Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning

Four hours wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was four hours of sleep or no sleep, even if Kysaek had laid down on the bed with half her armour on. She had taken off the upper part, including her weapons, and that was enough. When the soft sound of her vortex cuff woke her up, Kysaek had no trouble straightening her upper body. She had simply lain on the bed without covering or wrapping herself up. ‘That felt good,’ she yawned and looked at her discarded torso armour. ‘I don’t need you for now.’ She was still wearing her practical, short-sleeved crew shirt. So there was no need to go to the trouble of putting it on again. But what she did before she left her cubicle was vital. ‘I definitely need you,’ she smiled as her fingers clasped the warm metal mug from which the smell of freshly brewed and just poured black coffee emanated. It was quieter on the way to the meeting room. During her sleep, she had received a message on the vortex cuff. As planned, the Nebula had detached from the enemy ship after extracting all the data and destroyed it by remote detonation. Only a few crew members were hit on their route. The rest were probably taking an equally well-deserved break or were otherwise engaged on the ship. Nevertheless, Kysaek was surprised when she was supposedly the first one in the briefing room.

Most of the equipment was opposite the entrance, with some space in between. From the door, the path lowered after a few metres and cut through a single-tiered semi-circle surrounding a hollow. There were no chairs, except for a few sturdy steel pillars at the top of the semicircle. It was anyone’s guess, as the design of the Luna Alliance was completely different, but the pillars were more likely to serve as seats for the massive species, such as Hishek, Eporanians or even large Davoc, while the surfaces of the semicircle acted as seats for the rest. However, it all boiled down to the fact that everyone’s gaze inevitably went to the hollow and the wall behind it. There hung the strips of a large, inactive holoscreen, which was designed so that someone could walk back and forth underneath it without obscuring the view and at the same time operate the screen using a kit.

‘You don’t see that every day,’ Kysaek marvelled as she shuffled through her coffee. However, she was not concerned with the nature of the room, but with what she saw on the holoprojector in the hollow.

Sharp teeth, between which the clacking sounds of Vorrn’s sleep came through. Stretched out and with his back on one side, the Hishek simply lay on the surface of the projector and slept. He hadn’t bothered to get rid of his equipment and made a truly obscure image, with one leg hanging over the edge and the lizard’s tail swaying back and forth from time to time.

He could do with a coffee too, Kysaek thought, and went downstairs. She thought that Vorrn looked quite peaceful and could almost tempt you to see him as a sociable chap. But because she only had her own mug, Kysaek couldn’t offer him coffee, so she was at least going to hold her mug to the Hishek’s nostrils when she suddenly heard the loading of a gun and froze.

‘Any closer and it’s your in trouble,’ Vorrn murmured, eyes narrowed.

‘Hey slow down, it’s just me.’

’I know. I smelled you,’ the Hishek replied, slowly opening his eyes. He watched Kysake as she stepped back before Vorrn slowly rolled his masses around and even his mechanical arm cannon, he had still had over his short paw while sleeping. ‘Were you going to pour that swill on me?’

‘Not really, and would you even feel the heat with your thick skin?’

’Knives break off my scales and some bullets get stuck. What do you think?’

‘That your underside can’t take that much,’ Kysaek countered, sipping her coffee with relish.

‘Clever girl,’ Vorrn murmured as he landed with his feet and all his weight on the ground again. ‘How do you know that?’

‘Alliance basic training, theory: weak points of alien opponents.’

’Theory is nothing compared to practice. That’s why in the Hishek warrior caste you’re sent out again and again and have to kill a predetermined number of each species. Personally, I have done more than required.’

Was the Hishek in a chatty mood or not quite awake yet? Whatever it was, Kysaek was learning about him for the first time. ‘And this won’t cause any diplomatic incidents?’

’Not if you don’t get caught and mainly we pick out criminals, like pirates or slavers. If a target doesn’t fight back, how are we supposed to learn from it?’

‘Combat training also fulfils its purpose,’ Kysaek replied, but she knew that the Hishek was not wrong. She remembered her first, real and only mission. Her unit rushed to the aid of a city on a colony planet that was under attack by pirates. Actually being exposed to danger and death and seeing comrades wounded and dying had been more than just a hard test for her. It was her last, in the Alliance. ’I remember my first battle. We were fighting pirates who were attacking a town and when it really started, I was paralysed for a few seconds.’

‘Yes, the first moment that decides everything,’ Vorrn recalled familiarly. Although he was a much more experienced soldier, a fighting machine that every rational mind should respect, he too had once started small. ’That’s why we send our warriors out in training, so that they experience that first moment alone as early as possible. If they fail, they never return and endanger no one. It’s foolish to train soldiers only to find out in war whether they’re any good.’

‘That’s debatable.’

Instead of saying no, Vorrn chose a question in a doubtful tone. ’How big was your unit before your first major battle? How much smaller was it afterwards?’

She would have preferred not to remember, but Kysaek remembered the numbers perfectly and said them guiltily. ’There were sixty of us. Almost all of them died. Only a few, like me, escaped unscathed and four were so badly wounded that they left the service afterwards.’

Vorrn clearly took note of the undertone of the statement, but he did not elaborate. ’There were twenty of us, against one hundred renegade Palanian militants. They attacked a small town on one of our fringe worlds. Every one of them saw their spirits. Not a single one of us went to our ancestors.’

‘What does that prove?’ Kysaek replied indignantly. She had lost good friends in her first battle and did not want to have their bravery and sacrifices devalued by the Hishek.

‘That we’re doing it right,’ Vorrn countered icily and, even if you wouldn’t like to admit it, had a solid point. ‘Perhaps your fallen would still be alive today to tell stories of that battle if the Alliance handled it the same way.’

’Battles, battles. That’s all that matters for you, isn’t it?’ asked Kysaek, she wanted to end the topic with the first battle and trying to understand Vorrn was a good way ’Is that why you’re here? You come from this warrior caste and want to prove yourself to her in great battles? To be a hero?’

Suddenly, Vorrn’s mood and need to speak turned back to the usual, indifferent and brusque. ‘Spare me your naive and short-sighted mentality,’ he huffed, turning away from the woman, tail swinging. ‘The history lesson is over.’

‘Please, then I can enjoy my coffee,’ Kysaek lifted his shoulders, but that was wishful thinking. The coffee was only lukewarm and so she grimaced. ‘Urghs.’ At least she was able to cover up the feelings that were bubbling up inside her from the Alliance memory. It wasn’t the few paralysing seconds in Kysaek’s first battle that had been so bad, but what came afterwards and she simply never wanted to think about that again.

‘You’re pretty mean,’ came a man’s voice at the entrance. Wolfgang strode down to the hollow, closely followed by squad leader Stemford, and sneered at Kysaek’s Urghs. ‘Our scar-face isn’t that ugly after all.’

The Hishek didn’t respond, not even with a facial expression, while Kysaek set her nearly empty metal cup down on the edge of the holoprojector. ‘That was actually an uncanny premonition on my part, a shiver down the back of my neck and there you are.’

‘God always punishes the right people sooner or later.’

‘Let’s hope that’s true,’ nodded Kysaek. Not everyone was there yet, but she activated the holoscreen and projector. It was the excuse to hide her face and front from those present. Why had she let her guard down and told Vorrn about well-hidden memories? It made her tremble as she downloaded the first information. ‘With PGI, your furious avenger is taking a hell of a long time.’

’It only takes so long to make the case all the deeper. God knows what he’s doing. You’ll see.’

‘I can hardly wait,’ Kysaek said and grabbed her cup again. It wasn’t so much for her to drink from, but so that she could wrap her fingers around the metal as a firm grip, a conductor of her emotions. ’Who I don’t see, though, is Dorvan. Is he still repairing his bot?’

‘That is correct,’ the Davoc’s voice rang out in the room. ’I’ve tapped into the ship’s internal communications and sensors. I see and hear everything, just like the human god.’

Wolfgang raised an eyebrow suspiciously and looked up at the ceiling with a warning finger. ‘Are you seriously comparing yourself to God?’

‘In terms of my form of presence, it seemed the perfect paradigm.’

Despite all his intelligence, the scientist seemed a little like a disgruntled child whose favourite toy had been touched or even stolen without permission. ’I like your way of thinking and the fact that there’s someone with a special mind on board, but I say no! Very bad, bad, bad! Don’t do that! - You may stand below the master, but avoid his eye level!’

‘I wasn’t aware of that, I’ll adjust my behaviour,’ Dorvan said woodenly. ‘Should there be a similar situation in the future, I will fall back on the faith of the Davoc and the three brothers.’

‘Good man.’

Vorrn looked at the projection and vague details of a space station that resembled a handle with a plate spinning around on it. ‘A communications station?’

‘Yes,’ nodded Kysaek, who had to make up her own mind first. The fact that she saw it must mean that Galaen had been successful. ’The science officers spoke of it. They were supposed to collect the object on Arche, carry out initial tests and then send the results to this station. I just wonder how Vol’Ril knows the location.’

‘I thought the one on Arche was the big lead,’ Vorrn said, tapping his mechanical weapon arm against the projector. Despite being a mercenary and bounty hunter, he seemed less than thrilled that this was turning into a protracted hunt, piece by piece. ‘Tell me that’s not all we have to work with.’

‘From what the officers have told us and what I’m reading from the recovered data from the ship, I’m afraid we have to.’

’Not necessarily. I have an alternative.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Cipi,’ Vorrn suggested. He was undoubtedly not joking as he raised his weapon arm and stared at the image of the station. ‘Let’s go to the source and get all the information we can from Skarg.’

Even if the Hishek was serious, Kysaek couldn’t help but ask sceptically. ‘You’re seriously suggesting that we storm the PGI headquarters and grab Skarg Peeks?’

‘I’d prefer a brutal death for him, but we need the slimy squid alive.’

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ said Wolfgang pompously and promptly. All he needed was a drum roll for his nasty objection to the Hishek. ‘The reason for the extinction of the earthly dinosaurs - they were idiots, like our scaly friend here.’

This did not provoke Vorrn. ‘Better suggestions, Doctor Superstition?’

’Read, read, read and read. We have so much data. Sometimes you have to look at something several times to fully understand it.’

‘Your thesis may be correct, Doctor Schaefer,’ Dorvan agreed, but the Davoc didn’t stay on that side. ’However, I’ve already looked at the records one hundred and twenty-two times without success. The information has been deliberately vague and I’m afraid it also contains a lot of code words that are impossible to decipher. Unless we had a PGI list of these code words.’

‘There you go, that’s a clever approach.’

‘We can only speculate here and my guess is that these lists are reserved for the highest ranks of the company,’ Dorvan said, but there was more. The Davoc had to run through possibilities after possibilities in his rapidly working mind, like a high-performance machine. ’The prerequisite is that such a list exists. PGI could also work with temporary terms, customised for each mission.’

‘I agree,’ a female voice from Hinte chimed in. Everyone turned to the source, the Galaen who had just entered. ’Professional military secret operations always use new code names. Only the highest commanders alone normally know the meaning of the words.’

‘Problem recognised,’ Wolfgang nodded again with conviction. ‘Let’s get one of the big ones in the company.’

‘And who?’ asked Galaen as she came to a halt in front of the projector and looked at what was being shown.

Kysaek had the same question. ’Yes, who is it? We need to find out who is involved in all this and who knows enough. This is turning into an endless search. A needle in a haystack.’

‘Skarg knows,’ Vorrn remarked again. He stuck to his idea of hitting PGI right in the heart. A ludicrous plan. ’Or we could at least take out the communication station. I could at least fight and the smart ones can go back to searching their beloved data. A win-win for everyone.’

‘I see this as a last resort,’ said Galaen as she carefully scrutinised the available information. Despite the tedious questioning from before, the Palanian seemed indefatigable when it came to her duties. ’I doubt we have the strength to capture this important station or get useful information in time. Until we can recover data, the site is more likely to be destroyed or anything important deleted.’

Vorrn sighed. ‘Even though this is less my style, what if we infiltrate the station?’

’To do that, we’d need knowledge of the structure and internal processes, which we’d also have to get hold of first. It seems to me that we need to return to reconnaissance. After all, that’s the basis of every mission and increases our chances immensely.’

‘Come on!’ groaned Kysaek, thundering her now sloshing cup onto the projector. She crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling for a moment in frustration as she walked. ’We’re going round in circles here. Reconnaissance is all well and good, but what are we supposed to spy on? The station? A new target that we have to track down again? The game is in real danger of repeating itself. We don’t know where to go. We find a crumb, follow it and then the crumb doesn’t belong to the right piece and we look for a new trail that we don’t know about.’

Galaen tried to calm the situation. ‘I understand your frustration, but sometimes finding the truth takes a long time.’

‘But we’re not investigators or lawyers and this isn’t a normal crime,’ said Kysaek. She was rested and didn’t express dissatisfaction because she had been chasing the truth for the longest time. Instead, she put herself in the shoes of her companions and the new, fresh crew. Yes, everyone was still full of beans and eager for everything, but that wouldn’t last forever and she wanted to prevent that. ’Think about it, everyone. Small victories are nothing bad and are a sign against PGI, but at some point it will wear everyone down if we’re always just poking around in the dark. Believe me, I know and I want to spare the crew that feeling.’

Whether it was Galaen, Wolfgang, Stemford or even Vorrn - all remained silent and their faces revealed that they were thinking about what had been said or even remembering their own experiences. ‘I’m on your side,’ Dorvan said. ‘Only what do you think we should do?’

‘That’s the thing,’ Kysaek sighed, looking up again. ’I don’t know, but I don’t want things to go on like this. I’m sorry.’

’I don’t see the reason for your apology. You are sincere and, as the doctor said, you have recognised the problem. This allows you to move in new directions.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

’Maybe we’re focussing too much on PGI. Why don’t we change course and go to Roskor Reed?’

’Do you think he knows more? Do you think Peeks has let him in on his plans?’

‘The probability is close to zero, but the two of them have an intensive partnership and we know what Reed is procuring for PGI, among other things,’ said Dorvan, and he was absolutely right. If there was one thing the Nebula crew knew, it was what Roskor Reed was doing for PGI and they were reminded of what the thug was. ‘Besides, he’s the biggest weak spot, of Skarg Peeks.’

‘Yes, he is,’ Wolfgang nodded with conviction. He walked round the projector thoughtfully, stroking his beard with his index finger. ’Tracking down Trayden and what happened here on Arche are the biggest successes for us so far, and all of that is down to Reed. He’s the one powerful element that Peeks doesn’t have fully under control.’

‘And the partners’ trust is probably pretty shaken right now,’ Kysaek agreed. This uncertain approach appealed to her more than pursuing another uncertain lead at PGI itself. ‘Tavis might have an idea, too, if he-’

‘I’m only too happy to interrupt your ramblings,’ Selok’s voice came over the room’s speakers. ‘I have the detection signal from Tavis on the line.’

Kysaek grinned. ’Speak of the devil. Are they both all right?’

‘That’s for you to find out,’ Selok grumbled nastily. ’I only get the signal and a short text. They want to speak to you urgently at the port. Apparently I’m not good enough for them, arrogant lot.’

‘Just me?’ Kysaek listened anxiously and looked back and forth among those present. ’I’ll take care of it. You all stay on the case with Reed. I like that more.’

‘At your command!’ saluted Galaen and Stemford. Dorvan remained silent, Wolfgang just shrugged his shoulders and Vorrn picked something out of his teeth with his tongue.

‘I love our vigour,’ said Kysaek, now a little happier again, and left the room. She became more and more accustomed to the unusual constellation that had formed around her.

She walked along the ship’s main corridor towards the bridge. Two doors ahead was the darker, small communications room and its installed projection platforms.

A red button was already lit up at the port, which Kysaek pressed. ‘I was getting worried,’ she said with relief as the sensors around her scanned her body so that her physical form could be transmitted. ‘Are you all right?’

A projection had to be created opposite her as well, tall and stocky as Thais were wont to be, but it wasn’t the Talin and it certainly wasn’t a woman. ‘They’re fine, still,’ replied a smoky male voice. A light-skinned man, about forty years old, bald with a bushy blond beard and a smoking cigar in his mouth, was produced on the platform.

‘What the?’ Kysaek widened her eyes in shock and gripped the port’s bars tightly in front of her. ’Who are you? And how did you get our detection signal?’

The man remained calm and determined at the same time. ’Isn’t that obvious? I got it from your Palanian friend, Tavis Ciran.’

‘If you’ve done something to my people, then-!’

‘Clean your ears, I just said something about that,’ the man replied, crossing his arms. He didn’t look like a PGI soldier. Rather, he had the look of a Reed bat and considerable, combative upper arms. You couldn’t quite tell from his girth. More pleasure than combat. ‘Thais and Tavis are alive and that won’t change if you listen carefully now.’

’You want me to listen? With a name, it’s easier for me,’ Kysaek grated, her pulse pounding to the max. The stranger had the recognition signal, but did that mean he was telling the truth? It was difficult for her, to say the least, not to dash off like a beast.

‘That’s only fair,’ the man nodded and took an icy drag on his cigar. ‘My name is Leopold Stein and I’m part of the Network, if you’ve heard of us.’

‘Are you serious?’ Kysaek asked, because that couldn’t mean anything good. ‘You’re from the Network?’

‘The real deal.’

Kysaek immediately believed the man about his origins and also about Thais and Tavis. The Network was a notoriously radical group, dedicated to protecting and caring for the weak and acting unconditionally and ruthlessly against what they deemed unjust. Often enough, there were bad free riders or fraudsters who misused the Network’s name for their own purposes, but it did not tolerate any of this and was particularly brutal in such cases. That was why Kysaek was sure that Leopold wasn’t a liar, whether it was about affiliation or death threats, and her tone became more cautious. ’I can hardly imagine what the Network wants from my crew and me. So why did you capture Thais and Tavis? Are we on your hit list? Is it the bounty?’

’It wasn’t planned, if that’s what you mean. The bounty is tempting, but it’s not a reason for us either, and believe it or not, the Network is very much in favour of your group’s actions.’

’Then why this appearance here? It’s hindering our progress.’

’Temporarily, perhaps. However, we have a problem that is not only hindering us, but could cause us considerable damage, and when your people ran into us during the fighting on Arche, we recognised an advantageous opportunity to resolve our situation.’

‘And asking normally wasn’t inside?’

‘No. We wanted to be absolutely sure that you would accept.’

Was it wise to bluff? Should Kysaek pretend that Thais and Tavis were expendable? No, she decided against it. Both their lives were too important for her to risk and although she didn’t know what to do, she had already accepted it. ‘And if I had refused?’

’Your people would be dead and we wouldn’t have lost anything. But you would. But let’s get to our demand,’ Leopold said weightily, the tip of his cigar glowing fiery red from the deep puff he was taking. ‘There are two people who will be transported to a prison by the Greedy Fangs in five days’ time. We want you to free them and hand them over to us. In exchange, you get your people back and we can be friends again.’

‘When were we friends?’

‘Would you rather have us as enemies?’

‘I’d rather have nothing to do with the Network at all,’ Kysaek murmured, pulling in her lower lip briefly. ‘So if we take care of this, can I really assume that you’ll never put us in a situation like this again?’

‘Unless you give us cause, probably not.’

‘Probably not?’

‘What can I say,’ Leopold raised his shoulders and spoke freely. ’I don’t promise anything that can’t be permanent. We actually wanted to do this ourselves and hired a team on Arche and had been preparing for it for a few weeks, but then PGI suddenly turned up and attacked Roskor Reed. Apparently there was trouble between the partners.’

Did a new opportunity appear on the horizon for Kysaek? ‘You know that PGI and Reed are working together?’

‘It’s an open secret, if you look hard enough.’

‘What do you know?’

’Probably less than you do. We had a few people infiltrate the company once and they had got far. Unfortunately, it wasn’t far enough and they got caught. So there’s nothing you could get from us. We would have done it ourselves if we could.’

‘Like freeing the two people?’

’PGI’s attack and the resulting chaos in Arche cost us material, lives and valuable preparation time. In this state, our plan would be much riskier and then fate dealt us a new card.’

‘A new card,’ Kysaek repeated meekly, looking guiltily to the side. Not only had she sent Thais and Tavis to Arche, she had also given the network reason to capture them. Fortunately, Leopold didn’t seem to know that the Nebula crew had caused the attack on the mercenary hoard. Had he known, the cost of that decision might have been even greater, if not final, but that was little consolation to Kysaek right now. Her companions were in grave danger because of her and she was determined to make up for that mistake. Never again would her companions die. ’You said it cost you a lot. We’ll do it, but do you really expect us to plan and execute in five days what you’ve had weeks to do?’

Leopold’s cigarette was half burnt down and he stubbed it out on one of his scratched, plastic bracers. ‘You’ve built up quite a reputation over the last few months,’ the man said in appreciation. ‘So would it surprise you if I said yes to this?’

’Surprised? No. But I was hoping for a no.’

‘Surprise - you’ll get both from me,’ Leopold revealed, pulling a data pad out of his waistcoat. ’You have five days. We don’t care how you do it. However, we will send you all the information we have gathered. Details of your destinations, the nature of the dock, the structure of the transporter, manpower, flight route, entry and exit points of the IPF, simply everything important. What you make of it is up to you. So we have an agreement?’

Kysaek took her time, but what she was doing it for, she didn’t really know herself. There was no bluff, no trick or the help of her brash mouth that would allow her to take advantage or change the terms. She wasn’t even interested in who exactly she was supposed to free, because all that mattered to her were her companions. ‘We do have an agreement,’ she said obediently. ‘We will free the two prisoners and exchange their lives for those of Thais and Tavis.’

‘Great,’ Leopold said, rubbing his hands together. ’If you’re successful, contact us again on this frequency and we’ll give you the coordinates of our rendezvous point. See you around.’ The transmission broke off and it became darker again at the port.

Kysaek’s hands still gripped the bars in front of her in silent anger, and had she been a Davoc, Scythian or Epöran, the material would have been broken long ago. Instead, she hung her head. ‘Did you hear everything?’

‘Yes,’ Selok replied indecisively over the loudspeaker. ’That’s a load of rubbish. The Network is sending the data packet right now. Orders?’

‘Guess what,’ Kysaek breathed out in frustration, her upper body sagging, but if they could, her eyes would have pierced the strongest steel by now. ’Set a course, close to our destination. We will retrieve Thais and Tavis!’