[AP] PRODIGAL SON, A Rogue's Tale - Book II

[blacksteel27]

Which freighter?

you know the one thats was hideing out at that side arm fab from the pirate guild .. it might just be me but i think they just left it.
its just a question though im probally just missing sumthing

[Olterin]

Yes, yes, yes! I'm with Zaitsev, *SQUEEE*

It's great to have you back in the saddle, Scion!

Also, love Hayla. Mama's fierce!

This. Pretty much this. It's great to have you (and the story) back, Scion - this just brightened my all-too-gloomy day enough to put a permanent smile on my face ->

[Triaxx2]

Well, it has been a couple of months, so it's not at all unlikely that he just forgot about it.

[blacksteel27]

Well, it has been a couple of months, so it's not at all unlikely that he just forgot about it.

yea i can understand that i was just wondering if i missed sumthing . but that dosent mean this dosent make a great oppertunity mabey a new enemy inside drkes own raniks if chamran lives or just a minor loss if he kills him off possibilities.....possibilities.
cant wait for the next release all the same though.

[Scion Drakhar]

I didn't forget about nuthin'.

Well, not in the long run anyway.

Regarding that freighter there was nothing I could do. When and if the pirates move on the freighter will go back to trading. If they blow up the factory he's cowering at ... well, so be it. Either way I don't have the firepower to do a damn thing about it. Which is kind of depressing, really. And something I must remedy.

[Nathancros]

*Dances maniaclly* SCION IS BACK SCION IS BACK SCION IS BANK YES YES YES YES


Have the floodgates opened? has playing once suddenly brought it all back? lets hope so


Thank you for all the work Scion.


Good to see Odin is still the same

[Triaxx2]

Can't help it: 'Odin. Odin never changes.'

[Scion Drakhar]

Funny. I'm hearing Ron Pearlman, and the Ink Spots and something about a flame in my heart...

[Triaxx2]

Heh.I still closely associate it with Fallout 2, rather than than three. Of course, Tactics featured the Horsemen and war complaining: Hey, I can change.

[Scion Drakhar]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

All right. So here I am about to post another chapter and like always I feel like I'm forgettin' something. Oh! I remember! Thanks to _Zap_ we now have a complete version of the From Nothing.PDF.

Now _Zap_ I did re-upload it to Box.com because that site you had it posted on had a really slow download speed. I think it was averaging about 17kbs, which meant it took nearly four hours to download.

O.O

But it's the same document. And I'd like to thank you for all the effort you put into it. For the record, folks we're talking about a document that is 2128 pages long, complete with all the pictures I posted along the way!!! So yes, it was a lot of work.

So thanks _Zap_.



Okay! So, without further ado here's chapter:





16. End of Day

Odin watched little miss Ookami answer the comm in her ear by tapping a button on that computer on her wrist. He wasn't watching her directly of course. He was occupying himself with a scuff on his boot. He wasn't pretending to be occupied, either, but rather truly working on getting rid of the scuff some idiot had made by accidentally kicking him on the lift. But it wasn't his main concern. That, of course, would be Gin, and the call she was getting. So he was paying attention. He just wasn't doing it overtly. He was simply aware of her in the periphery, just as he was aware of the security boys at both of the hatches to the bridge and the navigational computer showing a sector map of the Ore Belt, where a large number of pirates seemed to be lying in wait around one of the fabs, just as he was aware of the pretty blue planet visible through the forward view screen, wreathed in all those puffy white clouds with blue oceans and silver land masses, spread out like the beautiful and willing woman that was Argon Prime.

Gin seemed to take a breath and then relax a little. It was very subtle. It was very very subtle. But it was there. That was interesting. It meant she got the news she wanted. So of course the next question was, what was the news? What had she been hoping for? He contented himself with the boot and the boot black applicator he was using to shine the scuff out when she looked up at him and ended the call with, "all right. All right I'll tell him."

Odin felt her eyes on him but made one more pass with the shoe black before sighing with resignation. The idiot who kicked him had been wearing those big clomping mag boots and the scuff was more a gouge in the leather than something he could cover up with polish. So he sighed. He did like to look good. Then he looked up and met Gin Ookami's gaze and smiled.

He knew Drake had gone off to do something before deciding whether he was going to give Odin the big chair or not. He was pretty sure that something was a conversation with Hayla. If Lu had still been around it would have been him he was talking to. But Lu was probably dead ... odd that that thought should hurt so much. Odin had never expected it to. But either way it wasn't Lu the boy had gone off to talk with. Which left Hayla ... unless the kid had other connections Odin wasn't aware of. Which was possible, and could be bad depending. But there was no use fretting. He'd know soon enough whether the kid was going to make him captain of this boat or toss him out an airlock ... or try to anyway.

So Odin smiled. It wasn't a lewd smile or one that was too affectionate or intimate. It was just a broad, winning smile that conveyed warmth and charm and sophistication. And just as he expected he might as well have been smiling at a bare razor. Even so he smiled and asked the question. "So what's the verdict, love?"

"Congratulations, Captain," she said. Except Odin heard what she was really saying. Namely, make me regret this and I'll skin you alive. Interesting. She had been hoping to be relieved of the chair. Of course she wouldn't be comfortable in the spotlight, would she? No he thought this one preferred the shadows.

Odin grinned. "Thank you, Gin. When do I start?"

"Right now," she said. "Drake has some things to do that will take us both off the ship. You're to drop us off in Elena's fortune and then jump to Home of Light and dock at Terracorp." She said it all without the slightest change in expression or even a flicker of her eye. She stared right at him, and those eyes were sharp and missed little. Most people would have found it disturbing. Odin just continued to give her his most reassuring smile.

"Of course," he said. "Anything to help."

She continued to look at him for a moment before crossing the room to have a conversation with the highest ranking of the four gun-toting boys that had been assigned to watch him, under the auspices of 'keeping the bridge secure,' of course. But it was him they were keeping secure and he knew it. He couldn't hear what she was saying but was fairly confident nonetheless that it amounted to under what circumstances they were expected to shoot him.

As she walked away he sat down at the big chair and began bringing himself up to speed on his new charge. As he did he found himself impressed. It was a damn fine ship. Whoever the kid had working in the engine room had been able to tweak the output and thruster capacity to the point where the ship was capable of a maximum speed that was 112% of factory spec. It was also more maneuverable and had the maximum possible dimensional cargo compression technology available. Meaning it could serve as a station mover. Odin then looked at how much of that space had been sacrificed to medical facilities and how much more had been allocated to living accommodations and food storage and recreational lounges and shopping facilities and all the thousand and one other things needed for the twenty five hundred people on board ... and couldn't help but wonder how many times each day the kid considered just flushing everyone out the airlocks. Instead of a heavy transport he had apartments, and parks, day-cares and schools and churches and a damn fine hospital. But with a few million credits in start up scratch and a heavy transport like the Endless he could be building stations for tens of millions of credits each day, not to mention salvaging ships, and moving enormous quantities of goods. Instead the kid was out there risking his hump in a Tenjin. Odin couldn't help but tsk. It was almost a shame. Yet at the same time it was reassuring. The kid was a killer, to be sure, but apparently he was also a protector, a patriarch, and would care for those in his charge even when it was inconvenient for him.

A little while later he was given access to the systems he'd need to do his job. At the moment that included navigation and little else. He wasn't really the captain, yet, despite the title. For that he'd have to prove himself trustworthy. Which could take a while, especially considering the way he'd rubbed the kid wrong already. Odin nodded to himself. He understood. For the time being he was the pilot. But that was okay. From where he sat there were still a lot of angles to be played.

As he jumped to Elena's Fortune to drop Gin and the kid off he started working on some calculations. He thought he might start looking for some opportunities for the kid to use this big, beautiful ship to make some scratch. Hell! If he was gonna be a captain of a TL, he could at least do it well. Besides, who knew what the future would bring. He wasn't that old. So Odin smiled, and let the gun toting boys set to watch him look at each other and wonder.

_____________


Hoooo…

I do love sittin’ in a fighter. Out here in the black with nothin’ but the sound of my own breathin’ for company. Close and tight inside my helmet with nothin’ but a few centimeters of high density polymers and titanium in between me and the infinite everythin'. It’s just all so immediate, you know? So right here and now. It gives me the chills and sets my blood on fire and all of a sudden I'm so alive and so wide awake that the rest of my life feels like sleepin'.

Yeah. It’s live or die out here in the black. It’s get rich or die tryin’. Heh heh. And you know which one I prefer! Yeah. The last few hours have been good to me, and good for me too, now that I think about it. Very good. Hell, I think even Gin’s happy.

Right. So I had Odin drop us off near the south gate in Elenas Fortune and then bounce back to Home of Light so he could park the Endless in the warm, lovin' embrace a the Terracorp HQ. That way everybody is safe and I don’t have to worry about it. It’s also a good place to reconnoiter as well as an ideal place to do some tradin’. And maybe a few a the malcontents on my ship will find their way off and forget to come back.

You know I think I’m gonna work on getting’ the Argon Federation as happy with me as I can manage. Stayin’ on their good side gives me access to the good tech from OTAS and Terracorp as well as providing an outlet for … well, for everything I can steal.

So with that in mind, for my piratical enterprises, I’ve been concentratin’ on the Boron, cos they’re lunch anyway, and the Paranid cos … well, cos I don’t like ‘em. As far as I’m concerned those three eyed cocksuckers’ll never be done payin’ for my eye. So after the Endless dropped us off in Elena’s Fortune my new wingman Asura and I made our way across Split Fire and Brennan’s Triumph to Nopileos’ Memorial. I made a point of droppin’ some advsats along the way. When we got to NM I called in the Salvage Crew and assigned Asura to babysittin’ duty. Then I went and found some fights to pick.

The first one was with this bloke. A Boron flyin' a Vulture. Honestly I thought the squid was a pirate in disguise at first and was lookin’ forward to kickin’ his ass for him. I'm just not used to seein' Boron in Teladi ships otherwise. But his paperwork was in order. He legitimately was a Boron trader flyin' a Teladi ship and was quite amenable to partin’ with the goods ... after I overwhelmed his shields and demonstrated that I did, in fact, mean business and was more than capable of rippin’ his ship open around him, anyway. So he promptly dumped all sorts of yummy things all over the trade lanes, makin' me nine mass drivers and some assorted explodey things richer. Definitely not bad for a first haul. Nope, not bad at all.

After that I cruised the trade lane in NM for awhile, dodgin' the occasional pirate but generally bein' left alone otherwise. Once a couple of harriers decided to test Gin when I wasn't lookin'. Uh ... they're no longer with us. Me, I was preoccupied with all the high tech and weapons dealers. Unfortunately most of 'em belonged to either a corporation or a race that I'd like to maintain cordial relations with. Which meant I didn't even look. Cos I know what happens to me! I know that if I peek inside the hold of an OTAS transport and see a hold full of hurricanes or firestorms or PPC's or any of a thousand other things that look all shiny I'm just gonna forget all about civility and diplomatic relations and safe harbor and do somethin' unfortunate. So I just bypassed the entire issue by not even lookin'. Well, much. Fortunately that one OTAS weapon transport was empty. Yeah! Sheesh. I tell yah. I'm worse than a little kid. Sigh. The Teladi, on the other hand was not empty. Nope not by a long shot.

Yeah, see, the Teladi was carryin, get this! Four Flak cannons! As well as a couple hundred mosquito missiles. So, aah, yeah. That reflex kicked in. My eyes glazed over and next thing I knew I had become very persuasive. It went somethin' like this: tap tap tap with the HEPTs followed by me callin' him ... er, her? Prolly. Callin' her up and sayin', "Gimme!" To which she replies by suggestin' some anatomical impossibilities while tryin' to ram me with that Vulture. Repeat. Eventually I had to switch to one PRG instead a the HEPTs cos that Vulture started lookin' kinda rickety and unsound, spittin' fire and lightnin' out from places they should not a been spittin'. Eventually, though, she accepted the inevitable and dumped freight. She never did stop tryin' to kill me but she did give up those flak cannons! Woo hoo!

Now I just need a ship to bolt 'em onta.

Anyhoo! So I led her off toward the east gate, where she'd been headed before I ruined her day. That let the drones from the Salvage Crew swoop in to scoop up all the goodies. Then I short jumped back to the west gate and apparently that was enough to convince my scaly benefactor to let me go ... which meant I didn't have to kill her. The Teladi seem to accept that piracy is just a part of life out here in the void. Well, as a whole, anyway. That one that had the flaks didn't seem okay with it ... or maybe it was just me. But my point is I didn't even lose any rep over it. But I think I would have done if I'd had to vaporize that ship. So stealin' shit is acceptable. Blowin' people up is frowned upon.

Got it!

Okay! So. After that, and after putterin' around NM for a while, it started to seem kinda dry. Then a Pirate Carrack showed up out of the west gate and promptly started shootin' at anythin' and everythin' in range of its guns. And the Carrack does have a lot of guns. So I decided to see if Hatikvah's Faith was a little calmer and if there was anythin' there that I might like to steal. So we all cruised on over to HF lookin' to see if there was any money to be made. Turns out there was.

Now one of the first things I noticed was the Split Military. They had a fairly impressive taskforce in Hatikvah's. A Raptor flanked by a pair of Tigers and more fighters than I could count. Fortunately the Split are still extendin' the hand of friendship ... or at the very least not chuckin' nukes at me. Even better they like when I beat on the Boron, and don't seem to mind me pickin' on the Paranid enough to do anythin' about it. So I started scannin' potential targets.

The first one I found was a Paranid Weapons Dealer carryin', among other things, four phased shockwave generators that I just had to have. Don't worry! I made sure to thank him after he gave 'em to me. There's no reason not to be civil, is there? After that I terrorized a couple of Boron High Tech traders for the microchips they were carryin', and then scared a couple of their Military Transports so bad that they shat crates of missiles all over the trade lane.

So needless to say, I was havin' a very profitable afternoon. And I've got to say that I just LOVE those salvage drones. I can park the mercury way out of harms way, and under Gin's watchful eye no less, sit back and let those drones scoot across the sector to drag all the goodies back to the ship for me. Yes, very nice. It's a definite improvement over me fieldin' the damn crates myself, then chuggin' back and forth to the merc, beamin' 'em over to the freighter only to repeat it all until I got everythin'. Usually while bein' shot at by the angry trader I got to cough it all up in the first place. And if those crates happen to be within' the firin' solution of ... oh I don't know ... a pissed off Carrack for instance? Well I can still get 'em! Riskin' nothin' more valuable than a thirteen k drone. Yeah. This is efficiency in action, this is.

Right, speakin' of pissed off Carracks. Ahem. A little while later, as I was movin' in to scan another potential mark, that bloody Carrack from Noplieos' Memorial showed up again. It popped outta the west gate and promptly started havin' a good ole temper tantrum right there in the trade lane. Which of course I didn't mind. As I said, with the salvage abilities of those Goblins I could collect everything that got strewn all over the place without riskin' anythin' more valuable than a drone to do it. I did have Asura and the Salvage Crew move away from the action of course. I told 'em to head for my satellite, which is high above the very center of the sector. That put both a lot of distance as well as the Split military in between them and that Carrack. Which turns out to have been a good call as that Carrack made right for 'em.

I tell yah these pirates really hate me right now. I mean really hate me. Of course the Split didn't exactly approve of that Carrack's behavior and when it decided to throw some of it's tantrum their way they promptly decided to teach the pirates some manners. And of course, in typical Split fashion, that meant a thermonuclear explosion or two as well as an antimatter core breach. Yeah, in other words, bye bye Carrack. Which, of course, meant even more salvage for me!

Unfortunately it seems that Carrack also scared all the rich traders out of the sector. I chased down a few more that looked like possibles but none of the ones I was interested in had anything worth the effort of taking. So I decided to head north and maybe please the Split by whooping on the Boron infestin' their sectors. So we made our way up into Thuruk's Beard and started scannin' for those pesky green vermin ... ideally pesky green vermin with lots of valuable goodies in the holds of their ships. Unfortunately I was only able to find one high tech trader, although he did part with the better part of a hundred quantum tubes for me. Which was nice and I made a point of sayin' thank you by lettin' him live. I did. The Split didn't. As soon as he'd dropped those quantum tubes an IBL round from a nearby Tiger incinerated that Boron quite instantly.

Right. After that I continued to look around the sector and although there were no more Boron askin' me to take their stuff I did notice this guy. Now that would be a pirate offerin' to hack pirate stations for me. What I found particularly interestin' was his prices. He's chargin' nearly ten million credits a station.

Riiiight. Yeah. So I'm thinkin' once again that the pirates HATE me. I mean seriously! Nine MILLION credits to hack a station!!! You know what that tells me? It tells me that guy is takin' his life into his hands just by talkin' to me! Sheesh.

sigh ... and we were gettin' along so well...

Okay, so. On my to-do list right now is: get these cumpàs to give me back my money. Rebuild my armada. Defeat the Terran and ATF military. Kick some pirate ass. Right. Not necessarily in that order. Although not necessarily not in that order either.

Anyway, after that there wasn't anythin' gettin' my attention in Thuruk's Beard and I decided to explore even deeper into Split space. Both to re-map the sectors I lost when the Terrans took out my network and to see if there were any opportunities for glory, fame and, of course, money. Can't forget the money. It seems to be a prerequisite for ... er, everything? else. So, a short time later I was up in Family Rhonkar, not really expectin' anythin' in the way of piracy. Most Boron just don't make it that deep into Split territory without gettin' a thermonuclear intrusion up the tailpipe. And since I doubt the Split would appreciate me thumpin' anybody else in one of their core sectors I think piracy is off the menu, at least for the time bein'. So I was just mappin' the sector and plantin' a satellite when a broadcast goes out across the whole sector announcin' that Xenon are inbound and that all kills will be paid for. So, thinkin' that this is just the kind of opportunity I was lookin' for in terms of fame, glory and the possible gratitude of the Split I decided that Gin and I would help out. So I sent the Mercury to dock at the nearest station, which happened to be a solar power plant, and then made like we was patrollin'.

A little while later the Xenon did indeed show up in the form of three L's, four M's and an N. It was actually kinda fun. For one thing I discovered that I really like the silkworm missile. It has a nineteen k bang, does about 200 meters per second and is just about right for takin' out an M ... or even and L if you rip its shield off first. For another I discovered that I really like havin' Gin watchin' my back. It never got hairy or anythin'. It was a Split sector after all and they're always ready for a fight. So those Xenon had their hands full from the get-go. It was just that durin' the furball a pair of the M's did try to catch me from the rear, which would have been uncomfortable if not tragic. But Gin promptly put an end to it. And when it was all said and done we were nearly three hundred K richer ... er, less the cost of a few silkworms anyway.

After that I took a job scannin' asteroids for a Boron, which unsurprisingly didn't pay that well, and then a job fetchin' a Harrier for a Paranid. Why would I fetch a harrier for a Paranid, you ask? Well, to keep 'em off balance. I mean you bully one little old weapons trader into givin' up his phased shockwave generators and you lose six rep ranks with 'em! It was his own damn fault, though. If he'd just flown away after droppin' 'em we woulda been good. Fine. No harm no foul. But noooo! That arrogant putz tried to take me on from the driver's seat of a Demeter! Oh, did I forget to mention that I killed him? Yeah, these things tend to slip my mind sometimes. Oh well. What's one less Paranid in the universe?

So, anyway. On the way over to Teladi Gain, which is where the Harrier got itself abandoned, I ran into another of those massive Pirate Guild raiding parties, centered around one of those mobile pirate bases. I decided I didn't want to risk the merc even crossin' that sector so, after makin' sure Gin and I had the jump fuel we needed, I had it jump back to Terracorp. After that I short jumped to the far gate and then slipped back through when I exited, allowin' us to cheat our way past the Pirates. A little while later we made it to Teladi Gain and, not wantin' to try sendin' that unmanned, unshielded and completely unarmed Harrier back through the pirate filled sector behind me, I called the Endless in to act as a transport.

Then, as I trudged across the seventy kilometers of empty space between the gate and the claim I decided to check on Kerol Cheram and my Superfreighter over in the Ore Belt. Apparently the pirates that had run him into his rabbit hole have moved on. They might even be the ones workin' Family Zein over behind us. Either way Cheram is back to work luggin' ore and energy cells around the sector ... and apparently makin' me money. Which is good. Yes. Very good. It makes me happy.

Anyhoo! I claimed that Harrier. Then I landed on the Endless and had Gin and that Harrier do the same. Then I had Odin bounce us back to Thuruk's Pride so we could deliver the Harrier to the obnoxious three eyed bastard what hired me. And yes. I did all that just to keep the Paranid from sendin' the big guns after me. It's amazin' how fast they get mad at you, ain't it?

At any rate since I was home again anyway I decided to bounce back to Home of Light to return to Terracorp and meet up with the Salvage Crew to trade and generally see what the financial situation looked like, and honestly: it's lookin' good. I mean it's not half a dozen carriers with several hundred fighters and an armada of destroyers and frigates and corvettes and tenders and a network of tradin' freighters with the better part of a billion credits in the bank ... but it's not the end of the world, either.

So, with that I decided to call it a day. I needed some time with my girl anyway. And, no offence meant, but what happened next ain’t any of your business.

G'night.

[Triaxx2]

Thanks for putting all the work into it Zap.

---

Split have saying. Is good day for someone else to die.

H'nt took a deep breath. He hoped that it wouldn't be him. He'd been told that the ship was going into harms way, which, while not exactly surprising given that it was a Split warship, where they were when he looked out a window was. Haktikvah's Faith. There was a second tiger off our starboard, though it was far enough off he couldn't read the name on her bow, not without a computer to run the ID. He neither had one on him, nor was he particularly interested. The Raptor running the task force was busy putting on it's impressive show. I saw a Carrack off in the distance, making a nuisance of itself. The Raptor angled on it, and and the Tigers accelerated ahead. True, a Carrack is no match for a single Tiger, but it seemed the order had come down to make a good show of it. H'nt sighed, watched the detonation and kept moving.

It wasn't that he regretted it. The pirates made their choice when they engaged the Tigers. He knew it was possible for a capable pilot to defeat a Tiger in a Carrack, but the Carrack pilot hadn't been capable. Not when his big tactic was a full charge. Idly, H'nt noted a few blips heading for the north gate, but he didn't think anything of it.

Vo was standing on the bridge, smiling gently. That worried him.

"Hello brother."

"Hello sister." H'nt answered carefully.

"You saw?" The demonstration of power? Oh sure, he'd seen that.

"Yes. Nice move."

"I didn't call it." she answered. The smile hadn't moved. "I wanted to. But it came from a higher up." she took a deep breath, and the smile finally faded.

"Oh god, you know where he is, don't you?"

"Not so much where he's at, as where he's been. You know him. Until he's interested in being found, finding him is rather like finding a Goner gunfighter. Possible, but not worth all the effort it will take." she shrugged. It was quite the feat. He'd never met anyone who could stymie her like Ea't. And he was the only person H'nt knew capable of disappearing into deep space in a Tiger. The sheer audacity of doing both was Ea't through and through.

"You know what he's after then, don't you."

"The Black Queen." H'nt sat down. "I take that to mean you've met her."

"No. But I was in the room when Lord Drake met her."

"I would give quite a bit of honor to have been present at THAT meeting."

"Funny, I'd have given quite a bit to be anywhere else. Captain." she narrowed her eyes. He never used her formal title unless he was going to say something important, and she knew it. No one used one of her titles unless they knew her very little, or were under her command. "The Black Queen was trying to sell Lord Drake point to point jump technology. The kind that doesn't use Jump Beacons. Instant transition from A to B, and without needing the gates for anything more than triangulation of position within the gate network."

"That's quite the military advantage. And it explains something. There's evidence of a fight. Some bits of video. It looked fake, but now it makes sense." she pressed a couple of buttons. A few snippets of video played. The Osan'Gar, engaged by a Boron Shark. Those were Ea't's maneuvers. A flowing elegant style of controlled chaos. The fact that the odds were 40 to one only seemed to play in his favor. The Osan'Gar bucked and twisted in space, whipping around in what appeared to be death throes, at least to someone who had never born witness to Ea't fighting.

To H'nt's eyes though, he could clearly see the explosions along the length of the hull, as the nose, beam and tail swatted fighters out of the sky as they tried to maneuver around, and avoid one another while picking up a firing solution. Ea't used the entire ship as a weapon, in addition to the hammering and brilliant flashing of the Flak Cannon's, and the IBL's as one of the gunners found themselves in the right position for a snap shot.

The video wasn't long, but neither was the fight. It lasted just long enough to see the fighters retreat and Ea't jump out. H'nt blinked, but the next clip started, showing the Osan'Gar reappear at a nearby gate and start pitching missiles. The Shark was slower to react, partially because it was still recovering fighters, but it took several torpedo shots to the hull before it jumped away.

H'nt glanced at his sister. The smile was back. There was even a hint of pride in it.

"I occasionally forget how dangerous he really is." she shook her head. "He's hunting her. That's why we can't find him. I've tried finding her, but it's not doing me any good. The Boron deny she exists, like that little temple, and the pirates I've talked too are almost all too frightened to talk and those that aren't are either bad pirates who know nothing and the better quality, who are sufficiently surprised that someone is actually chasing her as to be useless after learning that."

"He's not exactly her biggest fan."

"He eats Boron. I'm surprised his head wasn't on the list of demands."

"Mostly she seemed intrigued" H'nt shrugged. "Looks like Eat is giving her a taste of he own medicine. Coulds be messy."

"Stop that. Look, I'm as much for annoying the boron as anyone else, but he's way out of control. I don't want to think about the kind of escalation he'll be facing. It's going to be ugly."

"Especially if he catches her."

"Yes, and until then, he's leaving Boron bits scattered from Ocean of Fantasy to Dark Water. And they are NOT big bits."

"I don't know what to say, you know how he gets when he gets his teeth into something. The only thing to do is let him work it out for himself. Could be worse. Remember the last time he was let run free? He destroyed the Boron's entire ship construction capabilities. This time all he's after is one Shark."

"I seriously think you're underestimating his ability to make a gigantic mess. I was on the elephant that did clean up duty in Queen's Space. We ended up just beaming aboard the largest chunks, and there were a LOT of those." she took a deep breath. "Ea't tends towards the force of nature end of the scale of destruction."

"Hey, he's not shooing at me, so I don't really care." H'nt shrugged. "He's having fun, just leave him alone until there's an actual incident, then handle it with your usual charm and tact." She glared at him.

---

I blame Scion for this. He asked me about something and I sort of took his idea and ran away with it. Couldn't help myself once I started.

[Scion Drakhar]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

17. Family Trouble


Salvadore Vassar stared at the image on the terminal in front of him. One of his techies had gone over the phone that punk had planted on Toni. First to find the bug, and second to make it so Sal could answer the thing in a civilized fashion, sitting at his desk and looking at a full sized monitor instead of the pitifully small view-screen that all those pocket communicators used. Right then he wished he hadn’t.

Sin hadn't been good with close spaces in over twenty jazura. Something had happened to him when he was a kid. Sal was pretty sure Toni had done something to do him but he could never get the truth out of either of them. You didn’t rat. Sin had learned it early and well. You didn’t rat. Even when the guy you were protecting should have come into the world as an abortion.

Sal puffed on his cigar and scowled at the screen. The camera was showing an airlock with hazard stripes on the floors and around a pair of pressure doors. The emergency lights were flashing. Sal knew those lights would have been yellow if the feed had any color. That they were circling indicated an imminent decompression. In their intermittent light his son, Sin, paced back and forth. He was screaming and pulling his hair. He was punching himself in the face with the heels of his palms. There was no sound. Somehow that made it worse.

“What are we gonna do, Sally?”

Sal looked up at his nephew. He didn’t know why he let the idiot stick around but for the past twenty hours his fat frak of a nephew had been staring at him every time Sal looked up. The mere sight of the man made Sal feel sick and angry. “What the hell are you on about?!” Sal snapped at him.

“Well,” Toni stammered. “I mean … he’s got Sin and I … I just wondered…”

“You are so frakkin’ stupid! Do you know that?”

Toni’s mouth fell open but he didn’t say anything.

“Well?!” Sal snapped again.

“Yeah,” Toni said reluctantly. “Yeah, Sally. I know it.”

“Do you know why it’s my son in that airlock instead a you?!”

Toni shifted from foot to foot. “Uhm…”

“Uhm! Uhm! You're a frakkin' retard, Toni! Do you know that?” Toni shook his head so that his cheeks and chin wiggled. Sal wanted to kill him. “Well, why do you think that it’s Sin instead of you up in that airlock, at the mercy of this psychotic prick?!”

“I don’t kno…”

“I KNOW you don’t know!! I’m askin’ why you THINK that it’s Sin and not you up there?! Do you need me to explain what the difference between knowin' and thinkin' is? Or do you THINK that you can handle that on your own?”

“I-I think … I-uh … I think that maybe he knew that-uh .. that you wouldn’t pay to … to get ... to get me back.”

“Aaaah! It’s alive! That’s right, meathead! Sin! My son! My boy! SIN! Is in an airlock waitin’ for me to find a way to get him home safe! Hopin’ this frakkin’ lunatic doesn’t vent him inta outer space before I can! Sin is up there and not YOU! Even though you are just as guilty a screwin’ the pooch on this as he is! And it is so because the maniac that has him KNOWS that I WOULD NOT PAY! … to get your stupid fat ass back.” Sal waved him off with the last and looked back to the screen in front of him. “And now you stand here botherin’ me when I’m tryin’ to work out how to get my son home safe!” Sal looked up at him again. “Why don’t you just go do the world a favor and find somewhere outta sight to die, huh?”

“S-sorry, Sally.”

Sal took a long puff from his cigar and stared at the monitor again. It was just a mizura of feed from the airlock repeating over and over. Sin walked toward a window in one of the pressure doors and screamed for someone to pay attention. Then he looked up at the flashing lights and covered his ears as if protecting them from a siren or klaxon that was meant to be heard through protection. He screamed something incomprehensible at the floor. Then he started punching himself in the face with the heels of his hands. Then the screen flickered and he was walking toward one of the doors and screaming for someone to pay attention again.

Sal whispered silent encouragement to his son. “Don’t worry, Sin,” he said, no louder than breathing, and touched the screen. “I’ll get him. I promise you. I’ll get him and I’ll get you home safe. Just hang in there.”

Another message had come with the feed. It was just Drake talking. It started out conversational. “This is your kid’s new home, Sal," the prick said. "Just thought you should know what it looks like in there. I think we’re all hopin’ that you can come up with my money as soon as possible, you know? Before somebody accidentally presses that big red button and opens those outer doors. You might also want to be prayin’ that nobody tries boardin’ my ship until you do, Sal. I don't think you need me to tell you why." Then, suddenly, the guy was growling like an animal going for the throat. "Now get me my god damn money!"

Sal shook a little as he thought about that growl. Thinking of it he was actually grateful that Sin's mother wasn't still alive to hear it. Sal sighed and made himself turn the monitor off. Then he ran the numbers in his head. He could pull it off. He'd called in all of his debts and would even create one for himself, something he was loathe to do, but he would come up with the money. It was what happened after that that worried him.

Sal was under no illusions. This kid was scary and for way more reason than just that growl. He’d been raised by one of the craftiest villains Sal had ever worked with. That alone was bad. The kid understood the game. He understood the way it worked and knew that there were no rules. It was survival of the fittest and winner take all. He'd be thinking in terms of a double cross. He'd be looking for it and putting pieces into play to counter, pieces that Sal probably wouldn't see until they moved. But there was more than that, too.

Sal stood up and faced his office window. He stared at the ocean, hoping for some of the peace the sight normally brought him. It wasn't forthcoming. He knew who the boy's real father was. Anyone who'd ever met the guy would know the two were related. The kid looked just like him. Sal knew what the guy had been, too. What he'd done. He'd even employed him a few times. And if there were any doubts about how far the apple had fallen from the tree, one look into that kid's eye was enough to dispel them. The kid was a stone cold killer.

“You’re tappin’ ash onta the carpet,” Toni said from behind him.

Sal turned around. His eyes fell on Toni first and then moved to the cigar in his hand. He realized he was, too. He had been flicking the side of the cigar with his thumb without realizing it and the ash had fallen onto his wife’s cream carpet. The next thing he thought was that he needed to get it cleaned up or Linda would likely have headaches the next few times he was feeling frisky. That, in turn, led to the realization that he was actually worried about whether or not he could get his knob polished when his son’s life was in danger.

The next thing he knew he was screaming. He threw the cigar across the room and swept the ashtray and the books and pens and the fancy thing made of crystal balls right off his desk. It all hit the floor in a clatter and mess that Sal then stood there staring at with his pulse pounding in the big vein in his left temple. His right hand was clenching repeatedly into a fist.

“I am gonna kill this asshole,” Sal breathed.

“Just tell me what to do, Sally,” Toni said eagerly. “Just tell me what to do.”

Sal turned and looked at his nephew. The idiot was actually shifting from foot to foot like a ball player waiting on the next play. His chins and the swell of his gut were all bouncing and shifting as he did. For an instant an image went through Sal's mind. In that image there was a knife in his hand and the fat flesh of his nephew’s neck was laid open underneath it. Blood ran freely, like red water over the man’s shirt and onto his wife’s cream colored carpet. “Get away from me,” Sal hissed at him. “Get the FRAK away from me! I don’t want to look at your stupid, fat face anymore!”

Toni paled and grew still. “Sally, I…”

“You need to run, Toni,” Sal hissed at him, cold and harsh as a drawn blade. “Run and never stop running.”

Toni ran.

Sal watched him go. He heard the fool thundering through the house like a bull through a china shop, knocking things over that shattered on tiles. He heard his wife shout as something precious to her was destroyed. Sal thought of the mystery around what happened to Sin twenty jazura earlier that had left the boy afraid of both the dark and tight spaces. He thought of how Toni wouldn't look him in the eyes afterward. After a long, long moment he wondered who would find his nephew first, himself or Drakhar. Either way he didn't think Toni Azara was long for the world.

With that he put the boy from his mind. "Vincent," he said.

"Yes, mister Vasar," the man responded from the doorway, calm and cool as always.

Sal met his eye. "I need you to reach out."

"Sir?"

"I need you to reach out to your former acquaintances."

Vincent's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Mister Vassar, I severed all..."

Sal waved that away. "Please," he said with a pained expression. "Spare me. The main reason I hired you was to make sure they knew I was retired. Look, I need you to arrange a face to face with someone and your friends should be able to make it happen." Sal took a deep breath. He was pretty sure this was what it would feel like to make a deal with the devil. "I need to talk to Gil Jerigan."

[Triaxx2]

Next scene: Hayla sitting in a turret, raining IBL's at an otherwise harmless looking vessel...

[stads]

Next scene: Hayla sitting in a turret, raining IBL's at an otherwise harmless looking vessel...

oww would love to see that
guessing the ship belongs to her dress maker that got her size wrong

like the chapter am thinking there gone try and tag the money to see what drake's gone spend it on to try and predict his next move

thx for the new chapter and hope to see drake using the marine discount soon again

[Scion Drakhar]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter




18. Turn and Turn About


So, I woke up this morning after what very well may have been the first real sleep I've gotten since the terran military destroyed what I had built. I don't know if it was just the accumulated exhaustion of the past several weeks, or if it was havin' Gin out in the dark with me last night, or if it was hearin' Hayla express her loyalty to me or if it was a little bit of all a the above but whatever it was I slept like a brick. And when I woke up this mornin' I felt better than I have in a lifetime.

It was a nice wakeup, too. With Odin in charge of the ship and the ship still bein’ parked at the Terracorp HQ, and with Kao t’Kt and Latasha Seldon managing security and even training some new marines it felt like we could take some time to just relax. So when I woke up Gin was still in bed with me. Which also hasn’t happened a whole hell of a lot lately and is something I really enjoy. Wakin’ up to her just feels like ... well, like home. I don’t know how else to put it. It’s safe and warm and gentle, and in that peace before I'm really awake I can almost forget that I’m an evil man, and almost believe that there could be a happily ever after for me.

Of course, as I actually wake up and get movin’ that all goes away. I remember the many, many people who would like me dead. And I find that I know in my bones that I'm gonna die violently. Probably I'll go out accompanied by the silent flash of whatever ship I'm on goin' nuclear with me in it, or the rush and thunder and sudden silence of an explosive decompression. But there are other ways that are almost as possible. If Sal Vassar any of the pirates get a hold of me I'll prolly die very slowly and very painfully as I watch more and more of my body taken away from me by the attentions of a ball peen hammer or a pair of bolt cutters. You know I bet Sal'd prolly start with my nuts. Just to make sure I knew there was no hope, you know?

Anyway, after I was movin' I took the time to stretch out and even go through some yoga asanas, which I haven’t done since ... well, since I was sleepin’ on a different ship. While I was going through the poses I realized Gin was watchin’ me. I didn’t pay much attention to her doin' it or anythin’ as some of those poses just require too much concentration. But I could feel her eyes on me. I could feel her admirin’ me. And I liked it. After I showered we had breakfast together and again it was nice, you know? We sat there and chatted like normal people over good coffee and terrible food ... rehydrated c-rations. Yuck.

While we were eatin', though, it hit me all of a sudden like a bolt of lightnin'. I just might have the means to get back at least some of my money sittin’ in my brig right now. I've been so focused on Sin and Tony and Sal that I went and forgot all about Beni Goleman, who just may well be a goldmine. I mean, he's an investment banker. He set up the accounts for all these wise guys in the first place, just like he did for me. And since he provided Sin and Toni back door access to my accounts could he not do the same for me with theirs? At the very least it was worth some investigation.

So a little while later I found myself tryin’ to navigate through a part of the ship that I’d never seen before. I had an idea about how to proceed but I wanted to make sure it was possible before actin' on it. So I made my way down to the compartments that were bein’ used by Seldon and Kao t’Kt to train the newbies and after a couple of questions was finally directed to the cramped, crowded little office that Latasha Seldon was usin' to manage her charges. When I entered she was sittin' at a desk frownin' at the computer screen in front of her and mutterin' under her breath.

"Hey Gunny," I said sittin' down on the corner of her desk.

"Oh! Hey Skipper." She only glanced up for long enough to see who I was before lookin' back at that screen.

"Somethin' I can help you with?" I offered.

"Huh?" She glanced at me. "Oh! No. Just tryin' to figure out the logic behind this guys test answers." She looked up at me. "We've got a couple really good soldiers. I mean damn talented fighters, and they understand their way around the equipment as well as anybody I've ever worked with ..." She squinted at the screen again.

"But?"

"But they don't know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to engineering or electronics and..." She threw her hands up. "I don't know how to get through to this guy. I've told him the right way to bypass a Haleon four processor lock at least six times and he keeps tryin' to reverse the polarities at the primary power junction, which'd work for a Phoenix lock or one of those old Naginatas but the Haleon is just..." She sighed and looked at me. "Sorry, boss. I'm just at a loss."

I grinned at her. "Glad to see you're keepin' busy, Gunny." Behind her, through a clear polymer plastic window I could see Kao t'Kt workin' about twenty kids in PT gear in the big compartment they called the 'grinder.' I lifted my chin in his direction. "How's he doin'?"

She glanced over her shoulder. "Frank?" She said fondly. "He's a frakkin' machine. The other day one of the nuggets shot him with one of the phase rifles we use on the range. We keep 'em powered way down to conserve charge packs, and you don't exactly need much juice to practice your aim, but still! It's enough to burn the hell out of you if you get hit with one. He didn't say ouch or boo or nothin'. Just scowled at the kid in that scary way he has and took the gun away from him. Then he just keeps on workin' like nothin' happened."

"One of your recruits shot him?" I clarified.

She gave me a screwed up look. "It was an accident, Drake. The kid's a moron but he's not an asshole. In fact he spent the rest of the day waitin' for Frank to rip his head off."

I shook my head. "He still let's you get away with that, huh?"

"What? Callin' him Frank?" I nodded. "Actually since Gin told him what it meant I think he likes it."

I snorted.

"So come on, Admiral," she said and tapped my knee. "I know you love me but you didn't come down here just to shoot the shit. So spill it. Whatcha need?"

“Are you trainin’ anybody real computer savvy? Somebody smart enough to recognize if somebody's tryin' to pull a fast one?"

She rolled her eyes and snorted. Then thought about it. “Maybe." She met my eye. "Whatcha got in mind?”

“I have an idea. I wanna use that skinny little banker I’ve got in the brig to steal from the guys that stole from me. Thing is he’s-ah … not exactly reliable.”

“Yeah. He’s kinda twitchy, huh?”

“And then some. But he’s also got the account information for all these wise guys what want me dead anyway. Guys that have already decided it’s okay to steal from me." I couldn't help but growl it. Just thinkin' about it made me angry. "So," I went on, "I’m thinkin’ about turnin' the tables on 'em."

"So you need a watch dog." I blinked and she grinned at me. "Somebody to keep an eye on your banker while he steals from the guys that stole from you to make sure he doesn't try anything sneaky."

"Bingo," I said and pointed my finger at her. “Yeah, I need somebody I can put in between Beni and the outside world. Somebody who can do the typing for him, you know? Somebody smart and savvy enough to understand if the guy’s tryin’ to get slick. I mean Beni has no love for the guys he used to work for, but then…”

“He has no love for you either.”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. "I did threaten to kill him."

She nodded and thought about it. Then she looked at me. “Does Beni like girls?”

I raised an eyebrow. "Why yes. I believe he does. Whatcha thinkin'?"

"Well you know how it is, boss. God gave you guys two heads but only enough blood to run one at a time, right?"

I chuckled. "Yeah," I confessed. "I suppose that's true."

"Well, one of my girls is what you might call a 'tease.' She's got that whole naughty school girl thing going for her and she's reeeal good at getting all the guys worked up. We've already had to stop a couple fights." I grinned, likin’ where she was goin'. "She also happens to be really smart and a more than competent hacker. Having met the guy you've got in your brig my guess is she'll know what he's thinking before he does."

"Good." I nodded. "I like it."

“Good,” she smirked.

"Alright. I'll talk to Beni. If he agrees we'll let your girl ...?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Taylor," she supplied. "Iren Taylor."

"Taylor. Right. Okay if he agrees..."

"Which he will," Seldon grinned that obnoxious, face splitting grin of hers at me.

I nodded. "Which he probably will. If he agrees we'll give him to Taylor and he can show her how to steal from my old pals."

"Okey dokely, boss. Just let me know."

So I went to see Beni, who was of course overjoyed to see me. When I first got to the brig I checked in with the guard and had him show me Beni on the cameras. He was curled up in the corner of the cell, with his back up against a wall and his lips movin' around the thumb in his mouth. I couldn't hear anythin' but I'm pretty sure he was talkin' to himself.

"How is he?" I asked the guard.

"Annoying," the guy replied and scowled at the screen. "He keeps telling me how much trouble I'm gonna be in when you find out that I wouldn't let him call his girlfriend."

"Beni has a girlfriend?" I was shocked.

"Nah. I think he just wants to call a hooker."

I shrugged. "Or maybe the hooker is his girlfriend."

"Or he thinks so anyway." The guy met my eye. "He's not exactly what I'd call ... stable."

I looked at Beni shakin' his head as he talked to himself and grunted. "Tell me about it."

So I went and talked with Beni. Like Beni himself, it was annoying. The instant he saw me he jumped to his feet and ran across the room. He was shouting at me before I'd even opened the door. He's so excitable that he looks like a rag doll imitatin' popcorn. I don't know how else to describe it. It's just all over the top emphasis and him doin' jumpin' jacks to express himself. "Drake!" he shouts at me. "Drake! Oh my god! Drake! You have to get me OUT of here! You have to get me OUT of here!" Yeah, he says most things twice and uses his whole body to talk, standin' there bouncing on his toes and dry washin' his hands at me. "Do you know what they've been FEEDING me!" His volume alone makes me wince.

"Beni I'm the one that put you in here! Now shaddap!" I hit the button for the door and it slid open. Which is when Beni suddenly realized that there was nothing in between him and me, and maybe remembered who I am cos he stepped back. I fixed him with my eye. "I have a question for you."

"Drake! No! Really! You don't understand! It's this green paste that looks like baby shit and this brown paste that looks and SMELLS like...!"

"Oh for the love a ... BENI! You want better food!?" I ask.

"YES! Do you have any idea what this stuff is DOING to me! I LIVE on the toilet! It feels like I've got LIVE SNAKES crawling around in my guts...!"

"Then help me get my money back," I tell him.

"What?!" It was a very girlish squeak and his eyes go so wide that I can see the whites all the way around. Then he starts to shake all over. "Drake no! NO! Do you know what they'll DO to me?!"

I take a step toward him and slap him in the mouth. Not hard enough to do any real damage but enough to get his attention. "You listen to me, Beni," I shake my finger under his nose. "You helped Sin and Toni steal from me."

"Drake!" he squeaks. "Drake I did ... I didn't want to! They MADE me!"

"And now I'm makin' you," I said and smiled at him. "You're conscience is clear, Beni. You're not the one makin' any of the decisions."

"Aaaah ..." I could see the wheels tryin' to turn and slapped him in the mouth again.

"Beni this is the way it is. You can help me, and thus prove your worth to me as a living, and semi sentient being, and thus justify the expense of keepin' you alive or I can stick you in an airlock and flush you with the trash." I grinned at him. "You're call." I took a step back and watched him grow pale. "I'll just let you think about it then." I stepped back out of the cell and made to hit the button that would close the door.

"Wait!" he shouts at me.

I blink, all innocent like.

"If I help you ... will you still make me eat the baby shit?"

"Beni if you get me my five hundred million back I'll get you fat on ambrosia and those perfect taurian steaks with truffles and real vegetables and anything else you want."

"Taurian steak?"

I grinned. "Can you get me my money back?"

"Well," he looked disappointed. "No. They already spent it." I started to scowl. "But!" he held up a finger. "What I can do is... " he blinked. "I can get you into their accounts. A-and I can move the money around so that it can't be traced back to you! And I know all the loopholes for turning a few million credits into a LOT more! I mean hell! Drake! Buddy! If you've got the money I can make you a FORTUNE! I mean that-that's what I do! Right?! That's what they pay me for!"

I must have looked skeptical cause he started rattlin' on about cycles in demand and supply and how those cycles could be manipulated with short term investments to provide massive return if somebody had enough money. And there were always shady little deals going on that if you knew about and were willing to invest and then sell at the right times you could make a killing. In other words it went over my head in the first couple of sentences. But I was willing to test it.

"Alright, Beni," I said.

"Alright?"

I nodded. "I'm gonna send somebody down here in a little bit and they'll set you up with what you need. The first thing I want you to do is drain both Sin's and Toni Azara's accounts. You can use what they have as startup capital."

He started to tremble and I grinned at him.

"What?!" I laughed. "Hey! They got to get through me to get you, right?"

His eyes glazed over and I hit the button to close the plastic door. I didn't bother raising the repulsor field though. "Drake! Hey can I have a shower first? And some clean clothes?! You made...!" his voice trailed off but I still heard him, "...you made me piss in these pants."

[Zaitsev]

I think I'm gonna lose my voice from all the sqeeing. Can't wait to see where this is gonna end up

[Nathancros]

my bet on what he is doing is stock market manipulation


poor poor beni, shouldn ta stolen Drakes money


Keep on rollin scion

[blacksteel27]

once again simply amazing if more books were written like this i'd own a library. beni might have a bladder problam haha

[Triaxx2]

The name that stuck was Weasel. They called him that because he was classically able to weasel his way out of just about anything.

Oh, how he wished he was able to weasel his way out of this. He'd been stuck in the ship with two large, angry Split females. The fact that he had both taken the time to change the ID of the ship, so it was no longer a target for all the people who wanted to kill Drake and everything associated with him. Just to ensure he was as far as possible from that, he'd headed south out of Avarice, the intent being to swing west towards Argon Prime. Unfortunately, at the time, the Boron were fighting a Brigantine and the fight was taking longer than expected. Particularly when a Galleon arrived through the West Gate to reinforce. Weasel had headed for the South gate instead.

Heading all the way through the southern Paranid expansion was an effort in patience. The two females kept looking very nervous, particularly every time he docked somewhere to trade. They refused to speak in anything resembling a normal voice, and so he'd eventually resorted to simply locking the cockpit behind himself. He'd found it only helped slightly. Shooting the intercom was more helpful. Evacuating the air between the two airlock doors helped more. He was sleeping in the cockpit. He took several deep breaths, as he saw the western gate to Barren Shores.

"I hatesssss my job."

[Knucles2]

Good to see you back Sci. Good to have Drake and Co back too.

I can't wait to see just how talented Beni is...and Iren Taylor