Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning

Later at dinner, Kysaek couldn’t help but think that she would say no to such treasure just as little, for financial resources were an important part of her plans on the road to freedom. Foreign currency to buy equipment and other resources was important, but it could not prove her innocence or that of the others. She had to expose PGI, but she knew absolutely nothing and where to start was a real mystery. A very good Seeker should be able to help, perhaps even the legendary Seeker Zero, the most resourceful and cunning information trader in the galaxy. Contacting him, however, was very difficult and his prices were in other dimensions, so Kysaek dismissed this nonsensical idea. All good Seekers were expensive, but most were easier to find as official businessmen and the prices of some were at least remotely within Kysaek’s means if business continued to flourish like this.

“How did it go at the market?” asked Thais as she ate, and not in short supply. The Talin had an amazing appetite at all hours.

“Everything is settled,” Kysaek replied with satisfaction. “Prax said he might be able to get double the investment from the sale.”

“I believe him. After all, the more he earns from it, the bigger his little share.”

A lot of foreign currency meant one thing to Kuren. “It means Kysaek can get us something to fly soon.”

Fake names were not necessary among themselves or in the house. “Kuren, you know we have other plans for the profit,” Kysaek said. “Besides, flying is always expensive somewhere.”

“I was talking about soon,” Kuren said. Her dreams already went much further than the arms trade or the expansion of the forwarding agency. “But when we’re making really big money soon, and you’re the queen of the underworld, a ship will be a small thing.”

Ruling the underworld was by no means Kysaek’s goal and completely far from reality. She was not a criminal and did not want to be one, especially not an unconscionable one. She had firmly resolved to keep boundaries and use certain activities only as a means to an end. “Are we talking about the variety of crime again? Drugs? Protection money? Contract killings?” she asked dismissively, and that was just a short list.

“You didn’t question it with the disciples,” Re’Lis opined, which was true.

Kysaek had come to terms with certain things and some she didn’t find so bad, but at the time she wasn’t in charge herself. “The disciples gave me protection and I showed loyalty in return. But this loyalty was not mutual in the end. It did not apply to me or any of you when we were sold.”

“I like it when Kysaek talks like that,” Dios remarked gleefully. “There’s something blazing in her every time. She has such a talent for speeches.”

Re’Lis shared the sentiment, but not without making a comment. “A crude skill, because sometimes she speaks when silence would be better.”

“I suppose that’s a matter of taste.”

“May be Dios,” Re’Lis nodded, returning to the previous topic. “I am not one to advocate crime or so-called illegal activity Kysaek, you can take my word for that. In fact, I am strongly against it.”

It didn’t really add up for Kysaek. “If that is true, Doctor Askar - then why were you with the disciples in the first place?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Re’Lis replied wanly. She was not avoiding the question, that was clear. Her tone, however, betrayed that it was none of Kysaek’s business. “What is more important is that we have a plan. However, we need resources and cannot waste lifetimes gathering them through normal channels. That’s why I wonder why you make a business out of weapons but shy away from other things?

“Guns are the cleanest and smuggling I could imagine. Drugs though, destroy lives, protection money is oppression and extortion and don’t even get me started on slavery.”

Re’Lis was of the same opinion on the last. “Yes, making and selling slaves is something I would never support and would leave immediately if it came to that,” she mentioned seriously, rebuking Kysaek slightly dramatically. “Guns are the cleanest? You do realise that guns kill and therefore not only destroy life, but wipe it off the face of the galaxy?”

“But we control the sale,” Kysaek said sincerely. “We don’t have to give them to just anyone, like looters or robbers.”

“After what happened to you, I can hardly believe how naïve you are,” Re’Lis said angrily. Memories from her war days must have surfaced there. “Frankly, I have bigger problems with weapons and saw enough of their devastating effect in the Solaris War. Still, I tolerate them ... but don’t tell me they are clean or that their sale is controllable. You rarely see someone for who they are or do you think all robbers are thuggish, scarred characters who scream their cruelty in your face?”

Caught cold was still a nice way of putting it, but that was what had happened to Kysaek. She was caught cold. In fact, the weapons thing sounded much better in her head before when she had moreover decided to trade. “I suppose ... No.”

“Quite right, you can’t tell, and you have the least control over weapons,” Re’Lis said, regaining her composure. “Drugs, protection money, contract killing, even slavery, you know what will happen.”

“I’m not entirely comfortable with the thoughts though,” Kysaek admitted, thinking. Would she go that far? Take advantage of people’s addiction? Blackmail them into paying her foreign currency? Hire looters to commit robberies? Or possibly form a thieves’ guild and steal? It was a varied list when looked at in detail and Kysaek wondered why Thais had been silent all this time. “What do you say?”

The Talin finished her cup in silence and held back. “I’m still thinking, but Re’Li’s approaches are plausible and I’m sure she has more to say.”

Either Thais was in a bad mood or she really was still thinking and Kysaek followed her advice. “Do you have that, Doctor Askar?”

“It’s a combination of questions and answers,” Re’Lis agreed. Today it was she who gave the teacher, shared the wisdom of a long life and spoke as a doctor. “Are drugs fundamentally a bad thing? Definitely no. Everything in medicine that is taken as a pill or injected is a drug. It heals bodies in all sorts of ways, strengthens and calms.” There was no disagreeing with this and the Galig continued. “Some substances are declared illegal and dangerous, which is justified, and yet it doesn’t matter. People decide for themselves what they want and if they want to snort some dust, what’s so bad about it if we sell it? You don’t force anyone and if someone is addicted to such things ... he has chosen his own path,” she said, folding her hands over each other in what looked like a tent because of the skins between the limbs. “And it’s also everyone’s choice if they want to get help for these things and come to doctors like me.”

“You don’t force people, that’s true,” Kysaek mused aloud. But a guilty conscience still remained, the morality of society. “Still, you build on the weakness of others with that. I don’t quite like it that way.”

Dios had something to say as well. “Then be an honourable crook.”

“Honourable crook?”

“Sure. Take protection money. Offer it to people and give them a choice.”

“Since when do you give someone a choice in protection money? You want it because you’re stronger and you can oppress people.”

“A variation,” Dios opined, turning it into a real business idea. “Imagine you offer people security. All those who accept it, you protect and offer them special services.”

“Special services?”

“I don’t know. Get them denied farmer’s permits, intimidate the competition, or collect debts.”

“Threaten people and break their fingers? You call that respectable crook?”

“Who talks about such things? You can intimidate with words without doing anything and you don’t have to use violence to collect debts.”

Dios’ exposition was no less false than Re’Lis’ previous one, Kysaek realised, and had to grin. “Have a code as criminals, respectable criminals, respectability. Recently I was told there was no such thing. We’d probably be the first and it would be the only way I could think of certain things. Rules or nothing.”

“Then set some, but enough of that,” Thais said. Her approach was abrupt, but she wanted to bring normality to the round and talk about everyday life. “Because I’ve been wanting to tell you all about what I experienced today” It was a change from the work and stress.

“Is it exciting?” asked Kuren. “Is it fun?”

“I wouldn’t see the slimiest and most disgusting smelling nyrnka I’ve ever seen as exciting and funny” Thais weighed in. Her fun was yet to come. “Funny was what I brought him.”

“What was it? Bath foam? Soap?”

“Close. It was various scent capsules,” Thais said. What she was describing were cylinders that were normally used in hover wheels or rooms to fill the environment with pleasant scents.Kysaek didn’t think that was wrong at all. “I don’t think nyrnka like to stink. At least to other species. What’s wrong with him wanting to make his house at least a little more bearable?”

“Not his house,” Thais smirked, holding a piece of bread between her fingers. “For himself” Demonstratively, she ate the bread.

“He ate it? Really? Why? And can you even eat it?”

“Nyrnka can gulp down a lot without any problem,” Thais said.

Biologically, the wolverine trait was the most useful and enjoyable of the short-lived hermaphroditic worm creatures, but it was also the only good one. The negatives weighed higher and were more obvious, which is why the Nyrnka were not particularly popular. It was not their direct fault, but they constantly emitted a foul and uncontrollable stench that was a by-product of their glands. They constantly produced a secretion and this slimed the whole body of the worms. Only through this liquid film were they able to move on solid ground, leaving behind a sticky trail of slime. Like the Calanians, Nyrnka could also resort to racks and mechanical means of locomotion, but at least they did, because their stench and the fact that the secretion dripped from their bodies did not change anything.

In Thais story, however, the nyrnka had undergone a transformation. “So he swallowed a capsule and you know what? He suddenly smelled like citrus and the unpleasant odour was gone.”

“Now you’re joking,” Kysaek commented as she watched Thais smile in amusement. “After all, if it could be done, other nyrnka would do it too.”

“Maybe it just never occurred to anyone?”

“In the whole history of nyrnka? You want your client to be the first? Never.”

Re’Lis indulged herself in the fun. “I have to agree with Kysaek. I’ve never met a nyrnka that smelled like juicy roast meat or fresh salad dressing just because it had eaten something like that.”

Thais laughed and conceded defeat. “I can see you can’t be fooled,” she said, amending the narrative. “The truth is, he made a chain out of the capsule and strapped it on himself.”

“And did it do anything?” asked Kysaek.

“I could swear there was a rosy tinge in the air, but maybe that came from myself.”

That was plausible to Kysaek. “I believe that story immediately,” she replied, wanting to tell what she had done with the beggars. “And apart from the deal with Prax, I also experienced a little something today.”

“As long as it has nothing to do with any form of work, it’s fine with me.”

“Indirectly,” Kysaek noted. “You see, I came from the market an-.“

Suddenly an unmistakable shout from outside interrupted her narrative, and loud, raspy voices called out between them. “Harvest time! It’s harvest time! All the inhabitants of this section had better come out or we will come to you!”

Thais rose quickly and her chair fell over. “Bella’Sa - what’s going on?”

“Harvest time sounds like farmers,” Kysaek said. “Pretty grim farmers.” She didn’t mean it, but she hoped it was the case anyway, and looked to see what was happening outside the house.

From the vortex-cuff of a scyth, that call signal regularly boomed, beckoning the occupants to appear, as the greyed-out creature strolled lazily across the forecourt and along the street.

Two parasitic species existed in interstellar space travel and the Scyth were one of them. They rivalled the Davoc in stout bodies, but theirs were completely devoid of hair and nothing more than tools artificially created to serve as hosts. Controlled by the real Scyth, these fleshy avatars were barely bigger than a clenched fist and hid under a mostly opaque dome. Their hidden throne was where species such as humans had their heads, except that instead of a head, the Scyth had a pointed collar and the dome was incorporated into it.

It didn’t stop at one scyth in front of Kysaek’s house, however. “Look at that,” she called calmly but alarmingly into the house, and in the meantime more of the parasitic figures appeared. Each bristled with considerable musculature and yet a sallow note surrounded them as bony forms rose from beneath the skin on their arms, legs and torso.

“Well great, Scyth,” Thais gritted. It was apparently not her first encounter with the unexpected guests. “Where they show up in groups, trouble is never far.”

The Scyth’s armament spoke to that and Kysaek issued orders. “Let’s wait and see what happens. There are bound to be more.”

The Scyth drove some of the villagers before them, striking them with shock lances. “Go!” one of them said in a raspy slimy voice. Every movement of the parasites was lame, as if their reaction was impaired and therefore appeared wooden.

“I think we’ve got them all now!” a male voice called out. It came from the forecourt where the call signal had died away and belonged to a human standing among the Scyth. “Ah, I love harvest time!” the young lad grinned grimly. He wore an old, worn business suit and swung a plasma shotgun around as if it were an umbrella.

Among the assembled residents, Kysaek also made out Prax, who looked at her and shook his head silently. What was he trying to tell her? Was Kysaek supposed to stay hidden? Or just complete silence? And why hadn’t he warned her!!!

“What do we do now, Kysaek?” whispered Re’Lis softly.

“We stay quiet,” Kysaek replied in the same tone. “Only if we have to, do we fight back.”

“Good citizens of Capona,” the young suit spoke, raising his hands in the air quite politically. “My name is Jason and as an emissary from my boss, Vincent Luan, I would like to extend a warm and official welcome to you all to our community.”

The names Jason and Vincent meant nothing to Kysaek. “Have you ever heard of them, Thais?”

“No,” the Talin shook her head. “There are millions of small-time crooks.”

Jason’s overly friendly facade couldn’t hide the looming situation, and it certainly shouldn’t. “I’m sure you all know how tough it can be in Sector Seven and how dangerous. That’s where we come in,” he announced as Jason turned his attention mostly to the new faces. He was still a long way from Kysaek, however. “Unfortunately, the authorities of Central are not the quickest and quite stingy, which is why there is little or no security in villages and towns like Capon or Capona. Generously, we are taking over this part and have directed you all here.”

A mutilated Calanian stepped next to Jason, a Calanian missing two of his six tentacles and instantly recognised by Kysaek. That fugitive had drawn her attention to Capon. Now, however, the cripple no longer looked so impoverished. Instead, he was armed and more neatly dressed, though the mechanical legs were still rusty.

“That’s Arkat, who some also call Nimble Leg, but I wouldn’t advise that to anyone here,” Jason admonished. “I think you’ll all recognise him, since Arkat sent you to our little community quite anxiously so we could protect you, and we don’t ask for much in return. Just a fair, equitable compensation that is individualised to each situation.” Jason’s laugh was inane, as if he were drunk.

Dios leaned down. “You see Kysaek? This is protection money like you don’t want. They’re obviously luring people here, waiting and then cashing in.”

“Thanks for pointing that out,” Kysaek replied sarcastically. “I hadn’t noticed that before.”

“Some of you think you have nothing, but that is a lie and I don’t blame you. Some don’t know any better”; Jason said, going through the ranks of newcomers. Like meat to choose from, he looked at the occupants and grabbed at times, especially those who were clearly female and possessed respectable curves. “You have currency or valuables, muscle or are nice to look at. Each can serve a purpose and that is what we find, or to sum it up even for the most simple-minded - you are all our property now!“, Jason spoke out intimidatingly, bringing a faint yet rising unease among the newcomers while the old-timers remained silent.

The Scyth suppressed the rebellion, pushing and striking at the people or using the electric end of their shock lances, while the sharp points of the lances were extended only as a deterrent.

She was tempted to intervene, but Kysaek felt Thais’ firm hand on her shoulder. “Don’t,” the Talin murmured to her and she held still, although her body was very tense and that seemed to be getting worse.

“Speaking of which,” Jason hinted “We have a rich harvest today! Too rich! And so you all understand how valuable and expendable you are at the same time and who is in charge here!” He snapped his fingers.

One of the Scyth rammed the spearhead of his shock lance into the eye of a strapping, rebellious Palanian, and another of his kind grabbed a Galig from the pack. He grabbed her by the head and squeezed with his bare hand until not only the glass of her mask cracked loudly. The woman’s skull cracked and the shards of glass and blood flooded her face as she went down.

“I think we understand each other! Now me and my men go see the rest,” Jason announced, spreading his arms in the air. “Hope some here are good for more than slaves. We won’t need many more of them for this harvest!”

The commotion grew more sedate despite the situation and Kysaek guessed what the reaction would be, but she had to put the question to her group. “How many foreign currency do you all have left?”

“A little over a thousand,” Thais replied.

Re’Lis had less. “Seven hundred and twenty. I had to buy extra medicine because some couldn’t afford it.”

Kuren spoke for herself and her sister. “We have just under one thousand five hundred.”

“Why the question?” inquired Thais. “There’s not much left of the big pot after the deal, but we should have more than enough for them to leave us alone.”

“Yes, after the deal with Prax it was still the same,” Kysaek said, mentioning what she had done with the rest of the foreign currency. “And I know it’s not a good time to mention it, but there was this group of beggars and I felt sorry for them ...”

Thais couldn’t believe it. “Please don’t say ... I warned you.”

“You felt sorry for them?” asked Re’Lis. She was all for good deeds, but one thing she knew. “We are surrounded by misery. You can’t save them all, and if you try, it could destroy us right now.”

“All of them?” grumbled Kysaek. It wasn’t a good time, but she justified herself. “Because I helped one time now, in this rotten sector? And it’s not like I was pretending. I offered them to work for us if we expanded and they wanted to pay back their debts through this offer.”

“Sorry, I exaggerated,” Re’Lis admitted. The situation had tempted her. “The impending looting is not exactly conducive to health and sanity.”

Kysaek stood by what she had done. “Then you’d all better be quiet - I’ll sort it out!” she said quietly when it was her turn.

“Well hello, hello,” Jason marvelled when he saw what awaited him. “I sense a big-” He swallowed the next word and checked with Dios and Kuren. “They’re women, aren’t they?” The twins nodded mutely at him and Jason tapped them against the hull. “Wow, so much feminine energy bundled in one spot. You five clearly lack male companionship, a concentrated load of testosterone. Otherwise people will get the wrong idea.”

“We’ve managed quite well without men so far,” Kysaek countered. To her, Jason was a talker who let the goons do the dirty work. So she didn’t want to give him any reason to use that tactic. “And we’ve been on the road for a while.”

“Who hasn’t? A bunch of people looking for a place somewhere in the galaxy every day,” Jason opined. He agreed with the counter, however. “But if you’ve made it so far without men, respect” He briskly eyed the hooded Thais and her gorgeous curves. “Mind you, they must have been the wrong guys then” he said, using his shotgun as an extension to press the barrel against the Talin’s breasts.

Thais remained silent and motionless, but her eyes spoke a clear language of denial and Kysaek at least opened her mouth. “We’d rather continue with our tried and tested plan and that can only benefit you, Jason.”

“I know, I’ve heard of you,” Jason asserted, refraining from further innuendo towards Thais. The young criminal seemed to be using this behaviour as a test rather than actually making a move on the women. “Nora, Pashalia, Alra’Ta, and ...“, Jason agonised when he had to call Dios and Kuren by their false names. “Honestly, I don’t care. I’ll just call you number one and number two and since you look the same, it doesn’t matter at all who is who.”

Kysaek raised an eyebrow. “You’ve heard of us?”

“At least I’ve heard that you don’t earn badly. Unusual for someone to make it so far so fast down here,” Jason winked. “But maybe there’s something to this -no dick in our ranks- thing and that’s why you’re so successful.”

“Does it matter why we’re doing well? In the end, isn’t it about us being able to make our ... Protection contribution?”

“We get along, I like that! Then show me what you have to offer.”

“You heard,” Kysaek murmured, being the first to reveal her credit on the Vortex cuff. “Let’s show you what we have.” Dios and Kuren did so without argument, but Thais and Re’Lis were not so eager.

At last, however, everything was exposed and Jason’s expression was crumpled. “Mhh, that’s more than many here have, but is that all?” he questioned, because it didn’t seem high enough to him. “Your business is good, isn’t it, and that’s all you have? Do I have to go to your house and get the valuable stuff that you must have bought with our foreign currency?”

About three thousand three hundred foreign currencies were owned by all of them together and Kysaek was careful not to tell Jason about the weapons. She had to satisfy him and she decided to speak a different truth. “You won’t find anything in the house, although you’re right. There would have to be a few thousand more, but we don’t have them anymore.”

“And what have you done with it?”

“Gave it to those who don’t have it as good as we do.”

Jason turned his head around strained. “So we find your fortune with the pitiful lot?”

“With some, at least. We can’t help them all,” she replied. The newcomers Kysaek had helped, however, were not to be seen in the crowd. Possibly they had been swallowed up in the crowd or had hidden themselves well aware of the harvest.

“Some are lucky you were foolish enough to help them,” Jason said disgruntled. He was against charity. “That means the poor buggers survive this harvest and I honestly don’t care which one of them it is: foreign currency is foreign currency and we always get people in the end” His displeasure remained nonetheless and Jason made one thing clear. “Three thousand three hundred is too little for people who are doing well and I don’t give a shit that your foreign currency is now elsewhere. That doesn’t count as a protection contribution from you to me!”

“So what does that mean?” asked Kysaek with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had somehow hoped that it might apply after all, but now she had to save the situation by convincing herself. “We are making sufficient profits and can pay off the shortfall in the next harvest and bring enough foreign currency in the future! But if you drag us along now, who knows what’s in it for you.”

Jason’s thoughts were similar and he looked strangely amused. “I’m sure you think I’m a cheap thug with no brains, but that’s what I’ve got the scum for here,” he admitted, alluding to the Scyth. “No, we will not take you and make slaves of you.”

Relaxation spread through Kysaek, as it did through her companions. “Thank you. We’ll-” she said as Jason gave her a heavy blow to the pit of her stomach and Kysaek went down. Thais immediately wanted to help her, but one of the Scyth grabbed the Talin by the neck and lifted her up as if she were a flyweight and Dios and Kuren didn’t know what to do.

“She’s with us,” Jason instructed his goons and they grabbed Re’Lis as he crouched down beside Kysaek. “You see, I’ve heard that your friend is a doctor, and that’s more valuable in the uncertain regions of Sector Seven than a gravitational anomaly or ten sunstones. Consider her a pawn.”

Kysaek could barely breathe. “P-Pawn?” she coughed.

For a rather unimpressive guy, Jason’s punch had had a lot of force. “Yes, because I’m taking half your foreign currency now, but that’s too little from you and that’s why I’m taking Alra’Ta as a pledge!” he said slyly. “We are here for two more days now and then we will be busy with the rest of the villages for about two weeks. When we’re done harvesting, we’ll come back here again and I want to see another four thousand foreign currency.”

The air was slowly getting better in Kysaek’s lungs. “And then we get Alra’Ta back?”

“No,” laughed Jason. “We keep her anyway and if you can’t pay your arrears in a fortnight, the little hit here was nothing because then I know your business is rubbish and those who don’t bring a profit pay in other ways.”

Thais managed to angrily chuckle despite his throat being packed. “But if we don’t get Alra’Ta back, then she’s not a pawn and you would have taken her anyway even if we had had enough!”

Jason replied, taking another swing at Kysaek. “Tell your girlfriend I don’t give a shit about exact wording!”

Her hands were tied, even though Kysaek would have loved to contradict with her smart-mouthed mouth now, or much more retaliate. But she couldn’t and had to keep her anger in check. “We ... will pay,” she took a deep breath and received first a pat on the cheek and finally a friendly slap from Jason. The harvest collector said no more and Kysaek could only watch Jason as he and his gang went with the now calmer Re’Lis to the next new arrivals.