Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning

The new plan was in place and the bar had served its purpose. A good distance away from her and on the less crowded streets of the mercenary stronghold, only Tavis and Dorvan’s bot were still with Kysaek, but she felt safer than before. Every stranger and scum was out of her way. Her destination was the nearest freighter landing site, where she intended to question and, if necessary, bribe the supervisor in charge to learn the whereabouts of Reed’s henchmen. In Tavis and Dorvan’s opinion, at least, that was better than taking the too-obvious route of a Seeker. Kysaek would have preferred it if the Davoc hacker had tracked down the gang, but unfortunately he had too little information and therefore couldn’t find the location of the wanted people in the local network.

‘Which way?’ asked Tavis, who always had one hand on the plasma shotgun on his belt. ‘I’m having trouble orientating myself.’

Dorvan’s bot was not familiar with this problem. ‘At this Ypsilon fork, we need to keep left,’ he said. The machine’s heavy footsteps kicked up the dust a little more, but unlike the Palanian, the bot didn’t seem to be in alert mode. ’I don’t quite understand how a practised criminal like you can have such problems in Arche. Isn’t that your terrain?’

’It may be stable, but I don’t like this Hishek architecture. The stone buildings just all look the same to me and on Themis at least there were sometimes signs or markings and I’ve been there more than here.’

’Considering these factors, your disorientation makes sense to me. I’ll point the way ahead in time to spare you the embarrassment of the lapse.’

Tavis took the clearly unintentional jab with humour and gratitude. ‘That’s what I call real teamwork and I’ve got your back.’

’I really appreciate that and your praise is welcome. Soon there will be an alley on the left. We have to follow it.’

The alley in question led away from the busier streets. Everything became narrower, the few doors were barricaded and the tall stone houses cast their shadows. Some rather filthy crates, full of rubbish, took up even more space in the narrow area and at the other end of the path, two Palanian figures leaned against the walls. It was the perfect place for an ambush.

‘Wait!’ Kysaek raised her hand and stopped in the middle of the alley. She preferred to be a little too cautious about the two scaled individuals and was right. It wasn’t long before three more people pushed their way round the corner, five of them blocking the way.

‘It seems we’re surrounded,’ Dorvan said, as things were no different at the back of the group.

Two Talin and a Davoc, with a mechanical prosthesis for a right arm, emerged, the ape creature not as silent as the rest. ‘What do we have here,’ he said with mock regret. ‘Lost heroes, right?’

Kysaek went along with the little game. ‘We have our route and don’t need any help.’

’That’s what you think, but I’ve heard that your group has unfortunately dwindled. You need all the help you can get. Too bad for you and good for us.’

‘Don’t be too sure.’

The Davoc snapped his finger. ‘I don’t leave anything to chance either.’ On either side of the flat stone houses, a heavily armed henchman, a Hishek and a human appeared, but the Davoc held them back, savouring the moment. ’Mr Reed would love to do this himself after he heard you were here, but he’s busy and has given me a free hand. There’ll be a fat reward for us all.’

‘If you make it out of Arche alive!’ warned Kysaek to the Davoc. She then looked to Tavis and Dorvan’s bot, each armed and covering one side. The Palanian took up position under the stone arch of a door and the bot by a crate. ‘You all forget the one rule, don’t you?’

’And you probably haven’t been told what the unofficial rules are here. By the time the guards get here, we’ll be gone and you’ll be dead in this dark alley, but enough of this conversation. At-’

‘Wait!’ Kysaek implored him and got the chance to speak. ’This is all about me! Please let my companions go!’

The thug was partially impressed. ’I’ve heard that you like to play the hero, but do you really think I’m going to go for it? There’s a bounty for each of you!’

Kysaek countered boldly. ‘If you refuse, would you lay down your weapons and give up?’

The Davoc and his mob in the alleyway laughed cautiously as he clenched his mechanical hand into a victorious fist. ’Of course I will, after we kill you! Finish them off!’

Kysaek hurriedly took cover by Dorvan’s bot as Magnet weapon bullets flew from both sides, but not from above. The bombardment forced her and her companions to remain absolutely still until the attack suddenly stopped again.

‘What are you doing?’ shouted the Davoc. There was suddenly no sign of the henchmen on the roof. ‘You have the best position!’

The human gunman’s head slammed onto the edge of the roof, covered in blood. ‘Yeah, best position,’ Vorrn’s throaty voice came out moderately. His clawed foot came down gently on the human’s head and the lizard stretched out its respectful arm. ‘Lucky for you, we need some of you.’

‘Oh yeah?’ the Davoc puffed and raised his submachine gun. He didn’t even realise the trap that was snapping shut around him. Before he could fire, he was struck down, as were the two Talin next to him. At the other end of the alley, targeted stabbings ended the lives of the remaining crooks.

The bearers of the short blades belonged to the strike team of Kysaek’s new ship. ‘Good work!’ she shouted to the small unit.’ Make sure we don’t get any unexpected company from this direction!’

In the dust of Arche, Reed’s Davoc soon came to his senses, but all he could do was hold his head upright. ‘What, what happened?’ he asked confusedly, unable to get up.

Thai’s right foot was on the monkey’s back and she had her pistol slung over her left wrist. ‘I don’t think the fastest people work for Reed.’

‘Quite possibly,’ Kysaek admitted, coming closer and crouching in front of the slain trio. Forgotten for her was all the resentment, all the anger and what else had happened on the streets and in the bar, because it was all an act. This was the group’s real plan to lure Reed’s mob. ‘Awareness lesson for you all - you’ve fallen into our trap.’

‘Trap?!’ the Davoc groaned under the foot on his back. He would certainly have had the strength to stand up with a jerk, but he saw Thais’ weapon out of the corner of his eye. ‘What do you want from us?’

’Straight to the point, I like that. I want to know where the goods are that you’re supposed to hand over to PGI.’

‘How do you know about that?’

Wolfgang stood a little way behind Thais as the look-out. ‘I don’t think the blockhead knows how the question and answer game works.’

‘Not exactly, but actually his question is good so that he understands the situation,’ Kysaek said and demonstratively picked up her own pistol, which she swung around loosely as she made her slightly bluffing statement. ’PGI made a fatal mistake on Anuket and the crew there was captured. We know about the goods from you and have the full support of the Consulate. PGI’s end is only a matter of time.’

One of the Talin next to the Davoc, who was not held down by a foot, but still remained lying, thought this was a lie. ’You’re bluffing! If that’s the truth, where’s the Consulate?’

‘Been following the news lately?’ asked Tavis, leaning his shoulder against the wall of a house. ’Haven’t you heard anything about Neo Solaris suffering a heavy defeat on Anuket and all the praise being heaped on our now not-so-small group? I can’t imagine that.’

‘I know you had to run for your lives on Trayden, just like you ran from Reed on Themis and Central!’

‘Yes, but unlike on Themis, we totally destroyed PGI on Trayden.’

‘What’s going on here?’ growled a deep voice.

Kysaek jumped up and the rest hastily turned in Wolfgang’s direction, where one of Arche´s Hishek guards stood adjusting the automatic cannons on his back.

The Davoc on the ground laughed slyly, nostrils quivering as he squinted back ‘Looks like the question game is over!’

Everyone was ready, ready to attack the guard. At least it looked that way as everyone looked silently to the Hishek until the guard used his voice more discreetly. ‘I may be able to buy you another six or seven minutes,’ he said, deactivating his shoulder weapons. The guard had previously been bribed by the missing Vorrn and Thais. ‘I don’t want to see you here after that!’

‘We’ll hurry, as agreed,’ Kysaek replied, nodding.

The captive Davoc blinked. ’What, you brainless lizard! Do your job and help us!’

‘Let’s say ten minutes,’ the guard added before walking away without remorse, talking on his communicator. ’I haven’t found anything here. The shots must have come more from the north.’

’You bastard! Don’t leave me lying here like this! HEL-!’

Kysaek hit the Davoc with her pistol. ‘To the point now!’ she said far more quietly, but seriously. ‘I want to know where you have the goods and what they are, or things are bad, very bad!’

‘Or what?!’ the Davoc spat at Kysaek’s armoured boots. ’Are you going to kill us? You will either way, so I’ll ruin your plans!’

’Did you hear what I said? It’s all just a matter of time. This is all official business. Whether you say it or not only determines how long it takes. It doesn’t change the outcome.’

‘In that case, I can keep quiet!’

Thais gave the monkey a good stomping. ‘We only have a few minutes!’ she reminded him, ‘Let’s change the rule!’

‘I’m afraid we’ll have to,’ sighed Kysaek. She didn’t mind killing villains anymore, but she still wanted to avoid unnecessary violence or deaths, but one was sorely needed now, because there was no time for the other. ‘In the spirit of Arche, there is now one rule - the first who sings will live.’

The pistol raised immediately made all three prisoners look up, and the Davoc only saw himself confirmed. ’I knew it! Go on, shoot and alert a new guard!’

‘You’re a real smart arse!’ said Kysaek. The man was lying flat, but that wasn’t a problem. She picked up her new combat knife and held it to the Davoc’s throat. ‘Last chance!’

‘HEL-!’

Kysaek immediately slit the prisoner’s throat, causing his blood to shoot out of the wound in rapid spurts and he began to gasp bloodily. ‘One down!’ she threatened the Talin. ‘Who chooses life?’ The women spoke hastily, so that Kysaek couldn’t understand a word they were saying and rammed the knife into the ground. ‘Both of you be quiet!’ she ordered, and her fright silenced the Talin. ’And now one after the other. I’ll let you both live in return.’

‘On the northern outskirts of the city,’ gulped one of the women, whose chin and cheek were covered in a thick layer of dust. ‘There’s a landing site with a warehouse where we keep a machine.’

‘A machine?’ Wolfgang murmured curiously. ‘What kind of machine?’

The second Talin spoke more clearly. ’I think it’s a machine from the First! I’m too young to have been in the war, but the technology ... I’ve never seen technology like this before and it looks very special, with all that green glow and menacing red energy.’

‘Sounds familiar,’ Kysaek admitted, remembering Cipi’s lab and the facility on Trayden. ‘I want accurate data on the location of the landing site.’

‘I’ll need my vortex cuff for that.’

’Fine, but no tricks and don’t warn your friends. Dorvan, take over.’

‘Will do,’ replied the Davoc’s bot. Although he was kneeling next to Ksaek, he was still a good deal taller than her. He monitored Talin as she used her cuff and the machine received the necessary data. ’Confirming transmission. The location matches the map of Arche and I didn’t register any anomalies during the transfer.’

The second Talin shivered. ‘Are you satisfied now?’

‘How many of your people are there and what is their armament?’ enquired Kysaek. ‘Once we know that, we’re done.’

’There are about sixty guards now and they can put up a good fight. Reed has provided a lot of good equipment.’

‘You got what you wanted,’ the more nervous Talin murmured after him. ’So that’s it! Can we go?’

‘What do you think?’ asked Thais, who already had one finger on the trigger.

‘But you sa-’

‘We’ve been through this before.’

Indeed, that’s how it was going on Themis and Kysaek looked up at Thais. She stood up gently and shook her head resolutely. ‘A word is a word and I keep my word.’

‘You realise they wanted to kill you?’ Thais argued reasonably. She didn’t rush into anything, as she had done then, and waited to pull the trigger. ‘And if we let them go, they warn the rest.’

‘I agree with her,’ Tavis agreed. It was nothing personal. It was purely business for him. ‘Let’s make this quick and painless.’

The captive henchwomen anxiously awaited the inevitable, which Wolfgang wanted to hasten. ‘Could you finalise your liaison with the scum?’ he asked, tapping his wrist. ‘Because we’re going to have a problem here in a few minutes, in case that’s slipped your mind.’

Kysaek waved the prisoners up. ‘Get up and get out.’

The two Talin hesitated to obey the order when their mate was standing behind them with a weapon in her hand.

‘Are you sure?’ Thais asked emphatically. ‘The galaxy wouldn’t be any poorer without these two, and they certainly won’t be mourned.’

’Small fry. They know that the consulate is on the case and have seen what happens if they get in our way,’ said Kysaek, who repeated her wave and looked knowingly at the prisoners and then at Thais. ’And maybe they’ll learn from this mistake. They wouldn’t be the first to take a second chance.’

That memory of her old life and Kysaek’s will were enough for Thais today. ‘As you wish,’ she said and put her weapon away, just as Tavis did.

The prisoners rose cautiously, pushing their dropped submachine guns away with their feet. They also got rid of their simple, steel batons and then ran away.

It was a situation that Tavis and Thais were still unhappy with, but they accepted it and kept quiet.

Vorrn did not from above. ‘They weren’t worth it anyway,’ the Hishek said. ‘And since they’ll probably betray us, we’re in for a lot of fun at the landing site.’

‘We may have gained new strength, but an assault should be the last option,’ said Tavis, walking out of the alley with Dorvan, Kysaek, Thais and Wolfgang. ’And there will be no difference. Whether we or Reed’s people start the fight, Arche’s guards will destroy both sides.’

‘Not if we’re fast enough!’ laughed Vorrn, retreating to the roof as well, leaving only the dead in and above the alley.

Vorrn’s daring wish remained what it was - a wish. At least for the time being. Said landing spot wasn’t hard to find, but it was really well guarded and Reed’s people wouldn’t let anyone, not even Arche’s guards, anywhere near it. However, it didn’t seem like the released Talin had warned their allies. That the group sent to kill Kysaeks had failed and would never report back also seemed to have no visible effect on Reed’s people. For two days, Kysaek’s group watched the site, unable to make a realistic plan. An outright attack was the last straw, and even when a day later a vision-robbing sandstorm swept over the city, Kysaek decided against an infiltration or an eavesdropping attack. She even tried to get in contact with Taer and wanted to tell him about the forbidden technology, but Vorrn strongly advised against it, because the boss of Arche didn’t care how illegal anything was and would have killed her for knowing about it. This was Taer’s business and he didn’t even fear the possible justice of the Spectrum, the Rangers or the High Sentinels.

Everything was in Kysaek’s hands and yet she was on a very short leash and it was becoming more likely every day that PGI could turn up. Her lead was melting away ‘I hate to say it, but Vorrn might get the fight he wanted,’ she mused. The evening dawned and she surveyed the landing site from an abandoned flat, devoid of any furniture, on the top floor of a large stone building.

Dorvan’s bot was at her side. ‘You hate to say it, but by saying it, you increase the chances of this questionable variable.’

‘Nice quandary, isn’t it?’

’I’m not very good at that sort of thing. My solutions are usually mathematical in nature and so there is no dilemma for me. All my problems can be solved with numbers, but they won’t do anything to these guards. So I see this as a variable that I minimise in order to reduce the probability of occurrence.’

That was a lot of words for Kysaek, who had almost lost her train of thought from the word mathematical onwards, and that’s how she looked. In the end, she only held on to the word reduce, which for her summarised the whole verbiage as follows ‘So you don’t like fighting?’

’Yes, I’ve rarely been involved in physical altercations of any kind and when I have, I’ve only defended myself. I’ve never, absolutely never, sought out conflict or done things like this.’

For Kysaek, a little chat was always better than watching the landing site in silence. ‘Principles, eh?’

‘That’s right.’

’I like that attitude. But it gets difficult when good intentions and reality collide.’

‘Like a few days ago?’ asked Dorvan’s bot unobtrusively. He just stood there next to the doorless frame of the room entrance, almost motionless, like an object. Only the varying glow of the eye glass strip and the constant lighting up of the mouth-speech box testified to the bot’s liveliness. ’If I may be so bold as to say so, that was a confused situation. Everyone but you and I seemed to disagree with the wish for mercy and almost defied the order.’

’Thais, Tavis and Wolfgang just wanted to be safe, while Vorrn ... well, I have no idea what drives him. He just seems to like fighting and killing. I don’t want to be like that.’

’There are different types of fighting. You can also harm without harming.’

’What are you? A priest?’ Kysaek replied, amused and sceptical. Everything on Ark was covered in dust, including the floor of this room. Nevertheless, she sat down cross-legged near Dorvan and ate a field ration, a handy nutrition bar. ‘How do you harm without harming?’

Merely the bot’s head, made a ninety-degree turn towards the sitter and lowered its gaze. ‘Numbers, names, communication links, anything that can be considered data by definition,’ Dorvan said. A thin holo beam came out of his glass eye and projected in the air just that, some numbers and names. ’Ever since I can remember, this has been my kind of fight. I find these things and steal them, but only from those who deserve it.’

’You? A thief?’ Kysaek asked, surprised at the moment. On the other hand, she knew that hacking and infiltrating systems wasn’t exactly the kind of job you peddled.

‘Correct.’

‘Tell me,’ Kysaek murmured, almost choking. Part of the bar disintegrated into crumbs and landed on her armoured knee, which she wiped with her hand. ’Where did you learn all this? Who trained you?’ It was a question that made Dorvan laugh moderately, but honestly, and Kysaek followed up. ‘Is that a funny story?’

Dorvan’s response was immediately restrained again. ‘Forgive me, please,’ he asked affectedly. ’That wasn’t intentional. I didn’t mean to make fun of you.’

’Don’t worry, go ahead. I think that was the first time I’ve seen you, how do you say? Loose. Please, tell me why that made you laugh.’

‘Well, now,’ Dorvan hesitated. His machine was artificial, a stiff steel construct and emotionless, but the Davoc transferred his uncertainty to the bot, who nervously clasped his hands together. ’You can learn all this, no question. Real hackers and masters of numbers, however, are natural talents. Their language is understood throughout the universe. Everything just makes sense to them and their minds are mostly pure chaos, but they still get everything right.’

‘Like eccentric child prodigies or artists?’

’Not necessarily, but most people would probably call them that. That’s why it is a generally apt formulation.’

‘And you?’ asked Kysaek. She had never met a child prodigy before. ‘Have you always been a natural talent?’

‘Always have been,’ Dovan replied. He dropped his bot onto one knee and stowed his steady hands on it. ‘Ever since I was a little jumper.’

‘Jumper?’

’A typical folk term among Davoc, for their children. They are wild, climb, romp and jump around wildly.’

‘And your parents recognised that straight away?’

‘Negative, because I didn’t have any.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Kysaek said, feeling slightly uncomfortable and looking away. ‘I didn’t want to open any old wounds.’

’You didn’t. So there’s no reason why you should be sorry,’ Dorvan said, unaffected. The machine made it difficult for him to show emotion anyway, as he had done before with his hands, and the Davoc’s voice remained unchanged. ‘You lacked this information and you don’t get information by keeping quiet.’

’So you were an orphan then? Who did you live with?’

‘This may seem strange to you now, but I’ve always been alone and the very first thing I can remember is standing at a public terminal as a boy of maybe six and hacking foreign currency.’

Indeed, that sounded strange to Kysaek. ‘You were hacking?’ she asked. Somehow Dorvan must have grown up and survived. He couldn’t have just appeared at this terminal out of nowhere. ‘And you have no idea what happened before that or how you got there?’

’No. All I know is that I was very hungry and somehow I knew I needed the currency and I got it. Then I bought as much food as I could carry and looked for a safe place to sleep.’

‘Where was that?’

‘On the edge of human territory, on a then-fresh colony world of humanity called New Edge,’ Dorvan said. It was his story, his childhood, and the Davoc spoke of it as if it were the most normal thing in the galaxy, which perhaps it was. At least in those times, when countless children were orphaned by the worst war of the time, in a society that had been severely weakened and had more than just a problem with orphans.

Kysaek was saddened by the thought of this, as she had been lucky enough to have been raised by caring parents. ‘If the colony was new, didn’t the humans find it strange that a Davoc boy was travelling alone?’

’That’s true, but I don’t think many cared and I kept myself hidden as best I could. The fact that I had access to a lot of data from many places made my life a lot easier and on that basis I lived underground for a few years in a busy transit station for magnetic trains and planetary flights. I had everything I needed there and, by homeless standards, my home was very cosy.’

‘As long as you were happy, but I hope that wasn’t all?’ Kysaek wondered, patting the bot sympathetically on one hand. ‘You weren’t just sitting underground exploring the Virtual System or whatever hackers are up to, were you?’

Dorvan tried to comprehend the situation, it seemed. The bot’s head slowly lowered and it was clear to hear the lens of the glass eye zoom in as it focussed on the hand. ‘The first almost two years already,’ he said, pulling back a little with the machine. The contact, even if it was only with his avatar and not directly physical, probably didn’t sit well with him. ’As virtuoso as I was with the digital world, I was just a child. I understood a lot and yet nothing. All I wanted was a soft bed, warmth, food, drink and to be safe. I didn’t miss the physical company of other living beings, but I soon realised a lot.’

‘I bet you did,’ nodded Kysaek, who also stood up herself, as the floor was getting too hard for her to sit on. ’If it was busy at the transit station, as you said, you must have seen a lot. Especially other orphans and homeless people.’

’That’s right. At first I registered other children and helped them. Some were ... unfortunately already too scarred by street life, devious and ruthless thieves. One of these children almost found me once. It tried to take everything from me and that taught me to choose more carefully, even if I will probably never fully master this lesson.’

‘I’m afraid you never stop learning,’ sighed Kysaek, gradually getting to the bottom of Dorvan’s behaviour and illness. At least that’s what she surmised: an orphan, completely alone in the galaxy and always hidden in the same place. Yes, it made sense to Kysaek that the Davoc was the way he was. ‘I hope so, you found the trustworthy ones?’

’My reticence is delaying that, but yes. Children, adults, there were a lot who needed help and who could hardly expect support from the normal population, so I forced public help.’

’You forced it? How?’

‘I stole funds from many sources, in small amounts, and gave it to those who needed it more.’

‘Does that go unnoticed?’

’If you do it well, although after a few years I realised that it wasn’t right to steal from the population. At least from the hard-working, honestly-creating new suffering just to alleviate some.’

‘I would definitely have been pretty pissed if that had happened to me,’ Kysaek said, thinking about Cipi and how the foreign currency hackers were probably still up to mischief there today, even if she herself had never been caught.

‘My new targets were certainly furious,’ Dorvan remarked, but there was no remorse from him here. ‘Criminals and unscrupulous individuals, such as protection racketeers, corrupt businessmen or simply greedy entities, making their profit at the expense of the weaker, so I decided then to only steal from them from then on.’

Stealing the criminals’ fortune, Kysaek had to smile. ‘So you could, in theory, empty PGI’s account?’

’Steal small amounts? Yes. Bankrupt the company? No. A company like PGI certainly employs talented people like me, but their field is defence rather than attacking systems.’

’That’s a pity. Without foreign currency, Skarg would certainly have no more willing mercenaries and we could settle this eye to eye.’

Dorvan took a very practical view, based on the bare facts. ’Highly unlikely. Calanian physics alone makes him inferior and he realises that. Apart from that, he doesn’t seem to me to be the type for a direct confrontation. He would run and hide.’

‘Or swim, don’t forget swim,’ Kysaek winked.

‘I hadn’t considered that factor,’ the bot replied. There was still so much for him to learn, especially when it came to social interactions, as he regretted the insignificant mistake more than he should and corrected his analysis. ‘He would run or swim and hide.’

’He would, but unfortunately we can’t easily bankrupt him. As for the foreign currency, however, could you help us and steal for us from now on?’

It took Dorvan a moment to answer and he didn’t like it. ‘Basically, nothing would stand in the way of that, but I don’t want to.’

Kysaek was surprised. ‘Why not?’

’I would like to continue using my foreign currency thefts for the lucky few and your group, our group, is not one of them. Even if I were to disregard the new ship, we are strong, determined and capable of going our own way. However, should the day come when we urgently need a fortune and cannot make it ourselves, I will do what I can.’

Kysaek was quite taken aback by this. Not because the Davoc had said a soft no, but why he had done so. A big man, with a big heart, she couldn’t deny that and the way he spoke of the group, even though they were engaged in some not entirely legal activities themselves, but Kysaek wasn’t about to question that now. ‘All right,’ she said warmly, ’I’m glad you’re with us. You’re a real asset and a great help.’

’Thank you very much. I just wish I could be of some use in the current situation.’

’Don’t worry, we’re all up in the void right now, even Skarg. According to the last message from General Akaro and I quote, Mr Peeks is frustrated and caught up in the twists and turns of bureaucracy while trying to get his people free. He has reacted exactly as Ulth predicted.’

’One hundred per cent. If we could manipulate Skarg to act in our favour, the possibilities would almost certainly be considerable.’

‘That would help us enormously, oh yes,’ Kysaek nodded, but it took her a moment to get the rest of what was said into her head. ‘Wait, say that again!’

‘Be more specific, please.’

‘Specific-, I mean about the possibilities!’

Like a machine, Dorvan repeated exactly what he had said and how he had said it. ‘If we could manipulate Skarg to act in our favour, the possibilities would probably be considerable.’

Kysaek immediately thought of the interrogation on Anuket and threw up one arm triumphantly. ‘Yes, that’s what we’re doing!’

’We manipulate him? I don’t see how. I’m comfortable with technical manipulation, but not with social manipulation.’

’Maybe not, but you’re the one who initiated it and once I’ve informed the others, don’t worry about the social aspect. We’ll take care of that.’

Interested, Dorvan’s bot raised the finger of his right hand. ‘To complete this experience, if I have the opportunity for social interaction, how do you intend to manipulate Mr Peeks?’

‘Do you remember what Brandon said during his interrogation?’ asked Kysaek rhetorically. Of course, she knew that Dorvan in particular had that in his head, data storage or whatever, so she didn’t even let him answer. ’Skarg and Roskor’s alliance is tarnished because Peeks distrusts the criminal for his failures and was afraid of an ambush even here on Arche. We’ll take advantage of Skarg’s distrust! I must speak to General Akaro immediately!’

‘The general?’

‘Yes, he’ll make the whole thing credible!’ nodded Kysaek, before trying to make contact with the rest. Her head was now rattling like a machine in which the first pieces of a perfidious plan were coming together. Skarg was about to learn that she was not only on Arche with her people, but that she knew exactly what was going on and was about to bag the evidence that was probably essential to Skarg’s plans. Perhaps Kysaek could make the Calanian believe that she had made a deal with Roskor or that she might be able to secure the massive help of the Consulate for an arrest on Arche in order to force Skarg to take a drastic step. Whatever it would be, she was sure of it - the Calanian had no chance, despite all his power. He would give her a pretext for attacking the warehouse and at the same time probably plunge himself into ruin, simply because of his arrogance and the urge to finally correct certain mistakes.