimos could also get militarized, although only Phobos maintained a connection to the fleet''s cybernetic network since the fleet was using Phobos as a patrol base. The fleet could see from the view provided by navigation sensors of any individual gunship. I quickly understood why they chose navigation sensor data over targeting data. The navigation sensor uses less power and can see in every direction, where as the targeting sensor is more powerful, but only valuable in the narrow angles that a gunner is expected to shoot. It would be near impossible for even a cloaked ship to approach Mars without being at least located. When a targeting sensor is aimed at a Gunship a hostile lock alarm is triggered. Since most ambush class gunships also use stealth tech, they also know what to look out for, when an enemy ship is cloaked.


    That''s where the Martian City of Rhetonis was an exception. I could now see what Ylisaya saw. Over two hundred gunships made high detailed scans of Rhetonis and enabled the fleet to both see activities in the city and even hear conversations, even through the giant dome that enveloped the the city''s breathable atmosphere. I thought it was strange that the Confederacy requested the fleet to keep weapons lock on the city, or if the Confederacy even knew that we would have such an easy time spying on them. The fleet was continuously watching the Ugians and Lanthanos kill off each other. The Confederacy seemed to have multiple estimates of how many gang members remained. All of the Confederacy''s estimates were close to the fleet''s but the none of their estimates were as accurate. The Confederacy continued to wait and watch, but they never indicated what they were waiting for. The blockade fleet continued billing the Confederacy, and it all seemed very odd to the fleet that the Confederacy seemed to not care how much the gang war was costing them. However the situation that seemed to draw the interest of the majority of the fleet was the mysterious client who entered the city with a mercenary super soldier.


    I was sitting on the bridge of the Something Clever yet I could see each area of the city, which gang controlled which area, and the movements of gang members of both gangs as they attempted to fight each other. I could see Tony and the client. The scan could detail the surface of his armor, but didn''t scan anything further than the surface. Through the scan, his power armor appeared like a walking fortress of black metal and within the armor a glow of molten lava. Across his chest, attached to his arms from the shoulder to the elbow, and from the hip to the knee on his non-shooting side he kept spare ammo. Hanging on the hip of his shooting side he kept a hand-cannon. On his back he kept three more weapons in their closed and folded travel configurations. I guessed those were his pulse rifle, his shotgun, and his battle-axe. Around his neck and hanging over the shoulder of his shooting side he wore his cloaking device. The fabric wasn''t active, so as long as he wanted to be seen he would be visible to the scanners. His head was covered by a demonic looking skull mask with fangs, pointed ears, and two rows of small horns that ran from front to back over the eyes. Beneath the skull mask that caged his own skull, the scans could see his glowing red eyes with vertical pupil slits. The fleet scan was quite accurate.


    The client next to Tony, wore a suit made of Tri-tech. Tri-tech was commonly known as the Earthborn''s attempt to copy Rylkonian tech, but it only approximated Rylkonian technology, and it relied too much on electronics so didn''t exactly work the same. The client''s suit was made of large, medium, and small hexagon shaped red metal plates that interlocked into each other. The smallest hexagon plates composed the joints, allowing full flexibility for the hands and neck, and the large hexagon plates protected larger parts of the body not expected to flex as much. No Rylkonians, and consequently no-one in the fleet''s cybernetic network fully understood how Tri-tech power armor worked, all we could be certain of is that it was the weakest of the cybernetic strength enhancements. But enough of us had seen Ugians fight and knew the Ugian fighting style relies on precision, skill, and understanding their enemy''s weaknesses. Some of the fleet were expecting to find the clan markings of this Ugian warrior, which was usually displayed on the outside back of a long jacket or thick vest worn over the armor, and a belt is wrapped around such jackets or vests. The belt is also where an Ugian warrior hangs their weapons. This warrior carried a sword inside a sheath hanging from the belt, but this Ugian warrior had no clan markings and the material seemed unusually smooth for something worn into battle. The most unusual quality of the Ugian warrior''s jacket and belt is that they were the color pink with white trim. The top of the Ugian warrior''s head was protected by a black metal dome that scanned as Tri-tech with angled black plates that covered the sides and back. It almost seemed as if the plates were designed to appear as a hair-style. The client''s face was covered by a white mask that the sensor''s detected as Tri-tech. The mask was smooth, had a perky nose, high cheek-bones, slender chin, ruby lips, and intricately decorated eye holes. The fleet wasn''t convinced that the Confederate officers weren''t either racist or didn''t suspect an Earthborn male might be pretending to be a female. The consensus of the fleet concluded this question didn''t matter, the fleet isn''t investigating the Phantom''s client, and such a concern should only be resolved with a blood test.


    The fleet watched Tony as he guided the client towards the location of three Ugian warriors. The three Ugian warriors wore black Tri-tech armor, their helmets and masks resembled demons and ferocious animals, and wore identical clan markings on black long vests. The three Ugians warriors were taking the valuables from a dead Lanthano woman. The Lanthano woman didn''t appear to have any weapons or armor that identified her as a gang member, and the scan indicated she had been recently killed with metal blade weapons, as her wounds included cuts and stabs. Tony and the client approached quietly and were not noticed by the three Ugians. Tony and the client reached the corner closest to the three Ugian warriors and Tony made a gesture to the client that indicated he saw only three enemies.


    "They shall fight with honor.", yelled the client in a digitally altered voice. The three warriors turned towards the direction of the client''s voice and the client stepped out from the corner as drew they sword from it''s sheath. The three warriors seemed to recognize the client as they drew their own swords. Tony''s posture seemed frustrated that the client just chose to attack. The fleet was trying to determine why Ugians might be fighting each other. The three Ugian warriors drew their swords called Rotono blades, each was a curved blade with single cutting edge on the convex edge of the blade. The concave edge contained a hollow track with a metal wheel inside, that rested near the handle of the sword. The hand guard was thin copper dome shaped half-basket. The handle was wrapped in a grip made from cords that changed direction with alternating knots. The three warriors had swords with black handles and steel blades. The Client''s sword had a red handle wrapped in white cords, and the client¡¯s blade was made from an unknown metal that shined red. The client slowly approached the three warriors and the three warriors slowly surrounded the client. The client took a sword stance with the Rotono blade held high near the shoulder of the sword-hand, with the blade pointed upward. The Warrior in the center raised his Rotono-blade high ready to strike. The two other warriors moved away from the warrior between them. One of the warriors to the side rested the track edge of the blade over the shoulder of his off hand side with the point of the blade and his focus on the client. The third warrior took a wider stance, held his blade with both hands, and pointed the blade away from the client, which prevented the client from being able to see the blade and unable to predict the angle of the attack. The three warriors slowly surrounded the client and seemed as if their plan was to attack all at once.


    "I''m not getting paid enough for this." Tony grumbled in a whisper as Tony reached for his shotgun.


    The shotgun was magnetically attached to Tony''s armor, closed, and folded into a compact form. As soon as Tony touched the shotgun, it seemed to jump into his hand as it unfolded and prepared to shoot. Tony looked at the ammo indicator panel and activated his cloaking device. As the cloak effect enveloped Tony, he vanished into a distortion. The scan could no longer see him exactly, but what the scan did see was replaced with a distortion just slightly larger than Tony, which meant the cloaking device was working, but the scanning from the fleet could still determine his location and when he moves, by watching the distortion.


    The three Ugian warriors slowly closed in on the client, and Tony moved undetected towards the closest warrior to the side of the client. Tony deactivated his cloak, surprised the three warriors, and fired at the closest enemy. The shotgun blast launched a cluster or sharp metal projectiles that sliced through the warrior¡¯s armor. The warrior hit by the shotgun blast dropped to his knees, touched the armor on his chest, and then looked is his hand. The warrior''s armored hand was now covered in blood, and blood continued to flow from the holes recently shot. The scan from the fleet indicated that the Tri-tech armor was trying to keep the warrior alive, but the armor was going to fail. Tony turned his aim towards the next closest enemy, but both remaining warriors rushed in towards the client. It seemed they guessed from the impact pattern on their injured fellow gang-member, that Tony couldn''t fire again without hitting the client. They swung their swords and with each swing the metal wheel inside the blade rolled from the handle to tip. The scan indicated that the shift in weight mechanically increased the striking power of the sword by an exponential magnitude. The client deflected the sword strike with a parry, and when the warriors attacked once more the client deflected again. Each time their blades clashed they disengaged to evade a counter attack, whether or not the client managed to strike them.


    Tony attempted to aim the shotgun but the client was still in danger of the shogun blast. The client continued to defend against two opponents, and the fleet suspected the warriors armed with swords both determined that the opponent with a sword is less of a threat than the opponent with significantly more firepower. The warriors sped up their pattern of attacking and retreating, staying as close as they could to the client, to prevent being shot. The blades of the warriors and the client carved continuous flowing circles in the air resting only to prepare the mechanical blades for lethal strikes.


    Tony returned the shotgun to his back carrier and the weapon folded into it''s more compact form. Tony switched to his battle-axe. The handle of the Battle-Axe extended and activated a blue half-moon shaped energy blade at one end. The two warriors saw that Tony changed his weapon and the closest warrior retreated from the client to change his focus towards Tony. The warrior rushed and swung at Tony. Tony raised his battle axe, and the warrior''s Rotono-blade only hit a force-field that seemed to wrap around the handle of the battle-axe. The Rotono-blade seemed to bounce off the deflector shield made of blue glowing hexagons, and the sword changed direction with the same amount of force that the warrior directed into the initial attack. The warrior lost his focus on Tony, as the sword was almost knocked out of his hands.


    "My turn.¡±, Tony said in a chuckle.


    Tony continued to push the handle of the battle axe forward towards the warrior, and Tony made the warrior lose balance. Tony swung the handle of the Battle-axe backwards into the back of the warrior''s knee of the leg he was trying to balance on, and the warrior fell to the ground.


    "For the Auro-blade!¡±, Tony yelled out as he swung his Battle-Axe, and Tony decapitated the second warrior. The client parried another sword swing from the third and final warrior. Tony deactivated the battle-axe and returned it the back carrier. The Battle-Axe folded itself into a compact form as it rested across Tony¡¯s armor. Tony reached for his hand-cannon, and as he took aim at the third warrior, he knelt down next to the decapitated warrior. The last warrior and the client clashed blades once more and just as quickly jumped away from each other. As they landed they each prepared to attack once again. The warrior took a stance and pointed the blade upward to make the metal wheel inside the track of the blade reset to strike. As the wheel reached it¡¯s lower rest, Tony fired the hand cannon and pierced right through the metal wheel. The warrior swung the Rotono-blade through the air and the wheel didn¡¯t roll. The warrior realized his blade no longer had mechanically increased power. The warrior looked around and saw the client with a fully functional Rotono-blade and Tony was still aiming the hand-cannon at him. The fleet estimated an eighty-seven percent probability that the warrior would attempt to take a working sword from one of the other two warriors.


    The warrior reached into his belt and threw a sphere shaped object wrapped in unknown material at the ground beneath his feet. When the sphere hit the ground, the sphere exploded in a cloud of smoke. The scan could see through the smoke and the fleet watched the warrior as he retreated into an adjacent alley-way. The fleet also determined that Tony could still see through the smoke, but allowed the warrior to escape. The Fleet now calculated there was a ninety-three percent chance that Tony planned to follow the warrior.


    When the smoke cleared, Tony holstered his hand-cannon and picked up the Rotono-Blade dropped at his feet, and then stood up. Tony swung the blade, but the wheel didn¡¯t roll. Tony examined the sword again and attempted to swing once more, but the wheel didn¡¯t budge. The client watched Tony fail to use the Rotono-Blade a third time.


    ¡°That¡¯s not going to work, it wasn¡¯t made for you.¡±, the client said to Tony.


    ¡°These are supposed to be some of the most expensive weapons made by Ugians, and you¡¯re telling me it just stopped working?¡±, Tony protested.


    ¡°Look inside the hand guard.¡±, the client replied.


    Tony pointed the blade downwards and he peered into the hand guard.


    ¡°I see a switch and a lever¡­What do I do with those?¡± Asked Tony.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­They were made for him.¡±, the client said, as the client pointed to the warrior, the sword belonged to.


    Tony picked up the other Rotono-Blade next to the warrior who lost consciousness. Tony looked in the hand guard of the other sword.


    ¡°This one has a dial and a switch¡­are every one of these swords made to be different?¡±, Tony asked.


    The client sheathed the Red-Rotono-Blade, turned towards Tony, glanced at the unconscious warrior, glanced back at Tony.


    "It''s easier to keep the secrets of the Ugian Rotono-blade, if not just anybody can pick a Rotono-blade and start using one.¡±, the client said.


    "Well the next time we find Ugians or run into Lanthano gang-members, I''d appriciate it if you kept our location a secret. We should go...it''s getting dark and the trail will go cold.¡±, Tony replied.


    "Should we have killed the third warrior? He''ll tell others.", the client replied.


    ¡°What he says to the others is worth the risk for what he¡¯ll show us.¡±, Tony replied.


    Tony dropped the Rotono-Blade and led the client further into the city. Through the scans we could see that Tony followed the exact path of the warrior that escaped. The fleet was already following the warrior, however he headed towards an area that both gangs were currently fighting over. He had at least a fifty percent chance of joining other Ugians. The fleet suspected the warrior was following the sounds of battle, and suspected Tony was either following the same sound, could still detect the warrior, or combined multiple methods to track the warrior. But not me, as soon as I heard Tony say, "The trail will go cold." I knew what he did. The bullet that broke the wheel in the warrior''s Rotono-Blade was altered to be exceptionally hot, and this alteration is both rare and expensive, but would explain why he choose to fire his hand-cannon instead of just using his Shotgun again. The result of the hot bullet is the heat as a bullet flies through the air and this effect burns directly into smoke. I knew, if the warrior had any of this smoke on him, then Tony will find him.


    Tony led the client towards the the warrior, until they found an injured Ugian woman. She appeared to be an elderly woman and her garb showed signs of burns and she was hiding from the gangs, but all she had with her was a basket of salvaged food. The client turned to focus towards the woman.


    "We don''t have time to stop. Not even for refugees.¡±, Tony protested.


    "I need to know what we''re dealing with. It makes no sense for Ugian civilians to die.¡±, the client replied.


    The client knelt down next to the woman and spoke in a language that no-one in the fleet understood. The woman replied in the same unknown language and they exchanged dialogue four more times. The client held the woman''s hand as they continued talking.


    "I want to find her family, let them know the Black Dragon Clan will suffer.¡±, the client said to Tony. The sections of the fleet that were watching the warrior verified that the warrior attacked the woman, but abandoned her and the food when he saw that all she had was food.


    "How do you even know he did this?¡±, Tony asked the client.


    "You say the warrior went this way, and this woman will be dead soon, from a wound that can only come from a Rotono-Blade without power strike. Who else would?¡±, the client argued.


    "Protecting these people is the Confederacy''s job. You paid me for the death of Warlord Zokoro. If you want to help these people, we only need to kill Zokoro, that brings this war one step closer to ending.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony then turned towards the dying woman and he spoke in the unknown language. The woman replied to Tony, turned to the client, and smiled as the targeting scans detected her life signs fade.


    "Maybe you''re right, but how do we stop two armies that hate each other, and at least one side is willing to kill their own?¡±, the client asked.


    "The Confederacy already answered that. They''re fully capable of ending the fighting, but they''re gonna wait for the best possible victory, the perfect moment to strike.¡±, Tony replied.


    "That''s not stopped...that''s just waiting to win.¡±, the client argued.


    "Then I only have one alternative I can think of...but I don''t think you''re gonna like the price tag of genocide.¡±, Tony replied.


    "Can you do it?¡±, The client asked.


    "Do what?¡±, Tony asked back.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Kill both the Black Dragon Clan and Lanthano gangs. Can you end this war?¡±, the client asked again.


    "I normally do not question the motives of a client... They pay and I fight, that''s usually the end of it. My answer is yes, but you already know the price of just one assassination. Do you have enough money to pay for a war?¡±, Tony asked.


    The Client released the elderly woman''s hand and crossed her arms over her chest.


    "I hope her family finds her.¡±, the client said and then stood up.


    "I''m ready, let''s find Zokoro.¡±, the client added and then gestured for Tony to continue the search for the Black Dragon clan.


    The fleet observed the Black Dragon Clan warrior was captured by a Lanthano gang, and Tony with the client were headed directly towards them. The Lanthano gang had barricaded themselves in a compound of three large buildings that allowed them to control the movement of people through the perimeter. The buildings had balconies, roof access, and bridges connecting to other buildings. The Lanthano Gang had placed lookouts with high powered assault rifles and bright spot lights on the roofs. As Tony with the client approached, Tony gestured for the client to stay back.


    "I''m gonna scout the base, I''ll let you know when I have a plan to get him out.¡±, Tony whispered to the client.


    Tony activated his cloak and vanished, and the client moved behind a nearby wall. The fleet watched Tony vanish into a distortion and the distortion slowly moved through the compound with Tony inside it. Some Lanthano gang members had cybernetic enhancements, and presumably genetic modifications as well, but they tended to avoid regulations, which made them unpredictable. Tony moved cautiously as he knew it was impossible to predict which Lanthanos had cybernetic or genetic enhancements that might detect him. It might even be possible that the Lanthanos can detect the fleet¡¯s scans.


    Tony moved into a building and the fleet wasn''t able to see him in scanning. The fleet estimated that Tony was searching for the Black Dragon warrior, since he wasn''t killing any Lanthano Gang members. Tony slowly moved through the compound avoiding the risk of standing directly in front of any Lanthano gang members. The fleet observed the client respond to an electronic device and leave the hiding spot. The client walked into the spot lights to be completely visible to the look outs. The look outs aimed lights and assault rifles at the client, and all the lights turned off. The fleet concluded that Tony had sabotaged the electricity. The client retreated from the compound to a large wall with shallow ground next to it, and the client hid behind the wall to evade the look outs. The look outs fired at the previous location of client, but none of the shots fired managed to hit the client. A look out aimed a tube launcher in the direction of the client, dropped a projectile into the tube, and the object flew out from the tube and slowly floated as is burned bright enough to allow the look outs to see. The fleet scan identified the floating object as a flare, intended to help Earth born see for a short time.


    When the scouts ceased fire, to either conserve ammo or avoid the bright flash from shooting an rapid fire weapon in near total darkness to keep searching. More Lanthano gang members exited building wandering in the dark, looking for battery operated light devices, assault rifles, and other rapid fire weapons. Tony deactivated his cloak and appeared within one of the now abundant shadows, still hidden from the Lanthanos. Tony reached for his hand-cannon and he extended his arm holding the hand-cannon around the corner of the wall. He activated a targeting scanner attached to the top of the hand cannon, and the motion sensors on the back of his head. Tony pointed the hand cannon around the corner of the wall he was hiding next to and scanned multiple enemies, although he didn''t fire. Tony moved to the other end of the wall and scanned with just the hand cannon as he kept his body hidden from view in the shadows. Tony activated his cloaking device and vanished into a distortion, although the energy signature of the targeting scanner and motion sensors still partially appeared slightly distorted. Tony moved towards a barricade and deactivated his cloak. Tony raised only the hand-cannon over the top edge of the barricade to scan more enemies, while staying hidden. Yet he still did not fire.


    The Lanthano Gang members fired another flare. Tony transmitted an unidentified signal from his cybernetics, but only the client¡¯s electronic device responded to the signal. The client drew the Red-Rotono-Blade and walked into the light from the flare. As the lookouts took aim at the client, an explosion destroyed a building on the opposite side of the compound. The lookouts were distracted from the explosion and the client rushed the compound. The fleet hypothesized that Tony had not just sabotaged the base, but also planned to destroy it, perhaps even with the gang-members inside it. The blast from the explosion damaged an adjacent building, and the fleet detected the partially damaged building was also the building where the Black Dragon Warrior was imprisoned. The client jumped onto the wall of a damaged building, looking for damage large enough to grip or climb. The lookouts aimed down the wall at the client. Tony deactivated his cloak, holstered the hand-cannon, and reached for his pulse rifle. The magnetic control made the folded and compact weapon jump into his hand, and he aimed the pulse rifle at the lookouts as they threatened the client. Tony used his non-firing hand to reach for a lever on the side of the pulse rifle. As Tony pushed a lever forward, three metal firing tubes pointed forward in the front of the pulse rifle extended forward out of the casing of the pulse rifle. As the three metal tubes nearly doubled the length of the pulse rifle they, they began rolling over eachother, chasing the metal tube before and fleeing the tube after. The barrels of the pulse rifle began spinning faster and faster, and then Tony fired. The pulse rifle fed a belt of bullets from a box underneath the base of the three spinning barrels and the pulse rifle roared to life as it sprayed bullets and killed four lookouts. Tony ceased fire and rested the pulse rifle as the client reached the top of the wall. The spinning three barrels slowed to a halt. The client charged at one of the surviving look outs dodging the incoming fire. The client lunged at the lookout and slashed with one hand and the Rotono-blade¡¯s machenical power sliced through the lookout¡¯s assault rifle. The client continued with the momentum and of the swing and struck the lookout with a reverse open-hand strike to the neck. The fleet¡¯s scan indicated that the lookout was still alive, but unconscious.


    On the opposite side of the compound a lookout aimed an assault rifle out a window. The lookout witnessed the warrior attempt to flee. The lookout aimed an assault rifle at the warrior. Tony ran and jumped onto the roof of the nearest building. The fleet began researching, if the height of this jump was some kind of record, but I knew it wasn¡¯t, the gravity on Mars is relatively weak, and four moons in the solar system have stronger gravity than Mars. From the roof, Tony now had an elevated firing angle against all remaining enemies in the compound. Tony aimed at the lookout and pulled the lever backward, retracting the the three barrels of the pulse rifle, and then pushed forward a different lever on the opposite side of the weapon¡¯s casing. As the lever went forward a tube shaped magnetic coil with heat shields extended forward. The lever also seemed to extend a stabilizer from the back of the weapon. The heat shields covered the magnetic coil from above and below. Each heat shield was made of three vented panels that that narrowed and tapered from the back towards the front of the magnetic coil. The front end the coil was made of angled panels fused into a box shape. The lever seemed to also unfold and activate a long telescope shaped targeting scanner on top of the weapon. As the weapon completed reconfiguring, the overall length seemed to triple. Tony set the rear stabilizer on his shooting shoulder and aimed the gauss rifle across the compound and slightly downwards through the window. Tony fired the gauss rifle and a metal screech buzzed through the air as the a metal projectile flew near the speed of light through the window, through the the look out, through the walls of the building and into the surface of Mars. What remained of the lookout fell to the floor beneath him.


    Tony switched the gauss rifle back into a pulse rifle and sprayed bullets at the Lanthano gang-members below. The client looked at the cluster of enemies below and jumped towards a line of six gang-members attempting to hide from a volley of sprayed bullets. As the client approached the six gang-members, Tony ceased fire and turned his focus towards the the fleeing warrior, and then seemed to look towards the far horizon. The fleet suspected Tony intended to continue following the warrior and believed the warrior would lead the client to the warlord. Tony walked into a shadow and activated his cloaking device, vanishing into a distortion. The client evaded the bullets fired from the six gang members, and continued to close in towards the six enemies. While the six enemies turned their focus towards the client they didn¡¯t notice the distortion approaching from their exposed blind-spot. Tony deactivated his cloaking device and appeared holding his shotgun. Tony fired four blasts and with each blast the fleet¡¯s scan detected one less enemy. Tony switched to his hand cannon and fired once more removing another enemy. The fleet was familiar with the type of shotgun Tony was carrying and believed it to be the ¡°Viper Hunter¡± variant and it only carried five shells, with the first shot charged plus four spare. Tony ceased shooting when the client neared the final enemy, who was turning away from the client. The sixth enemy seemed unsure if he was threatened more from the cyborg with a blade that can slice through metal, or the cyborg with automatic fire. The client lunged at the enemy and flipped over landing both feet on the enemy. The client kicked with enough force to send the enemy into the opposite ruble, leaving a shatter impact on what remained of the wall behind the enemy. The client flipped in the reverse direction, and landed in a kneeling stance with the Red Rotono-blade held in one hand outwards to the side. Tony switched back to the shotgun, pushed a lever on the bottom of shotgun¡¯s action casing, and loaded a shell from the spare ammo compartments on his armor into the shotgun.


    ¡°The Black Dragon is on the move. Fighting the rest of them is a waste of time and ammo.¡±, Tony said to the client, as he loaded another shell.


    ¡°So how did you plan on getting out of here?¡±, the client asked and sheathed the Red-Rotono-blade as Tony loaded another shell.


    ¡°Tony said I was planning on shooting our way out.¡±, Tony replied to the client as he loaded another shell.


    ¡°How¡¯s that different from what got us in here or what we¡¯ve been doing?¡±, the client asked as Tony reached into a different spare ammo compartment.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to shoot them, I¡¯m going to shoot this.¡±, Tony said to the client as he held a shaped charge between his thumb and trigger finger, in front of the client.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s our way out.¡±, Tony said as he loaded the shaped charge into the shotgun.


    Tony faced the direction the building that the client escaped from, pulled the back of the shotgun, extending it into a rear stabilizer, and rested the reconfigured weapon on his shoulder.


    ¡°You might want to cover your ears.¡±, Tony said to the client.


    The client pressed a series of buttons on the arm panel for the Tri-tech armor, and then the client hid behind some rubble. Tony aimed at the damaged building and fired the shaped charge. The fleet scan detected the object was flying unusually slow compared to the other type of ammo that Tony was shooting. The slow flight turned out to be necessary for the shaped charged explodes in stages, and if the shaped charge flew faster than the shockwave of an explosion, it would always miss. When the shaped charge hit the building a total explosion erupted at the point of impact, the magnitude of the explosion was even larger than the building. A large dome-shaped cloud floated upwards into the atmosphere dome, and a shock wave damaged the entire compound. Every remaining window was shattered, and every remaining structure was damaged.


    ¡°What¡¯s that thing for?¡±, the client asked, as the client tapped a series of buttons on the Tri-tech armor.


    ¡°Knocking down buildings, killing armored vehicles, or distracting giant-sized biological weapons, as I¡¯ve discovered.¡±, Tony casually replied as he pushed the rear-stabilizer back into the shotgun and returned it onto the magnetic carrier across his back.


    Tony and the client escaped the Lanthano Gang¡¯s compound as Tony relaxed several of his cybernetic enhancements. The Fleet¡¯s scan detected Tony¡¯s power systems switched to a regeneration cycle. The client followed Tony through the demolished ruble and away from the remaining Lanthano gang-members. They moved further into the city and the fleet detected that the warrior had reached the rest of the black dragon clan. The Black Dragon Clan controlled the largest mansion in the center of the City, their missing warrior just arrived, and Tony with the client quietly followed.


    ¡°I need to stop for a moment.¡±, the client said to Tony.


    Tony turned his head to the side, then the other side, jumped to the roof of a nearby partially damaged but intact building, and then jumped back to the client and each time his feet touched the ground no sound was made.


    ¡°I like this one.¡±, Tony said to the client as he gestured towards the building he jumped from.


    The client followed Tony as he walked through the inside of the building towards the roof.


    ¡°Where can I have some privacy? I need to remove my armor.¡±, the client asked Tony at the last flight of stairs before the roof.


    ¡°If you want privacy just go where you can¡¯t see the sky. In fact take this, wrap it around your shoulders, and whatever you leave behind, make sure it¡¯s not visible to the sky either.¡±, Tony said, as he removed his cloaking device and handed it to the client.


    The ships in the fleet that were not scanning the city, detected Tony¡¯s energy signature immediately, as soon as he removed his cloaking device.


    ¡°The sky?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°Just go and I¡¯ll explain when you get back.¡±, Tony replied.


    The client did as Tony said wrapping the cloak around the Tri-tech armor and vanished into a distortion. The distortion moved deeper into the building and after few moments later the client returned. The client removed the cloak and reappeared.


    ¡°So what¡¯s wrong with the sky?¡±, the client asked Tony, as the client handed back the rolled cloak.


    ¡°The blockade fleet is scanning the city. My weapons lock alarm keeps going off whenever one of them scans me. I should check the cloak for damage. You know how Tri-tech is, some of it is delicate.¡±, Tony replied as he flipped the fabric of the cloak over.


    ¡°Now that I can think clearly, I have three questions. One, why are they spying on a Confederate city if they¡¯re only supposed to be a blockade? Two, what did they learn about us? And three, why are you using Tri-tech? Why not just get the Rylkonians to make a cloaking device that¡¯s part of your armor?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°The Ryl-tech version of a cloaking device is only applied to spaceships, and it would cost me fifty-thousand credits to get one custom made for my armor, and to my knowledge it wouldn¡¯t work any better than a twenty credit cloak.¡±, Tony said as he discovered a bullet hole in the fabric.


    ¡°Targeting scanners are only designed to provide weapons fire accuracy, and it¡¯s not impossible to use as a substitute for a medical scanner or as a recording device, but just spying is slightly better than if they start shooting. Everything they¡¯re able to learn is only what they can see, the cloak limits what can be seen, but they can still determine where you are or how big you are. The clock doesn¡¯t actually make us invisible. It¡¯s only distorts what the scanners can detect.¡±, Tony said as he discovered another bullet hole.


    ¡°But I have no guess as to why the fleet is scanning or if the Confederacy is even aware, but since the Confederacy seems to have abandoned these people to the the mercy of the gangs, I doubt if they even care. We can leave whenever you¡¯re ready.¡±, Tony replied as he wrapped the cloak around his shoulders.


    The cloak immediately distorted the energy levels that the fleet could detect from Tony.


    ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t know if we would make it this far. If the blockade fleet is scanning, could they tell me how many civilians are still in the city? The location of Lord Zokoro? Or how to get into their fortress without getting destroyed by the Black Dragon Clan?¡±, the client asked.


    Tony walked over to the gap in the rubble to look directly at the mansion. I suspected he was using his telescopic vision to look for the warlord. Tony stepped away from the gap, drew the pulse rifle and switched the pulse rifle into gauss rifle mode.


    ¡°I can answer two of those questions for you right now. If Lord Zokoro is the big guy with the black armor, gold handle on his sword, dragon mask, and gold plated clan markings, then I can just shoot him now, if that¡¯s him? As for getting in, at this point I don¡¯t care if you want us to shoot our way in, approach from their blind spots, or ask politely. You get to pick. Yay. Now for the fleet, they would only do something if they¡¯re getting paid. So if you really want to know about any civilians they can see, how much is that info worth to you?¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°You can see him? From here?¡±, The client asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s only four kilometers. Yeah, I can see. I can even shoot him from here.¡±, Tony casually replied.


    ¡°If there¡¯s any hope of ending this war, making the Ugians retreat, maybe even surrender to the Confederacy is our only hope. I¡¯ll need you to wait here, I must be the one to defeat Lord Zokoro, and face him alone. If I win, I will become the leader of the Black Dragon Clan. If I fail, then you¡¯ll bring proof of my death and Lord Zokoro¡¯s severed head to Venus, and the Cooperative will pay you all that I promised.¡±, the client said.


    ¡°Am I allowed to shoot any other gang-members, that aren¡¯t the warlord?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°If you think they¡¯ll interfere, then our current agreement already allows you to deal with any threat that gets in your way. But there¡¯s one more thing¡­ If they capture me, these men can be monsters, I¡¯d rather be dead than let me use me like that.¡±, the client said.


    ¡°Yet, you¡¯re still going to try to save them? They¡¯re just as guilty for either provoking the Lanthanos to fight, bringing war to the homes of civilians, or even possibly starting this war. I agree the people who didn¡¯t ask for war, got a bad deal, but that¡¯s inviting an enemy to pretend to be a friend, with the risk of becoming an enemy later. The risk doesn¡¯t seem worth it, especially when we already can¡¯t trust them as is.¡±, Tony objected.


    ¡°Lord Zokoro is the only one of them who asked for war. Before Lord Zokoro took over, they had six years of peace. I need to know why they threw all of that away? Because if we don¡¯t learn the cause, war will just happen again. So I want to ask you as a mercenary who didn¡¯t get hired by either side, why take my contract?¡±, the client calmly asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s an easy answer, you¡¯re insured. The gangs, will only pay if they win, and I expect them to turn against me after, or try to skip out on paying me. If you die, I keep the retainer fee because you already paid the broker. Your money is good, their money has blood on it. I¡¯m still not sure what Lord Zokoro stole from you, or what the Black Dragon Clan has to do with that, neither are my concern. All I know is you hired a mercenary and not a thief, so whatever you¡¯re looking for isn¡¯t something that a thief can just quietly steal back. You¡¯re clearly expecting a fight. While I¡¯m not thrilled about going to another planet to pickup a payment. At this time, I believe Lord Zokoro knows something and it¡¯s worth knowing, because you paid me to assassinate him, he¡¯s in range of my gauss rifle, and somehow he¡¯s not dead yet. So what¡¯s the plan?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°We attack in the morning.¡±, the client replied.


    ¡°Then I have a lot of planning to do.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Like what?¡±, The client asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna call for a supply drop.¡±, Tony said as he transmitted to me.


    I disconnected from the fleet, because I didn¡¯t want all those thoughts in my mind at the same time.


    ¡°This is the flight crew of the Something Clever. How may I help you?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Very funny Jhess, I need a drop window from the fleet. The client and I are gonna stay here till the morning, and we didn¡¯t bring any food. I also need to replace my cloaking device.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Tony, you already know nothing can approach the planet, the fleet is ordered to¡­¡±, I said until Ylisaya interrupted me.


    ¡°His supply drop is approved.¡±, Ylisaya told me, as I muted my call with Tony.


    ¡°What?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°Yes, the Fleet approved sending to Tony, food, medicine, weapons, ammo, and any equipment.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°The Fleet doesn¡¯t make a move like that unless they want something. What¡¯s the catch?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°They want to know about the client. They¡¯re offering two belts of pulse rifle bullets, five gauss rifle bullets, two shaped charges, a box of shotgun shells, regimental breakfast with coffee, two bottles of Fizzy Cola, and something called an L.G.C. Chicken Family bucket. All for free, if Tony asks the client about ¡­oh¡­ some in the fleet still want to know if the client is really a woman.¡±, Ylisaya said as she seemed ashamed for even asking.


    ¡°You know the C in L.G.C. stands for chicken, right?¡±, I said to Ylisaya as I switch to my call with Tony.


    ¡°Tony, the fleet is offering to replace any ammo you used, supplies, an L.G.C. family pack, breakfast, and an approved supply drop, but they want us to give up the identity of your client, specifically a gender.¡±, I said to Tony, and I found myself slightly disgusted that the client was this much of a topic to my own people.


    ¡°The fleet really can¡¯t tell? Uhhmm¡­Let¡¯s see what the client says.¡±, Tony pondered, as he muted his end of the call.


    ¡°Keep an eye on them. I need to get Tony¡¯s spare cloak ready.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    The ship wasn¡¯t generating gravity while in orbit, so I could easily float around the ship. I went to cargo bay three, where Tony kept spare weapons, ammo, and armor. I looked around and I saw multiple containers emptied and floating in cargo bay. I wondered if Tony forgot to lock all the containers, objects tend to shift as a spacecraft reaches escape velocity.


    I found Tony¡¯s spare cloaking devices and a delivery pod, which is the easiest way to send a resupply through the heat of re-entry. I stuffed the cloak into a delivery pod and headed to the firing chamber, the fusion cannons firing at low power can safely launch a resupply. I floated into the firing chamber and pushed the delivery pod into the front of the row of warheads, so it would be launched next. The row of warheads was held in place by six thin and flexible rails, so they can be easily replaced, repaired, and even if one fails the other five will keep working. The flexibility of the rails allowed for this very process, or switching from warheads to supply drops. The delivery pod is required to enter the city¡¯s dome. The utility and service gates will scan for anything not authorized for delivery.


    I floated into the bridge and settled into the pilot¡¯s seat.


    ¡°So is the client a boy or girl?¡±, I asked Ylisaya as I activated my magnetic restraints.

 Chapter 4 - Battle Mode Activated

    Through the fleet¡¯s scans, I watched Tony and the client as they sat in the middle between piles of delivery pods. Tony held up two belts of pulse rifle ammo as he slid one bullet out of the clip-links, held two ends of the belts together, and pushed the bullet back into the links, turning the two belts into one longer belt. Another pod arrived with an open parachute above it and two small propellers guiding it towards Tony. Tony rolled up the belt of bullets and dropped it into the pulse rifle¡¯s ammo drum. The client caught the pod with two hands and handed the recently arrived pod to Tony. As he opened the pod he called me, and I disconnected from the fleet.


    ¡°Jhess? Why did you send me the Cloak I can¡¯t use?¡±, Tony asked me.


    ¡°Good condition, high quality, never used, I don¡¯t see a problem with it. Every other cloak you own has more burns, cuts, and bullet holes than what you have right now.¡±, I replied, and I disconnected the call and reconnected to the fleet.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±, the client asked Tony.


    ¡°Look at what my crew sent.¡±, Tony replied, as he pulled out of the pod an embroidered tunic of crimson and gold.


    ¡°It¡¯s embroidery is gold threaded? That¡¯s not something meant for battle is it?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°It better work in battle for as much as I paid for it.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Can I try it?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°You can keep it.¡±, Tony said to the client as he handed over the red cloak. The client wrapped the stylish cloak around the shoulders of the Tri-tech armor and seemed to merge into a slight distortion. The client activated the cloak and completely vanished into a distortion, the illusion was so perfect it almost appeared as the exact shape of the client, through the scans of the fleet. The client deactivated the cloak and only appeared slightly distorted.


    ¡°It fits really good. Did you buy this for one of your crew?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°Not one of my current crew. I would have made them buy their own. But the red cloak was actually meant as a gift for someone I never got the chance to give to. You¡¯re about the same size as her.¡±, Tony replied as he picked up another pod, opened it, and examined his new gauss rifle bullets.


    ¡°What happened to her?¡±, the client asked, as Tony reached into a spare ammo compartment on his armor, then removed and uncapped a bottle.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not discuss her while the fleet is watching us.¡±, Tony replied as he dipped the tip of a gauss rifle bullet into the bottle, and then placing the contaminated bullet into a spare ammo compartment on his shoulder.


    ¡°Are you adding poison to your bullets?¡±, the client asked, as Tony dipped and loaded another bullet.


    ¡°Short answer is yes. But poison is something put into food, drink, or spray into the air. This is a synthetic neurotoxin. A kind of venom that doesn¡¯t wear off when fired from a gun.¡±, Tony replied as he dipped and loaded another bullet.


    ¡°Ugians haven¡¯t resorted to methods like contaminated weapons since the Island Wars. We¡¯ve forgotten so much about warfare. Makes sense if the Tri-tech armor allows a warrior to survive attacks that pierce or slash.¡±, The client said, as Tony dipped and loaded another bullet.


    ¡°Most people think with abilities like mine, methods like this can be considered as cheating.¡±, Tony replied as he dipped and loaded another bullet.


    ¡°I think throwing away years of peace, invites exactly this behavior. Do you think the Ugians can achieve peace again?¡±, the client asked Tony, as another delivery pod arrived.


    The client caught the pod with both hands.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not Ugian, so I¡¯ll let the Ugians decide that. This better be that chicken bucket.¡±, Tony said towards the sky, dipped and loaded the last bullet into the gauss rifle, and capped the bottle back and returned it into it¡¯s compartment.


    ¡°So I have have to answer five questions, and none of them are personal?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°The fleet is going to create five non-offensive questions, that I will read. You are are not required to verbally respond to anything, but the fleet gets to watch.¡±, Tony replied, and then he turned his head in the direction of the ship.


    ¡°Are the fleet¡¯s question¡¯s ready?¡±, Tony said towards the ship.


    ¡°He can see us?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°His eyes are just scaled down targeting scanners. Yes he can see the blockade fleet and identify individual ships, it¡¯s not an achievement, now answer the captain¡¯s question.¡±, I instructed Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya linked her mind with the chair and disconnected from the fleet. I watched in my dome-shaped mirror as she took a deep breath. I could see her body strain as she linked her mind to Tony¡¯s. Her eyes shifted from side to side. I saw her relax as her mind adapted to the flow of information. Her breathing slowed to normal and she reconnected her mind to the fleet.


    ¡°I got the questions let¡¯s begin.¡±, Tony said to the client, as he opened the delivery pod and revealed the chicken bucket, potato sticks, gravy cans, two bowl shaped plastic plates, plastic utensils, and two bottles of fizzy cola.


    The client removed the white mask. Even though the fleet could detect a human face, the scans were distorted by the effects of a cloaking device.


    Tony removed his mask as he activated a hologram around his head. The client removed the Tri-tech helmet, but the cloak distorted the effectiveness of the fleet¡¯s scans. The fleet was only able to determine that the client was Human and Ugian.


    ¡°Is your voice going to stay altered or will it change back without the mask?¡±, Tony asked the client. The client tapped the panels on the arm of the Tri-tech armor.


    ¡°How¡¯s this?¡±, the client said in a slightly altered and distorted voice.


    ¡°Okay, first question¡­Where did you get your weapons and armor?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Gifts from my father, as well as the training to use them.¡±, the client replied.


    ¡°Okay we can skip to question three¡­What and where is your ideal career, job, or occupation?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Helping keep peace and order, wherever I¡¯m needed.¡±, the client replied.


    ¡°Where do you see yourself in five years?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Hopefully not on a planet with a government that allows people to die for no good reason.¡±, the client replied.


    ¡°Okay, last question, if you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?¡±, Tony asked the client.


    ¡°I would have tried to make the most important people in my life today, more important to me when I was younger¡­or I would give myself more time and give myself a chance to say goodbye to people I will never get back¡­.What was the second question, anyways?¡±, the client asked.


    ¡°Who had the greatest impact on your life?¡±, Tony informed the client.


    ¡°That¡¯s not my father¡­My father is a great and important man, but I would have to say Vivica Vi. I can listen to her all day.¡±, the client replied.


    ¡°Really? I also listen to Vivica Vi. I think she¡¯s broadcasting right now¡­Wanna listen while we eat?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening right now¡­ her how starts in three minutes.¡±, the client replied


    ¡°Who¡¯s Vivica Vi?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°Host of an interplanetary broadcast, they play music, tell stories, and talk to guests. She makes people think she¡¯s their best friend, and once in a while she even reads a message from a fan.¡±, I replied.


    Fleet command contacted our ship, and I disconnected from the fleet and accessed the communications array to respond.


    ¡°This is the crew of the Something Clever, how can I help you?¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Switch to cyber-link.¡±, a Rylkonian woman¡¯s voice said to me.


    I thought this was unusual because cyber-link suggested a few odd situations, but one thing was certain the Fleet was concerned with that was going on board the Something Clever, and they wanted to keep that private. I sensed the mind of the Fleet Commander.


    ¡°Are you planning on sending another re-supply pod to your captain?¡±, the fleet commander¡¯s thoughts were made clear to me.


    ¡°No, but why do you wanna to know?¡±, I focused my thoughts to be clear to the fleet commander.


    ¡°We detected a cloaking system near the fleet, we were concerned smugglers might be using the approved supply drop for your captain as a window of opportunity. The distortion is the size of an individual cloaking device and isn¡¯t moving towards the planet, it¡¯s on board the Something Clever.¡±, The fleet commander¡¯s thought were clear to me.


    I realized the prisoner escaped again, and the fleet commander disconnected. I reached out to Tony through cyber-link, and I sensed his mind connect to mine.


    ¡°Tony, the prisoner got out, stole a cloaking device, and is loose on the ship.¡±, I made my thoughts clear.


    ¡°You have any Flash Pulse shot?¡±, was the only question in Tony¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Four.¡±, I thought as I focused my mind.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to use the internal sensor.¡±, Tony¡¯s mind made clear.


    ¡°That¡¯s too slow and he might figure out we know.¡±, I made my thoughts clear.


    ¡°Do you need me to take control?¡±, Tony¡¯s mind asked the question.


    ¡°Do it.¡±, I said in my mind.


    My eyes looked side to side, then up and down, but I didn¡¯t control them. My fingers and toes twitched as Tony tested his control over them. I felt the pilot¡¯s chair disconnect and I floated away from the seat. Tony moved me to the exit of the bridge. I sensed Tony activate the internal sensor in only bridge and the only people in there were Ylisaya and myself.


    ¡°Why did you activate the internal sensor?¡±, Ylisaya asked, as I slipped on my jacket to keep my cybernetic connectors clean.


    ¡°I need to check on the prisoner, but let¡¯s not take any risks, so lock the hatch behind me.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I said that or if Tony said that.


    As soon as I floated through the bridge exit, I sensed Ylisaya lock the door. Tony activated the internal sensor of the corridor through my cybernetics, and when the sensor indicated that I was the only one in the corridor I sensed he activated the sensor in the adjacent sections of the ship. I determined Tony¡¯s plan was to systemically scan the ship starting from the bridge, the process would be slow but if the Dread Pirate wasn¡¯t expecting this method, he might just go right where we want him to and end up right back at the brig. While Tony waited for the scans to move to the adjacent sections, my hands drew my revolver and Flash Pulse ammo from the holster under my jacket. Through my eyes Tony examined the ammo and saw no degradation of the exterior casings, but then he smelled the ammo with my nose. Through my hand, Tony pressed the release lever, and opened the revolver. The barrel and cylinder slowly tilted forward, revealing the six empty chambers. My fingers loaded the four Flash Pulse shots into next four of the six chambers, while Tony watched the internal sensor through my cybernetics. My wrist flicked and my revolver slammed closed, and my hand returned my revolver to the holster under my jacket.


    I floated into the next section to scan, cargo bay four. I sensed the scanner move from corner to corner and the room was empty. I floated to cargo bay two and it was also empty. I floated to cargo bay one, and the scan did not complete, there was a distortion between the stored warheads. I felt a panic of fear compel me to reach for revolver, but my hand stayed, and so did the distortion. I felt a disturbance from Tony¡¯s influence as his mind reached out to me.


    ¡°Fear makes the connection more difficult. He doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. Don¡¯t worry I have a plan.¡±, Tony¡¯s mind instructed me.


    The internal scanner finished cargo bay three, and everything that was supposed to be in there was where it should be except Tony took all of his guns. Luckily that meant the Dread Pirate only had a cloaking device and should not have a weapon better than my revolver. I could still see the scan of cargo bay one and the distortion through my cybernetics. I floated back to cargo bay one, I felt a twitch in my arms, as I sensed Tony was planning to shoot. As I reached the door, I felt my feet magnetically lock to the frame of the ship, and before I realized, my hands lifted open the door of cargo bay one, reached for my revolver, drew, aimed, and fired a Flash Pulse shot at the distortion. As soon as I realized my free hand slammed the door shut and my cybernetics locked the door. The Flash Pulse shot impacted in the direct center of the distortion and ejected burning submunitions emitting bright light as they burned. The distortion faded away, as the intense light and energy overloaded the cloaking technology, revealing the Dread Pirate. The Dread Pirate was now free of the brig and able to use his own cybernetic systems, he activated his deflector shields and I could see the energy engulf his body. I didn¡¯t know what he was planning but my own shields activated.


    Ryfez the dread pirate had a new cuts on his face and around his arms, that were covered in Bio-Gel. He appeared as if he struggled significantly inside the stasis field, and he applied bio-gel to avoid bleeding to death. I wondered how much of his energy he had to divert to repairing cybernetics or sustaining a deflector shield. I sensed the door complete it¡¯s locking sequence, but something was wrong. An intense blast of heat and energy ripped the door open. I now realized the Dread Pirate had sabotaged the door. The blast knocked my revolver out of my hand, and before I realized it, the dread pirate kicked off the opposite wall and was flying through the cargo bay towards the door. Only one foot of mine kept a magnetic hold on the ship¡¯s frame. My muscles relaxed, and my other foot immediately found a magnetic lock on the door. I felt my foot kick down with force, I realized Tony was still trying to close the door to contain the dread pirate. The moments of being stunned worked to my disadvantage, Ryfez had enough time to get his arms through the doorway. Trying to close was door would become a direct contest of leverage. Ryfez forced his way through the door and as he pushed against the ship¡¯s frame, but I was surprised when I felt all my magnetic holds deactivate. I found myself escaping the fight in the direction of my revolver still floating. The revolver was almost within my reach, but I suddenly found myself changing direction. Ryfez pulled me backwards and the zero gravity caused me to reverse, while Ryfez was now moving faster than I towards the revolver.


    ¡°The revolver is still loaded with Flash Pulse-shot. As a weapon, it¡¯s pretty much worthless against deflector shields.¡±, was the thought echoing in my mind.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know that.¡±, Tony¡¯s mind made clear to me.


    Ryfez reached the revolver, aimed it at me, and my eyes widened. The revolver fired a Flash Pulse shot and I sensed my deflector shields reconfigured for reverse cycle. That¡¯s when I realized Tony¡¯s trick. Flash Pulse shot is effective at overloading a cloaking device, but catastrophic when fired at deflector shields, and the current configuration of my shield would absorb no impact but maximized deflection to the point where it¡¯s almost reflective of light. All that light and energy was reflected back at the shooter. The Flash Pulse shot might not harm our cybernetic bodies, but Ryfez would not have pulled the trigger if he thought that, and he might have examined the ammo or test fired the revolver, if he wasn¡¯t acting out of urgency. Ryfez was stunned as the Flash Pulse shot overloaded his vision, and I felt my body straighten, my arms crossed over my chest, my feet crossed with my heels out, and I felt my body redirect all available quantum power to my deflector shields. There was one one reason I could think of diverting full power to deflector shields, Tony was expecting a significant impact, but I had not yet determined from what or where.


    ¡°Full pulse drive now!¡±, Tony¡¯s mind seemed to yell at me.


    I didn¡¯t have full control over my body, but I did have some control over the ship and now I understood Tony¡¯s plan of attack. Tony was using the ship¡¯s engines as a gun, I was the bullet, and I my feet were aimed right at Ryfez. I don¡¯t think my nervous system had time to process how fast the impact was, but as I regained awareness the ship moved eighteen micro radians off course. I luckily regained control of myself before Ryfez had even regained consciousness, he was lucky to still be alive to survive being hit by full pulse drive speed. I floated and pushed the unconscious and floating Ryfez back into the brig and left the internal scanner on so I would know when he regains consciousness or if he escaped again. I returned to the bridge and Tony disconnected from our cyber-link.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°That was incredible! Did the Captain train you to fight like that?¡±, Ylisaya asked me when I entered the Bridge. I removed my jacket, dropped my jacket in the captain¡¯s chair, took my seat, and I suspected that Ylisaya was connected to the internal sensor through the flight engineer¡¯s seat.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say training was involved, but what you saw was the result of hunting down space pirates. Did the ship hit anything?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re just a little off course, but the fleet thought it was still impressive.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    I realized Ylisaya was still linked to the fleet, and watching Tony with the client eating a bucket of chicken was probably boring.


    ¡°Did the fleet just watch me hit the Dread Pirate with a gunship?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°Well what were we supposed to watch? It¡¯s too dark in Rhetonis for the Earth born to do anything.¡±, Ylisaya protested.


    I connected to the fleet and they were either slowly turning their focus back towards the city of Rhetonis. Inside their hideout within sight of the Black Dragon Clan¡¯s mansion, Tony and the client quietly ate the grilled chicken while listening to an interstellar broadcast.


    ¡°Again please donate to the relief of the refugees and victims of the senseless war in Rhetonis on Mars. All proceeds and donations from today¡¯s show are going to that very cause. If anyone other than me says otherwise, you¡¯re hearing it from me now. We are a non-profit, and if anyone finds profit, what they¡¯re seeing is false profit. It¡¯s your girl, Vivica Vi, and I¡¯ll talk to you again soon.¡±, said the voice in the broadcast, as music slowly gained volume and played.


    The client switched off the speaker device, and turned towards Tony.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been staring at the sky for a while.¡±, the client said to Tony.


    ¡°The sky?¡­I was thinking about my crew, my ship, and the gang war.¡±, Tony replied as he turned his focus back to the client.


    ¡°It¡¯s too dark, our best chances are still if we attack at dawn.¡±, the client said to Tony.


    ¡°Can we attack after breakfast? It will be here just before the sunrise so it won¡¯t get spotted in sunlight.¡±, Tony asked the client.


    ¡°Which restaurant is breakfast from?¡±, the client asked Tony.


    ¡°MacAndy¡¯s Senior and includes coffee.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Well I already completed their interview, I might as well enjoy the reward. It might be my last meal.¡±, the client replied.


    As the client began moving deeper into the ruble, Tony began moving towards the roof.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±, the client asked Tony.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna stay on the roof, spy on the Black Dragon Clan.¡±, Tony replied.


    When Tony reached the roof he drew the gauss rifle and began slowly scanning the mansion. When the low power scanner determined that no cyborgs could detect the scan, Tony activated the higher power scan.


    ¡°Go pick a pod, get some sleep, I¡¯ll wake you in four deka-cycles, and then you¡¯ll wake me later. We¡¯ll keep watch in shifts.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    I sensed through the ship as she disconnected from the systems, the prisoner was alive in the brig, and the fleet quietly watched the city of Rhetonis as we waited for the Martian sunrise. I activated my Tri-tech display magnetically locked onto my navigation console and resumed my watching of ¡°Contest of Crowns.¡± Some of the fleet was wondering if this was my first time watching season one. I was watching because my favorite character is Princess Nyreeda of House Meridian, sister of the High King, I don¡¯t care what happens in later seasons, because she¡¯s not in any of those other seasons.


    The next morning, Ylisaya woke me, I connected to the fleet, and Tony was still waiting for the client to begin the attack.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I used your Tri-tech display.¡±, Ylisaya confessed to me.


    ¡°What did you do with it?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I saw you left that television show on, Contest of Crowns. So I watched season one. It¡¯s pretty good, but the fleet says later seasons are very different from the source material.¡±, Ylisaya said about the show.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I don¡¯t really need or use it for anything else anyways.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Do you have season two?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Ask the captain. He¡¯s read all the books, watched every season, played all the video games, and even won tournaments. Me¡­I just like season one.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    I sensed her thoughts and she was relieved another on the ship might provide the rest of the show. The fleet focused on Tony and the client, as soon as Tony and the client finished breakfast, the client put on the white mask, carried the Red-Rotono-Blade, wore the Red Cloak and departed towards the Black Dragon Clan¡¯s mansion. Tony remained on the roof continuing his spying on the mansion, and occasionally watching the client. The client reached the mansion¡¯s gates, as two Black Dragon warriors with black armor, clan markings, and black steel Rotono-blades moved to become visible to the client. One of the guards spoke in an unknown dialect, the client replied, but the fleet didn¡¯t understand. I sensed some in the fleet wondered if translating would upset the Confederacy, although we were only looking at translation now that were focused on the headquarters of the Black Dragon Clan. The client walked into the first gate and approached the mansion. The fleet had reached consensus and what might be learned here is worth finding the ability to translate. I knew someone who knows the language. I disconnected from the fleet and initiated a cyber-link to Tony.


    ¡°The fleet is looking to translate the Ugian dialect. You want me to bid?¡±, my mind made my thought clear to Tony.


    ¡°Fine, but we¡¯re not cancelling a prioritized contract.¡±, Tony¡¯s thought became clear in my mind, and disconnected.


    ¡°One of the crew of the something clever can speak the Ugian dialect and is using those skills to navigate the city of Rhetonis for a client. Translation for the fleet is offered as long as it does not endanger the crew, their current contract, or their client. The crew-mate on the surface is in a hostile area and may need to disconnect to deal with threats. We bill at the market rate per micro-cycle.¡±, I made my thoughts clear to the fleet command.


    ¡°Credits just got added to the ship¡¯s account¡±, Ylisaya said, as soon as I disconnected.


    ¡°Looks like our bid was accepted.¡±, I replied as I reconnected to the fleet scan.


    Without any delay, the fleet initiated a cyber-link to Tony, and the fleet focused on the client. The Black Dragon guards stood on both sides of the client and they approached the main entrance of the mansion. A dozen black dragon warriors in similar armor and clan markings stepped out around the mansion and another dozen stepped out onto the roof the of the mansion. A tall warrior in black armor, with a gold clan marking, a golden sword and a dragon mask walked out of the mansion¡¯s main entrance speaking Ugian.


    ¡°Welcome home princess. I¡¯m sorry that your return is when the city is not at it¡¯s best.¡±, the warrior said to the client.


    ¡°Is this your idea of a joke, Zokoro?¡±, the client said to the warlord.


    ¡°The joke is you turned against your father¡¯s organization, while I stayed loyal, you hired the Phantom to hunt us down. We know you¡¯re just trying to distract us while he¡¯s going to sneak in. He¡¯s not going to surprise us.¡±, Zokoro said to the client.


    ¡°Where¡¯s my father?¡±, the client demanded.


    The warlord nodded to a warrior behind him and the warrior returned to inside the mansion. A moment later the warrior returned with a helmet under his arm. As the fleet scanned the helmet, they suspected a head was still inside the helmet. The warrior handed the helmet to the warlord, and the warlord tossed the helmet to the feet of the client.


    ¡°What the fuck, Zokoro? He loved you like a son, you were his best student. Why?¡±, The client protested, as the client picked up the helmet and glared back at the warlord.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t share our vision, but his legacy lives on. Join me.¡±, the warlord said to the client.


    ¡°I will never fight for the man who betrayed my family, stole my house, and endangers everything my father did to protect our people.¡±, the client protested.


    ¡°You misunderstand. I have warriors, I don¡¯t need you to join the Black Dragons. I¡¯m offering for you to join my harem.¡±, the warlord said, as the client seemed insulted by the mere suggestion.


    ¡°You think I would whore myself to you? For what should be my birth right?¡±, the client said spitefully.


    ¡°I think you fail to see just like your father failed. The Black Dragons are winning. I planned to keep your father as warning, but seeing him might give the Lahnthanos the wrong idea.¡±, the warlord said, however the fleets scans didn¡¯t indicate either faction was close to victory.


    The client dropped the severed head and pointed a finger at one of the warriors on roof of the mansion. Tony aimed the gauss rifle at the warrior marked by the client. The fleet scanned the Warrior¡¯s Rotono-Blade and observed it was missing a metal wheel.


    ¡°This is your warning.¡±, the client said and gestured as if firing a gun.


    Tony fired the gauss rifle and the gauss rifle bullet pierced through the warrior¡¯s armor. The fleet¡¯s scan revealed the warrior¡¯s armor functioned as intended, as the warrior fell to the ground. A significant portion of his body had just been liquified, but the armor maintained his shape and attempted to keep the warrior alive. As the venom flowed through his blood, everything it touched began to die. The warrior choked and gasped for air, but his lungs were shutting down as the venom did its work. In the next instant, the venom reached the brain and the other warriors stood in disbelief as they realized their armor wouldn¡¯t protect them.


    The client drew the Red-Rotono-blade, and all the warriors drew theirs. The Warlord and four other warriors all attacked the client. The client parried the closest attack and evaded the others only pausing to resume a ready stance with the sword held near the sword arm¡¯s shoulder. Tony fired again at enemies attempting to enter the fight but were not near the client. Another warrior was liquified in his armor. Tony fired five more times and another five warriors were liquified.


    The warlord raised his Rotono-blade and yelled out a roar, but Tony didn¡¯t know the word and wasn¡¯t able to translate. All the warriors halted their attack on the client and stepped away. The client raised a hand gesturing for Tony to also cease fire, and Tony used the time to reload the gauss rifle.


    ¡°I see why you hired the Phantom, I¡¯ve never seen anything so efficient. But I wonder why he hasn¡¯t taken a shot at me?¡±, the warlord said as he faced outward as if he was looking for Tony.


    The warlord swung at the client as the client deflected the sloppy attack. The warlord stepped away from the client, making himself a clear target to gunfire, and the warlord turned his attention again towards the far horizon, as though he was still uncertain of the Tony¡¯s location.


    ¡°I see¡­ The Phantom isn¡¯t here to wipe out the Black Dragon Clan.¡±, the warlord said as he turned towards the client.


    ¡°The Phantom is just here as a hired gun, so you could get close to me.¡±, the warlord continued in common speech as he turned towards the horizon and removed his helmet.


    The Black Dragon clan¡¯s warrior were shocked at the audacity of their warlord. However the Fleet could now see that the warlord wasn¡¯t a Ugian, the warlord was an Aurovean. The warlord smiled as he walked backwards into the Mansion placing his helmet back on his head and the client slowly followed. The other warriors stepped away, as the fleet presumed the fight would only involve the client and the warlord.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°The target of assassination is the wrong race, we took the contract thinking the Warlord leading the Ugians, was also going to be Ugian, but he¡¯s not. Now we know he¡¯s worth more to the Protectorate, but they won¡¯t pay unless we cancel the contract.¡±, I told Ylisaya.


    ¡°How much more?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Ten times more than what the client is paying.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we just get paid for both.¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s double dipping.¡±, was the consensus from the fleet.


    ¡°If we double dip, with the fleet watching, we lose the broker¡¯s retainer fee and we forfeit the Protectorate Bounty.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Can another crew go after him, and get the higher bounty?¡±, Ylisaya asked


    ¡°At this distance, they¡¯d have to fire a fusion cannon at the planet, but the fleet would know, and their client is the Confederacy. The only one with a chance of collecting that bounty is Tony, but here¡¯s the process. Tony has to reach the client alive, because the client declared a posthumous contingency. If he can do that, he can give any reason, and still keep the retainer fee, because he did partial work. Then he just needs to kill the Warlord, and Tony needs to be the one who executes the killing strike¡­.This is why we say fighting space pirates is easier than merc-work¡­It¡¯s just simpler when there¡¯s no process.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Send the bid for cancelation.¡±, I sensed Tony¡¯s thoughts through the cyber-link.


    I transmitted the bid for cancellation to the broker, and then waited.


    ¡°You think you can get to the client without getting into another fight?¡±, I sent my question to Tony through the cyber link.


    ¡°Nope. Not fast enough, and no benefit to staying in Stealth Mode. Not anymore.¡±, I sensed from Tony¡¯s thoughts, as he returned his folded up his gauss rifle, placed it on his back and switched to his Battle Axe.


    Tony flipped his cloaking device over his shoulder decreasing the amount of distortion. Tony activated both ends of the Battle Axe in high power mode. The Axe-blade extended over the handle, the energy blade behind it took a serrated shape, and the opposite end extended into a spear like energy blade with all three blades glowing like lava.


    ¡°If the shockwave kills the client, you can¡¯t give cancellation notice, and the client¡¯s posthumous contingency takes effect.¡± I sent my thought to Tony through the cyber-link.


    ¡°I¡¯ll aim for the gates, not the mansion, and I¡¯ll still get there in ten seconds. Slower speed means a smaller shock-wave.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the link.


    ¡°Ten seconds? What¡¯s he going to do?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Battle Mode!¡±, Tony yelled out, as the fleet detected an exponential increase in power coming from Tony. Tony¡¯s stealth technology couldn¡¯t suppress any of the energy and his power armor had been reinforced by a layer of deflector shields that seemed to glow like lava at the edge of every black panel. Tony started running, and moved faster and faster, until the fleet could no longer detect individual foot steps, and then Tony was in the air.


    ¡°Running Super Jump¡­or a Super Running Jump.¡±, I said as I attempted to answer Ylisaya¡¯s question.


    ¡°So why did he yell out battle mode? No one else needs to do that to use a mode.¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s the only one with a battle mode, and I know he doesn¡¯t need to. I think he just wants to. If he wanted to sneak in and catch them by surprise, he has a stealth mode. You can ask him about it when he gets back to the ship.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    As Tony crashed into the mansion¡¯s gates a shockwave reduced the walls to ruble and knocked over all the warriors in front of the mansion. In the center of the impact crater, Tony slowly stood up with an fully power battle axe in hand.


    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m crashing your party, but I saw a lot of Lahnthanos headed this way.¡±, Tony said to any warriors alert enough to hear him.


    The fleet¡¯s scan detected a large enemy force approaching the mansion, not large enough to be all the Lahnthanos in Rhetonis, but still large enough to be a threat. A dozen warriors surrounded Tony preparing to attack. The Rotono-blades held in striking stances, showed the warriors had no expectation to survive. Tony activated his motion sensors and raised the battle-axe into a defensive hold, with one hand in the center of the grip and the other hand closer to the spear-end.


    ¡°I¡¯m only gonna say this once.¡±, Tony said as warriors continued to surround him.


    ¡°I wanna see the manager.¡± ,Tony continued, and the three closest warriors attacked with Rotono blades with full mechanical slashing power.


    As soon as their blades hit the deflector shields, each blade changed direction with as much force as their attacks. One warrior lost grip on the Rotono-blade and the other two struggled to keep their balance.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad I got your attention. I¡¯m looking an Ugian dressed in red and pink, red sword, white mask.¡±, Tony said as he shifted the battle-axe to one hand and raised the other hand to shoulder level with his palm facing the ground.


    ¡°About this tall, I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re here, and I think you saw¡­¡±, Tony continued saying as he gestured towards the three closest warriors.


    Three more warriors joined the attack on Tony and their attacks just bounced off his deflector shields.


    ¡°You know¡­I¡¯m starting to think I¡¯m not welcome here.¡±, Tony said as more warriors surrounded him.


    ¡°Are you guys gonna help me find¡­anything?¡±, Tony asked but was interrupted as more warriors attacked him. Tony looked to one side and then his other side, and Tony moved faster than the fleet could scan. Tony seemed to crash into the closest warrior, then he used the spear end of the battle-axe to strike at the legs of the warrior. As the warrior fell to the ground Tony swung the chopping blade.


    ¡°For the Auro Blade!¡±, Tony yelled out as he decapitated the fallen warrior. Then Tony moved faster than the fleets¡¯ scan again, crashing into the next closest warrior. Then he used the spear end of the battle-axe to strike at the legs of the warrior. As the warrior fell to the ground Tony swung the chopping blade.


    ¡°For the Auro Blade!¡±, Tony yelled out as he decapitated another fallen warrior, again. I reached out to Tony¡¯s mind through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Tony, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re having fun right now¡­but I¡¯m gonna be honest it looks like you¡¯re cheating and we¡¯re not getting paid for any of this!¡±, I sent my thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Well only a few kinds of methods can defeat their Tri-tech armor, and gauss rifle ammo is expensive. They¡¯re just in the way.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the cyber-link, as he used the three hit attack to decapitate another enemy. The fleet detected the client emerge on the roof of the mansion. The client stumbled as if thrown through a window. The warlord stepped through the window as the client gripped the Red Rotono-blade and regained a sword stance. The warlord and the client clashed swords, the client was nearly knocked off the roof, and Tony saw them through his motion sensors. Tony turned and used a super jump to reach the roof, landing between the warlord and the client.


    ¡°Good! I can talk to the manager and owner at the same time.¡±, Tony seemed to chuckle.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡±, the client asked Tony.


    ¡°Deal¡¯s off. You lied to me! We didn¡¯t need to track down Warlord Zokoro, you knew he was here the whole time. You only paid for an assassination not a war, but now I¡¯m fighting an enemy of the Confederacy. Your family drama might shift political power and create an enemy I don¡¯t need. So, I¡¯m cancelling our contract. Keep your money!¡±, Tony said casually to the client. As Tony turned his focus towards the warlord. Tony moved faster than the fleet¡¯s scan, crashing into the warlord. Tony swung the spear end to strike at the warlord¡¯s legs. As the warlord fell to the ground, Tony raised the chopping blade.


    ¡°For the Auro¡­¡± Tony started yelling as the fleet detected a cyber-link connection to Tony.


    Tony stepped on the sword arm of the warlord and pointed the spear end of the battle-axe at the Warlord¡¯s head. The warlord stayed motionless as the energy blade scratched his armored dragon mask.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting a call from my broker. I need to take this.¡±, Tony said to the client.


    ¡°Hello Phantom, the Protectorate just saw you cancelled on a client contract, and we got in touch with the Confederacy as soon as we found out you were going to be a free agent and also very close to the critical leadership of an enemy faction. Now you¡¯re gonna want to take this contract, because their plan was to wait for one faction to die, weakening the other, and then sending in the cavalry. Your actions potentially resulted in the remaining faction will be stronger than expected. Worst case-scenario they might even team up against the Confederacy. The Protectorate will offer you full compensation for killing the Aurovean warlord, and the Confederacy will verify you killed the warlord, regardless of how he dies.¡±, The broker spoke in a normal voice, so none of the fleet could sense which minds were cyber-linked to the broker. The choice to make the call in spoken voice could only mean the broker wanted the fleet to hear them.


    ¡°So what does the Confederacy want? And why should I care? The warlord is worth ten million dead, so I can just cash out now.¡±, Tony said to the broker, as the fleet realized the warlord and client could only hear Tony¡¯s side of the call.


    ¡°The Confederacy is making a list of Ugians and Lahnthanos of concern, their individual bounties range from one million to two hundred thousand, depending on level of threat, influence, or importance to their faction, as the fleet can verify they pose a threat. Easiest way to tell is if they point a weapon at you, or if they are leading followers against you. One other thing, can you make your venom kill slowly? How slow do you think?¡±, the broker asked.


    ¡°A small enough dose might take three Martian days to kill an adult, if they can¡¯t make it to a hospital. Why?¡±, Tony asked the broker.


    ¡°You might want the warlord to take care of something for you, before he expires¡­The girl is the daughter of the previous faction leader. The Confederacy might put her on the list. However she has gained a few fans in the fleet ever since she was spotted with you. While the fleet will do their job, you are also seeking promotion to first class citizen. Popularity is also a factor. Neither of them need to know that.¡±, the broker said.


    ¡°Do we have a contract?¡±, Tony asked the broker.


    ¡°Just sent to your ship. The list is being worked on.¡±, the broker said and the contract arrived at my communications system.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get started.¡±, Tony said as the broker disconnected the call. Tony shifted the battle-axe to one hand and with the other hand he reached for the bottle of venom, and poured a drop onto the warlord¡¯s armor. Tony closed and returned the bottle to its compartment, gripped the battle-axe with both hands, and with the spear end he stabbed through the drop of venom, through the warlord¡¯s armor, and quickly lifted the spear away.


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost. The Lahnthanos are coming, your clan won¡¯t survive.¡±, Tony said to the warlord, as he stepped away from the warlord.


    ¡°You fool. The Lanthanos aren¡¯t here to fight me¡­They¡¯re here join me. They invited an alliance after you attacked them. I already told you, the Black dragon clan is winning.¡±, The warlord said as he stood up.


    ¡°Good! That makes finding my new client¡¯s enemies easier. I¡¯ll be paid per head.¡± Tony admitted to the warlord.


    ¡°When he says per head, does he mean¡­¡± Ylisaya started asking, but I interrupted her.


    ¡°Yes, because his Battle-Axe uses up no ammo. Too many body guards makes assassinations risky. Unless he switches to stealth mode, then the Lahnthanos are the first target.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya¡¯s incomplete question.


    ¡°Stealth Mode.¡±, Tony said as he folded up his battle-axe, stowed it next to the pulse rifle, and vanished into a distortion.


    ¡°Why would he go after the Lahnthanos first?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°They least expect an attack, slow down their alliance, and they have ammo.¡±, I replied.

 Chapter 5 - Terms, Conditions, and Cancellations

    ¡°When he¡¯s in battle mode, he has greatly increased power, but he can¡¯t use any stealth technology in battle mode, the energy just bleeds through the dampening and distortion effects, even through multiple layers. All stealth technology consumes power and costs money, so the amount of cloaking devices needed to hide the power levels of battle mode results in a very expensive and impractical method of trying to create a new solution for a problem that already has a cheaper solution.¡±, I explained to Ylisaya.


    ¡°So stealth mode is usually the first attempt, and battle mode is reserved for emergencies?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°It does look like that. But I¡¯d say it¡¯s more like an ongoing process of when a specific strategy is best. When the Red-Rotono wanted a warning shot fired, we were still getting paid under that contract. If the job was just to assassinate the faction leaders, going in stealth mode and using a long range instant kill attack from a safe distance is the most effective way, also for getting out of there. But against two gangs with completely distinct methods with hundreds of weapons, methods, and multiple unknown variables are all targeted for extermination, not so easy. All I know is Tony is going kill all high profile targets, but also needs to steal their ammo. If he went in battle mode, they¡¯ll probably start shooting as soon as they see him, like they did last night. That will only make stealing from them more difficult and waste the ammo he needs to steal. We still don¡¯t know why the Confederacy paid to keep target lock on the city, just part of the job.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    I sensed Tony as he was also still in the cyber-link. The fleet¡¯s scan detected the distortion Tony vanished into move through and around the city observing multiple movements of Lahthano in a long row of vehicles, only stopping as they discovered roads to be unsuitable or too badly damaged by fighting to allow more vehicles to pass. The heaviest of vehicles also had heavy weapons attached to the roof, but as the Lahnthanos progressed they became further separated, until some were isolated from the safety of the larger gang. Those were Tony¡¯s first targets. He would wait, scanning with the hand-cannon from behind corners, moving from shadow to shadow. Tony¡¯s plan of attack was to find a blind spot and quietly eliminate one enemy after another. After he dispatched the last enemy within view of the ammo cache, he would steal their supplies without any interruptions. And he returned to quietly waiting and watching for the next batch of enemies to get separated.


    ¡°Is stealth mode always this slow?¡± Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m watching the fight between our former client and the warlord during my breaks. If they say anything I get paid to translate. And I should watch them, especially if I might fight the winner.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts passed through the cyber-link.


    The opinion of some of the fleet was to bet wagers on the Red Rotono, since Tony poisoned the Warlord, but the fleet scan indicated that the warlord was still fighting, as the broker had intended. The opinion of the fleet left them conflicted. While many of us cheered for the Red-Rotono, no matter who won, that victory might be followed by an execution.


    Ylisaya focused on the Ugian mansion and I shifted my focus as well. The Red-Rotono was no longer our client, but still fought bravely and with great skill. In a sword fight against the most skilled opponent in the Black Dragon Clan, the Red-Rotono could only retreat from the warlord in single combat. The warlord attacked with flawless technique every movement, every step, turn, and spin placed the warlord¡¯s vision and stance ready to either strike or evade. It seemed the Red-Rotono¡¯s claim that the warlord was the best student of a sword master was an accurate statement. None of the warlord¡¯s movements seemed improvised nor needed any adjustment. The warlord¡¯s movements flowed into perfectly timed evasions and explosive counter attacks, that the Red-Rotono barely deflected. The fleet also observed the Red-Rotono was tiring faster than the poison was affecting the warlord.


    The Red-Rotono held the Red-Rotono-blade high near the shoulder of the sword arm. The warlord closed the distance, changed direction, lunged with an overhead sword-strike with increased mechanical power from both his power armor and the metal wheel in the convex edge of his Rotono-blade. The Red-Rotono evaded and escaped the attack, but the warlord didn¡¯t waste the energy of the attack. The warlord sprang forward instead of stopping, rolling the blade over the shoulder of his off-hand and aiming a fatal stab at the Red-Rotono. The warlord reversed his stance sending the sword forward with blinding speed. The Red-Rotono deflected again, and the warlord reversed his stance again. The momentum of the warlord¡¯s spin allowed his attack to strike with increased mechanical power, striking the Red-Rotono¡¯s face cutting off part of the white mask. The Warlord jumped away ending the attack, and the fleet suspected something was wrong with his health. He gripped his stomach and supported his weight with his sword, stabbing into the roof of the mansion. He was in significant pain which caused him to lose his stance. The warlord took a deep breath and resumed a sword stance. The Red-Rotono attempted to attack the warlord, with a mechanically empowered strike. The Warlord deflected the attack to the side and flipped the blade over, and with a flick of his wrist the blade stopped right at the Red-Rotono¡¯s throat. The Red-Rotono stood motionless, the fleet suspected the situation left the Red-Rotono uncertain what move to make. The Red-Rotono led with the open hand striking at the sharp edge of the Warlord¡¯s sword. The warlord¡¯s blade sliced through the armor on the Red-Rotono¡¯s arm. The Red-Rotono groaned and pulled back the injured arm, but the risk was worth it as the Red-Rotono escaped the warlord.


    The Red-Rotono examined the damage, wiggled the fingers of the open hand, gripped the Red-Rotono-Blade, and resumed a sword stance. The warlord attacked again with an upward slash enhanced with mechanical power. The tip of the warlord¡¯s Rotono-blade carved debris from the roof that flew towards the Red-Rotono, and the Red-Rotono deflected the largest piece of debris. As the fleet-scan watched they soon realized the Red-Rotono made a fatal mistake. The warlord was now ready for an attack and the waste of energy left the Red-Rotono without a defense nor counter. The Red-Rotono took a wide stance, and shifted onto one foot, then the other. The Red-Rotono¡¯s free hand grabbed the warlord¡¯s arm, and the momentum of the shifting balance allowed the Red-Rotono to safely spin behind the warlord. The only direction the Red-Rotono could continue was to escape the warlord, but allowed evasion from the previous mistake.


    Parts of the fleet recognized this move, but it wasn¡¯t from any battles. This was a move from a video game, a game where players move their hands and feet to simulate pop-culture dances. The warlord spun around and seemed surprised that his deception failed, as though this might be the first time he had to locate his opponent.


    The warlord stepped away from the Red-Rotono, and curled up clenching his side, taking deep breaths. The Red-Rotono lunged forward with a mechaniacally enhanced downward strike. The warlord deflected the Red-Rotono-Blade to the side, knocking the sword out of the Red-Rotono¡¯s hands, and sent the sword flying from the roof of the mansion towards the ground below. The Red-Rotono quickly retreated with no chance of defense nor counter attack without a weapon.


    ¡°I was faking sickness that time¡­Only way to trick you into making a mistake.¡±, the warlord seemed to chuckle as he managed to disarm the Red-Rotono.


    The Red-Rotono retreated into the Mansion, crashing through a window. The warlord slowly followed after into the same window. As both vanished form the fleet¡¯s scan, Ylisaya¡¯s hands moved quickly across the console of the flight engineer battle-station and her mind worked even faster as the list of the Confederate¡¯s targets arrived. Then Ylisaya fell back into the flight engineer¡¯s seat in dispair.


    ¡°The last name on the list is the Red-Rotono Sword Master.¡±, Ylisaya said with a tone of sadness.


    ¡°The Confederacy¡¯s list is here, now I can make some real money. Let¡¯s see what we got¡­There¡¯s two Lahnthanos, Two Black Dragons, ¡­and one former client.¡±, Tony read the list to himself but stopped as the fleet suspected he had concerns over the last name on the list.


    Tony jumped to the top of the closest building, began scanning the scattered Lahnthanos from a safe distance, and found one of the Lahnthano targets. The target was a wealthy Lahnthano and the Confederacy identified him as a potential contender for the role of Warlord. Tony switched to his gauss rifle and activated the targeting scanner. The fleet scan could detect the the possible flight of the gauss rifle¡¯s bullet. Tony was aiming for the heart. The target was using a communication device speaking in a dialect the fleet did not know. As the target spoke with other Lanthanos and moved around a cluster of vehicles, Tony adjusted his aim.


    The gauss rifle fired, a screech of metal burned through the air, and the first target was liquified. As the fleet scan verified the target as a confirmed kill, credits were added to the ship¡¯s account.


    Tony began scanning for the second target, and found him inside a stopped vehicle. The second target was a popular Lahnthano and potential heir of the previous target. The Lanthanos that stood around the target had better weapons, armor, and presumably better cybernetic enhancements. Each bodyguard had a visor that prevented even the fleet from scanning their eyes. There was one more person near the second target. The unfortunate witness was a child, probably no more than five or six earth years old. The fleet suspected this child was a possible sibling of the second target, and we also suspected the strategy for moving a family was for their safety if they believed there was a threat from assassination. Tony aimed at the second target, but most scenarios projected that the bullet would create lethal debris after shooting the vehicle, would kill all the occupants in the vehicle, or possibly knock the vehicle over preventing the fleet from effectively scanning the results. Tony instead jumped towards the vehicle.


    ¡°Battle Mode!¡±, Tony yelled in the middle of the jump. Tony landed on the front end of the vehicle raising the back end off from the ground, and the shockwave knocked over all the bodyguards. The force from Tony¡¯s impact completely crushed the vehicle¡¯s drive systems. The frame of the vehicle had been mangled and all the vehicle¡¯s door were now stuck closed. The raised end of the vehicle slowly lowered into a rest, and Tony began walking onto the top of the roof. As the guards began realizing they were under attack they began shooting at Tony, but their bullets just bounced off the black power armor, with edges that glowed like lava melting the guards¡¯ bullets. None of shots fired fire had any effect on Tony, but a few bullets bounced off him and hit other body guards. Tony punched his hand through the roof and peeled the metal roof off from the vehicle¡¯s frame. The two boys watched Tony use his hands to tear apart their only protection. Through the cyber-link the fleet could see the faces of the boys staring back at Tony and they looked as though they were paralyzed with fear. Tony picked up the second target by the chest of his clothing as some of the body guards stopped shooting. The fleet suspected the bodyguards were concerned their stray shots might injure their client. As the children and body guards grew quiet in the terror of not knowing what was going to happen, Tony jumped away and brought the second target with him. Tony jumped onto an abandoned building away from the Lahnthanos. As Tony landed far out of view from the bodyguards he dropped the lifeless second target, who seemed to have died of multiple ruptured organs and blood hemorrhaging. As the fleet scanned and verified that the target died of excessive gravity and pressure changes, credits were added to the ship¡¯s account.


    ¡°Stealth mode.¡±, Tony said as he vanished into a distortion and started returning to the mansion. Through the fleet¡¯s cyber link I sensed Tony¡¯s mind, he focused on the next two Ugian targets on the Confederacy¡¯s list as he moved through the ruble of the city.


    ¡°I¡¯m confused, he can just super jump and get to the next target. Why is he just walking?¡± Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Two things wrong with what you just asked. First, that much energy is easily detected. Second, he¡¯s not trying to rescue the Red-Rotono. He¡¯s in no rush. The broker believes killing her will be a liability, but the Confederacy thinks she will get in the way to their plans. My guess is the mansion is expecting their new allies to arrive at a specific time. That will be the best time for him to sneak in. Time works against them more than it affects him.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    I looked in the mirror and saw Ylisaya¡¯s as she considered all the factors. I returned my focus to the mansion. I looked at the remaining three names on the list, in particular the two names besides the Red Rotono, since I suspected she might be saved for last. The other third and fourth remaining targets were Ugians that the Confederacy suspected of facilitating Zokoro¡¯s rise to the status of Warlord. The Confederacy believed these two targets gave support to Zokoro in exchange for improving their position within the power vacuum resulting from a rebellion.


    The third target was an enforcer within Ugian society, and had a background that involved specialization with guns. I sensed Tony¡¯s thoughts on this target and he suspected this target to have prepared counters and contingencies against stealth or an opponent with super speed and strength. The fleet detected the third target arriving at the mansion and that was logically the best deployment strategy against Lahnthanos when they were enemies. But now the target¡¯s best strategy is directly at the mansion in the moments prior to finalizing the alliance with a former enemy.


    The fourth target was a finance specialist. The Confederacy suspected this Ugian had knowledge of the complex and well hidden wealth control of the Black Dragon Clan. While most of the fleet would more likely prefer to arrest someone that valuable, the Confederacy had other plans for the wealth and didn¡¯t care to share those plans with the Protectorate. The plan didn¡¯t require anything other than removing the individuals that contributed to the threat of another warlord. The fleet was uncertain of the location of this target.


    The Black Dragon Warriors placed six large signs around the mansion and unknown devices throughout the mansion and the surrounding area. The fleet scan could only determine the devices were Tri-tech however the devices did not contain any explosives nor any biological functions. Tony suspected the Ugian enforcer was implementing his counter measures. The six signs all had the same message, but written in Ugian. Tony translated the message.


    ¡°This message is for the Phantom. I know you¡¯re not invincible. I know because you hide in shadows and strike from distance. You know I¡¯m right because I do the same. The Sun is high so the shadows are perfect for a duel. The Black Dragons will not interfere. From - The Enforcer.¡±, Tony¡¯s mind translated the message.


    Through the cyber-link Tony appeared hesitant to accept the promise that the Black Dragon Clan would allow a duel, yet the Red-Rotono and the Warlord showed an honored duel is possible, although a trap was still more likely.


    The devices the Black Dragons placed around the mansion activated and the fleet scan only detected distortions coming from each device. The Black Dragons had setup a network of cloaking devices creating hiding places for the enforcer. Through the cyber link, I sensed Tony suspected this was their trap, he was uncertain how to find his enemy, and equally uncertain if he had been detected, by an enemy bold enough to address him directly with a message he would see. Tony had one more concern, ¡°Would an opponent suggest sniper versus sniper, if he didn¡¯t already possess a weapon that could kill a combat cyborg?¡±


    I sensed Tony¡¯s mind scour the Confederate files on the Ugian Enforcer and he found all the typical marks of a mercenary. There was the military history, recruitment to secret agency, the list of both verified and unconfirmed assassinations, and the always unreliable list of cybernetic enhancements. Through the cyber-link I could sense the fleet wondered if Tony would accept the challenge but in a duel between snipers, they would first have to detect the other, successfully attack, and avoid being detected.


    Tony moved within Range of the mansion, but didn¡¯t commit to an attack. He stayed cloaked and hidden as he approached and then changed direction to the hideout the he and the Red-Rotono used the night before. The fleet did not detect any current distortions nearby, but that didn¡¯t mean a sniper wasn¡¯t watching the hide-out. Tony entered the hide-out and through the cyber-link I sensed he was examining the hide-out and determined that the enforcer had been through the hide-out shortly after it was abandoned earlier that morning. The fleet sensed Tony¡¯s mind disconnect from the cyber-link as the hide-out exploded.


    The enforcer had either guessed Tony¡¯s next move or had placed traps for every possible attack without being detected. The fleet scanned through the debris, smoke, and heat. The scan showed Tony survived the explosion, but his cloaking device did not. In that exact moment, the enforcer now knew someone was in the hide-out and probably only two other people on Mars knew where it was. Tony lost his cloak, and the enforcer knew where Tony might be. Through the scan the fleet could now easily see Tony¡¯s power signature.


    ¡°Attack Mode!¡±, Tony yelled, as he jumped out of the ruble and drew his Pulse Rifle, which appeared have both the Pulse rifle and Gauss rifle active at the same time. The fleet identified this combined weapon as the Combo rifle. Tony wasn¡¯t covered in a layer of deflector shields, instead he only had a single active deflector that focused forward as he knelt down on the rubble and aimed at the mansion. One of the mansion¡¯s cloaking devices deactivated and the enforcer was lying flat on the ground aiming a gauss rifle in the direction of the explosion. The enforcer fired and the gauss rifle bullet bounced off Tony¡¯s deflector shield and into the city¡¯s atmospheric dome. The fleet scan detected some damage to the dome, some atmosphere leaked out, but the dome was still mostly intact. The enforcer activated his cloaking device and vanished into the larger distortion.


    ¡°Attack Mode? How many modes does he have?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s complicated. His weapons have modes too¡­ Ask him about it when he gets back.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya


    Tony aimed in the direction that the enforcer vanished and the targeting scanner was running at full power. That much power, feeding into a targeting scanner might get detected, but without a cloaking device and a sniper already locked onto Tony¡¯s location, Tony would need the enhanced accuracy, although he didn¡¯t have a target yet. The enforcer de-cloaked in a different location, but didn¡¯t fire on Tony directly. The enforcer fired at the rubble underneath Tony, causing the rubble to collapse and Tony to fall and tumble to the street level. The enforcer re-activated his cloak and vanished again. Tony looked around, but the fleet scan did indicate he has sight of the mansion. Tony dropped the Combo rifle, threw his non-functional cloak over the Combo rifle, switched to his battle axe, and started striking the ground. This new plan with his super strength, Tony chopped the ground just six times and soon had a small pit. Tony jumped into the pit and began to bury himself, since he wasn¡¯t cyber-linked to the fleet, no-one could guess what he was thinking. The fleet suspected Tony anticipated the mansion was now a trap. When Tony was mostly buried, the only object he left on the ground above him were the Combo rifle and the broken cloaking device. The fleet scanned the mansion trying to locate the enforcer, but instead they detected the warlord and the Red-Rotono. I reached out to Tony¡¯s mind and luckily his cybernetics were still functioning. I sensed Tony¡¯s mind re-connect to the fleet and his perspective seemed quiet and dark. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Would you mind translating? The Warlord and Red-Rotono popped back up.¡±, I sent my question to Tony through the cyber link, and sensed Tony¡¯s mind quietly acknowledge the request.


    The Red Rotono activated the red cloak, vanished into a distortion, and moved quietly across the roof of the mansion avoiding the warlord. The warlord yelled across the roof, speaking in the Ugian dialect, and Tony translated.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t changed princess! You run and hide just like you did when your father built this mansion. All you¡¯ve done is endanger the clan since you returned. You should have stayed away if you just wanted to spend the rest of your life with the Phantom.¡±, The Warlord seemed to gloat.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one who failed to grow up! You think your opinion is right only because you want to impose your views on others. Just because you can¡¯t have what you want.¡±, the Red-Rotono yelled back.


    As the Warlord heard the Red-Rotono¡¯s voice he began moving in that direction. The Red Rotono continued to evade.


    ¡°You know the Enforcer killed the Phantom, and is on his way to collect a trophy off your hero. Maybe his gauss rifle or maybe the battle-axe?¡±, the Warlord continued to gloat.


    ¡°Did I miss something? Something after Tony quit the client¡¯s contract?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I think the warlord is just trying to agitate the Red-Rotono.¡±, I hypothesized as I replied to Ylisaya. The fleet scan indicated that a distortion was moving from the mansion towards Tony¡¯s location, and this distortion¡¯s speed appeared the be the maximum speed of Tri-tech.


    ¡°I hired the Phantom, because he had the best bid and the better resum¨¦ when for assassinating space pirate trash.¡±, the Red-Rotono said, while evading the warlord.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a space pirate! My title is Zokoro, the Black Dragon Clan¡¯s greatest Blade Master!¡±, the warlord yelled out, as he rushed in the direction of the Red-Rotono¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Your Ugian needs work. Zokoro isn¡¯t a title. It means pale-fool-pretend-hero. My father was the best Blade Master.¡±, the Red-Rotono said in common, while laughing at the warlord.


    The warlord charged again, but only finding empty spaces across the roof.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re hiding because you¡¯re afraid of me.¡±, the warlord yelled in Ugian


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything that makes you scary, but you¡¯re definitely disturbing and I just sense poor confidence. You betrayed my father and stole his wealth. You stole my father from the people who loved him, because you want them to love you instead.¡±, the Red-Rotono yelled back.


    The Red-Rotono found a high ledge and stood over the unaware warlord. The Red Rotono jumped crashing down at the warlord, smashing through the roof of the mansion. The fleet was no longer able to follow, and refocused on Tony.


    The distortion moving towards Tony arrived as the Enforcer deactivated his cloak and slowed from running to a walking pace. The enforcer tapped a series of buttons on one of his arm panels. The fleet scan indicated that the enforcer was not a hologram nor someone pretending to be the third target as the power level of his black steel Tri-tech armor began to increase. The enforcer looked over an area of low ground surrounded by rubble in all directions, and he saw the combo rifle under a burned cloak. The enforcer drew a hand gun, jumped from the rubble to the low ground, and walked over a pile of rocks towards the Combo rifle. The enforcer used his free hand to draw a black steel Rotono-blade and with tip of the blade, lifted the cloak off the Combo rifle and threw the cloak aside. The Enforcer sheathed the Rotono blade, holstered the handgun, and the enforcer attempted to lift the Combo rifle, but the combined gauss and pulse rifles seemed too heavy for him to lift. Tony began to move from under the pile of rocks. The enforcer was unable to turn in time, all he could do was watch Tony aiming a shotgun at him. The shotgun fired a blast and sent razor sharp pellets piercing the armor of the enforcer, with most of the blast hitting the enforcer¡¯s arm. The enforcer drew the Rotono-blade, and was still standing as long his Tri-tech armor was keeping him alive. The enforcer charged at Tony with the Rotono-blade and Tony switched to his Battle-axe.


    ¡°Battle Mode!¡±, Tony yelled as he jumped out of the rubble as his armor activated a layer of deflector shields, and the Enforcer¡¯s Rotono blade was stopped by the battle axe.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who knows how to set a trap!¡±, Tony said in Ugian as he laughed.


    The enforcer gripped the Rotono-blade with both hands and attampted to hit Tony with a mechanically empowered strike, but the blade bounced off the Axe¡¯s deflector shields. The enforcer held on with one hand, and the momentum pulled him away from Tony.


    ¡°Impressive you were prepared for that. Against Ryl-tech, Rotono-blades have a fifty-fifty chance of of getting knocked out of your hands. How did you shoot a gauss rifle if you can¡¯t even lift one?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re either a coward or a fool! Every government, gang, and corporation that isn¡¯t part of the Protectorate knows they will fight you, sooner or later. The Black Dragons bought all the gauss rifles they could, and even stole a few more. I don¡¯t need to lift one just to aim and shoot, not if there¡¯s another I can just use later at a different location. The Black Dragons collected enough ammo and firepower so you wouldn¡¯t even be factor. You¡¯ve already lost, because your princess is walking into the trap set for you.¡±, the enforcer said with contempt.


    ¡°Not a problem. In fact, my only issue with that plan is, how am I going to steal that ammo? I¡¯m here to get paid, and in order to do that, you need to die.¡±, Tony said casually.


    Tony crashed the battle axe into the enforcer, and the enforcer spun to avoid the attack. Tony took a swing at the enforcers legs with the spear end of the Battle-axe, and the enforcer jumped to avoid the attack. Tony stabbed forward with the spear end, but the enforcer stepped aside. Tony stabbed again, and the enforcer jumped back to avoid the attack. Tony swung the axe across, and the enforcer ducked under the chopping blade. Tony jumped up into the air, and the enforcer tried to draw the hand gun but failed because of his injured arm. The enforcer shifted the Rotono-blade to his injured arm and with his free hand to use the hand-gun. While mid-jump Tony switched to his shotgun.


    ¡°Attack Mode!¡±, Tony yelled out, as his armor reconfigured. As Tony landed a shockwave blasted in all directions, knocking down the enforcer. The enforcer dropped the Rotono-blade but managed to keep the handgun with his good arm. Tony fired the shotgun at the enforcer, and the enforcer fired the hand gun back at Tony. The blast from the shot gun shredded the enforcer¡¯s last good hand and part of his leg on the same side. The bullet from the handgun bounced off Tony¡¯s deflector shield and went into the ground beneath him, but then exploded in an unknown shockwave.


    I felt a surge of pain, I lost all sense of the ship around me, and then all was quiet. I sensed Ylisaya¡¯s mind and she felt the same experience. The fleet also sensed the pain, and as I regained control of the ship, I saw the prisoner was right where we last saw him. The only mind I didn¡¯t sense was Tony, because he disconnected. The fleet scan resumed as the fleet slowly recovered from whatever just happened. We found Tony standing over the enforcer with his foot stepping on the enforcer¡¯s chest and the shotgun aimed at the enforcer¡¯s face. The enforcer looked disappointed at the handgun.


    ¡°Where did you get bullets that can hurt me, without even hitting me?¡±, Tony demanded.


    ¡°It was supposed to kill you. That bullet cost the Black Dragons two hundred billion credits. Where they got it?¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±, the enforcer said in a defeated tone, as he tossed the hand-gun aside. The fleet scan determined that the enforcer¡¯s arm was so badly injured he probably couldn¡¯t even pull the trigger, as the Tri-tech armor was the only thing keeping him alive. Tony switch to his battle axe.


    ¡°For the Auro blade.¡± Tony said in a spiteful tone as he decapitated the enforcer, and credits were added to the ship¡¯s account.


    Tony picked up the handgun dropped by the enforcer, and as he examined it, the fleet detected the weapon was empty. Tony examined the ground where the strange bullet impacted, but didn¡¯t even find any fragments. Tony knelt down and touched the impact damage on the ground, but the fleet scan determined the entire projectile had burned away. Tony took the enforcer¡¯s cloak, and any remaining weapons except the Rotono-blade which was now unusable without the Enforcer, though the fleet couldn¡¯t determine exactly what these weapons were.


    ¡°Stealth Mode.¡±, Tony said as he vanished into a distortion and started heading towards the mansion.


    I reached out to Tony¡¯s mind and he accepted the cyber-link.


    ¡°Maybe we should stop? If there are weapons that you¡¯re not immune against, it might be safest to cash out now?¡±, I sent my question to Tony through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Someone got paid two hundred billion for a bullet to kill me. I wanna know more aboutthat bullet.¡± Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the cyber-link.


    Tony¡¯s mind focused on the mansion and he wondered how he was going to find the fourth target. The fleet¡¯s scan followed a distortion depart Tony¡¯s location and bounce from roof, to pile of rubble, to roof, and to rubble. The fleet watched Tony stop at the field of cloaking devices. Through the cyber-link I sensed his hesitation at the notion of walking into another trap so quickly, and the possibility that he would spy on the mansion for at least several micro-cycles before approaching.


    The fleet was unprepared for when the mansion¡¯s cloaking field suddenly deactivated, and suspected another trap, as when they felt the effect from the mystery bullet, when they watched Tony cheat death. Before any could think to ask what was happening, Tony got a call from the broker. The fleet was again allowed to observe the interaction.


    ¡°Hello Phantom. We see you¡¯ve made a lot of progress on the list, and that last fight was very impressive, lots of action, but we¡¯re going in a different direction for the next one.¡±, the broker said to Tony.


    ¡°We still have a contract! If the Confederacy breaches contract now, they invite war with the Protectorate, and there¡¯s a fleet of Protectorate battleships surrounding Mars!¡±, Tony protested.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna wanna hear this. The change isn¡¯t coming from the Confederacy. The fourth target has decided to surrender.¡±, the broker said to Tony.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, now she¡¯s the Confederacy¡¯s problem, I¡¯ll skip her and go¡­¡±, Tony said, as the Broker interrupted him.


    ¡°Not to the Confederacy. She says she¡¯ll only surrender to you.¡±, the broker replied.


    ¡°The logical move would be cashing out on the Red-Rotono, and then go back for target number four. I don¡¯t exactly have time to deliver a prisoner out of the city, while fighting a gang war. Then turn around and collect on another bounty.¡±, Tony reminded the broker.


    ¡°The war is over, according to the fourth target. The damage you¡¯ve inflicted on their forces leaves them with two choices, they can surrender or die, either against you or the next enemy.¡±, the broker told Tony.


    ¡°Fine, what does the target want?¡±, Tony reluctantly asked.


    ¡°She wants to meet at the rock garden on the other side of the mansion.¡±, the broker said to Tony, and then disconnected.


    Tony moved cautiously and slowly around the mansion, and eventually reached the Rock Garden. In the center of the Rock Garden an Ugian woman sat on her side reading a data tablet. She wore a yellow garment with a scarlet band tied around her waist. She wore a wide floppy gray hat, that looked thin and delicate but held it¡¯s shape. If she were standing straight or walking, the hat might be large enough to shade her entire body in the noon day sunlight, as the sunlight passed through the Martian atmosphere and the city¡¯s dome. On the ground next to her there was a boiler and small ceramic cups. It appeared as if she was making hot drinks. As the fleet scanned the woman they verified her as the fourth target.


    ¡°You wanted to see me?¡±, Tony said to the woman in Ugian, while he was still cloaked.


    The woman looked around and didn¡¯t seem to notice Tony.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±, the woman asked, in common.


    Tony deactivated his cloak and appeared in front of the woman with his hand-cannon drawn but not aimed.


    ¡°You are not in any danger, Phantom. I only have a knife.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°Why are we speaking common? How did you know?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°You can¡¯t hide your Aurovean accent. Sounds like North Alyrikan. No offense but when you speak Ugian, you sound like you don¡¯t enjoy it.¡±, the woman said calmly as she put down the tablet and poured the hot liquid into a cup and took a sip.


    ¡°He feels that way about talking in any language.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    Tony looked up at the ship and through the cyber-link I could sense he was holding back his thoughts.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the sky?¡±, the woman asked Tony.


    ¡°Thinking about my ship and crew. Not your concern. Just tell me why you called me here.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re here to kill me, but I have no more reason to live. I died fifteen minutes ago, when I read that my beloved Behrahn died fighting you. There was a bounty on his head, just like mine. He walked out the gates, kissed me for luck, faced you in battle, and now you¡¯re here wearing his cloak. Yes, he was the enforcer. I knew he died the moment the money vanished from the bounties, and I know I¡¯m next. I called your broker because I have too much blood on my hands, too much that I will have to answer for, I won¡¯t find mercy in a Confederate trial, least of all from a Confederate prison.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°My contract says a different story. Why should I believe you?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m wanted dead, not alive. The Confederacy officially put a price on my head, but do you think they actually want to pay that much money? That reward was just an attempt to force me and the rest of the Ugian leadership out into the open, so their secret police could track us down, throw us into an off the books prison, and reconstruct our finance operations for their own use. If the official story is that I¡¯m dead, then nobody will expect a trial, and the Confederacy can skip right to torture. Nobody will ask any questions.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°Can you prove that?¡±, Tony challenged the woman¡¯s claim.


    ¡°When you fought, Behrahn did he shoot a strange bullet?¡±, the woman revealed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a connection. Behrahn said it costs two hundred billion credits, which is impossible. That¡¯s more money than the combined economies of every Protectorate colony.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°If you only count assets, but the Black Dragons hold, sell, and trade ownership rights too. Nothing costs two hundred billion. The only part we paid for was the information to locate it moving through the black market. We stole it from the Confederacy, and the Confederacy obtained one and tried to copy it. Their real goal was locking down their monopoly on the ammo exports market. That first bullet was just the beginning. Whoever made that bullet, plans on making more. All the proof you need is the location of where the bullet is made and how they are being tested.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°Why steal it? Taking their legally obtained property will just further creates conflict with the Confederacy. If the Confederacy wants to turn me into an enemy, that doesn¡¯t affect you.¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°They weren¡¯t planning on turning you into an enemy, they wanted to turn you into a customer. Our first plan was to reveal the bullet to you, frame the Confederacy, and let you wipe them out for us.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°Sounds like a decent plan. What changed?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Lord Zokoro seized power.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s assume I believe you, which I don¡¯t. You¡¯re saying your plan is take away your skills from ever falling into the Confederacy¡¯s hands. I would have done that regardless of this conversation. What exactly do you want from me?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°The only person that mattered was Behrahn. I won¡¯t fight you, I don¡¯t think I could, but can I ask about Behrahn, the last moments of his life?¡±, the woman asked.


    ¡°You get three questions, and you accept the answers I give as is.¡±, Tony said to the woman as he disconnected from the cyber-link.


    ¡°Do you think he was brave?¡±, the woman asked.


    ¡°If he was a coward, he would have abandoned the Black Dragons at the start. So as for the man you knew, no¡­He was not a coward. Today he was sent to face an opponent alone and to an extant he did. When he challenged me by name, I took his threat seriously, he had a good plan, probably the closest anyone has gotten to killing me in one on one. I try to avoid walking into traps, so if he knew I set a trap of my own, then he¡¯s the braver. He fought with his best weapons, and when I took those away, he fought with whatever he had left, he even tried to fight with words. But not once did I see fear in his eyes. I would say he died fighting.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Was he thinking of me in his final moments?¡±, The woman asked.


    ¡°In the end, something broke in him. When he fired the strange bullet and it didn¡¯t go as planned, I¡¯m guessing that bullet was his last hope of winning against me. Based on what you¡¯re telling me, it might have been something to do with you. I thought he lost hope. If his goal was to fight for a future with someone, then I would conclude taking that future away from him would have such an effect similar to what I saw. Unfortunately that¡¯s just my opinion within a highly flawed theory. That¡¯s all I¡¯m willing to say about that.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°That¡¯s accurate, we did have such a plan. Do you think he was honorable?¡± , the woman asked.


    ¡°I only define honor as a matter of principle. I hunt down space pirates for money, I¡¯m no judge of honor.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking about what you think of honor. I¡¯m asking about what you think of him.¡±, the woman calmly replied.


    ¡°There¡¯s more to this question. Ask it again, but in Ugian.¡±, Tony replied as he connected to the fleet.


    ¡°A stranger would say honor because they want something. A lover, a follower, a friend, and even a superior would say honor as empty flattery. But an enemy has no motive to say honor. If an enemy says one has honor, then it¡¯s true.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°Behrahn fought for what he believed, he fought whether or not he thought he could win, he was the Black Dragon¡¯s choice to face the greatest threats, and until his last breath he believed in those principles. As I look in your eyes, I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s why you loved him, and why they bet everything on him. We both know this is true because you claim a future without him is impossible for you. I don¡¯t claim to know honor, but he at least lived honor. Since I survived our battle, I will not make the same mistake again.¡±, Tony said to the woman.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I need to know, thank you. I will need a moment to prepare.¡±, the woman said, as she deleted all the information on her tablet, setting it down beside her.


    ¡°What happens now?¡±, Tony asked, as the woman removed her hat and waist wrap, setting the hat down beside her.


    ¡°Without Behrahn nobody can protect me, another warlord will find me, and learn what I know. My secrets must die with me.¡±, the woman said as she held the waist wrap hanging in one hand moving the wrap side to side letting gravity fold the cloth.


    ¡°What do I need to do?¡±, Tony asked, as the woman took a last gulp of the tea and knelt down to face a nearby shrine.


    ¡°I know what the Auro Blade is, Behrahn and I would watch that TV show together. Rozkuten is my favorite character. I need to borrow Behrahn¡¯s cloak.¡±, the Woman said as she placed a knife on the ground in front of her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I won¡¯t help you fake your death.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Keep it, but remember, I loved him. So I will say goodbye through something that belonged to him. Aren¡¯t you going to tell me your favorite character or do you just use say for the Auro Blade as your catchphrase?¡±, the woman asked.


    ¡°Myrginia Ravay.¡±, Tony said and he presented the cloak to the woman.


    ¡°She¡¯s my favorite in that show too.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°I understand now, and I will help you.¡±, Tony said to the woman as she held an end of Behrahn¡¯s cloak in her hand. She kissed the cloth of the cloak and dropped it.


    ¡°Why support Lord Zokoro?, Why not just help Behrahn become the warlord instead?¡±, Tony asked, as he switched to his battle axe, but did not activate the blade.


    ¡°Behrahn was high born, and I¡¯m not. If Behrahn became a warlord, he could only be a Ugian high born, which is why he didn¡¯t. Zokoro was our only hope to make a new world, a world that would allow a love like ours to even exist.¡±, the woman said.


    ¡°Now I see why Rozkuten is your favorite Auro-Blade character, even though he¡¯s one of the show¡¯s villains.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Many Ugians died because of one man¡¯s greed. My knowledge is too dangerous, another warlord must not be allowed to repeat this mistake, but leave my body with my clan.¡±, the woman said as she smashed her tablet with the handle of her knife.


    Tony only nodded at her. The woman gripped her knife with both hands, pointed the blade at her heart, took a deep breath, and exhaled.


    ¡°Behrahn¡¯s soul will find yours in the afterlife. Battle Axe Execution Mode!¡±, Tony said as he activated the chopping blade of his battle axe into a single blade that glowed green with unstable fury.


    The woman looked up at Tony, nodded, and closed her eyes.


    ¡°For the Auro Blade.¡±, the woman cried as she plunged the knife into her own heart.


    Tony swung the battle axe, the woman¡¯s life vanished from the fleet¡¯s scan, and credits were added to the ship¡¯s account.


    ¡°Goodbye Lynyrra. You died with honor.¡±, Tony said to Lynyrra, as he folded his battle-axe and turned towards the mansion.

 Chapter 6 - The Blade Master

    The fleet scanned the mansion, searching for the final targets. I sensed Tony¡¯s mind as he considered the risks of killing either the Warlord or the Red-Rotono, and more importantly each¡¯s effect on his promotion to first-class-citizen. I sensed something else in Tony, it was something primal, something instinctive, Tony was hungry. Tony reached into a spare ammo compartment and drew from it a Regimental Breakfast Sandwich. The label revealed the sandwich contained egg, bacon, and cheese. He set the sandwich down next to Lynyrra¡¯s Tea set, as he poured some tea. Tony took a sip of tea, then part of the mansion exploded and the mansion started to burn. Tony drank up the last of his tea and returned the breakfast sandwich to a spare ammo compartment, as Ugians fled the fire. I reached out to Tony¡¯s mind through the cyber-link and he accepted the connection.


    ¡°Can you see what¡¯s happening?¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony.


    ¡°Eventually I will, but my guess is arson. It¡¯s clearly an inciting incident. Someone walked into a trap.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the cyber-link.


    ¡°If you expect a trap, and the warlord is dead anyways, we can just leave with the money we got now, the contract doesn¡¯t require the entire list, and the Protectorate has your money not the Confederacy.¡±, I shared my thoughts with Tony, through the cyberlink.


    We both sensed more than half of the fleet supported my recommendation, however almost the entire blockade fleet wanted to find out if the Red-Rotono survived.


    ¡°We need to cyber-link, but in private.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts to me as he disconnected from the fleet. I disconnected from the fleet and sensed Tony¡¯s direct cyber-link.


    ¡°Disconnect Ylisaya, she¡¯s too important for all Rylkonians. If there¡¯s another one of those strange bullets, we have to make sure she remains safe.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts to me.


    ¡°I figured you¡¯d be more skeptical of a chosen one prophecy. Do you believe she actually is the chosen one? Is this really about her individual importance? Or is this about her re-sale value?¡±, I sent my questions through the cyber-link.


    ¡°I¡¯m her owner, so protecting my property is my decision. Let¡¯s assume we make it to the point of sale, I get promoted, and she¡¯s just a normal Rylkonian girl. That means I got one hell of a bargain. Now let¡¯s assume she does have some sort of all important destiny. That just means I¡¯m right. It looks like a win-win for me, so I don¡¯t see a difference. Besides a prophecy I haven¡¯t heard yet, I haven¡¯t seen anything that compels me to identify Ylisaya as the chosen one. Do I have to order you to protect the the crew of the ship we rely on for money?¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the cyber-link, as we disconnected.


    The broker called Tony as soon as our cyber-link ended, and I resumed my cyber-link to the fleet. Tony took their call, however he wasn¡¯t linked to the fleet, so the fleet could only hear his end of the call.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to worry about that. The fire might solve both of those problems.¡±, Tony responded to an unknown question. After a few moments Tony responded to something else the broker asked.


    ¡°I was hit with a unknown weapon that also hit the entire fleet. Testing my cyber-link¡¯s disconnect safety is the priority right now. You might think the war is over, but if the Confederacy¡¯s list is accurate, then they don¡¯t actually know who¡¯s in charge, and no-one will know if I just cash out.¡±, Tony seemed to protest. After a few moments Tony responded to something else the broker asked.


    ¡°How much money?¡­.uh hmm¡­uh hmm¡­Do we have a contract?¡±, Tony asked.


    A contract arrived through the communication array, I wondered if I should read it or just keep watching.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get started.¡±, Tony replied to the broker as he vanished into a distortion.


    ¡°Disconnect. I¡¯ll cover the fleet for the rest of this mission.¡±, I instructed Ylisaya.


    Through the mirror I watched Ylisaya¡¯s concern over the Red-Rotono. Ylisaya¡¯s eyes rapidly moved side to side and I ceased sensing her mind through the cyber-link. Yet through the ship¡¯s systems I sensed Ylisaya¡¯s mind access the targeting scanners.


    ¡°Something Clever, why did you lock weapons on the City?¡±, I sensed fleet command reach me through the cyber-link and they detected Ylisaya¡¯s use of the targeting scanner.


    ¡°Our captain just started a second contract on site, he might need a supply drop, and we¡¯re kind of fans of the Red-Rotono.¡±, I sent my thoughts through the cyber-link to fleet command.


    ¡°You do realize that the Red-Rotono is a target, if you try to verify the target for profit that¡¯s a conflict of interest.¡±, the fleet command sent to me through the cyber-link.


    ¡°So is sending an assassin after an idol¡­we haven¡¯t broken any rules yet.¡±, I sent my argument through the cyber-link.


    ¡°You may continue scanning in the interest of your captain and crew. Please review your contract.¡±, the fleet sent through the cyber-link.


    The fleet and Ylisaya watched through the scan as Tony¡¯s distortion moved around the burning mansion. Tony moved from corner to corner and from shadow to shadow, as the fire spread and slowly reduced places for Tony to hide. With each movement, Tony activated his scanners, and the scans leaked over the cloaking device. The fleet concluded that Tony was searching for someone inside the mansion, but the only two people the fleet expected to find in the Mansion were the warlord and the Red-Rotono, the only two people the fleet could not confirm a location. I sensed a disturbing observation from within the fleet. As they watched Tony¡¯s distortion, they also observed new fires whenever Tony moved, leaving a trail behind him. The fleet suspected this was a result of a tool or weapon Tony obtained from the Enforcer, but while Tony remained cloaked, nothing can be observed within the distortion. I was surprised that Tony would consider such a method, since light, heat, and energy conflict with cloaking tech. I guessed either Ylisaya or I would have to read the contract.


    The Red-Rotono crashed out of a window from the Mansion holding a Rotono-Blade that shined with a bright blue. The warlord chased after the Red-Rotono and he was holding his black steel Rotono-blade in one hand as well as the Rotono with a red blade in his other hand. The warlord attacked the Red-Rotono with a mechanically empower strike from the black steel blade. The Red-Rotono evaded and attempted strike back with the blue-steel blade. The Warlord swiped the non-powered attack aside with the red blade and forced the Red-Rotono to retreat. I reached out to Tony through the cyber-link, and he connected. I sensed Tony¡¯s mind as wondered how or when the warlord obtained the Red-blade, as Tony started moving towards the warlord and Red-Rotono.


    ¡°Why did you burn down the house of the Black Dragons? This was the destiny of all Ugians.¡±, the warlord said in Ugian to the Red Rotono, as he coughed and forced a breath.


    ¡°You¡¯re not even Ugian, you just want to be some sort of pretend king. If I will not be accepted as a Black Dragon, then there will be no Black Dragon anything.¡±, the Red-Rotono said and then attacked with all the might of Tri-tech armor, but not a mechanically empowered Rotono-blade, since the Blue sword belonged to another. In that moment, credits were added to the ship¡¯s account.


    ¡°Your father¡¯s sword can¡¯t protect you, if you can¡¯t unlock it¡¯s power. Let¡¯s see how you feel when something important to you is taken away.¡±, the warlord said as he sheathed the black steel blade, reached inside the hand-guard of the red-blade and ripped out one of the levers.


    ¡°No! How dare you dishonor a Rotono-blade!¡±, the Red-Rotono yelled at the warlord.


    ¡°You never finished the trials, you¡¯re not a true Blade-master. You wear a gift, others of low birth have to earn.¡±, The warlord protested.


    The warlord shifted the red-blade to one hand, drew the black-blade with his free hand and attacked the Red-Rotono with mechanically empowered, but unstable slashes from all directions, as he attacked, stepped around his opponent, and prepared another attack.


    As the warlord attacked with an unstable but mechanically empowered red-blade, then with the black blade. The Red-Rotono deflected and evaded, but could not unlock the blue-blade. The Red-Rotono activated the red-cloak to escape. The fleet watched the Red-Rotono¡¯s distortion begin to flee but then completely stopped. The warlord pursued the Red-Rotono, and found the Red-Rotono¡¯s foot steps. He saw the steps did not continue, though he could not see the distortion of neither the Red-Rotono nor Tony¡¯s. The warlord held out the two swords to his sides as if probing the space around him searching for his opponent. Tony was now close enough to intervene yet he remained cloaked. I sensed Tony¡¯s mind as he tasted an egg sandwich.


    ¡°My father¡¯s words were Loyalty, Honesty, and Strength before Honor.¡±, the Red-Rotono said while cloaked.


    The warlord slowly examined the direction of the Red-Rotono¡¯s voice and advanced still searching for an opponent.


    ¡°Loyalty is in one¡¯s heart between both hands.¡±, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord continued searching.


    ¡°Honesty is every word spoken on one direction.¡±, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord slowly moved closer.


    ¡°Strength is not order and not chaos, but balance.¡±, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord now seemed to know the Red-Rotono¡¯s location.


    ¡°The spirit of every Rotono-blade¡­¡±, said the Red-Rotono, as the warlord prepared to attack, raising the black-blade for an empowered attack.


    ¡°Is honor!¡±, the Red-Rotono yelled as she deactivated her cloak and attacked with the blue-blade as the wheel unlocked and mechanically empowered the strike. The warlord attempted to deflect the blue-blade using the red-blade, but the red-blade became unstable as it seemed to jumped out of his hand.


    The Red-Rotono attacked with the blue-blade¡¯s mechanical power, reset the wheel as she held the sword pointed upwards near the shoulder of her sword arm, and waited for the warlord¡¯s counter attack. As the warlord watched the mansion burn around him and the weapon of his former master fell under the control of his opponent he found breathing becoming more and more difficult.


    ¡°You¡¯re a fool, without the House of the Black Dragons, you¡¯re no-longer a high born Ugian.¡±, the warlord declared to the Red-Rotono, as he began gasping for air.


    The pain from breathing brought the warlord to a knee and he rested his weight on the handle of his sword as he stabbed it into the ground.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about being high-born, I burned it down because you betrayed my father.¡±, the Red-Rotono said as she stood over the warlord.


    The warlord¡¯s breathing accelerated, and he removed his helmet with his free hand. The veins in his eye burned as the blood began to drip from his eyes, nose and ears. He touched his ear with his free hand and also found blood on his fingers. The warlord looked up as he lost consciousness and collapsed to thee ground. The warlord¡¯s life vanished from the fleet¡¯s scan, and credits were added to the ship¡¯s account. The Red-Rotono dropped to her knees and could barely lift the blue-blade.


    ¡°I thought I didn¡¯t use enough venom to kill him this fast.¡±, Tony said as he deactivated his cloak.


    He walked up to the warlord with only an egg sandwich in his hand, as he continued to nibble on the left-overs from breakfast.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your venom. Not only. He¡¯s allergic to eggs.¡±, the Red-Rotono said as the voice changing effect of her armor faded and the fleet could now hear a woman¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Why are you here? What happened in your fight with the enforcer?¡±, the Red Rotono asked Tony, as Tony finished the last bite of the breakfast sandwich.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­well I think I won. Maybe you recognize his cloak? But now I¡¯m under contract to eliminate the leaders of both the Lahnthanos and Black Dragons, and now only one target remains.¡±, Tony replied.


    Through my mirror I could see Ylisaya¡¯s eyes moving fast. I knew she was searching for something.


    ¡°I¡¯m the last target! My armor is out of power. I can¡¯t fight. I can¡¯t run. I can¡¯t even hide, but can I have a honorable death?¡±, The Red-Rotono asked Tony, as she removed the armor from her hands and chest revealing the woman beneath it.


    ¡°What do you need from me?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I need a blade I can lift, it only needs to be long enough to stab the heart.¡±, the Red-Rotono said as she lifted her mask and kissed the hand-guard of the blue-blade.


    The Red-Rotono dropped the blue blade and returned her mask to over her face. Tony walked over to the black-blade, stepped down on the handle, lifting the blade, and he drew his battle-axe. He activated the battle-axe revealing it¡¯s red-blade that glowed like lava and slashed through the black-steel blade, leaving the blade with a crude point, but also reducing the blade to the Red-Rotono¡¯s specifications. Tony used his super strength to rip apart the track of the wheel, and he presented the black-blade to the Red-Rotono.


    ¡°That will do¡­thank you, Phantom.¡±, The Red-Rotono said to Tony, as Tony stood beside the Red-Rotono and disconnected from the fleet.


    ¡°Battle Axe Execution Mode.¡±, Tony said as his battle-axe reconfigured to it¡¯s green blade.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done this before?¡±, the Red-Rotono asked Tony.


    ¡°Lynyrra.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°I see¡­Did she betray my father too?¡±, The Red-Rotono asked Tony.


    ¡°Yes, for Behrahn¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I see. I guessed there was something between those two.¡±, the Red-Rotono said.


    The Red-Rotono picked up the broken black-steel blade, took two deep breaths and held the blade with both hands. As she pulled the blade towards her heart, Tony swung his battle axe, and knocked the black blade out of her hands, as the Red-Rotono fell to the ground. I thought something was wrong when I didn¡¯t hear, ¡°For the Auro-Blade!¡±


    ¡°Why did you stop me?¡± The Red-Rotono asked.


    ¡°I just learned that you¡¯re not the target I¡¯m getting paid to kill, so you get to live.¡±, Tony said.


    I sensed Ylisaya disconnect from all of the ship¡¯s systems. I looked into my mirror and I saw Ylisaya rest her mind as if she was returning to her body. Ylisaya fell back into the flight engineer¡¯s seat and appeared quite content with an achievement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Who¡¯s the target?¡±, the Red-Rotono asked.


    ¡°Well¡­They¡¯re looking for a male, disguised as woman, member of the Black Dragons, has a red-sword, and holds the title of sword-master. Then I need at least one of the battle ships in the sky above to say that I can kill you to get paid. The fleet has been watching us since yesterday, and testimony has been provided all concluding there¡¯s an eighty-eight percent chance the client will refuse to pay me for an assassination of someone who doesn¡¯t even match the description of the intended target. Even if you are their enemy and they want you dead, I might not get paid.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So I get to live, because I¡¯m not valuable?¡±, the Red-Rotono asked.


    ¡°You get to live because your enemies are stupid, and I don¡¯t work for free.¡±, Tony replied, as the broker closed the contract and credits were added to the ship¡¯s account.


    ¡°Can I hire you if you¡¯re available?¡±, the Red-Rotono asked.


    Through the cyber-link the fleet command contacted the entire fleet. Fleet command instructed all gun-ships with no crew on the surface to cease scanning the surface of Mars, effective immediately. As gun-ships complied with the order, the surface of Mars vanished. The broker tried to reach Tony through the Cyber-link, but he didn¡¯t respond. The broker then tried to reach Tony directly, and Tony again didn¡¯t respond. I reached out to Tony¡¯s mind.


    ¡°The broker¡¯s trying to get a hold of you. Are you gonna take their call?¡±, I sent my question to Tony through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Not this time.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reach me through the link, as we disconnected.


    The broker reached out to me, and I connected. I sensed the minds of several Protectorate Officers, and through the cyber-link the entire fleet could observe me.


    ¡°Hi Jhessyreen! It¡¯s been a long time.¡±, the broker¡¯s thoughts reach me.


    ¡°How can I be of service?¡±, I returned my thoughts through the link.


    ¡°Two matters. First, we wanted to say how impressed we are with how your crew handled so many contracts, helped the people of Mars, and avoided a long and expensive war.¡±, the brokers made their thoughts clear.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad it was worth every credit. Winning wars is our captain¡¯s speciality. What¡¯s the second thing?¡±, I sent my question through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Please discourage your captain from taking this client¡¯s newest offer.¡±, the broker¡¯s thoughts became clear to me.


    ¡°You know how this works. A first officer needs substantial evidence to influence their captain like that. What¡¯s your evidence?¡±, I sent my question to the broker.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°We believe the client is Meiyo Ymiri, which means her mother is Ayah Ymiri, the President of the Venus Cooperative, and we believe she can be better serviced directly by the Protectorate. If she is who we think.¡±, the broker sent their thoughts to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s only suspicion, I need proof.¡±, I sent my thought to the broker.


    ¡°Proof will be difficult because it will also reveal how we obtained this information, and implicates the President.¡±, the broker¡¯s thoughts were clear, and I then knew how.


    ¡°The only time those words are used in that order is if the spymasters are involved, so this contract is not within my power to affect, and not even your domain.¡±, I sent my thoughts to the brokers, as a contract arrived in the communication array.


    ¡°We were mistaken, the client does not appear to have any interest in starting a war. We have insured your new contract and client. Please don¡¯t cancel for another assassination.¡±, the broker¡¯s thoughts reached me and we disconnected.


    ¡°Delivery of one passenger to Venus or nearby space station. Why does that sound easy?¡±, Ylisaya said as she read the new contract.


    ¡°I wish that were true. We¡¯ll have a dread-pirate and a political passenger onboard. If we head straight to Venus, we¡¯ll be flying right into a space pirate trap.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    Through the ship¡¯s systems I sensed the gunner¡¯s systems powering up, and the targeting array was locking onto something on the surface of Mars. I turned to Ylisaya and I did not detect her using the Flight Engineer¡¯s seat. I checked the internal sensor and the prisoner was still unconscious. The fire control system was locked out and being accessed from outside of the ship. As the pilot, I¡¯m the only one who can use the ship¡¯s navigation system from the outside, which means only the gunner can fire the ship¡¯s weapons. I moved from the pilot¡¯s seat to the gunner¡¯s seat and accessed the direct connection to see what the gunner¡¯s seat was trying to look at.


    Tony was already outside of the city, and the Red-Rotono was not with him. Tony stopped in the middle of a Confederate supply cache, surrounded by Confederate cavaliers and enforcer mechs as they loaded ammo and fueled up vehicles. The pattern of moment suggested the Confederate Cavalry was preparing to enter the city. I could only see Tony as he wasn¡¯t using the targeting array to lock on weapons. Tony only wanted to watch the base he was inside. I was confused at first since Tony wasn¡¯t cloaked, in fact he was talking to several high ranking Confederate officers as they examined a large hologram of the city. Each officer had an oxygen tank connected to a breathing mask, wore a gray uniform, a vest made of Tri-tech armor, and a hand-gun on their hip, hanging from a belt with spare ammo compartments. Then I understood, The Confederacy bought the fleet scans, but probably couldn¡¯t interpret the hologram. Tony would be an ideal consultant, since he understood the tech, had walked through the city, and was available. I wondered what the value of scanning a non-hostile military base belonging to a customer and with a Protectorate citizen inside might be. All I knew was that Tony was using the ship¡¯s scanner to look for something.


    ¡°How do I use the scanner to hear what people are saying?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°Find materials the scanner can see, that also responds to sound, like metals, liquids, sometimes even the ground, then convert those vibrations into sound waves. Keep calibrating to hear voices and words.¡±, Ylisaya casually replied.


    I adjusted the data from the sensor as Ylisaya instructed and I started to hear sound. Then I slowly heard voices as I continued to adjust the scanner. I heard a voice I didn¡¯t recognize.


    ¡°If an air-strike destroys the atmosphere dome, the City is lost anyways.¡±, the voice said, but I was uncertain to whom the Confederate officer was replying to, or what statement they were responding to.


    The officer speaking to Tony was a Naphridahn, a faction of the Earthborn whose people were subjugated by the Aurovean nations, and accepted the Protectorate¡¯s offer to colonize Mars, Venus, and Mercury, along side the Ugians and Lahnthanos.


    ¡°General, the gauss rifles are there, but the Black Dragons will have difficulty shooting them, because I took all the gauss rifle ammo I could find and they disbanded. The city cannot offer any more resistance against the Confederacy.¡±, Tony said as I recognized his voice.


    ¡°Phantom, will they really surrender without a fight?¡±, the general asked.


    ¡°If you think a fight is necessary the Ugians and Lahnthanos will fight, because they were sick of Confederacy not being there to protect them, when all someone needed to do was stop them from fighting each other. All they got left is their city. If you have no other questions, I¡¯ve been alerted to the fact that you hired a U.D.E. consultant, and I¡¯d prefer to avoid them, and he¡¯s almost finished inspecting your troops, he¡¯ll look for you next.¡±, Tony said to the Confederate General.


    ¡°I have more questions, Phantom. Would you mind turning invisible and waiting?¡±, the General asked Tony.


    Tony seemed to acknowledge as he vanished into a distortion, and moved into a nearby shadow without making any sound. The U.D.E. officer approached the General and he was a tall Lahnthano man with big shoulders and a solid chin. He wore a blue U.D.E. uniform, a vest of unknown design, possibly Tri-tech, along with a pistol and ammo belt, but his air tank seemed to be part of his vest and his breathing mask, which didn¡¯t appear to have a visible tube.


    ¡°Most impressive General Aplas, you turned a rebellion into troops that could go toe-to-toe with the Protectorate Fleet.¡±, the U.D.E. officer said to the General.


    ¡°Major Ruvez, do I need to remind you the U.D.E. didn¡¯t send you here to turn us against our allies. You are here to judge the weaponry and only weaponry, not my mission, and not the troops under my command.¡±, the general reprimanded the UDE officer.


    ¡°But general how can I do my job, if our lives are in danger from an assassin preparing to eliminate us? This hitman¡¯s goal is to prevent this deal between Mars and Earth.¡±, Major Ruvez said.


    ¡°What are you talking about Major?¡±, General Aplas demanded.


    ¡°The Rylkonians have a weapon that can reveal any invisible enemy nearby without damaging any of your own equipment. They call it Flash Pulse. It overloads cloaking tech, and a cloaked enemy is forced to move slowly. Allow me to demonstrate.¡±, Major Ruvez said.


    Major Ruvez revealed a small round device from his ammo belt and dropped it on the ground. The device exploded in a flash of bright light, as it touched the ground. Tony¡¯s cloak deactivated, as the Confederrate officers all drew their hand-guns, and each aimed at the Major Ruvez.


    ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t the Invisible hand of the Free Market? Antonio Christopher Romen! Your under arrest!¡±, Major Ruvez said to Tony.


    ¡°Did you forget which planet you¡¯re on Major. Explain yourself!¡±, General Aplas demanded.


    ¡°This man is a fugitive, he refused to fulfill the military service he owes to the U.D.E. He should be arrested and handed over to my government.¡±, Major Ruvez said to the Confederate officers, as he pointed at Tony.


    ¡°Consider my government¡¯s need for this soldier, and how the Confederacy needs the Earth¡¯s markets. You should be aiming your guns at him, not me.¡±, Major Ruvez said to General Aplas. Tony gestured for the Confederate officers to lower their guns, and slowly the Confederate officers rested their aim.


    ¡°Look Major, I already applied to join the U.D.E. military four times, and all four times I was rejected. But now, I am no longer a U.D.E. citizen. The U.D.E. is not at war. Not¡­at¡­war! There¡¯s no need to draft troops. That means the best-case-scenario is that the U.D.E. only wants me so they can dissect me, to copy, and steal the cybernetic enhancements and genetic modifications the U.D.E. is unable to duplicate, so you make an army of super soldiers. Worst-case-scenario, the U.D.E. plans to start a war and send me to kill anyone that the U.D.E. thinks is in their way. And I have no guarantee that the U.D.E. won¡¯t hesitate to change their minds at any time. So no, I will not hand myself over to the U.D.E.¡±, Tony declared to Major Ruvez.


    ¡°Then can you prove to me that the Rylkonians aren¡¯t controlling you with the computers they put in your brain? Show me, that you can even choose who you work for!¡±, Major Ruvez demanded.


    ¡°So I¡¯m supposed to prove I¡¯m free to choose, by doing exactly what you demand? This is why I don¡¯t work for the U.D.E. in any capacity, they think like children! Actually, now I think you want to annoy me so I try to kill you, because the U.D.E. wants me to kill one of you, so they can approve the funding of their own super soldiers, new weapons, stronger armor, and better tactics. But if I leave you idiots alive, none of you can evolve into an actual threat. Nobody in charge of the U.D.E. would last five minutes in an alternate universe. And I don¡¯t work for free.¡±, Tony objected.


    ¡°So you admit it then? You¡¯re not a free man who can choose, you¡¯re just their robot slave!¡±, Major Ruvez insulted Tony.


    ¡°Imagine¡­If you¡¯re the model example of how a human from the U.D.E. represents Earth, and I have a choice to be human or robot¡­ I choose robot¡­all day, everyday! You¡¯re a major, I¡¯m a ship captain. I outrank you! And you can fuck off!¡±, Tony laughed at the UDE officer.


    ¡°This man hasn¡¯t broken any Martian Laws, so the Confederacy will not extradite him to the U.D.E. You¡¯re out of your jurisdiction, Major.¡±, the General said to the UDE officer.


    ¡°Does the same apply to his client? That¡¯s right. We know about the Red-Rotono. The Venus Cooperative does love to talk.¡±, Major Ruvez gloated.


    ¡°Major, under what authority does a U.D.E. officer, take the word of a Cooperative Spy, to critique the Laws of the Confederacy? The Phantom is a consultant, which is better than how you represent the U.D.E. If you knew half as much about the Phantom as you claim to know the Confederacy, then you should also know that nobody here has a weapon that can even hurt him?¡±, the General Aplas yelled at the Major Ruvez.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure of that, General.¡±, Major Ruvez said, as he drew his hand-gun.


    Before Major Ruvez could line up a shot, Tony moved at blinding speed, stole the hand-gun out of Major Ruvez¡¯s hand, and knocked back Major Ruvez to the ground.


    ¡°I know that smell.¡±, Tony said as he examined the hand-gun, removed the ammo, and ejected the bullet in the firing chamber out of the top of the hand-gun.


    The ejected bullet tumbled through the air, over the holographic map, and was caught by one of the Confederate officers. Tony tossed the empty hand-gun back to the U.D.E. officer, as he smelled the stolen clip of bullets.


    ¡°Where did you get these?¡±, Tony calmly asked Major Ruvez, as the U.D.E. officer holstered his empty gun and slowly stood up under the watchful Confederate officers.


    ¡°The U.D.E. has it own research and development! Keep them as a gift, Phantom. I can also give you the user¡¯s manual. It¡¯s not a problem for the U.D.E. We have more where that came from.¡±, Major Ruvez said, as he pulled a data stick from his ammo belt and tossed it to Tony. A few Confederate officers aimed weapons at the U.D.E. officer, as Tony tucked the ammo and data stick into an ammo compartment.


    ¡°What is this?¡±, the Confederate officer said while examining the isolated bullet.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bullet designed to kill me. One was fired at me today, but it didn¡¯t go as planned. That one was stolen from the Confederacy. Keep it if it brings any forgiveness for Rhetonis, from me.¡±, Tony said to the Confederate officers.


    The Confederate officers seemed concerned if Tony might turn hostile, as he just accused their government of owning a weapon designed for killing him.


    ¡°Is there anything else you need from me General? I¡¯d like to receive my payment if you¡¯re ready to enter the city.¡±, Tony asked General Aplas.


    ¡°Phantom, you and the girl are free to leave Rhetonis. Please don¡¯t actually consider renouncing your humanity, just because of the U.D.E.¡±, General Aplas said to Tony, as Tony nodded and walked away from the holographic map and deactivated the ship¡¯s targeting scanner.


    ¡°Jhess, meet me on Deimos. Be alert for any U.D.E. Agents. And lets see if we can sell the ship¡¯s atmosphere.¡±, Tony sent his thought to me through cyber-link. I acknowledged and disconnected.


    I returned to the pilot seat, broke formation from the blockade fleet, and set course for Mars¡¯ second moon.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving? Where are we going?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°Mars¡¯ second moon. We¡¯re leaving the planet, it¡¯s no longer safe to stay.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°What about the captain?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°He¡¯ll meet us there. He might even get there before we do.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    ¡°How is that possible?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°His..super jump, but he has to do it in secret, immigrations tends to panic, when a combat cyborg falls out of the sky.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Now I have even more questions.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°Listen carefully chosen one. The Protectorate might say they¡¯re on friendly terms with the Confederacy, the Cooperative, the Commonwealth, and whatever savage warlords ruling over Earth, but they can just change their minds and they have factions within that are enemies, and want to be enemies. And those enemies have set their sights on the captain, because the Protectorate needed a cyborg super soldier powerful enough to kill a Dark Tyrant. So the captain doesn¡¯t like to discuss his limitations, because those enemies will always use that information to scheme plans to control him, develop weapons to use against him, or copy the technology that made him, and there¡¯s nothing he can do about that, except hide. They even came after me, to find something to use against him, and I¡¯m not about to let Rylkonians become the slaves of Earthborn masters who oppress us with an army of super soldiers¡­Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to.¡±, I admitted to Ylisaya.


    ¡°I understand. Some knowledge is dangerous, and even if the Captain¡¯s enemies simply suspect someone has that information, they become a target.¡±, Ylisaya said as she forgave me.


    ¡°Let me know if there are any other questions about forbidden knowledge, that make you a political target, or that I¡¯m not allowed to answer.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, though she didn¡¯t find my remarks to be amusing as she focused on the console of the flight engineer¡¯s seat.


    I found Deimos by looking for a beam of sunlight from Mercury across the sky delivering the needed sunlight that makes life on Mars possible. The first stop is Deimos. The light is focused, refracted, and reflected to Phobos and to the Surface of Mars. That¡¯s how I find Deimos. Through the navigation sensor I can see the surface of Deimos. Mars¡¯ second moon has an irregular shape, but I can clearly see the three habitation domes, the solar array, the abandoned tower, and the inactive hyper-jump gate. While Mars¡¯ first moon was currently dedicated to military operations, the second moon still had a thriving economy. Although the patterns I saw indicated that more ships were leaving Mars¡¯ ports than arriving, also motivating the refugees trying to escape the war. As I landed the ship at the edge of the habitation dome, I could see Tony talking to a Confederate officer who wore a space suit. I never really learned much about Earthborn need for spacesuits other than the spacesuit contained atmosphere that non-cyborg Earthborn needed to survive. A Rylkonian can survive for about half a microcycle in the vacuum of space, andup to two micros if they¡¯re lucky and can be rescued in time before revival is impossible. To my understanding, exposure to the vacuum of space for even an instant is fatal to non-cyborgs. We watched Tony try to negotiate with the Confederate officer, through the ship¡¯s navigation sensor.


    ¡°Five thousand B.T.U.s just arrived from Mars.¡±, Tony said to the Confederate officer


    ¡°Seriously? This is just the atmosphere from your ship.¡±, the officer protested.


    I disconnected from the flight systems, and gestured for Ylisaya to follow me. I picked up three oxygen tanks from the space-walk kit, one for Ylisaya, one for the dread-pirate and one for myself. I entered the brig and saw the dread-pirate was still unconscious. I opened the cell, saw the dread pirate did not respond, and I slipped the oxygen mask over his face, and locked the cell. Ylisaya and I, departed the brig, entered the airlock of the ship, and prepared to exit. I placed my mask over my face and helped Ylisaya adjust her mask. The mask is extremely useful, because it does more than provide oxygen. It has a device called a lip reader. It doesn¡¯t actually read lips, but it displays the words we say in common text.


    ¡°Testing. Testing. Red buggy baby bumbers.¡±, I said while facing the window of the airlock to see my reflection, and my face mask typed my words.


    ¡°What? What are you doing?¡±, Ylisaya asked, as I watched Ylisaya¡¯s mask type her words.


    ¡°Testing the lip readers, the atmosphere is too thin, so there¡¯s almost no sound.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    The airlock switched from ship pressure to external pressure and Ylisaya followed me to join Tony.


    ¡°What are you trying to pull here, Phantom? The only thing I can use a ship¡¯s atmosphere for is drying the air pumps, and I have to vacuum it out of your ship to get it¡­ I can give you five-hundred credits, but I need air for farming towers, and your crew will give me that just by existing. And how did you fall out of your ship anyways? Nobody does that!¡±, the officer said to Tony.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask you. How did your Captain get to this moon?¡±, the officer asked as he turned to Ylisaya.


    ¡°I¡¯m new. I just work here, but I¡¯ve never seen anything like these two.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°You¡¯re a pilot. What did you see?¡±, the Confederate officer asked me.


    ¡°Well¡­I was flying the ship and my Captain was on the planet. He ran up the side of a mountain, jumped, and landed here. But I didn¡¯t really see that, I was busy flying the ship.¡±, I said to the officer.


    ¡°Bunch of clowns. Now I have to report that a killer cyborg fell out of the sky, like it¡¯s some Assassinator movie!¡±, the officer complained.


    ¡°We¡¯re just here to pickup a client, find a secondary contract, make a cryonic sleep appointment, and we¡¯ll leave. Here¡¯s my merchant license.¡±, Tony said, as he handed a sheet of plastyn to the officer.


    ¡°You¡¯re allowed anywhere, except onto anybody else¡¯s ship, the jump-gate tower, or the residence dome, unless you know someone there. The Zoo is open for a few more hours, and then we send the droppings to the farming towers. The city center is always open, but most of the staff goes home at the end of the day. Class three trades do not require a trade record. Only class one and two trades require it. There¡¯s no easy rule for what¡¯s a class one, two, or three trade. So just check in with a trade officer, even after class three trades. They¡¯ll be wearing this badge. Unless you trade using a kiosk, the reports are mostly automated.¡±, the officer said as he point to his own badge, handed Tony his license back, and gave each of us a stack of trade plastyn record forms.


    The officer wore his badge over his uniform, as the badge tilted slightly towards the shoulder. The badge looked like a bank vault¡¯s door, stamped into the back of a copper plate, making the front push outwards to create the image. The edge of the copper plate was lined with tin, and he might have owned this badge for a while, or the officer obtained the badge from another. Unless he just had a habit of wearing the badge while working in tight spaces, as the badge was old, but the uniform was new.


    ¡°One last thing, all adults are required to carry guns, we¡¯re still in the Confedracy. Only special exceptions for religious or ethical work can be granted at the embassies in the city center. If you see an officer with a tin-star badge, he¡¯s officially on-duty. If you trade with either type of officer, it¡¯s our job to fill out the trade forms. Cause trouble and we call in Tin-Stars, Cause more problems and we call in Enforcer mechs.¡±, the officer said, as he turned towards me.


    I lifted the side of my jacket revealing the revolver under my arm. The officer, acknowledged that I carried a weapon, and then turned towards Ylisaya.


    ¡°She¡¯s not an adult yet.¡±, I said to the officer.


    ¡°Well, if you have no other questions¡­¡± The officer said, as he was interrupted by Ylisaya.


    ¡°Excuse me, but if the traders don¡¯t need to fill out forms if they trade with the moon¡¯s officers doesn¡¯t that give the moon¡¯s government an unfair advantage?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°You seem smart kid, so I¡¯m not gonna get mad. But if you haven¡¯t noticed the big red planet in the sky is at the brink of war, the other moon¡¯s trade port was closed to turn it into a military base, so all of Mars¡¯ imports, exports, traders, and refugees became our problem. I thought Rylkonians were supposed to be good at living in an alternate universe.¡±, the officer said.


    ¡°We¡¯re good at space travel, but she¡¯s new. Thank you for being patient.¡±, I calmly said to the Confederate officer.


    ¡°So I¡¯ll level with you, Deimos is just an outpost that barely qualifies as a colony. I¡¯ve been here since they shut down the jump gate. I¡¯ve only ever known this moon to be kind and welcoming, but ever since the war started, people have changed. Please don¡¯t judge us when we¡¯re not at our best. Some people only deal with hostility the same way they deal with Space Pirates. Since you¡¯re the crew of an Ambush-Class, I think you know what I¡¯m saying. Ship docking fee is fifty credits per day, due on the day you launch. I¡¯m off duty, now. Enjoy your stay on Deimos, visitor-non-citizens receive fifteen percent off at the Confederate gift shops.¡±, the officer said as he returned to the dome.


    ¡°How did you get caught?¡±, I asked Tony as soon as the Confederate officer was far away.


    ¡°I might have created a shockwave on my way down, and that shockwave might have knocked a few ships off course¡­Don¡¯t look at me like that. A lot can change in four seconds while jumping through space. Good news is knocking them off course is all that happened, it could have been a lot worse.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re lucky you didn¡¯t blow up the moon.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I¡¯d never be able to explain that to the Confederacy.¡±, Tony laughed, though it seemed disproportionate to the danger of being stranded in space.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°The client is traveling in disguise and arrives in less than an hour, on a refugee transport. You¡¯re going pick her up at the transfer hub. She¡¯ll have some luggage, but most of it is getting delivered to the ship. When you have her, reach me over cyber-link. Tomorrow is the appointment for cryonic-freeze, so we can put the dread-pirate and any passengers on ice.¡± Tony said, as he handed me a slip of plastyn with the client¡¯s passenger information.


    ¡°You and I are going to the zoo. We¡¯re gonna look for any other clients going to Freya station.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°What does the client need on Freya?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Nothing, besides Freya is approaching Venus . The client¡¯s final destination is Venus, but not ours.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Why Freya station, instead of just going directly to Venus?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°A few reasons. Because planet to planet travel is a known shipping lane and that¡¯s where the space pirates will find us, when we¡¯re far away from any protection. Because the cheapest ticket to Venus from Mars right now is working for half a mega-cycle on Odin station, because Odin is passing Mars in three decka-cycles. And because the dread-pirate is wanted by the Protectorate, so we just want to drop him off at any of the space stations on our way. Right now from Mars to either the planet Venus or Freya Station with a gunship is about one and a half decka-cycles, and they pass near eachother in two full decka-cycles from now. Our Captain is correct. We want to get to Freya station, for the most profit.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Fine, we want to go to Freya station. So, why do they call it a zoo?¡± Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°A lot of those traders, imports, exports, and refugees had animals.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Umm. Tony, are you sure you want to bring a slave to a place where living creatures are bought, sold, and traded? Especially while the Protectorate evaluates your promotion to first-class-citizen?¡± I asked Tony.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­I¡¯ll go, if it helps.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°I knew I was gonna make mistakes owning a slave. I never realized it was this tricky. I guess this is why my religion forbids slavery.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t your religion also forbid murder? You should probably read that holy book if it¡¯s so important to you.¡±, I said to Tony, and with those words I doomed humanity.

 Chapter 7 - The Rules For An Alternate Universe.

    ¡°I have two questions.¡± Ylisaya stated.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear ¡®em.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°It seemed like the Confederacy won the war, why let one of Mars¡¯ moons think they¡¯re still at war?¡± Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°And the second question?¡± Tony asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s Assassinator? But my first question is more important.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°You want take that poli-sci question?¡±, Tony asked me.


    ¡°Well if the war isn¡¯t over, but if we say it is, we would be liars. If the war is over and we say nothing, it¡¯s technically not our job to tell anybody that news.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Yeah, these peoples¡¯ lives are difficult enough. They need help, not false hope.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make me feel better, but it is logical. So what¡¯s Assassinator?¡±, Ylisaya asked, as I turned to Tony.


    ¡°A movie and television franchise, that came out when I was a kid. It¡¯s about a fictional war between the two most powerful governments on Earth, the U.D.E. and the J.A.T.O. Alliance. Each government developed time travel technology, so they started sending cyborg assassins to eliminate enemy leaders in the past, before they achieved any important victories or to eliminate their parents before they are even born. It¡¯s not as good as Contest of Crowns, because it was made in an older time, and its tough keeping a consistent story when time travel keeps changing important events. The television show was specifically about the war in the future point in their time-line. The movies all took place in the past, which from our perspective is our current era, and each starts with a time-traveling cyborg, falling out of the sky.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Earth made more than one season? And openly entertained the scenario of hypothetical war against a powerful government?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Well nobody was going to say no, when the JATO Alliance and the U.D.E. competed over everything, sports, economics, sciences, medicine, and even who had better propaganda, for over eight decades. In current era, they would never make that because it would seem techno-phobic. It had about four okay movies, and six years of good television. It was funded by the U.D.E.¡¯s gun industry, and in the second season of the television show it became just a money making gun advertisement, just because the show made society interested in guns. Then JATO, the real J.A.T.O. I mean, wanted to copy the the effect and convinced the U.D.E. to let JATO make their side of the show in their own country, and combine the shows. So in season four and five, the JATO version was actually better. Mainly because a North Alyrican actor can only pretend to be East Aurovean.¡±, Tony laughed.


    ¡°That implies that violence in media actually influences society, that¡¯s unrealistic.¡±, Ylisaya protested.


    ¡°Of course, the U.D.E. would never develop a weapon to use against an unknown cyborg enemy¡­except that doesn¡¯t explain where I got these. Ideas do influence reality.¡±, Tony said sarcastically as he presented Ylisaya with the clip of experimental ammo he took from the UDE officer.


    ¡°Are those what I think they are?¡±, Ylisaya gasped.


    Tony handed the ammo to Ylisaya, and then revealed the data stick.


    ¡°Mhh-hmm. I even got the instructions.¡±, Tony said jovially, as Ylisaya removed one bullet to examine it.


    ¡°Where did you get these?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you on the way to the zoo.¡±, Tony said as he gestured for Ylisaya to follow him.


    My part of the plan was to find the client. She was scheduled to arrive soon so I walked through the trade port. The gravity was low enough, each step I took caused me to float. I was still uncertain how I would find someone whome I¡¯ve never met, and would be in disguise. I watched the airlock where the refugees were scheduled to arrive, and people rushed out of the gateway, some appeared as traders and some appeared as refugees. The traders departed for the zoo, and refugees departed for the city center. It was too early for clients arrival, so I sat at a table. The port became quiet as the last of the passengers exited the gateway, and then it closed. In the empty port I seemed to be the only Rylkonian. The gateway opened two more times, and each time traders and refugees exited the gateway.


    An Ugian woman walked up to me. She was dressed in expensive threaded clothing, in Rylkonian styles for accommodating space travel, but I could tell the clothing was made by Earthborn craft, as an attempt to copy Ryl-tech into a yellow space suit, except the Earthborn never realized Rylkonians don¡¯t need space-suits. Her clothing flowed around her body in the low gravity as she walked, and I detected a thin layer of black Tri-tech worn under her yellow suit. She wore a wide floppy white hat with a black band outside the crown, tied with a red band that tied under her chin. On her hip she wore a hand-gun hanging from an ammo belt. She removed a pair of black framed tinted lenses from her eyes, as I observed her face. I wasn¡¯t familiar with Earth born expectations of beauty, but I would describe her face as soft and heart-shaped. As she lowered her arm she appeared to rub her arm as if it had been recently injured. Behind her dark hair that fell around her shoulders and the hat¡¯s ribbon I noticed cuts and scrapes on the side of her head.


    ¡°Jhessyreen? I¡¯m Meiyo, I spoke to your captain. I¡¯m your new passenger.¡±, the woman introduced herself.


    ¡°How do you know who I am?¡±, I asked Meiyo.


    ¡°Do you see another Rylkonian pilot, with dark hair, golden eyes, wearing purple and scarlet, waiting at the refugee port?¡±, Meiyo asked as she smiled at me.


    ¡°You seem injured, are you well enough to travel?¡±, I asked Meiyo.


    ¡°I¡¯m well enough to make it here, and these aren¡¯t injuries. I¡¯m a bit embrassed to admit this, but I had some cosmetic surgery. Can I ask if we leave it at that?¡±, Meiyo asked, but I didn¡¯t believe her.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Are you ready to go to the ship?¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Actually I need the Cooperative Embassy. So I¡¯ll go to the city center, and then meet you and the Captain at the ship later tonight. Do we have enough to time?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Should be fine. Our reservation for cryonic-freeze is tomorrow, after that you¡¯ll wake up on Freya station.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°I suppose¡­I¡¯ll see you later. After the city center closes.¡±, Meiyo said as she seemed to float away, towards the city center.


    ¡°How will you find the ship? Have you been here before?¡±, I asked Meiyo, as she stopped and turned.


    ¡°Is there another Ambush-class-gunship with a dread pirate prisoner, sitting on Deimos?¡±, Meiyo asked, as she moved close enough and she only whispered.


    ¡°I have no other questions. You seem well-informed¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°It was a pleasure to meet you, I look forward to traveling with your ship and crew.¡±, Meiyo said as she low-gravity-walked away towards the city center.


    I reached out to Tony¡¯s mind through cyber-link.


    ¡°The client arrived, went to the city center, and will meet us at the ship later tonight.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony.


    ¡°This is good. I found no clients destined for Freya. I need you to check the City Center.¡±, Tony¡¯s thought¡¯s reached me.


    I stood up and departed for the city center.


    ¡°Did you find anything at all?¡±, I sent my question to Tony through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Shipping pigs to Venus was the closest I could find.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me.


    I acknowledged our new plan and we disconnected. I wasn¡¯t far behind Meiyo and she noticed me following her into the city center.


    ¡°Did you need something else from me, Jhessyreen?¡±, Meiyo asked as she turned towards me.


    ¡°You¡¯re fine, I need to check the job board for other clients, and maybe find somebody else headed to Freya station.¡± I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°I¡¯m already paying twenty thousand credits. Is that¡­not enough?¡±, Meiyo asked me.


    ¡°You¡¯ll make it to Freya, but right now the only other available client the Captain found at the zoo, has us destined for Venus.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°But I actually want to to go to Venus. Freya was offered to me just as a less expensive destination.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to deter you, but a direct flight to Venus carries unique risks.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    Meiyo paused from float-walking, and moved in close to me, close enough to whisper.


    ¡°Yeah. I know. Space pirates. I¡¯m a Huntress of Venus, we deal with space pirates too. I also know you were once a Huntress. You fly a battleship that can turn invisible. Your Captain is a killing machine, that can also turn invisible. I¡¯m not afraid of space pirates. I¡¯ll offer fifty thousand for direct flight to Venus.¡±, Meiyo said in a most serious tone.


    ¡°I will discuss that with the Captain, and we¡¯ll let you know our destination tonight.¡±, I replied to Meiyo.


    ¡°Yes please.¡±, Meiyo said as she nodded and entered the Cooperative Embassy.


    I reached the job board and there was a row of data kiosks. One data kiosk was being used by a Naphridahn man that appeared to be a refugee. I walked up to an empty kiosk and it asked me if I wanted to request help or wanted to see available jobs. I asked to see which available jobs that had Freya station as a destination, but the result returned none. I asked to see which jobs had Venus as a destination, but the result was just animal delivery. Then the Naphridahn departed towards the residence dome.


    A dark haired woman holding hands with a young dark haired girl approached the Job boards form the direction of the Cooperative Embassy. Each had a pack that was stuffed to the point of stretching, but they did not appear to be refugees nor traders. They wore clothing similar to what Meiyo wore, but without any visible cybernetics. The woman was Lahnthano and appeared to be some kind of medical scientist, as she wore an office badge with the symbol of a blue heart. The girl appeared to be half-Lahnthano and approximately age ten in Earth years. The woman was just barely old enough to be the age of the girl¡¯s mother, but probably too old to the be girl¡¯s sister. The woman and girl walked up to an empty kiosk and the woman, used her free hand to operate the kiosk.


    I focused on my kiosk waiting for her to finish, prepared to search for new jobs recently added. I reached a point where I was ready to press the start search button. Out of the corner of my vision I saw the girl tug twice on the woman¡¯s hand, as she looked up at the woman. The woman turned towards the girl, the girl turned and gestured towards me, and the woman glanced towards me but seemed to ignore me to focus on the kiosk. Then I sensed Tony reach out to my mind over cyber-link, as the woman continued using the kiosk


    ¡°Jhessyreen, please tell me we got passenger going to Freya station?¡±, Tony sent his thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Maybe. There¡¯s a woman and young girl at the Job Boards now. She looks like one of the Cooperative¡¯s scientists.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony as we disconnected.


    I saw the woman and girl step away from the kiosk and the woman knelt down in front of the girl. The woman spoke at just above a whisper and turned away from me, so I could neither hear the woman nor see her face. I initiated my search in the job board and I saw the the help request for a cooperative medical specialist with one child seeking passage to Venus, and the offer triples upon safe arrival. I wondered why they offered a triple bonus for arrival. I returned a request for more info. As soon as I sent my request I saw the woman respond to a beep from a device on her wrist. Out of the bottom of the kiosk a small strip of wearable technology fell into a tray. The woman looked at a holographic display from the device on her wrist, which seemed to be identical to the device that the kiosk had provided to me. As the woman examined the two holographic buttons, she moved her free hand close to the hand holding the hand of the little girl, and she pressed one button, and the device that fell from the kiosk made an identical beep. The woman watched me pick up the device and dismiss the reply, that I didn¡¯t even read.


    ¡°Cooperative Doctor?¡±, I asked the woman.


    ¡°Gunship Pilot?¡±, the woman asked me back.


    ¡°My name is Jhessyreen.¡±, I told the woman and girl.


    ¡°I¡¯m Surhey, and this is Nyrylla.¡±, Surhey said as she lifted Nyrella¡¯s hand she was holding.


    ¡°This thing said you wanted to ask me a question about our travel.¡±, Surhey said as she presented he the device wrapped around her wrist.


    ¡°So, we¡¯re going to Freya station, and¡­¡± I started speaking but Surhey interrupted me.


    ¡°Miss Jhessyreen, I understand the Rylkonian space stations all pass by all the planets inside Mars Pax space, but my work is important to the Cooperative. I need a direct flight to Venus. So unless you have a different question, we¡¯re not getting on any ship that isn¡¯t flying to Venus.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°Ummm¡­Do you need an appointment for cryonic-freezing?¡± I asked Surhey.


    ¡°Myself and Nyrella cannot be placed into cryonic-sleep. I have a lot of work I still need to do, in fact I need to know that your crew will not interfere with my work. I will help in the sick-bay, but I will not share my work with your ship¡¯s doctor. And I mean no disrespect to your Rylkonian food, but I insist Nyrylla and I be able to prepare our own meals, and we will help your ship¡¯s cook prepare whatever they want to cook, and with however they want to cook it. And my last requirement is that we leave now, if not then soon. Our offer is fifty thousand credits now, and another one hundred and fifty thousand on arrival. The Cooperative does not want to find out space pirates are holding me hostage or enslaved me. Can your gunship do that?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°I can give you a few responses right now actually. Neither our doctor nor cook, will get in your way, in fact your assistance is welcomed. As for leaving tonight, I don¡¯t know how my Captain will feel about that. So please wait¡­¡±, I said to Surhey,Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Then I saw Tony and Ylisaya enter the city center.


    ¡°Actually that¡¯s my captain, I might be able to give you an answer now.¡±, I said to Surhey.


    I approached Tony and Ylisaya as they continued a discussion about what they probably observed at the zoo. As they acknowledged me, I noticed Ylisaya seemed very unhappy about something, and Tony seemed to be laughing.


    ¡°There¡¯s the Cooperative Embassy, you just have to walk in there, request political asylum, and wait on this moon for the next ship going to Venus. Or you can get back on the Something Clever, I will leave you on Freya station with Meiyo, and you can follow her to Venus. I¡¯m trying to tell you¡­ Venus is a safe place for women, all I need from you is you survive and become an adult, then you¡¯re free! I might not be able to teach you anything, maybe you¡¯ll listen to them?¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya, as he pointed to the Cooperative Embassy.


    ¡°Did you try to escape? A moon is terrible for an escape. Too small, nowhere to hide, way better chances on any planet, except for Mars, and best chances on Venus.¡±, I said


    ¡°I said the same thing. Now that I think about it, after Freya station we should just go to Venus for our next contract.¡±, Tony said to me.


    ¡°What happened?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya looked at me, then at Tony, then at the Embassy, as she continued to process her emotions.


    ¡°I wanna hear this story, and if you won¡¯t tell it. Trust me, I will.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back to the ship. Do whatever you want captain.¡±, Ylisaya said as she departed the City center, in the direction of the ship¡¯s dock.


    ¡°What happened?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°She tried to escape four times, but I didn¡¯t even realize it until the fourth attempt. I just thought the other three times, she just kept getting lost. The first time, I thought she wandered off to look at something. The second time, I thought she wanted to look at the edge of the dome. The third time, she hid inside an animal cage, everyone thought she was crazy. The last attempt she tried to trade the experimental ammo to a Rylkonian merchant for a ticket back to Mars. I said just one of those bullets are way more valuable than a trip to Mars.¡±, Tony said as he presented the mysterious ammo.


    ¡°The merchant¡¯s crew asked me if I was her owner, they realized I¡¯m the Phantom, they handed her right over, and that¡¯s the only time I realized she was trying to escape. I pointed out why it was so easy for me to find her and not even realize what she was doing, and that¡¯s when I decided to bring her here.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So the Zoo was a total loss?¡± I asked Tony.


    ¡°Not completely. I found a gun dealer who examined the ammo. He had a few things to say. He offered to buy them, then he tried to steal them. I¡¯ll need to take them to Ryzak so he and analyze them completely.¡±, Tony said as he shifted his focus towards the Surhey and Nyrella.


    ¡°Who are those two?¡±, Tony asked me.


    ¡°Surhey, Cooperative Doctor, willing to pay two hundred thousand. The kid is Nyrella. They¡¯re offering fifty upfront, the rest on arrival. Get this, the doctor is willing to pay and work in sickbay, and will let the kid work in the kitchen. So the doctor can have an office. But they want direct flight to Venus and wanna leave now¡­and there¡¯s more. Meiyo will pay fifty-thousand for direct to Venus as well.¡±, I said to Tony.


    ¡°Now I think we¡¯ll have enough room for the pigs too. It sounds like we have to go to Venus now.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What about the dread pirate? It¡¯s a bad idea to leave him active the entire flight.¡±, I said to Tony.


    Tony acknowledged my question, but changed direction towards the Doctor.


    ¡°Excuse me Doctor Surhey. I¡¯m the captain and we¡¯ve got a dangerous criminal locked up on my ship. I think it would be prudent to delay our departure so he can be cryonic-frozen and safely delivered to the authorities that want him.¡±, Tony said to Surhey.


    ¡°You guys sound like bounty hunters. I work for the Cooperative, my offer is now five-hundred thousand or nothing.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°Please excuse us while I discuss with my first officer.¡±, Tony said to Surhey.


    Tony and I stepped away from Surhey and Nyrella, so we could communicate through a cyber-link.


    ¡°This might have to do with the genetic research thing Venus is always going on about.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts were clear to me.


    ¡°Well obviously, nobody throws assassination amounts of money around for just a planet-to-planet ticket.¡±, I made my thoughts clear to Tony, through the cyber-link.


    ¡°They do anything suspicious since you spotted them?¡±, Tony sent his question through the cyber-link.


    ¡°No, do they look suspicious in your scanner vision?¡±, I sent my question to Tony.


    ¡°Actually they look better than us. Having to fly through that shipping lane is stressing us out. I can¡¯t imagine this being a U.D.E. trap. Where do you think they came from?¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me.


    ¡°My best guess, is they spent some time in the Saturn Sciences Center, took a passenger flight to Mars Pax, and got caught in the confusion when Mars went into a state of emergency.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony.


    ¡°I know what it means when your eyes do that. I¡¯ve seen that look in the faces of the Rylkonians who advise us at Genetic Reserach.¡±, Surhey said, as Tony and I disconnected from our cyber-link.


    ¡°Doctor I¡¯ve deciced to accept your offer, we leave immediately.¡±, Tony said to Surhey.


    ¡°Jhess, find Meiyo, let her know the good news make sure she understands her price advantage. I¡¯m gonna get all the food we need.¡±, Tony said to me.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Meiyo?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s another passenger. Please follow me. Now the real question is what do you wanna eat for ten days, because we¡¯re gonna buy enough food for seven humans and ten pigs. I had a fascinating conversation with a pig farmer about keeping a ship clean and disease free by feeding all excess food to pigs. I¡¯ll tell you all about it on the way to the zoo. Are you Sjaiadi by any chance?¡±, Tony asked as he gestured for Surhey and Nyrella to follow him.


    I looked at the small band of tech the kiosk provided to me and asked if I would accept Surhey¡¯s contract, I pressed accept and the device informed me that my class three trade did not require a report.


    ¡°Sjaiadi? You mean the religion? What kinds of animals are at the zoo?¡±, Nyrella asked as she followed Surhey and Tony.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that kind of zoo. No we are not Sjaiadi.¡±, Surhey said to Nyrella, as they departed the City Center.


    I entered the Cooperative¡¯s Embassy wondering how I was supposed to find Meiyo, but Meiyo found me first.


    ¡°Are you following me again?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Sort of¡­We had a change in plans. The captain will accept your fifty thousand offer. We¡¯re going to fly directly to Venus.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°That¡¯s great. What changed?¡±, Meiyo asked me.


    ¡°Basically we got two new offers that were also asking for direct flight to Venus. And we needed to leave sooner than expected. So we won¡¯t have cryonic freezing.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest I hate cryonic-sleep for a few reasons. Rylkonians are lucky because you¡¯re the most valuable crew, but us Earthborn never know if we¡¯re gonna wake up as a slave, left frozen for hundreds of years, find a parasite laying eggs in our face, or a rapist will have his fun before our nervous system is working. I¡¯d rather never wake up from cryonic-sleep at all, which is also a possible risk.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Well to my knowledge two of those things have never happened. It¡¯s unfair to worry about waking up after being forgotten for that long, because not enough time has passed, so that has never happened. Second, I fought in the Parasite Wars, they can¡¯t infect Rylkonians, but they still tried. Parasites eat the host¡¯s brain, and lay eggs in the intestines. I¡¯m pretty sure the rest does happen. But I have a question. Are you Sjaiadi?¡±, I asked Meiyo.


    ¡°The religion? No, why?¡± Meiyo asked, as I started walking towards the exit and Meiyo followed me.


    ¡°Pigs. We¡¯re delivering pigs to Venus. I was hoping you were, then we could cancel that contract.¡±, I said to Meiyo wondering if she would react to a cancelled contract.


    ¡°What about the other passenger?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Right¡­I need to let you know. They paid substantially more than you, but they also requested significantly more accommodations than just travel.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised. I more than doubled my offer, and now I wish I had just shut up. I offered fifty and I don¡¯t want to give the Captain any reason to cancel.¡±, Meiyo said, which reinforced my suspicion that she might be the Red-Rotono.


    When Meiyo and I arrived at the ship dock, we found Ylisaya sitting on a large suitcase stacked on top of another suitcase. On the opposite side, almost hidden behind Ylisaya a long container leaned against the suitcases that stood up to about my elbow. The container seemed thick but floppy, so whatever gave the long container it¡¯s shape was inside the container and there seemed to be two of them as the container leaned and the closer object inside stood higher. Ylisaya leaned her elbow onto her knee as she read a plastyn sheet. As we approached Ylisaya acknowledged us and hopped off the luggage. The vibration caused the long container to slide to the unbalanced side and as it hit the floor of the dock a sound of clanging metal rang from the floppy container.


    ¡°Sorry I hope those weren¡¯t fragile.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Those are family heirlooms, but don¡¯t worry they¡¯ve been through worse. One needs to get repaired anyways.¡±, Meiyo said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°This is¡­¡±, I attempted to introduce Ylisaya and Meiyo, but Meiyo interrupted me,


    ¡°Let me guess. You¡¯re Ylisaya¡­I would like to say thank you.¡±, Meiyo said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Ummm for watching your luggage? Sure¡­Have we met before?¡±, Ylisaya asked Meiyo.


    ¡°No, but I heard that you¡¯re the reason my head is still attached to my neck. I¡¯m Meiyo¡­Can you please get those for me?¡±, Meiyo said to Ylisaya, as Meiyo gestured to the fallen container.


    Ylisaya quickly understood what Meiyo was saying to her and enthusiastically jumped to pick up the fallen container, and enthusiastically held the container in reverence, as though she wished she could see through the material to see what was inside.


    ¡°So how do we get into the ship? I¡¯m not Rylkonian. If I leave the dome, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll explode.¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to find one of the enforcement officers, to see if we can get a connector tube. Wait here and I¡¯ll go find one.¡±, I said to Meiyo and Ylisaya, as I turned to start my search.


    I began my search for a connector tube and I found a ship using one. Through the dome I saw a cargo freighter attached with a tube to the habitation dome. I moved through the docks as cargo and traffic seemed to intensify as I approached. I had to dodge cages filled with animals, crates filled with ammo, and crowds of refugees. I suspected I was approaching the zoo. Through the crowd I could see the dock of the freighter and fortunately I saw two Rylkonians talking to a Confederate trades officer with his badge hanging from a smooth and thin chain around his neck. The Badge was a tin star and the officer appeared to keep his jacket open so his vest of Tri-tech armor was visible underneath his badge. The Rylkonians carried phase rifles worn on the back hanging from the shooting shoulder, which are a good choice for lower gravity and thinner atmosphere. As I approached I could see the hand-guns hanging from an ammo belts on each of the three men at the the gate of the dock.


    ¡°Tell the Sheriff the freighter¡¯s crew wants to leave, because the crew doesn¡¯t want their ship robbed. They already paid us, and we¡¯re not about to open fire on a paying customer. They panicked, when they heard the Something Clever landed. The Phantom started collecting the supplies for his next attack, and the Confederacy is paying him with female slaves. It¡¯s obvious, even the Confederacy doubts the reliability of their economy. The Phantom did you a favor because the freighter sold anything and everything not bolted to the ship. They paid us and you didn¡¯t. If they want to leave they have money to pay the docking fees. We are not extending, renewing, or renegotiating any contracts, and that means we¡¯re done working for Deimos. When our ship picks us up, we¡¯re gone. Get someone else to clean up your sky!¡±, the older Rylkonian said to the trade officer, even though his information wasn¡¯t entirely correct.


    I moved closer and I could see the two Rylkonians were from the Rock Crushers Company, which meant they were probably crew-members from one of the gunships in the blockade fleet. While the older Rock Crusher argued with the trade officer, the other Rock Crusher watched the blind spots of the senior rock crusher, keeping his blind spot open to his fellow crew. This tactic makes Rock Crushers difficult to sneak up on, so they most likely already spotted me.


    ¡°Just name your price. Without firepower like yours, this moon is asking for an invasion from space pirates. The Confederacy can¡¯t spare any troops.¡±, the trade officer pleaded with the older Rylkonian.


    I paused my approach once I was close enough to interrupt, but I remained silent.


    ¡°We are Rock Crushers. Not mercenaries and not security guards, and we are not swayed by money! We¡¯re on Mars for the discounts on explosives! Our ship is on its way to pick us up and we¡¯re going right back to reshaping planets. This war over who controls one of the cities with an ammo factory is not our problem!¡±, the older Rylkonian protested.


    ¡°Think about what you¡¯re saying, Rock Crusher! The Confederacy sold you those explosives, and if they¡¯re struggling, that cost will just get added on to your prices.¡±, the trade officer argued.


    ¡°And if the Confederacy disappeared tonight, whoever takes over Mars, gets a planet that can only grow food if it imports Sunlight from the Commonwealth, and an economy that can only export ammo and violent video games. The Confederacy took power in a revolution nine mega-cycles ago, so you can¡¯t complain if the Confederacy is deposed and replaced. The resources of Mars determine it¡¯s economy, not the Confederacy. So I don¡¯t care what a bunch of shit-born-animal-raping-fascists¡­¡±, the older Rylkonian said, but was interrupted by his fellow crew-member.


    ¡°Commander! This isn¡¯t our moon. We don¡¯t have enough ammo for what might happen if you finish that statement.¡±, the younger Rylkonian crew member said to the Rock Crusher Commander, as he kept his hand hovering over his hand-gun.


    ¡°My Deputy makes a strong argument. I apologize for my reaction. Our business in the Zoo is concluded, so we will retreat to the Protectorate Embassy.¡±, said the Commander.


    The two Rylkonians departed through the Zoo towards the Embassy, and were mostly ignored by the Traders and Refugees. I waited for the Trade officer to start filing a trade report, and then I approached.


    ¡°Excuse me, I need help with a dock connector tube. Is this one available.¡±, I asked the trade officer.


    ¡°This one is still attached to a ship¡­There¡¯s more at the tower, but no ships are allowed to fly there. Hey aren¡¯t you the Gunship¡¯s pilot?¡±, the trade officer asked me.


    ¡°I am, actually I think I have an idea. Thank you for your help.¡±, I said to the trade officer.


    I departed to return to the Something Clever and I reached out to Tony through our cyber-link. I sensed Tony¡¯s mind connect to mine.


    ¡°We got a new problem.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony.


    ¡°How bad?¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me.


    ¡°Deimos security needs firepower, they know a gunship is docked, and I just asked for the last available dock connector tube. Without the connector all our passengers are stuck at the Embassy.¡±, I sent my thoughts.


    ¡°I hate it when they label hostages. Alternatives?¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me.


    ¡°Maybe. There are potentially more dock connectors at the abandoned hyper jump gate tower, but ships are still prohibited from using the Tower. We could use the delay to keep our cryonic reservation.¡±, I sent my thoughts.


    ¡°Tempting, but leaving our passengers on Deimos, and potentially loosing a contract is a worse idea. I¡¯m gonna send the doctor and the supplies to the dock. You need to keep them there, until I can figure something out.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts, and then disconnected.


    I returned to the dock, and found Ylisaya and Surhey examining ten cages with life monitoring technology, and each cage contained a pig, in two rows of five each. Nyrellaexplored the delivery of food, but seemed to move as if she was exploring a maze, or perhaps her own imagination. Meiyo sat on top of her double stacked luggage while she read a sheet of plastyn. As soon as Meiyo saw me, she stopped reading and walked towards me.


    ¡°So all we need to do is feed them and the technology in their cage does the rest?¡±, Ylisaya asked Surhey.


    ¡°That¡¯s what the farmer said, and the instructions panel says that too¡­At least most of the passengers will be comfortable.¡±, Surhey said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Jhessyreen, I need to speak to you. Is Ylisaya a slave?¡±, Meiyo whispered to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s complicated.¡±, I replied to Meiyo.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of an understatement. I think the word you¡¯re looking for is dangerous. The people who own her might come looking for her.¡±, Meiyo whispered.


    Ylisaya turned her attention towards Meiyo and myself, and I gestured for Ylisaya to remain quiet. Through the windows of the dome I saw something in the distant horizon of Deimos moving, from roughly the direction of the abandoned tower. and I returned my focus to Meiyo.


    ¡°Look if she can get to Venus, she can request political asylum, and she can put the whole slavery situation behind her. She¡¯ll be safe, Venus is a safe place for women.¡±, I whispered to Meiyo.


    I looked over Meiyo¡¯s shoulder and I again caught sight of the moving object. It was large, and moved like an animal sliding over slopes and crawling up from craters, but appeared to be a machine. The object was larger than I suspected, the size of an airlock connector tube, and slid across the ground like an animal¡¯s tail. The object moved closer and I saw it was an airlock tube. I returned my focus to Meiyo.


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief. I was worried that you might say something like the Captain bought her, and I can¡¯t even begin to describe the political ramifications of a male owner bringing a female slave to Venus.¡±, Meiyo said.


    I took one more look over Meiyo¡¯s shoulder, and that¡¯s when I realized Tony stole an airlock tube, and he¡¯s bringing it to the ship. I heard Meiyo but every few nano-cycles I watched the airlock tube slide towards the dock as an invisible force moved it along the ground. One movement of the tube became stuck and had to be wiggled free to continue the journey towards the dock. I glanced to one side to see if anyone had noticed Tony¡¯s theft of government property, and then I returned my focus to Meiyo.


    ¡°As part of our crew, Ylisaya¡¯s value is immense, but we¡¯re all at risk, when Mars is so close to war. I think if a cowardly lying Earthborn slaver owner, brought a slave to Venus to escape a war, giving up his slave seems like a fair trade for his life.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    I looked over Meiyo¡¯s shoulder, and the airlock tube was now connected to both the ship and the dock. A red light over the gate of the airlock flashed over and over, and with each flash a buzzing alarm echoed in the dock. The light changed to yellow, as the automated system started testing the atmosphere in the tube and the buzzing alarm changed to a slow series of beeps that accelerated with every phase of the test. The light changed to green and the alarm changed to the sound a single small bell ring, like ¡°ding¡±. The gate opened and standing there was Tony still in his full armor with his arms crossed over his chest.


    ¡°Who¡¯s ready to go to Venus?¡±, Tony said with a chuckle, and gestured for Ylisaya.


    ¡°Ylisaya, get all the passengers into their rooms. Surhey and Nyrella get the room with two pods, and make sure everybody knows how to sleep in them.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya, and then gestured for me.


    ¡°Jhess, we don¡¯t need any more risks, since the chances of space-pirate-ambush is high. We need full pre-flight, since we¡¯re running with atmosphere and simulated gravity. Ylisaya will help you when she¡¯s done with the passengers. Take as much time as you need, I need to check on the prisoner and ¡­ somehow load all this cargo into the ship.¡±, Tony said as he headed towards the brig.

 Chapter 8 - One Way Mars to Venus Ten Days Flight

    Day 1


    Taking off from Deimos was easy compared to launching Mars. Deimos¡¯ colony is on the side of the moon that always faces Mars, so we didn¡¯t need as high of an escape velocity. The first shift to fly the ship was mine and I just needed to keep the ship flying towards the location we expected to find the planet Venus in ten days from now. I included a slight curve to compensate for the gravity of the Sun. Through the internal scanner I could observe most of the ship, visible to the main corridor, and most the crew quarter doors were open.


    Nyrella sat in her quarters, and watched a lecture video and a large hologram of exam questions with possible responses. Whenever the video paused she responded and seemed to answer correctly every four out of five questions. It seemed like an inefficient method for educating children. If she had the correct cybernetic enhancements she could just memorize databases as needed.


    Meiyo sat in her quarters reading correspondence. The scan didn¡¯t provide the words of her communications, but they seemed to come from Venus. As she read them she typed on a separate sheet of plastyn. I wondered which of her personas she was replying as.


    Surhey was hard at work cleaning up the med-bay which had just been Tony¡¯s spare cybernetic parts locker. Every once in a while he would fight an enforcer mech, which had parts that were compatible with his cyborg body. I never went to the ship¡¯s med-bay, I never needed to, nor was anyone there to help me. So I understood why Surhey needed to sort the med-bay so she could have a desk.


    Ylisaya was in charge of sorting the food supplies, feeding the pigs, and finishing bolting the pigs¡¯ cages to the hull in cargo bay four. Tony only attached two bolts from each cage, and it was Ylisaya¡¯s job to attach the rest. It was expected that after she finished she would rest, because the next shift to fly would be hers.


    Tony and Ryfez were in the brig and Tony had some questions. Ryfez reclined in his cell tapping his foot on the deck of the ship. Tony sat in a chair magnetically anchored to the deck outside the cell.


    ¡°Why did you start a war on Mars?¡±, Tony asked the dread pirate.


    ¡°I seem to remember, that Zokoro started the war. I just gave him a nudge. You see he¡¯s not that different from the average Aurovean space pirate, they all think taking other people¡¯s wealth, their property, and their freedom is their purpose for existence. Or should I say all of you Auroveans think that way?¡±, Ryfez sneered at Tony with contempt over the fact that Tony was also Aurovean.


    ¡°Fine, next question. What was the point of using a puppet like Zokoro to start a war?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°How much is our big brother paying you, to bring me in?¡±, Ryfez asked.


    ¡°Substantial. Now answer the question.¡±, Tony demanded.


    ¡°Did the Phantom, the Master Assassin, and Super Soldier that slaughtered armies of enemies really just ask that? It¡¯s insulting that you would pretend to care about them.¡±, Ryfez argued.


    ¡°Then answer this question. Why betray the Protectorate?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°You can¡¯t prove I did. If a bunch of your mud born fascists kill other mud born, that is inconsequential to the Protectorate. Even if an entire colony was wiped out, the Protectorate still wouldn¡¯t care. And that¡¯s the problem.¡±, Ryfez said.


    ¡°Why should they? There¡¯s plenty of customers on Earth who would love a cheap ticket to another planet and start a new life. Is your goal to make the protectorate care about the Earthborn? I am Earthborn, I¡¯m also Aurovean. Until I was converted into a cyborg, the rest of Earth didn¡¯t care about me, what could you say to me to make me care about Earth?¡±, Tony challenged Ryfez.


    ¡°Nothing. But if you care about the Protectorate and Rylkonians, you won¡¯t let us turn into Earthborn. Because the longer we stay, the more we think and act like you.¡±, Ryfez said.


    Day 2


    I walked onto the bridge for the start of my shift and I saw Tony sitting in the gunner¡¯s seat and Ylisaya sitting in the flight engineer¡¯s seat. They were watching a hologram of a conference of Rylkonian admirals. The hologram was displayed at the edge of the console of the captain¡¯s chair and appeared as a recording of the meeting but something seemed wrong.


    ¡°What are you watching?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°The data stick from the U.D.E. officer, had this hologram recording in it, but I think it¡¯s fake.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely fake. We marked a bunch of time frames when the actors make mistakes. Here¡¯s the first one.¡±, Ylisaya tapped her console, and the hologram shifted.


    ¡°If we colonize one or two of their planets, we¡¯ll exhaust at least two planets completely in three years, but if we colonize every planet and moon they will be self sustaining. But we¡¯ll need at least two point five billion colonists, and we¡¯ll dominate this system in a few months, a year at most.¡±, the hologram of the admiral said, and then froze as Ylisaya tapped her console.


    ¡°Did you catch it?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s how Earthborn measure time. We use solar cycles, not your calendar from your home planet.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Let¡¯s look at the second mark.¡±, Ylisaya said as she tapped her console and the hologram shifted.


    ¡°Closing the hyper jump gates on Deimos and Luna effectively cuts off trade to both Mars and Earth. Mars will start an open revolt against the Mars Pax Alliance.¡±, another admiral said and froze as Ylisaya tapped her console.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty obvious. All the events are in the wrong order. Mars pax didn¡¯t shut down Earth¡¯s gate, it halted the gate¡¯s construction and it was never completed. All trade within Mars Pax space is done through space stations, never been done through jump gates. And the Mars¡¯ rebellion was because of taxes, not because they were prevented from becoming the leader of the Mars Pax Alliance.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Go to the third mark.¡±, Tony said, and Ylisaya tapped her console.


    ¡°The Phantom uses his primitive weapons because he¡¯s convinced Rylkonian technology is too efficient. We infused his weapons with our technology so he can send a message to his enemies, that he¡¯s going to kill them because he hates them. His reputation allows him to use fear as weapon. Only the Phantom is able to kill the Dark Tyrant, and he will be a valuable tool in controlling the rest of planet Earth.¡±, the hologram of the Admiral said and froze as Ylisaya her console.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with this one.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°The name the Phantom came after the execution of the Dark Tyrant.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Wait? Do both of you think the rest of that footage is an accurate description of me?¡­Actually don¡¯t answer that. Well there¡¯s a bunch more timeframes marked and none of the actors did a convincing job of looking like they know how cyber-link works. I think we can sell that to Protectorate Intelligence, give them an idea of what the U.D.E. plans to use as propaganda and what they might have guessed right.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Was there anything useful about those mystery bullets?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°There was something.¡±, Ylisaya said as she tapped her console and a hologram of the bullet appeared, replacing the propaganda conference hologram.


    ¡°It turns out it¡¯s it won¡¯t actually kill our Captain. It assumes that he¡¯s just a robot being remotely controlled and cutting off the controlling signal will shit him down. If that was true, it would have worked. Now Rylkonian physiology incorporates technology, where as our Captain¡¯s body, is mostly technology. The weapon is a sonic pulse, that disrupts our synapse technology, which is why it hurt us more.¡±,


    Day 3


    I walked into the bridge to start my shift, but Ylisaya was sitting there alone. I thought this was strange because her shift is supposed to be after mine. As soon as she saw me she started closing out her console, as if her shift was ending.


    ¡°Did you switch shifts with the captain?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only been here for about ten micro-cycles, the Captain is setting up some sort of food and movie event, for the passengers. I¡¯m supposed to go help him, now that you¡¯re here.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right today is Saturday on the Earth calendar.¡±, I reminded myself.


    ¡°So it¡¯s something to do with his religion?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Not exactly, go help the Captain.¡±, I instructed Ylisaya.


    I took the Pilot¡¯s seat and Ylisaya left the bridge headed to the kitchen. I accessed the internal sensor and focused immediately on the kitchen. I found everyone there, except for Ylisaya and Ryfez. Tony wore his holographic face as he finished preparing several trays of cookie dough of different flavors and his box of cookie cutters. Ylisaya arrived and stood next to the passengers.


    ¡°Good morning passengers¡­and crew. On this Saturday Morning, we¡¯re going to cut cookies. Please be patient since some of us have less experience with cooking in space than others. If there are questions, even a expert can learn from those too.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can just say it¡¯s me. I just travel as a passenger.¡±, Meiyo declared.


    Tony opened a box and poured a collection of cookie cutters onto the kitchen¡¯s food preparation surface. The metal of the cookie cutters was instantly drawn to the magnetic panel underneath the surface. Nyrella picked up a cookie cutter to look at it from different angles. Tony picked up a cookie cutter and spun it around his finger.


    ¡°Go ahead and choose a cookie cutter, choose a tray, and we¡¯ll get started.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What¡¯s that cookie cutter?¡±, Nyrella asked, prompting Tony to examine the object he was twirling around his finger.


    ¡°Looks like a mustache.¡±, Tony said as he held the cookie cutter in front of his mouth.


    ¡°This looks like Cat Burglar.¡±, Nyrella said, as she held up the cookie cutter in her hand.


    ¡°Kids still watch Cat Burglar and Guard Dog?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s Cat Burglar and Guard Dog?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a cartoon made on Earth, about an anthropomorphic cat and dog. The cat tries to steal valuable objects representing a hyper capitalistic world view, the dog tries to stop the cat representing a meritocracy world view, and their struggle is an ongoing commentary on the experience of morality.¡±, Tony said, as he gestured for the passengers to start cutting cookies.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember either Cat Burglar or Guard Dog ever saying anything, but I only watched the international version, because we thought it was just made with music, sound effects, and didn¡¯t need to be translated. But I was just a kid.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°I just watched it when I was a kid too. I had no idea Cat Burglar and Guard Dog were analogous of worldviews.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°We should watch a couple of episodes sometime.¡±, Surhey said to Nyrella.


    ¡°I grew up in an orphanage, we were lucky to have a T.V. set. Not my favorite memories. I mean no offense, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯d enjoy JATO propaganda as much again.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Grew up? How old are you, Captain?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m thirty three.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Sorry I thought you were a robot. I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re a man in a machine.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I get the whole robot question a lot actually.¡±, Tony chuckled.


    ¡°So how do you take care of the things¡­a man needs?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°Doctor, can we please not talk about that around the kids?¡±, Tony replied.


    Day 4


    I walked into the Bridge to start my shift, and Tony was sitting in the gunner¡¯s seat. Tony lifted something without looking at me, and presented me with a box that smelled of maple and cinnamon.


    ¡°Captain, how many times do I have to tell you? I¡¯m only interested in the raw cookie dough. If you cut and bake it, you ruined it for me.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll see who else on the ship wants these.¡±, Tony said, as he departed the bridge.


    I took the pilot¡¯s seat and accessed the internal sensor. Tony walked to the med-bay and presented Surhey with the box, and she appeared to be repulsed at the box as she looked away and held up a hand to shield her eyes from the sight of it. Tony quickly moved the box behind him and Surhey faced Tony and took a breath.


    ¡°Sorry Captain, no offense the cookies were delicious, but¡­too much of a good thing. But I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here. I went over your med-scan after what you said yesterday and I have a question. Have you heard of experiment Twenty-Nine-A?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°What a coincidence. I am experiment Twenty-Nine-A, sometimes also called Patient Twenty-Nine-A.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been staring at your genetic sequence for years, and I never knew the genetic code belonged to an engineered cyborg.¡±, Surhey replied.


    ¡°What the Cooperative and Commonwealth are paying a monthly license for is my repaired genetic sequence. My genetic modifications aren¡¯t included, and only the Protectorate has a copy of my original genetic sequence.¡±, Tony clarified.


    ¡°What I¡¯m really trying to understand isn¡¯t the Apex Predator, Improved Metabolic Efficiency, nor Tardigrade Resilience mods. I have two questions. Why didn¡¯t they give you the Super Strength gene mod? And my second question is, why did you include the ability to reproduce as a male, and also a combat cyborg?¡± Surhey asked.


    ¡°First question. As experiment Twenty-Nine-A, I have a genetic capacity of one-hundred-and-thirty-seven evolution points, as far as I know that the highest evolution points attained by any Earthborn. My arms and legs are replaceable machines. I can always upgrade and become stronger, so I skipped on the strength gene mods and saved eighteen evolution points. I actually still have a lot of evolution points left over. Now your second question has two good answers. I heard some U.D.E. propaganda, implying that providing me with a way to relieve those urges, costs the Protectorate nothing, but also takes that opportunity away from the U.D.E. to try and solve that for me. So now I have nothing to gain by asking the U.D.E. for help, which is a really good guess. But the truth is when I was born I was sick, disfigured, malformed, and incapable of fathering children. So according to most sciences I wasn¡¯t technically alive. When the Rylkonians asked me if this is the way I wanted to be, I asked if I do father children, then I want then to be normal humans.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°This was all part of the super soldier project?¡± Surhey asked.


    ¡°That was when the project was cancelled. Very few know this, but I wasn¡¯t the first super soldier, I was the third and most successful. The entire concept was considered a failure upon the realization that a fleet of stealth gunships was far more effective than two malfunctioning super robots and one mostly functional cyborg.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°What happened to the two earlier super soldiers?¡± Surhey asked.


    ¡°I destroyed them to take their upgrades. The super soldier project had seven permanent upgrades planned and that¡¯s how I obtained my first two.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What about the other five upgrades?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°Planned, possibly designed, but never built, and after the last ten years, I hope they never do. The super soldier project was just a shortcut to power. The Dark Tyrant was the worst evil I had ever known. Another tyrant, would just see me as the sign to a shortcut.¡±,


    Day 5


    It was a quiet time on my shift. Nothing interesting happened besides Tony coating his bullets in toxic venom. We knew that halfway on our route from Mars to Venus meant we were now in the highest risk of a space pirate attack, because we¡¯re too far from either planet to call for help. We calculated and theorized the chances that our prisoner might have set a trap for us to facilitate his escape. The only ones who knew the danger were Tony, Meiyo, Ylisaya, and myself. Should the worst come to pass, and pirates take the ship. I can¡¯t let them take Surhey or Nyrella. If the space pirates obtain hostages, they might try to trade for the more valuable dread pirate.


    Near the end of my shift I checked the internal sensor and I found Nyrella, Tony, and Ylisaya in the cargo bay with the pigs. I wasn¡¯t surprised that Tony wore the hand-cannon or that the shotgun was also in the cargo bay. I was slightly surprised that Ylisaya was now wearing a handgun, hanging from an ammo belt. After I saw Tony was wearing a wolf mask, and three pig cages had been placed in a row, and decorated with garbage to look like straw, stick, and bricks, I couldn¡¯t stop watching, I had to know what this was about.


    ¡°Little pig, little pig, let me in.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony turned to Ylisaya as he gestured for her to take an action. Ylisaya rolled her eyes and activated an electronic remote.


    ¡°Not by the hair of my chin-ny-chin-chin.¡±, a recorded voice sounded from a device attached to the cage decorated with straw.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll huff, and I¡¯ll puff, and I¡¯ll blow your house in. And I huffed and I puffed and blew down the straw house.¡±, Tony said, as he removed the straw and moved the cage and speaker to the stick decorated cage.


    ¡°The little pig ran to the stick house, I walked up and said, Little pigs, little pigs, let me in.¡±, Tony said, as he gestured to Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya hid her face in her free hand and she aggressively pressed the button to activate the speaker.


    ¡°Not by the hair of my chin-ny-chin-chin.¡±, the recorded voice said again.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll huff, and I¡¯ll puff, and I¡¯ll blow your house in. And I huffed and I puffed and blew down the stick house.¡±, Tony said, as he removed the stick decorations and moved the cages and speaker to the brick decorated cage.


    ¡°The little pigs ran to the brick house house, I walked up¡­¡±, Tony said but was interrupted when Ylisaya pressed the button.


    ¡°Not by the hair of my chin-ny-chin-chin.¡±, the recorded voice said again, as Tony realized Ylisaya was unhappy with the redundancy.


    ¡°As I tried to sneak in through the chimney, the little pigs lit a fire and burned my tail when I fell in. I climbed back up the chimney and ran away. The Little pigs won the day. The end.¡±, Tony said, as he removed the wolf mask.


    Surhey entered the cargo bay seemed unsurprised by all of this.


    ¡°How was the story?¡±, Surhey asked Nyrella.


    ¡°I want to hear another tomorrow.¡±, Nyrella said as she followed Surhey back to their quarters.


    ¡°I have questions.¡±, Ylisaya said to Tony.


    ¡°I had to skip a part, but you looked like you thought it wasn¡¯t important. So, what are your questions?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Those first two parts implied that resourcefulness and consideration of the environment are wrong, and the protagonist got punished for trying. What¡¯s the moral lesson?¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°What? The three little pigs were the heroes, not the wolf.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what it looked like from where I¡¯m sitting. The wolf had all the agency, everything happened because the wolf ¡¯s choice affected everything.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Day 6 (The Auro Blade)


    I walked onto the bridge at the start of my shift and I found Tony sitting in the Gunner¡¯s seat, and Ylisaya sitting in the Engineer¡¯s seat. The console of the Captain¡¯s chair was playing a hologram, and it was the fourteenth episode of the Auro Blade Television show.


    ¡°Is this all hands to battle stations today?¡±, I asked.


    Tony nodded his head up and down, acknowledging my question. Ylisaya held her index finger of the hand near the pilot¡¯s seat over her lips. The hologram showed an old Aurovean man holding an Aurovean Knight¡¯s sword, sitting in front of a fire. Next to him were two Aurovean men and one Aurovean woman.


    ¡°If you leave now, I will not stop you, but to continue I must tell you the kind of evil you¡¯re facing. I was born over fifteen hundred years ago. I am what my kind call Omoht, and we believe our immortality is meant to benefit humanity with our wisdom. The immortals who believe humanity should serve us, are called the Gavahk. The Gavahk collected mortals to build armies, and empires, to worship them as gods, and we Omoht would hunt down any Gavahk, but our laws let the mortals keep their empires, and choose for themselves. Eight hundred years ago I travelled to Western Aurove and found a tribe untouched by any Gavahk. They called me the Wizard Myrnon, and I choose one among them to become their king to prevent any Gavahk from corrupting his people. His name was King Arton Ravay. As a symbol of his right to rule, I gave him the Sword of Stone, a weapon capable of killing a Gavahk and also as a sign of trust, since such a weapon can also kill me.¡±, the old man said, as the hologram showed two men in a sword fight, and one man stabbed the other.


    ¡°For the Auro Blade.¡±, yelled the winner of the sword fight as he freed his blade with a spin and decapitated his opponent. Then the hologram shifted back to the old man.


    ¡°Omoht and Gavahk are born from mortal women, but father no children. I determined that King Arton¡¯s sister, Myrginia would birth a new immortal. I told her that her child would be like me, and I began teaching her all she needed to prepare him as a new Omoht, as both Omoht and Gavahk have only ever know our kind to be male. And¡­¡±, the old Wizard Myrnon said as a tear swelled in his eye.


    ¡°And she told Arton¡­And Arton raped Myrginia. Myrginia fled Western Aurove, and in my shame and guilt I never looked for her nor her son. I never forgave myself because I was the one who made Arton into a king. In my arrogance I thought I could defeat the Gavahk, but in doing so I became one, I failed. When I made Arton King, I placed on him an obligation to produce an heir, so for what happened to Myrginia, I am just as guilty as Arton.¡±, Myrnon said.


    ¡°Are you saying that all the kings of West Aurove are descendants of a rapist?¡±, one of the men asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be certain, but at least not King Arton. He never touched his queen, convinced his true heir the rightful god-king would return. The crown passed to his cousin Lord Spearmore, and their legend faded into obscurity. I have determined that Rozkuten, is the son of King Arton and Lady Myrginia Ravay, and with the knowledge I gave his mother, he is hunting down and eliminating all the Omoht and Gavahk he can find. I may be the last of either order. Right now he has the Sword of Fire the deadliest Gavahk blade, which means he¡¯s also looking for the Sword of Stone. If he can obtain both swords and one more component, he can craft the Auro Blade.¡±, Myrnon said, as the screen changed to the message, ¡°To be Continued.¡±


    ¡°Well I saw most of the first season, I want to visit every one of those Aurovean Cities, and I definitely wanna see if Aryssa is the reincarnation of Myrginia.¡±, Ylisaya said to Tony.


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason both roles are played by the same actress.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Is the story better than the Three Little Pigs?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°It¡¯s a dark drama about an immortal who can only be killed by specific methods¡­ that¡¯s not a crazy concept for me anymore. I can¡¯t say I saw anything that¡¯s unrealistic.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Day 7


    We had no more reason to expect a space pirate attack, and we decided to relax. I entered the Bridge to start my shift, and I found Tony in the Gunner¡¯s seat and Ylisaya in the Engineer¡¯s seat. They were watching the propaganda movie made about the Parasite Wars, but didn¡¯t object to my taking the pilot¡¯s seat. The movie portrayal of the Dark Tyrant and Tony fought each other with energy blades. Tony¡¯s movie portrayal swung a battle axe with wide swings as the axe¡¯s energy blade burned in the air. The Dark Tyrant used an energy sword that clashed against the battle-axe¡¯s deflector. The movie¡¯s music crescendoed in a heroic climax, as the Dark tyrant realized he couldn¡¯t win. The music changed and the Dark Tyrant revealed he had captured the movie¡¯s portrayal of me. The movie portrayal of Tony decided to rescue me instead of attacking the Dark Tryant. Ylisaya tapped the controls of her console and paused the movie.


    ¡°I have so many questions. I know you already said it was a dramatized version of the actual war, the propaganda made it look like the Protectorate and Earth were in some kind of alliance, the movie¡¯s version of the Battle-Axe uses the same fighting style of a Ugian Rotono Blade, and cybernetics are basically magic. But if the parasites make the hosts only fight and kill, how did Jhessyreen get captured?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Nobody knows, but I hope you have some questions after the sex-scene and the dream sequence.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Yeah let¡¯s just skip to the dream sequence.¡±, Tony said as he tapped the controls of his console.


    The movie portrayal of Tony walked through an empty gray space with fog floating over the ground. There was a figure in the distant horizon sitting on the ground. The movie Tony activated his armor and battle-axe as he approached. The armor and energy blade glowed like lava behind the fog. The dream sequence had the fully powered cyborg version of Tony face his human version, played by the same actor. The human version had a disfigured face and one non-functional eye, one leg did not function, and one arm was malformed. The human version stood and turned with the assistance of a walking cane.


    ¡°You seem paranoid.¡±, the human version said.


    ¡°The Dark Tyrant could be planning anything, every encounter has been a fight. I have to be ready.¡±, the cyborg version said.


    ¡°And are you ready?¡±, the human version asked.


    ¡°I will be ready, but I need more power.¡±, the cyborg version declared.


    ¡°Are you willing to defeat the first two super soldier robots?¡±, the human version said.


    ¡°But they are not the enemy.¡±, the cyborg version replied.


    ¡°If you cannot defeat them, you are not worthy of their upgrades. The Protectorate created you to complete the plan. And you can¡¯t even start?¡±, the human version demanded.


    ¡°And what are you contributing?¡±, the cyborg version argued.


    ¡°I died so you could be born. Look at me, I don¡¯t belong in battle. The warriors don¡¯t need to waste time and energy looking out for me. That¡¯s why I became you!¡±, the human confessed to the cyborg version.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m afraid?¡±, the cyborg version said to the human version.


    ¡°I am you, and I¡¯m terrified. If the Dark Tyrant finds Earth, then everyone you know becomes his. He will turn them into hosts for his soldiers, into food for his parasites, and they will join his army or beg for death.¡±, the human version argued.


    ¡°How did you know that?¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony, as she paused the movie.


    ¡°Oh, I never said that. I don¡¯t have conversations like that in my mind. And if the Dark Tyrant was alive today and he wanted to enslave Earth, he can have every idiot on the planet. Everyone and everything I care about has a place in the Protectorate.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°We are so lucky we found Earth first.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    Day 8


    Meiyo and I entered the brig and we saw Ryfez. Ryfez noticed us as soon as the door was opened, and he was no longer blind-folded. His hands and feet were shackled to the floor of the cell, and slowed his movements. He reclined in his cell with a suspicious grin on his face.


    ¡°Jhessyreen, so kind of you to visit. I hope the Captain passed along my compliments to the chef. The food has greatly improved since my capture. Who¡¯s your friend?¡±, the dread pirate asked.


    ¡°When you say capture, do you mean the time you lost in direct battle with the Captain, or the time I hit you with the gunship?¡­.Don¡¯t bother answering. I don¡¯t have any questions about you.¡±, I said to Ryfez, but I turned towards Meiyo.


    ¡°I have questions about Lord Zokoro.¡±, Meiyo said to the dread pirate.


    ¡°You must be Meiyo Ymiri. My sincerest apologies for the passing of your late father.¡±, said the dread pirate.


    ¡°What¡¯s your master plan?¡±, Meiyo demanded.


    ¡°Well since you asked so nicely and the plan needs to change to proceed, I¡¯ll give you the three main parts, I like to call the beginning, the middle, and the end. Some within the Protectorate believe a war against the Earthborn is inevitable. We¡¯re the ones who took a moment to learn your planet¡¯s history. Auroveans, Naphridahns, Sjaiadi, Ugians, Lahnthano, and now Alyricans all struggling to subjugate the others, lying to each other, lying to themselves, and we realized if we start playing this game, we¡¯re basically saying the game is correct. We simply don¡¯t want to share with your kind if that makes sense.¡±, the dread pirate said.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Venus Citizen, so correct me if I¡¯m wrong but you¡¯re Rylkonian. You can get a space ship and go anywhere. You can build space stations greater than my planet¡¯s major cities, that don¡¯t rely on the locations of a planet, and can trade with any planet. If you only want to deal with other Rylkonians I don¡¯t see why you can¡¯t just do that. So what if some Rylkonians trade with us, some Rylkonians marry us, and some Rylkonians have children with us. Nobody stopped you from being you.¡±, Meiyo argued.


    ¡°One day my people will leave, we will return to our home universe. You¡¯re saying I need to ask if it¡¯s safe for us to stay longer than we need to, and ask that question eight billion times. Did you know the warrior you call the Phantom gave us a highly detailed report about how Earthborn think? Specifically the Auroveans. One thing he said is true and grows more true over time, as Earthborn learn about us. He said the people of Earth are no threat to Rylkonians and might never become a threat. But a few of you Earthborn think that¡¯s unfair, and that¡¯s a problem. Because the only thing that makes the Mud born into a threat, is a few of them think the Rylkonians are a threat to them.¡±, the dread pirate said.


    ¡°So why use Zokoro to start a war?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Odd, the Captain asks me that same question every time he¡¯s here. The Protectorate won¡¯t see how much of a threat the Earthborn are as long as they think your kind can be controlled, and that¡¯s where the Protectorate is wrong. If any Earthborn could be controlled you would have figured that out how to do that by now. You¡¯re not stupid, so let me ask you this, what is Zokoro¡¯s only possible move to win against the Confederacy? Who are the most uncontrollable Earthborn?¡±, the dread pirate asked Meiyo.


    ¡°Space pirates!¡±, Meiyo said as she realized.


    ¡°So that covers the beginning and the middle of the plan, now for the master move that you can¡¯t imagine. The only things needed to make one of you into a space pirate is reason and opportunity. Look at the Phantom, he¡¯s a ruthless bounty hunter and renowned super soldier, lot¡¯s of opportunities to become a space pirate and live life on easy mode as the pirates say. But he plays the more difficult game, despite the fact that his artificial abilities give him an unfair advantage, and he¡¯s constantly accused of cheating. He can¡¯t change what he is, but the situation can change around him. If there was no Protectorate, or if the Protectorate simply stopped supporting him, he¡¯d definitely become a space pirate, or even worse.¡±, said the dread pirate


    ¡°Jhessyreen, there¡¯s a problem with the pigs. I need you on the bridge.¡±, I heard Tony¡¯s thoughts through a cyber-link.


    ¡°I¡¯m needed on the bridge.¡±, I said to Meiyo and I departed the Brig.


    ¡°I¡¯ll return to my quarters, I need to make a report for the Cooperative.¡±, Meiyo said as she followed me out of the brig.


    When I arrive at the bridge I saw Tony in the gunner¡¯s seat closing out the Gunner¡¯s console, and he turned to face me. As I took the pilot¡¯s controls I sensed his mind releasing the controls of the ship.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with the pigs?¡±, I asked Tony


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, internal sensors can¡¯t get accurate readings. Ylisaya spotted it first when she went to feed them, and now Surhey and Nyrella are in there too saying the same thing. They just keep saying I need to see.¡±, Tony said


    I activated the internal sensor and saw Tony move through the ship and enter the cargo bay where we kept the ten pigs.


    ¡°I see the problem now. Good news is none of the pigs are missing, but now we have twenty seven additional piglets.¡±, Tony said as he entered the cargo bay, and scooped up a piglet that tried to escape into the ship.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry captain, but I¡¯m a genetic researcher, not a veterinarian. I¡¯m not sure how to deal with this problem. How did you already count the piglets?¡±, Surhey said to the Tony, as Tony closed the door behind him.


    ¡°One of my abilities is called scanner vision¡­It¡¯s a cyborg thing.¡±, Tony said to Surhey.


    Ylisaya and Nyrella held two ends of a netted sack, as they tried to collect piglets in the net. Ylisaya and Nyrella only succeeded two out of five attempts, but their technique was flawed, and one out of three piglets escaped their net. Tony instructed everyone to leave the cargo bay and for Surhey and Nyrella to go to their quarters, except for Ylisaya who joined me on the bridge. As soon as Ylisaya reached the bridge she took the engineer¡¯s seat and activated the internal sensor. I didn¡¯t need to see because I already knew what Tony was going to do. He needed the cargo bay closed because he¡¯s going to move at super speed, but that¡¯s also going to knock the ship off course. Once everyone was confined to quarters, Tony vanished into a distortion and moved so fast the distortion appeared in the entire cargo bay. The ship rumbled and tumbled, and then silence. I recalibrated the navigation array and set the ship back on course from our last location and headed towards Venus.


    ¡°Ylisaya, bring Surhey to the cargo bay.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya through the internal sensor system, as if he knew she was watching and listening.


    ¡°What do I tell Surhey if she asks what just happened?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°The ship needed to make some maneuvers to help me capture the escaped animals. You don¡¯t have to lie.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, as she departed the bridge.


    Ylisaya and Surhey arrived at the Cargo bay, and found all ten adult pigs captured in the cages, and the piglets as evenly distributed within available spaces in the cages.


    ¡°Collect your thoughts, but I just checked and none of these pigs are male. Is this gonna happen again? Am I smuggling embryos to Venus?¡±, Tony asked, the two people on the ship who were the closest we had to experts.


    ¡°Captain, I think the sender of the pigs assumed you would cryonic-freeze cargo like this, and then you might have been caught smuggling. How many piglets are male?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°None¡­and that¡¯s doesn¡¯t seem possible, unless these animals are some sort of experiment. And if the parameters of delivery are animals for food, someone lied to me.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°What do we do about the animals?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I asked both of you here. Ylisaya, we have thirty seven pigs, large and small. I have enough life support, food, and supplies for ten large. I must have ten to fulfill my contract in sixty two hours. Any pigs that are unlikely to survive will be eaten.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya, and then he turned towards the Surhey.


    ¡°Doctor Surhey, I know this problem falls outside you area of expertise, and you are not part of my crew, so you may name your price if you wish¡­¡±, Tony said to Surhey, but she interrupted him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll help. Nyrella has become attached to these animals, I would like it if she could keep one.¡±, Surhey replied.


    ¡°Good, send your plan to the bridge when you have it. I want report updates at each flight shift. It should be safe to let a few animals out at a time.¡±, Tony said as he departed the cargo bay.


    Tony returned to the bridge and took the gunner¡¯s seat. I watched him through my mirror, and I could see his holographic face reflected his thoughts over the lessons he was teaching the chosen one, that not everything nor everyone could be saved. I determined now was a bad time to present my pork and bacon menu.


    ¡°You did the right thing, teaching Ylisaya about triage.¡±, I said to Tony.


    ¡°We need to teach her how to survive on Venus.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach her. All she¡¯ll learn from you is how to exploit their rules, manipulate statistics and how to cheat the system. She already can do two of those. But first you have to introduce their propaganda.¡±, I said to Tony.


    I disconnected from the flight systems as Tony resumed his flight shift, and I didn¡¯t return until my shift officially started. When I returned to start my shift I found Ylisaya in the flight engineer¡¯s seat and Tony in the gunner¡¯s seat. Ylisaya was making the update on the Bridge.


    ¡°So we have enough food and oxygen if we move pigs into the cages as soon as we let some out for the next fifty nine hours. Two adults and five piglets will not survive, Surhey has already brought them to the kitchen, and she has asked that Nyrella will no longer be allowed to help with food prep. Meiyo has already filed smuggling charges against the sender who sold Venus the pigs, and if they involve the Something Clever, which is a Protectorate registered ship, all their deliveries can then be inspected by Protectorate officers.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Ughh¡­The fastest I can make a pre-flight inspection is eighty-three micro-cycles. I feel sorry for anyone having to wait in line for a Rylkonian food inspector.¡±, I said in disgust.


    ¡°I think that was the implied threat Meiyo intended. Anything else Captain?¡±, Ylisaya said, as she closed out her engineer¡¯s console.


    ¡°Yes, maybe¡­There are a few things you should know about Venus. It it the safest place for women, but they only achieved this by maintaining a very low male population. No more than one percent of the entire planet. Their military defenses are mostly autonomous combat drones, their dangerous labor is done by disposable drones. Any males who are not already cyborgs and do not volunteer for brain implants with mind control technology are euthanized.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°You mean they turn them into robot slaves. Is this what Meiyo and Surhey¡­¡±, Ylisaya said, but Tony interrupted.


    ¡°Do not get angry at them, they are doing the best with the situation they got. The logic is that they define rape as taking away sexual freedom from a woman. If the population increases the odds of rape also increase, and if the population decreases, there is the conquerer factor. If a male kills any other males who can compete for females, he is taking that choice away from women, so he can be the only option. And if there is only one available female for two or more potential males, the threat to her only increases. Any males who unintentionally benefit from the actions of other males are automatically complicit and are therefore accomplices. They call it Rape-by-process-of-statistics. I don¡¯t like it, but this is what their government believes, so they implant all their males with mind control technology.¡±, Tony said as Ylisaya attempted to process a planet¡¯s contempt for people who didn¡¯t choose how they were born.


    ¡°Logic? There¡¯s two obvious flaws with that logic. Their government is taking that choice away from women, and they assume all men cannot choose otherwise.¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°So, I guess you don¡¯t want to hear the five stages of Patriarchy.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Tell me the first two, I¡¯ll decide if I wanna hear the rest.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°The first is society¡¯s inclination for war, and the second is male privilege.¡±, Tony said


    ¡°I¡¯ll decide later¡­What about you?¡±, Ylisaya demanded.


    ¡°I¡¯m a cyborg, so I¡¯m allowed on Venus.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°But, why doesn¡¯t it bother you?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°When I was human I already came to terms that I wasn¡¯t going to live the life I wanted. I had to accept the life available to me, which is more than Venus allows. But I have my own reasons for hating Aurovean males who become space pirates, and I don¡¯t mind if a planet chooses to be part of the solution instead of just ignoring the problem¡­If I ever become a Dark Tyrant and need an army of robot slaves, then this just means I know where to start.¡±, Tony joked, but Ylisaya didn¡¯t find it funny.


    ¡°Jhessyreen, is this true?¡± Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°I think we could steal the control codes, but I¡¯ve seen Tony deal with two crew-members who actually do everything he says, and it¡¯s like he¡¯s always got the weight of the ship on him. That¡¯s not his job. I¡¯m the the first officer. I just don¡¯t think he¡¯d be happy as a Dark Tyrant. He¡¯d have no time to oppress them, we¡¯d be fixing all their problems for them. But I don¡¯t assume robot slaves can solve their own problems.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about Dark Tyrants. Is the Government of Venus using mind control technology?¡­Okay maybe I am bothered by tyranny.¡±, Ylisaya asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s true. We are.¡±, Meiyo said.


    Ylisaya looked over her should to see Meiyo, and I looked through my mirror. I presumed Tony knew she was moving through the ship.


    ¡°My government isn¡¯t just planning on taking freedom from our men. We replaced most of our military with robot drones and most of our labor needs as well. My role as a huntress is to supervise those drones, as they assist me with investigating illegal pregnancies. Ylisaya, my government does bother me. Surhey¡¯s job is the engineering of a new kind of woman who will inherit the future of our planet. That¡¯s how I know smuggling embryos is such an issue for us, this new life form is our only hope, and I will protect that future. That is my vow as a huntress, but when that future happens, I also know I will have no place in that world. If you seek refuge on my world, follow your Captain¡¯s wisdom. It is your best chance of survival.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Thank you Meiyo, is my import license approved?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Yes Captain. You will encounter no inspections nor checkpoints, and you may move medical and biological samples on, off, and around Venus without restriction. Is there anything else?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Excellent, thank you Meiyo, great work. Please relax.¡±, Tony said to Meiyo.


    Meiyo nodded and returned to her quarters.


    ¡°You never say I do great work, but you think she does great work?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°Jhessyreen please, I don¡¯t want political asylum from a government that enslaved their people and also plans to replace them with a new species. Can we focus on that?¡±, Ylisaya asked, which effectively rescued Tony from my question.


    ¡°What do you need to see, to accept their point of view on this issue?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°What is the example that all men are automatically evil?¡±, Ylisaya asked.

 Chapter 9 - Space Pirates Ambush and Counter Sneak Attack

    We didn¡¯t encounter space pirates for ninety percent of our trip. We thought we were safe, we thought were going to arrive on Venus, and we thought everything was going to fit in our perfect plan. We couldn¡¯t have been more wrong. Surhey invited me to sickbay where she had been working on the medical diagnostics we skipped on since Tony had been shot by the experimental ammo.


    ¡°Jhessyreen, thank you. Comparing your medical scan to the Captain¡¯s and Ylisaya¡¯s really helps me in understanding just how much more we Earthborn need to expand our understanding of cybernetics before we can safely develop our own. If you and Ylisaya were just human women, you¡¯re both in excellent health, but I have no way to estimate your cybernetics, but the Captain is still a mystery to me. Did you know his brain can sleep while his body can keep running? I thought he was ignoring me, or sleepwalking, but this is way more sophisticated.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised, I¡¯ve known him the longest. I guess working with him is just normal for me. Acutally the brain sleep ability can only be used when he¡¯s alone, he won¡¯t remember entire conversations correctly without a functional hippocampus.¡±, I said to Surhey.


    ¡°I think he should seek spiritual guidance. I¡¯m worried that he might question his identity as a cyborg. I saw him reading the Holy Book of the Cathlahn faith.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem there. He¡¯d said on more than one instance that he disagreed with something we did as bounty hunters, because it was against his religion. So I said he should read the Holy Book.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Wow. I¡¯m also Cathlahn and I¡¯ve never read our Holy Book, I¡¯m too busy anyways. But that¡¯s not important. I have your¡¯s and Ylisaya¡¯s medical reports for the first officer. First I needed to understand Rylkonian physiology. Whoever designed your cybernetics, sees the human anatomy on a whole different level. The technology is small and almost invisible. The digestive track has integrated conductor cathodes allowing it to produce useable electricity, and also gives your people significantly increased muscle power. But almost every cell, except for blood cells functions as a microscopic quantum reactor, which I understand powers your weapons and deflector shield technologies. So I won¡¯t expand on those. At first I assumed that your nervous system functioned like a computer system, and the hive mind would be identical to a computer network, which is also outside my expertise, but that only led me to incorrect assumptions. Your bodies interact with the quantum energy around you and are sensitive to the actions of other¡¯s who can also access that quantum energy. Like a sixth sense. What¡¯s it like?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°Imagine a pool of water, and you can put just your hand or your entire body into the water. When you or someone in that water does something everyone else can sense it. As we become more familiar with being in that environment, we can begin to understand and even communicate using that. If we don¡¯t need to we just take out hand out of the water.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Incredible! I also noticed that not every cell develops the same cybernetic structures, I won¡¯t even pretend I know what they do, but the outer most cells are fascinating. Each one has this machine-like-membrane and they link together like a chain. That explains why Rylkonians don¡¯t need space suits, and your skin is so smooth. Because it¡¯s not any kind of skin I have ever seen. It¡¯s a cybernetic membrane. Can you tell me why Ylisaya has significantly less cybernetic development when compared to you, is it just her age?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s a factor, and a major factor. She hasn¡¯t been assigned a specialization. That¡¯s not something we have the capacity for on the Something Clever.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So your specialization is pilot?¡±, Surhey asked


    ¡°Pilot is my job, navigator is my specialization.¡±, I said.


    The ship slowly shook as simulated gravity arced with the forces of changing direction.


    ¡°What was that?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°We changed course. I need to get to the bridge and see what¡¯s going on.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Are we in danger? Is it space pirates?¡±, Surhey asked.


    I entered the bridge and Tony was still on shift but had put on his full armor and helmet. As soon as I touched the pilot¡¯s seat, Tony jumped out of the captain¡¯s seat into the gunner¡¯s seat, and I threw my flight jacket onto the captain¡¯s seat.


    ¡°What are we dealing with?¡±, I asked Tony as I connected to the flight systems, navigation array, and neural inter-connect with the pilot¡¯s seat.


    ¡°One pirate ship attacking a merchant freighter, less than a micro cycle before we get within max sensor range range. I almost missed them, they didn¡¯t activate their emergency distress beacon. I only noticed the weapons fire.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Just one? Why¡¯s a merchant freighter alone out here?¡±, Ylisaya asked as she entered the bridge and took the engineer¡¯s seat.


    ¡°They are in the Earth to Mercury trade route. Right now Earth, Mercury, and Venus are close enough for a few solar cycles at full pulse speeds. Might not have bothered to think about a security escort.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Or the attacking ship is the security escort, tipped off the pirates, or they planned the attack weeks in advance. Activating cloak. Are all the passengers set?¡±, Tony asked Ylisaya, as the ship hummed to activate the distortion field, but also reduced the range of my navigation scanner.


    ¡°Meiyo and Nyrella are in their quarters, the prisoner is still talking in the brig, and Surhey was already in sickbay when I checked on her.¡±, Ylisaya reported to Tony.


    ¡°Captain, are we on an intercept course for the space pirates?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I already scanned for cloaked ships. It¡¯s really looks like just the one pirate ship. We¡¯re just gonna scare them off of the freighter, we have three passengers, thirty pigs, one dread pirate, and a chosen one on board. That¡¯s more more important than whatever¡¯s on that freighter, and I don¡¯t want my promotion report to say I didn¡¯t fight space pirates for the interest of profits.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°What¡¯s on that freighter to make space pirates attack?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°If the ship is moving exports from Earth, then it¡¯s probably junk food and pornography, which explains why they chose the time for a shorter flight when the planets are closest.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Another reason might be about¡­smuggling people¡­through illegal markets¡­¡±, Tony said as he was trying to avoid a topic with Ylisaya around.


    ¡°So¡­Sex slaves? Are you sure we don¡¯t need to fight them?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That would explain why they didn¡¯t turn on the emergency distress becon. I¡¯m gonna have a look.¡±, I replied.


    I connected to the targeting scanner, and I could see Tony had already aligned it to have a target lock on the pirate ship. I sensed Tony¡¯s mind adjust his aim to shoot the engines, and disable the pirate ship, but the merchant freighter was still within the blast radius. I detected Tony had been watching the amount of damage sustained by the merchant freighter which was unlikely to survive a blast strong enough to disable the pirate ship. I sensed Ylisaya¡¯s mind access the targeting scanner, as she probably determined what I did through the flight systems.


    ¡°Why does the pirate ship look like a merchant freighter with cannons strapped onto the hull?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Because space pirates steal ships and then strap weapons onto the hull.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°The first space pirates were merchant freighter crews. Their corporate customers refused to pay the crews, so the crews turned against the corporations, and started raiding the corporate supply shipments. Then they started raiding everyone¡¯s trade routes. The only thing that scares space pirates is putting a bounty on their heads, especially when the amount is in my price range. That should be close enough for Flash Pulse shot. Jhess line up a flanking run for me please.¡±, Tony said.


    I turned the ship towards the pirate ship¡¯s flank, but we were too late. The pirates disabled the merchant freighter, connected their ship to the merchant freighter, and started invading. The pirate ship and merchant freighter were both connected to each other¡¯s front airlock, which allowed the pirates to enter the merchant freighter.


    ¡°Just great! Now, I can¡¯t fire without out destroying both ships. It¡¯s gonna have to be enough. Decloaking. Ylisaya, full power to deflector shields. Jhess, let¡¯s chase down some pirates!¡±, Tony said as he tapped the surface of the gunner¡¯s console and then reached over to the captain¡¯s console to switch the ship into it¡¯s combat role.


    ¡°Aye captain.¡±, I said as I pushed the ship to full pulse drive.


    Tony accessed the fire control system and fired three warheads that exploded in Flash Pulse blasts around the merchant freighter and pirate ship. Flash Pulse won¡¯t do any real damage, but will reveal any cloaked ships.


    ¡°I thought you already scanned for cloaked ships.¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I did, but I fired Flash Pulse for two reasons. I don¡¯t want them to know I scanned, and I want to get their attention. Right now the space pirates should be thinking those blasts were fired by someone, and they should start looking around. Maybe they¡¯ll notice the battle ship with full power shields and fusion cannons is racing towards them, and realize their about to enter a world of hurt, when we catch them. Let¡¯s hope they assume that a Rylkonian battleship cares less about rescuing a freighter from Earth than the reward for each space pirate¡¯s head. I¡¯m not planning on protecting hostages, the thought terrifies me. That situation depends on what the space pirates think and what they do about that. Like I said I just want to scare them away. If you have any reason to change that plan, feel free to say something. I¡¯m open to suggestions.¡±, Tony said and Ylisaya remained quite, and seemed stunned.


    ¡°We¡¯re still two micro cycles away from range to intervene, but we might be within range to scan for life signs. And see what¡¯s going on in the freighter.¡±, I said, and I sensed Ylisaya access the scanner array.


    ¡°It looks like the pirates are returning to their ship. I think they saw us.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Good, at least that part of the plan worked. I¡¯m gonna talk to Meiyo, if we find any refugees at least the women should be able to stay on Venus.¡±, Tony said, as he departed the bridge.


    Ylisaya looked through the scanner array again, and I could sense her mind deciphering the movements of the space pirates.


    ¡°It looks like the pirates have raided the cargo¡­and now they¡¯re killing off the freighter¡¯s crew. We¡¯re too late.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°If we¡¯re truly too late, we can fire a warhead and wipe out those pirates now. I¡¯m not willing to do that. Are you?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°What about the captain?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Yeah¡­let¡¯s not ask the combat cyborg killing machine, who renounced his humanity, and hates space pirates, about shooting space pirates in a total loss scenario. Can we avoidthat please?¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    Tony returned to bridge, and took the gunner¡¯s seat.


    ¡°So is Meiyo helping?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°What about Meiyo?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Tony, you said you were gonna ask her about helping possible women refugees, and now you¡¯re back from talking to Meiyo. Did something happen? Is your brain in sleep mode?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m awake. Nothing weird happened.¡±, Tony said, which meant something completely weird happened when he saw Meiyo.


    I looked in my mirror and saw in Ylisaya¡¯s face that she reached the same conclusion.


    ¡°Oh look, the space pirates are moving.¡±, Tony said, as the space pirate ship disconnected from the freighter.


    The pirate ship turned and activated their engines, trying to escape. Tony accessed fire control, and fired a warhead directly into one of the pirate ship¡¯s engines. The warhead detonated as it entered into the exhaust vent of the pirate ship. The sharp fragments of the warhead¡¯s casing tore through sections of the pirate ship and the pirate ship was disabled, just drifting in space.


    ¡°New plan¡­ Jhess, dock with the freighter, you¡¯re gonna look for survivors.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What about the pirate ship? They still have weapons.¡±, Ylisaya protested.


    ¡°Nice to see you¡¯re learning. I¡¯m going to the pirate ship. I luckily hit them before they accelerated, now I can sneak in while they attempt repairs, and I don¡¯t need refugees to see me anyways. When you¡¯re done there, you¡¯ll pick me up from the pirate ship, or I¡¯ll just super jump back. Depends if I can sneak out.¡±, Tony said, as he pulled out ammo from an ammo compartment on his armor.


    ¡°Use this. It¡¯s stun ammo. Survivors might try to attack you. And watch out for traps.¡±, Tony said as he presented the ammo to myself and Ylisaya.


    ¡°Scans so far suggest the pirates took whatever they could, and tried to run. There shouldn¡¯t be any pirates. No time for anything else, their priority should be stealing supplies and valuable merchandise. The merchant crew might have setup traps.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Take it anyways, the pirates might try something stupid. If you don¡¯t find anything, just turn on the freighter¡¯s emergency distress beacon and get back to the ship. I don¡¯t want to waste anymore time here than we need to.¡±, Tony said, as he departed the bridge.


    ¡°They still have artificial gravity, and its atmosphere is identical to the standard human environment on the freighter.¡±, Ylisaya said as she continued scanning the freighter.


    I lined up the Something Clever¡¯s airlock door with the freighter¡¯s airlock. I was notified by the ship¡¯s systems that airlock number five had been opened with Tony¡¯s override code, and I instructed Ylisaya to activate the docking ring, since the ships were right next to each other. I departed the bridge for the front airlock and I instructed Ylisaya to follow me, as we put on our breathing masks. When we reached the airlock, we found Meiyo waiting for us, and she was wearing the the Red-Rotono Tri-tech armor, the red-cloak, her handgun hanging from it¡¯s ammo belt, and the Blue-Rotono blade on the opposite side from the handgun. Meiyo held her mask under her arm as she followed us into the Airlock.


    ¡°Are you going with us?¡±, I asked Meiyo, as I activated the control panel for the airlock.


    ¡°The captain said space pirates, and I jumped into my armor.¡±, Meiyo said, as I sealed the door of the Something Clever behind us.


    ¡°But you¡¯re not part of the crew, you can just stay in the safety of the ship.¡±, I said, as Meiyo put her mask on.


    ¡°I am a huntress, my job is to protect women from such threats. Where¡¯s the Captain?¡±, Meiyo asked, as the airlock¡¯s lights began flashing yellow.


    ¡°He is going to the pirates¡¯ ship first, we¡¯ll meet up later.¡±, I said, as the light stopped flashing and stayed a constant yellow.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Meiyo looked at Ylisaya, and pointed to the handgun on Ylisaya¡¯s hip.


    ¡°You know how to use that?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    Ylisaya lifted the handgun from it¡¯s holster, loaded a clip of stun ammo, primed the handgun, and returned it to the holster, as Meiyo watched the whole process happen in a single fluid motion.


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed, your Captain has trained you well.¡±, Meiyo said, as the light changed from yellow to green and the freighter¡¯s door opened.


    ¡°Training?¡­I guess¡­ I learned to do that from watching three seasons of the Assassinator TV Show.¡±, Ylisaya said, as we entered the freighter.


    Inside the freighter we found most of crew were killed by space pirated, some looked like they tried to fight back, but everyone else looked as if they had been executed with single a gunshot to the head.


    ¡°This is where the space pirates boarded.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Some of these dead men might be space pirates.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Stay together, and if you think something might be cloaked, I¡¯ll fire a Flash Pulse shot. We¡¯re finished once we turn on the emergency distress beacon, and we¡¯ll return to the Something Clever.¡±, I said to Meiyo and Ylisaya, as I opened my revolver and loaded four bullets of stun ammo. I slowly closed my revolver against my leg, to avoid making a hostile noise. We searched the freighter room by room, but found no survivors. But we weren¡¯t ready for what we found in the crew quarters.


    In the freighter¡¯s crew quarters, we found a dead Aurovean girl. She had been stripped naked and beaten, which was obvious from the bruises that covered her body. She was curled up on the floor as if trying to hide or too afraid to move. One of her arms and a leg had broken bones as if she was restrained and she struggled with all her strength. She had been left there dead, naked, and in a pool of her own blood that flowed from between her legs. She was murdered with a gunshot at close range through her head. Ylisaya saw the girl and froze and I suspected Ylisaya realized she was about the same age as her. Meiyo knelt down next to the Aurovean girl and turned the girl¡¯s face so she could see. The girl¡¯s face was covered in tears, and we found the parts of her the bullet pushed into the floor below her. I suspected the last few moments of this girl¡®s life must have been terrifying.


    ¡°Odd, the floors are armored not just the hull, or else this bullet should have gone through.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Who was she?¡±, Ylisaya asked, as Meiyo released the girl and stepped away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, but whoever she was, she didn¡¯t deserve this. Nobody deserves to die like this.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°But why? Why did they do this? Why her?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t begin to guess a motive. Maybe they thought she was pretty, maybe they thought they could get away with it, or maybe space pirates are desperate people who resort to brutal methods to survive in a brutal world, and maybe the Dread Pirate locked up on your ship is correct about a future war prediction.¡±, Meiyo said, as she stepped closer to me.


    ¡°Jhessyreen, this is not a merchant freighter. The cargo was more valuable than the lives of the crew, the floors are armored, and the only reason they didn¡¯t use their emergency distress beacon is they didn¡¯t want to be found. They couldn¡¯t call for help. This is a smugglers¡¯ ship, maybe even slavers.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep looking.¡±, I said.


    In the next crew quarters we found women tied to sections of the ship, and all of them had been executed each with a single gunshot at close range. In the center of the room we found children from onboard the ship, but they had also been killed, some were even beaten to death. Meiyo knelt down next to one of the executed women and began to examine her face, which was covered in tears.


    ¡°These are some unusual bruises.¡±, Meiyo said as she placed her hands on the dead woman, trying to determine what caused the bruises.


    Meiyo¡¯s hands moved around the woman¡¯s face and eventually Meiyo found she was holding the woman¡¯s neck from behind and she could choose where to make the woman look, if she were alive. Meiyo dropped the woman in shock and disbelief.


    ¡°They made these women watch as the children were murdered.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep looking.¡±, I said.


    ¡°No Jhess! I don¡¯t want to look anymore if it means I have to see more of the victims of evil¡­space pirates.¡±, Ylisaya protested.


    ¡°Then go back to the Something Clever and wait there, I need to find survivors, turn on the emergency beacon, and keep you safe. The only part of the ship left is the bridge, the beacon should be there, and I already think this ship is a total loss. I don¡¯t need to add fighting you to the list of things I need to deal with.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    We finally reached the bridge and Ylisaya continued the mission with us, even if she did so under protest. We switched on the distress beacon and traveled through the ship back to the Something Clever. Tony had already returned as we found him with in the Bridge of the Something Clever, as he was sitting in the gunner¡¯s seat. Meiyo returned to her quarters to file reports, while Ylisaya and I returned to our assignments on the bridge, and I sensed Ylisaya connect to the ship¡¯s systems as I also connected.


    ¡°So, was the merchant freighter a total loss?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Not merchants¡­smugglers, maybe slavers. But yes, it was a total loss¡­Was there any trouble on the pirates¡¯ ship?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Oh, this was a great find. I got fresh supplies, lots of spare ammo, they never even saw me¡­and we¡¯ll be long gone before they can repair their ship, if they can finish repairs without the supplies.¡±, Tony laughed¡­and waited for a reply.


    ¡°I know, leaving them defenseless and doomed to starve is no better than a space pirate.¡±, Tony admitted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they deserve mercy.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Okay, I missed something, and I know it was something you saw on the other ship, while I was robbing the pirates, who are still distracted with repairs. Jhess, please fill in the blanks for me.¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°We saw what the pirates did to the other crew, and I wouldn¡¯t be upset if you fire the fusion cannons and shot that pirate ship out of the sky.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I totally agree, and if that ship is gone, I might even feel better.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°We went from¡­not what I expected, to the¡­opposite of what I expected.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony tapped his console and the communication system beeped.


    ¡°Yes, Captain?¡±, Meiyo¡¯s voice said through the comms array.


    ¡°Hey Meiyo. Are you busy? Can I see you on the Bridge? Jhessyreen and Ylisaya have quite the report from the rescue mission.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°On my way¡­¡±, Meiyo said, as the system beeped.


    Meiyo arrived on the bridge and had already removed her armor, as she was only wearing the athletic layer that wrapped tightly around her torso, shoulders, and hips. I saw Meiyo¡¯s flawless shape through my mirror and I resisted being compelled to turn around to see her with my own eyes, it was clear that she was a trained warrior despite her injuries. Ylisaya looked twice and looked forward to focus on the engineer¡¯s console. Tony didn¡¯t move, but I already knew he can see in all directions.


    ¡°Thank you Meiyo, but this isn¡¯t urgent, you can get dressed and come back.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°With all due respect Captain, if this is about the rescue mission, I think it is urgent.¡±, Meiyo said as she focused her vision on the Captain, and rested her hands on her hips.


    Tony twisted in the gunner¡¯s seat to look over his shoulder, but every time his eyes looked at Meiyo¡¯s body he focused his vision at the ceiling.


    ¡°My crew is convinced the best course of action is to destroy the pirate ship. As a Captain or as a gunner, I have to consider if my actions could start a war, and who is impacted. As an applicant for first class citizenship, my actions potentially determine the future of the Protectorate. So now that all three of you are here, none of those pirates, women, children, nor families are Protectorate citizens. They potentially attacked possible citizens of an Earth based government, within Mars Pax space that is enough for me to open fire. Worst case scenario they are Earth dissidents, but are unlikely to be offered asylum by Earth, Mercury, nor Venus, except for their women, but based on what I saw they are unlikely to ask. Meiyo, as a huntress of Venus, what is your view on this matter?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Venus is a safe place for women, but Huntresses understand our rules will be challenged, tested, and can even be used against us. Those space pirates are alive and they still have a ship, which means they can attack again, and they won¡¯t listen to us. I don¡¯t trust them to not attack a ship trying to rescue them. I¡¯m not about to risk my planet or our future, for one woman or any woman that contributes to the success of piracy. And those pirates are the monsters I fear, their children are being raised as pirates, and will be a future generation of pirates. I saw a girl, stripped more naked than I am right now, beaten, raped, and left for dead in a pool of her own blood, and she was awake for the entire assault. I saw women forced to watch their children die. Those space pirate families aren¡¯t hostages of morality, they are accomplices. They already chose to sacrifice the women of another ship. Venus has enough to deal with. Right now, I would pay all the money I have left if you open fire on the pirates, but I¡¯m also aware this isn¡¯t my fight. We failed to find any survivors, so the Venus Cooperative is no longer involved. I¡¯ll go get dressed now.¡±, Meiyo said as she departed the bridge.


    Tony looked at Ylisaya, as she nodded in acknowledgement of Meiyo¡¯s account of the rescue mission, and then towards my mirror, and I nodded in acknowledgement as well.


    ¡°Jhess, I¡¯ve decided. We¡¯ll continue for Venus, after I clean up these skies a bit.¡±, Tony said.


    I accessed the navigation array and as I looked through the ship¡¯s sensors I saw an escape pod floating next to the ship. I instructed Ylisaya to seal the hull of the ship and disconnect the airlock. We drifted away from the ship we failed to rescue and I turned the ship towards Venus.


    ¡°Captain, there¡¯s an escape pod out there.¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s how I got the pirates¡¯ supplies back to the Something Clever. I think I took everything of value off of it. It¡¯s worthless now.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony activated the ship¡¯s fire control and aimed the fusion cannons. Through the ship systems I could see Tony lined up a kill shot, aimed directly at the reactor core of the pirate ship. The blast radius would engulf the entire pirate ship, and the smuggler freighter had drifted out of danger. I imagined the warhead rolling down the magazine, then sliding into firing chamber of the fusion cannon, and the fire control system priming the warhead for destructive power. Ylisaya curled up in pain as she disconnected from the ship¡¯s systems.


    Tony used his mind to command the system to fire and through the navigation sensor I watched the warhead fly towards the pirate ship, and pirates crawled around the hull in their space suits, moving parts back and forth out of their airlock. As I imagined Tony sneaking into the ship while the pirates made repairs. The warhead slipped into the door of the pirate ship just as the outer airlock closed. The pirates were now completely helpless to escape their fate, but I told myself again and again, this was just the consequence for what they did. A shockwave shook the Something Clever, and the pirate ship turned into a cloud of debris. I activated the flight systems and we resumed our travel towards Venus.


    ¡°It¡¯s strange, I saw something just before the pirate ship was destroyed.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°What did you see?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°The pirate ship getting hit with different blasts from the fusion cannon and then destroyed in three different ways. What did I see?¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Did you see the Pirate ship hit in the bridge, then the engines, then the reactor core?¡±, Tony asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I saw, in that order too. Did I¡­see the future?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°No, that was my scanner vision. Target prediction and simulation of damage scenarios. Scanner vision optimizes my accuracy when shooting moving targets. If you think it was the future, did you see if we delayed our flight for cryonic-freeze? How many more ships get attacked by those pirates?¡±, Tony asked Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya turned to me and I nodded in agreement with the captain.


    ¡°Usually merchant freighters hire gunships for protection. We just fly with them, and that¡¯s usually enough to scare off pirates. Sometimes pirates, shoot back, but they usually just try to escape. But I¡¯ve never seen the evidence left behind like this.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Considering what the warhead did to the pirate¡¯s freighter, I¡¯d estimate the pirates were never concerned about anyone finding any evidence. If they could just use any victims for target practice, it¡¯s easier than guessing who can keep a secret. Based on what Meiyo said, I¡¯d be ashamed of my Aurovean heritage. The threat is over, we¡¯re going back to normal flight shift rotations. Ylisaya, please let the passengers know we¡¯re clear of danger and resuming our travel to Venus and let Surhey examine you. See you at your next shift.¡±, Tony replied.


    At the start of my next shift, Ylisaya entered the Bridge and sat down in the Engineer¡¯s seat. I was confused because I just started my shift, and I was on shift for only twenty micro-cycles when she entered the bridge. I thought it was also unusual when she didn¡¯t activate any of her chair¡¯s engineering functions, because she only accessed the internal sensor.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°Captain gave me a task. He learned something about Nyrella.¡±, Ylisaya said


    I accessed the internal sensor with Ylisaya and we both could see Tony entering the med-bay. Surhey was studying two med-scans, one of Nyrella and the other of Tony.


    ¡°You wanted to see me Doctor?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Thank you captain, but I¡¯m not that kind of doctor. I¡¯m a genetic researcher. Nyrella is asking about the pirate ship, you destroyed. Jhessyreen and Meiyo wouldn¡¯t tell her anything, but Ylisaya said something, and what Nyrella heard she told me. Meiyo isn¡¯t going to be a problem, but I think you know what¡¯s going on and depending on how you feel about that, I¡¯m prepared to offer you some information, in exchange for Nyrella¡¯s safety. By safety I mean keeping her away from any problematic discoveries.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°If Nyrella asks Meiyo for protection, I know Meiyo will, but that doesn¡¯t include telling her the truth. I figured out that part too. I know the Cooperative sent you without a huntress bodyguard, because you and most of the huntresses are diametrically opposed. I¡¯ve seen enough huntresses to know they seek out talent, because the Cooperative will not militarize them. That¡¯s the first stage of patriarchy, which is why they funded genetic research instead. How am I doing?¡±, Tony asked about his progress.


    ¡°It¡¯s true Meiyo and I have been avoiding each other. I knew she was a Huntress when I first saw her, and I was afraid she might try to kidnap Nyrella to make her quota, but that was all before I realized she¡¯s also the Red-Rotono.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°I see why the concern for secrecy. If you were Nyrella¡¯s mother, you can bring to her Venus and send her anywhere later, but if a Huntress rescues her and eliminates a political rival no-one would ask otherwise, and Nyrella just spends the rest of her life on Venus as a refugee. And I¡¯ve known you¡¯re not her mother, that¡¯s just your cover story. Do you know where she came from?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°No, I met her on Saturn and that was the first time we ever saw each other. I just look right enough to move her around without too many questions. But I can promise you, she wasn¡¯t kidnapped, she¡¯s not an orphan, and she¡¯s not being abused. She¡¯s a clone. But Nyrella is unique among her sisters, as her genetic sequence allows her to exceed the limitations, that cybernetic enhancement could only slow down. She can save Venus.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about sacrificing a little girl, who didn¡¯t ask for genetic modification. What exactly did the Cooperative pay for?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°We know we¡¯re not recruiting enough women, and not birthing enough daughters. We know because the Huntresses have a standing priority to rescue survivors, and then the Cooperative indoctrinates survivors to hate men. Only way to convince them to stay on Venus. Nyrella can end all that hatred.¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°So Nyrella is this ultimate queen, that will save Venus? How?¡±, ¡°Tony asked.


    ¡°Sort of¡­We can¡¯t rely on our birth rate, we need a faster one.¡±, Surhey admitted.


    ¡°What the fuck Surhey? The women of Venus didn¡¯t want to be baby factories, so they just bought one instead? I expect this from pirates, but not the Cooperative! The Cooperative lied to you, and I can prove it. Not only do I know who her father is. I think I also know who her mother is. How many evolution points does she have?¡±, Tony asked.


    Surhey nodded, and through the internal sensor I could detect intense stress, as Tony revealed how much he knew about Nyrella¡¯s genetic modifications. I estimated she was guilty over what was done to Nyrella.


    ¡°Her capacity is one hundred and thirty three. Her first five covered the enhancements and repair from the accelerated aging. How does that help?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s the second highest score I¡¯ve heard from any Earthborn. I¡¯m the highest record Holder, and that means the her mother is my ex-wife. The chance that one of my children with any other Earthborn woman will exceed one-thirty-three is less than one percent. I¡¯ll forgive you, you¡¯re just doing your job. You didn¡¯t know that Nyrella wasn¡¯t kidnapped, because she was purchased. I thought my daughter was aborted before she was ever born, but apparentlysomeone is cloning her. So¡­How valuable is your information?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Safely deliver Nyrella and me to Venus, forget about all the clones of your daughter, and never expose the Cooperative. In return I¡¯ll give you both the location of your daughter, and a reliable way to locate her. With this information, you can steal her, buy her freedom, you can ensure her safety, or even allow her to be born if you hire a surrogate. But she¡¯s not on Venus so don¡¯t bother looking, and don¡¯t pretend you¡¯ll just buy or steal one of the clones. You¡¯re a bounty-hunter, the Cooperative would never sell one to you. But you should also know, at the moment she¡¯s just an embryo no larger than a grain of rice, she doesn¡¯t even have a beating heart.¡±, Surhey said.


    ¡°Neither do I¡­but you¡¯re right¡­I do want this information.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°May I ask why?¡±, Surhey asked.


    ¡°Only a few people know what happened, and staying many steps ahead of any threats is crucial to survival¡­My ex-wife doesn¡¯t even know, which means I now have a six year head-start. If you¡¯re telling the truth, I get an eight year advantage. You¡¯re information will be an acceptable price for my cooperation.¡±, Tony replied, and then exited the med-bay.


    Ylisaya and I disconnected from the internal sensors as we considered what we just learned.


    ¡°The Captain was married?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°And divorced, his ex actually got awarded the Something Clever when they divided the marital assets. All the Captain got to keep was his job as the gunner. We had a full crew then, and we still don¡¯t regret being the only Rylkonian crew to ever mutiny. I never thought a Lahnthano woman would be the reason the Something Clever is the only Gunship with a brig. She stole the ship in front of the crew and actually ordered us to become space pirates! We almost sold her into slavery too, and we would have gotten paid a lot for her, she was really pretty when she was younger, but the Captain intervened. She had to become a Huntress to pay her debts to the Cooperative, and she¡¯s been a problem for the Captain for a while, and kind of the reason we don¡¯t really respect the Captain¡¯s chair.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°I have so many questions.¡±, Ylisaya said as she departed the bridge stunned by the information she attempted to process, and I resumed my flight shift although we were now very close to Venus and would be landing soon.


    Near the end of my shift, I accessed the internal sensor and noticed Tony was in cargo bay three, and looking at his spare cloaking devices. When Tony finished he went directly to the brig and examined the cell, which was only occupied by a hologram of Ryfez. I reconfigured the internal sensor to detect stealth technology, and I sensed Tony also using the internal scanner system.


    ¡°Jhess don¡¯t bother scanning the ship, Ryfez is gone.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts to me, as we established a cyber-link.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡±, I sent my question to Tony.


    ¡°He escaped¡­probably when we hit the space pirates and docked with the freighter.¡±, Tony sent his reply, through a cyber-link.


    ¡°How did he get out of his cell?¡±, I sent my question to Tony.


    ¡°When I built this brig, I also included a way for me to escape from it. Coincidentally this method only works when there¡¯s no gravity and no atmosphere. I¡¯m actually wondering how he got around those two obstacles.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts to me.


    I wondered why Tony was so eager to build a brig on a ship that never needed one. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised he designed it for his escape, and the crew would only support the idea if it was meant to lock up his ex-wife. The spymasters are not going to like this turn of events.

 Chapter 10 - A Safe Place (So It Probably Isn鈥檛 Safe)

    We prepared for our landing on Venus, so Ylisaya, Tony, and I were all in our stations on the bridge, although I was the only one required to be there. The pigs were safely in the ten cages and a makeshift harness pen, which enveloped them in a soft net in all directions. The lives of the pigs was now in my hands since Ylisaya and Tony could nothing more to protect them while landing. Our three passengers remained in their quarters, safely sealed in their pods. We were now close enough to see the mega-structures of Venus, the docking ring that encompasses the planet, and the two jungle rings of cyber-continents at the perfect latitudes of the planet¡¯s atmosphere to create two tropical paradise zones magnetically floating over the planet¡¯s hot and dense surface. We requested permission to land, but we were denied. A call came in through the communication array. Tony and I knew it was the spymaster. Tony reluctantly activated the communication array, and the hologram of Rykannis Ayrada''an, the Rylkonian Spymaster appeared in the gunner¡¯s console, and he didn¡¯t look happy.


    ¡°Greetings Phantom, do you know why I¡¯m calling?¡±, Rykannis said, sarcastically.


    ¡°Thank you spymaster, is this related to the dread pirate?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Very close¡­ I¡¯ve been summoned by the First Council. I¡¯m perfectly fine talking to my peers in the Third Council, and I can be respectful to the Second Council. I¡¯d just like to point out how unusual it sounds that a Spymaster is surprised by a meeting of the top one percent of the Protectorate¡¯s citizens, not the normal ninety percent, not even the middle nine percent of stakeholders. Does that make sense to you?,¡± Rykannis said.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just about my application to First-Class?¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Your promotion isn¡¯t my problem! You were hired to catch a dread pirate and prevent a war. Now if you found him and you caught him, then I know you read my report. So when I said and wrote the only prison that can hold him is the Pits of Charon and the only way to capture him is to the cryonic-freeze him, if confronted he might not give you an option to capture him. Do you remember when I said all that?¡±, Rykannis asked.


    ¡°I remember, what¡¯s your point?¡±, Tony asked.


    Rykannis sent two news publications. The headline of the first article was, ¡°Dread Pirate Escapes! U.D.E. Increasing Security!¡± The second headline was, ¡°Pirate Fleet Leader Returns.¡±


    ¡°My point is, if you want to get promoted, you better make sure I don¡¯t get fired. Because a third class citizen might not matter to a second class citizen who¡¯s fine with being the middle nine, and I can¡¯t speak for the First Council, but that doesn¡¯t sound like someone who belongs in the top one percent. I don¡¯t need speculation. I just want to know why the Dread Pirate isn¡¯t frozen or dead, when I explicitly stated that his escape skills are unmatched?¡± Rykannis demanded.


    ¡°I made the reservation, but I was detected by a U.D.E. agent, and I didn¡¯t want to walk into a U.D.E. trap just because I showed up for a cryonic freezer reservation, Mars was no longer safe, and I was uncertain if the risk of holding out for freezing him was going to be worth losing my crew or my ship. We encountered a space pirate ambush, that was when the Dread pirate escaped. But now we know the U.D.E. has a spy in the space pirates.¡±, Tony said but he was lying, we left early because our clients paid extra.


    ¡°Earthborn Pirates are no match for a Gunship, not without a plan. My concern is you, not a bunch of shit born fascists killing each other. What happened?¡±, Rykannis asked.


    ¡°What we thought was a merchant freighter in an adjacent shipping lane was attacked, we attempted to search for survivors, and that was the last time we had the dread pirate. Should I fill out a report?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother filling out a report. Let¡¯s hope your actions are good enough for the First Council. If you have business on Venus resolve it, and don¡¯t waste time looking for a passenger contract. The Council needs you to be focused. So get your ship, the asses of your crew, and your ugly combat cyborg face to Freya station. If I still have a job, I¡¯ll explain what happens next there. Don¡¯t call me, I¡¯ll call you.¡±, Rykannis said as he disconnected and we were granted permission to land.


    I docked the Something Clever at the ¡°New Arrivals¡± registration and immigration center, and Ylisaya and I departed without any weapons. Tony took the ship and went on to complete the deliveries and bring the passengers to the ¡°Cooperative Officers and Representatives¡± privilege pass through. The immigration facility was filled with over fifty women and a few of them brought their daughters. The facility was similar to the habitation domes on Mars and Deimos, and attendants wandered the facility tending to the arrivals. An attendant approached Ylisaya and myself, and she handed each of us a ticket. Ylisaya was given ticket number forty-seven and I had number forty-eight. The attendant directed us to a long table with women traveling by themselves. The table on the opposite side of the facility was occupied by women traveling with children. In the center of our table a number was counting upwards and was at twenty-two, when we sat down.


    ¡°Do you think the animal delivery or the Cooperative employee arrival is this slow?¡±, Ylisaya asked me with just above the sound of a whisper.


    ¡°Slow? We¡¯re stuck on Venus until Freya station passes this planet. This facility isn¡¯t going to hit full capacity until Freya drops off a bunch of immigrants, visitors, and tourists. Tony¡¯s the only one whose gonna find paying work until then.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Why did you use his name instead of the calling him the Captain?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I only say Captain when were on the ship, but while we¡¯re on this planet, Tony¡¯s pronouns are it, that, this, anything robotic, or Tony¡¯s moniker, the Phantom. But, I just tell that annoy the other Huntresses because I just hate this planet¡¯s laws.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Pronouns?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the Cooperative¡¯s laws. Any other planet, moon, space-station, or space ship, Tony just doesn¡¯t care. But on this planet, we follow their laws.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Do we need different pronouns?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Female pronouns are safe here, but male pronouns might confuse little girls, and make them curious about the rest of their species. The Cooperative takes the education of their future generations¡­um¡­very seriously.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya looked in the direction of the table with women and children and then turned towards me.


    ¡°One of those children is a boy in a dress.¡±, Ylisaya whispered.


    Some of the other women seemed curious about what Ylisaya was saying to me.


    ¡°I invoke the right to privacy.¡±, I declared to the table and women and children around us focused their attention in any direction except anywhere near me.


    ¡°Did you do any research about the Cooperative? This planet¡¯s population is ninety-nine percent women, the laws are more complex than anything we know in the Protectorate, and you seriously expect to stay here until you can become a Protectorate Third-Class Citizen?¡±, I said hypothetically to Ylisaya.


    ¡°No, why? Surhey was working all the time, this is Nyrella¡¯s first time on Venus so she didn¡¯t know anything, and Meiyo said I would be fine.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°I apologize for the rudeness, but we need to link minds.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, as I initiated a cyber-link.


    ¡°Well, I made a deal with Tony. The propaganda is done, so now it¡¯s my turn. There are three kinds of laws. The types are rights, limits, and progression. In short, rights are what you¡¯re allowed to do, limits are what you¡¯re not allowed to do, and progression is the point of a planet that¡¯s a safe place for women. On this planet, a man is not allowed to claim to be a woman, not allowed to pretend, and not allowed to sell his genetic material, so another male can be born or cloned. The enforcers of this world¡¯s laws are the Huntresses, not us. So the way I see it, you can declare yourself to be an enemy of smugglers, then the women with far more privileges than a slave and employ those smugglers can make your life here miserable. Or you enjoy all this planet has to offer a young woman who is about to earn her freedom, if she can just be quiet until we¡¯re actually in.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Ylisaya and she acknowledged.


    ¡°So when you speak to the immigration agent, you can ask for asylum and they will make you a refugee, but you must stay quiet about being a chosen one, criticizing the Cooperative, or being a former slave of an applicant of a Protectorate First Class Citizenship. This world has a tendency to reward women for bad behavior, and then threaten to take away privileges, if possible. You don¡¯t know who will sell you out to enemies of the Phantom.¡±, I sent my instructions to Ylisaya through our cyber-link.


    An attendant approached Ylisaya and me, and seemed disappointed.


    ¡°If you two are going to use telepathy, please don¡¯t do that here. That teaches children to keep secrets.¡±, the attendant said to Ylisaya and me.


    Ylisaya and I nodded and agreed with the woman, and I imagined Ylisaya began thinking about how she would explain her situation. An alarm went off and bright flashing red lights matched the buzzing pulses that echoed through the facility. An airlock door continued beeping when the alarm turned from red to yellow. The door¡¯s lights changed to green when the yellow alarm ended. Out of the airlock door walked ten women. Six of the women were shackled around their ankles, wrists, and necks with chains in front and behind them, connected to another woman.


    Kellenra, the Rylkonian woman at the front of the chain was not shackled, but she held the chain in her hand and pulled the chain behind her. Whenever the shackled women slowed down she pulled the chain, and it seemed as though she had pulled them enough times so each pull let the shackled women know her unhappiness with their behavior. She wore finely polished power armor that also showed the signs of many battles, and on her hip she wore a hand-gun that hung from an ammo belt. Her long platinum hair was pulled back under a thin band. The band that held her hair was also a method of hiding deflector shields, and could be activated with a thought just as quickly as her power armor. Her emerald eyes only looked forwards with a unrelenting focus.


    Janodine, the Rylkonian woman at the back of the chain also held the chain and carefully watched the movements of the women in shackles. While she didn¡¯t pull against the chain, her grip also stopped the shackled women from resisting or manipulating the chain against either herself or Kellenra at the front. Her dark hair fell over her high collar in waves as her silver eyes remained fixed on the line of shackled women. She carried a spool of synthetic coiled cable on her back, over her engineering suit. I had only seen this weapon once before, and I wasn¡¯t familiar with it¡¯s use. The compartments on her belt probably carried equally mysterious tools and contraptions.


    Vickessah, the Rylkonian women on the side near the tables with children wore a medical scanner over her eyes, which allowed her scan any patient or enemy¡¯s vital signs. Her golden hair rolled over the scanner and behind the scanner I could barely see her ruby eyes. On her back she carried a tank filled with bio-gel. She followed at the same pace as the other women and through her medical scanner I could see she was watching six life signs. She pulled a sheet of plastyn from her science uniform, although I was uncertain why it looked so much like Surhey¡¯s when we first met, as if one copied the other.


    Mykayla, the last women was not a Rylkonian but a Lahnthano woman. She walked on the side near us, and I recognized her just before I hid. Mykayla¡¯s armor was a patchwork of repair panels, held together by a webbed mesh of crossing cords. Around her hips, she wore the bottom half of a flight suit, rolled up to the top of each thigh. The top half of the flight suit was tied around her waist, just below an ammo belt that held two handguns in the front that ran along the creases of each hip. Across her chest she wore another ammo belt, running from one shoulder to the opposite hip. While she kept the shape of a woman, her bronze toned flesh was also covered in scars, burns, and gunshot wounds visible through the gaps in her armor. Around her shoulders she wore a gray cloak that she pushed to the back as she rested her hand on her hips while she walked. Her hands had distal talons one at the end of each finger, and while I did not see, I presumed her toes were the same. Her purple eyes were altered to have the vision of an apex predator through vertical cat like pupils. Her copper hair was tightly braided on each side, but some of her hair fell over her face hiding another scar. Her triangular ears twitched towards the direction of each sound, and perhaps even sounds beyond what my own cybernetic ears could hear. Down her back between her shoulders she carried a cannon like weapon that was folded up. While Kellenra and Janodine held the chain that shackled the six other women, Mykayla could probably aim and shoot faster than Kellenra needed.


    As the six chained women prisoners and their four jailers walked through the immigration facility, they moved near Ylisaya and Myself. Except they also moved near the boy disguised as a girl. The boy looked to be no older than eight earth years, and illegally smuggling a boy onto Venus, would risk the wrath of the Huntresses. The boy turned to the women watching over him, with his eyes soaked in tears.


    ¡°Huntresses! I¡¯m scared.¡±, the boy seemed to plead with the woman.


    The woman tried to calm and hide the boy from the ten women, but I knew it was too late. I saw Mykayla¡¯s ear twitch at the sound of whispering. I was impressed to see Ylisaya remain quiet, as I wondered if she noticed that I hid behind her. I also wasn¡¯t interested in being discovered by the four Huntresses. One of the facility¡¯s attendants ran towards them.


    ¡°Unshackle those women!¡±, the attendant yelled.


    ¡°As you wish.¡±, Kellenra said, as she raised her hand and made a gesture towards her team.


    Janodine and Mykayla revealed remotes from their ammo belts which deactivated the shackles, and the women cried as they embraced each other. The attendant ran up to the six now unshackled women and examined their faces.


    ¡°We have completed our contract. We expect to be paid.¡±, Kellenra said to the attendant.


    ¡°One of the conditions of your contract was to protect the Cooperative¡¯s citizens, not shackle them like animals! You better hope they all get a clean medical scan!¡±, the attendant protested.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, they¡¯ll all fail. Four of them don¡¯t even have parental licenses.¡±, Vickessah said, in a cold and unfeeling tone, as she handed a sheet of plastyne to the attendant.


    The attendant examined the information on the sheet for only a moment and turned her focus back toward the unshackled women.


    ¡°You¡¯re safe now, the Cooperative will restore you as free women.¡±, said the attendant.


    ¡°What about my baby? She¡¯s good, please let me keep her.¡±, cried one woman.


    ¡°You¡¯re daughter will be immediately extracted, rescued, and safely adopted by parents who can give her the life that a citizen of Venus deserves.¡±, the attendant said, as she gestured for one of her subordinates.


    A woman wearing the uniform of a genetic researcher walked up, and attempted to examine the women. Even though she was just doing her job, they seemed to be more afraid of her than they were afraid of the four huntresses. The women seemed to resist the genetic researcher, and the attendant decided to intervene.


    ¡°Follow the medic to med-bay or the Huntresses will put the shackles back on you!¡±, the attendant yelled, and then watched the women reluctantly follow the genetic researcher until they were beyond her vision.


    ¡°You four better have a good explanation, go to my office, and I¡¯ll give you ten minutes to get your stories straight. Now go!¡±, the attendant said as she watched the four Huntresses depart the facility in the opposite direction of their arrival. Janodine rolled up the chain and carried it on her shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for this dramatic display of Cooperative functions, please be patient while my staff addresses each of your individual needs to enter the Venus Cooperative.¡±, the attendant announced to the visitors, refugees, and families waiting in the facility, and then departed to follow the Huntresses.


    I looked towards Ylisaya and she was completely focused on me, as I imagined that she was still processing what she just witnessed.


    ¡°Let me guess. You have a lot of questions.¡± I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°I know I¡¯m not supposed to ask. But honestly, I don¡¯t even know where to start, because I don¡¯t feel safe anymore.¡±, Ylisaya said, and she was right.


    I took a moment to collect my thoughts. I moved closer to Ylisaya to a distance where I only needed to whisper, and managed not to offend the employees of the Cooperative.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯m only able to provide a theory, based on cause and effect. The cause is parental licenses. The Cooperative only allows their citizens to obtain a prenatal license if they achieve the financial, medical, and psychological requirements. On this planet it works. But when Cooperative citizens get permits to work off world, they tend to make use of the opportunities that being off planet can offer, and sometimes they don¡¯t want to come back. First the Cooperative will ask them to come back, but when that doesn¡¯t work the Cooperative has to get them back or they get deported, that¡¯s part of the job for Huntresses. Cause and effect. Six deportations? My guess is Mercury, Earth, and Freya Station are close enough for one ship, to catch all of those deportees.¡±, I whispered to Ylisaya.


    ¡°But to bring them back in chains? It seemed excessive.¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Sometimes people, like the men they fall for, try to protect them, sometimes they hire mercenaries, sometimes they hire ambitious pirates, or worst case scenario they get mixed up with slavers. Huntresses have to be ready to deal with those kinds of threats, to keep their citizens safe. Sometimes protect them from themselves. We keep stun ammo for good reasons.¡±, I whispered to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Meiyo a Huntress? Would she do something like that?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Meiyo? Maybe. Remember the pirates? Meiyo went looking for survivors, to bring them here. I was once a Huntress, but neither Tony nor I are Cooperative citizens. We¡¯re both fine with Protectorate Citizenship.¡±, I whispered to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Who are those four Huntresses?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Kellenra, Janodine, Vickessah, and Mykayla. They¡¯re the crew of the Mermaid, another ambush class gunship, and Mykalya is Tony¡¯s ex. Their ship belongs to Captain Rythizon, and he¡¯s one of the Protectorate second class citizens assigned to their holdings on this planet, as the Protectorate¡¯s overseer.¡±, I whispered to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Wow Mykayla is¡­exactly the same size and shape as Meiyo. What happens to any of their babies that are boys?,¡± Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re about to find out.¡±, I whispered to Ylisaya as I noticed Janodine and Mykayla return from the administrative office, and Janodine no longer had the chain with her.


    I gestured towards Janodine and Mykayla who were focused on the boy waiting at the table on the opposite side of the facility. As Ylisaya watched the two Huntresses approach, I slowly adjusted my seat to hide behind Ylisaya. Janodine and Mykayla both reached behind their necks and each collected their long hair into one hand. They pressed their hair to the back of their necks and their hair stayed, held in place by an unseen force. Mykayla and Janodine then reached under their armor, revealed a deflector band, and placed the band under their chin around the neck, like a high collar. Both activated their deflector shields and the bands around their necks projected deflector shields around their heads. Mykayla was no longer hiding the scar, over her eye and revealed that parts of her skull had been repaired and replaced with cybernetics. The woman watching over the boy whispered something to him and he attempted to hide behind her.


    Mykayla and Janodine exchanged glances with each other and I could see their eyes quickly shifting side to side, which meant they were cyber-linked. Janodine pulled against the chords of the spool on her back, which also hid her hands from the woman and the boy. Mykayla and Janodine moved into a perfect attack angle as the woman looked around.


    ¡°Are we close?¡±, Janodine asked Mykayla.


    But I knew if Janodine was asking, she wanted to be heard because a cyberlink is more efficient and would allow her to communicate without alerting non-cyborgs.


    ¡°They used a lot of perfume trying to hide the scent, but he¡¯s here.¡±, Mykayla said, and revealed a pair fangs each time she spoke.


    ¡°Run!¡±, the woman said to the boy, and he attempted to flee.


    Janodine threw a coils of cords with each hand. One cord flew at the woman and another flew at the boy. The cords snared their targets, as the woman tried to struggle against the cords, but she fell to the ground. The boy only moved five steps before the coil wrapped around his ankles and he stumbled like an animal. Mykayla reached over her shoulder and gripped the folded cannon. In one motion she flipped the cannon over her shoulder and the momentum of the spin unfolded the weapon onto her shoulder, ready to aim and shoot. The boy reached with both hands to try to remove the coils from his legs, and Janodine threw another snare around both of his hands. Mykayla aimed at the boy and then shifted her aim back towards the woman. The woman looked up at Mykayla and into the barrel of Mykayla¡¯s shoulder fired cannon. Mykayla smiled, and revealed the pair of fangs again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move, you¡¯re under arrest.¡±, Mykayla said.


    Mykayla flicked her wrist and the spin of momentum folded the cannon back into its collapsed shape as Mykayla returned the weapon onto her back.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing Huntress?¡±, The facility¡¯s chief attendant yelled.


    The attendant returned followed by Vickessah and Kellenra. Vickessah walked up to the boy and scanned him.


    ¡°This child is no girl!¡±, Vickessah said as she picked up the boy from the chords wrapped around his hands and presented him to the chief attendant.


    ¡°Mykayla your claws are sharp. Would you like to do the honors?¡±, Kellenra said to Mykayla, as Kellenra lifted the woman off the ground.


    Vickessah lifted the coil wrapped around the boy¡¯s hands and turned him to face Mykayla. Mykayla raised her open hand, with the palm facing upwards. Mykayla¡¯s fingers of both hands encased themselves in energy and turned into talons of red energy blades. With one downward swipe of her raised claw, Mykayla sliced through the boy¡¯s dress and with a swipe across the boy¡¯s chest from her other hand she ripped the dress off of the boy without injuring him. The boy twisted as he tried to hide his body and his shame, but the attendant looked at him with disgust and contempt. The attendant turned towards the woman who traveled with him.


    ¡°You better have a good explainination for trying to smuggle a boy into a place that¡¯s only safe for women!¡±, the attendant said to the woman.


    ¡°Huntresses, lock him up in one of the interview rooms and put some prisoner cloths this ¡­ thing, so we can see him for the lying, worthless, monster he is. The factory always needs more slaves.¡±, the attendant said while facing the boy, and then she turned to the woman who travelled with him.


    ¡°Bring her to my office.¡±, the attendant said.


    The attendant was followed by Janodine, Kellenra, and Vickessah as they arrested the woman and the boy, but Mykayla stayed behind. Mykayla followed her nose, as if she detected a familiar scent. She deactivated her deflector shields and the invisible mechanism that held her hair back. The band rolled back into Mykayla¡¯s collar, as she focused on finding the familiar scent. Mykayla turned around, looking over her shoulder and she slowly spun on her feet. Mykayla walked up to our table, sat down next to Ylisaya, and looked directly at me.


    ¡°Hello Jhessyreen. It¡¯s been a while.¡±, Mykayla said, but did not yet notice Ylisaya.


    ¡°Mykayla. I¡¯d agree, except I don¡¯t care.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible to be even more immature? I¡¯ve forgiven the whole mutiny, trying to sell me into slavery, and stealing my husband. I think I¡¯ve earned a second chance.¡±, Mykayla said, but I didn¡¯t believe her.


    ¡°There¡¯s two problems with your perspective. First, you divorced Tony, which means you¡¯re not married anymore. And then, your second chance doesn¡¯t automatically involve me, my ship, nor anyone in our crew. You wanna see Tony? Post a paying job, and wait for a bid. I¡¯m not interested in whatever you¡¯re doing. Just don¡¯t pretend that I was ever your friend, because I¡¯m not a pirate!¡±, I said to Mykayla.


    ¡°Now who¡¯s the one making assumptions? I like being a Huntress, it gives me a lot more privilege. Like right now, I can ignore your right to privacy, and demand to know what¡¯s your business on Venus?¡±, Mykayla asked, and as a Huntress she has that authority.


    ¡°Very well Huntress. The Something Clever is dropping off passengers, cargo deliveries, and waiting for our next contract. And since all of our passengers were female, I think you need to respect their individual right to privacy, and let immigration do their job.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see then. Would that be four passengers? Three of which were registered at the Cooperative embassy, and one of whom is also a Huntress and reported one refugee who escaped a Martian war zone. We both know Huntresses have to report all their activities, I know she¡¯s here.¡±, Mykayla said.


    ¡°Leave her alone. I¡¯m right here. So what do you want?¡±, Ylisaya demanded.


    Mykayla glanced at Ylisaya¡¯s face, then down to her feet, and and then back towards me.


    ¡°My suspicion is what can a refugee offer a mercenary and bounty hunter? It seems I¡¯m not the only woman getting replaced by a younger and prettier girl.¡±, Mykayla said.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t have enough crew for that many passengers. Our other clients paid enough, it was worth it to make her part of our crew. She earned her place on the Something Clever, and she didn¡¯t try to be a space pirate.¡±, I said to Mykayla.


    ¡°Yes¡­and she¡¯s earned the right to be in a safe place for women, and she doesn¡¯t need to fear space pirates any more.¡±, Mykayla said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of space pirates.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Now you sound like a Huntress. That¡¯s fine, I know the smell of fear. You ever face space pirates in battle?¡±, Mykayla asked.


    Mykayla moved closer to Ylisaya and pressed her hip against Ylisaya¡¯s body, and wrapped her clawed hand behind Ylisaya.


    ¡°My mistake, that¡¯s not fear I smell¡­That¡¯s guilt¡­Yes, you have fought and killed space pirates, and you attacked their families¡­not letting anything get in your way¡­just like a Huntress.¡±, Mykayla whispered into Ylisaya¡¯s ear.


    Ylisaya knocked away Mykayla¡¯s clawed hand, and then pushed away Mykayla, butwhatever force Ylisaya exerted pushed her back just as far as she pushed Mykayla away.


    ¡°Stop touching me.¡±, Ylisaya yelled at Mykayla.


    Mykayla lifted up a number ticket and examined it, but nobody noticed Mykayla steal it from Ylisaya.


    ¡°Forty-seven.¡±, Mykayla said as she handed the ticket back to Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya snatched the ticket back from Mykayla¡¯s clawed hand, examined it, and the glared back to Mykayla. Mykayla slid part of the armor covering her wrist and revealed an electronic device. Mykayla pressed a few buttons and the waiting number indicator changed from twenty three into forty seven. Mykayla smiled at Ylisaya, as Ylisaya was approached by an attendant who directed her to follow. Ylisaya stood up and seemed relieved to just get away from Mykayla, which I understood.


    ¡°Enjoy the safe place, refugee.¡±, Mykayla said to Ylisaya, and then turned towards me.


    ¡°What game are you playing, Mykayla?¡±, I demanded.


    ¡°Just doing my job.¡±, Mykayla replied.


    ¡°Immigration isn¡¯t a Huntress¡¯s job! What¡¯s really going on?¡±, I asked.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if I just blinked or if I was distracted, but somehow Mykayla vanished from right in front of me. At first I, suspected Mykayla activated her cloaking device, but the distortion effect would have been visible. Before I realized anything was differentI discovered Mykayla was behind me, and I could feel her body pressing against me, holding me against the table. Mykayla¡¯s arm was wrapped around my shoulder, and her clawed hand gripped my chin.


    ¡°You once said I would be a prettier slave than a space pirate. Let me show you a world where women do not rely on their looks.¡±, Mykayla said, as I could feel the tip of one of her talons sliding across my face.


    I activated my deflector shields and the deflectors instantly forced Mykayla to release her grip. I swung my legs to one side and jumped to the opposite of the table. I rolled over my side as I landed and caught a glimpse of Mykayla chasing after me. Mykayla had me trapped underneath her. Mykayla raised her arm and she activated her claw¡¯s energy blades. With inhuman speed Mykayla slashed at me, and overloaded my front deflector shield. Mykayla pressed her hips down against my ribs and I could feel her leg muscles keep her balance. I felt Mykayla¡¯s hand grip my wrist and force my arm to the ground beside me. I tried to strike back with my other free hand, and I felt Mykayla¡¯s foot step on my arm. I felt Mykayla¡¯s face move in close to my ear.


    ¡°I developed my own special mode¡­I call it Torture Mode!¡±, Mykayla whispered, as I felt the tips of her fangs sliding across my ear.


    Mykayla leaned back and raised her arm for a power strike, and the energy blades of her talons changed from red to a dim yellow, that glowed with unstable fury. As she shifted her weight, I freed my arm that was trapped under her foot. I shielded my face, but no strike landed on me. I opened an eye and saw that Mykayla¡¯s eyes look at me, then to my trapped hand. A force I couldn¡¯t see pulled Mykayla back, and I could see Kellenra throwing Mykayla away from me. Before Mykayla could land, I saw a metallic coil wrapped around Mykayla¡¯s legs, and then I saw Janodine, as she threw another coil that wrapped around Mykayla¡¯s arms. Mykayla fell to the ground and rolled onto her side so she could look around.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Mykayla!¡±, Kellenra yelled.


    Janodine walked up to Mykayla, picked her up, flipped Mykayla onto her shoulders and turned towards Kellenra. Kellenra looked toward me and then turned back to Janodine and Mykayla.


    ¡°Take her back to the Mermaid, I¡¯ll deal with her after I find out how mad the Cooperative is.¡±, Kellenra said to Janodine.


    Janodine departed in the direction of the Mermaid carrying Mykayla across her shoulders like a captured animal.


    ¡°You ever think about counseling because this happens every time you see any crew from the Something Clever?¡±, Janodine asked Mykayla.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need counseling, my future was stolen from me.¡±, Mykayla replied as Janodine carried her away.


    Kellenra offered to help me stand and I allowed her to help me.


    ¡°Sorry, we haven¡¯t quite learned how to control her, at least not yet. How do you control yours?¡±, Kellenra asked.


    ¡°I just let my captain choose the destination. Once I bring the ship there, I can just wait for the next destination. Chaos, destruction, and deception applied with precision are what we sell. That¡¯s also why I can¡¯t be a huntress, that has a high chance of conflicting contracts.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°But you¡¯re in a lot of danger too. Shouldn¡¯t your compensation and citizenship match the risks?¡±, Kellenra asked.


    ¡°Risks? I¡¯m on a planet that claims to be a safe place for women, and one of it¡¯s enforcers just tried to rip my face off. I¡¯ll just remain a third-class citizen, stay happy with my salary, and never ever have to worry about profit.¡±, I replied to Kellenra.


    ¡°Are you gonna file against Mykayla, because I still need her. As unpredictable as she is, she¡¯s one of the few Cannoneers who¡¯ll accept work from the Cooperative.¡±, Kellenra said as she rubbed her face with her hand.


    ¡°Should I expect the Cooperative to seriously take a case against a Huntress? If the Cooperative has a problem with me, my ship has better places to go.¡±, I said to Kellenra.


    ¡°Well, I have a problem you might solve. The girl you brought is sick, we can¡¯t figure her out. She implied this has happened before.¡±, Kellenra said to me.


    I followed Kellenra as she led me to Ylisaya. Vickessah was scanning Ylisaya in an interview room, and the Chief attendant stood in the far corner of the room.


    ¡°She¡¯s perfectly healthy and her brain is normal for now, as long as the brain activity doesn¡¯t accelerate again it should heal. Whatever caused the anomaly isn¡¯t anything I can find.¡±, Vickessah said to the chief attendant.


    The chief attendant turned towards Kellenra and me, and I suspected she was suspicious of Ylisaya.


    ¡°Normally women seeking refuge on Venus have some trauma. Normally Rylkonian woman who are part of a crew only come to Venus for vacation. Normally gunships only follow wealthy merchant freighters to Venus, and at least one of the crew are Huntresses, normally. So Jhessyreen, can you imagine why I don¡¯t think I¡¯m dealing with a normal immigration? Was this girl part of your crew?¡±, the attendant asked me.


    ¡°Yes, but is she being denied refuge?¡±, I replied and asked the attendant.


    ¡°How could we deny refuge to someone if she didn¡¯t ask?¡±, the attendant replied.


    ¡°Can I have some privacy with her?¡±, I asked the attendant.


    The attendant glanced at Kellenra and Vickessah, then nodded with a gesture for them to follow her. Once I was certain that I was alone with Ylisaya I decided to ask her.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you requesting political asylum?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel safe on this planet, and I need Tony¡¯s help.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Help with what?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°I had another vision.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°We need to cyber-link, and now.¡±, I said, and initiated a cyber-link to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Well if you tell anyone other than our crew, they might sell us out, for the reward money. It would be an easy payday. For now I¡¯ll avoid using my scanner vision until you can develop the skills to control these visions. I¡¯ll teach you what I do, let¡¯s try that first, for now.¡±, I sensed Tony¡¯s thoughts and realized Ylisaya was already linked to his mind.


    ¡°You¡¯re already aware? You know what¡¯s happening to Ylisaya?¡±, I sent my thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°This was a possibility. I¡¯ve also changed my skepticism about her being a chosen one, but I will reserve judgement until I hear the prophecy.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts through the link.


    ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡±, Ylisaya sent her question through the link.


    ¡°Cryonic freezing will suspend most brain activity, but that¡¯s expensive, and when you wake up, nothing about this situation changes. The first vision happened right before I fired the fusion cannons, and Jhessyreen was also there, but she was unaffected. So maybe getting a specialization might make a difference, or might make you not have these visions at all. This is unusual that my scanner vision has become visible to another, so this is all kinds of unfamiliar for me.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°So what was the vision?¡±, I sent my question through the cyber-link.


    ¡°I saw a woman kill herself, then I saw a Huntress kill her, and then I saw the Huntress tell Tony kill to her.¡±, Ylisaya sent her thoughts to me.


    ¡°This Huntress is my new client, Calista. I¡¯ll introduce her tonight. I scanned her when I took the contract, and that¡¯s when I detected Ylisaya had an identical vision.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Can I see this vision?¡±, I sent my question through the cyber-link.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a bad idea, I need you to fly the ship, so I can¡¯t risk putting you in the same situation with Ylisaya, when I use scanner vision to aim the fusion cannons.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°That makes sense. So how do we get into the Cooperative, if none of us are refugees, and we can¡¯t afford to be tourists?¡±, I sent my question through the cyberlink.


    ¡°You can ask to be re-instated as a Huntress, and then you can go anywhere you want on Venus.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s gonna infuriate Mykayla. So I¡¯ll do it.¡±, I sent my thoughts though the link.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t antagonize my ex, she¡¯s still traumatized from when you almost sold her into slavery, and she was still just a normal human. Can you imagine how much she cried, begged me to take her back, and apologized for divorcing me in that tiny cell? She actually wanted me to break us out and help her take back the ship. I looked in her eyes, and told her the crew employment contracts were part of the divorce decree, the ship needs a crew, the captain is supposed to pay them, and I¡¯m not about to harm my friends for the woman who tried to turn them into pirates. You want to be a captain, this mutiny is a lesson in crew loyalty. You want to stay a free woman, then sell them the ship. She wasn¡¯t ready to be a captain, and probably still isn¡¯t.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts.


    ¡°I thought you said you didn¡¯t want her back¡­and not anymore.¡±, I sent my thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°That was after she tried to offer sex in exchange for rescuing her.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°So the crew owns the ship?¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s question reached me through the cyber-link.


    ¡°We did, now the ship owns itself or as the Earth born say, herself.¡±, I replied through the cyber-link.


    ¡°The ship is the business, the point of everything we do. As a captain, I am an employee of the ship, though that doesn¡¯t really change the job. But now, nobody can divorce the ship away from us.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts moved through the cyber-link.


    ¡°So only the crew mutinied, but you didn¡¯t?¡±, Ylisaya sent her question to Tony through the Cyber-link.


    ¡°The divorce required I give up the ship, the crew, all my wealth, and all my earnings. In my opinion that¡¯s like being a slave. I asked if I can just stay as the ship¡¯s gunner for free and keep my job. But when the crew mutinied, I couldn¡¯t just take back what I had to give up in the divorce decree, so Mykayla and I were locked up together. But I let the crew know if she sells the ship, she also sells my job, so the ship keeps a free gunner. The point of the mutiny was to avoid becoming pirates, but starting a mutiny, kidnapping, and stealing a ship sounds a lot like pirates. Mykayla¡¯s freedom is a small price compared to not becoming pirates.¡±, Tony replied through the cyber-link.


    ¡°That¡¯s how I remember the mutiny.¡±, I sent my thoughts through the cyber-link.


    ¡°That kind of explains your stance against keeping a slave. So your ex became a huntress, and the crew just moved on?¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s question reached us through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Well not all of us. We all have on our records a full on mutiny, it¡¯s tough finding a different ship that can look passed that. Now being a huntress, that kind of experience is something they like to hear.¡±, I sent my reply through the cyber-link.


    ¡°So what about the Red Cloak you gave to Meiyo?¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s question reached Tony through the cyber-link.


    ¡°When Mykayla told me she decided to become a Cannoneer, I placed the order for the Red Cloak as a gift, and it took a while to finish. Then divorced, then mutiny, then sold the ship, and the Red Cloak was just extra since that time. This conversation is better saved for the ship, we need to get into the planet.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts moved through the cyber-link, and he disconnected.


    I activated my favorite mode, which I called ¡°Vacation Mode.¡±

 Chapter 11 - A Vacation Fit for a Huntress

    Being a Huntress on the planet that gives us authority has its benefits. At some point the Cooperative will assign me an investigation. Normally a new Huntress will be assigned to assist a more experienced Huntress, but my situation is a reinstatement. My only advantage here is that I know when I no longer need to stay on Venus, if I already planned to resign from the job. I didn¡¯t expect Ylisaya to decline refugee status, so becoming a Huntress again was the easiest way for us to gain entry to the planet.


    Ylisaya and I arrived at the dock where the Something Clever already had a connected airlock, and Tony was already waiting with a new client. Calista was a tiny and slim Naphridahn woman with a triangular face, wide green eyes, and her long dark hair was looped and held above her neck by an unseen force and the remainder fell below her shoulders. It was clear her hair was three times longer than what could be seen. I knew I was going to want to ask her how she controlled so much hair. Calista also wore a lot of silk. Sections of silk made a gray athletic layer, and outlined her body. Her black silk vest seemed tailored for her silk pants which flowed from a wide waist band to just above her ankles. On her feet she wore open toed sandals with short narrow heels. Silk flows too easily and is a poor choice to conceal a weapon, as I could see a handgun though her vest. I suspected she was just in court for a yet unknown reason.


    ¡°This is my crew, the new one is Ylisaya, and you probably heard about Jhessyreen.¡±, Tony said as we walked in the airlock.


    ¡°Welcome to Venus¡­or should I say welcome back Huntress.¡±, Calista said to me.


    ¡°You must be Calista. I noticed most Huntresses are using new technology for their hair.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Ionic control, it makes hair respond to specific magnetic manipulation, and ignore static. Find a salon called Honey-Tress, and they can sell you a mod. There are a few still in the southern continent, but eventually they will all move north. The pricing is better in the South, but newer stocks are available in the North.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°Is the Southern continent falling behind?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Falling behind?¡­The Cooperative is shutting it down, there are already sections of the Southern continent that are completely uninhabited now. They said it¡¯s unfair to the women who pay taxes for the North, but the North get¡¯s all the opportunities. Now the Southern Continent isn¡¯t populated enough for the Cooperative to keep running it. We think we¡¯ll be able to use it for Huntress training, if we can ask at the right time in the right way.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but are all Huntresses wealthy?¡±, Ylisaya asked Calista.


    ¡°Esxcuse me?¡±, Calista asked and seemed offended by Ylisaya¡¯s question.


    ¡°My apologies, Ylisaya¡¯s unfamiliar with this planet¡¯s attire. She doesn¡¯t yet know you had to testify in Congress.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°I did testify, but not all the way up to Congress, it was just the Senate sub-committee for special investigations. The hearing should be on broadcast over the net, and I hope to see how I did.¡±, Calista said.


    When we entered the Something Clever we followed Tony to cargo bay three, and we saw a wide screen television, taller than me. Tony picked up a remote and turned on the display, and started searching for the Senate hearing. I slowly moved next to Tony.


    ¡°Where did that come from?¡±, I whispered to Tony.


    ¡°Pirate ship.¡±, Tony replied.


    Tony quickly searched Venus networks and found the senate hearing and we saw the image of a Senator asking questions.


    ¡°What we are trying to determine is how the Huntresses made such an obvious mistake, and allowed a serial killer and a serial rapist to simultaneously operate unchallenged and uncontested for months, on a planet that has been declared safe for women?¡±, a senator asked, and the image changed to Calista in her silk suit.


    ¡°Madam Senator, May I remind this committee that the huntresses did detect the rapist first, we caught the rapist first, and no other rape survivors have been connected to our suspect in custody. Only one victim has been identified by Genetic Research, so it is premature and incorrect to declare that the rapist is also a serial rapist. The answer to the senator¡¯s question is the serial killer may have employed a strategy to confuse the investigation efforts focused on finding a rapist by framing the rapist for murder as well.¡±, the image of Calista replied, as the image changed to a different senator.


    ¡°Huntress, is it possible that another killer and even another rapist has also evaded the huntresses with this strategy you theorize, a method of concealing crimes by framing another criminal?¡±, the second senator asked, as the image changed back to Calista.


    ¡°That is what I¡¯m implying, Madam Senator. However when I was trained as a detective, investigations are driven by evidence, and the evidence has revealed exactly one murder occurred between the times the rapist was taken into custody, and the announcement was made public. That is only possible if the killer believed it was feasible to frame the rapist.¡±, the image of Calista replied, as the images changed to a third senator.


    ¡°Huntress, do you realize what you¡¯re saying? If every individual murder has an individual killer, that means there are six potential killers running loose on the planet and the Huntresses are no closer to stoping them than you were last week. It took you months just to catch one man on a planet that has a male population of less than twenty thousand, and only five thousand lack upgraded brains. I think six killers with the potential to also become rapists is worse than one serial killer. Why aren¡¯t the Huntresses increasing enforcer mech patrols?¡±, the third senator said, as the image switched back to Calista.


    ¡°Madam Senator, I¡¯m only here to testify with regards to the investigation. Matters of Huntress capabilities, deployment strategies, or budget may define the situation of the planet, but as a huntress I do not affect those, neither do they affect the results of my investigation. However I seem to recall stating that exact scenario in the need to keep the details of the investigation secret from public view in my initial report, to avoid a copycat attack, after the first victim was identified. There is no need to further increase Enforcer mech Patrols, that only deters attacks. I arrested the rapist, the Enforcer mechs didn¡¯t.¡±, the image of Calista replied, and the image changed to the second senator.


    ¡°I read your reports, Huntress. I also observed that you stopped identifying the gender of the initial suspect after the third report, do you believe a woman framed him?¡±, the senator asked, as the image changed back to Calista.


    ¡°With all due respect Madam Senator, your question is absurd. The first victim was impregnated by the rapist. All the evidence pertaining to the first victim, concluded in identification of the correct perpetrator. The subsequent attacks involving a sexual nature is only indicative of a crime, and if I am assigned the case I will investigate under that authority. I would expect the same from any other Huntress.¡±, the image of Calista said, as the image changed back to the first senator.


    ¡°Thank you for your testimony, Huntress and congratulations on solving such a high profile case, and identifying the need to investigate a copycat killer.¡±, said the first senator and the image switched to a new correspondent with a different topic.


    Calista breathed a sigh of relief and Tony switched of the display.


    ¡°Should we tell her? It¡¯s Mars all over again.¡±, Ylisaya said to Tony, and Tony just nodded his said side-to-side.


    ¡°Tell me what?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°We came to Venus from Mars, two of our passengers had an issue with each other. One works for Genetic Research and the other is Meiyo Ymiri. We eventually discovered that the funding for Huntresses is being cut in favor of Genetic Research, your job is going to get more difficult as the political shift turns in favor of more Genetic Research over support for Huntresses.¡±, Tony said to Calista, but I knew he was lying, because Ylisaya was talking about her vision.


    ¡°Thank you for the disclosure, but we¡¯ve been aware that Congress doesn¡¯t know how to stop the Huntresses from promoting into political offices, as Huntresses leave our jobs as Huntresses. We¡¯re just going to take over their jobs. I was even accused of allowing the attacks, so I could keep my job, trust me I¡¯ve heard it all. This is all a consequence of only recruiting Huntresses, based on talent. The Cooperative socially constructed a new kind of privilege that works exactly the same as male privilege. That¡¯s not any Huntress¡¯s fault. I¡¯ve had a long day, I¡¯m gonna walk home, hang up this very expensive silk suit, and I¡¯ll be back tomorrow. Thank you everyone, but good night.¡±, Calista said as she left the cargo bay and the ship.


    Tony turned to Ylisaya, and Ylisaya immediately realized she made a mistake.


    ¡°I know you want to help, but you don¡¯t know what kind of effects providing information about the future can do to people. That¡¯s a quick way to get locked up in a lab and get your brain dissected, and if the predictions are wrong that¡¯s a quick way to burn up our credibility. For you and me, sharing knowledge of the future is dangerous. For Calista, it¡¯s cheating at her job, and gives her political enemies a new weak point to attack. So we¡¯re gonna start your training, because I want my scanner vision back.¡±, Tony said and then turned towards me.


    ¡°Is this going to be dangerous?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Right. Safe place for women¡­I don¡¯t know, that depends on what we see, when I activate my scanner vision.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to observe. You might need my help.¡± I said and there was nothing else for me to do except watch TV, or learn about Venus.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡±, Tony said as he turned towards Ylisaya.


    Tony took two steps back and checked his exact distance from Ylisaya twice.


    ¡°Okay when I aim a gun, I look through the targeting scanner attached to it. It¡¯s like closing one eye and opening the other. But when a target is moving I have to estimate where the target will be and when my bullets will hit. The questions I ask are what will happen, what can the target do, and what should I do. I see three possible outcomes. Your brain is looking at time as a linear process. When you see a future prediction you¡¯re still looking at time in its present as events occur. Each prediction is being processed as an individual event, but only one prediction can exist, and that isn¡¯t guaranteed either. So don¡¯t look at each prediction as a linear process. Each is only a possible result of a potential action. The potential actions I¡¯m looking at are shooting a gun, hitting a moving target, determining the risk of a client, or avoiding a war.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve been your pilot since the Parasite wars. I¡¯ve never heard this.¡±, I protested.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never needed to train someone how to control visions of the future before, so I have to combine my experience, my abstract thinking, and make up the rest. What do you want me to say?¡±, Tony replied, and I had no response.


    ¡°So what exactly do I do?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Imagine you have an eye that can see the future.¡±, Tony instructed Ylisaya.


    ¡°Left or right eye?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Not your real eyes, this is an abstract eye. It¡¯s just the idea of an eye.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Okay, I have an eye that can see the future. Now what?¡±, Ylisaya asked


    ¡°Close it.¡±, Tony said.


    Ylisaya shut her eyes, and Tony glanced in my direction and his expression changed to a puzzled look.


    ¡°Well she¡¯s following instructions.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya opened her eye closest to me and glanced at me for a moment, and then closed her eye again and focused forward in the direction of Tony.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if it worked. I¡¯m going to activate my scanner vision at the lowest setting. Are you ready?¡±, Tony asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    A few moments passed, and Ylisaya opened one eye, examined the room, and then shut her eye again.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything.¡± Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Okay let¡¯s try a higher setting, and you can leave your real eyes open.¡±, Tony said.


    Ylisaya opened her eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled, and focused on Tony.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°That¡¯s nice, cause it¡¯s already done. How do you feel?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I feel¡­I feel¡­ I feel hungry.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Good, let¡¯s go to the food court at the edge of the continental bridge.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Well if we¡¯re going out we need to look like we¡¯re on vacation.¡±, I said.


    ¡°You two go change, I have just the thing to wear for tonight.¡±, Tony said as he departed for cargo bay one.


    I departed to my quarters and Ylisaya departed for hers. I dropped my flight jacket on my sleeping pod, as I figured I wouldn¡¯t need to fly the ship until it¡¯s time to depart the planet. I changed to what the Earth born called summer wear, which was also best suited for the heat and humidity of Venus, since the only inhabited regions of the planet were the two tropical zones. Tight fit clothing might be good for space, but in this tropical weather tight clothing tends to stick when worn for more than a micro-cycle in dense humidity. I threw on a gold colored tunic top that breathed much easier than Rylkonian clothing, thanks to the mesh sleeves and collar. I decided on purple shorts, as I didn¡¯t actually have anything that matched the tunic. The last item was the open toed flat sandals, I wasn¡¯t dressing to party, we were just going to eat.


    When I emerged from my quarters, I saw Tony was now wearing the black and gray armor of an enforcer mech. The helmet hid his face behind a reflective visor. It seemed ironic to me that enforcer mechs are machines that pretend to be human, and Tony¡¯s cybernetic nature allowed him to pretend to be a machine. Tony even made sure to calculate his movements. While the planet was under threat, a mech enforcer disguise made moving around Venus easier for him. Normally Enforcer mechs would just wait for a Huntress to summon them otherwise. However Ylisaya was only wearing an athletic layer, and nothing else.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with what I¡¯m wearing? This planet is supposed to be safe for me.¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°While that¡¯s true, most of the women on this planet are Earthborn, so what you¡¯re wearing is suitable for swimming or working out, in their eyes. We¡¯re going to a place that has what I would call a dress code, so they won¡¯t let you in, which means they won¡¯t let us in, and that means we don¡¯t get to eat there.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    While I didn¡¯t agree with Tony, I still felt Ylisaya was dressed inappropriately for a restaurant.


    ¡°Go to my quarters, pick out an outfit, just remember this planet is tropical, so space attire is unsuitable, and don¡¯t wear the same colors as me, that draws attention here. This is their planet, so it¡¯s their rules.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, and she went to my quarters.


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna have to buy and entire life for her.¡±, I said to Tony.


    ¡°Remind me, why do Rylkonians allow slavery?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I could ask you the same question about marriage. Our race that relies on space travel, and that requires we have predictable and stable population growth. To fulfill ship functions we need a crew. Children are not crew, but they can become crew after they acquire their specialization. Even I was assigned as a navigator and pilot about three mega-cycles earlier than expected, but that was during the parasite wars. Cloning isn¡¯t viable because it creates a population with no genetic diversity. All Rylkonians are cousins, the nineteenth law of Rylkonis.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve lived around Rylkonians for ten years, and somehow I¡¯ve learned nothing about your religion, your family structure, nor history.¡±, Tony replied.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯ve lived on a Rylkonian gunship, but you spend all your free time watching TV from Earth or playing those violent video games.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°I also read, learn new languages, and take correspondence college classes.¡±, Tony protested.


    ¡°And you also listen to Vivica Vi, who is another Earthborn entertainer. So how much time can you invest into learning about Rylkonians, beyond getting a promotion?¡±, I argued.


    ¡°You can¡¯t complain about Vivica. You listen to her too.¡±, Tony laughed.


    While I can enjoy Earthborn music, I don¡¯t fully understand it.


    ¡°So the sign of being an adult Rylkonian is having a specialization?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Normally yes, and that determines a Rylkonian¡¯s place within a crew.¡±, I replied.


    I wasn¡¯t certain of what Tony was thinking when I told him the consequences of Rylkonian specializations, all I know is that he looked in Ylisaya¡¯s direction. In that moment, I wondered if he was trying to predict the future, if Ylisaya would have a vision, if or either of them would tell me. I decided a test, a simple question could give me all the answers I needed.


    ¡°Do you know what investigation the Cooperative will assign to me?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­Are you asking me to predict your future?¡±, Tony asked in a puzzled tone.


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°It can be¡­ Many problems in fact. Assume that you are unhappy with the estimation, and you attempt to change the result. This could trigger a series of events that invite disaster. Or the unlikely chance wins over the higher probability, and the result is a paradox. A paradox could have significant penalties for you, or for me. Do you still want this knowledge?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Well my brain responds to psychological incentives like any other human, and I like knowing that I guessed right. Let¡¯s risk it.¡±, I replied to Tony.


    ¡°I see¡­This is a test. Very well¡­ A crime against millions of women on this planet is about to happen, you¡¯re the only Huntress qualified to investigate, and you will succeed in identifying the correct suspect. Another Huntress will be assigned to the lady killer case, you will assist this investigation, but the killer and the victims never receive justice. Can I stop looking at the future now?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Hey! Are you sharing the future right after what you just said?¡±, Ylisaya yelled through the door of my quarters.


    ¡°Jhessyreen already knows, it doesn¡¯t hurt you anymore, and it¡¯s her job to protect you now. I don¡¯t see a problem.¡±, Tony yelled in the direction of Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya emerged from my quarters wearing red and purple mesh.


    ¡°I had no idea you had so much red, and purple, and mesh. I thought your favorite color was gold.¡±, Tony said to me.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t wearing gold and gold colored anything a bad idea if there¡¯s risk of space pirates? And honestly mesh is the only material that doesn¡¯t get problems in humidity.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°I do remember saying that too. I think that¡¯s fine for the restaurant. Let¡¯s go.¡±, Tony said about Ylisaya¡¯s attire.


    ¡°What caused the vision this time?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Oh, Jhess wanted to test it¡­If you saw anything go ahead and tell her.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Something important to millions of women is destroyed¡­no¡­not destroyed¡­it¡¯s stolen¡­no not stolen¡­it¡¯s lost. And then I see a Huntress killed by another Huntress. What am I looking at?¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony.


    ¡°I think Jhess just asked a question that implies a complex answer. You don¡¯t need to explain to me what you saw, I saw it too. This is her test. Predicting and then interpreting the future is complicated if given an answer without knowing the question. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t sell this service.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°So this was an unnecessary vision from the future?¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony, as she glared at me, and then waited for a reply.


    ¡°How do you feel about that?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m reminded of the time that U.D.E. officer demanded you join his armies, to a lesser degree. But is this the feeling when people want to abuse the abilities of others, without any regard for the cost or even how it impacts them?¡±, Yilisaya asked Tony, and then focused towards me.


    ¡°I can forgive Tony for being careful when Tony makes a decision. But Jhessyreen, asking just to test our abilities gives you direct knowledge of Tony''s limits. You said that puts us in danger.¡±, Ylisaya said to me.


    ¡°Ylisaya, you¡¯re right, but I can forgive Jhess this time for two reasons. First, absolutely nobody would believe me if I said I can predict the future, without testing my claim. And second, knowledge of the future is just too tempting. I make a conscious effort to keep my eye on the future, closed and shut when there¡¯s no need for it.¡±, Tony said as he gestured for us to follow him.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand the need for seeing multiple possibilities.¡±, I asked.


    ¡°History is a sequence of events, but the future is not. Cause and effect is the most efficient way to analyze the past, but the future is not so clear and a different set of rules apply. The future can change, the past cannot. The future is not yet written like the pages of a book or the episodes of a television show.¡±, Tony said, as we followed him through the airlock.


    The first time I felt the atmosphere of Venus I felt the saturated air soak into the spaces around me and the gaps in my clothing. I imagined Ylisaya felt the same tropical air. Our destination was a locally owned restaurant along the bridge that connected the two continents that independently rotated faster than Venus, allowing for a day and night cycle closer to what Earthborn were accustomed to.


    ¡°Do you know where we¡¯re going?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°Sorry, my navigations skills only apply to flying space craft and star ships to planets, moons, and space stations. We¡¯ll have to follow a guide familiar with tracking.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°What is the difference between a space ship and a star ship?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°A space ship only needs to be capable of escaping a planet or moon, but a star ship must also be capable of reaching a different star. The Something Clever would be a star ship if there was a hyper jump gate in another star system, at least if there was one we could find. However, the Protectorate has not yet made progress in finding a way to reach our original Rylkonian controlled space by means of hyper gate. All the ships that brought us Rylkonians to this star system are technically Star Ships, but all the ships we¡¯ve built since are only space ships, and have only half the technology to become star ships.¡±, I replied.


    As we walked through the dock we saw all the tourist services strategically located in proximity to the landing ships. As we boarded a high speed monorail to bring us to the northern continent we observed multiple mech enforcer patrols. Nobody took notice of Tony who appeared only as another enforcer mech just following Ylisaya and myself. The only disturbing observation we made was the consistent occurrence of cloned children which all looked like the younger sisters of Nyrella. We eventually found an available private cabin on the monorail.


    ¡°I thought extracted children were getting adopted. Why are there only clones? There should be all kinds of children.¡±, Ylisaya observed and asked.


    ¡°My theory is they¡¯re not being adopted, because clones are being sold. And the specimen with the highest count of evolution points is the most popular product.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°That sounds like daughters are being kidnapped right out from the bodies of their mothers and deprived of life, isn¡¯t a huntress supposed to stop that?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°It¡¯s their planet, their laws.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, as she then turned towards Tony.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything about it. I already made my deal with the Cooperative. When you become an adult, you can apply for a parental license, and you can adopt one. But when your daughter is wondering why she has less evolution points than her peers, society skips on all her life opportunities, and she realizes you had a choice in the mater, what will you tell her?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°You sound like one of those villains in those TV shows you watch.¡±, I said to Tony.


    ¡°Why is an entire planet ignoring their inevitable extinction?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°If you want to protect this planet, become a huntress.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Can you train me to become a Huntress?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°Huntresses are not trained, they are recruited for their talent. You will need to find someone else to train you? Then and only then will another Huntress consider recruiting you.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, as she turned towards Tony.


    ¡°Can I please get combat training?¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony.


    ¡°Well there¡¯s two problems with that. First, we¡¯re only on this planet for one week. Combat training is significantly more than teaching just you how to control your vision. Combat training might require months or years. Second, I trained you so I could safely use my scanner vision without harming you. What is my payment for training you to fight on a planet that¡¯s supposed to be safe for you?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I think I have something you can use. Remember the U.D.E. data stick? When we found a schematic for a suit of armor, specifically designed for a combat cyborg? I can make it work.¡±, Ylisaya said, confidently.


    ¡°There¡¯s two new problems there. First, we don¡¯t have the raw materials to make a new suit of armor, and Venus is supposed to be safe. Asking for combat armor materials is gonna raise questions. Second, I don¡¯t want that technology falling into the wrong hands.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°What armor?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Not armor, not yet at least. The U.D.E. is apparently developing combat cyborg technology of their own, not just experimental bullets, and their calculations appear to be correct. The schematic could create an invincible suit of armor superior to parasitic armor, in theory. But the process is beyond their level of technology.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need another suit. If you¡¯re going to wear this enforcer armor while we¡¯re on Venus, the enhancement can be applied to your battle armor, and I should be finished in just five days. I¡¯ll stay on as crew until I¡¯m trained and qualify as a Huntress. You can always use your scanner vision if you don¡¯t think I can do it. At least you¡¯ll know how close the U.D.E. is to evolving into a threat. It will cost you nothing.¡±, Ylisaya challenged Tony.


    Tony paused for a moment as he considered Ylisaya¡¯s claim.


    ¡°Five days. If this armor upgrade works, then you have yourself a trainer.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get started as soon as we return to the ship. So what are we eating for dinner?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re okay with plant based synthetic nutrients¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I know only one Rylkonian cook who can work with that ingredient.¡±, I said.


    ¡°How does it compare to pork?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°More common than pigs, but not as widely accepted as pork, and not as profitable. So less available cooks know about it and even less experience. So when I heard this was the new trend on Venus, I wanted to see how it compares to what Jhessyreen and I remember.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I remember plant based being more crunchy, it also cooked quickly. This better not upset my stomach. I hope it¡¯s something simple to digest.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Pies.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Plant Pies?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Veggie Pies. We¡¯re almost there.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Are the monorails also driven by quantum fusion drives?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s what it feels like.¡±, Tony said.


    As soon as someone mentioned the unusual speed of the monorail, I also noticed the slower flow of time, the reduced effects of gravity when compared to the the atmosphere outside of the monorail. I barely noticed the magnetic forces beneath the monorail pushing us forward, or the impact buffers, similar to the motion compensators in the Something Clever.


    ¡°Makes sense, only way support a sustainable colony on a planet with a surface that¡¯s too hot, too poisonous, and too important for trade.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Too important?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°The colonies on Venus and Mercury were originally Rylkonian outposts during the parasite wars and are literally in the center, given their proximity to the Sun. Venus is easy to defend from parasites, they couldn¡¯t survive the surface.¡±, Tony said.


    We reached the restaurant named ¡°Veggie Pies¡± and many tables were occupied. We needed a few moments to find an open table, and when we sat down our server approached us. A woman shaped robot, wearing synthetic skin, hair, sculpted face, complete with makeup, a server uniform, and even an apron. We were lucky the service staff was also very alert when they saw us walk in with an enforcer mech.


    ¡°Do you require an enforcer mech bodyguard?¡±, the server asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s an advanced prototype, I¡¯m teaching it human behavior. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m a huntress.¡±, I said to the server.


    ¡°Does it eat too?¡±, the server asked.


    ¡°This one does.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s going to have to order off the gray menu. You two ladies can order off the green menus.¡±, the server replied, as it handed us our menus.


    Tony looked at his gray menu for a moment and then placed it on the table. Ylisaya examined her green menu, picked up the gray menu, and compared the two.


    ¡°These are the same menu¡­but why does everything on the gray menu cost twice as much. What¡¯s that supposed to accomplish?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°This planet has some interesting laws, with different rules for women. Anything else is considered as property¡­a slave.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I noticed that. But why?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s only half of it. A man is only allowed to be paid half as much as a woman too. It¡¯s great. Every woman is required by law to be paid twice as much as a man for the same job. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So men pay twice as much for the same products and services, women earn twice as much for the same job. How is this great?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    I continued to examine my menu and I didn¡¯t find anything particularly appetizing at a place that serves exclusively veggie pies. Tony appeared to collect his thoughts.


    ¡°Okay, imagine you¡¯re a client from this planet, and every huntress you might hire is gonna charge you two million credits. So I can only charge you one million for the same job. So who do you hire?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t hire a huntress.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°Right. Now that means I got paid one million, and every other Huntress that was bidding for a contract got paid zero.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Wait a micro-cycle! Teaching her about this planet is not your job.¡±, I protested.


    ¡°Right! I don¡¯t work for free.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So how does this law really work?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly how that law of equal pay works.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    ¡°What? That just incentivizes a business to hire men and serve men.¡±, Ylisaya remarked in disbelief.


    ¡°That¡¯s just one law, they also have the law of reflection. They can¡¯t hire a man until they have hired at least ninety-nine women, to reflect the population of this planet.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya gave me a puzzled look and turned towards Tony, as he nodded in acknowledgement.


    ¡°For the same job?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°No, but that¡¯s explained by the next law.¡± I said.


    ¡°So if I¡¯m a client I just need to hire ninety-nine women pay them ten credits each and then I can hire a one million credit bounty hunter and still save nine-hundred and ninety-nine thousand credits, but that only prioritizes wealth for women, there¡¯s no incentive for loyalty.¡±, Ylisaya argued and I agreed.


    ¡°She learns quickly.¡±, Tony remarked.


    ¡°The next law is the law of job security, men hold no authority over women, ever.¡± I said.


    ¡°So men are not allowed to hire women?¡±, Ylisaya said


    ¡°That¡¯s right! You can employ me, but I can¡¯t employ you.¡±, Tony added.


    ¡°So I¡¯m not a slave anymore?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re on this planet, that is correct.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°And because the armor and the combat training was my idea. That means I hired you, and that means I¡¯m the client¡­I¡¯m your new client?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Also correct. So the next ninety nine people you hire, must be women.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°All these laws do is give men an advantage in bidding for high paying jobs, like some sort of male privilege. Isn¡¯t that the second stage of Patriarchy, according to this planet?¡±, Ylisaya protested


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely a male privilege, but I¡¯m not sure if it encompasses all male privilege according to the patriarchy.¡±, I said.


    ¡°The Patriarchy? Is this a bad joke?¡±, Ylisaya asked, and seemed upset.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±, Tony said, as he walked outside of the restaurant.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Tony going?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°My guess¡­Probably going to find some propaganda. It should clear up the confusion of a Patriarchy existing on this planet.¡±, I replied.


    Tony returned to our table with two sheets of plastyn and placed them on front of Ylisaya as he sat down. Ylisaya dropped the menus, picked up the two sheets with one in each hand, and examined the two sheets side by side. A few moments later Ylisaya placed the document defining a ¡°New Patriarchy¡± on the side of the table near Tony, and placed the document outlining the Cooperative¡¯s ¡°Mission Statement¡± on the side of the table near me.


    ¡°So a woman wanted to be the founder of her own political movement. But when she registered, every form of sisterhood, alliance, daughters of freedom, or any type of union was already taken. So she decided to call her organization ¡°The Patriarchy.¡± It¡¯s brilliant. No one could stop her. I like how she plans to take the effect of that word and make it into her own power. That¡¯s inventive. This Nashara sounds like she¡¯s got a plan. Who is she?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Nobody knows, she has a right to privacy. But whoever she is, she¡¯s got connections, resources, and most importantly she has support, both public and private. Enough to keep her propaganda current and in circulation.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Everyone, there¡¯s a news story about the Star of Hope.¡±, one of the restaurant staff announced as she moved towards a widescreen television, large enough for the entire restaurant to easily observe.


    The entire restaurant quickly became quiet, and guests slowly focused on the wide screen display. The image changed to the faces of a news correspondent and Huntress side by side, and coincidently both were named Karen.


    ¡°Hi Karen, thank you for taking the time to share a story about the Star of Hope. That little light in the sky means a lot to hopeful, eligible, and licensed mothers. Are you as excited as I am about this wonderful news?¡±, said the news correspondent.


    ¡°Thank you Karen. I¡¯m excited and serious. The Huntresses haven¡¯t been this involved in security since we were founded six years ago. Tomorrow marks a truly historical day when the Planet of Women, proves to the Universe, we are capable of choosing our own futures, our own destiny, and ensure a bright future for our daughters more than any other planet we know.¡±, said the image of another Huntress.


    Tony¡¯s attention shifted around the room and I imagined he was just as puzzled as I was, because what the huntress said did not sound like the plan Surhey said about Nyrella. I also felt concerned for Nyrella¡¯s safety in that moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard so many rumors, speculation, and theories. Please tell us about all the wonderful little angels waiting to meet us.¡±, the correspondent asked the huntress.


    ¡°Well the Protectorate set it all up. They were kind enough to allow the Cooperative to purchase over a million genetic samples of filtered and refined genetic material, from the most esteemed and proven Rylkonian fathers. Congress has assured the Huntresses have full autonomy and Genetic Research will allow not only more citizens of Venus to apply for Parental Licenses, but also allow their daughters to apply who can decide if they want to apply for licenses when they become adults later on.¡±, said the Huntress.


    Ylisaya¡¯s attention instantly focused towards me, as she seemed shocked over what she just heard, and I felt just as surprised. Tony was still focused on learning what was going to be said next.


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing, I can¡¯t even begin to describe how important those little lives on that ship are to the future of this planet and mothers of future generations.¡±, said the correspondent.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly right Karen, and security is going for the extra effort. We¡¯ve hired three Rylkonian battleships to protect the Star of Hope, so those future daughters will arrive safe and sound. We¡¯ll talk again tomorrow Karen when the Star of Hope lands.¡±, said the huntress.


    The image of the huntress slid off the edge of the screen, and the news correspondents segued to a different story. The activity of the restaurant slowly reverted back to what they were doing when we arrived. Ylisaya seemed to be processing what she just heard the Protectorate had done, and could barely believe it, and I was equally stunned by the news.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s at least two problems with what we just heard, beyond the problem of this wasn¡¯t the plan.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°We still don¡¯t know what to do about the few half Rylkonians born in the last few mega-cycles, and now they¡¯re making millions? It makes no sense.¡±, I said.


    ¡°It sounds like the Protectorate just sold a million Rylkonian daughters as slaves, to a planet that hates patriarchy.¡± Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Wait¡­How does that work?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°All Rylkonians name their sons in honor of Rylkonis. We are a patriarchy!¡±, I said.


    ¡°Oh shit!¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°We remember the first, wise, and great Rylkonis and name our sons in his honor. The ninety third law of Rylkonis.¡±, Ylisaya and I said in unison.


    ¡°Ninety-third law? Can I ask the reason for making this into a law?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Our first war, a civil war, and a reminder that killing a Rylkonian is killing a child of Rylkonis.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So what is the process or naming girls?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°My name roughly translates to one who serves, with no expectation of reward and without judgement, but questions authority.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Well that explains your skepticism. But a name can¡¯t hold so much meaning¡±, Tony argued.


    ¡°My name means a patient seeker and wanderer, who does not fear the truth nor evil but can accept loss only to rise higher.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Well thank you for telling me, but I¡¯m never going to call you two that. Will any Rylkonian woman ever get upset at me if I don¡¯t know the meaning of her name?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever ask a Rylkonian woman about that, unless you¡¯re interested in Rlkonian mating rituals.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So the birth of Rylkonian girl doesn¡¯t honor Rylkonis?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t need to, we¡¯re not the ones who started the war.¡±, I argued.


    After dinner we returned to the Something Clever, Ylisaya started working on Tony¡¯s armor, I went to bed, and Tony went to the Kitchen to cut cookies because it was Saturday.

 Chapter 12 - Crimes Against Humanity

    Calista arrived in the morning as expected, although the Sun was already halfway towards noon for Venus. Calista doesn¡¯t need to be worried about losing her Job as the Cooperative is rather desperate for qualified Huntresses to join. Calista was wearing black relaxed shorts, a blue athletic layer, and a gray vest. Her hair was pulled back under a deflector band, and I could see the deflector panels integrated into her vest, which also concealed a handgun hidden under her arm. Her shoes were soft tops, and I suspected she expected to do a significant amount of walking. Tony was wearing the Enforcer disguise and the only weapons he had were his hand cannon and shotgun. The moment Calista set her eyes on Tony, she examined the disguise .


    ¡°It¡¯s not perfect, but most shouldn¡¯t notice.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°Tried it out last night, works better than expected. Thank you, but why not just use normal enforcer mechs? That might save you money.¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Oh you¡¯re not here for fighting. Running around with an entourage of enforcer mechs, is the wrong answer. Before I became a huntress, I investigated runaways, narcotics, and kids who ditched classes, and that¡¯s what the huntresses recruited me for. There was never an expectation to investigate rape and murder. That¡¯s why I came to this planet. The victims are women who were attacked without warning nor witnesses. You¡¯re here to advise me with your expertise. Did I hire the right mercenary?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°I guess I won¡¯t need this, then.¡±, Tony said as he removed his shotgun.


    ¡°Actually keep it. It will help me tell you apart from other mechs, they usually carry phase rifles. Did you finish reading the files I sent?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Yes, I also have a few theories on how they were killed.¡±, Tony replied, and he returned his shotgun to it¡¯s rest across his back.


    ¡°May I ask what case you¡¯re working on?¡±, I asked Calista.


    ¡°Still working on the rapist case, but now I need to sort out which victims he actually attacked, and the prosecutor needs more evidence. Only victims that can be linked to the rapist will be involved in the case against him. Some victims were killed without any evidence of rape, our old theory was they were killed because they were witnesses to the rapist or became aware of his crimes, but that has been proven incorrect, with the discovery of new evidence.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°Anything I can do to help?¡±, I asked.


    Calista responded with a puzzled expression.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m surprised to hear another Huntress offer to help. Thank you, but most Huntresses are working two low profile cases at a time. Makes me glad to have just one high profile case. You haven¡¯t been assigned a case yet?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Nothing yet, I haven¡¯t been back a full day yet though. I guess I¡¯m lucky.¡±, I replied


    ¡°If I had to guess, as a pilot the best case to assign to you is tracing smuggled contraband, and that puts you in a spot to catch refugees and you won¡¯t need to worry about quota. But maybe you are lucky and there are no cases that suit your speciality. That might change if another huntress falls behind.¡±, Calista said to me.


    ¡°Falls behind?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you almost chop off Meiyo¡¯s head? Yeah, that could have started a war between Venus and Mars. I read the reports¡­¡±, Calista asked in protest to Tony¡¯s question.


    ¡°Everyone thought she was a man, looking for revenge in a war zone.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°They thought Meiyo Ymiri, the most beautiful woman on Venus¡­was a man? Tell me this story on the way to the first stop. We need to get started, especially if you¡¯re billing me by the hour.¡±, Calista said as she followed Tony out of the ship.


    I walked into cargo bay three and saw Ylisaya carrying Tony¡¯s chest armor and attaching it to the rest of the whole battle armor hanging from a bar attached to a stack of shipping containers. Ylisaya was wearing her space attire, but was covered in grease stains, ashes, and burns. The widescreen television had been setup and was set to the morning news. Boxes of tools and spare parts were spread out around the floor mixed among images of the armor plans and designs displayed on plastyn sheets. Ylisaya removed a leg from Tony¡¯s battle armor and carried it to the center of the arrangement of tools, and she faced the television. Ylisaya reached for a diagnostic tools and attached the wire probes to the leg armor with mechanical clips. Ylisaya examined the diagnostic tool and watched an energy gauge quickly drain. Ylisaya removed the probe clips and reached for an adjustment tool and small hammer. She set the nose of the adjustment tool inside the armored leg and tapped the opposite side with the hammer. Ylisaya returned the hammer to the box it came out from and then proceeded to disassemble the leg armor.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°I¡¯m finished with the back and chest, but I¡¯m not working fast enough. What happens if I can¡¯t finish?¡±, Ylisaya asked, and she continued disassembling the armor.


    ¡°Well, you put the armor back together, tell Tony you couldn¡¯t do it, and renegotiate. Need any help?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Can you read this?¡±, Ylisaya asked as she picked up a plastyn sheet and handed it to me.


    The sheet displayed a technical schematic of a machine I didn¡¯t recognize.


    ¡°Probably not.¡±, I replied, returned the plans, and moved towards the corridor.


    ¡°I have questions.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    I stopped, and turned towards her.


    ¡°What are your questions?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°What exactly is a huntress? And why does it sounds like the Cooperative doesn¡¯t even want them?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°A Huntress is intended to be the face that leads the Cooperative, but the majority of their military is made of enforcer mechs. So the Huntresses have priority over their drone military and other emergency services. Officially the Huntresses are not part of the military, but they are most qualified to exercise command over the enforcer mechs. You might be able to guess why the Cooperative has a problem with them now.¡±, I said, and took a seat on a crate.


    ¡°Militarization and Privilege, the first two stages of Patriarchy.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Correct and when the Cooperative makes it difficult for a Huntress to do her job, and they are not a military, they can choose to resign anytime. That loss of qualified Huntresses means that staying becomes a burden as more and more Huntresses leave. The huntresses that actually believe in the mission of the Cooperative just have to take greater burdens, and greater risks, and their lives become more and more dangerous.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Why is there no training for Huntresses?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Combat training? Battle strategies? Intelligence? Spying? Deploying Enforcer mechs? What do those sound like?¡±, I asked Ylisaya to imply my answer.


    ¡°Militarization¡­Reminds me of what Tony asked me last night. What¡¯s the point of combat training on a planet that¡¯s safe?¡­So how did the Huntresses begin?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°This planet doesn¡¯t even have police patrols not even security cameras. The colonists who were former officers from Earth, naturally stepped into that role, and it got better. Then the supply shipments were attacked by space pirates, children were captured by slavers, and the colonists went from concerned citizens and turned into a full on rank structure. That¡¯s about the same time that the Cooperative became the popular political power, with their army of enforcer mechs, but mechs lack two capabilities. Wanna guess those two problems?¡±, I asked


    ¡°Not great for space travel and are not compliant with Mars Pax?¡±, Ylisaya replied, as she examined the leg armor though a magnifying device and started re-wiring the armor components.


    ¡°And what does Venus have that can travel and is also compliant with Mars Pax?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Huntresses. But what about the Mermaid?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°The Mermaid¡®s story is more about the story of her captain than anyone else. Captain Rythizon, Protectorate second class citizen. Started as the helmsman of a Rylkonian battle cruiser in the Parasite wars, and came out the other end as the Captain of the Mermaid. Now he is the overseer of the recently independent Venus colonies.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Is that because the Cooperative hasn¡¯t been able to pay the Protectorate for the construction of the Venus colony yet?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°The Protectorate doesn¡¯t actually care who¡¯s in charge of the Colony, as long as the Colony is functional and trading imports and exports. And the Protectorate only needs the colonies until we can return home.¡±, I informed Ylisaya.


    ¡°That¡¯s a very unusual problem. If this colony isn¡¯t growing, at least not fast enough for the colony¡¯s needs, and it¡¯s not dying fast enough for the Protectorate to find replacement colonists. Why would the Protectorate sell Rylkonian children to a planet that hates Patriarchy? Or even bother extending the life of a government that will go extinct after the Protectorate no longer has any need for the Planet? It makes more sense for the Cooperative to make a deal with another government.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Only Captain Rythizon can answer that question, and it¡¯s as if the Cooperative is acting on that simple fact.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing, it means the Protectorate has more control over the decisions of the Cooperative, especially if the future generations of the Cooperative will be Rylkonians, right?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°It would be except for one problem. It means the most powerful person on Venus is a man, and everyone knows who he is.¡±, I said.


    ¡°What about the Mermaid¡¯s crew? They take orders from a man. Why is that allowed?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t exactly know how they work around that, but the solution I would use, is he simply does not get involved in Huntress activities, at least not while on Venus.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Why is the Cooperative allowing Huntresses to join from another government and keep their citizenship? Aren¡¯t they concerned about potential spies?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°The Cooperative doesn¡¯t have a choice, when they don¡¯t have enough Huntresses to solve problems like the ones they are facing now. They had to activate their drone military to patrol their cities, they also needed to hire experts for the skills and knowledge they lack.¡±, I said.


    ¡°It sounds like the Huntresses, are over burdened, underfunded, and unpopular, because they¡¯re willing to do the job that the Cooperative failed to do in the first place, but that just puts them at risk of having to provide morally dubious successes even if that means sacrificing a Huntress.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure you still want to become a Huntress?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I think I wanna renegotiate for safe passage to Jupiter. Maybe I can get assigned to the Protectorate capitol?¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Ylisaya and I received a cyberlink request from Tony.


    ¡°What do you need?¡±, I sent my question through the cyber link.


    ¡°Prepare for launch, we may have to intercept the Mermaid. She should be near the sector where we fought the space pirates.¡±, Tony¡¯s thought reached us through the link.


    I departed for the bridge as I instructed Ylisaya to assist me with pre-flight.


    ¡°Show me.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony.


    As we connected our minds we could now see through Tony¡¯s eyes. Tony and Calista were inside a morgue with six dead bodies lying on examination tables, arranged in two rows of three. Tony and Calista stood on opposite sides of a dead body, in the middle of a row.


    ¡°How certain are you that she was killed with elevation?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Bleeding from the eyes, nose, and ears, ruptured internal organs, torn spinal ligaments and muscle tissue, but not a single bruise, cut, nor scrape, no injections, no toxins, nor infections in an otherwise healthy woman. This woman¡¯s killer is either a cyborg with super strength and speed, or has access to an airlock. That¡¯s my only interpretation, unless you know a place on Venus where a woman can be thrown five thousand feet into the air, and not crash. Only a few methods inflict these specific injuries.¡±, Tony said to Calista.


    ¡°How did the killer evade detection?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Either the killer knows the enforcer mech¡¯s procedures or patrol patterns, or has help from an insider, or is a Huntress.¡±, Tony said.


    Calista looked around the morgue and I suspected she was concerned over who could hear her next words.


    ¡°Do you realize what you¡¯re suggesting? If a Huntress was involved in a murder on Venus, the entire Cooperative could be called into question. Two million women are in danger, we have to be certain. If I report that this woman wasn¡¯t attacked by the rape suspect, I have to disclose everything to the Huntress who gets assigned that case. How do I tell a Huntress she has to be prepared to arrest another Huntress?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Two.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Two? What do you mean?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Two killers. The other five victims were killed in the only other method and intentionally left to be found. The details of the killing methods isn¡¯t public knowledge, so at least one unique killer has to know specifically which parts of the other five victims that could be used to detect any evidence of a rape, and specifically removed them from the victims. The second killer has skill in human anatomy, left behind evidence, but made the evidence worthless. These five victims were dissected. So if a killer did rape the victims, no-one can prove it now. Destruction of evidence implies hiding the crime, but leaving a dead body could be a distraction, deterrence, or a warning. Both killers used the fact that the rapist was going to be found as an opportunity to frame the rapist. And both can evade Enforcer mechs. The sixth murder after the rapist was arrested was sheer luck. These killers know what they¡¯re doing. I think these victims were assassinated.¡±, Tony said to Calista.


    ¡°The Lady killer isn¡¯t my case! I only ever planned to investigate runaways, narcotics, and kids ditching classes. That¡¯s what the Huntresses recruited me for. The Cooperative was never prepared for high profile crimes like rape and murder. So if none of these women were raped, we need to figure out why these six women were killed and what¡¯s their connection? But if there is no link to the rape suspect, then they¡¯re just not involved in my case.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°If the theory that they were witnesses and killed to keep their silence, fails because they aren¡¯t connected to a specific crime, is it possible they were killed for a different reason, like some other secret?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Assuming you¡¯re right, and they have a connection beyond my investigation, and the killer is framing the rapist, what on Venus is worth the lives of six women?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Any number higher than six, up to two million.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put in our launch request.¡±, I sent my thought to Tony as I disconnected from the cyber link.


    I reached the bridge of the Something Clever, took the Pilot¡¯s seat, and accessed the ship¡¯s systems. Ylisaya was already in the engineer¡¯s seat, and I opened the template for the launch request and entered, ¡°Urgent to contact a Huntress regarding a high profile investigation.¡± Luckily I didn¡¯t need to say anything about the Lady Killer case nor the Mermaid. Launch control returned their reply that the Something Clever was cleared for launch. As Ylisaya and I completed pre-flight, preparing every panel of the ship for space travel. However I stopped as I considered that Ylisaya and I would be unable to subdue the crew of the Mermaid, and we didn¡¯t stand of chance of outshooting the Mermaid in a gunship versus gunship battle without our gunner.


    ¡°Resume your work on the armor, we¡¯ll have to wait for the Captain¡¯s return. The Mermaid is too dangerous to approach without a gunner, and at least a solid plan to take out a rogue ambush-class gunship.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya got out from her seat and started moving towards cargo bay three. I followed because that¡¯s where Tony moved the wide-screen display, and that¡¯s the screen that allowed us to watch the Data Net.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Have you heard about the case of Nilly Bailey?¡±, Ylisaya asked, as she reached for a box containing the disassembled leg armor and tools.


    ¡°No. Sounds like a fake name¡­ Who¡¯s that?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I read about her on the Patriarchy.¡±, Ylisaya said, and she took her position to examine the armor through a magnification lens and watched the display.


    ¡°You should stay away from that. It¡¯s going to be full of propaganda, and even if true, it¡¯s going to be biased to try to influence you.¡±, I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m reading it, I want to be prepared.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°I¡¯m probably going to regret asking, but¡­what is the story of Nilly Bailey?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Nilly was a Cooperative citizen, owned her own business, and did well for herself. But she made plans that didn¡¯t suit the Cooperative¡¯s vision for women. She wanted to find a husband and raise a family. She even got permission to consult a similar business on Freya Station. That¡¯s where she met a farmer on the station and they made plans for a future together. However she couldn¡¯t stay on Freya, because she knew the if Cooperative found out they could have her deported. She returned to Venus, got a parental license, got hired by the business she consulted for on Freya station permanently, and three months ago sold her business. But when the Cooperative found out, she lost her parental license and her work license because the Cooperative wouldn¡¯t allow one of their citizens to be sold as a sex slave, a farmer isn¡¯t good enough for a Cooperative husband. Now she¡¯s not allowed to leave Venus at all. How are women safe, when the Cooperative treats them like they¡¯re just a harem?¡±, Ylisaya said rhetorically.


    ¡°You mean a cult?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°The Patriarchy specifically used the word ¡°Harem¡±, and there¡¯s more.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°More? That sounds like the Cooperative. But can you skip to the end?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°She accepted she¡¯s going to die alone, and the farmer needed to forget her and move on with his life, so she broke off their plans together. That¡¯s it, that¡¯s her story.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°Why did this story get your interest?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°It was the only story that involved Protectorate interests, Freya station. So if a farmer which is probably one of the most important jobs on a Rylkonian controlled space station, isn¡¯t good enough to allow this woman to live with him, what is good enough? Who is a worthy Husband for a woman from Venus?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°At least you¡¯re not influenced by propaganda. I just wished you¡¯d ignore it.¡±, I replied.


    I switch on the widescreen display and the image showed us two news correspondents.


    ¡°This is probably the greatest moment in the History of Venus. Everyone is going to remember what they were doing in the exact moment when the Star of Hope arrived and saved the planet.¡±, said one of the correspondents.


    ¡°The future of Humanity, the destiny of all women, including everyone who needs to see life return to Venus can¡¯t wait for the Rylkonian children to join our world. The Star of hope should be visible at least to a quality video camera. Let¡¯s see if the Cooperative is ready to let us see their view from the docking ring.¡±, said the other correspondent.


    The display changed to an image of a cargo freighter following three Rylkonian assault cruisers. The freighter exploded and turned into a trail of the burning wreckage that streaked across the sky of Venus. Ylisaya and I exchanged glances for a moment and then focused again on the widescreen display.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what just happened, something has gone wrong with the Star of Hope.¡±, said one of the correspondents, as the image of the explosion changed back to the two correspondents


    ¡°I am so sorry to have to report this, but the Star of Hope has been completely destroyed. All crew, passengers, and cargo is lost, the Cooperative is preparing a statement and will make an announcement soon. Cooperative media is suspending all reporting until after the Cooperative¡¯s official statement. Please allow others to grieve this tragedy.¡±, said the correspondent and the image changed to a litter of small dogs exploring a small room that they appeared to be unable to escape from. The small dogs wagged their tails and their ears flopped back and forth as they ran to gather around a larger dog, that appeared to be the parent of the younger dogs.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s a cruel image to show right now.¡±, I said as I switched off the display.


    ¡°I think this was the vision, Tony and I saw.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°You and Tony said millions of women were affected, this only affect women with reservations for genetic material. Tony also said I will find the culprit. So who did this? What else can you tell me?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t control the vision. I can only block it out. What did you ask specifically?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I asked what case will be assigned to me.¡±, I informed Ylisaya.


    ¡°I understand now. That¡¯s all that was in the vision. It¡¯s just the answer to your question, and nothing more. But when you asked the context of the answer didn¡¯t yet exist either.¡±, Ylsaya replied.


    The ship¡¯s systems notified me that an urgent message arrived for me. I went to the bridge to read this message and I was asked specifically, "To report to a Huntress meeting in the Cooperative Senate to provide my expertise about Gunship maneuverability.¡±


    I left Ylisaya with the something clever and as I travelled, I found the number of enforcer mech patrols had doubled on the continent. On the monorail I also saw fewer normal passengers. I reached the Senate and the Enforcer mechs recognized me as a Huntress, as they allowed me to enter. The Enforcer mechs guided me to a waiting area where I found Tony and Calista, who appeared to have spent the entire day working on her investigation.


    ¡°Is that wise, if you haven¡¯t finished?¡±, Tony asked Calista.


    ¡°The Cooperative wants this trial to start because of the destruction of the Star, it shows they can do their job.¡±, Calista said as she noticed me.


    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on?¡±, Calista asked me.


    ¡°Not really I just got here.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Huntresses have been arriving for the last three hours.¡±, Tony said, as he pointed towards the offices of the Senate.


    Calista and I glanced in the direction Tony was looking, as we saw Meiyo was also in attendance dressed in her Tri-tech armor and she carried her helmet under her arm. As we looked around some Huntresses were wearing relaxed clothing, some looked as though they were leading Enforcer mech patrols, and some appeared to have just returned from court. Meiyo seemed to notice us and she immediately started heading towards us. Each Calista, Tony, and I exchanged glances as we each wondered which of us Meiyo needed, or what she needed. Meiyo acknowledged Calista and myself, but when she looked at Tony, she looked closely at Tony and into his visor. Meiyo grabbed Tony¡¯s arm, as he continued to act like an enforcer mech.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s you Phantom. Come with me, the Cooperative needs you.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Is the Enforcer mech armor a problem?¡±, Tony asked, but Meiyo interrupted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. Just come with me. We need your expertise.¡±, Meiyo said, as she pulled Tony forcing him to follow her.


    Tony had to follow Meiyo, because it made no sense for an Enforcer mech to defy a Huntress, and he followed Meiyo as they moved passed the other Huntresses also waiting to find out why we were all called to the Senate. The only Huntresses we didn¡¯t see were the crew members of the Mermaid. Huntresses continued to arrive, and after a while of several micro cycles the Enforcer mechs all exited the spaces of the Senate officers and an announcement sounded through the building.


    ¡°All Huntresses, please proceed to the inner chambers.¡±, the voice instructed us.


    Calista and I followed the other Huntresses into the Senate as found ourselves standing in the main floor of the Senate. The voice made another announcement.


    ¡°Huntresses, please sit. You are about to learn the details of this meeting.¡±, the voice said.


    I found a seat in the middle of the Senate floor, and I imagined some Senator using this seat to vote on the major decisions that affect the entire planet. There were significantly more senate seats than huntresses, so we each had an entire senate sized table to ourselves. The lights dimmed and Meiyo appeared entering from the doors next to the main stage of the senate floor. Meiyo walked up to the main podium and began speaking into a microphone.


    ¡°Huntresses, at nine-thirty a.m. Senate time today, the Star of Hope entered the stratosphere of Venus and then exploded. The importance of the Star was too great and the security was too serious, we are not convinced this was some accident. The Three Rylkonian assault cruisers escorting the Star are investigating the wreckage. The Huntresses with relevant expertise are going to be assigned unique cases. For security purposes, none of you will be aware of which Huntresses are assigned an aspect of this case. Even if you are currently assigned another case, this takes priority. We are telling as many of you this now to let you know that even though you may have questions, and you may want a role in resolving this tragedy, your first role is to ensure the safety of the planet, the security of the Cooperative, and future of woman-kind. If you have an existing case, please report to your assigned case manager.¡±, Meiyo said and then left through the door she arrived from.


    I received a request for Cyber-link from Tony, but all he sent me was a location of a senate office. I looked around and I saw Calista was already talking to another Huntress. I decided to go to the office location. When I entered the office, Tony was already waiting there. He removed his mech enforcer helmet but had his holographic face active. As he was already communicating with Meiyo through another hologram on the desk in the center of the office. Tony acknowledged me as I walked up next to Meiyo¡¯s hologram.


    ¡°Excellent, I have a few more things to take care of and I¡¯ll see you shortly. Phantom you can share the details of your mission with your crew.¡±, Meiyo said.


    Meiyo deactivate her end of the communication and the hologram disappeared.


    ¡°What did they want from you?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°The Mermaid is the prime suspect in the destruction of the Star. The Mermaid was investigating the sector of the pirate attack, and was supposed to meet a U.D.E. ship which has just gone missing. The Mermaid is heading back to Venus and should return tomorrow. Our task is answer three questions. First, can an Ambush class Gunship complete such an investigation and successfully attack the Star? Second, can the threat from a rogue Ambush class gunship be neutralized by another gunship? And lastly, is Venus capable of keeping prisoners equally as effective as the Pits of Charon?¡±, Tony informed me.


    Meiyo arrived and immediately walked to the other side of the desk in the office, and removed her armor, until she was only wearing athletic layers. I looked at the corner of the office and Tony looked at the ceiling, Meiyo rubbed her shoulder and tipped her head side to side, as she stretched her neck muscles.


    ¡°The Mermaid arrives in less than one day, so I need to know do you have a plan to fight off a rogue gunship?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to describe the threat from an ambush class against a planet with no fleet defenses, they will be significantly more dangerous than the average pirate raid.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I have a plan¡­Do they know they¡¯re being investigated or that they¡¯re even suspected?¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t. We¡¯re the only three that know this much.¡±, Meiyo replied.


    ¡°Then change nothing. They don¡¯t know this. Make everything look like they have a safe place to land, show them a schedule for future missions, and make them think they got away with it. If nobody is supposed to know what anyone else is doing, that can reasonably keep information away from them. So just do that, if you¡¯re already going to anyways.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big gamble, Phantom. But that¡¯s the only plan I¡¯ve heard.¡±, Meiyo said, as she reach into a shelf under the desk and revealed a data stick.


    ¡°This is all the data we have on the Star, flight path, sensor data, and cargo manifest. The battleships are still in the area, we can call them. But we don¡¯t know where their loyalties stand, especially if they¡¯re asked to turn against a gunship. You have until tomorrow.¡±, Meiyo said, as she presented the data stick to me.


    Tony and I left the Senate, swung by a Honey-Tress salon, picked up a hair mod for me, and returned to the Something Clever. We examined the data from the Star of Hope using the pilot and gunner stations. Tony and I watched the simulation many times looking for a direction to attack the Star of Hope without being detected by the battleships.


    ¡°If the trajectory of the Star is approaching from the asteroid belt and the Mermaid is approaching from the direction Mars, they¡¯re on opposite sides of the planet. Even if I fired a lower speed warhead and let it orbit Venus, the Mermaid has to know the Star will make no course corrections, even then it only has a twenty five percent best possible chance of hitting the Star. That¡¯s assuming everything went right.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What about a cloaked and self guided warhead or some sort of homing beacon hidden onboard the Star?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°A Homing beacon? Maybe. But a Stealth warhead? How much would one cost? Who sells that? If I could sneak aboard the Star, I would try while it¡¯s docked, and I would just plant a bomb or sabotage the ship to self destruct. But the only thing that matters on the Star is the genetic material. I could just sabotage life support, and make it worthless. No one would even know I was there.¡±, Tony said.


    I checked the cargo manifest again and the only thing on the list was a single module of cataloged genetic samples.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of empty room on the Star. Why even hire a freighter? Any of the other three battleships or even a gunship can delivery that.¡±, I asked rhetorically.


    ¡°Wait, what did you say?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°A battleship can also make the delivery.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°How fast could we make this delivery?¡±, Tony asked


    ¡°Eight days on Venus¡¯ calendar.¡±, I replied


    ¡°How long was the Star¡¯s flight?¡±, Tony asked.


    I checked the flight path and noticed another unusual decision the Cooperative made.


    ¡°Two months, almost eight times slower. If I were the Cooperative, I would just send the Mermaid, and maybe not even tell them the nature of the cargo.¡±, I said.


    ¡°That might work on us, we don¡¯t have a full crew. But Vickessah wouldn¡¯t be fooled that easily, especially if Rylkonian genetic material is involved.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°So how do I report this?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t. It¡¯s not part of our three requirements. That¡¯s completely relevant but it¡¯s someone else¡¯s report to make. Let¡¯s run the simulation again.¡±, Tony said.


    Through the pilot¡¯s chair I could see a crude geometric model of Venus, the Mermaid, the three battleships, and the Star of Hope. I was simulating the role of the Mermaid¡¯s pilot, and Tony simulated the Mermaid¡¯s gunner. Tony activated the cloaking device and turned the ship invisible within the simulation. Tony then sent a quantum jump request to the lead battleship.


    ¡°You think the battleships let the Mermaid destroy the Star?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Only version of the simulation we haven¡¯t tried yet.¡±, Toy replied.


    The simulation indicated that there was only a seventy-three percent probability the that at least one of the three battleships allowed the Mermaid to Jump to their location. The simulation allowed the Mermaid to proceed and then Tony launched a simulation of an armor piercing warhead, that wouldn¡¯t require guidance, at such a close range. The simulation ended as crude geometric explosion shapes radiated out from the Star.


    ¡°Well you completed all the parameters of the investigation objective, except you put the Mermaid on the wrong side of Venus.¡±, I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s the only time I landed a hit, I can try with that hypothetical cloaked warhead¡­maybe better chances, but nobody uses that. If the Mermaid doesn¡¯t have it, we can¡¯t use it here.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start writing it up.¡±, I said, as I switched to the report template and began typing.


    ¡°So my question now is, how do I lock up the crew of a rogue gunship, as effectively as the Pits of Charon without copying the patented specifications of the Pits of the Charon?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. You¡¯re the one who escaped from Charon.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I wish I escaped from Charon, that challenge had a fifty million credit prize paid over ten years.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I thought you went there to test the prison. I¡¯ve never heard this.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°If they passed the test, that would imply I failed. What have you heard me say about the Pits of Charon?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Just that Charon is the toughest prison you¡¯ve ever seen. The Pits of Charon is where hope will abandon the prisoners. Or you just stare at the sky at a four degrees of elevation and say you want to forget the Pits of Charon. So they really offered you fifty million if you could escape, and you couldn¡¯t?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°That was the whole selling point, there is no escape from the Pits of Charon. What if launching the Mermaid, meant losing the Mermaid?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°If the Protectorate believed a crew went Rogue, the protectorate would place a bounty on the ship and maybe the crew too. Then its the reputation of the crew that determines if the reward is for dead or alive. It might work. It won¡¯t lock them up, but it will keep them from flying at least. Only time it won¡¯t work is if the Mermaid is working for space pirates.¡±, I said.


    ¡°You should add that to you report too.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What? You have no authority here. This is my investigation¡­¡±, I said, and then stopped myself as I realized Tony dumped his work on me.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna check on Ylisaya¡¯s progress with my armor.¡±, Tony said, as he left the bridge.


    I switched to internal sensors and I watched Tony walk into Cargo Bay three. The widescreen display was in the middle of a commercial break for an expensive product needed by Earthborn women, so I just ignored it. Ylisaya attached the opposite leg armor back onto Tony¡¯s battle armor, then removed the helmet, and returned to her work space surrounded by tools and spare parts, where she could watch the widescreen display. Tony walked up to the suit of armor and examined it from the neck to the feet.


    ¡°It still looks like parasitic armor,¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°It¡¯s no longer parasitic, well the chest, back, and legs are done. Those were easy compared to the head and arms.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°How does it work?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Parasitic armor drains power from the wearer to repair itself, but not until the armor has been damaged and needs repair. This upgrade interlaces the effect of deflector shields into molecular compartments that are naturally part of parasitic armor.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°How many hits could it survive?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°This could absorb impacts from planet killing super weapons, as long as you¡¯re not standing next to the blast. That¡¯s not even the best part.¡±, Ylisaya said as she picked up a tool, aimed it at the armor and activated a cloaking effect.


    The armor¡¯s torso and legs vanished, but the internal sensor could barely detect the expected distortion. Ylisaya deactivated the cloak effect and the armor reappeared. The television commercial ended and the image of the widescreen changed to a live news feed and analysis from the Patriarchy. The news feed was accompanied by the voice of a woman which had been digitally altered to be unrecognizable.


    ¡°Have you really been watching this for the last two days?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Nashara¡¯s critique of the Cooperative is uncontested, it¡¯s not perfect, but why doesn¡¯t she have any challengers?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a propaganda war between the Cooperative and the Patriarchy, neither side would care about you unless you contribute to their victory. You don¡¯t need that.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°The Cooperative can¡¯t last forever, the Patriarchy¡¯s in the correct position to replace them. Nashara¡¯s strategy is correct, and I¡¯ve got a theory about who she is.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°That¡¯s unlikely, she¡¯s an enemy of the state, if it was that easy to decipher her identity the Huntresses would have her in custody by now.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Exactly, there¡¯s only one way to evade Huntresses. She either is or at least was one. I said I know who, not a clear identity.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°So you have clues. What else about her?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°She was captured by slavers, rescued by a bounty hunter, fell in love, became a huntress to find him, hopefully before another kills him, found out she was pregnant with his baby, and lost the baby when she became a huntress.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°That¡¯s tragic, but what are her talents that allowed her to get recruited as a huntress?¡±, Tony protested.


    ¡°She¡¯s not exactly sharing this story, it¡¯s just slowly hearing fragments as she expresses her thoughts.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    The image of the display changed to the image of a woman with an enlarged belly and she began speaking with an unaltered voice. Ylisaya accessed the widescreen display to determine if they were still watching the news from the Patriarchy.


    ¡°My name is Saressah Dyleen, and I was not raped. The man that the Cooperative has arrested is the man I love, and the father of my baby. I don¡¯t have a parental license and I don¡¯t want one. I want to leave Venus and raise my baby anywhere else but here. I arrived to Venus a few years ago. My transport ship was attacked by space pirates and rescued by Huntresses. They sent me here. I never had a choice where I would live. The Cooperative is trying to kill the man I love, and trying to kill my baby. I ask any planet for political asylum from this genocide and crimes against humanity.¡±, said the woman¡¯s image.


    The display resumed it¡¯s normal data feed and commentary. The clip of Saressah was now available to watch again through the front portal of the Patriarchy.


    ¡°Really? Getting pregnant without a license in open defiance of the Cooperative? That¡¯s how they got caught. Rookie mistake!¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t bother you?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°If they were serious about starting a family, she would have applied for a license, she could have moved away, or she could have hired a bounty hunter for a ticket off this planet. The Patriarchy is just using her for propaganda, and she is allowing this to happen. This isn¡¯t my fight, and that¡¯s not your fight either. If you are the Rylkonian chosen one, I think your destiny is too valuable for giving precious time to someone else¡¯s agenda.¡±, Tony said.


    I received a notification through the communications array. The Cooperative Senate was now requesting all available Senators to report the Senate for an emergency session, and all Huntresses are instructed to ensure any Senators comply with this request. I suspected this emergency session of Congress was the response to the Patriarchy¡¯s latest propaganda effort.

 Chapter 13 - The Lady Killer Case

    The next morning Ylisaya and Tony were in cargo bay three, and I was on the bridge reading progress reports from the Huntresses. I stayed connected to the internal sensor, and saw that Ylisaya had just barely completed the armor upgrade to Tony¡¯s skull mask. Ylisaya handed Tony the enhanced helmet, and Tony examined the helmet. Tony removed his enforcer helmet, placing the visor upward as the round enforcer helmet rested on to a tool bin. Tony placed the skull mask helmet onto his head and then began to look around the cargo bay. Then Tony removed the skull mask, handed it back to Ylisaya, and approved Ylisaya to keep working. Ylisaya then carried the helmet to her work space and resumed working on the armor upgrade, as Tony resumed instructing Ylisaya on methods for predicting the future.


    ¡°That¡¯s just how most television shows go, a bunch of different plot lines are started in the beginning, which split up the cast. Then in the final act, all the plot lines converge and contribute to a conclusion.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°That¡¯s unrealistic to expect everything is connected, and everything concludes at the same exact time. Even if the slower events start earlier, that¡¯s still only possible if they actually all have the same solution.¡±, Ylisaya protested.


    ¡°The goal isn¡¯t to be realistic, they just want it to be plausible enough to be entertaining. But it is the easiest way to sort possible conclusions when examining the future.¡±, Tony argued.


    I then realized this was some sort of training, but I wasn¡¯t certain what television show the two people who could look into the future might be talking about, and I decided I should watch the shows they watch to solve that mystery. The proximity alarm went off and I switched to external sensors and through the sensors I saw Calista approached and was waiting outside of the airlock. I used my cybernetics to unlock the door and she entered the ship. I logged out the pilot¡¯s seat, left the bridge, and found Calista in the airlock¡¯s corridor. Calista was dressed for appearing in court, and she was dressed in gray and beige, with her long hair down to her waist.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the Captain, he¡¯s inspecting repairs.¡±, I said to Calista.


    ¡°Actually I¡¯m here to see you.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°Should I be honored or concerned?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Both. The Huntresses have exactly one report on the destruction of the Star of Hope. A detailed step-by-step list of all the ways the Star could have been destroyed by an Ambush Class Gunship and which methods succeed or fail with and without expensive technology. The Huntress who wrote it would have to be an expert in the capabilities of such a ship, there were exactly two gunships in range of Venus when the Star was destroyed, and the pilot of the Mermaid is unlikely to write a Huntress report. If I can figure it out this was you, so can another Huntress, including the Huntresses on board the Mermaid. And I have something you need to see.¡±, Calista said as she revealed a data stick.


    ¡°These are my files and all the evidence on the six murder victims. At least these two of them had at least one connection to the Mermaid, but all six of them had a connection to the Star. You¡¯re the only Huntress I know who is investigating the Star¡¯s destruction. I think these women were killed because of something knew about the Star and why it was destroyed. If the crew of the Mermaid know this and are not the killers, then they are in just as much danger as you. But if they are the killers, then I hope the Something Clever has a plan to protect Venus from the Mermaid. All Venus can do is pray for the Creator¡¯s mercy, except that patriarchal religions are prohibited by law.¡±, Calista said, as she handed the data stick to me.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were religious.¡±, I replied, as I lifted the data stick.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been listening to Juno Errysa¡¯ad. I thought you knew. She married a Rylkonian after all. One of the five women from Earth who achieved the impossible, even though divorced, she was married at least once. Makes sense, since Rylkonians have no practice of marriage.¡±, Calista said.


    I vaguely remembered attending two weddings. The first time was just one year after the the colony on Venus was established. I was invited but avoided bringing Tony. He believed such an event was a perfect opportunity for an ambush. The second time I just walked in and ate some food. I had no idea a wedding was such a complicated event.


    ¡°Thank you for the files, I¡¯ll take a look. But I can¡¯t automatically incorporate it into my investigation.¡±, I said, but I lied because my report wasn¡¯t being challenged.


    ¡°Agreed. The Cooperative might also want the Something Clever to be ready to launch at a moment¡¯s notice, especially with the potential threat from the Mermaid.¡±, Calista said.


    I began thinking, ¡°Now is a good time to resign as a Huntress, putting the Something Clever at risk in a fight against a rogue Gunship was never offered to the Cooperative.¡±


    ¡°The bigger question is, ¡®Why did Rythizon allow the sale and purchase of Rylkonian genetic material?¡¯ It¡¯s less expensive and easier to re-write genetic material from Earth.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So you think there¡¯s more to the Star¡¯s destruction than just some kind of insurance fraud or an act of terror?¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°If it was insurance fraud, the culprit is the Protectorate, but there¡¯s no motive, because if the Cooperative has a reliable future, they can actually pay back their debt to the Protectorate. If the cause was an act of terror, the culprit is the Patriarchy or one of the factions vying for power, putting them in a position to control the future of Venus, but there¡¯s also no motive, because it¡¯s easier to just hit a different target. I¡¯ll need statements from crew of the Mermaid, in particular the Mermaid¡¯s captain.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Well that I do not have, but you might get your chance. The Mermaid requested to land, and the Cooperative isn¡¯t stopping them. Meiyo is taking a big risk.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°The only thing that makes the crew of the Mermaid into suspects, is that there¡¯s no record of their activity in the timeframe of the attack, but that doesn¡¯t actually matter, because the Star could have been sabotaged at any point during or even before the it¡¯s flight.¡±, I said.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t part of the report.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I wrote that. How long was the report you saw?¡±,¡± I asked.


    ¡°Six pages, and it only covered what a Gunship is capable of.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°I wrote twenty, including the more successful methods of sabotage. I think my report was censored. The only reason to do that is if the Mermaid is being framed.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s premature and dangerous to think that, especially if the Cooperative has decided to limit information being shared for safety reasons.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re probably right, I have another lead to investigate. I should look into it.¡±, I said to Calista, but I was lying and I hoped she wouldn¡¯t press a question.


    ¡°If it uncovers what happened to the Star, I hope this lead is worth it. I have to go to the prosecutor¡¯s office. My case is going to trial today. Good luck Huntress.¡±, Calista said as she departed, and headed back towards the monorail.


    I entered cargo bay three and found Ylisaya still working on Armor, Tony was combining two cloaking device to make a working one, and the widescreen was still displaying a data feed from the Patriarchy.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve seen enough from the Patriarchy.¡±, I said, and then switched the widescreen to a data feed from the Cooperative Senate.


    ¡°I have Calista¡¯s, files¡­ Everything about the Lady Killer case is right here. I¡¯ll let you look at them if you stop watching the Patriarchy.¡±, I said to Ylisaya, as I revealed the data stick.


    Ylisaya looked at me and the data stick at the tips of my fingers, and then she looked at Tony. All Tony did was shrug in the manner that his robotic body allowed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to look at Calista¡¯s personal files. I already assisted with her investigation. This trade isn¡¯t relevant to me. But I agree, the Patriarchy will sacrifice you for it¡¯s own agenda. The reports of a Huntress are better than the propaganda of a political movement.¡±, Tony said.


    Ylisaya looked down at the battle armor, then towards me, she approached me, and presented a open hand with her palm facing upward. I dropped the data stick into Ylisaya¡¯s hand and watched her close her fingers around it. Ylisaya returned to her work space, resumed working on the armor, and moved the data stick to a pocket inside her flight suit.


    ¡°Well I got a call from an old client. She needs some help, so I¡¯m gonna check out what she needs.¡±, Tony said as he wrapped the altered cloak around himself.


    Tony activated the cloak, vanished into a distortion, and then deactivated the cloak.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t need to do that if the Enforcer armor is the best disguise?¡±, I asked Tony, as he reappeared.


    ¡°If I was following a Huntress, it works perfectly. Without a Huntress, I¡¯m limited to following the enforcer mechs¡¯ patrol routes, until a Huntress calls the patrol for something. I should be back by early afternoon.¡±, Tony said, as he departed the cargo bay.


    Ylisaya and I turned our focus to the widescreen, as we watched the current activities of the senate. A news correspondent in front of a court room was already halfway through her segment, and I increased the sound volume.


    ¡°In a dramatic unanimous ruling from the Senate, the public vote will now be used in selecting a jury for the rape trial. Half of the jury will be selected from the ninety-three percent of the population that voted to save the life of the suspect and allow the victim to keep her baby. The other half will come from the six percent that voted to uphold the law. If you remember the vote was opened last week, but only thirty percent of the population participated. After yesterday¡¯s statement from Saressah, in a desperate plea to keep her baby and save the life of the suspect. However the suspect will remain in custody until the investigation into the murders of six women in concluded. Back to you Karen.¡±, the correspondent said, as the image changed to another correspondent in a presentation room with a camera viewing her from behind her desk.


    ¡°Thank you Karen. I¡¯m just glad they¡¯re choosing the right women to decide the future of justice for the Cooperative. It¡¯s important to the women of Venus to know that the Cooperative is the most capable government.¡±, said the correspondent.


    ¡°Are all these women really named ¡®Karen'' or is it some sort of title?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Earthborn have a strange habit of thinking a child¡¯s name can enhance their chances of a prosperous future. It¡¯s superstition. No one can see the future¡­well besides you and the Captain, they don¡¯t normally see the future.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya glanced at me, then focused on the skull mask, and separated the helmet¡¯s inner liner from the outer shell. Ylisaya set the helmet liner in a spare parts bin, turned the helmet upside down, and placed the magnification tool on top as she continued to rewire the armor.


    ¡°What¡¯s your plan today?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Apparently an ex-wife of one of our cousins learned about the Laws of Rylkonis. I think it¡¯s worth checking out. Want to tag along?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°No thanks, I got plenty to do here. But I¡¯d like to know how that¡¯s even possible. The Rylkonian Fleet doesn¡¯t have the capability to properly grant one of us the Cleric Specialization, nor would we ever share our history with an Earthborn.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°That would be expected. The first law, but there¡¯s ways around every law.¡±, I sarcastically replied.


    ¡°Right¡­The eighty-eighth law¡­ We are always encouraged to be creative, but I have enough to spend creativity on here, and I¡¯m still going to be late on delivery time¡­ still I hope you have fun.¡±, Ylisaya replied as she continued working on the armor.


    I left the Something Clever and began my search for Juno. She had developed a reputation as a woman who proved it was possible for a woman from Earth to obtain a Rylkonian husband, and give birth to Rylkonian children. The real achievement was finding the five Rylkonian men who would be willing to explore the idea of marrying just one woman let alone a woman who was functionally from different universe, at least from another universe to our knowledge. I wondered if these five Rylkonians were trying to be brave, fair, or just reckless. But then again, I never expected a Rylkonian to become a dread pirate either.


    Juno was easy to find, she was well known wherever I asked, did nothing questionable, and she both lived and worked in one place, at least that was what women were willing to tell a Huntress. Juno was lucky enough to have a successful music and dance studio, which I guessed she supplemented with a side business, but it also looked as though she lived there too. It made sense since she spent so much time there. The store front had a big sign that read ¡°Juno¡¯s Music Shop and Dance Hall, Schedule a Music Lesson.¡±


    Juno wasn¡¯t trying to hide. The store was open, but Juno was out of the store and expected to return soon. A hand written sign indicated that all lessons had been cancelled and all appointments would be delayed to the evening. The store looked to have some inactive holographic capability, and the floor was made of a material unknown to me. Whatever it was it made me want to move because it reacted pleasantly to my footsteps. I suspected the door far to the back was Juno¡¯s living space, which was also was locked and inaccessible.


    After a few micro-cycles and woman walked into the store, wearing a mesh tunic and sandals, appropriate for the tropical weather. She was a tiny woman that might be described a petite. Her long hair fell below her shoulders and was like a light wheat color, not quite as vibrant as some Rylkonians¡¯ golden hair. Her face was round and soft, making her look quite young, and as I looked in her face, I saw her azure blue eyes. She almost had a Rylkonian appearance, except for a lack of surface level cybernetics. Juno¡¯s strangest quality was how obvious it was that she was clearly Aurovean, but we were on a world whose government decided being a woman was more important than being the correct race for succeeding.


    ¡°Are you Juno?¡±, I asked the woman.


    ¡°Yes.¡±, said the woman as she looked at me as though she recognized me.


    After a few moments, Juno¡¯s expression changes from suspicious to astonished and her arms dropped to her sides. Then her expression changes again to a look as if she had just been rescued.


    ¡°Jhessyreen? Did Rydamo send you?¡±, Juno asked as she ran up to me and hugged me.


    I patted her back with her arms restricting mine, from my shoulders. I felt her trust would be important to learn anything valuable. I didn¡¯t want to lie, but I didn¡¯t want to reject her either.


    ¡°Sort of. This is a check up. My cousin doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m here.¡±, I said to Juno.


    Juno seemed disappointed, but seemed to want to leave a positive impression. I suspected she believed this interaction would get reported back to Rydamo. I had no reason to deceive her so I decided to make my intentions clear, but I realized she wanted to talk about Rydamo. I needed to link these two topics.


    ¡°One of your audience revealed to me that my cousin might have discussed the Laws of Rylkonis with you. We both know he wasn¡¯t supposed to do that. So¡­How did this happen?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°He taught me that there are three parts of every Law of Rylkonis, the subject, the function, and the story. There are three laws that allowed him to do this. The first, the ninth, and the eighty-eighth. The first law is do not talk about Rylkonis, while I know that¡¯s not entirely correct, this complies with the function of the first law. The ninth law, an indirect solution is still a solution, again I know its incomplete, but is also compliant. Lastly, the eighty-eighth law intentionally failing achieves something else.¡±, Juno said.


    ¡°I understand now. You couldn¡¯t know exactly the Laws of Rylkonis, if he only provided an imperfect version, so by process of elimination, you understand the laws without precisely knowing them. But why?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Our son, Ryan. Aurovean tradition is taught through song and story. I wanted him to know that he doesn¡¯t have to choose to only be Rylkonian or Aurovean, since he is both, maybe only half, but still both. To know my child could hear me and talk to his father before he was even born made me accept that life as a Rylkonian might be the only life my son will ever know. I was Rydamo¡¯s motive, I asked him to teach me the stories of your people, and this was his solution.¡±, Juno said.


    ¡°So what makes you think it¡¯s okay for you to sell our stories, if it¡¯s forbidden by our laws, and creates opportunities for those who might intend to harm us?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Anyone who intends to harm you, will complain about your secrecy. And I¡¯m not selling stories. If I was a story teller, I¡¯d broadcast videos all over Venus. I¡¯m just trying to pay my debts to the Cooperative, and get a ticket to Freya. After that, maybe I can figure out a way to reach Neptune, so I can see my son again. I married a Rylkonian and gave birth to a Rylkonian son. That¡¯s my story. If all the Rylkonians leave to return to your home world, what is my son¡¯s fate then? What if this is my last chance to see him?¡±, Juno asked.


    ¡°Then why did you divorce Rydamo?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Because the Cooperative demanded that all husbands and sons become slaves. My son would never choose a life among the people of Earth, if we said this is acceptable. I wasn¡¯t willing to say to him that he is not worthy of freedom just because my blood flows through his veins. Rydamo and Ryan had to leave, and I took on the debt of two slaves. But now I can afford to get to Freya station, and now is the time to leave.¡±, Juno said.


    ¡°Can I hear a story?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Why? You know the real ones.¡±, Juno argued, and almost seemed to laugh.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to compare. Name your price.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°No cost. Aurovean tradition is taught through song and story. Follow me.¡±, Juno said.


    I followed Juno to the living area in the back of the store. Juno touched the door and as the system identified her, it unlocked the door to the living area. Through the door to the back rooms, all I found was a small kitchen, with metal panel cabinets, and a small table with two metal framed chairs. Juno sat down and gestured for me to sit on the opposite side of the table. I sat down and looked at the opposite wall, and saw two doors. I estimated the one door was probably a bedroom and the other door, which might be a bathroom and laundry room. The walls were covered with unfaded patches where pictures were once displayed. Only a few pictures remained of her with Rydamo and an infant Ryan. In the direction of the other two rooms I saw shipping boxes, most of which were packed and sealed. Two shipping boxes were still open and I could see one was filled with clothing and the other was filled with musical instruments. I wondered if she wanted me to see this, or if this area was better suited for the purpose of story telling. I focused on Juno as she prepared her self for a story. Juno closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled as she opened her eyes.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°This one is my favorite Rylkonian story. The story of how the three clans were named and the First Rylkonian War. The Rylkonians came from four beings. The first four were named Ayra, Urrysa, Nashal, and Rylkonis. Ayra had hair like silver and eyes like emeralds. Urrysa had hair like obsidian and eyes like gold. Nashal had hair like gold and eyes like sapphires. Ayra¡¯s domain was the order of their existence. Urrysa¡¯s domain was knowledge and exploration. Nashal¡¯s domain was art of healing. Ayra named her sons and daughters, the Ayrada¡¯an. Urrysa named her children the Errysa¡¯ad. Nashal named her children the Nasha¡¯af. When their progeny needed skills from their cousins, they were traded and they switched clans. The system to understand how each contributed to their clans became known as specialization. The Rylkonians could now explore entire galaxies and even see into other dimensions. After two hundred generations the Ayrada¡¯an grew in power, they learned warfare by watching other dimensions and made warriors into a specialization. The Ayrada¡¯an created a fleet and used the technology from the Errysa¡¯ad to conquer the universe, but the Errysa¡¯ad and the Nasha¡¯af refused to join the Ayrada¡¯an, as long as the only threat is in an entirely different Universe. The Errysa¡¯ad believed they were safe as long as no one discovered a way to cross over into another universe. The Ayrada¡¯an weren¡¯t happy with waiting for an invasion from an enemy they can¡¯t hit back, because that¡¯s a huge disadvantage. But the Errysa¡¯ad refused to create multiverse capable technology, that might cross into another universe, and become weapons which might be turned against their creators. The Ayrada¡¯an then attempted to create such a weapon, and the Errysa¡¯ad sabotaged them. That was the beginning of the first war. How¡¯s that?¡±, Juno asked.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­My clan isn¡¯t responsible for exploration, all Rylkonians can explore. If my clan¡¯s domain is knowledge and exploration, we¡¯d be thrilled with multiverse tech. And spying on another dimensions to steal their technology is technically an act of war, but if I only needed to explain the first war¡­then it¡¯s perfect. How much of that story came from Rydamo and how much did you change?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I changed anything, but I¡¯m not perfect.¡±, Juno said.


    My cybernetics alerted me that I was being summoned to the Senate, and I suspected the Cooperative had concerns over the Mermaid gunship, but at least nobody was shooting. I regretted not submitting my resignation, if the affairs of the Cooperative do not need to be my problem.


    ¡°I know what it means when your eyes do that.¡±, Juno said.


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t mean to be rude. Thank you for your hospitality, but I must be going.¡±, I said to Juno.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I need to prepare for tonight, it¡¯s my last concert here before I sell this place. You¡¯re welcome to drop by whenever, bring a friend, and¡­¡±, Juno said.


    I watched Juno¡¯s eyes rapidly shift side to side, and I sensed her mind through a cyber-link, but I couldn¡¯t detect any other cybernetic enhancements.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°A gift from my son¡­carrying him¡­slightly altered me. Only Rylkonians know, but I¡¯m not as powerful as you and I don¡¯t think I can specialize. Although¡­ keeping it secret provided some advantages.¡±, Juno said as she looked around her living space, and her focus returned towards me.


    I departed Juno¡¯s place and took the monorail towards the Senate. I wondered what situation the Senate might think required my attention. At each stop the monorail dropped off passengers but somehow didn¡¯t pickup any. I then noticed that I was alone on the monorail. I explored the monorail cart by cart and only found inactive enforcer mechs in the cart behind the lead cart, and the last cart. At the stop just before the Senate the Monorail finally picked up a passenger. Coincidentally the other passenger to ride the monorail with me was Calista, and she was still dressed for court.


    ¡°This is a surprise. Are you also headed to the Senate?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Actually yes. Aren¡¯t you supposed to be in court?¡±, I replied ask asked,


    ¡°There was a situation with the jury, so we¡¯re taking a mid-trial conference. Do you think this has something to do with the Mermaid?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°No clue¡­May I ask, what happened with the jury?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°The jury thinks it¡¯s a waste of time to prosecute. Seems they all sided with Saressah¡¯s unexpected broadcast. Now they seem to think due process is subject to a labor strike, the judges want to charge all the jurors with contempt of court, except there¡¯s a high chance this will happen again to the next jury too. Well it¡¯s probably all over the news, so I¡¯ll just say it. The defense initially didn¡¯t want Saressah to testify and just work the trial on evidence alone, and the prosecution didn¡¯t object, which was unexpected¡­until the broadcast, then it all made sense. If Saressah isn¡¯t a victim, what¡¯s the prosecution¡¯s case now? Saressah hijacked the legal process with her little stunt. I¡¯m just trying to do my job, and I quickly realized why Saressah refused to talk to me, she knew I was looking for the suspect.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°What if she demanded her own day in court? It¡¯s a gamble. But it might bring in the jury that will see her side?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°A really big gamble, she¡¯s carrying an unlicensed pregnancy.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of obvious, Saressah wants to keep her baby. Ineligible for adoption, and on any other planet the Cooperative is basically kidnapping. I hate to say it, but she might get what she wants. I don¡¯t see another way.¡±, I said.


    ¡°But that invalidates the entire point of licenses. Why should a society of women suffer for the wishes of one selfish women? That¡¯s the same as letting in the wrong women who might hand over the planet to space pirates, that¡¯s why we have to consider how this trial affects all women, and the system of laws we follow. To be honest, I think you¡¯re right, but this could mean the end of the Cooperative.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°The end of the Cooperative? Is that a bad thing?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°We can¡¯t assume that the next government is better just because it¡¯s newer, and we can¡¯t say we deserve better, if we¡¯re not willing to try. If I want a better life, the best direction for me is to get elected to a higher office, and the Cooperative is a democratic government. I¡¯m not willing to risk the next government becoming another Patriarchy. If I wanted to live under a Patriarchy, I¡¯d move to Mars.¡±, Calista said, and I sensed she was also unhappy with that fact.


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about loyalty and trust. Do you realize that¡¯s going to be a problem for the Protectorate because we¡¯re a majority of Rylkonians. If you got elected, would you change the laws to provide any protection for men? Our men? Because I don¡¯t think I¡¯m exactly the type of Rylkonian the Cooperative is looking to attract. If I became a Cooperative citizen, and wasn¡¯t a Huntress, I start off with tax debt up to my ears.¡±, I said, but I was lying, because really I don¡¯t want to be involved with this planet.


    ¡°Wait. What did you just say?¡±, Calista asked, as she seemed to have an epiphany.


    ¡°Do you mean, the Cooperative can¡¯t attract Rylkonian men?¡±, I replied and asked.


    ¡°No. Have you ever heard the story of Nilly Bailey?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°I recently heard her story. It seemed made up, so I didn¡¯t really pay attention.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Her name was changed for protection, but her problem was massive debt. Her boyfriend tried to pay it off for her, but that was rejected because the debt would keep her working and contributing to the Venus economy. The Cooperative tried to copy the Protectorate¡¯s tax system, but it would never work because we don¡¯t have the same level of specialization, and it conflicts with our maternity job protection laws. But less than three percent of the population have licenses. Their tax system is designed for debt not wealth. All the victims in the Lady Killer case, their debt wasn¡¯t cancelled like normal, it was paid by an insurance company. I need to look at my case files.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°Well you¡¯re the detective, and I¡¯m gonna be honest, I haven¡¯t looked at your files yet. But that¡¯s not critical evidence for either of our investigations.¡±, I said.


    The gates of the monorail carts made a clicking noise followed by the sound of metal slamming.


    ¡°What¡¯s that sound?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I think the monorail cart locked us in, that¡¯s strange.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°Why would it do that?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a safety mechanism, in case the monorail gets disconnected from the track, but we¡¯re still on track.¡±, Calista said.


    Something on the monorail exploded and the carts were all flipped over into onto one side. As soon as I felt my feet start to float, I grabbed onto Calista, activated my crash mode and curled up tucking knees under my chin and wrapping wrapping us in my deflectors. The roof and floor were now the sides and the shattered windows were now a sky light. We tumbled for a while but both Calista and I survived. I suspected the Monorail¡¯s quantum drive had absorbed the majority of the impact. Otherwise, we would have been crushed to death under the speeds of the monorail alone. I released Calista as the emergency lights activated but I suspected they wouldn¡¯t last long. My cybernetics informed me that I only suffered minor abrasions. I deactivated my deflector shields as I pulled my hair back and locked it onto the static patch.


    ¡°Jhessyreen? What happened?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°The monorail went off track¡­Are you injured?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Luckily no, I think I¡¯m fine.¡±, Calista said as she climbed over a collapsed monorail seat.


    Calista¡¯s silk suit was ruined but at least she was alive. I heard a machine moving around the outside of the monorail with the pattern of mechanical footsteps.


    ¡°I hear something moving. Are those rescue machines?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Impossible, they don¡¯t react that fast, and they don¡¯t walk, they fly.¡± Calista said.


    A metal slamming sound came the direction of the rear cart and the sound grew louder and louder. The gate broke and the door was forced open. Calista and I saw the gate was opened by an enforcer mech and it was followed by several other enforcer mechs.


    ¡°Did you call for them?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°No. Can they move without a Huntress¡¯s instruction?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Depends on the instruction.¡±, Calista said.


    Calista stood up and displayed her badge to the enforcer mechs. I wondered why don¡¯t I have a badge, and I watched the enforcer mechs focus on her and the badge, then towards each other.


    ¡°Establish a perimeter around the monorail, keep the public away from the danger of the crash site, and assist rescue and medical services.¡±, Calista instructed the enforcer mechs, but the mechs didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t they obeying me? Are they damaged?¡±, Calista asked.


    The three closest enforcer mechs revealed their phase rifles and aimed at Calista. I activated my deflector shields, jumped towards Calista, threw my arms around her and pulled her with me towards the far side of the collapsed monorail seat, as the enforcer mechs began shooting. The volley of bullets impacted, and I could hear the enforcer mechs moving closer. While my defector shields should protect me from a few hits, they also increase my chances of being hit by enemies with targeting systems, but anyone near me has better dodge chances.


    ¡°Why did they fire?¡±, Calista asked, and the enforcer mechs fired another burst of gunfire in the sound of Calista¡¯s voice.


    I pressed my hand over Calista¡¯s mouth and raised the pointer finger of my other hand over my lips gesturing for Calista to remain quiet. I revealed my revolver, and rotated the cylinder to the first of my two remaining Flash Pulse shots. I aimed at the space over the enforcer mechs and fired. I could hear the enforcer mechs start scanning, unable to see through the abundance of energy and light.


    ¡°Follow me, that won¡¯t last long.¡±, As I said to Calista, and grabbed Calista¡¯s arm lifting her up from the ground. I was lucky since I wasn¡¯t sure if the Flash Pulse shot would affect the enforcer mechs¡¯ hearing as well as their vision.


    ¡°Can you walk?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll manage, where do we go?¡±, Calista asked.


    I could hear enforcer mechs moving around the outside of the monorail. I had no way to test if they were part of the group that fired phase rifles at us, or if they would start shooting if they saw us, and I didn¡¯t want to find out.


    ¡°Towards the front of the monorail.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope the enforcer mechs at the front will still obey us.¡±, Calista said.


    Calista grabbed the door handle but it wouldn¡¯t move. It seemed the locking mechanism would not respond. I never expected that the emergency release handle with a big red curved arrow and two pictures of where to stand and how to pull the lever would fail.


    ¡°Let me try something.¡±, I said.


    I pressed my open hand against the door frame and linked my cybernetics to the door¡¯s mechanism. The system accepted my commands and I instructed the door to open.


    ¡°Well at least that¡¯s still working.¡±, Calista said.


    A volley of bullets hit near Calista and she ducked below some debris. I ducked below the heights of the bullet impacts but kept my hand on the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s wearing off, get through.¡±, I said to Calista.


    Calista crawled through the door and I followed after. As I slipped my hand off the doorframe, the door slammed closed. I could hear the enforcer mechs attempting to navigate through the high energy field left behind by the Flash Pulse shot. The enforcer mechs outside the monorail, were moving faster and spreading out. I suspected they were taking positions to surround the Monorail. As we moved to the next monorail car the gate seemed to work fine. When we moved into the third monorail cart I could hear the sound of slamming metal as the enforcer mechs at the rear of the monorail tried to break through the door. I was thankful the enforcer mechs don¡¯t know how to use doors, or at least not these doors, but doesn¡¯t help the overall problem. We approached the middle of the monorail carts and we heard the sound of slamming metal as the enforcer mechs from the front of the monorail broke through doors as they moved towards the back. I also heard enforcer mechs moving outside of the crash site. Calista and I hide behind collapsed seats in the middle cart.


    ¡°Hand me your badge.¡±, I said to Callista.


    Calista handed her badge to me and we waited for the enforcer mechs from the front of the monorail get closer. I started thinking of ways two Huntresses armed with handguns and limited ammo could test if this second group of enforcer mechs armed with phase rifles might be hostile, without getting both of us killed. The sound of slamming metal paused as the mechs moved down from the front of the cart towards the end and resumed breaking open the next door. Calista and I watched the door slowly collapse each time the metal arms of an enforcer mech slammed into the door. Each hit weakened the door and the door inevitably failed. The enforcer mechs forced the door open and I raised the badge above the top edge of the seat. I heard the enforcer mechs respond to the movement of the badge, and as I slowly stood up, and the Enforcer mechs just stared at me, but they didn¡¯t aim their phase rifles.


    ¡°Return to the front cart.¡±, I instructed the mechs, but they didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Combine with the perimeter.¡±, I gave a second instruction, but again they didn¡¯t respond to my commands.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t good.¡±, Calista said from behind the collapsed seat.


    I saw the enforcer mechs respond, but they started aiming their phase rifles, but I wasn¡¯t willing to wait around to find out what they were going to aim at. So I ducked down as the mechs took aim. A volley of bullets flew over and hit the wall of the monorail cart behind us.But I didn¡¯t hear the mechs moving, and they even stopped shooting.


    ¡°Why did they stop shooting?¡±, Calista asked.


    That¡¯s when we heard the sound of slamming metal from the first group of mechs moving towards the front. The mechs had us surrounded and the mechs were closing in. Calista seemed calm and gripped her handgun with both hands. I reached out through my cybernetics to Tony, and he accepted my cyber-link connection.


    ¡°Hey I heard a monorail crash and gunfire. Where are you?¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts asked his question.


    ¡°Calista and I survived the crash, now we¡¯re surrounded by Enforcer mechs, and they¡¯re trying to kill us.¡±, I sent my thoughts.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there as soon.¡±, Tony sent his response through the cyber-link.


    ¡°You¡¯ll never get here in time. I need you to take control and make me fight.¡±, I sent my thoughts through the cyberlink.


    I released control of my body and I felt my hands start to move as I sensed Tony test his control over my movements. My hand pulled out my spare ammo and my eyes examined the ammo as my hand flipped the ammo over. My other hand pressed the open lever on my revolver and my eyes saw the empty chamber, as my hand holding my spare ammo removed the Flash Pulse shot, and then loaded the empty chambers with stun ammo. My hand returned my spare ammo to my ammo pocket on my holster, but held onto the Flash Pulse shot as it quietly closed the revolver. My hand tossed the Flash Pulse shot towards the mechs, and the Flash Pulse shot rolled and bounced along the side of the monorail cart, which was now the ground. Calista gave me a puzzled look. I could almost hear Tony¡¯s mind counting backwards. I could hear the enforcer mechs attempt to aim at the bouncing bullet, as it moved closer and closer.


    ¡°Shut your eyes.¡±, my mouth said to Calista, and I¡¯m pretty sure I was the one talking.


    My body turned and leaned around the collapsed seat, and my hand aimed the revolver at the Flash Pulse shot bullet. My eyes shut and my finger pulled the trigger. Even through my closed eyes I could see the intense bright light, as the stun bullet hit the Flash Pulse shot. I could hear Tony¡¯s mind counting backwards again. My body moved behind the collapsed seat and my eyes opened. I could see the intensity of the light reflecting the shadows from the mechs on the opposite wall. My eyes looked upwards and I could almost see the gaps in the mech¡¯s enforcer armor. My body turned and leaned, slowly stood up, and took aim at the impeded mechs. My hand aimed at the closest mech, my finger pulled the trigger, and I watched the bullet impact in the neck of the mech. The mech twitched and seemed to convulse as it dropped it¡¯s phase rifle. I suspected that since Tony wore that armor for two days, he could identify it¡¯s potential flaws and weaknesses. My hand aimed at another mech and the finger pulled the trigger again, hitting another mech in it¡¯s weak point, and my hands fired a third time.


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Open fire!¡±, my mouth yelled to Calista, and I¡¯m pretty sure that was Tony who was the one talking.


    Calista slowly stood up and began firing her handgun at the enforcer mechs, but she seemed to not understand aiming at weak points. Most of her bullets barely dented the enforcer armor, but at least she hit her target. My hands fired three more bullets and the first bullet hit, the second bullet missed, and the third bullet hit. My body ducked back down and my hand reached for my spare ammo. My shooting hand opened my revolver, my other hand loaded six stun bullets, and held onto a seventh bullet. My shooting hand flicked and the revolver swung closed. Calista fired until her handgun was empty and she ducked down to reload. The effect from the Flash Pulse shot wore off and the remaining mechs began taking aim at Calista. I suspected they determined she was the greater threat since she was the last location they took fire from. My hand tossed the stun bullet and again I heard Tony¡¯s mind count backwards. From behind the collapsed seat I could hear at least a few mechs respond to the rolling bullet. My body leaned out, took aim, and fired at the bullet lying on the ground. A shockwave exploded from the bullet and knocked over the closest rows of mechs. My legs began moving and running towards the closest knocked over mechs, and my hand fired twice. My other hand reached down and picked up a phase rifle. My shooting hand returned the the revolver to my holster and my hands aimed the phase rifle at the remaining mechs. My finger pulled the trigger, then the phase rifle roared to life and sprayed bullets at the mechs that sliced through their enforcer armor. My hands shifted my aim in an arc as the phase rifle cut down an entire wave of enforcer mechs. My hands stopped shooting shifted the phase rifle to one hand, my free hand reached for the phase rifle ammo from the remaining mechs, and tucked the ammo into my spare ammo pocket.


    ¡°Move up.¡±, my mouth said to Calista, and that was definitely Tony talking.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡±, Calista asked, as she approached.


    I sensed that Tony thought about Calista¡¯s question but he didn¡¯t have a response.


    ¡°Huntresses are recruited for their talents.¡±, I said, as Calista picked up a phase rifle and ammo.


    My body turned towards the sound of slamming metal from the rear of the monorail cart. I sensed Tony estimate that the mechs outside the monorail might abandon their locations to enter the crashed monorail. My hand gestured for Calista to aim at the rear door, as the enforcer mechs approached. My body moved to a crossfire attack angle with Calista aimed at the door. I could hear the enforcer mechs move through the monorail cart and start slamming against the door. As the door failed, Calista opened fire. I didn¡¯t even notice my hands start shooting too, until there were no more enforcer mechs in the monorail. We could only hear more outside.


    My hands stacked some collapsed seats against the floor and my legs managed to climb up to the shattered windows. My hand grabbed a piece of window and held it just outside the monorail. I could see through the reflection around the crash site as my hand twisted the reflective surface to see in more directions. My hand dropped the piece of shattered window, my other hand placed the phase rifle outside, and my body climbed out of the monorail. My hand gestured for Calista to follow and she began climbing up the stacked debris. I heard the movement of enforcer mechs, my hands reached for the phase rifle, and my body aimed the rifle in the direction of the sound to the front of the monorail. The stack of collapsed seats fell over and Calista fell back into the wreckage.


    ¡°What now?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Try for the rear exit. I¡¯ll meet you on the other side. If you run into mechs, just don¡¯t shoot in wide angles, you might hit me.¡±, my mouth said.


    Calista moved back through the wreck and my eyes looked for a place to climb down. My eyes found some debris that the monorail crashed through which allowed me to climb down, and my body began moving towards the rear of the wreck. I heard some mechs and my body hid behind some debris. My body turned and leaned enough for me to see a few of the mechs, then the debris fell over and the crashing sound drew the attention of all nearby mechs. More than a dozen mechs could see me and my hands aimed to shoot, but they didn¡¯t fire. They ignored me and resumed their movements towards the rear of the monorail. My body started moving away from the wreck and I resisted.


    ¡°What are you doing? You¡¯re not their target. Now¡¯s your chance to escape. I won¡¯t risk you, if I don¡¯t need to.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the cyberlink.


    I felt my legs carrying me away from the wreck, but I thought about Ylisaya¡¯s vision of the future when she saw Calista and if her role in the future of the Cooperative was too great of a risk to lose. I focused on the promise we made to Ylisaya that she would be safe on this world. Failing to protect a woman on a planet that relies on Huntresses for order and for justice, and then being compelled to ignore that request from the one who asked me to be a Huntress, condoned the hypocrisy that Ylisaya accused me of, everyday we remained on this planet. Those thoughts filled me with anger, and Tony¡¯s grip on my mind loosened.


    ¡°Someone just tried to kill two Huntresses with a sabotaged monorail, and then sent enforcer mechs to finish off the target. I¡¯m a witness to an attempted assassination, I¡¯m already in danger.¡±, I sent my thoughts through the cyberlink.


    I sensed my thoughts pass through Tony¡¯s mind and we remembered we made a promise. I was offered as a Huntress to this planet for that reason. We took payment and entered the planet and we had to fulfill the contract. It was a surprising situation that any woman was no longer safe, and it was even more terrifying we still didn¡¯t know the identity nor motive of the attacker. The worst aspect of this attack was realizing the planner has the capability to turn the Cooperative¡¯s enforcer machines into assassins.

 Chapter 14 - Attempted Assassination To Silence

    As Tony¡¯s mind intertwined with my own controlling my movements, I wondered what Calista knew or might be close to discovering that would compel someone to attempt to kill her, especially on a planet where women are supposed to be safe. I sensed in Tony¡¯s mind as he reflected over the last three days. My legs carried me as quickly as my body could manage.


    Tony was unwilling to deactivate my deflector shields to allow more available quantum power to support my other systems. There seemed to be no need to evade detection as the enforcer mechs completely disregarded my presence even when I fired on them or otherwise attempted to hunt them down. They seemed to refuse to waste ammo on me nor waste any time not moving towards Calista. My hands fired my stolen phase rifle again and again, until all the ammo was gone. My hands then replaced exhausted weapons with more stolen weapons and each attack only eliminated the slowest enforcer mechs, which only slowed to avoid debris and wait for other mechs to vacate an occupied pathway. I could hear gunfire coming from inside the wreckage, and estimated that Calista was still alive and able to fight off the onslaught on mechs that harassed her. The mechs showed no concern for their own self preservation and their only goal was to relentlessly kill their target. Even if I had ran away, at least Calista had a fighting chance. I wondered if I had not been there, if Calista would have survived the crash or the first attack from the mechs.


    I was now within sight of the final cart. My eyes looked at the phase rifle, which could kill maybe three or four mechs before it exhausted its ammo. I definitely didn¡¯t have enough phase or stun ammo to stop all of these mechs, as they rushed into the rear cart. I imagined that each moment that passed could mean a mech catching Calista or shooting her with volley of bullets, with risk of certain death increasing with each time she searched for ammo, evaded attacks, or looked for time to fight back. Then I heard mechs moving inside the monorail wreck from the direction the front, moving towards Calista. Both Tony and I wondered if she knew. I wanted to yell, I tried to call out Calista¡¯s name, but nothing came out, with Tony¡¯s grip over my mind.


    ¡°I have an idea. But this is something I¡¯ve never tried before.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the cyberlink.


    My hands dropped the phase rifle, and my hand furthest from the wreck reached out to the mechs. While they were far out of my arm¡¯s reach, that didn¡¯t seem to be a factor for Tony¡¯s mind. As if I were passing my hand through a hologram of falling water and could sense each mech trying to obey the command, ¡°Attack Calista and anything that gets in the way!¡± From the far corners of Tony¡¯s mind and passing through my cybernetics, that command changed to, ¡°Attack enforcer mechs!¡±


    The response from the mechs was slow at first. Some mechs twitched and shuttered, some mechs completely stopped moving. Slowly each enforcer mech change the target of its attacks to another mech. Some mechs fired their weapons at each other, when they exhausted their ammo they either attempted to reload or they attempted fight in close combat. Some mechs ripped each other apart, smashing into each other, and no matter how much damage they each sustained they continued to attack. My body turned towards the front of the of the monorail and I sensed Tony¡¯s mind reach out again, and he turned the remaining mechs against each other as well. I could hear the sounds of gunfire and smashing metal, and then nothing.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just tell them to stop?¡±, I sent my question through the cyber-link.


    ¡°They were sabotaged. ¡®Attack¡¯, was the only command in their memory. They are also missing all their tactics and strategies. They aren¡¯t even using a basic search pattern. They probably can¡¯t even open doors. I have to disconnect now.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me through the cyber-link, and then quiet, as we disconnected.


    ¡°Calista! I¡¯m clear, I think we got them all.¡±, I yelled out.


    ¡°Jhessyreen! I¡¯m clear. I¡¯m climbing out.¡±, Calista yelled back.


    From the rear cart of the wreckage, I could hear the sound of Calista pushing disabled enforcer mechs. Enforcer mech heads, arms, and legs fell over and I finally saw Calista. She was covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Her silk courtroom suit was torn and burned. I deactivated my deflector shields.


    ¡°Where are the emergency rescue drones?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. They should have shown up by about now. The risk to both passengers and anyone nearby the crash site has a ninety-nine percent chance of being a woman.¡±, Calista replied, as she examined the area around the rear of the crash site.


    ¡°What reasons would activate emergency drones?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Drug overdose, suicide, attempted suicide, medical emergency for the elderly, and dead or dying pets.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°That sort of answers the question. A catastrophic failure of infrastructure on a planet that¡¯s safe for women wouldn¡¯t be expected, especially involving self correcting technology. We¡¯re lucky the monorail had enough built-in safety mechanisms.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°So we¡¯re on our own then? Where do we go?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°If you need to go to the hospital then just go, but we did just fight off wave after wave off malfunctioning enforcer mechs. We were supposed to report in.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I would be safe with either of those.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°What makes you think that?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°This is the third attempt on my life, I¡¯m sorry you¡¯re getting involved. I thought abandoning every lead except for my assigned case would resolve this. But whoever wants me dead isn¡¯t going to stop, and they¡¯re trying to make it look like an accident. I think they¡¯re watching the courtroom, my home, maybe even following me. I don¡¯t know who to trust. I have nowhere to go.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°Just to be clear. I don¡¯t care about what you got going on, but whoever tried to kill you just tried to kill me. Three attempts is definitely a pattern, but three attempts and they still can¡¯t hit you? That¡¯s just not how we do business on the Something Clever. What I¡¯m trying to say is you might have something we want, that means we can make a deal. My first question is, How do you feel about faking your own death?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°What do I do?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Do you got something called a phone or device that is unique to you?¡±, I asked, as I returned Calista¡¯s badge.


    Calista presented a small rectangular object that appeared to be an electronic device.


    ¡°Good, cover it in some of your blood, smash it, and leave it here. Find a mostly intact enforcer mech, put some of your blood on it¡¯s hands. Make whoever set up the attack, think they got away with it. Assume your money is no good anymore, anything that can prove you¡¯re alive, or give away your location, don¡¯t use it. Unless you¡¯re actually dying, then you¡¯ll have to risk it.¡±, I said to Calista, as she dropped her badge on the ground.


    Calista seemed to listen to me as a matter of life and death. I was surprised at how Tony¡¯s plans were so versatile, and I could easily copy them.


    ¡°But what if they figure it out?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the the one looking for you! Someone else who doesn¡¯t know you will be looking for you. How many times has a Huntress needed to vanish to evade assassination? Who on this planet is ready for that?¡±, I argued.


    ¡°Good point. Then what?¡±, Calista asked as she relented.


    ¡°Why would someone want to kill you? Something to do with the trial case?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, not if this attack is connected to the two previous attempts.¡±, Calista replied as she theorized.


    ¡°Well this method of trying to make it look like an accident is unfamiliar to me. I only know one assassin on Venus. You¡¯ll need to speak with the Phantom, we have one crew member waiting with our ship. But be aware, I would be hesitant to let you hide in the ship or grant you asylum. The Phantom already has enemies.¡±, I said.


    ¡°What will you do?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°I need to report in. If my theory is correct. Whoever sent the enforcer mechs only sabotaged them and isn¡¯t watching. The other monorail stations didn¡¯t have passengers boarding, only any exiting, and launched the attack when rescue would be unlikely. If I¡¯m now a target, then the safest place for me is in the Senate. But more than likely, whoever was behind this attack doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m even here. If anyone asks, I¡¯ll say that you were trapped in the Monorail but I got out¡­to look for help.¡±, I said.


    ¡°And no one can accuse you of lying without revealing they sent the mechs. That¡¯s smart. How many times has your crew done this before?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°From this side of the attack? None. We¡¯re normally the ones who are shooting, throwing explosives, and planning a getaway.¡±, I said, but I was lying.


    I suspected that whoever wanted to kill Calista, could also see the Cooperative¡¯s reports from other Huntresses, and could therefore also see the Cooperatives files on me. The only people on this planet who can do that are Huntresses, which would mean the only possible threat is from another Huntresses. If Huntresses are trying to kill each other, Ylisaya¡¯s and Tony¡¯s vision was turning our to be true.


    Calista dropped her phone, the phase rifle, and vanished into a section of jungle, which would allow her to move quickly and avoid being noticed. Such a move is possible during the day, but dangerous at night because the jungle floor is soft and uneven. Any injury that would put Calista in a hospital would also reveal her location. I followed the monorail track to another monorail station and waited for the next monorail to bring me to the Senate.


    When I arrive at the Senate I found several Senators and Huntresses. Almost no-one noticed that I had been in a monorail crash, or were simply too busy to notice. My deflector shields meant I was only in slightly better shape than workers who were ordered to remain in the Senate since Saressah¡¯s surprise announcement. I suspected if anyone who wasn¡¯t allowed to leave the Senate tried to see how far they would get before the enforcer mechs responded, or how the mechs might respond. I wasn¡¯t sure who expected me within the Senate, so I headed towards Meiyo¡¯s office. So far so good, no one was trying to stop me, at least not trying to kill me, so I concluded whoever tried to kill Calista either had not yet considered me to be a threat to them or at least did not have a plan to kill me within the Senate. I imagined my deflector shields could stop two or three hits from a phase rifle, but fired too fast for me to just rely on my shields. But a Huntress could just as easily attack with an energy blade and overload my shields in one hit. I considered it foolish to assume that the Senate was immune from sabotage, without knowing the identity of the killer.


    When I reached Meiyo¡¯s office, I found the office open but it seemed empty of any people. I hesitated to walk inside, and a feeling in the corner of my mind calculated the chances of walking into the office might be a trap, either for me or Meiyo. I was reminded of the time when Tony fought the Black Dragon Enforcer. I sensed someone was approaching.


    ¡°Are you still a Huntress?¡±, Meiyo asked me as soon as she saw me.


    I was stunned that I could be reporting if I were not a Huntress. Meiyo was wearing her Tri-tech armor and she only wore a hand a handgun hanging from her belt. Meiyo walked into her office and gestured for me to follow her.


    ¡°I was thinking about resigning, but I¡¯m guessing new opportunities are opening.¡±, I replied, as I followed Meiyo.


    ¡°Good guess. Half of the Huntresses resigned, so any opportunities I have are just their dropped cases.¡±, Meiyo said, and I suspected she wasn¡¯t telling the entire truth.


    ¡°How does that affect the Cooperative?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Well we didn¡¯t have enough Huntresses, last year, last month, or last week, so nothing changed there. But for the Senate, this means additional debate. Some in the Senate want to keep the promise of freedom which might break the Cooperative, some want to place control of the Huntresses directly under Senate and set us on the path towards giving power to the Patriarchy, and some want to deal with the real problem and forcibly implant mind control technology in the last non-cyborg slaves. The biggest issue right now is keeping our budget.¡±, Meiyo said, as she sat down in the chair behind her desk.


    ¡°How are a few thousand slaves the problem? What¡¯s the connection?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°The strategy is a gamble. Rewriting the minds of the last thinking males on Venus proves that the Patriarchy cannot protect them. If the Patriarchy cannot protect a few thousand, then no one can expect them to protect a planet. When the Cooperative becomes the only valid government, that makes a lack of huntresses, six women murdered, or even infinite debt tax into problems that do not require solutions, because life has no other alternative and the Cooperative turns more into a cult.¡±, Meiyo said, and I couldn¡¯t determine which path she supported.


    ¡°Sounds like you don¡¯t like any of those results.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°I stopped caring about the Cooperative when they started sending Huntresses to kidnap girls. We robbed them of any other future, in exchange for a few more years before our extinction. I only came back because I need an army. Before I left, both Mars and Venus had an army for me to command, but now Mars¡¯ was lost to betrayal, and the Venus¡¯ command codes were stolen. So where do I get an army now?¡±, Meiyo asked, as she activated her workstation.


    I suspected Meiyo knew more about the stolen command codes, but revealing I knew about the assassination attempt against Calista would link me to any of her suspicions. It was possible that Meiyo didn¡¯t even yet know about Calista, but I wasn¡¯t sure who to trust yet. I thought it was odd, that she mentioned needing an army so casually. An army would be useful now that the command codes were stolen, and could have been really useful against the Black Dragons, but they just disbanded. I began thinking she might have told Tony, and suspected talking to one of us implied knowledge to the other. She could only logically say this if she knew the enforcer mechs had been compromised. I decided not to press her.


    ¡°I once heard from an Earthborn that once is bad luck, twice is coincidence, but three times is a pattern. Now only one planet has an available army.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Earth¡­ and that¡¯s no coincidence. I¡¯ll need to consult the President. Are you able to continue investigating the Star?¡±, Meiyo asked, as she accessed records in her workstation.


    ¡°I imagined that¡¯s why I was summoned, but I should also let you know my next report will include my resignation.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    Meiyo turned the display of her workstation towards me, stood up, and started walking towards the door.


    ¡°The interviews with the crew of the Mermaid were just filed into records. You can send them to the Something Clever if you want a copy. Buy Mykayla¡¯s still in interview. I need to meet the Sisterhood Union, they¡¯re offering security consultants, and I¡¯ll have no time to review the interviews.¡±, Meiyo said, as she walked out of her office.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    I felt like I was being watched. I opened the first available file and I saw Vickessah sitting at a table, and her image looked right back at me and then she looked around the room. I suspected the camera was set on the table, and the interviewer sat or stood behind the camera.


    ¡°How long were you Chief Medical Officer of the Mermaid?¡±, I heard a woman¡¯s voice ask through the video.


    ¡°Since the Parasite wars, but we just call the job, ¡®Ship¡¯s Medic¡¯. Rylkonians are not as obsessed with titles and privilege.¡±, Vickessah replied, implying that the interviewer was an Earth born.


    ¡°Are you aware of any attempts to prevent the Cooperative from acquiring Rylkonian genetic material?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Yes, the Protectorate would never allow that.¡±, Vickessah said as she almost laughed, but she was more puzzled than amused.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t the Protectorate want women from Venus to raise Rylkonian children?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Well I can think of a few reasons. Rylkonians rely on space travel, but the Cooperative won¡¯t let them leave. The Cooperative copied the one gender policy from the Ugian Emperor Xi-Ji-Pooh, the Golden Bear, Earth¡¯s history is easily available. So all of these new Rylkonians will be girls, in thirty mega-cycles they¡¯ll have the same exact problem, again. We don¡¯t even know if the Protectorate will still be here, so that leaves only one alternative, they¡¯ll try to mate with Earthborn males. We don¡¯t even know if the¡¯ll remain under the control of the Cooperative, the opposing political movement on this planet is the Patriarchy and the next closest faction with healthy males are space pirates. All Rylkonians are cyborgs to some degree, we are born that way. So the risk is cyborg space pirates, nobody wants that! There are just under one-hundred-thousand women with parental licenses, who haven¡¯t had children yet. If the Cooperative relaxes the requirements for eligibility, then the women who either just adopted or recently had a child and are also the most influential, will see their children treated unfairly in the Cooperative¡¯s new society. If the Cooperative keeps the requirements, these Rylkonians will become a minority, and there¡¯s no guarantee they will be a privileged minority. And I¡¯m just a medic, the Protectorate has definitely considered the consequences of Rylkonians beyond their control and protection.¡±, Vickessah said, and the recording ended.


    I activated the next interview, and saw Janodine¡¯s image on the display. Janodine leaned to one side as she ran her fingers through her dark hair.


    ¡°How long have you been the Chief Engineer of the Mermaid?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Eight mega cycles ago, after my teacher took an assignment on Orion Station.¡±, Janodine said, as she seemed unenthusiastic to speak to the interviewer.


    There was a long pause after Janodine¡¯s reply and she seemed puzzled and annoyed with the interviewer as she looked in the interviewer¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Five years!¡±, Janodine added, as she realized the interviewer didn¡¯t know how to convert Rylkonian measurements.


    ¡°Are you aware of any attempts to prevent the Cooperative from acquiring Rylkonian genetic material?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Well, why does the the Cooperative need any?¡±, Janodine asked.


    ¡°Are you aware the planet is severely under populated?¡±, the interviewer demanded.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it sounds like you¡¯re asking me if I care that a planet with a population that¡¯s ninety-nine percent female, has a problem with under-population? I heard some funny words that fit perfectly. If the Cooperative wants to be patriarchal, dogmatic, and draconian, I¡¯m not a Cooperative citizen, I don¡¯t care what the Cooperative does on their planet, even if it leads to your extinction. The only reasons the Cooperative can¡¯t solve this problem is because they promised freedom from Patriarchy, forcing pregnancy is slavery, and this planet some how still offers unlimited maternity days. Now that¡¯s a riddle an engineer will never solve! But odds are ninety-nine percent of workers will not need any, if they can¡¯ even apply for a parental license.¡±, Janodine said, with no fear of any consequence.


    ¡°Are you suggesting that we waste our planet¡¯s limited resources raising non-contributors?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Right now you¡¯re planet¡¯s problem is lack of any contributors. Nobody says, ¡®I wanna move to Venus so I can die alone.¡¯ They think they can build a future, and one percent will succeed and escape. The Cooperative sends me and my crew to bring back the other ninety-nine percent, who haven¡¯t earned that. The Cooperative is paying to protect their credibility and their investment. I know this is true because working on the Mermaid pays very well.¡±, Janodine said.


    ¡°You¡¯re heartless!¡±, the interviewer accused Janodine.


    ¡°I¡¯m heartless?¡­If no-one finds them in time, they get caught by space pirates, who will take their babies away, and force them into slavery or prostitution. Their daughters will suffer that same exact fate, and their sons will become future space pirates if they survive. Sending them back to a planet that will have them is all the mercy the Protectorate can offer to a Non-Protectorate citizen. I¡¯m not the one telling them if they fail a psychological or financial test, that their children aren¡¯t good enough to be part of your planet¡¯s future but still owe the Cooperative a tax-debt. So you tell me who¡¯s heartless?¡±, Janodine argued.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t the Protectorate want women from Venus to raise Rylkonian children?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Seriously? Ninety-seven percent of your women fail your test. I know I don¡¯t want to take your test, just to tell me that I have a healthy body, mind, and enough money to have kids. If Rylkonians take your test, we only add validation to a system we don¡¯t believe in. If these Rylkonian daughters take your test, we can¡¯t stop you from making the test more lenient or strict to fit some political agenda or spread some narrative we don¡¯t support. You can¡¯t guarantee you¡¯ll protect them. I¡¯m not aware of a single Rylkonian woman who would want her daughter to go through that.¡±, Janodine said.


    ¡°We¡¯re not talking about Rylkonian daughters from Rylkonian mothers. This is about genetic material that comes from Rylkonian men. The women of Venus will be the mothers.¡±, the interviewer argued.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re making a lot of assumptions about Rylkonian men. What makes you thinka cyborg who can access the collective knowledge of our entire race, can be fooled more than twice? Even if you offered all the wealth in your economy, and promised to dedicate your lives to the prosperity of these children, Rylkonian men already know it¡¯s safer to keep our races separate, because Rylkonian women already know the risks. This is not rejection of your society, we¡¯re simply asking you to respect our society.¡±, Janodine protested, and the interview ended.


    I activated the third interview and saw an image of a Rylkonian man of the Ayrada¡¯an clan. He stroked his silvery beard, and his other arm curled around the opposite elbow. His eyes seemed to watch theinterviewer who was out of the the view of the camera.


    ¡°What is your name?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Rydako Ayrada¡¯an.¡±, the man said.


    ¡°What is your job on the Mermaid?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Supply Chief.¡±, Rydako said.


    ¡°And what does a Supply Chief do on a gunship?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Fuel, cargo, payroll, and the kitchen.¡±, Rydako replied.


    ¡°So the engineer, medic, gunner, and cook need you to do their jobs?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°I am the cook.¡±, Rydako said, and the interview ended.


    I thought it was strange to end Rydako¡¯s interview because if anyone on a gunship could figure out if the ship was involved in an attack without direct knowledge, the supply chief has the highest chances of success, because the supply chief will see which weapons were used. Anyone else will have to be present and participating to achieve a gunship¡¯s optimal performance. I¡¯d never expect Rydako to betray his ship, captain, and crew, but a good cook makes life on a gunship significantly better. I activated the fourth interview and saw an image of Kellenra, sitting straight and flat in the chair in the interview room. Kellenra¡¯s eyes examined the room around her.


    ¡°How long have you been the First Officer of the Mermaid?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Five years ago, when I first became a Huntress.¡±, Kellenra said.


    ¡°What was your job before that?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°I was the Captain of the Mermaid.¡±, Kellenra said.


    ¡°How did you lose the title of Captain?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lose anything. Being a Huntress pays better. The Mermaid had another Second-class-citizen, who was eligible for Captain and because he isn¡¯t employed by the Cooperative he can be the overseer of the Venus colony infrastructure. If I kept the Captain job, I¡¯d give myself a conflict of interest, the stress of a third job, and lower earnings.¡±, Kellendra said.


    ¡°Are you aware of any attempts to prevent the Cooperative from acquiring Rylkonian genetic material?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°How does a Rylkonian give away the secrets of our blood? How does a Rylkonian say its fine to give a barbaric race an opportunity to collect a sample to design weapons against Rylkonians? If the Cooperative has the ability to manufacture Rykonians, once they buy a viable genetic sequence, what would stop the Cooperative from selling Rylkonians? Consider another possibility. My crew includes four Huntresses. We already know the Cooperative plans to replace us, at least the three of us who are Protectorate Citizens. I think it¡¯s ironic your plan is to grow a solution instead of just hiring bounty hunters who would love to offer competing bids for work. But if the Cooperative had it¡¯s own Rylkonians, they could control their own Rylkonian Huntresses without any Protectorate oversight, and if nothing is stopping the Cooperative from abusing this capability, why not just combine these new cyborgs with the army of enforcer mechs? Those are all the questions you forgot to ask.¡±, Kellenra argued.


    ¡°Why do you think the Protectorate doesn¡¯t trust the Cooperative with Rylkonian children?¡±, the interviewer asked.


    ¡°Because we watch you. The Cooperative wants power, control, privilege, and titles, looking for any opportunity to further their ambitions. We watched you flee the Earth, because you claimed the governments there were too corrupt. But then you traded away the futures and lives of your male slaves to exchange them for more opportunities for female citizens, and now you want to exchange these female citizens for Rylkonian females. Are you noticing a pattern? We don¡¯t want to curse another Rylkonian with a life of betrayal and suffering.¡±, Kellenra argued.


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t stop your ship and crew from taking contracts that oppose Protectorate interests.¡±, the interviewer objected.


    ¡°That¡¯s not us, those contracts come from the Cooperative, which are insured by the Cooperative¡­barely. If we took contracts from the Protectorate¡¯s brokers, that¡¯s a conflict of interest for my Captain. The Protectorate is well aware there¡¯s a risk in Rylkonians taking opposing contracts versus other Rylkonians, which is why they employ brokers and sell insurance policies. If we participated exclusively in that system, we can¡¯t share this Rylkonian built colony with Earthborn colonists. Otherwise, we might have to evict the planet, and if the population drops far enough and risks waste and trade shortages, I may suggest my Captain make that recommendation to the Protectorate. That will be the first time you see the Protectorate abandon a trade partner. Don¡¯t insult me again.¡±, Kellenra said, as the interview ended.


    I activated the fifth and final interview, and I saw the image of Captain Rythizon. His golden hair was cut short, but the image was unusually dark, the camera seemed to have trouble keeping Rythizon in focus.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Lisella, and I¡¯m really honored to meet you.¡±, the interviewer said, but her tone seemed sweet and inviting, completely unlike her previous interviews.


    ¡°Hello, Lisella. I just want to say my crew is only entertaining these interviews as a diplomatic courtesy.¡±, Rythizon said.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t need to be so formal. Let¡¯s make this a game. My job is to ask you questions. How about we take turns asking questions and get to know each other?¡±, Lisella asked.


    ¡°I want my crew released immediately, and I¡¯ll allow it.¡±, Rythizon asked, as he suspiciously looked around the room.


    ¡°Done. Mykayla will be released as soon as her interview is finished. So now that¡¯s up to her. The others are free to go now. Will that suffice?¡±, Lisella asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a start. Is there something wrong with the lights? Why are you using candles in here?¡±, Rythizon asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get to meet celebrities in my line of work, so I don¡¯t think the same methods are appropriate. Are you hungry? What do you feel like eating?¡±, Lisella asked.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not a celebrity, and not really hungry either. We both know my crew and I are not guilty of anything. It¡¯s some kind of joke to treat us like criminals. Did you forget Rylkonians can share our collective knowledge?¡±, Rythizon asked.


    ¡°Nobody is joking, and nobody is being deprived of their freedom. I was surprised when I found out, but the Cooperative needs you on our side. We are about to lose a political election. We made a mistake. We thought our two peoples would naturally become one, stronger than either was before. But every time we requested the Protectorate take a look at our offer, you rejected it, and every time we tried to bring our case directly to the Protectorate¡¯s council, they promoted you. Now you¡¯re the most powerful man on a planet intended for women. Don¡¯t you think that means the Cooperative¡¯s success is exactly the reason they sent you here, and empowered you to that goal?¡±, Lisella asked.


    ¡°You make a lot of assumptions about my job. First, my citizenship hasn¡¯t changed, only my pay rate and work load. This planet makes me work harder with every law you vote on. Originally my job was to spy on the planet after we handed it over to you Earth born to make sure it doesn¡¯t turn into a base for space pirates. We were expecting problems, but nobody could have predicted the Cooperative. Second, the colony was never designed for just women. So when you say ¡°two people become one people¡±, I know it¡¯s a lie. I know you¡¯re hiding the way you treat men. I watched you kill them, I watched you evict them, I watched you blame them for everything wrong on the planet Earth, and then say they have no right to rule Venus. I reported that to the Protectorate when the Cooperative took to power, and I stand by my report today. We already gave you a new planet to colonize, freedom to govern yourselves, and no taxes besides whatever you vote on. Why should we throw our children into your failing system?¡±, Rythizon asked.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you see the opportunity here? The Protectorate clearly wants the colonies to be successful. Why else send a ship to protect us from space pirates? Imagine how receptive the Cooperative and all of her citizens will be if the Protectorate replaces the genetic material that was destroyed on the Star. That¡¯s the whole point of interstellar trade. Everybody wins. Don¡¯t you want to be a hero?¡±, Lisella asked.


    That¡¯s when I had the thought, ¡°It¡¯s no wonder now why the Mermaid keeps double-crossing us, they keep taking contracts from the Cooperative.¡±


    ¡°Hero is a title earned through sacrifice, a hero is not bought and sold. There are sources for genetic material on Earth, Mars, and Mercury, that can save Venus from under-population, for just a fraction of the price you offered the Protectorate. You can even try to use the few slaves you have left to save even more money, and the Department of Genetic Research, can make them successful contributors and the Cooperative can lead Venus to her full potential. Why do these children need to be Rylkonian?¡­Actually I withdraw the question, I already know the answer. They¡¯ll automatically have Protectorate Citizenship and now I have a better question to ask. Do you have a better plan than copying a TV show? My entire crew has watched Contest of Crowns Season Four. What makes you think these Rylkonian children can serve on a Protectorate Council?¡±, Rythizon demanded.


    ¡°Well if we¡¯re going discuss hopes and dreams, if just one can prove her worth and join the Council, with the support of the entire Cooperative¡¯s economy, when the full Rylkonians like you return home, the true rulers of the Protectorate will be loyal to Venus and our vision. Who is better suited to fill the power vacuum left behind by the Rylkonians?¡±, Lisella asked.


    ¡°It seems you don¡¯t understand the meaning of a Protectorate system of government. We are the servants of our society, not the rulers. I think you either forgot or are choosing to ignore the number of Earth born colonists who are third class citizens. Allowing one planet¡¯s vision to rule over the Protectorate would betray the fundamental values of the Protectorate. When we leave, the Protectorate¡¯s future is up to the Earth born. Why would be let one planet enslave the others?¡±, Rythizon asked.


    ¡°Do you honestly believe there is no risk of a space pirate evolving into a warlord? Your people are right to want to avoid risk, but those threats can just wait till you¡¯re gone or move onto the next opportunity. When you leave, the pirates will rule this space unchallenged and uncontested. We need a government that can command a fleet to keep the pirates suppressed. If the Rylkonians are truly dedicated to the colonies, then what is the Protectorate¡¯s response to the growing threat of space pirates, when the Rylkonians leave us?¡±, Lisella asked.


    ¡°The space pirates are not our problem to solve, not until they interfere with our survival. They have just as much right to live the way they want. But if the Cooperative will listen this time, we just haven¡¯t decided yet. Maybe Earthborn are just cursed to suffer and become tyrants. Maybe correct allocation of resources, opportunities, and privileges, will enable the right people to lead your society to greatness. Or maybe the Dread Pirate Ryfez is right. Have you given any thought to the effects if the public became aware that the Cooperative blew up the Star of Hope to hide the fact that it was empty, and the money has been spent paying off the Cooperative¡¯s debts? Or if we tell them nobody approved the sale?¡±, Rythizon asked.


    ¡°If we fail that¡¯s on us, but if you cause us to fail, then what¡¯s your plan when the Protectorate asks what happened to their colony? Our proof is there was one invisible ship with enough firepower flying around when the Star was destroyed. We already know the Protectorate can exonerate you, your ship, and crew. But we also know we have more time to waste. There¡¯s a chance however slight, the Protectorate will replace you with another second class citizen. We might not get justice, but we didn¡¯t really want that. We want a future with the Protectorate. That¡¯s worth the risk.¡±, Lisella argued, as the interview ended.


    I made a copy of the recordings, and Meiyo¡¯s workstation revealed a data stick from the center of the desk. I felt a strange satisfaction watching the Cooperative double-cross the crew of the Mermaid, and the Mermaid essentially failed to blackmail the Cooperative. I wasn¡¯t thrilled with the fact that the Cooperative is willing to blame anyone, and even frame them for major crimes. But the Cooperative effectively calculated the odds that they will never get caught. I wondered if Meiyo knows, or if she even had the time to learn this fact. Meiyo seemed to have gambled correctly, the Something Clever doesn¡¯t have enough time to fully investigate this situation. Even if we sent copies to the Protectorate, that will not remove the Cooperative, because the Protectorate will not want to replace them. If Meiyo thought I was a threat, she wouldn¡¯t or shouldn¡¯t reveal anything to me. But if she was offering leverage over the Mermaid and her crew incentivizes me to report a guilty verdict, but might create an opportunity for the Cooperative to demand Rylkonian genetic material.


    I stared at the data stick, thinking about the possible conclusions. The other huntresses and enforcer mechs in the Senate still didn¡¯t turn hostile towards me, at least not yet. I estimated my chances of reaching the monorail station, now that my location is known. While I wasn¡¯t thrilled about the idea of putting myself back into risk of another monorail crash or attacked by compromised enforcer mechs, changing my behavior might alert anyone that I know someone is killing Huntresses. I looked out of Meiyo¡¯s window and I asked myself if I was willing to gamble the against the odds the assassins wouldn¡¯t risk collateral damage after they just tried to kill me for standing next to Calista.


    It¡¯s terrifying when you know someone hired an assassin, but you don¡¯t know who they are or where they are, and don¡¯t even know if you¡¯re the target.

 Chapter 15 - Mistaken Identity The Cooperative Spy

    Meiyo returned to her office and sat down in a seat opposite of her desk. Meiyo dropped her helmet on the desk and kicked her legs over the side of the chair¡¯s arm and reclined into the edge of the chair¡¯s back. Meiyo¡¯s hand at the front of the chair held the encased Blue Rotono blade and her other arm hung over the opposite side of the chair¡¯s back. Meiyo looked up at the ceiling, took a breath and closed her eyes. As Meiyo exhaled, she opened the eye closer to me and slowly faced me and returned her focus towards the ceiling.


    ¡°We have betrayed everything.¡±, Meiyo said as she twisted into a straight seat, still holding the case of the Blue Rotono.


    Meiyo looked at the desk instead of looking directly at me, as if she couldn¡¯t decide if she even wanted the office any longer.


    ¡°Are you resigning from the Huntresses?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°In my heart I already did, I stayed to keep a promise, but that¡¯s now impossible. I have to confess. At first I didn¡¯t believe we would frame Rylkonians, and we would dare ask you for your children. My office has surveillance systems and I watched you react to the Mermaid¡¯s interviews. This isn¡¯t who I want to be. Why did I even come back here?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°What is this promise?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°To defend the Cooperative as a Huntress, to be the face of Venus. But it¡¯s all a lie.¡±, Meiyo said, as she looked at the corners of the desk.


    ¡°Who is Venus?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°What?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°All I know is that your people named the planets after deities from Earth¡¯s mythology. But I don¡¯t actually know anything about these deities. So, who is Venus? What did Venus do to get a planet named after them?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Venus is most commonly known as the goddess of love and beauty. But what does that have to do with the Cooperative?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°If love is an action, and beauty is a quality, then what does the Cooperative love? And what quality do they value?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I would say they love lying to women, and they value women who repeat their lies. It¡¯s become a circle of lies.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re being helpful. Please try to answer again but without the effect on women.¡±, I asked.


    ¡°An idea¡­they love an idea¡­and they will sacrifice everything for that idea.¡±, Meiyo said, as she seemed to consider my suggestions.


    ¡°Sacrifice seems counterproductive. Is it sacrifice or risk?¡±, I asked.


    I watched Meiyo¡¯s face change as her mind began to think of a response.


    ¡°If the Cooperative¡¯s goal is to take over the Protectorate when the Rylkonians leave, trying to put Venus above every other planet is going to quickly turn off any chances of a sustainable new Protectorate¡­unless¡­they¡¯re planning to abandon Venus. But does that mean Cooperative is going to bring the women of Venus or leave us here?¡±, Mayo asked.


    ¡°Being a Huntress doesn¡¯t matter to me, but asking me to choose between the Protectorate and the Cooperative is a conflict of interest. I¡¯m already a Protectorate Citizen.¡±, I started saying, but Meiyo interrupted me.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a conflict if you¡¯re staying here, but you¡¯re going to leave us. All of you are going to leave, and we will be at the mercy of Space Pirates.¡±, Meiyo pleaded.


    ¡°The Protectorate will remain, but no matter who¡¯s here, the Protectorate will not have enough cyborgs to patrol Mars Pax.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen how you control the Phantom. His future promotion to first class citizen is no guarantee for the Cooperative. They will never accept the epitome of Aurovean-toxic-male-privilege becoming the most powerful man in the universe.¡±, Meiyo retorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair. You did hire the Phantom to be a super soldier, and you saw the bullets coated in venom. But the Phantom¡¯s pronouns are ¡°it, that, and anything robotic.¡± As the Phantom has already declared.¡±, I corrected Meiyo.


    ¡°The fact that the Phantom did that, and it doesn¡¯t scare you means it was part of your plan.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°I watched Contest of Crowns. If you treat someone like an animal and they become and animal, why would that surprise you? If you treat someone like a monster and they become a monster, that¡¯s your fault. The Phantom pays Protectorate second class taxes, so the Phantom gets to be a second class citizen. Anyone who marries the Phantom can apply for third class citizenship, and also gets partner citizenship automatically, as long as they stay married.¡±, I suggested.


    ¡°Really that wouldn¡¯t bother you?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s supposed to bother me about that?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°If another woman married the Phantom, just for the benefits?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Rylkonians don¡¯t practice marriage. If the Phantom marries, that¡¯s none of my business unless bride-to-be endangers me, our ship, our crew, or my job, and my priority is in that order.¡±, I said without hesitation.


    I watched Meiyo¡¯s eyes and her mind devoured some kind of day dream. I contemplated if I should interrupt her moment of private thoughts, or continue to let her consider what she stands to gain or lose.


    ¡°How difficult is it to promote from third class to second class?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Endorsement from the Third Council, dual citizenship is not allowed, become a cyborg, pass a bunch of exams like applying for a parental license, and finally approval from the Second Council.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°What about first class?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°No one knows the requirements. I assume similar to second class but substantially harder¡­.like ten times harder.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°What cybernetic enhancements should I get?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°I hear some Earthborn worry about bone density. I think basic skeletal graphene reinforcement will solve that, advanced is significantly heavier, and will require more strength from your evolution points, so I don¡¯t recommend full carbon fiber replacement. Now I hope you like eating because most other enhancements require more energy to use. The Rylkonian digestive track is genetically enhanced to produce electrical power, that also allows the use of electricity based weapons as well as an increase in physical strength. What I will recommend is cybernetic membrane skin replacement, which allows for survival in the vacuum of space without the need for a full body space suit. And I¡¯ve seen the kind of women that the Phantom looks at. Membrane replacement will keep everything smooth and perky, and will also provides C-A-R.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°C-A-R? What¡¯s that?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Cybernetic Assisted Reproduction¡­ if that¡¯s a problem for you.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it. What about some of your other super abilities like Deflector shields, Sonar hearing, Remote piloting of ships, or X-ray vision?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t super, but do require different specializations, as well as more energy, so you will also need to eat more to use those systems. If you get a specialization, you will also be able to use Modes, preset configurations diverting power to only the systems you plan to use.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Like Battle Mode?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one Combat Cyborg. No one else has a Battle Mode, and you don¡¯t need to say anything out loud to activate a mode.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°Will I still be human?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°Are you implying that I¡¯m not human?¡±, I argued.


    ¡°I assume you¡¯ll require some kind of payment for remaining silent about my political plans.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Just keep the Mermaid off contract, I don¡¯t want to see them double cross us, or give them incentive to betray the Cooperative. If I know my captain, I would want to keep the Mermaid¡¯s crew right where they are.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the real threat the Dread Pirate? Why is the Protectorate giving a huge head start to someone who is such a threat to their interests?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°As a third class citizen I don¡¯t completely know. But my theory is the Dread Pirate¡¯s only option for any pirates that refuse to obey the him, is to just kill them. Slowly over time, many small problems will become just a few bigger problems, and the Dread Pirate will do that for free. But I do not agree with that strategy. I think peace and order is preferred over the consequences of a Dread Pirate, and we¡¯re the only crew that has managed to subdue him.¡±, I said, but I was lying because I would wait for the best odds of winning too.


    ¡°Why do you think he didn¡¯t he come after any of us when he escaped? He could have easily taken us by surprise.¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°My guess, he doesn¡¯t see us as the enemy. Everytime, we¡¯ve fought, the risk of death gets higher. If I remember correctly, he¡¯s only focused on weakening the U.D.E. and I see a link. All pirates come from Earth.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So if the pirates had no reason to leave Earth, then that means no more space pirates. What will the Protectorate do with the Dread Pirate?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°He is still Rylkonian and it would be shameful if he died, even if necessary. But I¡¯m told there¡¯s room in the Pits of Charon for him.¡±, I said, as I stared out the window and took a breath.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard good stories about the Pits of Charon. The place where hope dies.¡±, Meiyo said as she stared at the ground.


    I though it was strange that Meiyo knew what it meant when we talk about the inescapable prison built by the Protectorate, but she looked down and not up, so she didn¡¯t know the rule. I decided now is not the time to antagonize her, as I attempted to leave her office.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±, Meiyo asked


    ¡°I need to return to my ship, and¡­involve the Phantom, in the interest of the Protectorate, but I won¡¯t tell him. If I¡¯m going to play ¡®Contest of Crowns¡¯. The Phantom is an opportunity for the Protectorate, our only hope, and I just took payment for a job. We would leave Venus right now except our next destination is Freya station, so we¡¯re stuck until Freya enters orbit.¡±, I said, as I walked out the door.


    I started thinking, ¡°If Meiyo, the most loyal and dedicated Huntress can be turned against the Cooperative, does that say more about the Cooperative or did we miscalculate Meiyo¡¯s capabilities? She¡¯s lied at least once, wiped out all her enemies, and isn¡¯t the kind of woman to not have a contingency plan.¡±


    I decided to keep my deflector shields active during my return to the docks. As I passed through the the Senate halls, enforcer mechs locked on to my location but none of them fired. I entered the monorail station alone and boarded an empty monorail. If I was a target for assassination at least no one else would have been harmed. It was either luck or I was just being paranoid, but nothing tried to kill me, no accidents nor any hostilities. I successfully returned to the Something Clever, and still nothing tried to kill me. Perhaps I wasn¡¯t a target after all. I deactivated my deflector shields as I felt the data stick in my hand and I thought of questions, ¡°If the Venus colony collapsed, how quickly would the Patriarchy or the space pirates take over? Could the pirates learn enough about Rylkonian technology to become a threat?¡±


    I returned to the ship and I found Tony wearing his battle armor and loading ammo into guns in cargo bay three. His skull mask helmet sat on top of an ammo box, and his holographic face was set to the null face. Ylisaya was sorting boxes of clothes as she greeted me. The garments were mostly silk, professional, and expensive.


    ¡°What makes you think I need to dress like an Earthborn woman who has to appear in court?¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony.


    ¡°You needed clothes, these will fit you, they make you look important, and maybe we can sell some on Freya. Just keep whatever you like or think you can wear.¡±, Tony replied, as he continued to load ammo.


    ¡°So why will no one here buy them?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Because women stopped wearing these styles two years ago.¡±, Calista said as she walked into the Cargo bay.


    Calista was wearing the enforcer armor with the helmet underneath her arm resting the helmet on her hip, and it seemed to fit her better than it fit Tony. On her other hip she wore her handgun. I imagined Tony gave the armor back to her, which was probably why Tony was wearing the battle armor. Calista wore Tony¡¯s previous and worn but repaired cloaking device around her shoulders.


    ¡°Why keep clothes you can¡¯t wear anymore?¡±, Ylisaya asked Calista.


    ¡°You can wear something again if it¡¯s appropriate for an event, loan it to a friend, or in my case trade it for payment.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°I understand where in our list of priorities, that clothes make sense. But I just got back, so what¡¯s going on?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°You sent me a client with no money, so we worked out a different deal.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°I have money, but you said gift cards were no good for you and you wouldn¡¯t wait for me to use normal credits.¡±, Calista said to Tony.


    ¡°So how do clothes factor in? Where did these come from?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°They were mine, they were the next most valuable trade I had to offer.¡±, Calista replied.


    ¡°You went back home? I thought you said that was dangerous.¡±, I said to Calista.


    ¡°We did, it was very dangerous, and it was well worth it. High risk, high reward. We now know what path will lead us to the assassins and who hired them.¡±, Tony said.


    I walked up to Tony, and then I stepped even closer so whisper.


    ¡°The rule is no more heroics. That¡¯s someone else¡¯s job.¡±, I whispered to Tony.


    ¡°You also said we needed to keep our promises, and there¡¯s a link.¡±, Tony whispered back, as he nodded towards the bridge.


    Whatever he discovered he didn¡¯t want to share with Ylisaya nor Calista.


    I followed Tony to the Bridge, he took the gunner¡¯s seat, and I took the pilot¡¯s seat.


    ¡°Cyber link.¡±, Tony said as the door shut behind us.


    I sensed our minds intertwine and Tony sent his thoughts to me, as his holographic face deactivated. I could see the subtle signs of concern in his glowing red apex predator eyes.


    ¡°Are you going to fight? Leaving Venus is easier.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony.


    ¡°Normally leaving is easier, but this isn¡¯t like running from the U.D.E. Still don¡¯t know why Calista is a target, or if she¡¯ll leave a trail to us. But the assassin was a Huntress, I injured her, and let her get away. The trail is still hot.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me.


    ¡°Maybe you should have killed the assassin.¡±, I sent my thoughts.


    ¡°The assassin is worthless, her client can just hire another.¡±, Tony¡¯s thought reached me.


    ¡°And the link?¡±, I sent my question to Tony.


    ¡°If I¡¯m wrong, I¡¯m walking into a trap. But if I¡¯m correct there¡¯s a U.D.E. spy in the Cooperative, and that¡¯s who¡¯s plotting the murders, hiding the evidence, and framing others for their crimes. We just need to figure out the U.D.E.¡¯s goal on Venus to predict the spy¡¯s next move.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me, as we disconnected the cyber link.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Is Ylisaya in danger? Is the ship in Danger? What does the future show?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°Scanner vision can only predict, that¡¯s no guarantee! But it might be wise to move Ylisaya away from the ship, allow her to try out her new wardrobe, and appear like tourists. You have a destination in mind?¡±, Tony advised.


    ¡°Maybe. I met my cousin¡¯s ex-wife, Juno. She¡¯s leaving Venus for Freya and is hosting something called a concert.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I remember her wedding. A concert should be fun, how did you get interested in music?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Not her music, while they were married she apparently learned an altered version of the Laws of Rylkonis.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I thought that was impossible.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Our first law forbids sharing with outsiders, but it says nothing about failing or imperfect adaptation. The eighty eighth law of Rylkonis.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So why? For what reason?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°They had a son, and every law contains three parts, the subject, the function, and the story. She wanted to learn our stories.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Song and story¡­Aurovean Traditions.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Correct. Juno said that too.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Do you think Juno¡¯s knowledge includes a chosen one prophecy?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be perfect, but it might be worth the risk.¡±, I estimated.


    ¡°Does she want anything in exchange?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°She actually wants to see her son on Triton.¡±,I said.


    ¡°Ummm¡­.Neptune is a lot further than Freya.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°She knows that, but her plan only gets as far as Freya.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Does it rhyme?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°What?¡±, I asked since I didn¡¯t know what Tony was asking me.


    ¡°Does the prophecy rhyme? All the best prophecies rhyme.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So you want her to change the prophecy so it rhymes?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Juno¡¯s not allowed to match the original anyways. So if she knows a version of the prophecy and can make it rhyme, I¡¯d offer she can hire us instead for a ticket to Triton. Which will get her a lot closer to Neptune, than her current plan.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What if she doesn¡¯t know?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Do we need Juno for any other reason? Does she need the additional risk of traveling with us? If she makes itto Freya, does she have any better chances of reaching Triton? If she doesn¡¯t know, her current plan doesn¡¯t change, no cost to us. We¡¯re not supposed to leave with any open contracts between here and Freya anyways.¡±, Tony asked rhetorically.


    ¡°Sounds like we want this contract. So we can just get to Freya.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°What kind of First Class Citizen applicant would I be if I just abandoned a trade partner¡¯s colony and didn¡¯t offer anything for trade?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Trade? All this planet has to offer is sadness and betrayal. You already know Nyrella¡¯s secret.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°So let¡¯s just offer some, deception, destruction, and dealing death, and then see who¡¯s buying. It¡¯s not likely to make the planet worse. Every trade is supposed to benefit both ends of the transaction.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I think Meiyo is the spy. She¡¯s planning on defecting to the Protectorate.¡±, I said.


    ¡°A woman in a position of power, connections to every aspect of life on Venus, and nobody to doubt her credibility, that makes her an ideal spy. I¡¯d say it¡¯s impossible, which makes it perfect. I would try to recruit her too, but she¡¯s capable of anything, a high profile target, and a risky investment. Meiyo would also become a threat to Venus if she left, that doesn¡¯t match the U.D.E.¡¯s interests. They would want to control the planet, and everything else Meiyo can offer. Meiyo¡¯s more likely a rogue agent. I think the U.D.E.¡¯s spy would be a little less obvious.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So then what¡¯s our offer? And to whom?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Same as usual. Wait, watch, sell to the highest bidder, and strike when we stand to win big. Probably the Protectorate Brokers or Spymasters.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°High risk, high reward.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°But no heroics, and keep a low profile.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°One more thing. The crew of the Mermaid was framed for the destruction of the Star. But they¡¯re suspended from contracts until the Protectorate exonerates them.¡± I said as I revealed the data stick.


    ¡°Who framed them?¡±, Tony asked as he looked the data stick from my hand.


    ¡°The Cooperative, to distract and hide the fact that the Star was actually empty. Just as you predicted.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Wow, it sounds like I¡¯m a Dark Lord. Please don¡¯t say ¡®Just as you predicted¡¯ anymore¡­ I¡¯m kind of glad that someone finally double crossed the Mermaid¡¯s crew. I never imagined the Cooperative was stupid enough to betray the Protectorate, but I already took payment to never expose the Cooperative, but this will be useful later on. Where did you get this?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Meiyo. I think she wants to smuggle the info out.¡±, I said.


    ¡°She is taking a huge risk. Well, Calista and I need to take the fight to the assassins. We¡¯ll figure out the Meiyo question after Callista and I wrap up the assassination attempts on her life.¡±, Tony said as he left the Bridge and reactivated his holographic face.


    I followed Tony back to Cargo Bay Three and he resumed loading ammo for his guns. Calista and Ylisaya were watching the widescreen display and the display was set to a news correspondent discussing the trial.


    ¡°Just after six hours of deliberation, the jury has unanimously found the defendant not guilty, and the final verdict from the judges is scheduled for tomorrow. The world of Venus is breathing a well earned and rightly deserved sigh of relief. Women all around the planet can finally say someone is listening us, the justice system works, and in time we might be able to say love conquers all¡­I¡¯ve just been informed that the huntress who arrested the suspect , Calista Gray has been hospitalized. The information isn¡¯t confirmed yet, but she might have been a passenger on the monorail that accidentally derailed earlier today. To keep her privacy safe, the location of the Hospital is being kept secret and three other Hospitals have agreed to participate as decoys, to keep our Huntresses safe and protect Calista Gray¡¯s privacy. A statement from the Huntresses will be made as soon as possible.¡±, the image of the correspondent announced.


    ¡°Why are they lying about me?¡±, Calista demanded hypothetically.


    ¡°I may have a theory. The Cooperative just doesn¡¯t want to admit they can¡¯t find you. If they suspect that the killer got you, this lie gives them time to confirm the kill and say you simply died from injuries. If they sent the killer, they¡¯ll just send another until they get you and then announce you died of sustained injuries. If each hospital thinks they¡¯re just the decoy, and they¡¯re not supposed to know where you are for your privacy, they might be trying to lure the killer out too. Even if you step forward now, which you shouldn¡¯t, that gives the next assassin a clear shot at you and the Cooperative can say blah blah blah privacy. My guess is each hospital is crawling with enforcer mechs and a few huntresses will be waiting there too.¡±, Tony said, as he opened a box of grenades.


    ¡°You think the Cooperative has a motive to assassinate me?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°At least someone does. And whoever they are, they have the capacity for planning to kill a Huntress and cover it up. They tried to poison you, they tried to hit you with a truck, and now they don¡¯t even need to stage an accident, because they know you¡¯ve been on the run since the monorail. They¡¯re also very invested in keeping the planet¡¯s reputation as a safe place for women. That doesn¡¯t exactly rule out the Cooperative.¡±, Tony said, as he examined a grenade in his hand.


    ¡°Is it like this on every planet, in this universe?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Just wherever the Earthborn have colonies.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So what does the Cooperative gain from killing me?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°I would rule out dangerous secrets, because that¡¯s basically why the Huntresses exist. They might want to replace you, may be they fear you, may be they want to martyr you to flip the verdict in the rape case, or may be they already betrayed you in some other way and don¡¯t want you to find out later. I don¡¯t know, you¡¯re the detective, not me.¡±, Tony replied, as he tucked the grenades into ammo compartments on his armor.


    ¡°Even with the current jury verdict, you can still run for election and probably win. You did what the Senate could not, and you proved you can protect this planet, better than they can. The Cooperative fears losing their privilege if you do not share their vision, and can promote to a higher office.¡±, I said to Calista.


    ¡°I never expected political enemies to try assassinating me. Why are you taking so many weapons?¡±, Calista asked Tony.


    ¡°You saw how many enforcer mechs were waiting for us at your apartment. I imagine whoever sent them has more. I¡¯m gonna need a lot more ammo for the next battle, and since this most likely isn¡¯t just any assassination, we probably want to take any assassins alive for questioning.¡±, Tony said, as he stowed all of his guns and battle-axe on his armor.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone spend so much on ammo.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t buy ammo from any other planet besides Mars. I even took contracts on Mars and got paid with ammo. Confederate ammo generally hits harder.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°How did you know all those reasons to assassinate someone?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve taken a lot of contracts, and those are just the most common, after silencing someone who¡¯s aware of secret information.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Yeah, being on this side of an assassination is a little new for us.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°It¡¯s true.¡±, Tony said, as he checked his guns, explosives, and ammo once more.


    ¡°Well now, I¡¯ve hired my own Assassinator and they can see how it feels.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°I watched every season of Assassinator. They don¡¯t get hired. They just get sent into the past to kill enemy leaders or the enemy¡¯s ancestors.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°There was that one Assassinator in season four, that got sent three centuries too far into the past and had to integrate into society to wait for the great-great¡­great-great-great-grandfather of his actual target to be identified. He got hired.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°He got hired as an inventor and engineer, not as an Assassinator, and he came from the future. His knowledge of future technology caused an industrial revolution in a nation that wasn¡¯t supposed to have one, and erased his future.¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°How is any of this relevant?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­We just watch a lot of T.V. on long space flights.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Yeah, and I¡¯d say I¡¯m more like a Cyber-Enforcer than an Assassinator, because I was an ideal candidate for cybernetic enhancement and I don¡¯t time travel.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°But more people know Assassinator, because the Cyber-Enforcer TV show only got two seasons, but Assassinator got five.¡±, I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s only because Cyber-Enforcer was about a police officer who became a cyborg, and too many cities in the U.D.E. had real-life corruption scandals. So almost all TV shows that portrayed a positive image of law enforcement got cancelled, and then portraying police as the oppressors or fascists took over TV.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Then I¡¯d say the Phantom is more like Shadow Soldier. Because Shadow Soldier is a cyborg, an assassin, and a political scapegoat. If the Hero Alliance movies are also popular, then Shadow Soldier is the best analogy.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°That does make sense except Shadow Soldier only has one cyborg arm. What about Dark Vedon from the Galaxy Battles movies?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Good analogy! I almost forgot that character is a cyborg too.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Dark Vedon?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°In the Galaxy Battles movies, he¡¯s the villain, he wears black armor, black cape, fights with a red energy blade, considered to be the most powerful telepath in Galaxy Battles, and his weapons and armor are passed down to his descendants when he dies, so there will always be a Dark Vedon. Galaxy Battles had like the biggest plot twist in the history of movies. You should watch those on our next space flight.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Is the hero secretly the son of Dark Vedon and cursed to become the next one?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°How did you figure that out?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Auro Blade has so many plot twists, I now hate plot twists, and I feel like I can predict them in every movie or T.V. show. I just wish there was some other way to tell a story, besides here¡¯s a surprise, and then another surprise. I still like characters in Auro Blade, I just hate the easily predictable plot. I even predicted the two most important characters were going on separate paths half way through the first season, just to end up on opposing sides of the big war they tried to stop at the final act, just because of conflicting motives! And their familiarity is only good for understanding each others¡¯ mind.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°She learns so fast!¡±, I said.


    ¡°To be fair, The Ghavok and Ohmat had no option for compromises¡­ Are you ready to go then?¡±, Tony asked Calista, as he gestured for Calista to follow.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hide. I can¡¯t run. It¡¯s either them or me.¡±, Calista said and she followed Tony.


    Ylisaya started following and Tony turned towards her.


    ¡°Umm where do you think you¡¯re going?¡±, Tony asked Ylisaya, as he picked up the skull mask.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to fight whatever force is threatening the women of Venus. Before what movie or TV character you¡¯re like, that¡¯s what we were just talking about.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°I understand that injustice is unacceptable for you, and one day I foresee your wisdom and courage will save many. But you¡¯re not a Huntress and I¡¯m out of money. I can barely afford to pay the Phantom, hiring a woman will triple my expenses.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°So just because I¡¯m a woman¡­¡±, Ylisaya said, but Tony interrupted her.


    ¡°No! Not until you have training and a specialization. You can¡¯t go because I don¡¯t know what the threat is. If we¡¯re rescuing refugees from space pirates, that¡¯s a threat I understand and I can plan around. You can join when we have ¡°high¡± chances of success and brining you gives us higher chances. But I will not endanger my crew in a high risk mission.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So then why tell me?¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°Training. Watch and learn. Tonight you¡¯re going with Jess to scout a client.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So we¡¯re taking clients?¡±, Ylisaya asked


    ¡°This one might be worth it. Depending on what she says¡±, I said.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this client?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Juno.¡±, I revealed to Calista, as I flicked my eyebrows.


    Calista¡¯s face relaxed and seemed to be half shock and half joy.


    ¡°Are you going take her off this planet? Help her find her son?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Juno?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°One of the five women who married a Rylkonian and had a Rylkonian child¡­well not all of them did both.¡±, I said


    ¡°And what does she have to offer?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you on the way, go change. Wear something appropriate for public, moving in a crowd, and relaxing. I¡¯m wearing scarlet and gold. So don¡¯t wear those.¡± I said.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the rule of Earthborn women? We don¡¯t attend events wearing the same thing as another woman.¡±, I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing sure, but that doesn¡¯t mean you declare your attire¡¯s colors before you go out. Women should be able to express their individuality.¡±, Calista said.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m not allowed to follow you, and I have to follow Jhessyreen. So I¡¯ll just do what she says. When you let me follow you, then you can decide the rules.¡±, Ylisaya said to Calista.


    ¡°Makes sense to me¡­¡±, Tony casually added, and then laughed.


    Tony and Calista departed the ship while Ylisaya and I prepared for the concert. When I emerged from my quarters I saw Ylisaya, and she was wearing gray and beige pieces of silk suits. I wasn¡¯t certain is she was too young for these clothes or if the clothes were too serious for her, as they made her look older and more professional. Ylisaya wore here golden hair up and I wore my hair down. Ylisaya sat down in the center of her work space and sorted the schematics of the Battle Armor, and I examined a look of concern in her face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the armor?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s incomplete, besides that Tony is nearly invincible and now doesn¡¯t require a separate cloaking device.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°But he was wearing a cloak¡­and now I realize nobody else knows that, and doesn¡¯t need to know that¡­Does the armor still work even if incomplete?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Depends on what hits the incomplete parts. The parts that are not yet enhanced work only like ablative armor.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°I know you finished the chest, back, legs, helmet, and one arm. How much of the other arm was unfinished?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I only finished the shoulder guard and the gauntlet. The elbow and fingers of the arm that loads ammo aren¡¯t upgraded yet.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°I never noticed Tony only loads ammo with the same hand.¡±, I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s the hand that¡¯s forward when Tony uses the Combo Rifle, and the armor still needs a new name¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with calling it Upgraded Battle Armor or Power Armor?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°What Power Armor isn¡¯t also Battle Armor?¡±, Ylisaya argued


    ¡°How is the armor different from before?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Parasitic Armor drains energy from the host when it activates repairs. This new armor works in phases and layers that oppose transference and prevents damage from reaching the wearer.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Phases, Layers, Oppose¡­Transfer?¡­It¡¯s gonna be called Plot Armor?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Tony was very clear that we had to find a different name.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°If it¡¯s no longer called Battle Armor, then just call it armor. If that¡¯s still not good enough, I¡¯m settling on Plot Armor¡­So how long until you can finish another suit of Plot Armor?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Same time, five days, all we need is materials, preferably another available suit¡­but for whom?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°If the armor is as good as you describe, why not make one for each of us?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Plot Armor is much more complicated than Parasitic Armor or Deflector Shields. It requires a combat cyborg¡¯s reactor core like Tony¡¯s to power it. Wearing just one piece of Plot Armor, could kill a Rylkonian or similar cyborg.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Well I guess we can just hide behind Tony when we get attacked.¡±, I said.


    ¡°No handgun?¡±, Ylisaya asked as she examined my outfit.


    ¡°None. Shouldn¡¯t need it for where we¡¯re going.¡±, I replied.


    Ylisaya and I took the monorail to the district where Juno lived. The monorail was filled with women. I considered activating my deflector shields, but that much energy would either get detected or draw attention. If Tony¡¯s theory was correct and the assassin didn¡¯t want to cause panic across the Planet, staying in a crowd of other women is the safest place to be. I could only hope that Calista and Tony find the assassin before another staged accident. I imagined we¡¯re taking a risk in revealing to Juno that the Chosen One is now a priority for the deadliest assassin in the Protectorate or that someone outside of the Protectorate can potentially identify the Chosen One, which might become a liability.


    I was surprised when we arrived at Juno¡¯s district almost every passenger on the monorail seemed to be heading to the concert. I imagined Juno¡¯s concert might have also been the reason for so many Huntresses resigning. I was slightly alarmed when I saw Enforcer mechs were stationed at security points along our path towards Juno¡¯s Music Store. When we finally reached the residential zone, the Enforcer mechs changed to preventing us from entering the store. We were gathered around a stage nearby, and other musicians were on the stage preparing their instruments. I looked around the crowd and I saw significantly more Enforcer mechs, but I didn¡¯t see the Huntresses that I expected to control them. I estimated that the deployment of Enforcer mechs to decoy hospitals and now a crowded concert meant fewer available mechs and better chances for Tony and Calista, and fewer mechs that Tony might have to fight. For myself and Ylisaya we would have to blend in relying on the distraction of the concert and the anonymity of the crowd for safety.


    Juno walked out onto the stage and picked up a stringed instrument and stood right behind the microphone in the center of the stage. Juno greeted the audience, introduced her bandmates, and talked about why she picked the first song. I wondered if it might have been wiser to leave Ylisaya in the ship, which is dangerous to leave her alone with just propaganda.


    As Juno started playing music, I thought her song was pleasant to listen to, but to me it seemed like just noise. I glanced over at Ylisaya and she began swaying with the music. I wondered if we were being affected differently by my specialization and her lack of cybernetic development. If my theory was correct, it would imply each cybernetic enhancement and genetic modification would have such an effect. Juno began her second song and Ylisaya seemed to enjoy the song even more. The lights on the stage joined Juno and the band with changing colors and switching on and off with the song. Juno seemed to have a plan on how to entertain the audience. I wasn¡¯t expecting be be affected. I focused on the theme Juno was singing about and she focused on her loneliness and hope. That made sense based on what I knew of her.


    ¡°Just One Day of Happiness


    Would you live a life of pain for one day of happiness?


    Have you cried so much you forgot the emptiness?


    I shut my eyes, until I could see


    I lived a lie, just to be free


    I tried to escape & ran from the pain, till I was lost


    I ran from myself, forgot who I am, and suffered the cost


    I shut my eyes, until I could see


    I lived a lie, just to be free


    There is no way back, only forward into unknown


    I''ve been lost so long, I''ve made this my home


    I shut my eyes, until I could see


    I lived a lie, just to be free


    A fiction, a lie, a weak fabrication is all I have left


    Facing the truth will become my final test


    I shut my eyes, until I could see


    I lived a lie, just to be free


    Would you live a life of pain for one day of happiness?


    Have you cried so much you forgot the emptiness?


    I shut my eyes, until I could see


    I lived a lie, just to be free


    I forgot my pain, when the unknown faded away


    In just a memory of time, I was happy for just a day¡±


    I¡¯m glad none of Juno¡¯s other lyrics were this morbid. This song had less of an effect on Ylisaya, and I wasn¡¯t certain if it also sounded differently to her than to me. I imagined since we both had different reactions to TV shows, maybe different music has different effects?


    Our biggest concern was depending on the group around us for safety, also required we leave behind all equipment including weapons. My deflector shields would not protect me as effectively here. I also had no way to reliably anticipate any potential threats.

 Chapter 16 - Revenge of the Mermaid鈥檚 Crew

    At the end of Juno¡¯s concert, the crowd began returning towards the Monorail. I estimated this was my opportunity to approach Juno. I gestured to Ylisaya to follow, and she seemed puzzled if we stood a chance to meet Juno so close to the conclusion of the concert. I further urged Ylisaya to follow.


    ¡°Would you like to meet her?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Of course. I think she¡¯s great, but isn¡¯t security too alert right now?¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    I moved towards the music store and Ylisaya followed me. When I approached the Enforcer mechs closed in on the entrance of the store. I looked around and saw construction drones began dismantling the stage.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Huntress. Let me pass.¡±, I said, abusing my privilege.


    The two closest Enforcer mechs turned to face me and appeared to be either communicating or processing data. I suspected they were attempting to determine my identity, since I didn¡¯t present a badge. I still wasn¡¯t sure if badges were needed, because Huntresses are not employed as police officers. A moment later, the Enforcer mechs stepped away from each other presenting enough room for myself and Ylisaya to pass through. We entered the music store and found it was filled with party guests. Juno had some sort of food in one hand and a drink in the other. A robotic party server dressed in black and white uniform approached us and presented a tray of drinks. Ylisaya picked up a drink, sniffed the odor of the substance, and placed the drink back on the tray.


    ¡°No thank you.¡±, Ylisaya said to the server.


    Juno approached next and made a squealing noise as soon as she saw me. Juno placed her drink and food into one hand and a food server took the food and drink from Juno. Juno seemed to walk up and hug me in a single move.


    ¡°Jhessyreen, thank you for coming to the after party.¡±, Juno seemed to cheer.


    The other guests of the party seemed to take note of my presence and I imagined that being both a Huntress and a crew member of an Ambush Class Gunship is what drew their interest. Juno noticed Ylisaya and I sensed Juno use her cybernetics with Ylisaya. I wasn¡¯t certain what Juno was trying by revealing her cybernetic nature to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡±, Juno asked me, referring to Ylisaya.


    ¡°New crew member, Ylisaya.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Very pretty name¡­I think it means¡­servant of light.¡±, Juno said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. How did you know?¡±, Ylisaya asked Juno, but I knew Ylisaya was being very forgiving to Juno, for a very short and imperfect translation of her name.


    I knew Ylisaya¡¯s name involved light and being a servant, but Juno¡¯s translation wasn¡¯t perfect. I didn¡¯t want to ruin negotiations, and I knew better than to expect perfect interpretations from Juno. If her knowledge of Rylkonians was perfect, she would become a potential threat. I suspected Ylisaya was either enamored with Juno or impressed by the music.


    ¡°I might not be Rylkonian but I find so many things to love about Rylkonians. Thank you for attending the after party. I was sad that I was leaving all my friends behind but maybe we¡¯ll cross paths in our travels.¡±, Juno said.


    ¡°Is this party celebrating your leaving the planet?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll celebrate that when I ¡®m standing in Freya station. This party is for the achievement of my friends, my band mates, and the new owners of the Music Shop.¡±, Juno said.


    A party guest approached Juno and handed an empty drinking glass to a party server.


    ¡°Juno we¡¯re gonna play Dance Mania. Bring your new friends. Let¡¯s win some costumes.¡±, the party guest said to Juno.


    ¡°Dance Mania? Costumes?¡±, Ylisaya asked me.


    ¡°It¡¯s a holographic game, where you follow foot steps and touch targets with your hands, and makes it look like dancing when you reach the higher levels.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Is that where Meiyo learned that dodge move she pulled off on Mars?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°The first levels aren¡¯t that complicated, to help new players learn the game. That¡¯s when you¡¯re rewarded with costumes, for advanced play.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya and I followed Juno to the dance floor and we stood still as the dance floor scanned us. I could see a hologram of a pair of feet slightly in front of me, and a sequence of footprints made of dotted lines guiding me to walk the pair of foot prints. It seemed the game had decided my starting point. I could see the other party guests following similar instruction though only they could completely see their holographic guides. I think this is the first time I¡¯ve played this game in this size of group. Ylisaya was moved closer to the front and Juno was moved to the back.


    The music started and the holograms instructed the players to match the hand and foot to the target. My feet were tracked with a black and white holograms, and my hands were tracked with a blue and red holograms. A black transparent hologram in the shape of the matching foot appeared on the ground and a larger unfocused hologram appear underneath it. As the larger unfocused hologram shrank in size the smaller transparent hologram increased visibility until the two holograms matched and that was the signal to step on the hologram. We repeated the process with there other foot and then both hands. The game then presented a red target that didn¡¯t vanish as soon as I touched the target, and I had to follow the red target with my hand inside the target as the targets for my feet guided me to step and turn.


    ¡°That¡¯s the warm up. And remember, if you miss too many moves, you get switched to a lower difficulty. Just stay in the space for your feet, because if you leave your space and move into another player¡¯s you¡¯re game ends. Even if you stop following your moves, and another player moves into you, that ends your game too.¡±, an announcer voice from the game said.


    The music started again and they played the starter song, and it was intended to be fun. The song¡¯s lyrics were literally the instructions of the dance, so just listening to when the song said to, ¡°Stomp two times¡±, ¡°Turn to the side¡±, or to ¡°Shuffle and slide¡± made it easy to follow.


    At the end of the song I had to change from normal to easy mode. There was something about playing this game in a group that made it very different perspective. Ylisaya managed to achieve perfect score. I watched the hosting player shuffle through the song selection and settle on the next song. The music started and the instructions led us to balance on one leg as we turned to face the opposite direction. Then we stepped forward, switching legs and then turning again on the other leg. I kept my hand in the blue target while the other hand passed through red targets. The steps grew in complexity, step forward, turn, forward, turn, step backward, turn, backwards and turn. Step behind, step to the side, switch sides, step behind, step to the side, and switch again. Turn on one foot, then reverse turn, switch feet, turn, reverse and switch. The red and blue targets switched and reversed. The woman next to me missed a step at the same time as me, and we almost crashed into each other. I caught her, she grabbed my arm, and the holograms around the two of us started flashing red as arrows along the ground directed us to leave the dance floor. The other woman laughed, but I was just happy to not have to keep dancing.


    Ylisaya continued to dance and she was even allowed to advance in difficulty level. Ylisaya learned the next moves as she stepped to the side, her other foot skipped backward, her first leg crossed over her back leg, and she then switched direction. The red and blue targets stretched in opposite directions with every turn. Ylisaya followed the next step, as she rocked backward and turned on her heel of her front foot and the toe of her back foot. Her front foot skipped backwards and the back foot kicked upward as her leg crossed the other leg as she reverse and mirrored the moves. The blue target moved over her head and the red target moved around her, as her hands followed. Four more players were unable to continue and had the depart the dance floor.


    Near the entrance of the Music Shop, I could hear a number of party guests and serversresponding to a situation that was upsetting them. I then saw Kellenra, Janodine, Vickessah, and Mykayla. I suspected that the Mermaid¡¯s crew had just been waiting for Mykayla to get released from their interviews since they were dressed in athletic layers. I wondered if the party guests were more upset about their reputation as Huntresses or appearing dressed with little regard for public decorum. I noticed some party guests quickly confide themselves to small groups, hoping to avoid directly engaging with the Mermaid¡¯s crew, I also noticed some guests simply decide to leave, but no matter where the crew of the Mermaid went everyone made certain to stay away. Seven players were still on the dance floor, including Ylisaya, Juno, and all of Juno¡¯s Band mates. The crew of the Mermaid watched thedance floor as the song ended and seemed to be estimating the skill levels of the other players.


    As the hosting player began looking for the next song, she noticed the crew of the Mermaid move onto the dance floor. Mykayla moved next to Ylisaya and they seemed to talk to each other, though I couldn¡¯t hear anything they were saying. I watched while trying to stay out of view of Mykayla. Mykayla¡¯s location would also allow her to detect if Ylisaya was contacted through cybernetics, being so close. Ylisaya turned to my direction and I flicked my eyes in the direction of the door. I hoped to signal Ylisaya that it was too dangerous to remain. But as I returned my vision to Ylisaya to see if she was departing the dance floor, I also saw Mykayla looking right back at me with a smile across her face as her eyebrow flicked. I was now helpless and all I could do was watch and hope the Mermaid¡¯s crew wasn¡¯t planning anything nefarious. The crew of the Mermaid could still be quite dangerous even without weapons or armor.


    ¡°Play Dance Overload!¡±, Janodine said to the hosting player.


    The hologram system scanned the Mermaid¡¯s crew and detected that each of them were expert players. I switched to spectator mode as they started the system calibration and they were even allowed to select costumes. Mykayla was dressed as a cat, Kellenra was dressed is a red sparkling jacket and black tall hat with a wide brim. Janodine and Vickessah were both dressed as butterflies. As soon as they both realized they chose the same costume, they both chose different costumes and the holographic butterfly costumes changed to ballerinas, at the same time. They saw each other, and I suspected they hadn¡¯t planned this properly.


    ¡°Janodine stay, Vickessah change.¡±, Kellendra said.


    Vickessah changed back into a butterfly costume, and the music started. The music was fast and the steps were faster. Each foot movement was precise and the red and blue targets were demanding and never seemed to stop moving. Each step seemed like a slide and skip, and contributed to a subtle spin. Every spin ended in a reverse step, and the complexity increased. Two party guests were unable to keep up and had to leave the dance floor, which included the hosting player. Now only Juno, her band mates, Ylisaya, and the crew of the Mermaid remained. The steps changed to a jump to the side, with a red target above, a slide, a skip, a spin, and a jump to the other side under a blue target. Ylisaya missed the jump because she jumped too late and stepped into the space of one of Juno¡¯s bandmates. Ylisaya¡¯s game ended and she left the dance floor. The song ended and only the four huntresses, Juno, and her three band mates remained. Juno, Vickessah, Janodine, and Kellenra scored excellent, but Mykayla scored perfect, and the rest of Juno¡¯s band mates only had acceptable scores. I observed the remaining guests crowding around the dance floor and observing with their smart phones.


    Ylisaya moved through the crowd and sent a cyber link request to me.


    ¡°What are they doing here?¡±, Ylisaya sent her question to me


    ¡°They¡¯re suspended from taking contracts.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Ylisaya.


    ¡°How did you know that?¡­You got them suspended?¡­ Are they looking for revenge?¡± Ylisaya asked with her voice.


    I raised my hand gesturing for Ylisaya to let me focus on determining the motives of the Mermaid¡¯s crew.


    ¡°How about we play teams?¡±, Kellenra asked.


    The hosting-layer was now just a spectator and didn¡¯t seem to mind switching the game to Team play. The new game mode meant at least two players had to choose to be team captains. Kellenra selected leadership, and Juno¡¯s band urged Juno to be their captain. Juno tried to leave the game, and I wished she had, but at least I knew she wasn¡¯t in any danger and I just needed to wait for the game to end. Juno gave into the peer pressure and became a team captain. Each of Juno¡¯s band mates choose her team, and the Mermaid¡¯s crew became Kellenra¡¯s team. I estimated that because Juno and her band didn¡¯t have holographic costumes, had just been playing a concert, and then immediately threw a party, probably weren¡¯t going to win against a team that all scored excellent or better in the previous song.


    The music started and the black and white foot prints started with the white footprint forward and the black footprint directly behind, with the red and blue hand targets on their hips. Mykayla rocked her shoulders as the music sped up. The steps of Kellenra¡¯s team shifted from their back foot to their forward foot allowing them to turn around as the music¡¯s tempo reached it¡¯s apex. The foot steps moved Juno¡¯s team forward and Kellenra¡¯s team backwards. The steps slowly separated into pairs of team mates to one side and two to the other side with a slide, a skip, turning backwards, sliding back, and their hands followed red and blue targets as if pushing off an imaginary wall. Each step caused a slow spin as each pair passed through the other pair of teammates. Kellenra''s team glided through the high risk move with an excellent result and their scores were identical, but Juno¡¯s team was just lucky they didn¡¯t end their game, needing to check their movements as their teammates approached and proceeded through the crossing. The dance steps moved each player to the edge of the dance floor with a slow spin that reversed into another subtle spin, as their feet slid, skipped, crossed forward, turned around, skipped back, slid back, and crossed backward, while the red targets spun around each player and the blue targets moved from the hip to the opposite shoulder with the forward steps, and the blue targets spun with the reverse steps and the red targets moved from hip to shoulder.


    The sequence of dance steps repeated moving each dancer around the dance floor, until both teams were lined up into two separate squares, as a square of each team. The steps shifted their weight from one side to the other and then each player had to step into the center of the square. Kellenra¡¯s team each spun through the center of their team landing perfectly on their destination target, but Juno¡¯s team couldn¡¯t match their speed. At the end of the song Juno¡¯s team earned a passing score but Kellenra¡¯s team had an excellent score. Kellenra¡¯s team claimed Victory.


    ¡°They cheated!¡±, Ylisaya proclaimed.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rule against being a cyborg.¡±, Janodine said, essentially confessing how they won.


    I realized that Ylisaya was close enough to detect use of cybernetics, especially if Janodine had responded so quickly. I suspected the Juno might have also suspected, but seemed to not care since the game had no real consequence for her. I wished Ylisaya had not said anything because Janodine¡¯s argument could force Juno to reveal her cybernetic enhancements. I imagined the crew of the Mermaid might also know, but they were unlikely to gain anything by revealing Juno¡¯s secret. Juno¡¯s band mates and party guests argued for a fair match.


    ¡°But I¡¯m already tired. I just want to celebrate with my friends before I leave the planet.¡±, Juno protested.


    I pulled Ylisaya away from the dance floor and out of view.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to scout a client. Why are you creating drama?¡±, I whispered to Ylisaya, just quieter than the activity of the crowd.


    ¡°How are we supposed to ask this planet to be fair, if we let other Rylkonians act like the rules don¡¯t matter?¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°That is not our fight, nobody asked for that, there¡¯s no rule against being a cyborg, and for perspective, we¡¯re both cyborgs.¡±, I said, as I realized the true weight of Janodine¡¯s argument.


    I could hear the crowd growing upset over Juno¡¯s loss.


    ¡°How about we make a wager. If you plan to leave Venus you¡¯re gonna need a good place to start, because the rest of the star system doesn¡¯t care about being fair to women. Your best Dance Mania player against our best¡­¡± Kellenra said, as she glanced back to her crew, and I could detect her use of cybernetics.


    ¡°And the best dancer wins fifty thousand credits.¡±, Kellenra concluded, with a sly smile.


    Juno¡¯s party guests and band mates encouraged Juno to take the bet. I imagined they really wanted to see her win against the crew of the mermaid, however I suspected such a victory is unlikely.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even have that much, and I just sold the shop.¡±, Juno argued.


    ¡°How much more do you need?¡±, a party guest demanded.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need more, I just need to leave the planet.¡±, Juno said with a smile of desperation.


    The guests began collecting credits from each other and presented Juno with thirty five thousand credits, and indicated she could keep the money as a gift.


    ¡°So we have a wager then?¡±, Kellenra asked.


    ¡°But if I lose, I¡¯ll have to start all over again¡­I can¡¯t risk it.¡±, Juno argued.


    ¡°But if you win, you¡¯ll have one hundred thousand credits.¡±, Kellendra replied.


    My cybernetics detected a cyber-link request from Tony, and I accepted.


    ¡°I thought I said keep a low profile, but why are you and Ylisaya showing up in social media?¡±, Tony¡¯s question reached me.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°You said that to me. Ylisaya is trying to win the client¡­and she¡¯s failing.¡±, I sent my thoughts to Tony.


    ¡°Scouting the client is your job, Ylisaya¡¯s just supposed to assist you. And why is the planet watching our client shake her ass in a dance off against the crew of the Mermaid?¡±, Tony sent his question.


    ¡°Now that question just answers itself. But how bad is it?¡±, I sent my question to Tony.


    ¡°At first, it was useful for keeping hostiles distracted, but it¡¯s showing up more and more. I seriously hope that much attention is worth it.¡±, Tony¡¯s thoughts reached me.


    ¡°The Mermaid¡¯s crew is wagering fifty thousand credits. The client has a chance to win, and double her money.¡±, I sent my thoughts.


    ¡°Okay, proceed.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts and disconnected.


    I shifted my focus back towards the crowd, Juno, Ylisaya, and the crew of the Mermaid. I could detect the Mermaid¡¯s crew was using their cybernetics, but I couldn¡¯t determine for what purpose. Ylisaya fell from dizziness and I managed to catch her. Ylisaya quickly regained her balance and stood up, as I suspected she had a vision.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°No, not here.¡±, Ylisaya said, as she sent me a cyber-link request.


    ¡°Did you see the future again?¡±, I sent my question to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Yes.¡±, Ylisaya sent her thoughts, as she looked around.


    Ylisaya was wise to be suspicious with the Mermaid¡¯s crew being so close.


    ¡°Are we in danger?¡±, I sent my question to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Sharing the future is dangerous.¡±, Ylisaya sent her argument to me.


    ¡°Tony thinks it was worth it to look at the future. I can¡¯t make decisions if I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m dealing with.¡±, I sent my argument to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Juno has a one hundred percent chance of winning the bet.¡±, Ylisaya sent her thoughts to me.


    ¡°One hundred percent on one hundred thousand credits? I got work to do.¡± I said to Ylisaya as I disconnected the cyber-link.


    I took one step away from Ylisaya when she grabbed me hand, with a look of terror in her eyes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how she wins.¡±, Ylisaya pleaded.


    ¡°Only one way to find out now.¡±, I said and I stepped away.


    I slowly moved through the crowed looking for the crowd leaders urging Juno to take the bet. I found two groups on corners of the dance floor and a third group with the loudest opinions. I was lucky that nobody seemed interested just letting Juno enjoy the party, besides anyone who left.


    I listened to the first group¡¯s opinion and they seemed to want a fair contest. Fair seemed like a rational view, but rational is relative. I needed to hear other opinions first. I listened to the second group¡¯s opinion and they seemed to want to see how much Juno loved dance and music, which I thought she can, but so can Mykayla, and love of dance or music doesn¡¯t impart skill. The second group¡¯s opinion seemed emotional to me, that might be useful. So I looked for the third group¡¯s opinion. The third group seemed to think this was a contest of human versus machine, which I thought had to be the most toxic opinion and was factually incorrect considering that both Mykayla and Juno were cyborgs. I determined that the second and third group provided the best chances of persuasion. I just needed to think of a perspective that both the second and third group would adopt, and then I remembered which planet this is. I moved between the second and third group and I started chanting, ¡°May the best woman win.¡±


    Juno glared at me and I suspected she recognized me voice and was uncertain of my motive, but if she wins and then becomes a client, then I get paid. The Mermaid¡¯s crew seemed unsurprised of my actions. The third group quickly adopted my chant and joined in. I waited for the second group to adopt the chant, but they hesitated. I was surprised when the first group adopted my chant, and that was when I knew I could rest. I returned to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Where did you learn to do that?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re bounty hunters. Our captain lies, steals, assassinates, and kidnaps for money. Sometimes I just need to cause a distraction, to make sure we get paid.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So whatever it takes to win then? If you didn¡¯t know the prediction, would you still have done that?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter, because I didn¡¯t know the odds before. If I said I knew it was the right answer because the future said so, I¡¯d sound crazy. But if I said high risk, high reward, that¡¯s a perfectly rational motive. That¡¯s how I know I¡¯ll never get caught.¡±, I said.


    Ylisaya seemed stunned by the consequence of telling me her prediction, and I was even more shocked by how knowledge of the future both affected and tempted me. I started to understand what Tony meant when he said, ¡°Sharing the future is dangerous.¡±


    I also saw why he uses the future, but he just doesn¡¯t share it. This method would be considered as cheating. I could see in Juno¡¯s face that she wanted to leave the planet with no negativity, but now she would have to risk her chance to leave. I imagined she didn¡¯t know she wasn¡¯t in any danger, so from her perspective the risk of losing was very real. But Juno reluctantly agreed to the wager.


    ¡°But I get to choose the song!¡±, Juno demanded.


    ¡°You may choose the difficulty level, but Mykayla will choose the song.¡±, Kellendra said.


    ¡°If cheating is suspected in any way, you forfeit. So another will higher chances tosuccessfully examine the moves in real time if we play on easy difficulty.¡±, Juno said.


    Lowering the difficulty of the game was a good approach to limit Mykayla¡¯s skill advantage as well as simply trying to crush Juno with a song that¡¯s just a test of endurance or complexity. I imagined Juno hoped Mykayla would be tempted to cheat, as technical forfeiture has the best chances to win. Mykayla looked around and smiled, as I suspected an impure thought passed through her mind. Mykayla turned towards the hosting player.


    ¡°Forbidden Fruit.¡±, Mykayla said, in a voice that seemed like it matched the lyrics of the song itself.


    Juno and the crowd seemed shocked, as the hosting player began to queue up the song. Mykayla changed her holographic costume to a flowing scarlet and violet costume. I could see a look of terror in Juno¡¯s eyes. Ylisaya approached me and grabbed my arm.


    ¡°Why¡¯s everyone bothered by this song, if it¡¯s supposed to be easy?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°The song is easy, but nobody dances to Forbidden Fruit when other people can see them.¡±, I said to Ylisaya.


    I imagined that if Tony and Calista needed a way to distract an enemy, Mykayla dancing to Forbidden Fruit would be it. The music started and Mykayla and Juno took their starting places. The white footprint went forward and the black footprint rested the toe on the dance floor. The red and blue targets rested on the hips. Vickessah and Janodine departed the dance floor and their holographic costumes vanished.


    ¡°Have fun.¡±, Kellenra said, as she departed the dance floor after, and her costume also vanished.


    The music was slower than the other songs, but Mykayla slowly rocked her shoulders with the beat. The black foot print bounced twice forward and twice backward and let her hips bounce and sway with the pattern. That¡¯s when I understood Mykayla¡¯s strategy, she knew Juno was afraid.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m old enough to watch this.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    The red and blue targets slowly lifted to the sides, as the white footprint slowly bounced twice forward and twice backward. The red target moved to the same side of the blue target and the rolled over each other in a circle, and the black foot print slowly bounced. Mykayla let the movement slowly rock her hips side to side and her body swayed. As the dance steps reversed I saw Mykayla glance at Juno, and I started thinking her strategy might involve distracting Juno. The black and white foot prints slowly led into a turn with the beat of the music and the red and blue targets rolled to opposite sides, as the red target rolled to the top, the blue target rolled to the bottom and then cycled and alternated with the beat. Mykayla let her shoulders rock and let her hips sway as the music seemed to flow through her.


    That was when Juno missed a step, and Mykayla still maintained a perfect score. The only way for Juno to win now was if Mykayla missed two or more steps and if Juno could maintain a lead. I started thinking of when Tony implied, ¡°The risk is greater if a prediction is wrong.¡± I was worried that I just wasted an opportunity for a client and I took away this woman¡¯s last chance to chance to see her child.


    The song continued and Juno seemed more concerned about staying focused on the song. I suspected she had reached the same conclusion about maintaining her score and waiting for Mykayla to make a mistake. The red target moved overhead and the blue target waved side to side. The footsteps matched the beat and continued a slow turn, and Mykayla¡¯s game score remained flawless. The turn reversed and Juno played on as Mykayla held the narrow lead. The red and blue targets moved to opposite sides slowly switching places as the footsteps bounced twice forward and twice backward and then reverse. The red and blue targets both moved upward and met overhead. Mykayla continued to let her shoulders rock and her hips sway. The blue target target waved around the head and the red target moved slightly backward. Juno bent her elbow to reach the target, but Mykayla leaned back into the target. That¡¯s when Juno missed another step and fell behind in score again.


    The crowd started enthusiastic but as the end of the song approached they slowly grew silent. The blue target slowly spiraled upward and the red target followed on the opposite side shortly after. The foot steps bounced forwards and backwards as Mykayla continued gaining a perfect score. Juno missed another step as teardrops appeared in the corners of her eyes. I felt an emptiness like guilt that she lost the chance to see her son. I wondered, ¡°Maybe I could convince Tony to offer her passage to Neptune. Or maybe Tony could see her future and find an alternative.¡±


    The last three steps of the song played out, and Mykayla grabbed Juno, pulled her close, and licked the teardrop from Juno¡¯s face. I wasn¡¯t sure what Mykayla had to gain from losing the dance off, this move didn¡¯t fit what I knew of her. While everyone else was relieved, I sensed a few of us remained suspicious because Mykayla isn¡¯t known for her mercy. I imagined Tony might have played a part in Mykayla¡¯s actions, but that could implicate Juno with cheating.


    Even though Juno won, she lost control of herself and fled the party to the living space in the back of the shop and shut the door behind her, as she started crying. The crew of the Mermaid were acting like they did a good thing, and while I didn¡¯t dispute them, I still disagreed with them. But I was just as guilty of the ordeal Juno had just endured. I approached the the door of the living space and I was stopped by one of Juno¡¯s band-mates.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about her, we¡¯ll take care of her.¡±, the band mate said.


    ¡°Can we go?¡±, Ylisaya asked as she grabbed my arm.


    I looked around and the Mermaid¡¯s crew didn¡¯t show any intention of leaving and didn¡¯t seem upset over the loss of fifty thousand credits. I determined the safest move would be to leave as Ylisaya suggested. I expected to have to evade the Mermaid¡¯s crew, but they did¡¯t impede our departure, I suspected that their lack of weapons or armor was a factor. They just watched us leave.


    On the monorail back to the docks, Ylisaya and I found a private cabin. We rested on opposite odds of the cabin and Ylisaya stared out the window, as we rode back to the docks. I suspected that Ylisaya was upset about how we failed to scout Juno as a client, or that Icaused her agony at a party. Even though Ylisaya¡¯s prediction was correct, the outcome was still regrettable. We both received a cyber-link request from Tony and we both accepted.


    ¡°Are we in trouble?¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s question passed through the cyber-link.


    ¡°Not really. But Calista and I think we¡¯re wrapping up this assassination plot. You two wanna watch? And the armor works great by the way, best stealth mode ever, forgot I even had it on. But decide soon because Calista is about to unmask the assassin that tried to kill her.¡±, Tony¡¯s question reached us.


    I glanced at Ylisaya and before I had a moment to consider her perspective, I knew I wanted to see, and that was just me giving into temptation. I looked through Tony¡¯s perspective and I could see and hear everything around him. Ylisaya hesitated


    ¡°If you want to stop watching, you¡¯re free to just disconnect.¡±, Tony sent his thoughts to Ylisaya, and she was compelled to look through Tony¡¯s senses.


    Tony, Calista, and a masked assassin were inside what looked like a large storage facility. The assassin was trapped under the wreckage of a machine that appeared to be a loading and stacking machine. Calista aimed her handgun at the assassin, while Tony sat on a nearby crate with one knee resting up against a storage container. Tony sat with the side holding his hand-cannon towards Calista and the assassin. Tony gripped the hand cannon but the arm rested at his side. Tony¡¯s eye closest to the assassin watched her movements carefully. Tony¡¯s other hand rested on his raised knee and held up a smartphone. Tony¡¯s other eye watched the phone displaying recordings of the dance off from earlier this evening. As the video ended, Tony¡¯s thumb flicked the video away and phone presented another video for Tony to watch. The motion trackers in the back of Tony¡¯s head and his enhanced hearing followed a multitude of enforcer mechs just outside the storage facility. The only light source was centered over the trapped assassin.


    ¡°Who sent you?¡±, Calista yelled at the assassin, as she removed the enforcer helmet.


    The assassin said nothing, she just looked away. Her mask wrapped completely around her head with reflective lenses over her eyes.


    ¡°Why am I being targeted?¡±, Calista yelled.


    Three hostile enforcer mechs broke into the facility. One through a window, another through a service door and, the last one broke through a vent. Tony saw them all enter. Tony raised his hand cannon, and activated the targeting sensor running over the top of the cannon. Tony could see the mech pass through the service door, not just with his eyes, but through the targeting sensor. Tony fired the cannon, shooting the mech through the main circuit, shutting the mech down, effectively killing it. Tony¡¯s arm stretched across his body and the targeting sensor could see the mech pass through the service door, and Tony fired again. Tony¡¯s arm then curled over it¡¯s shoulder, aimed backwards, the targeting sensor could see an upside down image of the mech stumble through the window, and Tony fired again. In less then a fraction of a nano-cycle, Tony killed three enforcer mechs, with just one hand, while sitting down.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother. I have more ammo than you have remaining mechs.¡±, Tony said to the assassin, as his shooting arm returned to resting at his side.


    But Ylisaya and I were linked to Tony¡¯s mind, and we knew Tony didn¡¯t have as much ammo as he claimed, because he knew he was bluffing. I suspected Tony was hesitant to just turn the enforcer mechs against each other like before unless he was certain there would be no witnesses, which is difficult even for him from inside a storage facility. I suspected Tony was simply waiting for better odds, where he can kill the assassin and not worry about being observed.


    ¡°Call off the mechs. They¡¯re supposed to protect Venus. You¡¯re using them wrong.¡±, Calista demanded.


    Tony detected the assassin¡¯s mask emitted some unknown signal and Tony could sense the enforcer mechs freeze outside of the storage facility. Tony gestured to Calista to lower her hand gun. Tony kept his senses alert incase the enforcer mechs tried again.


    ¡°Her mask controls them.¡±, Tony said.


    Calista rushed in and lifted the mask off the assassin¡¯s head and she had the same face as Calista.


    ¡°What is this?¡±, Calista asked in shock.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s a clone, she¡¯s trying to kill you so she can replace you.¡±, Tony said to Calista.


    ¡°But not even the Rylkonians can clone someone as an adult, and no woman on Venus can be cloned without her consent. That means we¡¯re both clones. She¡¯s not the only clone to infiltrate the Huntresses.¡±, Calista realized and said to Tony.


    Calista aimed her handgun at her clone sister and pressed the barrel into her head.


    ¡°The six murder victims, all clones being replaced. That¡¯s why every other lead was a dead end. Nobody knew anything was wrong. They had nothing to do with the rape case. It that what you had planned for me too?¡±, Calista demanded.


    ¡°You¡¯re so smart but you still got it wrong. You have it backwards. Either you or I was going to find the rapist, his premature discovery simply created an opportunity for us, so we took it. Are you gonna try to save that rapist? He doesn¡¯t know anything that can expose us. Go ahead an waste your time. According to this planet¡¯s laws I¡¯m a member of the privileged class, the moment I die, you broke the law. The only actual murder was a smuggler, and that was in space, not under the jurisdiction of the Cooperative. All the crimes were getting attributed to the rapist.¡±, the clone said.


    ¡°Why confess now?¡±, Calista asked.


    ¡°Because you need to wake up, you¡¯re unfit to protect this world. You¡¯re in the way of someone who can do a better job. You¡¯re not even a cyborg. I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to keep Venus safe. This world needs me¡­not you.¡±, the clone said.


    ¡°But you¡¯re the one attacking this world.¡±, Calista argued.


    Calista focused her aim to shoot through the clone¡¯s brain. Calista took a breath and stepped away. Tony flicked the smartphone to the next video, which was Juno locking herself in her former apartment after the dance off.


    ¡°See? I¡¯m right, you¡¯re not willing to take the risk.¡±, the clone said.


    ¡°Kill her.¡±, Calista said to Tony.


    Tony aimed his hand cannon at the clone, glanced at Calista once to see if there was any hesitation.


    ¡°He won¡¯t kill me either. I work for the UDE. I read the file, killing any UDE agent has consequences, and the Phantom knows it.¡±, the clone said.


    Tony lowered his hand cannon, and turned his attention towards Calista.


    ¡°How will anyone know you were even killed? Every one thinks I¡¯m secretly recovering in a hospital. What if I replaced you?¡±, Calista said as she held up the mask she took from her clone, attempted to wear it, and then removed it.


    ¡° A perfect fit¡­What are her augmentations?¡±, Calista asked Tony.


    Tony stood up and walked over to the clone to inspect her more closely.


    ¡°Membrane skin weave, increased strength, and¡­graphene skeleton reinforcement.¡±, Tony said as he attempted to shake the wreckage weighing down the assassin.


    ¡°Based on this level of impact and force, those are the cheapest possible enhancements needed to survive, without deflector shields.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So what do we do with her?¡±, Calista asked Tony.


    ¡°Oh we should still kill her, we got all the valuable information. The only question is how? I can¡¯t use any of my known weapons. I¡¯ll need a less obvious method.¡±, Tony said.


    Ylisaya and I sensed in Tony¡¯s mind what Ylisaya advised about no other cyborg being able to wear even just one piece of Plot Armor. Tony holstered the hand cannon, tucked the smartphone into an empty ammo compartment, and removed one shoulder guard. The Plot armor system inside the shoulder guard deactivated as it was separated from it¡¯s power source. Tony looked at the clone as he pressed the shoulder guard onto her shoulder and the Plot Armor system began drawing power from her cybernetic body. The clone¡¯s body reacted so violently she shook the wreckage that trapped her. Her hair turned from a shiny raven rich dark color into a ghostly gray. Her skin began to wrinkle and patches of her skin faded as well.


    Tony pulled the shoulder guard from the clone¡¯s shoulder, and she gasped in pain. In Tony¡¯s eyes, she appeared to age and very quickly. Calista watched in horror and she seemed to pity the clone who tried to kill her in multiple attempts.


    ¡°Did you know that would happen?¡±, Calista asked Tony.


    ¡°I was warned of danger if another cyborg tried just even one piece of my armor. But I was only told it would be bad, no other details.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°What did you do to me?¡±, the clone demanded as she started crying.


    ¡°I stole some of your life force¡­ and I¡¯ll take more if you don¡¯t answer my questions.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Questions? I thought we were done with questions and ready for assassination.¡±, Calista protested.


    ¡°Sorry¡­Habit. But¡­this is a golden opportunity. What are your questions?¡±, Tony asked Calista.


    ¡°Right now all my questions are for you, not her¡­umm is this something that makes me into a liability and you might have to kill me?¡±, Calista asked as she stepped away.


    ¡°If you fail to infiltrate her organization, they¡¯ll kill you. If you go public, they¡¯ll kill you. If they don¡¯t believe you, they¡¯ll kill you. You know the identities of the other clones, her job was to replace and kill you. It¡¯s entirely possible the only other people who know this are the other clones and their boss. You don¡¯t know if they¡¯re watching or already replaced your fiends or family. If you actually found one person who might believe you and not kill you, not only would I be surprised, I¡¯d be impressed¡­ Now imagine I¡¯m her boss, and all my files say I won¡¯t kill U.D.E. agents. What would you say to her boss?¡±, Tony asked Calista, while he pointed a finger at the clone.


    ¡°Drain life-force¡­Yep! I¡¯m already done talking about it.¡±, Calista confessed.


    ¡°See, I have nothing to worry about. Okay let¡¯s start with something easy¡­What¡¯s the U.D.E.¡¯s plan for Venus?¡±, Tony asked the clone, but I knew he was lying.


    ¡°Did all three of us read her files?¡­We¡¯re already targets, it doesn¡¯t change anything.¡±, was the thought Ylisaya and I heard from Tony¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Infiltrate, promote, sway elections and take over¡­¡±, the clone said.


    ¡°We already knew that! I feel hungry for some life-force.¡±, Tony said as he moved the shoulder guard near the clone.


    The clone tried to pull away.


    ¡°No¡­Not the Cooperative, they want the Protectorate! We learned the Senate is planning to populate the Protectorate after the Rylkonians leave. The U.D.E. doesn¡¯t have any such opportunity. We increase their success, and sustain the Protectorate until they elect leaders who will work with the U.D.E.¡±, the clone said.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s useful information. Unfortunately I have no other questions¡­I can¡¯t let you live. So it¡¯s time to¡­¡±, Tony said but the clone interrupted.


    ¡°Wait. Wait¡­space pirates¡­The U.D.E. knows that space pirates are a blight on all the colonies. Fighting pirates weakens everyone, even the the Protectorate adapts wasting resources to fighting pirates, instead of freely evolving for economic and scientific advancement. The U.D.E. has been intentionally neglecting their undesirable populations to incentivize them to become space pirates. Please, I don¡¯t want to die this way. I feel like my soul was ripped apart.¡±, the clone pleaded and cried.


    ¡°Well that was great info. But you¡¯re being unusually dramatic. Right now my client needs to steal your identity to take your place, no one can know you died or how, and I would like to get paid with your money, so I really of need her to do that. Anyone who finds you will find just a dried up shell of a clone who died of old age, on a planet where your existence is illegal. Everyone will assume a genetic defect killed you.¡±, Tony said to the clone.


    ¡°Yes, unauthorized cloning is prohibited. It¡¯s a threat to the Cooperative¡¯s cloning exports industry.¡±, Calista said to her clone.


    ¡°You might want to look away.¡±, Tony said to Calista.


    Calista looked away and Ylisaya disconnected, but as I saw Tony prepare to attach the shoulder guard to the clone, to drain the last of her life, Tony could see that she was afraid. I suspected that she feared her life-force wouldn¡¯t pass into paradise of the afterlife, since that was the general discussion I learned from the few Earth born I¡¯ve talked to. Teardrops flowed down her face as she truly feared death, especially the kind death that Tony would inflict upon her. Tony looked into her eyes and disconnected me. I looked at Ylisaya and I could tell by how she continued to stare out the window of the monorail, she disconnect from the death of the clone not because she didn¡¯t want to see, but because she already saw the assassination before, in a prediction from three days ago.

 Chapter 17 - Trial Sentencing, Does Anything Ever Go Right?

    It was the morning after Calista departed on her revenge quest. Ylisaya and I were skeptical of her chances of success, but Tony always had his own opinion about success or failure. Ylisaya and I waited in Cargo Bay Three watching the widescreen display as news correspondence debated the different effects the sentencing would have on the planet and their unusually complicated laws. At least the laws were considered complicated from the outsider perspective. We had seven solar cycles or four Venus days remaining on the planet till we could finally depart for Freya Station and hopefully find contracts that suited our situation. Tony arrived with breakfast, returning from a test run to use his newest disguise as a delivery drone. We discovered he¡¯s quite good at driving around on the ground in absurdly small vehicles. Ylisaya worked on finishing the elbow on the Plot armor, as the full suit of armor hung between two creates. Ylisaya was just behind one day on her delivery of five days which had been extended to six. Tony walked into the Cargo Bay with four deliveries, of three bags and a tray of drinks.


    ¡°One Andy¡¯s Senior breakfast wrap, potato bites, and hazelnut coffee.¡±, Tony said as he handed the bag of food to me.


    ¡°One Andy¡¯s Senior Aurovean Dippers, potato bites, and citrus tea.¡±, Tony said as he handed the next bag to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Capacitors and relays.¡±, Tony said as he handed the next bag to Ylisaya.


    I removed my drink from the tray as Ylisaya reached for hers. I could smell the other two drinks were Fizzy Cola and Sweet Milk.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit early for Fizzy Cola.¡±, I remarked.


    ¡°I¡¯m saving it for later.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°What did you get?¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony.


    ¡°Just drinks, there¡¯s still some left over pork chops and ribs, which is works out better because it¡¯s just sitting in the food cooler.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°That makes sense. I¡¯m guessing drinks are better than pork chops at washing down the life force of your enemies. Right?¡±, I asked sarcastically.


    ¡°First off, I had to think of something to say. And second, life force doesn¡¯t have a taste, it just flows directly into the capacitors.¡±, Tony argued.


    ¡°Shhh. The sentencing is starting.¡±, Ylisaya said as she put down her Breakfast dippers.


    We watched the image on the widescreen switch to a view of the court room as the court¡¯s Vice President stood behind a podium. The Vice President held a data tablet in her hand and slid the fingers of her other hand over the glass of a data tablet. The vice president of the court wore a deep blue suit that seemed to be modeled after the Cooperative¡¯s flag.


    ¡°The verdict of the honorable Judge Weberly is¡­Guilty. The verdict of the honorable Judge Vestamsnith is¡­Guilty. The verdict of the honorable Judge Yindelkhan is¡­Guilty. Arton Norsen is sentenced to death, and shall remain in custody of the Senate until a sufficient method of execution can be determined.¡±, said the Vice President as she deactivated the podium.


    ¡°What just happened?¡±, Ylisaya demanded.


    ¡°It¡¯s their planet, their laws.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°Ha! Pay up.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya turned the armored gauntlet around and began working on the glove of the armor.


    ¡°Wait¡­You two made a bet over this? What was Ylisaya going to win?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I wanted deflector shields. I knew I shouldn¡¯t have bet against someone who can predict the future.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°No prediction was made, because I would have automatically lost, and this upgrade was well worth the risk.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Okay¡­what upgrade?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I want to be able use the Plot Armor¡¯s life-force draining ability, by just grabbing an enemy.¡±, Tony said, as he demonstrated grabbing the Fizzy Cola.


    ¡°So we ARE calling it Plot Armor?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Just until I think of or hear a better name. And I¡¯m not saying this is a new weapon. Too many victims will link me to this method.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°You¡¯re the assassin, not me.¡±, I replied, as I shrugged my shoulders.


    We returned our focus to the wide screen that continued the news coverage of the sentencing. A news correspondent started reading the written opinions from Judge Yindelkhan.


    ¡°Judge Yindelkhan wrote, Venus is a new world, but the hardships and struggles that women have faced in the past is not. The decision made here is not from the pressures and compromises that made women into victims who had to endure the abuses of men and even the society they lived in, the past they came from, and systems they unwillingly supported because they had no choice. But today we have a choice and as women we have to protect that choice. Saressah Dyleen¡¯s appeal for her child will pull us back into the dark ages of being ruled by men. If Venus is to succeed the Cooperative must ensure that Venus endures as a safe place for women, ensure that women are not denied opportunities and if women are to have freedom from fear, it is the Cooperative¡¯s mission to remove that fear. Allowing a reflection of the past when women were raped and forced to remain silent, takes away opportunities with it¡¯s very existence. I must rule a guilty verdict, if the planet Venus is to not fall into the past.¡±, said the news Correspondent.


    ¡°I don¡¯t agree with that, but I guess there¡¯s logic in there. Seems Fascist.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    The news correspondent then read the written opinion of Judge Weberly.


    ¡°Judge Weberly wrote, it is the duty of a Judge to consider the results and effects of every decision, not just for the victim and defendant, but the effect on future cases and the new world we will awake to tomorrow and every tomorrow that the Cooperative promised to the women of Venus. I was nominated, evaluated, elected, and appointed to serve the women of Venus by the women of Venus in the role I fulfill now. I can only hope that the future of Venus is carefully weighed and measured as the process that brought me to the place I am now. It pains me to see any woman defy all our efforts to make a better world for them and all women who choose to join the Cooperative, and might choose the Cooperative in the future. On Earth society once told their daughters, nieces, and sisters that a girl can do anything a man can do, if only given the opportunity. I was given such an opportunity and I give that opportunity to the future, but we must also be vigilant that women can also have flaws. To protect the future of the Cooperative and the women of Venus, I must rule a guilty verdict.¡±, said the news Correspondent.


    ¡°I¡¯m noticing a pattern here.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°What pattern? The fact that first judge kept saying, past, past, past, and the second judge kept saying future, future, tomorrow. You don¡¯t need a vision to predict what the third Judge will talk about.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Actually the abundance of women with highly influential titles. Why does a court case require three judges and a vice president? Why does the Senate have so much work, they almost never shut down? Why is it so easy for a Huntress to move up in society?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I think I can answer that. Look at the other side of their society, the lower levels. All the dangerous jobs are done by either Huntresses or machines¡­.Sorry.¡±, I said as I turned to Tony for a moment.


    ¡°No big deal.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°So if every court case needs more judges, and every committee needs more senators, that¡¯s means more opportunities for women to hold a political title. I think they would make up new offices if their population wasn¡¯t declining so fast. Besides yourself, who is the lowest ranking woman you¡¯ve met?¡­Think back to our first night.¡±, I asked,


    ¡°Business owners?¡­No¡­Huntresses? Women are not allowed to hold a low rank!¡±, Ylisaya guessed.


    ¡°I think that was a trick question. On Venus that question has no answer.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Okay I have different question. If all the dangerous work is done by machines, why do the Enforcer mechs just have a frame with arms, legs, enough to wear armor, and shoot guns, the emergency rescue drones can fly, and service robots have pretty faces, shiny hair, curvy bodies, and wear clothes? That¡¯s not a practical design, not like the others.¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of imports and exports. Venus doesn¡¯t build their own drones. Venus exports genetic research and cloning materials, including human, plant, and animal. The rescue drones come from the Protectorate, so they¡¯re simple, efficient, predictable, and adaptable to any environment. It¡¯s also illegal to weaponize them, and the easiest way to do that is to strap an explosive on to them. Now the enforcer mechs come from Mars, and are basic¡­very basic in fact¡­pure robot copies of me. So they have to be specialized for the role they¡¯re intended, which make them less adaptable than if they were cyborgs. But they¡¯re completely compliant with Mars Pax, even if used in warfare¡­Umm robot servers¡­Do you wanna answer that one?¡±, Tony said, as he directed his question toward me.


    ¡°The server robots come from Earth, and they¡¯re not built as servers¡­They¡¯re sex robots.¡±, I said.


    ¡°And no more questions about sex robots¡­ever.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°That¡¯s good because this isn¡¯t a question. When I look at them, even when I¡¯m just around them it makes me feel like I can never meet the expectations this world has about women. They make me not want to stay here, in addition to the biased laws, complex court processes, and political assassinations.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Feel? Hmmm...Do you feel that way too?¡±, Tony asked as he turned towards me.


    ¡°That¡¯s an indirect question about sex robots, but yes. I just try not to think about it, because I know we¡¯re not staying.¡±, I said.


    ¡°What would this world do to me if they found out I might be the chosen one?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    I glanced at Ylisaya as her eyes flicked towards Tony. I understood her intentions to get a vision of the future, if Tony can predict that result. I turned my attention towards Tony as well.


    ¡°Why are you two looking at me like that?¡±, Tony protested.


    I flicked an eyebrow upwards, like how I saw Mykayla do with hers.


    ¡°No! Absolutely not! That¡¯s the exact paradox that cost us a client and I want to avoid. How many times do I need to say it? Sharing the future is dangerous, and that knowledge will change us. We all gave into that temptation last night, let that be the end of it.¡±, Tony argued.


    ¡°How did you give into temptation?¡­You made a deal with Mykayla!¡±, Ylisaya remarked at Tony.


    ¡°Hey! She has the right to privacy, so you don¡¯t get to question me.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°You two actually did a good thing. You tripled Juno¡¯s chances of seeing her son, still risky, but she now has better odds.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Two?¡±, I said, as I realized she was talking about one other person besides Tony.


    ¡°Tony and Mykayla.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°Did a good thing? Not the Tony and Mykayla I know.¡±, I remarked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t expect glory, and I didn¡¯t ask Mykayla to intentionally lose the bet, at least not directly. I especially don¡¯t want the U.D.E. to learn I can think of strategies beyond revenue and profit. Nobody else knows that, nobody beside you thinks that, and if you tell anyone they won¡¯t believe you. The Cooperative promises a lot of things to women, but listening to you doesn¡¯t appear on the list.¡±, Tony said.


    I wondered what Tony might have done that would make Mykayla give up fifty thousand credits. My thoughts made me realize, ¡°The only other woman that turned down the money was Juno, for her son.¡±


    ¡°Nyrella¡¯s secret!¡­You gave Nyrella¡¯s secret to Mykayla!¡±, I said.


    ¡°Mykayla has just as much right to decide as a parent as I have, even if she had an abortion. Nyrella is a copy, so are all of her clone sisters. But that is up to Mykayla to reach her own conclusions. To decide for herself if that¡¯s what¡¯s best for her, the clones, and her place in society, but I only told her I¡¯m genetically the father of the clones. She¡¯ll find a lot of facts, but also a lot of dead ends.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°That¡¯s evil.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    ¡°But that¡¯s more like the Tony and Mykayla I know.¡±, I said.


    I suspected Meiyo would be alerted if Mykayla obtained a parental License, and I needed to let Tony know. I looked at him and flicked my eyes towards the bridge.


    ¡°I owe one last Huntress report, I¡¯m gonna finish that today, then I can resign, and we can just relax till Freya enters orbit.¡±, I said as I stood up and picked up my breakfast items.


    ¡°And since we have no current clients, I¡¯m also gonna need your help.¡±, I said to Tony as I went to the Bridge.


    I sat down in my seat and activated my console. I set my breakfast down on the utility shelf next to me and I accessed the report template. I estimated that because the real risk was exposing the Cooperative as a fraud and if Tony would not expose them, neither should I. I suspected if the Cooperative¡¯s true goal is to merge with, take over, or inherit the Protectorate, Rylkonian heritage is actually irrelevant. I made the minimum five statements in each field of the template and I finally reached the ¡°Recommendations¡± section. Tony entered the bridge and took the gunner¡¯s seat. He accessed his console and reached into the storage compartment beside his seat.


    When his hand emerged from the storage compartment he was holding a headset. He placed the headset over his ears and reached under his seat again. The second time his hand emerged he was holding a video game controller. Through my mirror I could see his console¡¯s holographic display. Tony looked back at me through my mirror and he quickly saw my expression of disbelief. Tony lifted the controller so I could clearly see the buttons and he slowly extended his thumb, exaggerated pressing the button to start play, and returned his focus to the game running on his console. I couldn¡¯t hear but I could see the clashing swords, magic incantations, and the music of the world of Contest of Crowns.


    ¡°Where are you at on your report?¡±, Tony asked as he queued into a video game battle arena of Contest of Crowns.


    ¡°I need a recommendation, preferably a solution that allows the Cooperative to inherit the Protectorate.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Lisella¡¯s plan? From the interviews? That plan¡¯s worthless.¡±, Tony said, and he used the video game controller to puppet the holographic avatar to throw magic spells at an approaching horde of monsters.


    Watching the virtual battle made me wonder if this is what Tony¡¯s perspective is like when he controls my movements in battle.


    ¡°Trades imply benefit to both ends of the transaction.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°So how does the Protectorate benefit from getting repopulated by the women of Venus? If they run the Protectorate like they run the Cooperative, they¡¯ll be looking at running for only fifty years before they start suffering from under-population.¡±, Tony argued as he navigated a menu to improve the armor and magic skills of his holographic mage.


    ¡°The Cooperative went from twenty million to two million in just five years. You really think they can last fifty? That¡¯s generous.¡±, I joked, and Tony laughed.


    ¡°I see a difference of philosophies. The Rylkonians don¡¯t plan to keep the Protectorate. How can the Cooperative argue for or persuade the Protectorate into thinking continuing to invest is a benefit?¡±, Tony asked as he sent his avatar into a battle within a castle.


    I thought about Tony¡¯s question and found I was filled with more questions than ideas.


    ¡°What happens when the Protectorate shuts down? The most powerful faction takes over¡­ So who¡¯s that?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Either the U.D.E. or the Space Pirates. Hmm both are quite bad propositions. So you want to present to the Cooperative that if they can¡¯t partner with the Protectorate, or if the Protectorate doesn¡¯t support them, then the Space Pirates or the U.D.E. will take over?¡±, Tony said as he sent his avatar into a one-on-one duel against another dark wizard opponent.


    ¡°How many alternatives are there? The JATO Alliance is isolationist, Mars is run by war mongers, and the Commonwealth of Mercury is betting on the Mars Pax Treaty and the Protectorate. If the Cooperative wants to survive, they need to fix their debt problems, their equity problems, stop importing labor, and let women actually live.¡±, I agued, as I started writing my resignation.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Right, right¡­Wait a minute, I thought the JATO Alliance wants an autonomous and independent Earth, if they were isolationist, they wouldn¡¯t trade at all.¡±, Tony said, as his avatar was defeated and he selected another.


    Tony¡¯s next holographic avatar in the video game was a werewolf covered in savage armor, with a battle axe, a round curved shield, and a variety of throwing weapons. Tony moved the new avatar from shadow to shadow, climbing over walls, and patiently watched virtual enemies just before slashing a killing strike. I imagined this avatar¡¯s fighting style better suited Tony¡¯s normal strategies.


    ¡°The JATO Alliance only trades with the other nations of Earth. As far as Mars Pax is concerned, they want nothing to do with other planets. That¡¯s isolationist.¡±, I said, as I sent my final Huntress report and my resignation to the Cooperative.


    ¡°So are we free of the Cooperative and ready to leave for Freya station?¡±, Tony said, as he moved his Avatar to the throne room in the Castle.


    ¡°Almost, I might have suggested to Meiyo, if the Cooperative fails before an inheritance in the Protectorate can be achieved, she should seek citizenship without Rylkonian lineage.¡±, I said.


    ¡°A marriage? I don¡¯t think so. Meiyo has dedicated almost half of her life to Venus, and has been the top Huntress since the founding of the Cooperative. And how many Protectorate citizens have a high enough status and are willing to marry?¡­.Oh no, not me!¡­Absolutely not. Meiyo has been nothing but a complex of mystery and drama, since I met her on Mars. Any woman romantically involved with me will have to live with a huge target on them, maybe even a bigger target than the one on me or the target on you.¡±, Tony said, as his second avatar avenged his previous avatar in a one-on-one duel against the dark wizard.


    ¡°As long as Meiyo stays on Venus or within the influence of the Cooperative, the U.D.E. can¡¯t touch her. I¡¯ve seen how you try keep her from seeing how you notice her. I know you can see in all directions. I¡¯m not sure if she knows that, but she¡¯s not shy around you. She¡¯s high up enough in Cooperative society it would be worth while to the Protectorate after we leave and just as valuable while we¡¯re still here. You can¡¯t seriously say you¡¯re not at least a little curious?¡±, I asked, as I watched the holographic video game through my mirror.


    ¡°I think Earth born women are more complex than you calculate. Meiyo can see every move another Huntress might make. If Mykayla takes the easy move and goes for a clone like Nyrella, there¡¯s a chance Meiyo will investigate such a change in behavior. There¡¯s a fair chance Meiyo might take action either directly or unknowingly, and she doesn¡¯t need the authority of a Huntress to bring suffering to her enemies. A divide between two Huntresses could push Venus into civil war. So no¡­I¡¯m not curious.¡±, Tony said as his avatar began collecting treasures.


    I can normally tell when Tony is lying, as well as how much he is lying. But this time he wasn¡¯t lying at all. Which meant I needed to consider his statements carefully. If Tony knew what I was thinking before I needed to explain and we didn¡¯t use cyberlink, there was the chance that Tony used his scanner vision, but Ylisaya never had an opportunity to see a vision. That could mean only one thing. He knew much more than he revealed.


    ¡°You already slept with Meiyo! The night you two were alone on Mars! That¡¯s why she¡¯s always behaving odd around you.¡±, I said as I turned my head to look over my shoulder at Tony.


    ¡°Meiyo is too important to the Cooperative. Her entire life had been structured, to turn her into what she is today. But she turned into a woman on a world with no men. None of them were anything like her father and the only other men she knew were pirates and warlords. All of them were less than her father, at least in her eyes. She knew a direct attack on her father¡¯s palace and a challenge against Warlord Zokoro meant certain death. She just didn¡¯t want to die without knowing at least that kind of love. She asked, I explained, she asked me to show her more, and then she kissed me.¡±, Tony said as he turned off the game.


    ¡°Oh. I was expecting to hear that a price was involved, or that she simply paid you with sex.¡±, I confessed, as I returned to reclining in the flight seat.


    ¡°I don¡¯t offer those kinds of services, and Meiyo would never offer nor accept. But if I¡¯m ever in a similar situation ever again. Lesson learned, I¡¯m just gonna avoid the topic.¡±, Tony said, as he stored the headset and game controller in the side of the gunner¡¯s seat.


    ¡°Is that why you avoid conversations about¡­women shaped robots?¡±, I hesitated to ask.


    ¡°That¡¯s a question about women shaped robots, but yes.¡±, Tony replied.


    Tony and I stood up out of our seats, but the communications array chimed, which meant the ship received a message. Both Tony and I thought the situation was strange since neither of us had any current clients and we had not pursued any new contracts since Juno ran away from the dance off. Tony reached over to the console of the Captain¡¯s chair and the message was a video of Meiyo, but the video was highly distorted.


    ¡°Greetings crew of the Something clever. Jhessyreen, the Cooperative has accepted your resignation, but we must now hire you for a special mission. I can explain in greater detail when you return to the Senate. The person we really need is the Phantom, the only one who can complete this mission for the Cooperative, and we offer a substantial payment. We will explain that as well when you arrive. This is urgent regarding the future of the Cooperative. I will be waiting in the Senate.¡±, Meiyo said.


    Tony and I returned to Cargo Bay Three. Tony handed me stun and Flash Pulse ammo. He also offered lethal ammo, but I didn¡¯t take any. Tony removed his delivery drone disguise and replaced it with the completed pieces of Plot Armor. He looked at his last unarmored arm and covered it with a cloaking device.


    ¡°Stay here and don¡¯t look at any propaganda. TV shows and any movies older thanfifteen years should be fine, but I¡¯ll ask what you watched. We¡¯re heading to the Senate.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    ¡°Before you go, we should test the gauntlet¡¯s fit.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Ylisaya carried the gauntlet over to Tony and slid the Plot armor over his arm. Tony examined the armor and examined the the unusual apparatus that Ylisaya attached to the armor.


    ¡°If this works, you can have a set of deflector shields.¡±, Tony said to Ylisaya.


    Ylisaya grabbed Tony¡¯s hand by both sides, with one of her hands right against the life drain apparatus. Tony seemed concerned and I was shocked that the device didn¡¯t steal Ylisaya¡¯s life force. Tony pulled his hand away.


    ¡°I thought you said that¡¯s dangerous.¡±, Tony protested.


    ¡°I¡¯m testing out the safety switch, the life-drain has to be activated. Otherwise just touching other cyborgs would be difficult.¡±, Ylisaya replied.


    Tony removed the incomplete gauntlet and handed it back to Ylisaya. As we traveled Tony remained cloaked, and we only spoke when no one else was around. I brought only my revolver and Tony only brought his hand cannon. We arrived at the Senate and we found Meiyo in her office with a Genetic Researcher attending to her. Meiyo sat in her chair and I could detect Meiyo had undergone cybernetic enhancement. Her skin, her eyes, and the fact that all her injuries were now gone were all clues that she was now a cyborg. Tony removed his skull helmet and his holographic face was already activated. Meiyo gestured for the attendants to leave.


    ¡°Please sit. I apologize for the urgency, Genetic Research tells me the first few days of cybernetic enhancement is like learning how to talk, walk, and live again.¡±, Meiyo said.


    I took the seat closer to the window, and Tony was left to take the chair closer to Meiyo¡¯s desk.


    ¡°In your message, you said you had an offer for us.¡±, I asked Meiyo.


    ¡°Your job is watch the Phantom, no more reports, but my problem is slightly more complex, but basically I have a prisoner to execute and I have no executioner. The Protectorate offers ten million for unregistered suspected space pirates, so the cooperative is offering five million as a retainer fee and another million each year for the next five years.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°No. Get one of you huntresses to do it, or you can take care of it yourself so you can keep the money.¡±, Tony replied, as he stood up and started heading for the door.


    ¡°None of us will kill an innocent man.¡±, Meiyo protested.


    ¡°What makes you think I will?¡±, Tony demanded, as he gripped the door.


    Meiyo sat there speechless, as I stood up and prepared to follow Tony.


    ¡°We also have new tech¡­.Watch.¡±, Meiyo said, as she closed her eyes.


    A hologram of Meiyo wearing her tri-tech armor appeared in the center of her office. The hologram looked at me and then at Tony. I reached out with my hand, I watched my handpass through the Meiyo¡¯s projection.


    ¡°I wish I had something like this before.¡±, Meiyo¡¯s hologram said.


    ¡°Can you hear us?¡±, I asked, but I wasn¡¯t sure who to ask.


    ¡°Yes, and she can also see us. We¡¯re being scanned.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony walked over to Meiyo¡¯s desk and examined it. I began to feel the slight tingle over my hands and face as the scan moved back and forth. Tony waved his hand over the desk and each movement slightly disrupted Meiyo¡¯s hologram. Meiyo¡¯s hologram walked through her desk and looked at her motionless body. The hologram looked back towards Tony and me.


    ¡°I hoped becoming a cyborg would help me to understand your perspective, but all it has shown me is there¡¯s so many ways you look at the world.¡±, said Meiyo¡¯s Hologram, as it vanished.


    ¡°The cooperative thinks the way your cyborg brain works also prevents you from feeling distress, remorse, regret, or guilt, makes you the ideal assassin. How do you kill so many monsters without becoming one?¡±, Meiyo asked Tony, as she opened her eyes.


    ¡°I think the Cooperative has made some critical assumptions about me. Ideology isn¡¯t preventing me from executing this rapist. I¡¯m refusing because currently he has popular support, which might conflict with my promotion to First Class Citizen. The Cooperative is just a trade partner, the Protectorate loses nothing by staying out of Venus politics. A tech trade isn¡¯t going to work either, Rylkonian engineers can build a better machine in a day. And the final assumption is none of them are monsters, just bounties to collect.¡±, Tony replied to Meiyo.


    ¡°What if I could reverse both of those limiting factors? If I take away his popular support, and make the Protectorate¡¯s involvement worth a second look.¡±, Meiyo asked Tony.


    ¡°Becoming a cyborg has changed you.¡±, I said to Meiyo.


    ¡°It¡¯s like my eyes have been opened. It¡¯s not as simple as sacrificing our principles for some greater good. The Cooperative is dying, for every woman who leaves Venus we need five robots to replace the void she leaves behind. But we haven¡¯t failed as long as one woman remains who can live free of fear. She will have a planet, servants, and an army that doesn¡¯t eat nor sleep. It¡¯s like Judge Vestamsnith said today. The Cooperative is a dream, an idea, a concept and women keep that dream alive. But I¡¯m not dreaming anymore. We all know how this story ends. The Cooperative doesn¡¯t want women, they just want to replace us with robots.¡±, Meiyo said, as she looked out the window.


    I wondered if Meiyo and Tony talked about the U.D.E.¡¯s military officer on Mars. I know I told Meiyo about Tony¡¯s pronouns, and now Meiyo has started considering her future as a cyborg. I started thinking, ¡°Maybe I should have listened to all three judges.¡±


    I glanced at Tony to see his reaction. While he was unlikely to respond emotionally, I knew Meiyo¡¯s words shared his experiences. I thought it was coincidence that both of them reached similar conclusions.


    ¡°How much influence does the U.D.E. have over the Cooperative right now?¡±, Tony asked.


    I was shocked that Tony determined the U.D.E. held so much leverage with just suspicions. Both Tony and Meiyo knew if she answered, it would be an act of treason against the Cooperative, depending on how Tony planned to use that info. I watched Tony¡¯s eyes start to rapidly move, and I knew he was contacting Meiyo with cybernetic communication. I saw Meiyo¡¯s eyes and her mind was responding as expected. Meiyo and Tony seemed to disconnect and Meiyo struggled to return to her chair.


    ¡°Is cyber-link always like that?¡±, Meiyo asked.


    ¡°As a cyborg, you¡¯re just one day old, using cybernetics will push your body to your limits, until you learn that they¡¯re part of you instead of replacing you. You¡¯ll get used to it in a few days.¡±, Tony said to Meiyo, as we watched her collapse in her chair.


    ¡°What now?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to see Saressah?¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Why?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°She has invoked Omni Liberis. So we just need Saressah¡¯s statement, and Meiyo needs someone who doesn¡¯t have the same face as a huntress.¡±, Tony said.


    On the monorail I sat facing out the window, and Tony stayed cloaked as we traveled. I needed answers and Tony had them. I didn¡¯t expect him to tell me everything, he was going to measure his responses, so I needed to measure my questions.


    ¡°Is Meiyo a traitor?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s gonna become the Queen of Venus, she¡¯s gonna use both human nature and the robotic advantage, so the only ally she needs is the Protectorate. Now is the time to move. But to answer your question she¡¯s a traitor today, but when all the women skip out and abandon the Cooperative, she¡¯ll be the only one left. Not a traitor if there¡¯s nobody to betray, just robots. That¡¯s better than trying to ally with the U.D.E.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So that¡¯s the plan? Scare off all the women! Ten million men murdered in eight months! Five million women took the chance on the Cooperative, and the other half went anywhere else. We watched law after law get passed pushing this planet into suffering, and now we hand a colony over to a Tyrant.¡±, I protested.


    ¡°But Meiyo is still part of the Cooperative, she¡¯s allowed to make those decisions. Our role is outside the planet. The Confederacy, the U.D.E., space pirates, and even the JATO Alliance don¡¯t care about the Cooperative¡¯s supply and demand issues. Well maybe the space pirates care a little bit. But a planet with an army of enforcer mechs and nothing else to steal isn¡¯t a place I expect to find a space pirate. I hope it stays that way.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So what are our orders?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to bring me to Saressah, and I¡¯m gonna get the truth out of her. Whether or not she believes I¡¯m Arton¡¯s executioner doesn¡¯t matter.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°She¡¯s got the sympathy of a planet. Not somebody you want to antagonize.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°Openly defying a government that protects women, breaking numerous laws to take away an opportunity from other women who work for half a lifetime to earn, and now she¡¯s calling upon those exact laws to protect her rights and the life of a child forbidden under those same laws¡­she¡¯s a problem.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Then what¡¯s your solution?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I hate this situation of go here, talk to this person, go there, talk to another person, and try to peace together a coherent solution. What if keeping a promise causes betrayal or even treason? Is that promise still worth it? Meiyo¡¯s solution doesn¡¯t seem so crazy anymore.¡±, Tony argued.


    Sarressah was kept in an abandoned jail house, and she was guarded by three Huntresses and a few dozen enforcer mechs. I suspected the Cooperative wasn¡¯t happy about her very public statement defending Arton Norsen. The jail house had not been used for a few years, as the Cooperative claimed it was free of crime. I imagined that a hospital would be a more suitable location to keep her, but a hospital would invite two problems. First, she could ask for a doctor, and the doctors run the hospital. Second, no hospital wants to get accused of being a prison. The huntresses showed us to Saressah, she was sitting in a large soft chair, wrapped in a large blanket, and listening to a device that played music. I suspected the music was not for her benefit, but meant for the unauthorized child within her. Saressah looked at us and then returned her attention to the music, as we followed one of the Huntresses.


    ¡°Do you know who we are?¡±, I asked Saressah.


    ¡°Hired killers? I¡¯m ready for you. Arton is innocent.¡±, Saressah said.


    ¡°Who told you to invoke Omni Liberis?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°My attorney.¡±, Saressah said.


    ¡°But that law only applies to the executioner of your rapist.¡±, Tony argued.


    ¡°Are you seriously gonna say you¡¯re a lawyer wearing a skull mask and power armor?¡±, Saressah argued.


    ¡°You¡¯re first guess was correct¡­I¡¯m a hired killer.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Then the law says you have to listen to me.¡±, Saressah pleaded.


    ¡°Omni Liberis says you get to tell the executioner the last thing you want your rapist to hear before the rapist is executed. I cannot get from start to finish with any other plan.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°He¡¯s not a rapist, stop calling him that.¡±, Saressah argued.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just call him Arton. You invoked a law that condemns him to death. I¡¯m just here to collect your statement.¡±, Tony argued.


    ¡°Look at me. Nobody will listen to me. What else was I supposed to do?¡±, Saressah pleaded.


    ¡°You say this wasn¡¯t rape? You say you consented for this? Then you could have done a million things differently.¡± ,Tony argued.


    ¡°We had no other choice! The Cooperative will never allow our love!¡±, Saressah yelled.


    Two of the huntresses were watching from a walkway above and the yelling drew their attention.


    ¡°Love? Look around you. Does any of this look like love?¡±, Tony argued.


    ¡°You¡¯re just a killing machine, you¡¯ll never understand something as important as love.¡±, Saressah said.


    ¡°Are you Cathlahn?¡±, Tony asked Saressah.


    ¡°I was¡­but any religion that forbids abortion is prohibited on Venus.¡±, Saressah said.


    ¡°Did you ever read the Cathlahn Holy Book?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°No.¡±, Saressah replied.


    ¡°When the creator brought the first soul to life on Earth, the soul asked why it was alone. So the creator split the soul into two parts. One part was larger and the other part smaller. One part was reformed as a man and the other was reformed as a woman, but the Creator never told them which held more of the first soul. The man and woman were drawn to each other never knowing that they needed the other to find fulfillment, but both wishing they fulfilled the other. That¡¯s how I know love is the most powerful force in the Universe. It can make rational people do some really stupid shit for no good reason at all. I was once married, but we divorced and that was when I realized which parts of the soul each of us held.¡±, Tony said, as he turned away.


    Tony started walking to the door and I followed.


    ¡°Well who had which part of the first soul?¡±, Saressah demanded.


    ¡°Omni Liberis only says I have to listen to you. That doesn¡¯t make you my boss.¡±, Tony said to Saressah as he stood still.


    I stood next to the door, waiting for Tony to keep questioning Saressah. Tony walked back over to Saressah, as the two Huntresses watching moved from the walkway above to the floor of the jail house.


    ¡°Which parts of the soul do you think we had?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Well if you¡¯re telling the story, and you learned more from the experience, then you would say you held the greater part and your ex held the lesser soul.¡±, Saressah guessed.


    Tony removed his skull helmet and holographic face was already activated. Tony¡¯s holographic face smiled and he held his helmet under the arm behind the cloak. Saressah¡¯s eyes were held in fear as Tony revealed the robotic skeletal arm. If a robotic arm scared her, I¡¯d feel bad to see her reaction to his real face.


    ¡°That was a test. Your response implies selfishness, that¡¯s not love. The greater soul is always within the one you love, and the life that love brings. You failed! If either of you really loved the other, you wouldn¡¯t be here. That¡¯s how I know you¡¯re lying.¡±, Tony said as he smiled.


    I watched Saressah¡¯s face feel a crushing weight of guilt, as if only she and Tony knew some terrible secret. I suspected she was lying about something and Tony either figured it out or she had unwillingly confessed to something.


    ¡°Now, are you ready to tell me the truth?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Arton didn¡¯t love me¡­but I didn¡¯t give him a choice. When I couldn¡¯t hide my baby anymore, that¡¯s when he ran.¡±, Saressah said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a start. But how about something simpler like, You¡¯re sorry for ruining his life or he¡¯s not needed because women contribute sixty percent more to the economy.¡±, Tony suggested.


    ¡°Just¡­I¡¯m sorry, so sorry. I wish he had a fighting chance.¡±, Saressah said as she stared at the floor.


    ¡°The Cooperative would never tolerate the child of a rapist¡­From either parent.¡±, Tony said as he stepped away from Saressah.


    Tony left the jail house and I followed him to the monorail. As we took the monorail back to the docks I suspected Tony knew I had some questions about the meeting with Saressah. Even though Tony stayed cloaked, I knew he was there.


    ¡°I see in every direction. If you¡¯re going to keep giving me that look, you might as well ask, otherwise we should cyber-link or wait till we¡¯re on the ship.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Did Saressah just confess to rape¡­raping the man who¡¯s going to be executed for raping her?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s lying about that too. Maybe she had a lot of power over his life, and maybe she did demand sex in exchange, but why get pregnant and risk getting caught if she has that much control? The reverse is only true if the rapist impregnates the victim. Not the other way around, and not on any other planet. It makes no sense to risk getting caught. No¡­something else is going on.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So if we¡¯re ruling out the possibility that Sarressah was raped and the Cooperative won¡¯t just let her keep the baby, ruling out the scenario that Arton is a rapist, ruling out the possibility that they were in love, and ruling out the scenario that Saressah is the rapist. What possible alternative is left?¡±, I demanded.


    ¡°That¡¯s an excellent question¡­.I think Arton knows something and someone wants that knowledge to stay secret, so I¡¯m gonna risk it. I¡¯m gonna agree to execute him for the money, so I can get close enough to ask. Let¡¯s hope we discover that secret before I have to kill him.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°What about your promotion?¡±, I argued.


    ¡°If Meiyo is correct, then no promotion is going to matter when the U.D.E. or the Space Pirates are trying to conquer the star system. We either need to know the truth or who exactly is keeping the truth hidden.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°But if the Cooperative wanted to just silence him, they have a lot more easier, simpler, more convenient, and less expensive methods available. The complexity of their laws are designed to protect women, they offer no protection for men.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Cooperative is pushing the agenda at least not anymore. If they just wanted to control the lives of women. Arton can¡¯t give them that, dead or alive. If they just sent him to the factory, nobody on this planet would question that. I think executing him is a kind of statement. Actions speak louder than words, but from who and to whom, I don¡¯t know. I would use it as a warning to Space Pirates to stay away, the planet Venus just isn¡¯t safe for men. So don¡¯t even try.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony reached for his smartphone and accepted Meiyo¡¯s contract to execute Arton Norsen.

 Chapter 18 - The World of Magic

    We returned to the docks and the Something Clever was unusually quiet. We entered Cargo Bay Three and the last piece of Plot armor was sitting on the table, but we didn¡¯t find Ylisaya. Tony and I accessed the internal sensor and we quickly became aware that Ylisaya was in the Bridge. We went to the bridge we found Ylisaya lying back in the Engineering flight seat, and she seemed to be focused deep within a simulation. While her mind was active, it was linked within the simulator, and her body was essentially asleep.


    ¡°Do we wake her up?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°If she¡¯s running simulations we might be able to use those results. Let¡¯s just go in and tell her the new contract.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony took the gunner¡¯s seat, removed his helmet, put on his headset, and turned on his console. I took the pilot¡¯s seat and linked my mind to the flight system. I found Ylisaya¡¯s simulation and as I projected myself into the simulation I found myself inside the Palace of Princess Nyreeda from the TV show Contest of Crowns. The halls were lined with marble and the torches that lit the palace were on top of raised columns. The floor was made of set marble tiles, covered by a red carpet. Every ten paces there was a marble lined pillar, just like in the TV show. The castle appeared as a hologram to me, and anything I tried to touch didn¡¯t register as an object I could interact with. My hand, as well as my entire body with the exception of where I stood, passed through every object like a hologram. While I could see everything, nothing had any substance, not even my projection. As I inspected my avatar, I looked like my physical self, but I didn¡¯t expect my cybernetics to have any effect in this environment, and I was wearing the red and scarlet robes of an apprentice sorcerer.


    ¡°I see you, I¡¯ll be there in a second.¡±, Tony¡¯s voice said to me.


    The torches dimmed and a shadow drained the colors from the walls. I saw a floating ghostly eyeball the size of human head engulfed in a shadow like smoke that danced like flames. The orb of the eyeball seemed to be made of the formless black void of space but lacked the shimmer of any starlight. The iris of the eye glowed with an evil red fury. The pupil of the eye was a vertical slit like an ambush hunter¡¯s or apex predator. As the eye looked at me it began floating towards me. Part of me wanted to run, while another part of my mind hoped that my intangible nature meant I wouldn¡¯t be harmed. As the floating eye neared, I heard whispers of an unknown language that seemed to push the floating eye forward. The eye got closer and the colors were completely drained from the world around me. A cold grip of fear crippled my mind. The eye looked down as me and I was given an invite to join, ¡°PhantomEyeTrippleSix¡±.


    ¡°Jhess. You okay?¡±, the eyeball said me in Tony¡¯s voice.


    Every sound that came out of the eyeball caused the red iris to glow brighter and quickly returned to it¡¯s original state when Tony¡¯s voice became quiet. I took a breath and accepted the invite to join and I immetedately felt the the grip of fear leave me. The eyeball started looking in different direction as if it could see through the stone walls of the palace.


    ¡°Where should we start looking?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°What the fuck Tony? Your avatar scared the shit out of me!¡±, I yelled, as my voice echoed through the palace.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m not using an avatar, this is my game camera. I¡¯m sitting in the gunner¡¯s seat on the Bridge of the Something Clever talking to you through my headset. Watch.¡±, Tony said.


    I felt a force shock move from my legs through my back, and I wondered what force hit me. Then another shockwave hit me, as I realized Tony was moving my body in the physical space.


    ¡°Hey stop shaking my chair. Too much instability and I¡¯ll wake up!¡±, I protested.


    ¡°I know this place, this looks like Princess Nyreeda¡¯s palace.¡±, Tony said, as the dark eye looked around.


    ¡°If this is Nyreeda¡¯s palace, then where are all of the servants?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I see two people in the princess¡¯s chamber.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°You see them? Can you see what they¡¯re doing?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I see two dots on a map, but that¡¯s all that¡¯s showing up in the castle. You¡¯re in spectator mode, even you don¡¯t show up on my map. The way I found you was through pure luck. My ability to explore this world is limited by the rules of the simulation.¡±, Tony said.


    I followed Tony¡¯s Dark Eye through the palace and when we reached the Princess¡¯s chamber. Tony¡¯s Dark Eye floated through and I walked through the iron framed and sculpted door while it was still closed. The door didn¡¯t physically exist to us and vice versa. In the marble room of the princess¡¯s chamber we found the beautiful Princess Nyreeda half naked showing her soft caramel skin and long dark hair. Her elegant face glowed and her soft brown eyes looked down at another person in her bed. The other person I didn¡¯t recognize, but I could see it was a young half naked man. Even though he was lying down and the Princess hovered over him, I could tell he was tall, strong, and had big shoulders. His face was square, his chin was sharp, and his hair and beard were short and darker than Nyreeda¡¯s flowing locks. The half naked Nyreeda leaned down and kissed the man.


    ¡°We need avatars to interact with this simulation.¡±, Tony said.


    A werewolf in savage armor manifested in front of the Dark Eye, but my only avatar in Contest of Crowns was Princess Nyreeda. My projection turned into another Princess Nyreeda in the Robes of an Archmage. My Nyreeda wore the Royal Blue Robes of the Magister, the Crown of light, and Golden Girdle of The Last Queen. She also carried the scepter of Lost Magic. I used my free hand to grab the other Nyreeda and pulled her out of the bed.


    ¡°Who are you? What are you doing in my chambers?¡±, the other Nyreeda yelled at me.


    The werewolf drew a dagger and pointed it at the face of man lying in bed. The man saw the blade and froze in place.


    ¡°Ylisaya what are you doing here? Romance in a simulation is unhealthy. He¡¯s just a fantasy.¡±, I yelled at the naked Nyreeda and I pointed at the man lying in bed.


    ¡°Actually, she¡¯s not Ylisaya. I¡¯m Ylisaya.¡±, said the man lying in bed.


    ¡°Okay both of you, wake up right now!¡±, Tony said.


    The man looked at the Dark Eye, and didn¡¯t seem surprised or afraid.


    ¡°You recognize Tony?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s what he looks like in future visions. I recognize the All Seeing Eye.¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s avatar said.


    I summoned the menu and in my vision the simulator menu appeared. The simulation of Contest of Crowns had its own menu, which appeared as a parchment scroll, with the top and bottom rolled. The top of the menu pulled in the scroll from below and the bottom unrolled running the scroll upwards to the next series of choices. The menu finally asked me if I wished to return to the physical world. The werewolf vanished as if it faded from existence, followed by the Dark Eye. I waited for Ylisaya¡¯s avatar to vanish before I finally accepted. I wanted to make certain that Ylisaya didn¡¯t protest, before I took my exit. As Ylisaya¡¯s avatar vanished I accepted on my menu and I watched the Princess¡¯s chamber blur and fade into a single light that appeared all around my vision. The image darkened into the void of night and then I open my eyes finding I had returned to the my flight seat on the Bridge of the Something Clever. I looked over my shoulder towards Ylisaya and she sat up.


    ¡°Do you have any idea how much danger you put yourself in?¡±, I yelled at Ylisaya.


    ¡°Why because I was playing a game?¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°No, because you plugged your brain into the simulation of a male body, you could rewire your brain, into a male brain. You shouldn¡¯t risk that.¡±, I protested.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, but unlikely. Ylisaya¡¯s too old, not Earthborn, and volunteered. Nobody forced her to do that, so she should be safe. The risk of virtual dissociation is at most three percent and likely less. I¡¯m more worried about the Cooperative.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Why is the Cooperative of any concern?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Because using a woman¡¯s image for sexual gratification without her knowledge is something the Cooperative will define as rape! And that¡¯s one hundred percent.¡±, I said.


    ¡°But I was just playing a video game. I¡¯m not gay.¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°There¡¯s two problems with that. First, if smugglers can hide pornography inside art, simulations, or anywhere an exception is allowed, they absolutely will and they do. Second, we just caught you in bed with another woman. I don¡¯t even wanna know the parameters of the simulation you were running. You¡¯re just lucky this world protects women.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°If you¡¯re the chosen one, you already have responsibilities, and every political agenda will absolutely use your personal life to leverage you to serve their purposes.¡±, I protested.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way you could know that.¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°Actually she does, because the both of us already went through it, when the Rylkonians ¡®chose¡¯ to turn me into a combat cyborg. So I was also a chosen one, and we can see you¡¯re not ready for those political agendas going after you and everyone near you. You¡¯re just lucky we found out this early.¡±, Tony said, with a subtle laugh.


    ¡°Why are you saying we¡¯re lucky? You know what¡¯s coming for us, and we don¡¯t even need a future prediction to see it. You should be angry.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°I said no propaganda, and Ylisaya listened. That¡¯s¡­progress. While I want a suit of indestructible armor and the ability to steal my enemies¡¯ life force, I think knowing more about the chosen one, means we can be prepared, without relying on scanner vision, or risking a future prediction leading us to an incorrect conclusion. Personally, I was also a teenager once, I made mistakes and had to discover myself. If I had known every women I¡¯m involved with becomes a political target, I would have made very different choices. At first, I didn¡¯t know how that was going to be different for a female chosen one. But after this discovery, I think we have better odds, if I¡¯m just calculating for the same gender.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not gay!¡±, Ylisaya yelled.


    ¡°That¡¯s not even the problem any more. Listen and learn chosen one! You¡¯re enemies will have no mercy and no shame when they take action against you or the people you love, and they might have nothing to do with your intended purpose. I don¡¯t know because I haven¡¯t heard this prophecy yet. But this universe has provided all the political agendas that want to pervert, corrupt, and steal your loyalty, just like Jhess said. They only want your privilege to work for them, and we saw it. I figured I can protect people if I just don¡¯t love anyone. But that¡¯s a stupid rule, because that doesn¡¯t stop them from making propaganda to make people love you, and they can just as easily make people hate you. If you think you have the truth on your side, you¡¯re a fool! Bottom line, a family can never take as much risk as a government, and an individual can never take as much risk as an institution. They know that better than us. You don¡¯t control what people do with the knowledge of your existance. Only one rule works for me. No more heroics. That¡¯s the rule we live by.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that exactly what happened to this planet? No one stood up to the Cooperative, the government kept winning, and the families kept loosing.¡±, Ylisaya protested.


    ¡°It¡¯s their planet, and their laws¡­We¡¯re not staying.¡±, I argued.


    An emergency message arrived in the communications array. I looked into my mirror to see Tony¡¯s response and he reclined into the gunner seat.


    ¡°Ylisaya, you¡¯re not being punished for being who you are. I believe in second chances, provided you¡¯re willing to earn them. You will earn such an opportunity and the deflector shields I promised, when my armor is complete.¡±, Tony said.


    Ylisaya stood up and departed the Bridge for Cargo Bay three, as I watched her through the internal sensor. Ylisaya seemed to relax once she was working on upgrading the last piece of Battle Armor into Plot Armor. Tony accessed the new message and we saw an image of the new cyborg Meiyo. She seemed to be adapting to her new body.


    ¡°I just read a Huntress report that implied the Phantom might have agreed to trial by combat. The exact wording was ¡®a fighting chance¡¯. Please see me at the Senate.¡±, the image of Meiyo said.


    I followed Tony, on the monorail back towards the senate. Once again he moved while hidden beneath a cloak and I watched for whenever people were around because I discovered I looked like I was talking to myself. This time, we each asked only one question.


    ¡°Are you really serious about this trial by combat?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°This is all confirming my suspicion that someone wants Arton silenced. We still need to tell Ylisaya. I don¡¯t want her to make decisions that jeopardize her role or compromise the new objective. This new secret puppet master is an unknown, so the only thing that will protect them is if I learn that they¡¯re an agent of the Cooperative, who I can¡¯t expose. I don¡¯t expect them to be a Protectorate agent, so anyone else is a valid target. Meiyo just doesn¡¯t want another civil war, like Mars. Do you think she¡¯s planning to double cross us?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°That question implies Meiyo is still loyal or that the Cooperative is incapable of betraying us. She¡¯s not the queen of the planet¡­not yet. She¡¯s close, perhaps the closest, but she still works for the Cooperative, just like us¡­for now.¡±, I said.


    We met Meiyo again in her office and as she greeted us, she seemed to attain a new kind of focus and commitment to her work and everything happening on the planet. I wasn¡¯t certain what changed her between now and our last meeting, but she was acting more like a warlord now than a loyal huntress. I suspected the pressure of fewer huntresses, the influence of the senate, the publicity of the rape trial, and the effects of her new body were all factors, but I couldn¡¯t be certain without a medical scan.


    ¡°Do you have any idea, what Saressah¡¯s attorneys have done?¡±, Meiyo demanded.


    ¡°Declaring a mistrial, because I¡¯m not a Cooperative officer, perhaps?¡±, Tony suggested.


    ¡°I wish¡­They¡¯ve convinced the court to arm Arton with an energy weapon and give him a suit of Tri-tech armor. The trial by combat starts tomorrow at dawn. If you don¡¯t show up, I suspect the task falls back to the lawyers to find a new solution.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯ll be there. I don¡¯t think I could have asked for a better result.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Maybe for you? But the one in control here now is Saressah. She¡¯s turning this into a contest of truth versus justice, humanity versus technology, and the cold logic of technology against the power of love. The wrong people could use this as an opportunity to destabilize the Cooperative.¡±, Meiyo said.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°You have an entire medical industry at your command. Just offer to let her keep the baby and send her off planet. See if that shuts her up.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Not an option.¡±, Meiyo replied.


    ¡°Why not?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Our position is weak, she doesn¡¯t need to negotiate, and she knows it. In her eyes, this gives her a chance to save Arton and their¡­son.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°I see¡­No sides are willing to negotiate. And the situation turning into trial by combat is no coincidence. The Cooperative needs me to kill Arton. That¡¯s a mistake. If you can¡¯t get Saressah to cooperate, Arton might know something.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Allow a rapist to negotiate? Did you forget which planet you¡¯re on?¡±, Meiyo argued.


    ¡°But the Cooperative is moving closer and closer towards civil war, and is now giving that rapist a suit of power armor, energy weapons, and a chance to fight for his life. So did the Cooperative or the planet change?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°We need to change, or we face extinction¡­but I can¡¯t tell them that, so I¡¯m trying to show them. But nobody will look or listen.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°That sounds like you¡¯re dealing with a faction of political leaders and maybe a few of the business owners?¡­Waiting for an opportunity?¡±, Tony asked


    ¡°You¡¯re not usually this quiet.¡±, Meiyo said to me.


    ¡°Would I get in trouble if I said I¡¯m just waiting to leave?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Executions usually require witnesses, let¡¯s broadcast the trial by combat, and the Cooperative can sell tickets.¡±, Tony joked.


    I sensed a realization in Meiyo as if part of her had awakened. I realized her strategy to make the situation as public as possible, this secret puppet master might have nowhere to hide. I was shocked that Tony and Meiyo reached the same conclusion so quickly again. I suspected this was going to become a pattern for these two.


    ¡°Actually that¡¯s not a terrible idea. What is my faction willing to do for the good of the Women of Venus? Worst possible outcome is we make some money, lose an election, and if we¡¯re lucky, we¡¯ll avoid a civil war. When everyone sees some senseless brutality, we¡¯ll realize the point of the Cooperative is to protect women. I regret loosing opportunities, but the planet believes a marginal benefit to all women is worth that sacrifice. So let¡¯s give them a show.¡±, Meiyo said.


    ¡°It¡¯s Mars all over again.¡±, I said.


    ¡°We also made a lot of credits on Mars.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So do we have a contract?¡±, Meiyo asked Tony.


    ¡°We do. Send us the details. We¡¯ll be ready in the morning.¡±, Tony said.


    We departed the Senate and on the monorail returning to the docks we briefly discussed our situation.


    ¡°Do you think Meiyo is setting us up?¡±, I asked, when no one was looking.


    ¡°Is that a good idea, if the Mermaid goes rogue? Or if the planet is at the brink of civil war. The side with more loyal firepower will be the winner. Meiyo can¡¯t afford to betray anyone.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I bet Ylisaya will be furious when she finds out.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that bet. Ylisaya has seen the real side of the Cooperative, and she¡¯s not surprised by any plot twists.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°But you can predict the future, it¡¯s not a fair wager.¡±, I protested.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy. Just let Ylisaya be the judge of that. If she has a vision, I have to forfeit.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So what do I get when I win?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°How about half of the this job¡¯s retainer fee?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have that many credits. You should know how much you pay me.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°So what do you wager?¡±, Tony asked.


    I thought for a moment about something that I knew Tony would value, but didn¡¯t substantially cause me detriment. I was really gambling against Tony¡¯s ability to resisting his use of scanner vision, so I could have a one hundred percent chance to win.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go from my current ten percent risk up to¡­Twenty five percent. Same Salary.¡±, I said, as I was confident staying under fifty percent risk wasn¡¯t going to get us another pilot.


    Tony paused for a moment, and I suspected he was calculating how increasing my individual risk as a pilot factored into the new types of jobs the Something Clever can take, the collective risk of the crew, and his individual risk as the captain. While my eyes couldn¡¯t see him, I could hear his voice and sense his general movements around the room.


    ¡°I¡¯ll match your fifteen percent increase with twenty five percent of this current ten million contract, for two hundred and fifty thousand¡­So either half the retainer fee like before or a cut of each installment. Fixed, so no inflation. Do we have a wager?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m loyal to the ship and crew, so I¡¯ll take the installments.¡±, I said, because I¡¯m really more interested in being right, and more money doesn¡¯t actually change my situation, so I can buy loyalty more valuable than credits.


    When we returned to the Something clever, we thankfully found Ylisaya in cargo bay three. She had been working on the last piece of Plot armor, but stopped to watch the widescreen display. The widescreen¡¯s image was a conversation between two news correspondents about the upcoming trial by combat.


    ¡°The Phantom has more experience as a cyborg and better technology. Arton is just a man in a suit. If we¡¯re calling this trial by combat, a contest between the best from the Cooperative versus the best from the Protectorate, we are literally saying the best we have to offer is a rapist, and that¡¯s just sad.¡±, the image of the correspondent said.


    ¡°So you know?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°I know an assassin, bounty hunter, and mercenary has been hired to kill someone. I know the client doesn¡¯t care and can just hire someone else. Nothing I do or say is going to make them care, I¡¯m just a slave, like every other women in the Cooperative¡¯s harem. So if the client doesn¡¯t care, I say just take their money. It¡¯s their planet and their laws.¡±, Ylisaya said, in a sad tone.


    ¡°You learn quickly chosen one. Is my armor ready?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s ready, but if you need it tomorrow I can¡¯t finish the elbow in time. Just don¡¯t get hit in the elbow by a super weapon. You won¡¯t need to worry about a hit from energy weapons anywhere else.¡±, Ylisaya said in a cold and unfeeling tone.


    ¡°Just so you know. we¡¯re getting more than just money. Meiyo is leading a new faction within the Cooperative, and they agree with me, at least Meiyo does. We think Arton knows something. This is the only way I can get close enough to even ask question.¡±, Tony said, and I knew he was right but Meiyo never said that.


    I saw a change within Ylisaya as she didn¡¯t seemed surprised by anything Tony just said, but she did seem relieved that she knew something else was happening behind the political theatrics. I suspected Ylisaya¡¯s thoughts changed from the unfair situation to the secret situation. I wondered if Tony would say anything to distract me from the fact that I lost our bet.


    ¡°The only thing that Arton could possibly know that¡¯s of value to Meiyo¡¯s faction, has to be something her rival faction wants to keep secret. Otherwise she has uncontested access to a prisoner and any Huntress should question him. Unless the rival faction also has huntresses, then Meiyo would know she can¡¯t trust them? It¡¯s just like the prediction.¡±, Ylisaya said as she realized.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lesson to be learned here. If we shared that vision of the future what are the possible consequences?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Another assassin might have simply eliminated Arton, and his knowledge would have been lost. The hidden faction might go deeper into hiding, and further undermine the Cooperative. If we gave that information away for free, we¡¯d miss out on a high paying contract.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Correct. All bad, worse, and terrible outcomes. Last question in this lesson. Who is the only person you can trust with a prediction?¡±, Tony said as his eye flicked in my direction.


    Ylisaya looked skeptically in my direction, as I suspected she thought back to my failed actions at the dance off. Ylisaya returned her focus towards Tony and his eyes flicked in my direction again. I nodded my head side to side and I gestured with my hand to not think hard about this question.


    ¡°The crew.¡±, Ylisaya guessed.


    ¡°Close enough. We need more crew anyways, and scanner vision is too important for me as the Ship¡¯s gunner.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°If I specialize as a cannoneer can I learn how to use scanner vision the same way you can?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Cannoneers are not the only specialization with scanner vision. Engineers and Medics have scanner vision too.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Their scanner vision isn¡¯t the exactly same as a cannoneer¡¯s, but Jhess is correct and no other cannoneer has ever mentioned a vision of the future. I imagine having a brain that¡¯s more technology than human is a factor, but as to why you also have visions without a specialization, I honestly have no idea.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So am I just burdened with these visions forever?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I have also considered the possibility that a specialization may take away the visions altogether. I¡¯m just glad scanner vision is unlikely to get you killed. While a ship can benefit from double crew, we¡¯re nowhere close to even just a patrolling shift of eight crew. Do you have any other preference? Because once you attain a specialization, to my understanding it¡¯s permanent.¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Why not just decide for me? You¡¯re the Captain you should know what crew you need.¡±, Ylisaya asked Tony.


    ¡°Then the list is limited to Engineer, Medic, or remain as you are. I hope to have a cook lined up soon, so you will not choose cook or supply chief. The major factor is the possibility that you might be the Chosen One. It would be too easy to guess wrong.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°So if the risk is high, does that justify a prediction of the future?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s even higher risk. What if I determine that you are not the chosen one? Or if I irrevocably re-write your destiny and the destinies of millions of Rylkonians. I already did that once when I killed the Dark Tyrant. I use scanner vision to increase my accuracy and precision when I kill or I¡¯m trying to get paid, that¡¯s how every other cannoneer uses scanner vision. But I have to refuse anything that puts the entire Rylkonian population in danger, as long as I¡¯m a Protectorate citizen. A future prediction is too dangerous if it¡¯s wrong. That decision has to be made without any influence from a future prediction.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Are you willing to no longer be the chosen one, and risk perhaps the burden passing to another?¡±, I asked Ylisaya


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Wait. Another can become a Chosen One?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s my theory. And why not? I¡¯m on a ship with two of you.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°Hmmm. That¡¯s a good point.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony turned to Ylisaya and handed her a schematic. Ylisaya examined the sheet of plastyn and looked back at Tony.


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I scanned it in the Senate. Can you make it?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get started.¡±, Ylisaya replied as she reached for her tools.


    ¡°What is that?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Holographic decoy. Could be useful. Can I get an old cloaking device?¡±, Ylisaya said, as she asked Tony for components to build the holographic decoy.


    ¡°Check the bin next to the door.¡±, Tony replied to Ylisaya.


    I remembered when Meiyo offered technology and Tony declined except he was close enough to get a good look at the device on Meiyo¡¯s desk. Ylisaya began working on her new project, and I felt it was unnecessary to inform her that she was now helping Tony steal technology from the Cooperative, but that knowledge might just have enticed her more after the last four days on this planet.


    That night Tony prepared his weapons. Tony detached the Gauss Rifle and Pulse Rifle, and locked the parts of the Pulse Rifle in a transportation crate. His logic seemed to focus on the fact that he was going to fight against a single opponent. Rylkonians had very little knowledge of the concept of trial by combat. We only learned about the idea of a duel-to-the-death by watching Contest of Crowns. As a Rylkonian, I never expected two Rylkonians could decide to wage war against each other and both conclude that warfare should be limited to just the two of them, nor did we ever observe such behavior from the Kanerites. I supposed it was something unique to Earthborn. Although the situation does isolate variables and it becomes easier to predict the winner. I imagined the first generations of Rylkonians realized a duel-to-the-death implied terrible odds of success, it¡¯s a worthless political process for Rylkonians, and training for this method of warfare is a waste of time. I estimated that the Gauss rifle carried the highest odds of success as it could delivery a lethal strike at any distance, and if Arton managed to survive a hit, the venom coated bullets may also be fatal.


    I departed for the bridge and decided to relax and watch some episodes of Contest of Crowns. I learned from other fans that the show had an incredible fourth season and I hadn¡¯t seen anything after the first season. However I elected to start over completely from the first season since that¡¯s where my favorite character, Princess Nyreeda appears, but only in that season. The actress who portrayed Princess Nyreeda got offered movie roles and didn¡¯t want to do any more nude scenes. I connected to the internal sensor incase something else happened on the ship or if someone needed to warn the crew.


    Tony examined his Battle Axe, his signatureweapon, and I imagined it carried the second highest odds of success. I have seen Tony chop right through most materials. Only deflector shields have ever resisted such an attack, but also I know energy blades can defeat a deflector shield in just a few hits. Since the duel was set to take place in the abandoned city of Valontyme, the environment would be unpredictable and a tool such as the Battle Axe would be useful if the duel presented any up-close situation. Tony set the battle axe down next to the Gauss Rifle.


    Tony examined the Hand cannon, and place it in a small storage crate next to the Pulse Rifle. I imagined a pistol type weapon could be useful in a duel-to-the-death, or perhaps provide an alternative if Tony needed to shoot something but didn¡¯t want to waste the more expensive Gauss rifle ammo. I estimated that Tony suspected the hand cannon could never deliver as much value in a situation where he could end the fight in one hit with the Guass rifle. I suspected he believed the Hand cannon to just be extra weight and unnecessary.


    The last weapon that Tony examined was one I did not expect. He decided to take his war-club. He almost never used it because he almost never had room for it when he preferred to bring extra ammo instead. I wondered what benefit the war-club provided that was better than a hand cannon. On my individual display I watched Princess Nyreeda study magic and apply her lessons in the armory of her palace. Her instructor was a member of the dragon guard, an order of dragon riding mages who served the high king. But the question of the choice for the war-club over a hand cannon echoed in my mind. Tony set the war-club next to the gauss rifle and battle axe, and he seemed content with his selection. Shortly afterwards, Tony entered the bridge, took the gunner¡¯s seat, switched on his console, and began updating inventory files for his different types of ammo.


    ¡°Hmm season one.¡±, Tony said as he glanced at my console, and retuned to inventory.


    ¡°Can I ask about the war-club?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°What about it?¡±, Tony replied, as he continued updating files.


    ¡°You almost never use it. So why now?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Have we ever been hired for a trial-by-combat?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Just assassination, bounty collecting, consulting, the monthly duel-to-the-death, and the recent body guarding, but no. I remember no trial-by-combat¡­ever.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So the numbers suggest I have only one target, like an assassination or duel-to-the-death, but no body guards to deal with.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°That explains the Gauss rifle, but not the war club.¡±, I said.


    ¡°The only other clue I have is Arton will be armed with an energy weapon, I¡¯ve never seen a hand held energy weapon that shoots, so I¡¯m guessing that means a slashing, stabbing or bashing weapon. I should expect a very up close duel.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°That explains the Battle-Axe¡­but this isn¡¯t a normal duel-to-the-death¡­You get a whole day to plan¡­that¡¯s so different.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if planning is even allowed, I don¡¯t know the rules, and I don¡¯t know what to expect. If we start shooting, there are very few methods to counter a Gauss rifle, and all of them require a cloaking device. If I can shoot him, I only need to hit him once. But if Arton is learning anything about me, he might have devised a method to counter a Battle-Axe. Nobody cares about my war-club, because I almost never bring it, when extra ammo is just too valuable. But extra ammo doesn¡¯t matter when I have only one target. So I think the war-club can provide an opportunity for a surprise attack and extra ammo would be just dead weight.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s working, because I saw it, I know exactly where you left it, and somehow I¡¯m still surprised.¡±, I joked.


    When Tony didn¡¯t humor my joke, I knew something was on his mind.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t laugh. What¡¯s on your mind?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Sorry. But it wasn¡¯t that funny. Something I read in the Holy book tells me I¡¯m walking into a trap. I know it probably sounds crazy.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°This would be the first prediction that didn¡¯t come from you. So if you¡¯re now looking at it, then it might be something. Maybe the Holy book can teach you something about predictions?¡±, I suggested.


    ¡°Maybe. But probably not if you heard the story.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Well now you have to tell me the story, at least the synopsis.¡±, I suggested.


    ¡°It¡¯s the story of the Shepard King of Izrom, how his priests attempted to betray him, and forced him to duel a giant. The Kingdom of Izrom was already at war with several of their neighbors, over water sources, trade routes, and even the very sand of the region. The nobles within Izrom invited the spies of their neighbors and attempted to gain influence and favor, but the King won every battle. So the enemy nations hired a mercenary who was a giant with metal armor and weapons, presumably the best tech available at the time, and this warrior led their alliance of armies against the Shepard King, and challenged him to a duel-to-the-death. The priests told the Shepard King that no weapon made of wood nor bronze could defeat the giant, so the king used a stone flung from a sling of leather and chords. The stone hit the giant¡¯s head so hard it bent his metal helmet into his skull and he choked on his own blood.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°The situation doesn¡¯t match, so what if you¡¯re a mercenary? You¡¯re not that mercenary and you¡¯re not going to fight some Shepherd King. You¡¯re going to fight a man who¡¯s supposed to die¡­ Oh. Okay I see it now.¡±, I said as I realized Tony clearly saw the setup.


    ¡°I think the point of the story is that even bad advice can still provide good results. I think if the Shepherd King had used his normal weapons the mercenary would have been prepared. And because the king used a weapon the mercenary didn¡¯t expect, he had no strategy nor counter. Which is kind of what you¡¯re doing with the War-club¡­right?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Nice try, but now I know it¡¯s definitely a trap. I¡¯m going to be alert tomorrow.¡±, Tony said, as he closed out his last ammo inventory file.


    ¡°So who is this cook you hope to have lined up?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Ryzekkis.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Really? He¡¯s coming out of retirement and rejoining our crew?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°His answer was yes a few days ago, and he¡¯s taking an extended break from the restaurant business anyways. He¡¯s on Freya station, and waiting for us. So pending any other delays or the restaurant needing him back, he¡¯s going to resume being our supply chief.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Are you gonna try to get the old crew back together?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Maybe¡­We are the crew that took down the Dark Tryant, makes sense if we want the best odds with the safety of the Chosen One.¡±, Tony replied.


    When the crew mutinied, against Mykayla we each found it difficult being accepted by another crew. We wouldn¡¯t blame them for being concerned for their reputations. While an engineer, medic, or cook can find work almost anywhere, a pilot that doesn¡¯t fly has a different problem. So the only ship that will let me fly now is the Something Clever.

 Chapter 19 - Trial By Combat (but not a duel-to-the-death)

    We launched the Something Clever into Venus¡¯ atmosphere with a with the three envelope blimp assist. While the Something Clever hangs into the blimp that¡¯s eight times larger, the blimp hinders the use of sensors in the direction of outer space. Luckily we don¡¯t need to look in that direction. Ylisaya and I were on the bridge and while our eyes could not see through the sulfur clouds, the clouds could not impede the ship¡¯s sensors. Through the sensors, we watched the Southern continental magnetic ring spinning against the the slow rotation of Venus. The atmosphere slowly faded away and we could clearly see the Southern continent. The sensors detected two life forms, one was Tony and the other was an adult human male.


    In the sky around us, the ship detected the three other gunships, all of which were in similar blimp configurations. Ylisaya aligned the targeting sensor and I was able to see through it, Tony in his full armor, a cloaking device, and with the few weapons he choose, slowly stalking through the jungle towards the unidentified male. Ylisaya transmitted the sensor configuration to the other gunships, as I sent them the flight formation. I opened the communications array to talk to the other gunships.


    ¡°This is First Officer Jhessyreen Eryssa¡¯ad, addressing the broadcast fleet. Ringside ships, acknowledge visual on the arena.¡±, I said to the three other ships through the communications array.


    ¡°Golden Zealot here, sensors online¡±, said a woman¡¯s voice through the array.


    ¡°Bloody Fang here, sensors online¡±, said a man¡¯s voice through the array.


    ¡°Gunship seven-two-seven-four here. Sensors online.¡± , said another man¡¯s voice through the array.


    As each gunship linked it¡¯s sensors to the Something Clever, the image of the ground became more tangible, more dimensional, and more real. The first image from just the Something Clever was a flat image from a distant viewpoint. The first additional sensor allowed us to see depth and shape from another angle. The next additional sensor allowed us to measure even the density of a footprint. The final additional sensor allowed to see the surface as if we were standing on it. I remembered the time over two thousand gunship blockaded Mars and as many as two hundred scanned the city of Rhetonis just before the Confederacy sent in their cavalry. Thankfully this time I was the flight coordinator, the fleet was smaller, and I didn¡¯t want any ship crews to stay in cyber-link.


    ¡°Premium ticket box seats, please acknowledge and verify visual on the Phantom.¡±, I said through the array.


    ¡°Mercury visual confirmed.¡±, said a man¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Mars visual confirmed.¡±, said a woman¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Jupiter visual confirmed.¡±, said a woman¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Saturn visual confirmed¡­¡±, said a woman¡¯s voice along with the sound of a cheering crowd behind her.


    ¡°Neptune visual confirmed.¡±, said a man¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Uranus visual confirmed.¡±,said a woman¡¯s voice.


    ¡°That¡¯s the last one, I¡¯m going to check the decoy,¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Okay everyone, just keep watching, your customers are paying to see an execution, until then we got a job to do. Keep this channel clear for emergencies, Something Clever out.¡±, I said into the array.


    I watched Ylisaya recline back into the flight engineer¡¯s seat and close her eyes. I sensed her cybernetics link to the decoy attached to Tony¡¯s armor. Through the sensors I watched a hologram of Ylisaya appear next to Tony on the surface. Ylisaya¡¯s decoy hologram looked around and I could only imagine how she saw the world around her as an amalgamation of the perspectives of the decoy and the fleet¡¯s sensors.


    ¡°What do you see?¡±, Tony asked Ylisaya¡¯s decoy.


    ¡°You and everything around you, but there are also a lot of blind spots. I think some more calibration is required.¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s decoy said.


    ¡°Are we broadcasting to the audience?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s decoy said.


    ¡°Good. Finish you tests and ¡­return to the ship¡­You know, I¡¯m not sure how to talk to someone¡¯s projection.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Talking to me as if I¡¯m here is fine, I know my body is still on the ship.¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s decoy said as it floated towards Tony.


    Ylisaya¡¯s decoy floated right next to Tony and peered into the holographic device. Tony waved his hand through the Ylisaya¡¯s projection momentarily disrupting the sections of the hologram. Tony waved his hand through the decoy again disrupting sections of the projection causing instability.


    ¡°Stop that.¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s decoy said.


    ¡°You can feel that?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°No, but it¡¯s still annoying. All done.¡±, Ylisaya¡¯s decoy said, and then vanished.


    On the bridge, I watched through my mirror as Ylisaya awakened in her body. Ylisaya flexed her hand and tested her individual fingers, took a deep breath, and exhaled. I started hearing music and then I heard a voice through the sensors on the other planets.


    ¡°It¡¯s your girl Vivica Vi, coming at you live from Saturn. I have the honor of announcing for the biggest fight of the year. Even bigger than the gang wars on Mars right now. We got a trial-by-combat between our champion, the cyborg super soldier, the invisible hand of the free market, the undefeated Phantom!¡±, Vivica¡¯s voice cheered through the sensors.


    Through the sensors on the other worlds I could hear crowds all cheering for the Phantom. I imagined the Cooperative had succeeded in promoting and marketing the reputation of the Phantom as the hero of this fight. I suspected the Cooperative would also present Arton unfairly and possibly exaggerate his crimes.


    ¡°And his opponent accused of rape, evading the law for months, fighting for his life, and the life of his unborn child, Arton Norsen!¡±, Vivica¡¯s voice cheered.


    Some of the audience cheered, and some of the audience expressed their unfavorable views of Arton. I imagined that while the Cooperative had been successful in promoting the duel, but in a reality where everyone has experience fighting and killing space pirates, people might only be interested if the struggle involved the matters that Meiyo described, as a fight over the power of love. Tony moved within range to hit Arton with a lethal shot fired from the Gauss rifle. Tony knelt down as he set the gauss rifle on his shoulder and took aim. A moment passed but Tony didn¡¯t shoot. The only energy he exerted was activation of the targeting laser. I thought is was odd since the the laser doesn¡¯t improve his individual accuracy, as the laser is intended for an allied shooter or battleship to find and hit the intended target. So neither situation applied when shooting a Guass rifle.


    ¡°Fleet, follow my laser.¡±, Tony said.


    Each gunship shifted their targeting sensor, following the direction of Tony¡¯s aim, and we each discovered Arton Norsen standing on a utility bridge connecting the two sides of an artificial water and atmospheric reservoir. The cliff side of the bridge had a drop of nearly six hundred strahds, which would be fatal height to fall from, even into the water below. Tri-tech Armor might allow survival, but at such a great height that¡¯s no guarantee. Arton just stood on the bridge with an inactive battle-axe in one hand, with the end of the handle resting on the surface of the bridge near his foot. Arton¡¯s other arm held his tri-tech helmet that rested against his side.


    ¡°Why does his armor look like that?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not even painted, it¡¯s really new.¡±, I replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s new but nothing else special about it. I don¡¯t think it will make him strong enough to fight the Captain.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    I watched the targeting laser align a perfect shot. Tony¡¯s aim could easily shoot a lethal hit against Arton without missing, and Arton wasn¡¯t even wearing a helmet. Arton stood on the bridge completely unaware, that he could die instantly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why isn¡¯t the Captain shooting?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°We think this is a trap.¡±, I said.


    ¡°We have four gunships scanning, and the Captain¡¯s lined up a kill shot. If there¡¯s a trap down there, it just isn¡¯t something we can see.¡±, Ylisaya argued.


    ¡°But we can see the bait, and bait implies a trap.¡±, I said.


    The targeting laser vanished from the sensors and the fleet detected a shockwave. I knew Tony deactivated his laser and super jumped which caused the shockwave. The sensors didn¡¯t detect a distortion, as I suspected we had not determined a way to observe Tony through his Plot Armor, but we could see movement in the jungle, moving towards the bridge.


    At the end of the utility bridge, Tony deactivated his cloak and his Battle axe was in his hands. Tony shifted the battle axe to one hand and rested the end of the handle on the ground. I estimated that destroying one end of the bridge and letting Arton fall, is more cost effective than spending a Gauss rifle bullet.


    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m looking for one Mister Arton Norsen. Are you Arton Norsen?¡±, Tony asked.


    Arton said nothing and just looked at the end of the Bridge where Tony stood.


    ¡°If you are Arton Norsen. I have a message from Saressah. She¡¯s sorry. So very sorry, and she wishes you have a fighting chance. That¡¯s all for the message. Hey if I destroy this end of the bridge and let you fall to your death, is that gonna be a problem?¡±, Tony asked.


    Arton rolled the helmet off from his side and with one hand he slipped the helmet onto his head. Arton swung his battle axe over and gripped it with both hands, as the blade activated and he took a fighting stance aimed at Tony.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there in one sec. Hold on.¡±, Tony said to Arton.


    ¡°Vivica, I need fight music, something with drums and maybe ominous or sudden death undertones. You got anything?¡±, Tony asked, while facing the sky.


    I heard through the sensors, music start playing with slow drum and turned into fast drums and then slowly led into a tone that evoked sudden death.


    ¡°That¡¯s perfect Vivica. Thank you.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony flipped his cloak over one shoulder, gripped his battle axe with both hands, and turned to face Arton.


    ¡°Duelist Mode¡±, Tony said as the deflector shields of just one arm activated and then the battle axe ignited two narrow blue energy blades on each end of the handle.


    The energy blade on Tony¡¯s axe chopping end was long and seemed effective at slashing, but the other end seemed less like a spear and more like a serrated reaver blade. Tony jumped into the air and slashed downward as he closed in on Arton. Arton raised his axe in attempt to use the blade as a spear against Tony. Tony kicked aside Arton¡¯s axe allowing a clear shot at Arton. Arton pulled the handle end over to block Tony¡¯s strike. Arton fell back and Tony landed and swung again.


    I heard a crowd cheer even louder than when Saturn¡¯s sensors activated, and the cheering grew with every blade strike. Arton rolled away keeping just one hand on the handle of his axe. Tony stepped on Arton¡¯s axe and slashed across the direction of the bridge. Arton ducked under the swing, falling back again. Tony swung the reaver end of the battle axe upward as he stepped forward to continue the attack. Tony¡¯s target seemed to be Arton¡¯s hand that held the axe. Arton chose to release the axe rather than risk losing his hand, as Arton slid back, rolled away, and stood up raising his hands into a fighting stance.


    Arton raised his arm, coiled it back and attempted to punch Tony. Tony stepped to the side, evaded the punch and pushed back Arton. As Arton fell back again, Tony shifted his axe to one hand, slipped a foot under Arton¡¯s axe, kicked it into the air, and caught it the axe with his free hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit, I was not expecting an unarmed attack, it only has a thirteen percent chance of hitting me, and only a five percent chance of causing harm. You¡¯ll need this to have a fighting chance.¡±, Tony said as he tossed the Arton¡¯s axe back to him.


    ¡°Hmmm. The Captain¡¯s elbow is exactly five percent of his armor.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Arton attacked with an overhead strike at Tony, and Tony swung his own axe to deflect the attack aside. Tony dashed forward with the handle of the axe crashing into Arton. Arton lost balance and tried to recover on his back leg. Tony swung the handle of his axe backwards and aimed at the knee of the leg Arton tried to balance on. Arton fell back and Tony swung the reaver end of the battle axe, stopping as Tony aimed the sharp point at Arton¡¯s face. I watched though my mirror that Ylisaya was making calculations in her console. I wondered what she might be seeing that required so much focus and effort.


    ¡°You¡¯re working too hard, they¡¯re staying put.¡±, I said.


    ¡°That was The Captain¡¯s three hit kill attack. Each movement should now be faster after the upgrade, unless¡­ The Captain¡¯s only using at a fraction of full power. Even with an energy weapon Arton still only has a twenty five percent chance to counter-attack.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Arton pulled his battle axe over and retreated again. Tony gripped his battle axe with one hand and took a fighting stance with the handle of the battle axe over his back and the chopping blade held low.


    ¡°If Arton dies, his secrets are lost with him. Tony knows the true objective.¡±, I said.


    Arton rushed forward and Tony sidestepped, spun, and slashed at Arton¡¯s neck. Tony¡¯s slashing blade grazed the side of Arton¡¯s neck through the armor, melting through the metal plates. The singed edges of the armor burned against Arton¡¯s neck as he howled in pain.


    ¡°You need to stop the burning. Stop, drop, and roll won¡¯t work here.¡±, Tony said.


    Arton¡¯s armor ejected the damaged sections, as Arton brushed the melted metal away. Arton seemed to realize that attacking recklessly was going to be extremely punishing. Arton took a defensive stance with the axe coiled to strike. Tony seemed to examine Arton¡¯s position and I estimated that he measured Arton¡¯s chance to counter attack. Tony again swung twice at Arton and each swing allowed Tony to prepare his next attack.


    ¡°I recognize that fighting style¡­That¡¯s Lord Zokoro¡¯s. He¡¯s tryin to wear down Arton.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Ylisaya was correct, but we didn¡¯t know when he would be unable to continue fighting, and we still needed to keep him alive little longer to figure out a way to make Arton talk. I wondered if I should try to contact Tony through cybernetics, but there was nothing I saw, nothing I heard that provided any alternative beyond killing Arton, and losing any chance to learn his secrets. Arton swung at Tony with no focus and no technique beyond sheer desperation. It appeared that Arton understood his best chances to win had passed and was only moving further and further way as the fight progressed. Normally I would make the same gamble, but I would also avoid a one on one duel. Tony spun his battle axe deflecting the attack, and Tony spun striking Arton with the handle. For a moment I was confused as this attack would inflict no harm but then I saw Tony pulled the Axe hooking the axe head into Arton¡¯s armor lifting him off of the bridge. Arton¡¯s was caught by surprise and dropped his battle axe as he fell over the side of the bridge towards the waters below.


    Each gunship focused on Arton, and we could even detect his panic as his fall progressed towards the water. He fell beyond the point where having no power armor meant certain death, and I knew Tony was also watching Arton tumble through the air. As Arton fell I imagined the image of Arton shrinking as the distance faded into the mist of foaming water below, but in the view of the gunship¡¯s sensors it was as if we could fall with Arton, although without the fear and panic of dying. Arton was halfway through the fall when Tony folded uphis deactivated battle axe and returned the weapon to its rest on his armor¡¯s back plate. Arton fell into and out of spouts of falling water and continued to fall, but through the fleet¡¯s sensors we could still follow him, and I knew Tony¡¯s eyes could see him too. I imagined Tony had also estimated keeping the fight on top of the bridge meant losing any chance to further question Arton. Arton was now in the final length of one hundred strahds.


    ¡°Is he still falling? Why is this taking so long?¡±, Tony asked.


    I looked up at my mirror and Ylisaya glanced up at me, as we were uncertain if we needed to do anything with Tony¡¯s question. All we could do was watch Arton fall. The fightmusic faded away and the music changed to suspense. That let me know that Vivica was also watching along with the rest of the star system. The water got closer and closer to Arton.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Enough suspense.¡±, Tony said.


    Arton hit the water with a crash and the fleet¡¯s sensors could detect that he was still alive, and floating away with the currents. Tony reached for his gauss rifle and took aim at Arton. Tony¡¯s targeting scanner activated which allowed the fleet see Tony was prepared to shoot Arton as the currents continued to sweep Arton away. With the advantage of elevation and a target moving along a predictable path of travel, Tony¡¯s odds of success were very high and his aim would be deadly. I looked through my mirror to see if Ylisaya had been affected by Tony¡¯s scanner vision, but she remained clam. Tony didn¡¯t shoot and Arton drifted away. Tony returned the gauss rifle to it¡¯s rest on his armor and picked up Arton¡¯s dropped axe.


    ¡°Fleet, follow him. Two ships at a time. Jhess send me your decoy.¡±, Tony said.


    I accessed the decoy projector on Tony¡¯s armor as I reclined into my flight seat on the Something Clever. I closed my eyes and the light faded from my sight, and the sound of the ship faded from around me. I awoke as a holographic projection floating next to Tony. I looked at the world around me and as two ships of our small fleet departed, presumably to follow Arton, the bottom angles of the objects around me appeared only as static, with only a vague haze left behind, for what could not be scanned. I looked at Tony and only his helmet and shoulders were clear, the rest of him appeared as a shadowy void. I suspected that this was the result of only having two ships providing scanning perspectives.


    ¡°The audience expects an execution.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m working on that, but what about our objective?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Is it wise to discuss that now? Almost every planet is watching.¡±, I argued.


    ¡°Have you ever seen me fail to assassinate a target?¡±, Tony joked.


    ¡°This is going to piss off the client.¡±, I said.


    ¡°My guess is ticket sales just went up. The senate can vote on my next move, if they have a problem with it.¡±, Tony replied.


    ¡°Since I¡¯m currently outside the jurisdiction of Venus, as you command we¡¯ll protect your reputation¡­I saw nothing, heard nothing, and have no new theories about this secret Arton is hiding. We don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a location, a list of names, or a plot against a government. If he won¡¯t talk, we both know what happens next time you fight him. Is that all, Captain?¡±, I argued.


    ¡°Almost. He has no fear, he will keep fighting even if he cannot win, and he¡¯s willing to set a trap, or at least use himself as bait. We should consider these new factors. That¡¯s all I have to add to what we know.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Your next move?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Wait for him to stop moving, strike when my odds look good, but also make sure he has a fighting chance.¡±, Tony said as he presented Arton¡¯s battle axe.


    ¡°May I suggest non-lethal tactics?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°That might work. I¡¯ll see you again after I get the truth out of him and most likely kill him. Unless that can be avoided.¡±, Tony said.


    I disconnected from the decoy and I awoke in my body back on the bridge of the Something Clever. Through the ship¡¯s sensors I watched Tony deactivate Arton¡¯s battle axe and begin following the aqueduct.


    ¡°Stealth Mode.¡±, Tony said as he vanished from our sensors.


    The visual data stream from Saturn changed to a slow motion video replay of the fight on the utility bridge, with a commentary from Vivica Vi, and complete with fight music. Ylisaya analyzed which theories were spreading and which of those detected a mismatch between Tony¡¯s actual fighting style and the fighting styles used on the bridge. I continued flying in formation with the other gunships, watching Arton finally escape the aqueduct and as he took shelter in a utility storage shed. When the Protectorate designed the Venus colony it was built to be extremely reliant on maintaining a delicate balance of water, oxygen, and a human population. Which meant that failure to maintain any of the three could result in the colony becoming unsustainable. I hoped, ¡°Someone told that to Meiyo.¡±


    A message arrived through the communications array. Tony instructed me to do the interview, but I didn¡¯t know what he meant nor did Ylisaya experience a vision.


    ¡°I hope the bravest women in the universe is available for an interview.¡±, Vivica said.


    I permitted the interview and I was able to speak directly to Vivica with most of the planets listening.


    ¡°Thank you Jhessyreen. My audience has so many questions and we¡¯re so happy to be able to hear your thoughts.¡±, Vivica said.


    ¡°Please just call me Jhess and by the way, I listen to your show whenever I fly in space. And remember I¡¯m Rylkonian, there¡¯s a difference between hearing my thoughts and hearing my voice.¡±, I joked, and I made Vivica kindly giggle.


    ¡°Thank you, but only in space flight?¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°Well space flight is ninety-nine percent of my job. We love your show but my Captain¡¯s job normally can¡¯t afford distractions.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Makes sense, in fact that¡¯s why I¡¯m honored you agreed to this interview. The Phantom suspected a trap, but there¡¯s no evidence of this. How did either of you reach this conclusion?¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°Well I arrived as a former Huntress of Venus and the Huntresses that assigned this case reached out to us for our consultation. We also hope Calista makes a successful recovery, but to protect her privacy we¡¯d prefer to not share what we know. That job prompted the Cooperative to provide us with an opportunity to examine the relevant files and evidence. Despite that fact that we were awarded a high paying contract, we were actually suspicious of such a hidden agenda prior to the sentencing in the trial. But the sentencing didn¡¯t confirm that for us. That was the result of a different investigation, unfortunately those details are not suitable for this interview.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So who¡¯s the one pulling the strings? Can you tell us?¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. But as far as we can tell every political power currently operational on Venus has used the distraction of this case on some way, shape, or form, as to which one benefits the most from Arton¡¯s death, only Arton might know that. Our goal is to get something useful out of him that also fits into what we already know and we might decipher that party¡¯s identity. That theory is only slightly more plausible than the Cooperative just hates men, but that¡¯s also the competing theory, among even our crew. And we¡¯re unlikely to be surprised by either theory at this point.¡±, I said.


    ¡°How do you know the Cooperative isn¡¯t behind this plot?¡±, Vivica asked.


    I laughed and needed to compose myself.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not laughing at you, but there¡¯s a lot of simpler solutions available to the Cooperative if that was true. Mind control technology and bury the evidence, just send an assassin to kill a target with no protections under the law, or smuggle him away to slavers or space pirates. A public trial with a broadcast execution, is the worst method the Cooperative has if they were behind such a plot. Please don¡¯t be offended, it¡¯s just we¡¯ve been going over this for a few days.¡±, I said as I smiled.


    ¡°Well what would you do if you discovered the benefactor was the Cooperative or a faction within the Cooperative?¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°Hmmm there¡¯s two problems with that question. First, its about a future situation. Second, it¡¯s about a current client. If the Cooperative suddenly went bankrupt tomorrow, not really a problem, we collect our retainer fee, and move on with our lives. But what are the estimated ticket sales across the star system?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Two billion, and now I know what the next topic is. The expenses only counts in the millions. This duel means a lot of revenue for the women of Venus.¡±, Vivica said.


    ¡°So, under that consideration, I can absolutely answer that question. Regardless of whatever we learn about the Cooperative, we will fulfill our contract, collect our reward, and be on our way. Because we are professionals.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So what are your thoughts on duel itself?¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen Tri-Tech armor used by an expert and veteran warrior. It can allow a non-cyborg to run up walls, fight off groups of common cyborgs or even space pirates, and cut through all kinds of obstacles. Either Arton has never used this armor system before or something led him to believe that the restrictive terrain of the bridge would limit the capabilities of the Phantom significantly more than it would limit his own power armor. After the fight I would support the theory that the only factors considered were the Phantom¡¯s Battle Mode, attack power, range, and speed. No real strategy.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So are you willing to confirm that the Phantom changed fighting styles.¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°Vivica? Duelist Mode, and not Battle Mode? Sure I¡¯ll confirm that. The Phantom was prepared to fight in restrictive terrain.¡±, I said.


    ¡°In the duel, the Phantom had an opportunity to end the fight, take the payment, and do¡­whatever else. Why do you think or can you even tell us why the Phantom decided to draw out the fight?¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°The Phantam took a contract, and it will be fulfilled. But there were five opportunities to kill Arton and each reason was different. The first kill shot was delayed for Saressah¡¯s message, even if just a formality, that¡¯s the law of this planet. The second, was doing no damage to the bridge, regardless if the city is abandoned, that¡¯s still critical infrastructure. The third was the slash across Arton¡¯s neck, but there would have been more of a warning if the Phantom intended to kill Arton in that instant. The fifth was not shooting from the bridge, because the properties of the Phantom¡¯s ammo could potentially contaminate the planet¡¯s water supply. The fourth was the only real attempt, that was throwing Arton over the side. But the motives for all of them were the same. The Phantom has to allow Arton to have a fighting chance. I was there when Saressah asked for that and as long as we have a chance to find the truth.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Last question. What other surprises should we expect from the Phantom?¡±, Vivica asked.


    ¡°Nobody should ever expect a surprise from an assassin.¡±, I said sarcastically.


    ¡°Very very true. This has been a lovely interview, you have been an wonderful guest, and an impressive first officer.¡±, Vivica said.


    ¡°Well both the Phantom and I listen to your show, it¡¯s been an honor, thank you.¡±, I said.


    ¡°And thank you, I guess you need to command the fleet. You have a great day.¡±, Vivica said.


    ¡°Thank you and you have a great day too.¡±, I said, as I sensed my end of the interview was no longer part of her broadcast.


    After my third shift the fleet observed Arton crawl out of the utility shed, look around, and return to the shelter. Since the city of Valontyme had been abandoned all the people, resources, and equipment had been relocated to the Northern continent. The structure had enough room for four emergency response or repair drones and spare parts, but now was just an empty vestigial ruin of the former Protectorate colony. As Arton entered the structure he vanished from our sensors, but we would instantly be alerted if he left, like before. While I¡¯m not familiar with using Tri-Tech, since it¡¯s technology was designed with military applications in mind, I expect the person inside can enjoy the benefit of regulating body temperature, some metabolic regulating technology, pain mitigation, and all with the goal of healing. I estimated, Arton should be able to resume fighting, and I imagined Tony would allow Arton the time to recover.


    After my fourth shift, the fleet¡¯s scan detected a cloaking distortion only ten paces from the entrance of the shed. We suspected this distortion was Tony, and all we found Arton¡¯s battle axe emerge from the distortion, as if Tony stabbed the ground with the axe handle. We continued watching, and we also listened to Vivica¡¯s broadcast, the music, the theories of the next round, how many more tickets were sold, and the rise in gambling if the next fight was when Tony would kill Arton, or if Arton would reveal his secret.


    Arton emerged from the shed with the dawn and walked out of the shed with his helmet in one hand as he approached the battle axe. Tony appeared standing on top of the shed, when he deactivated his cloak and was already aiming the gauss rifle at the back of Arton¡¯s un-armored head. The fleet calculated that the odds of a lethal kill shot to be ninety-nine percent as such close range, with a one percent chance Tony wanted to cripple Arton, and the only potential environmental contamination would be Arton¡¯s vaporized skull.


    Arton stood next to the battle axe as he looked around. He looked back at the Shed and immediately saw Tony with an aimed weapon ready to deal a killing strike. Arton stood with his arms at his side and seemed to be waiting for death as he stared at the weapon that could attack near the speed of light. But Tony didn¡¯t fire.


    ¡°Pick it up.¡±, Tony demanded.


    Arton moved his free hand towards the Battle axe behind him as he kept his eyes focused on Tony. Arton¡¯s other hand raised his helmet and slipped his helment onto his head.Arton activated the battle axe igniting the blade, and Tony placed his gauss rifle onto the roof of the shed. With one hand Tony reached for his battle axe, and the other hand reached for the war club. The Battle axe activated the energy blade and glowed dull blue, and the war-club activated deflectors along the handle and the head activated a repulser coil.


    ¡°Vivica, music please. ¡­Attack mode!¡±, Tony declared, as he jumped into the air with his front deflector shields brought to full power.


    The fight music started playing as Tony crashed into Arton. At the apex of the jump Tony swung the war-club downward. Arton jumped backwards as he seemed to remember the last time he was in this situation, if Tony only had one weapon and the last attempted counter was over-powered by just one weapon. The war-club slammed into the ground and a shockwave made the ground unstable. Arton needed a moment to regain his balance after evading the ambush. Arton glanced at the gauss rifle on the roof of the shed and the fleet calculated that the gauss rifle would only be an effective weapon against Tony when attacking from distance, with a cloaking device, a plan, and the element of surprise. I suspected Tony left the gauss rifle on the roof to distract Arton. Tony dashed forward with blinding speed knocking Arton over. Arton rolled away and raised his battle axe as if it were a shield. Tony swung his battle axe at Arton, but killing didn¡¯t seem to be his goal. Arton blocked the swing with the handle of his axe. Tony pulled his battle axe, moving both axes out of the way of his next attack. Tony stomped onto Arton¡¯s battle axe and raised the war-club. Tony swung the war-club faster than he had before in duelist mode. The fleet estimated Tony¡¯s new, ¡°Attack Mode¡± configuration was now four times faster than ¡°Duelist Mode¡±.


    The war-club crashed into Arton¡¯s chest, as the repulser coil exploded with a shockwave. Arton stopped moving, but he was still alive. Tony stepped away from Arton, deactivated his weapons, and dropped them on the ground.


    ¡°Right now your armor should be redirecting all of its energy into keeping you alive. That¡¯s what I hoped would happen, because that also means you cannot fight. Yesterday you set a trap. I could see it, but I fail to understand. So today I set the trap, but the point of my trap was to see what you do. As long as you refuse to talk, my only option left is to throw situation after situation at you and hope to decipher your intentions.¡±, Tony said.


    The fleet scan detected an energy fluctuation in Arton¡¯s power armor, as we estimated that his armor had either healed him or just enough to direct energy to other systems, but we couldn¡¯t determine what system that energy was going to. The minds of the crews of my small fleet estimated that an unarmed attack would be a terrible idea with very bad odds depending on level of injury. We considered the odds of Arton trying to use one of the axes or the war-club, but chances of success were very poor with Tony watching and also closer to more weapons. One of the fleet suspected that Tony¡¯s trap also included contingencies, which meant placing the battle axe in a place easy to find was just one phase. In the current phase of the trap, every weapon was on the ground.


    The fleet detected another energy fluctuation as we watched Arton reach for his battle axe and throw it at the Gauss rifle. Tony rushed towards Arton and with a short kick, Tony stomped Arton back into the ground.


    ¡°Unarmed combat has bad odds, but if this is all you got¡­whatever.¡±, Tony said as he stepped away.


    The axe landed on the opposite side of the shed, and the gauss rifle slid off the roof. Arton rolled away and stood up with his arms in a fighting stance. Tony took a similar fighting stance. Arton rushed in and coiled his arm preparing to strike with a punch. As Arton threw a punch. Tony raised his arm as Arton¡¯s fist moved passed his, deflecting the energy of the punch into a harmless direction. Tony used his free hand to counter attack with a punch aimed at Arton¡¯s ribs under Arton¡¯s deflected arm. Tony¡¯s defending arm swung around Arton¡¯s attacking arm and threw Arton forward into a tumble while still holding Arton¡¯s arm. Arton lost balance and Tony kicked forward with his back leg launching Arton into the wall of the shed. Arton bounced off the wall and fell to the ground. Arton rolled onto his feet and resumed a fighting stance.


    ¡°Punching in power armor¡­again? Leverage doesn¡¯t work the same. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve never worn power armor before. This tech was made for war not boxing.¡±, Tony said.


    Arton looked around, and the fleet suspected Arton estimated his chances of continuing the fight with unarmed combat was unlikely now that Tony had determined a lack of experience, consistent with my analysis. Arton rushed forward with his full speed. Tony punched Arton with an upward angled attack, hitting Arton under the chin as Tony stepped to the side. Arton¡¯s forward running speed and loss of balance and control made Arton flip over backwards and Arton fell back into the ground. Tony using just one hand picked up Arton from the chest armor and turned towards the center of the abandoned city.


    ¡°I initially wanted to avoid collateral damage, but your odds don¡¯t look good. We will continue after you¡¯ve healed up. But I¡¯ll give you more time to consider talking because this time I¡¯m giving you even further to fall.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony took three steps while lifting Arton to build up technique and then threw Arton seven thousand strahds into the heart of Valontyme. As Arton flew into the horizon, he crashed into through abandoned buildings, outdoor advertisements, and various city infrastructure. When Arton landed, he tumbled and crashed through ruins on the ground. Arton slowed and eventually stopped. The fleet scan could see he wasn¡¯t moving, but he was alive.


    The holographic decoy activated and an image of Meiyo appeared in front of Tony. The image of Meiyo was dressed in ceremonial garb that wrapped around her shoulders and waist, as large band of cloth hung over the shoulders stopping just below the knees. Meiyo¡¯s hair fell straight below the elbows and Meiyo¡¯s expression seemed to be very upset. Vivica faded the music out.


    ¡°Meiyo. To what do I owe the honor?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Phantom, you were hired for a Trial-by-combat. When you said you could get the truth out of Arton, I was skeptical, but I never agreed to wrecking one of our cities.¡±, the image of Meiyo calmly said.


    ¡°The entire continent is abandoned, no women were harmed. If the Cooperative wants to attract new colonists, will you have better odds with an abandoned city that nobody wants, or a new city with modern infrastructure?¡±, Tony argued.


    ¡°Those colonists decide what infrastructure they invest in¡­Not you¡­You don¡¯t live here¡­No more collateral damage. Is that clear?¡±, Meiyo asked to verify.


    ¡°As you wish.¡±, Tony replied.


    Meiyo¡¯s holographic projection vanished and Tony began collecting all the weapons. The decoy activated again and the image of another Rylkoian appeared, dressed in the formal uniform of the Protectorate. The Protectorate officer wore the badge of a contract broker and looked around.


    ¡°Well this is different.¡±, said the image of the Rylkonian officer.


    ¡°What do the brokers need?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Yes Phantom, we¡¯ve been watching¡­and the Third Council would like to buy out your contract.¡±, the image of the broker said.


    ¡°Vivica, please cut to commercial break.¡±, Tony said.


    Vivica began reading sponsorships for non-profit radio.


    ¡°What exactly does the Third Council want?¡±, Tony asked the broker.


    ¡°A cut of the ticket sales, buy Arton as a political prisoner, stop watching you torture an innocent man, and do our own investigation.¡±, the broker¡¯s image said.


    ¡°If the Protectorate was worried about everyone learning a secret, I think I would have been offered a Brokers¡¯ contract much sooner. So this situation must be new to everyone. I don¡¯t think I can cancel on the Cooperative that easily. You¡¯ll just have to make an offer to the Cooperative.¡±, Tony suggested.


    ¡°Oh we are counter-bidding, but we think we¡¯re a few steps ahead of you in solving this mystery. It¡¯s not a plot of ours, not a plot of the Cooperative¡¯s, and unlikely to be a plot of the Confederacy¡¯s, the broker¡¯s image said, and I suspected he implied either the U.D.E. or JATO.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s out of my hands. If the Cooperative decides to share their investigation with you, then call me back.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll keep working this from the outside, but can we please ask for less brutality?¡±, the broker¡¯s image asked.


    ¡°Ummm¡­This is Trial-by-Combat¡­What exactly does the Third Council suggest for less brutality?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Just take your time, to disarm, and to capture the target. We can¡¯t tell you to compromise the contract and we already know you have to give your target a fighting chance. We¡¯re using the functional methods of an extraction and assassination, so this is kind of a new situation for the Third Council.¡±, the broker¡¯s image said.


    ¡°Okay I¡¯ll do that, but no more interference from the Council. This is my last Cooperative contract before we leave Venus.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Thank you, the Third Council appreciates your efforts.¡±, The broker¡¯s image said, and then vanished.


    ¡°Jhess, please take the next call.¡±, Tony said as he looked in the direction of the Something Clever.


    So I projected myself through the decoy. As Tony¡¯s apex predator eyes glanced at me, I smiled a big grin and he slowly turned his focus away.


    ¡°Not funny Jhess.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Good news, I think we know enough to figure out more about this secret.¡±, I said.


    Tony slowly nodded and he prepared to invest his thoughts.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I got two theories. If the cause is the usual suspect, the goal is to keep you in one place¡­a trap. Second theory, if not the usual suspect, the cause must then be part of a power struggle.¡±, I said, as I determined the U.D.E. is more likely to use their cloned agents on Venus.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit complicated, that would be quite the setup. That¡¯s months of planning in advance for a trip we just planned two weeks ago¡­but that¡¯s a good point. It would be unproductive if the Brokers negotiated with the Cooperative over a slave¡­Also please put some cookie dough in the cooler. Tomorrow is Saturday.¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°So are you planning to close out this contract tomorrow?¡±, I asked.

 Chapter 20 - The Best Odds For A Killing Strike

    Morning arrived, and I flew the Something Clever in a high circle around the city of Valontyme. The rest of our small fleet followed my flight path, which allowed a clear view of Arton and Tony. Arton explored the abandoned city without his helmet on, and Tony followed him from the abandoned high rises. The fleet watched Tony jump from building to building, and we knew the next round of the trial by combat would begin soon. Ylisaya entered the Bridge and took her place in the flight engineer¡¯s seat.


    ¡°The cookie dough is thawing out.¡±, Ylisaya reported.


    ¡°Good, this contract needs to end. Too many opportunities for Venus turning dangerous for us.¡±, I said.


    ¡°On Mars, a U.D.E. agent tried to make an arrest as soon as he saw the Captain, but now every planet can see him¡­How long do we have?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Depends on several factors. As far as we can tell, there¡¯s no single agent or team dedicated to tracking the Phantom, because they can¡¯t build a ship that can match an Ambush-Class-Gunship, they can¡¯t build a drive system that can jump to a quantum gate, they don¡¯t have anything that can match deflector shields, and they can¡¯t use our tech, but we can use theirs. The only technology categories they compete in is stealth technology, ground warfare, and smuggling. But as soon as the aspect of space anything becomes a factor we can always out maneuver and evade. But they don¡¯t need to know that. The U.D.E. might have agents everywhere, but each have different levels of investment in their assigned missions, some of them can¡¯t waste time chasing after us, but sometimes they feel like taking the risk. I expect the U.D.E. is still estimating which missions and efforts they can abort or just save for later.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Calista! She could discover the identity of every U.D.E. agent on the planet or the entire solar system.¡±, Ylisaya realized.


    ¡°Or she could impede or sabotage them¡­but there¡¯s also the risk they could convert her to their cause, without ever realizing she replaced her clone. Her options are the U.D.E. or the Cooperative, and she has to keep them convinced or she¡¯s dead. Odds are against her, but odds are in our favor they won¡¯t trust her.¡±, I said.


    The communications array had an alert. Someone was trying to connect to the holographic decoy, but none of us could determine who it was. All we could see was that the call was coming from somewhere in the Cooperative. I attempted to take the call, but the system did not connect to the bridge. The call continued to look for the the decoy, and after about a micro-cycle Tony finally picked up. The image that appeared in front of him was Saressah.


    ¡°Saressah? How did you get this device code? And how are you able to use this tech without being a cyborg?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m inside some kind of scanner thing¡­My attorney made the Cooperative let me.¡±, Saressah¡¯s image said.


    ¡°Well I already delivered your message, Omni Liberis is fulfilled. So why are you calling me now?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t. Omni Liberis is the night before the execution. My old message is from three days ago. I now have a new message.¡±, Saressah¡¯s image said.


    ¡°Fine. What is your new message?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Who do you love? ¡­That¡¯s the message, and since it¡¯s a question, an answer is required. You must get an answer before you can kill him.¡±, Saressah¡¯s image explained.


    ¡°But I already know his answer, well I just need a little more evidence, confirmation, and the right time to present my solution.¡±, Tony replied with a laugh.


    ¡°What? How?¡±, Saressah¡¯s image asked.


    ¡°Well at first I was annoyed that Cooperative was sacrificing their credibility in favor of political agenda, but nothing I can do about that. Then my first officer asked why¡­Not why the Cooperative was throwing away an opportunity, but what do they gain? That¡¯s when we figured out someone¡¯s got a secret and Arton knows¡­Only problem is he isn¡¯t talking. Seriously two days and not a peep. I first got this theory yesterday morning, just before the second round of fighting started. And as I learned more about Arton, I eventually realized who this secret is valuable to¡­and now here you are.¡±, Tony said.


    We watched Saressah¡¯s response to Tony¡¯s explanation, and we could see in her face that everything Tony said was true, even though his understanding was incomplete. Saressah¡¯s image seemed shocked that she had given up another clue to deciphering the secret that Arton was trying to protect. I looked through my mirror to see Ylisaya.


    ¡°Have you had any visions?¡±, I asked Ylisaya, as I wondered what method Tony had used to decipher the secret.


    ¡°None, no new visions since Juno. Currently all my predictions are resolved. Whatever the Captain¡¯s theory is it¡¯s based only on whatever clues that are currently available.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°I will not let my kind go extinct.¡±, Saressah¡¯s image said.


    ¡°That choice might not be up to you, or even up to me. I will give him your message, but when you see me again, I¡¯ll only give you the answer you already expect. But under the law¡­Well your odds do not look good.¡±, Tony said.


    Saressarh¡¯s image vanished, and Tony turned his face towards the sky.


    ¡°Vivica, I¡¯m in the mood for music that conveys a life changing confession, please. What do you got?¡±, Tony asked.


    Vivica started playing music through the broadcast, and the tone seemed highly suspenseful, as Arton seemed unaware that Tony was following him.


    ¡°Prefect! Thank you, Vivica.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony wasn¡¯t even cloaked, as he was just waiting for a time to attack. Arton seemed convinced he was alone in the abandoned city of Valontyme, but that¡¯s when Tony dropped Arton¡¯s Battle Axe right in his path of exploration. Arton passed between two high rise structures and looked up at the glass towers from the ground. Tony waited and watched. Arton slowly approached the dropped battle axe as before and seemed to hesitate.


    ¡°Do you know where you are?¡±, Tony yelled, and made his voice echo.


    Arton looked around but Tony seemed to calculate the location where his voice would echo and not reveal his location. Tony activated his cloak, and vanished form the fleet¡¯s scan.


    ¡°This is the city of Valontyme. Before the Cooperative came to power, and the planet was the home of twenty million colonists, men, women, and children. This city earned the record for the most marriages performed in just one day¡­I know because I was here that day, getting married just like every other fool.¡±, Tony said from inside his cloak.


    The fleet scan detected a piece of rubble flying in the area and impacting the area around Arton. It seemed that Tony was throwing distractions to cause sound to echo through the area. Arton looked in the direction of each sound, but failed to find anything. Arton slowly slipped on his helmet, but didn¡¯t pick up the Battle Axe.


    ¡°When the Cooperative government formed they unleashed an entire army of enforcer mechs, but made certain to only kill the men. In a matter of months the population was dropping closer to just ten million as the families fled the planet. The justification is that if a patriarchy protects men, the Cooperative can ensure the safety of the female population, by ensuring that there is no patriarchy on the planet. I know because I was here hunting down the renegades, and the Cooperative paid well. When I found out we were just butchering colonists defending their home, we quit. But it was too late, we helped the Cooperative conquer the planet and the point of it all was to rig the elections. The population keeps falling, but at least there¡¯s no risk of patriarchy on the planet ever again. Nobody opposed money, and nobody will ask any questions, as long as the Cooperative keeps making trades.¡±, Tony said.


    Tony deactivated his cloak and he was standing right next to Arton. Before Arton could even realize the danger, Tony activated his battle axe and slashed at Arton across his chest guards, and the attack melted a gash across the armor. Tony reactivated his cloak and vanished. Arton examined his damaged chest armor and reached for the battle axe. Arton activated the axe and slowly waved the handle of the axe in attempt to detect Tony.


    ¡°In time, I came to realize that the Cooperative was correct. When the planet allowed for the exploitation of women, the money flowed. When the money flowed, it attracted pirates. If I had to choose between creating a safe place for women or handing over a planet to pirates. Everyone would choose the Cooperative. Those choices are the same as having to choose between being burned or poisoned. You can only ask which is less likely to kill you and hope for the best¡­But anything can go wrong.¡±, Tony said, while cloaked.


    Tony reappeared right behind Arton, waited, and watched. As Arton turned, to look behind, he tried to bring the battle axe around to defend, but he was too late. Tony lunged, swung his battle axe, knocked aside Arton¡¯s defense. Tony rushed in crashing into Arton, knocking Arton off balance. Tony swung his axe handle backwards into the knee of the leg Arton balanced on, and Tony spun the axe presenting the chopping blade to threaten Arton¡¯s neck. Tony swung short, missing Arton¡¯s neck, and Tony vanished as he activated his cloak. Arton rushed to stand and stepped back from Tony¡¯s last seen location.


    ¡°For a colony to be independent they must ensure both security and prosperity. Venus almost became the first independent colony, but they were robbed of that opportunity when Mars attained both with their ammo monopoly, and Mars has the better flag in my opinion. A black flag with a gray shield, three red circles for Mars and the two moons, and a spear, a lance and a javelin crossed behind the shield. It¡¯s an important part of the process of declaring independence.¡±, Tony said, while cloaked.


    ¡°How are a spear, a lance, and a javelin different?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°One uses two hands, one is just for one hand, and one is thrown.¡±, I said.


    ¡°And which one is which?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Not sure. Ask our weapons expert when you get a chance.¡±, I said.


    ¡°So what¡¯s wrong with the Cooperative¡¯s flag?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Have you seen it? Can you describe it?¡±, I asked,


    ¡°A pink flag¡­with a pair of hands lifting the symbol of a heart into the sky, beneath a rainbow with soft fluffy clouds on both ends of the rainbow¡­I see the problem now, and I can¡¯t unsee it¡­now I regret asking.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°Yeah, If I can¡¯t fly it on a ship, it just doesn¡¯t fly.¡±, I said.


    Tony reappeared directly in front of Arton. Arton swung and Tony deflected. Arton swung again, and the strike should have hit, but the axe blade his nothing. Arton only failed to hit Tony with his last attack because he was attacking the holographic decoy, which immediately vanished. I was puzzled however because Tony or at least something had been there to deflect the previous attack. The Better question was, ¡°If what was there was a hologram, then where was Tony?¡±


    ¡°Can you even trust your eyes? The ground under your feet? Before the colony on Venus, the atmosphere was so poisonous just one breath was enough to kill. You¡¯re just a human at the edge of a civilization that can command the entire Universe. Do you have any idea whatever exists on the other end of the choices you failed to make? Do you think you¡¯re even close to comprehending the consequences of your actions? How can you even think that your choices are anything more than a gamble with the worst odds? Can you even say you really know the situation you¡¯re in? Is that why you say nothing? Because deep in your soul you already know that I¡¯m right?¡±, Tony asked, while cloaked.


    ¡°Is the Captain just copying how Meiyo fought Lord Zokoro on Mars?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Seems like it, but I think Meiyo did this better.¡±, I said.


    Tony deactivated his cloak and his Battle-axe was folded up and carried it along his back. Tony¡¯s War-club charged up and coiled to strike in one hand. Tony swung the War-club into Arton¡¯s face. The strike would have been fatal for Arton without the power armor. It didn¡¯t seem like Tony intended for this moment to be the time of execution. The slam across the Arton¡¯s face did¡¯t activate the repulser coil. Tony swung the opposite direction to strike the side of Arton¡¯s head, and then I understood Tony¡¯s strategy. These strikes were not intended to kill Arton. The method of attack implied the true target was the power armor itself. Tony was depleting Arton¡¯s life support. The fleet scan detected the repulser coil in the War-club activate and Tony swung downward at Arton¡¯s head. The estimated level of force would have liquified an un-armored skull. The War-club seemed to bounce off Arton¡¯s helmet, but the force seemed to warp the crown of the helmet. Tony picked up Arton¡¯s foot and swung Arton¡¯s entire body over into the ground behind him. Tony released Arton, and for the very first time in three days Arton seemed afraid. Tony vanished as he activated his cloak and Arton scrambled for the Battle-axe lying on the ground.


    ¡°You know what? I asked myself everyday for the last three days, why am I on this planet fighting you, when I should be hunting down space pirates. Most people will assume I took this job for the money, but I can¡¯t sell this secret you keep trying to protect. You should know I figured out your secret, and you¡¯re wasting energy fighting against the Cooperative. They have a philosophy called, ¡°Rape by process of Statistics.¡± It¡¯s flawed but suits this planet¡¯s agenda. I only care because if I had a daughter, and she had to choose between living here or risking pirates, rape, murder, and cannibalizing her. But I¡¯m lying, I never seen any evidence nor indicators of cannibalism.¡±, Tony yelled, while cloaked.


    ¡°Is the Captain talking about Nyrella?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°Sounds exactly like Nyrella.¡±, I replied to Ylisaya.


    Arton stood with his back to the nearby building, and gripping his Battle-axe with both hands. I suspected that Arton believed his back would be protected by standing against a wall. Tony deactivated his cloak and stood resting at the end of the wall. Arton swung but only swung through a holographic decoy. The axe blade chopped a gnash into the building as Tony¡¯s decoy vanished. Tony decloaked again but in a different location, and seemed to examine the damage done to the building. Tony turned his face towards the sky and pointed with his War-club at the cut in the side of the building.


    ¡°You all saw, I didn¡¯t do that.¡±, Tony yelled.


    Tony returned the War-club to the rest across his back next to the Battle-axe. Arton swung at Tony, but Tony stepped into the attack and twisted Arton¡¯s Battle axe free from his hand. Tony stepped forward again and punched Arton, pushing him away, while robbing Arton of the Battle-Axe. Tony simply just dropped the second axe.


    ¡°Duelist Mode.¡±, Tony yelled, as deflector shields activated around his arms.


    ¡°It has occurred to me, that this is not a fair fight if you do not know the full capabilities of your power armor. The proper technique for punching isn¡¯t plant your feet, initiate with the shoulder, and add weight for power, like it is without armor. Instead use the opposite arm as a counter-balance. Watch and learn.¡±, Tony said.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Tony dashed forward and slammed a fist into Arton. Tony threw another punch across Arton¡¯s face. The second punch hit with enough force to lift Arton off the ground and Arton slowly stood up and resumed taking a fighting stance. The fleet scan detected Arton¡¯s Power Armor still had substantial energy reserves, possibly enough energy to escape the fight, heal up, and fight again later, but escape from Tony was unlikely. Tony dashed forward again, and Arton attempted to punch back. Tony grabbed Arton¡¯s fist and twisted Arton¡¯s arm over it¡¯s shoulder. As Arton lost balance and almost fell over, Tony threw Arton into the air but only a distance of fifteen strahds this time.


    ¡°Stealth mode¡±, Tony said as he vanished.


    Arton seemed to hesitate and looked towards the dropped Battle-axe. I suspected Arton considered his odds of continuing the fight unarmed or with the only available weapon. I imagined reaching for the Axe would seem like an obvious trap to Arton. I examined the fleet scan and determined that Arton¡¯s injuries would be fatal if his power armor failed, and causing system failure was Tony¡¯s strategy at the moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you decide the remainder of this fight¡­Armed or unarmed¡­So choose your weapon¡­¡±, Tony said.


    Arton slowly approached the Battle-axe and picked the weapon up. Tony deactivated his cloak, he appeared directly in front of Arton, and activated both his Battle-Axe and War-Club. Arton chopped downward at Tony, but Tony deflected the attack with a spin of the Battle-axe. Arton swung too hard and lost control of his axe. Tony directed the excess energy into the ground and stomped on the handle of Arton¡¯s axe. Tony swung with the war club, and as the repulser coil exploded a shockwave knocked back Arton through the window of an abandoned high-rise. The fleet watched Tony wait for Arton to step out of the building. I connected to the holographic decoy, I appeared as a projection in front of Tony.


    ¡°What¡¯s up, Jhess?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°I got questions. What¡¯s this evidence you¡¯re looking at? What evidence do you think you¡¯re missing?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°The moment we arrived on this planet, something seemed off. Smuggling, cloning, the serial murders, political plotting, election fraud, the trial, and let¡¯s not forget the monorail crash.¡±, Tony said.


    I floated my projection over next to Tony so I could also watch the movements of Arton.


    ¡°I see, but I was also there, what evidence applies to this, to him?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°All of it, every single motive and situation has involved him¡­well maybe not the monorail.¡±, Tony said and I knew he lied for the sake of the audience.


    I remembered that Calista was the target, and while she was investigating Arton.


    ¡°And what evidence is missing?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Three questions. First, who used the idea of a ¡®fighting chance¡¯ to turn the execution into a Trial-by-combat?Second, how much did the power of love give them better odds? And I admit I need to refine that question. Finally, Why wasn¡¯t I offered a more substantial reward to fake my death in this duel? Which is an easy question.¡±, Tony explained.


    ¡°That last question doesn¡¯t even really need an answer. The hidden puppet master simply does not require Arton to survive, but we already knew that. However, if you assassinate their target, and the Cooperative pays the bill, the puppet master loses nothing. The fight was just creating any opportunity to incentivize the Cooperative. Actually I had that backwards, the Cooperative had to be incentivized to endorse a trial-by-comat.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Actually the first way you said it, breaks the logic loop. We know the Cooperative doesn¡¯t need a public trial or duel to the death at all. This is all just theatrics. But if Arton dies without anyone ever learning the truth. The Cooperative is implicated just because they are the political power left with the debt.¡±, Tony said.


    I rested my hand on my holographic chin. But I felt nothing, as I realized my body was still on the ship, and I was just using a holographic projection.


    ¡°Well whoever is behind all this, has invested considerable time and energy into ensuring they don¡¯t get caught.¡±, I said.


    ¡°Shhhh¡­I¡¯m not yet ready to reveal their identity, I still need to deliver a message, and I need to decipher a few more answers. The trickiest part is how to get answers out of a guy who doesn¡¯t talk. So I can only interpret reactions. It¡¯s so much worse than if he was just a liar.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Is this really the planet where the sound of silence has any value?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Can you explain that to him?¡±, Tony argued, and almost laughed.


    ¡°Challenge accepted.¡±, I declared.


    Tony started walking into the building and my projection followed matching whichever movement Tony made when he took a step or turned. When we crossed through the window we were beyond the range of the fleet scan and my viewpoint became limited to a flat image of whatever was directly in front of Tony. Through my cybernetics I detected Tony testing if the fleet could also see and hear from the viewpoint of the decoy. I could see the front image of Arton and he took an unarmed fighting stance.


    ¡°Excuse me. Hi, my name is Jhessyreen and my boss here has a problem. You see, we¡¯ve been hired to kill you. My captain initially refused, but because circumstances mainly including the fact that we knew someone else would have been sent and just not as good of a deal. Normally we don¡¯t say no to easy money, but this was different. We both suspect you know something, and depending on what that secret is might attract a buyer. Now you seem like a reasonable person and I think you¡¯re a nice guy¡­¡±, I lied.


    My view of the environment turned hazy and I slowly realized we were now outside again. The environment around me began to take form, dimension, and volume as my senses realigned with the fleet scan.


    ¡°Why are we back outside?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°Are you serious? You think insulting him will get him to talk?¡±, Tony demanded.


    ¡°How did I insult him?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m only saying this because we¡¯ve never dealt with this situation before, and you¡¯ve never had the experience of being an Earthling and illogical. When a human woman with human emotions says to a human guy, who is at a low point in his life, that she think he¡¯s a nice guy¡­that¡¯s not a compliment. That¡¯s almost the same as saying you think he¡¯s creepy, worthless, and he¡¯s not worth your time. It¡¯s almost as bad as telling a guy you only like him as friend. That¡¯s not affirming, flattering, nor even true. You just made certain he will never talk to you for any reason. He might even thank me if I kill him now, because he would rather die in a heroic way, than look like he will let a woman insult him. Very unproductive.¡±, Tony explained.


    ¡°There¡¯s two problems with that. First, I was born a cyborg, so that¡¯s not my perspective. Second, he can¡¯t prove I¡¯m lying.¡±, I said.


    ¡°But you did lie right to his face and he knows it.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±, I demanded.


    ¡°Imagine it¡¯s your last day to live, and an employee of the assassin sent after you, is telling you how you¡¯re a wonderful person, if you give up the secret that means the difference between your life and death.¡±, Tony explained.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you think I should have lied? It kind of sounds like you¡¯re saying this is your fault, not mine.¡±, I argued


    ¡°It is my fault, that¡¯s why we¡¯re out here. But lying isn¡¯t the problem, the problem is the insulting. Against me, he knows his odds of success, we all know his chances are low but honest. If he sees you, there¡¯s no chance he¡¯ll trust anything you say.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°Prove it.¡±, I demanded.


    ¡°Okay, tell me that I¡¯m a nice guy and three reasons you think that¡­Or even just one reason. Anything you can think of.¡±, Tony said.


    I took a moment to consider how I was supposed to say an assassin who kills for money might be a hard worker, but I remembered his nature as a combat cyborg. I then considered how I might say that a captain of a battleship focuses on fighting space pirates in a way protects the colonies, but I remembered how he became a factor in the motivating the U.D.E. to neglect their people, intentionally causing them to resort to piracy. I considered how his conduct as a ship captain was very fair to the crew, except I remembered how I was the only crew member that remained after the mutiny and his divorce. He never wanted the crew he only needed the ship. He didn¡¯t even want a slave, and he intended to sell Ylisaya for personal gain. I tried considering how Tony made tough decisions, but I I also knew he built a reputation on striking only when the odds are in his favor, and now I knew he can sometimes predict the future but doesn¡¯t tell anyone. I soon realized if I looked at Tony honestly, he¡¯s only ever fulfilled whatever was necessary. None of his actions are done without incentive.


    ¡°Okay I see your point.¡±, I admitted.


    ¡°Thank you, and you¡¯ve known me for years¡­But him? You just met. To be fair, he¡¯s not talking to me either. I¡¯m tempted to call Saressah, to just let her talk to him, and see what happens.¡±, Tony said and laughed at the nonsense of the situation.


    ¡°We¡¯re not actually gonna do that?¡±, I asked.


    ¡°Never. There¡¯s a seventy three percent chance she can send him a coded message, and there¡¯s an eighty two percent chance that the current message contains secret code. Which reminds me, is the cookie dough thawed?¡±, Tony asked.


    ¡°Started this morning¡­I¡¯m returning to the ship.¡±, I said.


    I disconnected from the decoy, and woke up back in the Something Clever. Through the ship¡¯s sensors, I watched Tony walk back into the window and immediately throw Arton back onto the abandoned street.


    ¡°I had no idea talking to non-cyborgs was so complicated.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    ¡°So imagine if you were the one who messed that up¡­Oh wait, I don¡¯t have to, because I was there, and you could just watch me fail.¡±, I joked, imitating the Captain.


    ¡°The captain did tell me to watch and learn, and that¡¯s what I¡¯m doing. That¡¯s odd¡­Arton¡¯s Power Armor is now only at fifteen percent of available reserves. I think the Captain used the life-drain attack.¡±, Ylisaya reported.


    I suspected throwing Arton into a location outside the range of the fleet scan would create the perfect opportunity to use life-drain. With so much power depleted Arton would onlyhave limited options to take actions needed to fight back, as his armor would prioritize keeping him alive. Arton dropped to one knee and immediately slowed down in his movements until he was nearly motionless, except for deep breaths.


    ¡°What effect would life-drain have on a non-cyborg?¡±, I asked Ylisaya


    ¡°In the case of a space ship, no different than if the crew needed life support and the ship lost power. But the scan of the power armor, indicated it has an independent and a redundant power cell. These are just electrical systems. The captain only has one weapon that uses electrical power, the Gauss Rifle.¡±, Ylisaya said.


    Tony slowly walked up to Arton, as Arton crawled towards the Battle-axe. Tony raised his battle axe to chop down Arton. Arton picked up the other axe and raised it to deflect the strike.


    ¡°Battle Mode!¡±, Tony yelled and the fleet scan detected an exponential increase in power, as deflector shields activated all around Tony¡¯s Armor.


    Tony swung his energized Battle-axe slicing through the handle of Arton¡¯s axe, through the metal plates of Arton¡¯s power armor, and through Arton¡¯s left arm between the shoulder and elbow. Tony took a step back and his posture seemed puzzled as he looked at the Battle-axe cut in half with the melted metal ends, where his blade chopped the handle. I imagined Arton¡¯s power armor was burning through it¡¯s last remaining power reserves to sustain him and dull the immense pain of losing a limb. Tony looked at the melted and singed metal of the broken armor. Tony slowly examined the severed limb which had once been Arton¡¯s left arm. Tony shifted his Battle-axe into one hand, examined his free hand, and then his axe, and once more checked the left arm on the ground. I projected myself through the decoy and appeared next to Tony.


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡±, I asked Tony.


    ¡°Can¡¯t tell, I don¡¯t want to sound crazy. It¡¯s a ¡®Once is luck, twice is coincidence, and three times is a pattern situation.¡¯ I know it will be important later.¡±, Tony said.


    I sensed the Captain wasn¡¯t lying, but he wasn¡¯t being completely honest either. I imagined he saw something, and it might be something that either scared or confused him. I wondered what could possibly scare him.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably no longer safe to stay on Venus.¡±, I said.


    ¡°I understand.¡±, Tony said


    Arton knelt down, and I suspected he was in possible shock as his armor kept what remained of him alive, with whatever energy the armor had left. I disconnected from the decoy and reawakened in my body back on the Bridge of the Something Clever. I looked over my shoulder to look at Ylisaya, as I wondered if Tony might have just used scanner vision as a possible explanation over Tony¡¯s odd behavior over disarming Arton.


    ¡°Did you have a vision?¡±, I asked Ylisaya.


    ¡°No. Why?¡±, Ylisaya asked.


    ¡°I think the Captain saw something, just now. I suspected use of scanner vision. We¡¯ll just worry about it later.¡±, I said.


    Through the ship¡¯s sensor Tony seemed to move on to the next phase of his plan. Tony stood in front of Arton. Arton had been crippled by his depleted power armor, but it was also keeping him alive. Tony grabbed the face plate of Arton¡¯s helmet, ripped the helmet off from Arton¡¯s head, and dropped the helmet on the ground. Arton¡¯s face was bruised, one eye was swollen shut, and was a clear example of the punishment inflicted over the last three days.


    ¡°Next question, and I already know the answer¡­Who do you love?¡±, Tony asked Saressah¡¯s question to Arton.


    ¡°Vivica turn off the music, please.¡­I got something to say.¡±, Tony said while facing the sky.


    The music faded and Tony turned towards Arton.


    ¡°This riddle was not easy. But it¡¯s time to reveal your secret. I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m gonna monologue for the audience, not everyone has read all the files. If anything seems wrong, please interrupt. The first clue was the method of your arrest. You evaded all the Cooperative¡¯s efforts for months, but then you had an opportunity to fight, when you really should run. I find you standing on a Bridge not even wearing your helmet. I could have shot you right there, but then you would have won. I¡¯ve been wondering what changed. How is the man from months ago different from the man who has been fighting for his life over the last three days? The answer to that question was revealed to me yesterday, when I tried to trap you. There was no change. I can reverse, switch out, adjust every variable, and the result will remain the same. That helped me realize you¡¯re not fighting for your life. You¡¯re actually just a distraction. That¡¯s not a problem for me. I¡¯m honestly impressed you could endure. That led me to my next critical question, how did you even manage to evade the Cooperative? And the answer is you didn¡¯t. Or at least not by yourself.¡±, Tony said.


    Arton glared at Tony, and Tony examined Arton¡¯s response. I wondered if Tony was simply referring to Saressah, but that was unlikely if either was working alone. Tony¡¯s posture changed as he laughed and seemed to have obtained new evidence.


    ¡°So the next question is if many people are helping you and Saressah, especially on this planet, I can only wonder why would they do that? Why help someone else who get¡¯s to live the life you want? That¡¯s when I thought about both times I have talked to Saressah. She¡¯s desperate to save her child and your life because if you live, then her child might live too. It seemed to be all she would talk about whenever anybody saw her, and then I considered how difficult it is to obtain a parental license on this planet. That led me to my next answer. Saressah is not the only one. You¡¯re no rapist¡­because we both know, you¡¯re just an off market sperm donor. All those other women helped you, because they were letting you fuck them in hopes of becoming pregnant. That¡¯s who¡¯s helping you. That¡¯s the only way you could evade the system like that for so long. Saressah¡¯s just the only one who was caught.¡±, Tony said.


    Arton turned his face towards the ground and shut his working eye. The rest of Arton was still trapped in the depleted armor. Tony seemed to advance his theory and was preparing to strike.


    ¡°So here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen now. Turns out your secret is only valuable to the Cooperative, the names of all those traitors, in an easy and available list. But you¡¯re not the only one who knows it. Do you see those four ships floating in the sky?¡­Those are gunships and they¡¯re scanning, watching, and listening¡­All the Cooperative needs to do is offer Saressah a deal, if she gives up the names of all the others in your secret organization, they let her keep her baby, send her to live on some moon, asteroid, or space station under a new identity. I¡¯m impressed she held that secret for so long, when she should have traded it for her child¡¯s life, but I am under no such obligation. You might not be willing to talk, because you thought this secret might die with you. But Saressah is willing to talk to anyone who will listen.¡±, Tony said.


    ¡°NO!¡±, Arton yelled, as he jumped to attack Tony with his remaining arm.


    I was shocked to see his face had changed from remorse, to rage, and back to a look of regret. Tony made no movement as Arton¡¯s arm clawed at Tony. The weight of Arton¡¯s depleted armor was all Tony needed to avoid the attack. Arton fell back down to his knees as the depleted armor weighed him down.


    ¡°So you can talk?¡­ But I thank you for that. I¡¯m trying to promote, and it¡¯s not a good look for me if I execute someone with qualities that makes them popular. You wanna hear the funniest part?¡­ I was just guessing. But that little outburst of rage kind of just confirmed all my suspicions. A few years ago the human population surpassed eight billion, not counting the Rylkonians. Twenty million lived here, then ten million were no longer needed, and eight million said no thanks and left. So the last two million of the Cooperative are fighting for their freedom, and all you offer is a step backwards. That¡¯s not the power of love. You¡¯re trying to be a hero for the top one percent, on a planet that thinks you should be a slave. You¡¯re no hero.¡±, Tony said, as he laughed.


    Tony knelt down about two steps away from Arton to face him at eye level.


    ¡°You know underneath this armor. I¡¯m nothing like you, and probably nothing you expect. My face is really a machine like framework and what I show people is just a hologram, held up by that frame¡­Now that we¡¯re here. You¡¯re execution isn¡¯t easier for me. I wonder if you¡¯ve gained fans who might cheer you, and mourn your death. I have no idea who really loves you. Or if they only love what you can give them? You were willing to die for those kids, and their secret might have died with you. All because of the power of love? I don¡¯t believe I¡¯m capable of that, but believe me when I say I¡¯m going to regret killing a martyr. Because if the Rylkonians had chosen you instead of me to become a combat cyborg, they would have enjoyed sooner victory in the Parasite Wars¡­and I know why you did it, becoming a hero is a journey. But when I tried to return to a normal life, I failed. I realized the call to adventure from anyone besides Rylkonians, is just a lie, and now I must refuse the compulsions to be a fake hero. You¡¯re not the first to be manipulated by this system of lies, and you won¡¯t be the last¡­ But that also means you must die. You¡¯re existence puts this world in danger, because this is not the world for you. They can¡¯t just send you away, because the conclusion of what happens to you becomes the rule. You¡¯re dangerous, wherever you might go. That¡¯s why the traitors are making the Cooperative pay me to eliminate you. Just one mistake will make this world vulnerable to space pirates. And the only way to fight a space pirate is to think like a space pirate.¡±, Tony said to Arton.


    Vivica started playing sad music, as a wailing chant played through the broadcast.


    ¡°Great timing! Thank you, Vivica.¡±, Tony said towards the sky.


    Tony stood up, stepped to the side, measured his stance and held his Battle Axe to align across Arton¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Any last words?¡­I¡¯m open to suggestions¡­I think a positive statement is in order¡­Well, I tried¡­.Battle Axe, Executioner mode!¡±, Tony said.


    The Battle-axe reconfigured to a wide chopping blade, that glowed green with unstable fury. Arton looked at the blade with his remaining eye, made no other moves, and defiantly said nothing. Tony raised the axe and his body coiled for a killing strike.


    ¡°For the Auro-Blade!¡±, Tony yelled, as he swung the axe at Arton''s neck.


    TO BE CONTINUED