The ship shook and Alex had to hold on each side of the small corridor to avoid being thrown to the ground. He shouldn’t be up so soon after coming out of cryo. Or better yet, he needed to find a better quality of merc ship to travel on. Couldn’t any of them bother using something better than Blood replacement systems? Nothing exploded, so they were still good. He moved forward again. The door to the bridge opened and he entered a small space with three stations and barely room for half a dozen people to stand around waiting for orders. Alex only had the time to see a small crescent of a planet before the unfelt motion of the ship took it out of sight and showed only darkness and stars. “Unless you forgot your part of the deal,” Alex said, not caring about the agitation in the pilot’s body language, “that planet is where I’m getting off. So you should be aiming toward, not away, from it.” “Yeah? The woman replied, “that plan didn’t take into account those bastards waiting for us.” “Captain, we had an arrangement. I gave you six subjective months of the easiest scores you’ve ever seen, and in return, you get me to Terion Two. So unless you screwed up and this isn’t Terion Two, I don’t care who’s after you.” She glanced away from her controls to glare at him, and fixed her eyes on them. Something flew by them and exploded close enough the ship shook again. “Listened to me Crimson, Do you have any idea how hard it is to control this kind of ship in the atmosphere? No, you don’t, if I try it, they’re going to get a lock on us and blow us up.” She did a maneuver that sent the images of a green brown and blue planet careening across the screen. “Who the hell are those bastards?” she grumbled. Alex guessed they were bounty hunters. He’d advised her not to stick to the same kind of cargo for this stretch, but once Alex had demonstrated what he was capable of, she’d gone for the highest scores heading here. Three of those would be all it took for someone to figure out the pattern. She’d squeezed seven hits on those six months. She should consider herself lucky she hadn’t attracted the attention of the Anti-Coercionist Division of the Law. Those bastards were nearly impossible to shake once they were on your tail. “Is he bothering you, Boss?” A deep voice said behind Alex. He didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know it was Grumpy, her muscle. As far as Alex could tell, the man, who was a head taller than him, but barely had a brain, only enjoyed two things, sex and breaking limbs, neither things he’d been able to use Alex for. “What are you doing here Malek?” she demanded. “Get back to your cabin until things quiet down, you know the rules.” “He—” the brute began. “He’s going to get off my bridge or make himself useful.” Alex raised an eyebrow. He didn’t care to be ordered about, not once his job was done. If the situation was different he might have told her exactly what he thought of her demand, but he needed to get to this planet, so he decided to act as if their deal wasn’t over just yet. He looked at the man sitting at the communication board. “You, move. If I’m going to help, I need your board.” “What?” the man was the opposite of Grumpy in almost every way, except the brains department. “You heard him, Decker. Give him the board.” Decker moved out of the chair and Alex sat, putting the earpiece in. He turned it a few times, trying to get it to fit comfortably, but it just wouldn’t. He missed his old earpiece, it had been form fitted for him, and had been top of the line when he’d taken it, which had been five subjective years ago, that made it what? Twenty objective? Considering all the traveling he’d done? There was only so long he could push its use after it became obsolete. He’d acquired this one from the manufacturer directly, the best on the market, if it had ever reached it. Alex destroyed all documents about it, ensuring he’d have the best to himself for a few objective years. “Alright, let’s see what you have to say.” He initiated contact with the other ship. “You aren’t an authorized contact. Please disconnect now.” “My, my, polite aren’t you?” Alex sent half a dozen programs in before even bothering to pay attention to the code. “Tell me, were you installed that way? Or is your onboard coercionist that much of a wimp he or she can’t deal with a system that has a forceful personality?” “This line of inquiry is irrelevant, disconnect before I initiate countermeasures.” Alex looked at the screen and the code it showed him. “You’re wrong, if I know what kind of coercionist works with you, I have an idea how you’ll try to stop me, for example, You didn’t try to push me out the moment I contacted you, so you gave me the time to do this.” Three lines of codes were all it took. One changed, two added. “So tell me, what’s the status of my connection?” “You are connected via an approved, secured, port.” “See, this wouldn’t have been so easy if your coercionist let you loose to handle people like me. Who is he, anyway?” Alex shifted through the code, looking for the next place he’d have to make changes. His display was two-dimensional, but that’s all he’d been working with for three subjective years, so he’d gotten used to it and could interpret the shift in colors as the various layers in the code. “You are not authorized for that information.” Alex mouthed the words as the system said them. “Do you have any idea how boring it is that every one of you says exactly the same thing when I asked this? You’d think one of you could come up with something different, if only once.” He came across the code handling the targeting system and scrambled that, let them try to hit them now. Sure, that would alert them he was in, but it wasn’t like they’d be able to do anything. “Why did you do that?” the system asked, sending its anti-bodies to repair the damage. “Because I’m bored. Come on, can’t you offer me some challenge? I made it through all your securities and you didn’t even try to kick me out.” “You’re an approved contact, I have no reason to remove you.” “See? That’s what I mean. I’ve taken control without you even noticing. Sure, you’re an older model, but that’s no excuse. So who's the onboard coercionist?” A name appeared, and Alex launched a search on that person throughout the net. Nothing impressive came back, a few warrants for causing bodily harm, minor theft, one destruction of property. The kind of stuff he expected to see attached to a bounty hunter. There wasn't any indication he had coercion training, no attendance at any of the good schools, no warrant for unauthorized coercion. So this person was self-taught. That didn’t mean he wasn’t good. The best coercionist Alex had come across since leaving Luminex had taught herself the basics, and built on that with his help. The last time he’d mounted an assault on Golly’s Yacht, he’d been kicked out faster than he’d been able to register. The ship had sent him an apology for the treatment after the fact, but their friendship hadn’t stopped the ship from infiltrating the computer he’d used and dismantling everything but the core processor and antibodies. Trying to get into the Golly, now that was a challenge he enjoyed. This? Alex yawned. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do, when I give you the order, I want you to go to sleep for twelve hours, an upon waking up, you’re going to reset yourself to your pre-install state.” “Why would I do that?” “Because I tell you to.” “Alright.” “You see? Boring. I’m telling you to erase decades of your personality and you just say okay. You're not supposed to make it this easy.” “But you told me to.” “I know.” He sighed. “Go to sleep.” The connection died and he took out the earpiece. He put it away and rubbed his ear. Once he was done with this search, he was finding someone who could reshape the end. He stood and stretched. “I’ve bought you six hours, possibly more, depending on how incompetent their coercionist is.” “You said twelve,” Grumpy said, “I heard you.” Decker nodded. Alex looked him in the eyes. “You heard me tell it that. What you didn’t see, unless you were peering over my shoulder was the negotiation I had to do with it in the code to even get it to sleep for six hours.” The lie was easy, it wasn’t like anyone here could read code. Maybe he didn’t have to lie, but he wanted to be dropped off as soon as possible, and well, if they thought the window was short, he’d be planetside sooner. Unless the captain of this little crew got it in her head she could ‘convince’ him to keep working for her. She had that speculative look in her eyes that told Alex that’s exactly what she was considering. “Please don’t,” he said. She gave him a smile that he guessed would be seductive, if he went for her type, but she was a woman, and human, so it just looked forced. “I could make it worth your while.” He shook his head. “No, you can’t. We had a deal.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over he chest. “You don’t seem to realize you’re on my ship, surrounded by my crew.” Alex sighed, why was it almost every mercenary he’d worked with seemed to think that double-crossing him was part of their job. Had his time on the Golly spoiled him that much? For a bunch of pirates, they’d been honorable. Even Anders for all his attempt to get rid of Alex hadn’t directly tried anything more than twice. “Are you so sure this is your ship?” Alex asked. “You want me to convince him, Boss?” the man behind him said. He was close enough Alex could feel his breath down his neck. “Unless you want to have to hire yourself another bed warmer, tell Grumpy to back off.” Alex made the motion of his hand to the pommel of his knife clear. She hadn’t seen him fight, but hopefully the implied threat would be enough. “Don’t antagonize your new teammate Malek, it isn’t like he can do much on my ship.” He felt Grumpy back off. “We had a deal, Captain, which ended with you dropping me off here. Are you, or aren’t you going to honor it?” “Why are you in such a hurry to leave? What could be more important than the riches you can help us make? I’d never realized how useful a man like you could be.” “I can give you the name of half a dozen other coercionists you can hire. I have business to conduct here.” Maybe, if Tristan was indeed here. It was the last of the places on the list, so he had to be. Alex didn’t know what he’d do if he wasn’t here. “Are they as good as you?” Alex laughed. “No, but they’re good enough to get the job done.” Asyr was the only one he considered as good as he was, but she wouldn’t leave the Golly, it was her home. “Then why should I settle for second best, when I have you?” “Don’t double cross me, Captain.” She smiled. “Don’t think of this as a double cross, think of it as an employment opportunity. I’m sure you realize how difficult the job market can be for a man in your position.” Alex rubbed his face. “Alright, fine. Just answer me this. Who’s your coercionist.” “Why, you are, Mister Crimson.” “Okay, and how impressive is what I’ve done over the last six months for you?” “Mister Crimson, would I be offering you this opportunity if I wasn’t thoroughly impressed.” “Okay, then how the hell do you think you still have control of this ship?” The question stunned her. It was always the same, they were always so damned certain of their position of power they never even bothered asking the simple questions. Like, what did a coercionist do the first time he talked to the ship he was traveling on. “You better tell Grumpy to keep his distance,” Alex said, taking the knife out of its sheath. “Don’t do anything,” she said. She considered the situation for a moment. “You’re bluffing.” “Ship, shut down the lights on the bridge.” The only illumination left was the green and brown of the planet behind the woman, through the small space in shadows. Alex stepped to the side as Grumpy threw himself at where he’d been. Predictable. The large man ended up in the captain’s lap, which could have been funny, if Alex hadn’t been annoyed. “Get off me, I told you not to do anything.” “He got—” Grumpy said. “And you think hurting him is going to fix this?” “Well, yeah.” “Go to your cabin, Malek, and stay there until I get you.” The brute left the bridge, giving Alex a look in passing. It might have been a glare, but in the near darkness Alex didn’t see, or care. “Do you think I’m impressed by you controlling the lights? I can flick a switch and bring them back.” “I don’t believe this.” He kept the rest of his thought silent. He wasn’t trying to antagonize her, just make her see that she should be honoring her part of the deal. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to take a trick like this to mean you can just—” “Ship, other than your audio capabilities, shut everything down.” The darkness on the bridge became absolute as every screen and board turned off. The ship was eerily silent, no engine noise, no almost subliminal sound of the air circulation system running. “Now. Maybe you’re going to take me seriously? I don’t understand why you’re surprised. You’ve seen me do exactly this just a moment ago. It’s what I do. I take control of computers and, well, control them. Now, I can tell the ship to land itself. And then blow up with you in it, but I’m hoping that you’re still willing to honor your part of the deal.” He heard her tap controls. As did Decker. “Nothing’s responding,” the man said. “Really?” she answered. “You really felt I needed a second opinion on this? Ship, turn everything back on, that’s an order.” Nothing happened. “What’s to tell me that you won’t leave an order in the computer to blow us up the moment you’re off the ship?” “Nothing. For all you know, the next time you go under cryo, the computer’s going to ignore the instructions to bring you out as you get closer to your destination and crash you. Maybe that’s something to keep in mind the next time you decide to try and double cross someone with a set of skill you clearly don’t understand. Ship, come back to normal functionality.” The lights came on, the boards lit up, the faint breeze of the air system started up. She looked at him. “You’ve made your point.” * * * * * Alex ran away from the ship as fast as he could, hearing the engines cycle for them to take off. They didn’t wait for him to be a safe distance and he felt the flames lick at his back. Fortunately his jacket took the brunt of it and it could handle more. When he was far from the burn zone he stopped, put the case containing the Defender down, as well as his pack and looked up at the vanishing ship. He hadn’t left any surprise for them. Their paranoia over if he had or hadn’t would be enough revenge. He could just imagine them going for months it would take them to reach the closest inhabited planet without using cryo. He wondered which one would be left alive when they reached their destination. Once the ship had disappeared he looked around at what was supposed to be the spaceport, according to the automated buoy. He counted fifteen permacrete buildings which could hold a large private shuttle each. There was nothing that resembled a control tower, but this wasn’t a popular place. Terion wasn’t exactly at the outside edge of populated space, but it definitely was in an empty corner of it. He’d come here last because of all the locations the law officer had compiled as a place where Tristan might hideout, this had been the least likely one. Alex had trouble imagining someone like the Samalian living away from more populated centers, where he could carouse and enjoy the results of his crimes. But he’d struck out on all the others, most had been false leads, and those where Tristan had been, were objective decades out and unused anymore. So here he was, his last hope, and it was a dump. He turned to follow the road leading to the town. The ship’s scans had shown it to be about a hundred buildings, and the only settlement on the whole of the planet. So, two hundred people? Three at the most? There was no way Tristan was here. As Alex threw his pack over his shoulder a man appeared over the closest hill, walking at a leisurely pace. Alex decided to wait for him here and put his pack back down. The man had a gun at his hip, and walked with the ease of someone accustomed to the weight. His hand moved as he walked, but always stayed close to the grip. Alex knew the type, he’d had to work with a lot of them during his search. This man was a mercenary, or at least had been for many years. “Afternoon,” he said when he was close enough not to have to yell. “We don’t get much visitors in these parts. Sorry for taking so long. I’m Jacoby, what passes as port master.” Alex nodded a greeting, but didn’t say anything. His gun was in his pack. He’d decided a long time ago that wearing it when arriving sent the wrong message. He wasn’t looking for a fight unless someone else started it. The one visible knife at his belt told others he’d fight if he had to. And the half dozen he had hidden on his body would be a surprise they didn’t expect. “They didn’t stay,” Jacoby said. “How you’ll be leaving?” “I’ll make arrangements, when the time comes. Maybe someone here can give me a ride?” “Folks here aren’t known for traveling much. They seemed in a hurry to leave. Your back’s still smoking.” “They were dropping me off as part of a deal. They have places to be.” “It’s got anything to do with that dead ship still floating out there?” “It isn’t dead, just sleeping. I expect they’ll get going in a few hours.” The atmosphere should have dissipated the ship’s exhaust by then, so the only thing the bounty hunters should be able to tell was that they’d skimmed the atmosphere and left. Of course they’d know what it did, so they might drop to do a check. “When they call to find out if the ship landed. You want me to tell them no?” Alex studied the man. “Why would you do that?” Jacoby shrugged. “Got a policy here that so long as you don’t cause trouble, not my job to put people on your back.” “So you’re the law around here?” The man shrugged. “I’m just the port master, but like you, I know what the life’s like. If you’re looking to get away from that, this ain’t such a bad place to do so.” Alex shook his life. He couldn’t see himself staying for any longer than he needed to confirm that Tristan wasn’t here. “I’m just passing through. I’m looking for a friend who might be staying here.” “We don’t have anyone else from the life here,” Jacoby said. “I figured. I don’t think this is his kind of place. He’s a Samalian, a bit taller than I am, really dark brown fur with—” Alex paused. Jacoby was tense, his hand had moved closer to his gun. “I thought you said the friend was from the life?” Alex fought his instinct to reach for his knife, moving his hand away. Jacoby had reacted to the description, he’d seen, or knew someone who matched it. “I said I didn’t think he’d be here. Not that he’d been a Mercenary.” It seemed strange for Tristan not to be known as such, but he was a master chameleon. “What’s your business with him?” “He’s here?” “Maybe. What’s you want with him?” “I’m returning something of his.” Alex tapped the case with his foot. “Mind opening it for me?” Keeping his hands in view the whole time Alex unlatched the case and opened it, revealing the Statue of the Defender. Jacoby glanced at it, then looked more attentively. Alex knew the effect the sandy colors stone Samalian could have on people who had met other Samalians. Even with the damage, the detail was impressive, the curved swords, one held, the other on the ground, the look of resolve in those painted eyes that spoke of the pain it would cause to anyone who dared threaten what he protected. Jacoby looked like he had to force his gaze away. “All this way just for that?” “It has sentimental value,” Alex said. Jacoby didn’t need to know the value was to Alex himself, not Tristan. “The friend, he’s got a name?” “I—I knew him as Jack, but I doubt he still uses that name.” Alex couldn’t believe he’d go by Tristan even here. While the name wasn’t uncommon, for humans, for a Samalian, it would scream for them to go on the net and check it’s provenance. They’d see there was one very prominent Samalian by that name there, and he’d match the description. And then they’d find out how dangerous he was, and either try to capture him themselves, or call in bounty hunters. Either would result in this town being destroyed. It was still here, therefore he used a different name. “We call him Tech, on account of him knowing so much about machines and stuff.” Alex’s breath caught. He was here? Jacoby indicated one of the permacrete buildings. “He fixed Cornelius’ ship when she had to go do an urgent run for medicine.” That didn’t sound like him. Tristan didn’t go out helping others, not unless there was something in it for him. Maybe she’d brought something illegal back? What could a doctor get that Tristan would need? Maybe it wasn’t him after all, but it was the closest he’d come since he’d started. And it wasn’t like anyone could get here for months to pick him up. He might as well check him out. “Where can I find him?” Alex asked, closing and latching the case. Jacoby chuckled. “What makes you think he’s here?” Alex deflated a little more. “You said—” when he looked up the man was studying him, his eyes hard. “I’m gonna trust you, one man of the life to another, so don’t make me regret it.” Alex stood and nodded. “He’s here. Got back a couple of weeks ago. Right now, he’s probably at his house, unless someone needed help with something, then he’s off repairing that, but I wouldn’t bother trying to find him that way if I were you. By the time you walk to town, it’s going to be lunchtime, you’re going to find him at Diny’s Tavern. He always eats lunch there.” “Thank you. How long has he lived here?” Jacoby shrugged. “Don’t know for sure. He’s own the land he lives on for close to sixty years, but he isn’t there often. He travels a lot. That’s his ship in there.” He indicated one of the buildings. “He got a new one with his last trip, nice ship.” Alex only glanced in that direction. Sixty years? There was no way Tristan had had a base of operation for that long. Everything else he’d found had been abandoned after a few years of use, at the most. Some were only used for as long as one job took. This just didn’t make any sense. “How do I find Diny’s Tavern?” Alex asked, putting his pack on his shoulder. “Just follow the road, it’ll take you to the middle of town. When you reach the fountain, look left, can’t miss it.” “Thanks,” he picked up the case. “Are you coming?” “Nah, got to see to the buoy, If I’m going to tell them no one landed, can’t have the buoy say one did when asked.” Alex nodded and began walking. “And remember,” Jacoby called. “You cause trouble and you’ll be answering to me. I don’t care how good you are out there. Here I don’t give quarters.” Alex didn’t respond. He wouldn’t be the one starting the trouble if it happened. The walk was boring. The ground was mostly brown, with patches of short yellow grass. A few trees with deep green leaves peppered the landscape. He tried to remember when he’d just walked planet side last. Fryon? No, he’d taken a shuttle to the mountain. Dublundor, that had to be it, the marsh had been too overgrown for him to see anything, so he’d had to land the shuttle and follow the tree paths until he found the remnant of the building. An hour later, when the town came into view, he decided he didn’t miss walking. Maybe he should see about acquiring a hover pack, when he was back among civilization. The buildings were more varied here. He could see the permacrete underpinning on many of them, but they’d been added with local materials. A lot of the buildings were wood. Not the quick and shabby work of people having to protect themselves from the environment, but careful work, skilled work. As he crossed the first building, a store of some sort, he saw intricate filigree in the wood around the door and windows. The next one was plain, but still showed skill in the work. He passed buildings where some sort of clay had been used over the permacrete. One where all that had been added was paint, but that had produced a colorful mural of rocks and lava. The fountain didn’t have any water in it. It had been made from local rocks, shaped and interlocked. It looked good, but Alex couldn’t see anywhere for water to fill it. Maybe they were in the middle of a drought, or this had never been intended to hold water, and was just a central point of reference. Diny’s Tavern was on the left, like Jacoby said, he couldn’t have missed it, even without being told. It was a two-story structure, the bottom part of which was a rough-hewed gray-green stone, and the second-floor golden wood. A banner flew over the door of a busty woman carrying a tray of food in one hand and tankard of something foamy in the other. He’d rarely come across something that said ‘eating establishment’ quite as loudly as this. Inside, it was one large room with tables, a bar at the back with stairs going to the second story. And a Samalian, seated at a table on the far wall, reading from a Datapad. Silence fell on the room just as Alex’s heart stilled. The coloring was almost right, just a little lighter than what he remembered, but the smattering of white in the fur, a starfield in a dark night. How often had he lost himself simply watching Jack’s chest? The Samalian looked up from his reading, glanced around and then at Alex. Their eyes locked, and Alex's heart turned to ice. He knew those eyes. He’d only seen them once when he found out Jack hadn't been real, but they had haunted his dreams from that day onward. He’d found him. Here of all places, he’d found the alien who had ripped his heart apart. The Samalian looked away as conversations picked up around the room. Men and women nodding to him and leaning close to comment to each other. He should go to him now, remind him of what he’d promised; made sure he kept his word. He would talk to him. But first he needed a drink.