Meanwhile, in a Sirius Corporation office...

SushiCW

SushiCW
Tannik considered the contract carefully. Not only was it printed on real paper, it was bound. In full leather, with immaculately tasteful gold leaf. The Sirius logo on the front glittered with false modesty.

He took his time scanning through the pages, resisting the temptation to put his feet up on the desk. Annoying the corporate executive across from him would be fulfilling but he did have some standards. He settled for reading the contract thoroughly. Deliberately. Very, very slowly. The antique-style wooden clock on the desk measured the silence with an even tick.

Thirty nine and a half minutes later, when Tannik had just flipped back to the first page for a second pass, the Material Defense Recruitment Coordinator finally cracked. "This is our standard mercenary agreement, Mr. Seldon. Except, of course, for the compensation, which you'll find had been tripled."

"It was only double last week," the potential mercenary answered. "Having trouble finding takers?"

"Qualified material defenders are in unfortunately short supply, and demand has correspondingly increased."

"By which you mean they're mostly working for the other side. Or maybe they’re just holding out for another rate increase?" Tannik flashed his most insufferable grin.

The bald man across the desk gave him a very bald look. He and his fancy grey suit remained equally unruffled. Tannik was impressed: that grin had gotten him punched more than once.

"It’s true that the terrorist disinformation campaign against us has been... effective, of late. We find that adequate compensation has an effective compensating impact. We also of course respect the considerations of potential hires who want to be sure they’re pursuing a properly ethical course," he continued while smoothly retrieving a second leather-bound mini-book from somewhere behind the desk. "You’ll find a full set of rebuttals to their claims here, as well as summary of Sirius Corporation’s foundational principles and codes. I trust you will find it sufficiently reassuring, and the incriminating facts about the individuals aligned against us enlightening. I’ve carefully reviewed your dossier, and am confident you will reach a mutually beneficial conclusion."

Tannik took the document, even weightier than the contract, and talked himself out of another slow reading. Aggravating corp-men was fun, but he’d pushed things far enough already. The deal really was surprisingly good: full autonomy in which missions to accept, access to some exclusive equipment, legal immunity from a variety of potential infractions, and a satisfying stretch of neatly aligned zeroes.

"I'll let you know, Mr. Dravis." He gave another punchable smirk, stood up with papers in hand, and sauntered for the door.
 
Last edited:

SushiCW

SushiCW
The next morning, a different grey-suited man could be seen entering the same office. The secretary just outside didn’t hear the exchange that followed, because he most definitely was not listening with his ear pressed against the oak door.

"ONE? You only found ONE Pilot Federation Commander willing to sign on?”

“... so far. With further time and financial incentives, I expect-”

“Time we don’t have! Third quarter projections are off by record amounts. Stock prices are completely shot. Offices have been shut down. And why? Because some terrorists have duped some fools with the ravings of a dead woman.” There was an audible sigh from the visitor, answered with near-audible stony silence. Ten seconds later, he continued. “How much did we end up needing to pay to finally secure a material defender?”

“Approximately four hundred percent, plus a few special considerations.”

There was strangled scream. “FOUR hundred? For just one pilot?”

A pause. “Four hundred thirty eight, to be precise.”

“For the love of… alright. Please tell me we got someone feared and dangerous. Perhaps that Besieger? I understand he was responsible for the demise of that most unfortunate woman.”

“No. Unfortunately he is already working for the other side, despite my offer.”

“Then I would hope the Commander you secured is one of influence, who others follow. Was it Obsidian-”

“No.”

“Then they must have an extremely capable and dangerous ship to offer-”

“Commander Seldon flies a modified light freighter.”

A very long pause.

“I am formally requesting a budget increase in order to facilitate the rapid acquisition of material defense talent. The realities of supply are unfortunate, but inescapable. I have already transmitted the full proposal document, please expedite its approval.”

Less than a minute later, angry footsteps approached the door and slammed it open. They stormed past the desk where Alfred remained hard at work at his secretarial terminal, never even looking up, too busy to hear all the muttered cursings and vows of early retirement as they faded into the hallway.
 
Last edited:

SushiCW

SushiCW
“The trouble with Sirius,” Tannik explained, “is that they have too much money.” He sipped the tube on his drink pouch, watching the sun set behind the gas giant. He’d never understood why the bridge of his ship was so cavernous, but the design had its perks. Right now, he was relaxing on the float and taking in the starscape through a two story tall window. “They hire us, and who knows who else, to defend… this. A modest outpost around a boring planet in an unremarkable system, hundreds of lightyears away from anything interesting.”

“Whatever you say, Commander,” Akshara replied, fiddling with a console near the floor. She was actually trying to get work done, calibrating something or other. Tannik forgave her for it anyway. She was still new. The last hired hand had taken months to unwind and grow a personality.

“Not that I’m complaining, mind,” he continued cheerfully. “An overabundance of credits is a problem I’m only too happy to help solve. Especially when all we’re asked to do is help clear out a few rowdy pirates.”

Akshara paused, and looked up. “You know that means they’re just going to ask for something insane later, right? We've still got weeks on this contract.”

Tannik waved dismissively. “Maybe. But that’s future Tannik’s problem. Are you sure I can’t get you something?” He kicked gently at the window, lazily propelling himself towards the cooler strapped to the ceiling. “Mint Lhassi?” Without waiting for a response, he extracted an ice-cold pouch with cheerful green lettering, and softly tossed it in Akshara’s general direction. She gave an irritated glance upwards before resuming her work, but caught the drink when it came tumbling by a few seconds later. She didn’t even throw it back this time. Tannik decided that counted as progress.

She had a point, though. Dravis hadn’t seemed like a stupid man, and the Black Hand ships they'd been fighting were surprisingly well organized. They were probably being aggressively funded too, but by whom? And for what possible purpose? Stepping Stone Base was a shell of an outpost, a glorified gas station on the road to nowhere. Something didn’t add up, and it was starting to make him nervous.

With a sigh, he drained his pouch, tossed it into the recycle chute, and then drifted over to the secondary command relay. A bit of a checkup wouldn’t hurt, he decided as he carefully removed the maintenance panel. Future Tannik might thank him.
 

SushiCW

SushiCW
“Something’s wrong. We should get out of here,” Akshara insisted again. Tannik was inclined to agree, at least with the first part. He peered through the bridge canopy.

There was a massive gas giant filling most of the sky, a dozen hues of blue clouds slowly churning together. That was expected.

Scores of ships glittered in the sunlight, swirling around each other and jockeying for position. Some flown by Sirius Corp mercs, others by Black Hand criminals. That was expected too.

None of them were shooting each other or exploding. That was definitely not right.

Less than an hour ago, Dravis had called to inform them that the system was now officially in a state of war, and that he was invoking subsection 25 of the contract. The upshot was that Tannik and his ship were required to join the battle in progress, immediately. Akshara had greeted the news with no comment except an arched eyebrow, very loudly not saying “I told you so.” Tannik had only slightly resented her restraint.

And now, after a short but anxious flight, the Million-to-One Chance had arrived at the scene of battle only to find it in a tense ceasefire. Tannik looked over his shoulder. Akshara was standing at a secondary bridge console behind him, her white flightsuit wreathed in restraint webbing and surrounded by holo-displays. Her face was even more furrowed than usual. “Seriously. We should leave,” she said.

“You can’t seriously be complaining about dropping into a warzone that’s not filled with missiles and laser beams,” Tannik replied.

Akshara opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a series of sharp beeps. “We’re being hailed, Commander,” she said, then tapped on her holo-display. A new voice boomed through the bridge.

“This is Sirius Security Command to unidentified ship. Vacate the area immediately.”

“Acknowledged, but hold up.” Tannik answered. “We just got orders from Sirius sending us here. Are you sure you want us to leave already?”

“I wasn’t informed,” the voice barked, tense. “Hold position and stand by while we verify.” The link was cut. Tannik powered down the engines, letting the ship drift. He waited, uneasy.

“Commander, there’s something wrong with the transponder!” Akshara shouted. “It’s not broadcasting our Corp registration. It’s putting out a signal, but the code being broadcast isn’t ours.” Her voice quavered. “It’s counterfeit. It won’t hold up to scrutiny. And I’m locked out and can’t change it.”

Tannik swiveled his chair around in alarm, meeting her eyes. They were frightened. “What do you mean, locked out? Nevermind”, he said, not waiting for a response as he rotated his chair forward to reach his own controls. “We’re getting out of here.”

His instincts had warned him too slowly. Everything after happened too quickly.

Tannik shoved the throttle to full, accelerating the Million-to-One Chance through the cloud of jockeying ships. The g-forces pushed him into his chair, and he heard Akshara grunt behind him as she was thrown against her restraint web.

Lances of laser fire, too many to count, reached out and seared the ship’s shield, which glowed brightly for several seconds before bursting like a bubble. The Chance began to burn, then violently shuddered as kinetic rounds slammed into it, exploding and shredding and crushing. Tannik frantically yanked at controls that no longer responded as the ship began to tumble. Alarms and detonations alike deafened him. Akshara was yelling something incomprehensible, and he was pretty sure he was too. The tactical display in front of him was a sea of flashing red lights. His eyes were glued to the white dots representing the missiles on course to end his life in a few seconds.

“SWITCH OVER!,” Akshara screamed, which was funny because the voice was coming from above him. He glanced up: she had somehow untangled herself from the restraint harness and had both hands on the secondary command relay near the ceiling. Right! Tannik jabbed an emergency switch with one hand, and felt the control stick in the other firm up as it re-synced with the attitude thrusters. He let out a full-throated howl as he heaved on the stick, curving the trajectory of the ship. Two bright lights sped past, the exhaust plumes of the missiles they had narrowly evaded. A glance at the tactical display showed pirates and mercenaries now in pitched battle as the Chance drifted away, forgotten.

Almost forgotten. A final parting shot from a long-range railgun pierced the ship end-to-end. There was a loud crack, and Tannik looked up just in time to see Akshara staring at the golfball-sized hole in her own chest. A heartbeat later the canopy shattered, and the rush of escaping air carried her into space alongside scraps of metal, shards of glass, and a blue plastic cooler.
 
Last edited:

SushiCW

SushiCW
Dravis sat at his desk and reviewed the numbers on his datapad. Eighty Special Material Defense contracts issued since the first. Seventy three successfully voided so far. The funds formerly allocated for payment of the latter successfully redistributed to more productive ventures. He allowed himself the ghost of a smile and the barest whiff of self-congratulation. The first cocksure buffoon had been straightforward to manipulate, setting a marvelously unreasonable initial price. Those that followed had raised it for themselves even further. Each request for a budget increase had been met with grumbling, but had also been ultimately approved. The final budget he'd been able to acquire had exceeded his highest percentile projections.

Every credit would be spent, far more productively than they would be lining the pockets of the Pilots Federation and their mercenaries. Dravis reviewed the directives he had already sent to expedite the termination of contracts #74 and #75. He requisitioned the psychological profiles of #76 and #77. The antique clock on his desk ticked along steadily as he worked, a role model of quiet efficiency. Through the window taking up his entire left wall, the stars quietly spun on their course.

One star appeared to be growing brighter. Dravis stared, frowning slightly at this disorder. Some long buried primal instinct tried to scream a warning, but found its voice too late.

The glass wall shattered, and the gale of escaping air carried him into space. His body tumbled wildly alongside chairs, desks, and synthetic plants. His body hardly had time to register that it didn’t have anything to breathe before he impacted something solid and knew no more.

Dravis awoke. The light was dim, and his vision was blurry. He attempted to wipe his face but found both arms refused to budge. He eventually blinked his vision clear and saw why. He was in a tight cocoon of metal, arms and legs strapped tightly into some sort of restraint harness. A low throbbing permeated everything. Dravis realized it was coming from his own head.

He groaned. It hurt. Everything did, as all the varied bits of him woke up and voiced their displeasure. He was, nevertheless, relieved that he was, as far as he could tell, alive. And although his enclosure was decidedly coffin shaped, the medical tubes soothing blue lights packed in with him gave him reason to believe it had another purpose. Feeling reassured, he composed himself to wait patiently. No need to abandon decorum, after all. Someone had put him here and would surely come to visit. He knew with certainty that he was in control of the situation.

Two hours and seven minutes later, Dravis woke to the sound of voices just outside. He listened carefully, to be sure he maximized his collection of meaningful data.

“No, we're not going to open it. That's the rule. You never open the package.” Male. Exasperated. Lavian accent. Vaguely familiar.

“You don't think this is a bit on the dodgy side? That's obviously an escape pod.” Female. Indignant. Sol for certain, likely Martian. “We're supposed to go dump it near some wreckage in the Pleiades. It doesn't take a genius to figure out-”

“Nah, probably just a probe.”

“With a life support module?”

“Sure, for environment control. Could be supercooled sensors in there.”

“If it's a probe, why have us deliver it?”

“Obviously it's an important probe. Which is why we shouldn't break it. Let’s get to Merope and drop it out the cargo hatch like we've been paid to do.”

“But it could be a person! You don't just fling people into space!”

There was a pause, and if anything was said it was too quiet for Dravis to make out. Regardless, he'd heard enough. He gathered his breath to let out a dignified but unmistakable “ahem.”

What actually came out was an explosive fit of uncontrollable coughing.

“Listen! Don’t try to pretend you didn’t hear that. I knew it!” The female's voice was triumphant.

“Might just be a defrost cycle-”

“Tannik, shut up already and help me get this thing open! Hang on in there, unknown person! We'll save you!”

A half minute of whirring power tools later, the door creaked open. Dravis, still restrained hand and foot, looked up steadily at Tannik Seldon and his associate. Putting on his best business smile, he began, “Good to see you again, Mr. Seldon! As you can see-”

The lid crashed shut so fast, Dravis almost flinched. The expression on Seldon’s face had been shocked, then furious, then gone in a slam. Dravis stopped talking as soon as the lid came back down. He’d have to shout to be heard clearly, and he had no intention of appearing desperate.

“Nope. You’re wrong,” Tannik said heavily. “No person, just a soulless snake.” His associate started to say something, but was firmly cut off. “No. Before you say anything else, let me tell you a story about that creature. Elsewhere.”

The two must have left after that, because Dravis didn’t hear the rest of their conversation. All in all, he reflected, it could have gone worse. He estimated his chances of being ejected into space were less than forty percent. Hardly ideal, especially given the rumors about what had been happening to escape pods in that region of space, but it would have to do for now. And so he waited, his mind silently ticking away the time.
 
Last edited:

SushiCW

SushiCW
Less than an hour later (but more than ten minutes after Dravis had predicted), Lily returned. She snuck through the cargo bay, flitting from one pile of junk to the next, pausing at each to halt her momentum, see if she'd been noticed, and find the best cover to push off for next. She was reasonably certain she was alone - after all, the only other person on the ship was busy flying it. Still, she figured it wouldn't hurt to practice. You never know when zero G stealth skills will come in handy.

Eventually she reached the pod, still lying on the floor like an oversized coffin. Lily took a moment to compose herself, straightening her hair and putting on the “command face” that she'd been practicing. A deep breath, then she rapped on the lid twice. “Alright, listen up,” she whispered fiercely. “I'm going to let you out but you have to do exactly what I say. I'm armed!” she warned. “Anyway, cough once if you agree. Two for no. Three if this is part of a secret mission and you need to stay there. Four coughs… hmm, well that could be for-”

The man inside coughed just once, to his own great relief.

“Oh, right. Hang on.” She unlatched the lid, braced her feet against the floor, and pulled. The pod creaked open. The bald man inside was wearing a simple grey survival suit hooked to the inside of the pod with several tubes and wires. Lily thought he looked unnaturally calm for someone in his position. Tubes like that gave her the screaming willies.

“Yes, they are moderately uncomfortable. If you would be so kind…” Dravis said.

Lily paused. Had she said that last thought out loud? She hated it when that happened. Focus. Deep breath. She couldn't afford to make any mistakes. “Hold still,” she commanded as she fumbled at the control console with one hand and one eye. The others were busy trying to keep the gun pointed at Dravis while also staying well out of his reach. Even without what Tannik had told her about him, the man oozed sliminess. Dravis didn’t deserve to be murdered, of course, but she knew better than to trust him.

“There!”, she exulted when she finally managed the right combination of buttons. She pushed off and floated up against the ceiling, keeping the gun pointed as steady and confidently as she could as she looked down on Dravis, who was carefully pulling himself out of the pod. She nodded her head towards the doorway of the lift connecting the cargo bay with the rest of the ship. “That way. You first. Hurry, we don't have much time!” The last bit probably wasn't necessary but she'd always wanted to say it. She thought she did it reasonable justice.

Her comm crackled to life. “Lily, where are you? We're almost at the drop site.” Her boss’s voice echoed through the mostly empty hold. Dravis stared at her impassively, waiting to see what she’d do. Lily instinctively hated that blank (and entirely unhelpful) look.

“Uhmmm.” She groped for an answer. Definitely not in the cargo bay.Wait, don’t say that! “I’m on the head. Yeah. Gonna be a while. Those horrible lassi drinks of yours do not agree with me at all.”

There was the start of an indignant splutter, but it quickly cut off. Lily gestured urgently to Dravis, waving him towards the elevator.

“Go!”

Dravis pushed off the pod with his legs, coasting across the floor only slightly awkwardly. Lily followed a couple meters behind. The man was being cooperative, which was good. But that probably meant he was planning something, which was bad. But, she reminded herself with a fierce smile as she gripped her gun more tightly, she was ready for that. That was good.

The elevator doors were only meters away when they smoothly slid shut. That was bad! A red light on the wall next to them blinked on and machinery began to hum. Tannik had summoned the lift and would be coming down shortly. In a half minute her boss would step out and everything would end in disaster. No no no no no!

Still drifting towards the doors, Dravis reached down with one hand to grab a large metal ring embedded in the floor. With a smooth pull, he rotated his momentum ninety degrees to the left, aiming for a dark corner of the cargo bay. Lily was about to follow when she remembered… the escape pod was still open! Its lid hinged up into the air, drawing the eye in a very obviously-no-longer-occupied sort of way.

Cursing under her breath, Lily holstered her pistol and let her momentum carry her all the way to the elevator doors. She let her arms absorb the impact, curling her feet up near them in a tight crouch, then pushed off as hard as she could back the way she had come. She rocketed straight at the escape pod. Fortunately, it had opened facing away from the elevator, so when Lily crashed into it at eye-watering speed the impact neatly slammed it shut. She, with much less dignity, caromed and spun right into the metal bars of an empty cargo rack. She squeezed herself behind it as best she could, glancing at the corner where Dravis had ended up. To her relief, he was well-hidden. She couldn’t see him at all. That was good.

Unless it was bad.

The light by the elevator turned green, and the doors opened. Tannik walked out, a luxury afforded by a pair of heavy magnetic boots. She watched from behind the rack as he cling-clanged towards the escape pod. What was he doing here? Was he really planning to shove Dravis out of the hatch himself, while she was supposedly too busy taking a crap to object? Some boss. She’d thought better of him.

Halfway there, Tannik stopped. Lily saw him look around furtively, then mutter and shake his head. He turned around, stomping back towards the elevator. A few steps later, he halted again, pausing even longer. Lily held her breath, willing herself to stay silent. After a few moments Tannik let out an audible sigh, and his shoulders slumped. He turned around once more, dragging his heavy boots back to the escape pod.

“Alright, listen up,” he growled at it. “Apparently I don’t actually have it in me to kill you in cold blood. More’s the pity. So I'm going to let you out but you have to do exactly what I say.”

Lily beamed. This was more like it! Although in a moment she was going to be in an enormous amount of trouble, and probably get fired. Her smile faded. Maybe she could find some way to explain things. Or distract Tannik long enough to get Dravis back in the pod and hope he didn't change his mind again. Maybe if she-

“I am inclined to acquiesce to your request,” Dravis said. He floated out of the shadowy corner of the cargo bay, arms stretched wide to show they were empty and face carefully blank.

Tannik whirled, sidearm raised. “How did you get out?”

“I recalled the voice override code for this pod model. Considering your contracted itinerary and unfortunate personal reaction to my presence, it seemed like the most prudent action.” Dravis let his foot drift into the same guide ring he had used before, using it to pull himself to a halt before he continued. “And now, I conclude that my best opportunity for comfortable survival is unconditional cooperation.”

Tannik gave him a long stare. “You wouldn't believe how tempted I am to put you back in that box and drop you out the hatch.”

“I imagine that your colleague would be considerably disappointed by that course of action,“ Dravis said evenly.

“Yeah,” Tannik sighed. He nodded towards the elevator. “I'll show you to your closet. Nice and slowly.”

When the lift doors closed behind them, Lily let out the breath she'd been holding. On the plus side, nobody was getting murdered. Less happily, they had taken aboard a soulless husk of inhumanity wrapped around a calculator. The way he lied...no, dissembled. Lily hadn't missed the glance that Dravis had shot her way as he left, either. He probably knew to three decimal places how much she owed him for keeping her out of his story. Not that she wasn't grateful, but...

She shivered, and started making her own way out of the cargo bay. The creep was most definitely not to be trusted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom