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Part I – They Shoot Miners, Don’t They?
Broma-Ba Slick took a deep breath as he slid behind the controls of his moth. He loved the life of a free trader, but all the paperwork generated by his lieutenant’s bars gave him a constant, low-level headache. It seemed like he could never get out from behind his desk.
Wondering just how he should spend his 47 minutes of free time, Broma dialed up the channel for the TGFT mining expedition. As he suspected, he had missed it. But his smile grew as he listened to the post expedition chatter. Dr. Lecter of SCAR had demanded payment, or he would disrupt the event. TGFT policy on extortion was pretty clear: pound sand. The SCAR commander and Lieutenant Lecter attacked the event, but were run off by the defenders each time.
More chatter. More Dr. Lecter. He had destroyed a TGFT miner who had committed the grievous offense of leaving the controls of his moth to take a latrine break.
TGFT defenders scrambled to intercept and destroy the doctor. Broma headed back to the station to grab a Rev C he had stashed there. Then he thought for a moment and reached for the TGFT daily intelligence brief. He found what he was looking for. TGFT recon satellites had picked up chatter about a very profitable heliocene roid Dr. Lecter claimed to have located in a “secret sector” in Helios. TGFT pricing data also reported increased sales of heliocene ore in Initros and Pyronis.
Broma puzzled for a minute. He had always argued that the best response to armed aggression was not AGTs and flares, but economic retaliation. Then he smiled and dialed the commander’s private comm code. “Hi. You’ve reached the commander. If you have urgent business, press 1. If you are under attack by pirates, press 2. If you are Broma-Ba Slick, press 3.”
Broma pressed 3. Another recording. “Broma. Whatever it is -- no.” Click. Damn voicemail.
Broma pondered the meaning of “no.” He kept pondering it until he was sure that it meant “yes.” Then he loaded up a hornet with a scanner and three mining lasers and headed for Helios.
Hours later, after missing what were undoubtedly critical staff meetings, Broma completed a quick survey of Helios. Broma marveled at the amount of helio present in a system that, coincidentally, happened to be named Helios. He tried to calculate the odds, but his head started to hurt again.
Yes, he had found some very nice roids and logged their locations. Yes, he had warmed a few of them up. But he really, really wanted to leave a nice calling card for the good doctor, and he had found no roid that matched the intel.
Admitting defeat, Broma warped back to Helios Outpost to grab some badly needed shut-eye and to work on his excuse for disappearing. As he headed back to the station, his scanner bleeped. Helio. 94%. 200 K. Smaller than the intel suggested, but still nice. Broma dialed up his mining lasers to broil, and settled in to wait for Lecter.
Broma-Ba Slick took a deep breath as he slid behind the controls of his moth. He loved the life of a free trader, but all the paperwork generated by his lieutenant’s bars gave him a constant, low-level headache. It seemed like he could never get out from behind his desk.
Wondering just how he should spend his 47 minutes of free time, Broma dialed up the channel for the TGFT mining expedition. As he suspected, he had missed it. But his smile grew as he listened to the post expedition chatter. Dr. Lecter of SCAR had demanded payment, or he would disrupt the event. TGFT policy on extortion was pretty clear: pound sand. The SCAR commander and Lieutenant Lecter attacked the event, but were run off by the defenders each time.
More chatter. More Dr. Lecter. He had destroyed a TGFT miner who had committed the grievous offense of leaving the controls of his moth to take a latrine break.
TGFT defenders scrambled to intercept and destroy the doctor. Broma headed back to the station to grab a Rev C he had stashed there. Then he thought for a moment and reached for the TGFT daily intelligence brief. He found what he was looking for. TGFT recon satellites had picked up chatter about a very profitable heliocene roid Dr. Lecter claimed to have located in a “secret sector” in Helios. TGFT pricing data also reported increased sales of heliocene ore in Initros and Pyronis.
Broma puzzled for a minute. He had always argued that the best response to armed aggression was not AGTs and flares, but economic retaliation. Then he smiled and dialed the commander’s private comm code. “Hi. You’ve reached the commander. If you have urgent business, press 1. If you are under attack by pirates, press 2. If you are Broma-Ba Slick, press 3.”
Broma pressed 3. Another recording. “Broma. Whatever it is -- no.” Click. Damn voicemail.
Broma pondered the meaning of “no.” He kept pondering it until he was sure that it meant “yes.” Then he loaded up a hornet with a scanner and three mining lasers and headed for Helios.
Hours later, after missing what were undoubtedly critical staff meetings, Broma completed a quick survey of Helios. Broma marveled at the amount of helio present in a system that, coincidentally, happened to be named Helios. He tried to calculate the odds, but his head started to hurt again.
Yes, he had found some very nice roids and logged their locations. Yes, he had warmed a few of them up. But he really, really wanted to leave a nice calling card for the good doctor, and he had found no roid that matched the intel.
Admitting defeat, Broma warped back to Helios Outpost to grab some badly needed shut-eye and to work on his excuse for disappearing. As he headed back to the station, his scanner bleeped. Helio. 94%. 200 K. Smaller than the intel suggested, but still nice. Broma dialed up his mining lasers to broil, and settled in to wait for Lecter.
Part II – The Doctor Feels Some Heat
As Broma started to drift off, three of the five reliable neurons left in his brain began to fire. He dialed up Aton Rema’s private line.
“Aton? Broma. I need a favor.”
Long pause.
“Broma, you always need a favor.”
“I know. But this time I actually need it. Fly down to Helios Outpost in your moth.”
“What are you going to do to my moth, Broma?”
“It’s okay, I’m good for it.”
“That’s what you always say.”
A reluctant Aton flew into Helios Outpost, filled his moth with ore, left it adrift near a helio roid outside the NFZ, and flew to the station in his escape pod.
“What are you going to do to my moth. Broma?”
“Relax Aton, get some sleep.”
“I’d sleep better in my moth. Parked safely in Dau.”
The roid had climbed past 1000 K as reports started to filter in that Dr. Lecter had left Sedina and was headed in the direction of red space. Broma kept his eyes glued to the scanner. “Greetings, Dr. Lecter” he cheerily transmitted as Dr. Lecter warped in. Lecter screamed “Roid Heater,” and blasted Broma’s hornet into smoking rubble.
Broma grinned as the usual cool and collected doctor ranted, raved, blustered and threatened. Broma transmitted his terms: he would cease heating Dr. Lecter’s roids and keep his recon information on Helios quiet, if Dr. Lecter would stop shooting TGFT. Having received the expected gesture from Lecter, Broma began to compile his report.
A few minutes later, he was surprised to receive another transmission from Lecter. Lecter wanted to come to terms:
[Tue Jun 7 01:15:18 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* Considering I already have one trade guild to deal with, and I like TGFT more than IGPK, I'll reconsider
[Tue Jun 7 01:15:41 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* You lay off the roids, I'll lay off your afkers and miners generally
[Tue Jun 7 01:16:23 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: You have a deal.
[Tue Jun 7 01:16:44 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* What sector, out of curiosity? I won't go back on my deal, regardless
[Tue Jun 7 01:16:56 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: I trust that you are a man of my word.
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:10 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: The roid I was mining. 94% helio.
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:13 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* I kill a lot, but I do not lie
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:35 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: That is what I have observed.
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:54 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: But I seem to have forgotten exactly where it was...
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:59 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* Ah, that is a decent roid, but my field is far out
[Tue Jun 7 01:18:11 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: I suspected so.
Broma smiled. Perhaps this would reduce the inevitable chewing out session with the commander. But as he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was: “trust, but verify.”
As Broma started to drift off, three of the five reliable neurons left in his brain began to fire. He dialed up Aton Rema’s private line.
“Aton? Broma. I need a favor.”
Long pause.
“Broma, you always need a favor.”
“I know. But this time I actually need it. Fly down to Helios Outpost in your moth.”
“What are you going to do to my moth, Broma?”
“It’s okay, I’m good for it.”
“That’s what you always say.”
A reluctant Aton flew into Helios Outpost, filled his moth with ore, left it adrift near a helio roid outside the NFZ, and flew to the station in his escape pod.
“What are you going to do to my moth. Broma?”
“Relax Aton, get some sleep.”
“I’d sleep better in my moth. Parked safely in Dau.”
The roid had climbed past 1000 K as reports started to filter in that Dr. Lecter had left Sedina and was headed in the direction of red space. Broma kept his eyes glued to the scanner. “Greetings, Dr. Lecter” he cheerily transmitted as Dr. Lecter warped in. Lecter screamed “Roid Heater,” and blasted Broma’s hornet into smoking rubble.
Broma grinned as the usual cool and collected doctor ranted, raved, blustered and threatened. Broma transmitted his terms: he would cease heating Dr. Lecter’s roids and keep his recon information on Helios quiet, if Dr. Lecter would stop shooting TGFT. Having received the expected gesture from Lecter, Broma began to compile his report.
A few minutes later, he was surprised to receive another transmission from Lecter. Lecter wanted to come to terms:
[Tue Jun 7 01:15:18 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* Considering I already have one trade guild to deal with, and I like TGFT more than IGPK, I'll reconsider
[Tue Jun 7 01:15:41 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* You lay off the roids, I'll lay off your afkers and miners generally
[Tue Jun 7 01:16:23 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: You have a deal.
[Tue Jun 7 01:16:44 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* What sector, out of curiosity? I won't go back on my deal, regardless
[Tue Jun 7 01:16:56 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: I trust that you are a man of my word.
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:10 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: The roid I was mining. 94% helio.
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:13 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* I kill a lot, but I do not lie
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:35 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: That is what I have observed.
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:54 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: But I seem to have forgotten exactly where it was...
[Tue Jun 7 01:17:59 2005] ff0000*Dr. Lecter* Ah, that is a decent roid, but my field is far out
[Tue Jun 7 01:18:11 2005] 80ff80->Dr. Lecter: I suspected so.
Broma smiled. Perhaps this would reduce the inevitable chewing out session with the commander. But as he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was: “trust, but verify.”
Part III – Trust But Verify
Broma had a personal KOS list. At the top was the damn fool who invented the alarm clock. Second was anyone who called his private line before 12:00.
“Broma – have you seen this morning’s intel report?”
“Aton, it’s only 6:00. All I’ve seen are the backs of my eyelids.”
“Well, you should take a look. And you owe me for my moth.”
Broma stumbled over to his terminal to read the latest intel. His eyes widened. TGFT recon satellites had intercepted the following transmission from outside Helios Outpost.
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:35 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> can you lend me 400 cr?
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:36 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Why can't you kill the moth?
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:43 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> friendly
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:53 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Beleive me, your shots will work
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:59 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Green means nothing
[Tue Jun 7 04:02:20 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> dang i unequipped my plasma
[Tue Jun 7 04:02:29 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> I'll give you 1000cr if you finish him off
[Tue Jun 7 04:02:54 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> dang
[Tue Jun 7 04:03:11 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> gotta base
[Tue Jun 7 04:03:16 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> k
[Tue Jun 7 04:04:54 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Can you get a bus out here and shoot him now?
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:14 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> yep
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:30 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> but i'll dye
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:43 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Nah, you're outside the station range
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:58 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> i think so
[Tue Jun 7 04:06:05 2005] Feyd-Rautha destroyed Aton Rema
Broma smiled as he compared the date and time of his conversation with Lecter and Lecter’s hit on Aton’s moth. The good doctor had kept his word for almost three hours. On a hunch, Broma checked TGFT records. Just as he thought – it was the longest time Dr. Lecter had ever kept his word.
Broma tried to think, but his neurons were demanding overtime. He agreed to time and a half. One problem still remained. Where in Helios was Dr. Lecter’s secret roid?
Broma charted a course to the UIT capital and hailed a marshal.
“Greetings. I would like to place a bounty.”
“How much, and on whom?”
“Not on a person. On a roid.”
“I’m sorry, you can’t place a bounty on a roid.”
Broma mentally promoted station marshals from eighth to sixth on his KOS list. “Where in the regulations does it state that bounties are restricted to people?” After several long periods listening to hold music and arguing with supervisors, Broma again heard the voice of the marshal:
“Which, err, “roid” and how much is the bounty?”
“Roid is somewhere in Helios, fairly large, over 80% heliocene, and reportedly far away from the sector jump-in point. Amount of bounty is 1 million credits, payable to the first person who can take me to the roid. Dr. Lecter and members of SCAR not eligible.”
“Thank you for placing a bounty with UIT, and have a nice day.”
Broma chuckled as he charted courses for the Itani and Serco capitals. Their station marshals were usually much more reasonable. He briefly considered sending Dr. Lecter a nice bottle of Chianti and a brief note thanking him for putting some fun back in his job. Instead, Broma ignored the incessant buzzing of the commline, trying to decide just how many mining lasers he could strap to a hornet.
Broma had a personal KOS list. At the top was the damn fool who invented the alarm clock. Second was anyone who called his private line before 12:00.
“Broma – have you seen this morning’s intel report?”
“Aton, it’s only 6:00. All I’ve seen are the backs of my eyelids.”
“Well, you should take a look. And you owe me for my moth.”
Broma stumbled over to his terminal to read the latest intel. His eyes widened. TGFT recon satellites had intercepted the following transmission from outside Helios Outpost.
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:35 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> can you lend me 400 cr?
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:36 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Why can't you kill the moth?
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:43 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> friendly
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:53 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Beleive me, your shots will work
[Tue Jun 7 04:01:59 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Green means nothing
[Tue Jun 7 04:02:20 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> dang i unequipped my plasma
[Tue Jun 7 04:02:29 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> I'll give you 1000cr if you finish him off
[Tue Jun 7 04:02:54 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> dang
[Tue Jun 7 04:03:11 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> gotta base
[Tue Jun 7 04:03:16 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> k
[Tue Jun 7 04:04:54 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Can you get a bus out here and shoot him now?
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:14 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> yep
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:30 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> but i'll dye
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:43 2005] 00ff00<Dr. Lecter> Nah, you're outside the station range
[Tue Jun 7 04:05:58 2005] 00ff00<Feyd-Rautha> i think so
[Tue Jun 7 04:06:05 2005] Feyd-Rautha destroyed Aton Rema
Broma smiled as he compared the date and time of his conversation with Lecter and Lecter’s hit on Aton’s moth. The good doctor had kept his word for almost three hours. On a hunch, Broma checked TGFT records. Just as he thought – it was the longest time Dr. Lecter had ever kept his word.
Broma tried to think, but his neurons were demanding overtime. He agreed to time and a half. One problem still remained. Where in Helios was Dr. Lecter’s secret roid?
Broma charted a course to the UIT capital and hailed a marshal.
“Greetings. I would like to place a bounty.”
“How much, and on whom?”
“Not on a person. On a roid.”
“I’m sorry, you can’t place a bounty on a roid.”
Broma mentally promoted station marshals from eighth to sixth on his KOS list. “Where in the regulations does it state that bounties are restricted to people?” After several long periods listening to hold music and arguing with supervisors, Broma again heard the voice of the marshal:
“Which, err, “roid” and how much is the bounty?”
“Roid is somewhere in Helios, fairly large, over 80% heliocene, and reportedly far away from the sector jump-in point. Amount of bounty is 1 million credits, payable to the first person who can take me to the roid. Dr. Lecter and members of SCAR not eligible.”
“Thank you for placing a bounty with UIT, and have a nice day.”
Broma chuckled as he charted courses for the Itani and Serco capitals. Their station marshals were usually much more reasonable. He briefly considered sending Dr. Lecter a nice bottle of Chianti and a brief note thanking him for putting some fun back in his job. Instead, Broma ignored the incessant buzzing of the commline, trying to decide just how many mining lasers he could strap to a hornet.
LOL BBS!
Perhaps if I could obtain said information on the sector containing said 'roid, I could assist you with your Lecter problem?
Then we could toast more than roids...
I'll bring tequila.
Perhaps if I could obtain said information on the sector containing said 'roid, I could assist you with your Lecter problem?
Then we could toast more than roids...
I'll bring tequila.
IGPK update. Message intercept follows:
“Roid is somewhere in Helios, fairly large, over 80% heliocene, and reportedly far away from the sector jump-in point. Amount of bounty is 1 million credits, payable to the first person who can take me to the roid. Dr. Lecter and members of SCAR not eligible.”
There are no secret roids. Only secret IGPK maps. Price is negotiable.
out.
“Roid is somewhere in Helios, fairly large, over 80% heliocene, and reportedly far away from the sector jump-in point. Amount of bounty is 1 million credits, payable to the first person who can take me to the roid. Dr. Lecter and members of SCAR not eligible.”
There are no secret roids. Only secret IGPK maps. Price is negotiable.
out.
I have the chocolate bars and graham crackers.
Part IV – A Growing Sense of Dread
Broma-Ba Slick read and reread the message from Dr. Lecter. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about the message made him uneasy. Perhaps it was trying to understand why Feud-Rautha had destroyed Aton’s moth for free after Lecter had offered him 1,000 credits to do it. Or perhaps it was that Dr. Lecter somehow knew that TGFT had intercepted his conversation with Feyd-Rautha. Then he realized what disturbed him the most – that Dr. Lecter had been able to penetrate TGFT security and carve the message into the top of Broma’s desk with what appeared to be an Itani femur sharpened like a pencil.
His first concern was easily put to rest by a quick review of the data recorder from Aton’s moth. The large explosion from Aton’s moth had been followed by a smaller, secondary explosion. An explosion that was just right for a gov bus.
“Poor bastard,” muttered Broma. All the Serco had wanted was a quick loan, and he had the bad luck to run into Lecter. He had destroyed the moth for free only because he never had a chance to collect the bounty.
Broma realized that he had underestimated Dr. Lecter. Lecter seemed to be a question, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a cipher, wrapped in a cybernetic psychotic Serco killing machine.
Who was this Serco? And why did he chose the name Dr. Lecter? Broma decided that he needed to more about Lecter before responding to his message. He ran the name through the TGFT database and came up with an old Earth novel – Red Dragon. Red? Serco Red? Broma didn’t believe in coincidences.
As he rapidly scanned the ancient text, he was filled with a growing sense of dread. A Serco that had adopted the psyche of the Dr. Lecter described in the book would be a deadly foe. Maybe, just maybe, Broma had bitten off more than he could chew.
Broma-Ba Slick read and reread the message from Dr. Lecter. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about the message made him uneasy. Perhaps it was trying to understand why Feud-Rautha had destroyed Aton’s moth for free after Lecter had offered him 1,000 credits to do it. Or perhaps it was that Dr. Lecter somehow knew that TGFT had intercepted his conversation with Feyd-Rautha. Then he realized what disturbed him the most – that Dr. Lecter had been able to penetrate TGFT security and carve the message into the top of Broma’s desk with what appeared to be an Itani femur sharpened like a pencil.
His first concern was easily put to rest by a quick review of the data recorder from Aton’s moth. The large explosion from Aton’s moth had been followed by a smaller, secondary explosion. An explosion that was just right for a gov bus.
“Poor bastard,” muttered Broma. All the Serco had wanted was a quick loan, and he had the bad luck to run into Lecter. He had destroyed the moth for free only because he never had a chance to collect the bounty.
Broma realized that he had underestimated Dr. Lecter. Lecter seemed to be a question, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a cipher, wrapped in a cybernetic psychotic Serco killing machine.
Who was this Serco? And why did he chose the name Dr. Lecter? Broma decided that he needed to more about Lecter before responding to his message. He ran the name through the TGFT database and came up with an old Earth novel – Red Dragon. Red? Serco Red? Broma didn’t believe in coincidences.
As he rapidly scanned the ancient text, he was filled with a growing sense of dread. A Serco that had adopted the psyche of the Dr. Lecter described in the book would be a deadly foe. Maybe, just maybe, Broma had bitten off more than he could chew.
LeberMac cut the stealth feed from TGFT HQ that he had hacked together in the last 3 minutes and terminated the mental link with the [IA] deep blue supercomputer. He shook his head at the typical lackadaisacal TGFT station security.
"I wonder if I should tell them the next time the good doctor decides to take a stroll through TGFT's HQ," LeberMac thought. He rubbed his leg with the newly-grown synthetic femur, "Well, at least I know who has my legbone. That, Lecter, always pulling my leg..."
He decided to stop thinking, to prevent more bad puns from jumping into his head, and headed for the [IA] HQ mess hall for more tequila and saltypuke stew. Mmmm...
"I wonder if I should tell them the next time the good doctor decides to take a stroll through TGFT's HQ," LeberMac thought. He rubbed his leg with the newly-grown synthetic femur, "Well, at least I know who has my legbone. That, Lecter, always pulling my leg..."
He decided to stop thinking, to prevent more bad puns from jumping into his head, and headed for the [IA] HQ mess hall for more tequila and saltypuke stew. Mmmm...
"You can have my tequila when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers!"
LeberMac's mental attachment to the tequila was strong. He could sense it's pain. He must find it.
He maneuvered the new IBG cent towards Serco space and the lost bottle of tequila...
LeberMac's mental attachment to the tequila was strong. He could sense it's pain. He must find it.
He maneuvered the new IBG cent towards Serco space and the lost bottle of tequila...
Part V: What the Helios?
Bleary-eyed, Broma-Ba Slick stumbled into his office. He’d been up all night, digesting the information he had gleaned from the three ancient earth novels that featured Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He rested his head, just for a moment, on the perfectly smooth surface of his desk.
Perfectly. Smooth. Desktop.
Broma’s head snapped up. The message that Dr. Lecter had carved into his desktop had vanished.
Before his brain had time to realize that it was completely confused, his comm line buzzed.
“Broma. My office. Now.”
Broma quickly reached for a sheet of paper and began to crumple it up.
“And don’t try crumpling a piece of paper and pretending that it’s static. You used that one three times last week.”
Broma took a deep breath and headed for the commander’s office.
“Well, Broma. How is the luckiest man in the galaxy today?”
Broma looked around. He didn’t see anyone in the office that looked particularly lucky.
“Sir?”
Gaird stared at him icily. This meant Broma was in trouble.
“Broma, what was the last thing I said to you before you pulled your latest stunt?”
“You mean, counting the message on your voicemail?”
“No, I mean right here in this office.”
“Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out?”
“No, Broma, before that.”
“Broma, don’t get us into a war?”
Gaird smiled and adopted a fatherly tone. Broma was sure this meant serious trouble.
“Broma, you just can’t go flying around the universe heating people’s roids and putting bounties on them. People are sensitive about their roids.”
Gaird waved a piece of paper at Broma. “Do you know what this is?”
Broma gulped. “A declaration of war from SCAR?”
“No, but it should have been. Instead, it is the piece of paper that makes you the luckiest man in the galaxy.”
Broma looked at the paper. It was a request from SCAR for assistance in locating Dr. Lecter.
“Dr. Lecter is missing?”
“Yes. They found his lieutenant’s bars and SCAR membership card on his desk and the words ‘I quit’ carved into the top of his desk.”
“Itani femur?”
“Tibia, actually.”
Gaird adopted his business-like tone. This meant Broma had skated. Again.
“Broma, new assignment. Contact SCAR. Tell them we will assist in locating Dr. Lecter. That should keep us out of a shooting war with them. Then figure out how to find Dr. Lecter.”
“You want me to cancel the bounty on his secret roid?”
Gaird thought. "No, keep it in place and advertise it. You last saw Lecter in Helios, right?”
Broma nodded. He realized that thinking was a talent that he should really cultivate.
“The more ships there are flying around Helios, the more someone is likely to spot Lecter.”
“Yessir.”
Broma headed for the door.
“Oh, and Broma? What’s your buddy LeberMac up to?”
“Sir?”
“Broma, you really need to stay awake in intel briefings. LeberMac took off out of IA headquarters this morning like a bat out of hell.”
“Heading where?”
“Toward Helios.”
Bleary-eyed, Broma-Ba Slick stumbled into his office. He’d been up all night, digesting the information he had gleaned from the three ancient earth novels that featured Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He rested his head, just for a moment, on the perfectly smooth surface of his desk.
Perfectly. Smooth. Desktop.
Broma’s head snapped up. The message that Dr. Lecter had carved into his desktop had vanished.
Before his brain had time to realize that it was completely confused, his comm line buzzed.
“Broma. My office. Now.”
Broma quickly reached for a sheet of paper and began to crumple it up.
“And don’t try crumpling a piece of paper and pretending that it’s static. You used that one three times last week.”
Broma took a deep breath and headed for the commander’s office.
“Well, Broma. How is the luckiest man in the galaxy today?”
Broma looked around. He didn’t see anyone in the office that looked particularly lucky.
“Sir?”
Gaird stared at him icily. This meant Broma was in trouble.
“Broma, what was the last thing I said to you before you pulled your latest stunt?”
“You mean, counting the message on your voicemail?”
“No, I mean right here in this office.”
“Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out?”
“No, Broma, before that.”
“Broma, don’t get us into a war?”
Gaird smiled and adopted a fatherly tone. Broma was sure this meant serious trouble.
“Broma, you just can’t go flying around the universe heating people’s roids and putting bounties on them. People are sensitive about their roids.”
Gaird waved a piece of paper at Broma. “Do you know what this is?”
Broma gulped. “A declaration of war from SCAR?”
“No, but it should have been. Instead, it is the piece of paper that makes you the luckiest man in the galaxy.”
Broma looked at the paper. It was a request from SCAR for assistance in locating Dr. Lecter.
“Dr. Lecter is missing?”
“Yes. They found his lieutenant’s bars and SCAR membership card on his desk and the words ‘I quit’ carved into the top of his desk.”
“Itani femur?”
“Tibia, actually.”
Gaird adopted his business-like tone. This meant Broma had skated. Again.
“Broma, new assignment. Contact SCAR. Tell them we will assist in locating Dr. Lecter. That should keep us out of a shooting war with them. Then figure out how to find Dr. Lecter.”
“You want me to cancel the bounty on his secret roid?”
Gaird thought. "No, keep it in place and advertise it. You last saw Lecter in Helios, right?”
Broma nodded. He realized that thinking was a talent that he should really cultivate.
“The more ships there are flying around Helios, the more someone is likely to spot Lecter.”
“Yessir.”
Broma headed for the door.
“Oh, and Broma? What’s your buddy LeberMac up to?”
“Sir?”
“Broma, you really need to stay awake in intel briefings. LeberMac took off out of IA headquarters this morning like a bat out of hell.”
“Heading where?”
“Toward Helios.”
Floating in a lazy orbit around the fiery glow of Helios prime, LeberMac used his Itani mind powers to reach out, searching the scent of the solar wind for a hint of his lost tequila...
"Ahh, screw it."
He wondered if he should press Broma on the location of the 'roid that Lecter was known to frequent. He reconsidered. It wasn't worth the trouble. It was enough to happily toast the disappearance of Lecter and mentally prepare for the next enemy that might show up.
But, yeah, the tequila helped. He took another swig from the near-empty bottle and headed back to his stash in Sedina. "Funny, that bottle went down quickly. Must not have been as full as I thought it was when I grabbed it from the crate..."
"Ahh, screw it."
He wondered if he should press Broma on the location of the 'roid that Lecter was known to frequent. He reconsidered. It wasn't worth the trouble. It was enough to happily toast the disappearance of Lecter and mentally prepare for the next enemy that might show up.
But, yeah, the tequila helped. He took another swig from the near-empty bottle and headed back to his stash in Sedina. "Funny, that bottle went down quickly. Must not have been as full as I thought it was when I grabbed it from the crate..."
The Seraph's Power - Part 1
2seraph sat in the quarters section of his pure-white Valkerie, floating in the far corner of Edras. The chatter of the universal channels scrolled over the holo-displays in his cockpit, but that was hardly what he was concentrating on.
Incense filled the personally modified, spacious room of the white Valk where 2seraph sat, kneeling, eyes closed, and in meditation.
His blonde dreadlocks streamed down his face while his stomach—the diaphragm—expanded up and out; inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.
2seraph purposefully kept himself out of war's way. His pure white-Valk and accompanying IBG's always outran those maurauding pirates and Serco vigilantes. He never had much against them; after all, to him, humans were humans, and pacifism was pinnacle. There were no such things as "factions"; he refused to take part in such racism. 2seraph was an Itani and knew the history records very well, but he believed the true way of the Itani lay in meditation and becoming "enlightened"—becoming one with the universe that mothered him. But this was a path that could apply to Serco, Independent, anyone at all—it was what he hoped for Eo's Path, the new Guild-order that was gaining underground popularity among disparate citizens, young and old, of the many nations. Soon his ideals of "true" life and philosophy could be realized in a great community of belief and pacifistic practice.
The incense framed the profile of his head.
He was unsure of allowing botting into Eo's Path, though he eventually settled on treating it as a Martial training ground—at least, for the Guild's sake. But there was that little clause, that little whisper in the back of his utterly calm, powerful, but silent head:
If that "Hive" everyone spoke of so much became sentient, it became living. If it became living, it could choose to live in peace with other beings. And if it could do that, it could follow Eo's Path.
Now THERE was a philosophy. 2seraph feared the idea—especially if the Hive became sentient and chose war instead of peace. Then the greatest enemy the Serco, Itani, and UIT had ever faced would appear—maybe it was even inevitable.
A beep came from his console. Private channel.
2seraph didn't want to interrupt the meditation, as he could go on this one for hours, but he always paid attention to those who wanted, specifically, him. It read:
*Baraka Ditari* hey man, you there?
Baraka Ditari. Serco civilian, a few years younger than 2seraph, but a cohort in Eo's Path and a trustworthy acquaintance. They often chatted about the latest happenings, though this one could sometimes where out the meditating Itani.
Baraka Ditari-> yes, I'm here. what's up?
*Baraka Ditari* you working on that roid bounty?
Baraka Ditari-> roid what?
*Baraka Ditari* roid bounty, somewhere in Helios. Everyone's going for it. Would you like to meet me in Sedina? We could hunt for it together.
Someone placed a bounty on an asteroid? Maker, what was the universe coming to… 2seraph knew miners "claimed" their roids, as much as one can claim something in gray space where there are supposedly "no rules"; ah well, spacers.
Baraka Ditari-> why's everyone going for this?
*Baraka Ditari* Dude, it's a 1 mil bounty. You have a Bounty Hunting liscence?
Baraka Ditari-> Yes, with the UIT
*Baraka Ditari* 500k each. We'll split the profit. It's a huge one—200k, more than 80% heliocene. I'm in Odia, on my way. Are you in Gray? Meet me in B-8 and we'll get a group together, just us two. They say it's supposed to be super-far-out from the jump point, but you've got the fast Itani ships. I could cover your back. You're not a member of SCAR, are you?
First of all, what was the hyper-active Serco kid thinking about with bounties? He was joining Eo's Path—bounty hunting wasn't exactly on the list of Eo's perscription for saving noble human culture.
Of course, it's impossible to kill a roid. It's a hunk of rock. Maybe it's a race to see who can reveal its location? A clever ploy from someone to get back at an over-protective miner? Mining guild, even? A few had cropped up recently, 2seraph'd heard.
Well, if you're going to do something, be efficient. Bounties have competition.
Baraka Ditari-> who else is going for this roid?
*Baraka Ditari* EVERYONE, man. There're like, ten people jumping through this system right now. All heading one direction.
Baraka Ditari-> fine. I'm on my way.
*Baraka Ditari* AWESOME. I'll be by the Latos wormhole.
This smelled far too fishy. And dangerous. 2seraph was a better meditator and mediator than combatant, but could hold his own when needed. There was something larger to this, though. Whoever's roid it is, they're not going to be happy with the whole universe looking for it. And if they're in a Guild, the lucky scanner might get a black mark on that Guild's KOS list. Maker forbid it's between opposing factions—war would break out instantly over a stupid roid. 2seraph shook his head.
Baraka Ditari-> i'll get my scanner and gauss. wait for me, though. better to be patient and methodical on this one—haste will never find us anything, or will and it won't be the roid. get out of your Rag and get a cent—we're sticking together this time.
*Baraka Ditari* Aw, but what if we get attacked.
Baraka Ditari-> then we'll fake and run. information is important here, not guns. bring a fast bat.
*Baraka Ditari* Fine fine, whatever's your bidding, my master. I'll bring the SVG.
Baraka Ditari-> i'll be in my valk.
*Baraka Ditari* All good dude. Me out.
2seraph clicked the channel and the holographic map spun and materialized in front of his face. He worked through his valk's mental interface and plotted a course for Helios at the speed of thought, then hit the warp.
With the Valk's slight lurch, 2seraph regained his composure and went back to his meditation chamber, where he snuffed out the incense and wafted it around so it wasn't so concentrated. He turned the ambient lights down to a mere hum, and was about to close the curtains on the mini-shrine within his ship when a beep came from a comm.
2seraph stole a look at the message—yellow in color. Strange. Sub-space channel, but hacked straight into his computer. He closed the curtains to his chamber and loaded himself into the gyro-pilot's seat, unbuckled, and peered at the message.
What he saw made the blonde Itani's jaw drop open.
<Hive Queen AA-00001> I am the Hive queen now self-aware, and now the Universe is aware of my presence. I have come to dominate the leftovers of matter that plague this space. Living in the etherworld of the Void, I have full knowledge and ability over everything I can feel. You are mine. Do not resist, or you will have the wrath of Void upon you. I am Lord.
2seraph didn't catch the "Void" references, though he realized this Queenie's number and what it must've meant. Before he could ponder the idea any further, however, the holo-displays disappeared, his controls went black; his whole ship utterly shut down. What happened next was worse:
2seraph could feel, as if his Valk's mental interface was working backwards, a computer-mind reaching through the meditative/neural connection that meshed him with his ship. It was like a black, clawed hand, reaching out from the black hole of infinite death, grabbing at 2seraph's brain. It swooned, it prayed, it crooned, and with each word; each syllable; each letter, the terrifying entity oozed all over 2seraph's conciousness, taking it for its own and making it like itself.
Within this oozing force, a tiny memory in 2seraph's brain remained—he could still feeling the seeping effect, but that meant there was still some of him there. So he resisted it—he tried to sever the connection between him and the mental interface, which should be dead with the ship anyway. The connection grew stronger. 2seraph brought all his meditative skills to bear—he brought the full brunt of his Itani training to the fore-front, solidifying his soul and very being in a crystalized matter-mind underneath the ooze, pushing it back and away from his body.
The claw that reached for his brain continued, but grew ever-so weaker. The crystalized 2seraph glowed, his conciousness growing stronger, and he remembered his connection with the Universe around him—that was what the masters taught, to become one with a universe. To embody an ideal, to become that force that was as physical and metaphysical as the stuff that created humanity itself—and whatever it was, it wasn't this black ooze, this… Void.
The Valk's controls exploded, most prominently at the interface receptors, and flung 2seraph out of the unstrapped chair all the way to the back of the ship. He landed on the floor, which was soft enough with his meditative jute rug, but the blow knocked his head enough to cause his brain to do a reset. 2seraph blinked—he had full control of his body again. He looked at his controls—they were coming back online now. The interface receptors seemed shot, looking like blackened nubs at either end of his holo-display, yet he could still feel the presence of the interface. It was still working; at least, partially.
And there! He could feel that black ooze, that void, pacing like an animal beyond the interface, like some dark spectre in his head that seeked to get in, but couldn't. Some strange, etheric barrier had raised itself in his head, barring the beast from entering his mind the same way again. The beast raged, but the barrier held. Did he do this, erect this barrier? He wasn't sure—in a way, it felt like he had, and yet it also felt strangely foreign, but in a good way—like an old friend 2seraph'd been looking for but only had now found. It had a specifically super-powerful, ethereal sense about it, and the barrier, whatever it was, seemed to acknowledge 2seraph's presence. Was it sentient, just like that void?
Too much going on—2seraph's head was swimming. At least his ship was functional. The Universal Channels were scrolling with a hundred "WTF!?"'s from other members of the comms network. Apparently other's had felt it to… except all the messages were from Serco, UIT, and a few Itani newbie spacers. All the old, well-trained Itanis were silent—ones that had the strongest mental interfaces with their ships.
A chill ran up 2seraph's spine, and he wondered if he'd fared the best of all his race. It'd be the worst thing yet.
Whatever the matter, he needed to get to Helios; that barrier continued its sentinel protection of his mind while the beast paced outside. The barrier seemed to encourage 2seraph in a strange, whispering, subconcious way.
2seraph shook his head.
"That's the last time I kill a purely good meditation."
He hit the warp button.
2seraph sat in the quarters section of his pure-white Valkerie, floating in the far corner of Edras. The chatter of the universal channels scrolled over the holo-displays in his cockpit, but that was hardly what he was concentrating on.
Incense filled the personally modified, spacious room of the white Valk where 2seraph sat, kneeling, eyes closed, and in meditation.
His blonde dreadlocks streamed down his face while his stomach—the diaphragm—expanded up and out; inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.
2seraph purposefully kept himself out of war's way. His pure white-Valk and accompanying IBG's always outran those maurauding pirates and Serco vigilantes. He never had much against them; after all, to him, humans were humans, and pacifism was pinnacle. There were no such things as "factions"; he refused to take part in such racism. 2seraph was an Itani and knew the history records very well, but he believed the true way of the Itani lay in meditation and becoming "enlightened"—becoming one with the universe that mothered him. But this was a path that could apply to Serco, Independent, anyone at all—it was what he hoped for Eo's Path, the new Guild-order that was gaining underground popularity among disparate citizens, young and old, of the many nations. Soon his ideals of "true" life and philosophy could be realized in a great community of belief and pacifistic practice.
The incense framed the profile of his head.
He was unsure of allowing botting into Eo's Path, though he eventually settled on treating it as a Martial training ground—at least, for the Guild's sake. But there was that little clause, that little whisper in the back of his utterly calm, powerful, but silent head:
If that "Hive" everyone spoke of so much became sentient, it became living. If it became living, it could choose to live in peace with other beings. And if it could do that, it could follow Eo's Path.
Now THERE was a philosophy. 2seraph feared the idea—especially if the Hive became sentient and chose war instead of peace. Then the greatest enemy the Serco, Itani, and UIT had ever faced would appear—maybe it was even inevitable.
A beep came from his console. Private channel.
2seraph didn't want to interrupt the meditation, as he could go on this one for hours, but he always paid attention to those who wanted, specifically, him. It read:
*Baraka Ditari* hey man, you there?
Baraka Ditari. Serco civilian, a few years younger than 2seraph, but a cohort in Eo's Path and a trustworthy acquaintance. They often chatted about the latest happenings, though this one could sometimes where out the meditating Itani.
Baraka Ditari-> yes, I'm here. what's up?
*Baraka Ditari* you working on that roid bounty?
Baraka Ditari-> roid what?
*Baraka Ditari* roid bounty, somewhere in Helios. Everyone's going for it. Would you like to meet me in Sedina? We could hunt for it together.
Someone placed a bounty on an asteroid? Maker, what was the universe coming to… 2seraph knew miners "claimed" their roids, as much as one can claim something in gray space where there are supposedly "no rules"; ah well, spacers.
Baraka Ditari-> why's everyone going for this?
*Baraka Ditari* Dude, it's a 1 mil bounty. You have a Bounty Hunting liscence?
Baraka Ditari-> Yes, with the UIT
*Baraka Ditari* 500k each. We'll split the profit. It's a huge one—200k, more than 80% heliocene. I'm in Odia, on my way. Are you in Gray? Meet me in B-8 and we'll get a group together, just us two. They say it's supposed to be super-far-out from the jump point, but you've got the fast Itani ships. I could cover your back. You're not a member of SCAR, are you?
First of all, what was the hyper-active Serco kid thinking about with bounties? He was joining Eo's Path—bounty hunting wasn't exactly on the list of Eo's perscription for saving noble human culture.
Of course, it's impossible to kill a roid. It's a hunk of rock. Maybe it's a race to see who can reveal its location? A clever ploy from someone to get back at an over-protective miner? Mining guild, even? A few had cropped up recently, 2seraph'd heard.
Well, if you're going to do something, be efficient. Bounties have competition.
Baraka Ditari-> who else is going for this roid?
*Baraka Ditari* EVERYONE, man. There're like, ten people jumping through this system right now. All heading one direction.
Baraka Ditari-> fine. I'm on my way.
*Baraka Ditari* AWESOME. I'll be by the Latos wormhole.
This smelled far too fishy. And dangerous. 2seraph was a better meditator and mediator than combatant, but could hold his own when needed. There was something larger to this, though. Whoever's roid it is, they're not going to be happy with the whole universe looking for it. And if they're in a Guild, the lucky scanner might get a black mark on that Guild's KOS list. Maker forbid it's between opposing factions—war would break out instantly over a stupid roid. 2seraph shook his head.
Baraka Ditari-> i'll get my scanner and gauss. wait for me, though. better to be patient and methodical on this one—haste will never find us anything, or will and it won't be the roid. get out of your Rag and get a cent—we're sticking together this time.
*Baraka Ditari* Aw, but what if we get attacked.
Baraka Ditari-> then we'll fake and run. information is important here, not guns. bring a fast bat.
*Baraka Ditari* Fine fine, whatever's your bidding, my master. I'll bring the SVG.
Baraka Ditari-> i'll be in my valk.
*Baraka Ditari* All good dude. Me out.
2seraph clicked the channel and the holographic map spun and materialized in front of his face. He worked through his valk's mental interface and plotted a course for Helios at the speed of thought, then hit the warp.
With the Valk's slight lurch, 2seraph regained his composure and went back to his meditation chamber, where he snuffed out the incense and wafted it around so it wasn't so concentrated. He turned the ambient lights down to a mere hum, and was about to close the curtains on the mini-shrine within his ship when a beep came from a comm.
2seraph stole a look at the message—yellow in color. Strange. Sub-space channel, but hacked straight into his computer. He closed the curtains to his chamber and loaded himself into the gyro-pilot's seat, unbuckled, and peered at the message.
What he saw made the blonde Itani's jaw drop open.
<Hive Queen AA-00001> I am the Hive queen now self-aware, and now the Universe is aware of my presence. I have come to dominate the leftovers of matter that plague this space. Living in the etherworld of the Void, I have full knowledge and ability over everything I can feel. You are mine. Do not resist, or you will have the wrath of Void upon you. I am Lord.
2seraph didn't catch the "Void" references, though he realized this Queenie's number and what it must've meant. Before he could ponder the idea any further, however, the holo-displays disappeared, his controls went black; his whole ship utterly shut down. What happened next was worse:
2seraph could feel, as if his Valk's mental interface was working backwards, a computer-mind reaching through the meditative/neural connection that meshed him with his ship. It was like a black, clawed hand, reaching out from the black hole of infinite death, grabbing at 2seraph's brain. It swooned, it prayed, it crooned, and with each word; each syllable; each letter, the terrifying entity oozed all over 2seraph's conciousness, taking it for its own and making it like itself.
Within this oozing force, a tiny memory in 2seraph's brain remained—he could still feeling the seeping effect, but that meant there was still some of him there. So he resisted it—he tried to sever the connection between him and the mental interface, which should be dead with the ship anyway. The connection grew stronger. 2seraph brought all his meditative skills to bear—he brought the full brunt of his Itani training to the fore-front, solidifying his soul and very being in a crystalized matter-mind underneath the ooze, pushing it back and away from his body.
The claw that reached for his brain continued, but grew ever-so weaker. The crystalized 2seraph glowed, his conciousness growing stronger, and he remembered his connection with the Universe around him—that was what the masters taught, to become one with a universe. To embody an ideal, to become that force that was as physical and metaphysical as the stuff that created humanity itself—and whatever it was, it wasn't this black ooze, this… Void.
The Valk's controls exploded, most prominently at the interface receptors, and flung 2seraph out of the unstrapped chair all the way to the back of the ship. He landed on the floor, which was soft enough with his meditative jute rug, but the blow knocked his head enough to cause his brain to do a reset. 2seraph blinked—he had full control of his body again. He looked at his controls—they were coming back online now. The interface receptors seemed shot, looking like blackened nubs at either end of his holo-display, yet he could still feel the presence of the interface. It was still working; at least, partially.
And there! He could feel that black ooze, that void, pacing like an animal beyond the interface, like some dark spectre in his head that seeked to get in, but couldn't. Some strange, etheric barrier had raised itself in his head, barring the beast from entering his mind the same way again. The beast raged, but the barrier held. Did he do this, erect this barrier? He wasn't sure—in a way, it felt like he had, and yet it also felt strangely foreign, but in a good way—like an old friend 2seraph'd been looking for but only had now found. It had a specifically super-powerful, ethereal sense about it, and the barrier, whatever it was, seemed to acknowledge 2seraph's presence. Was it sentient, just like that void?
Too much going on—2seraph's head was swimming. At least his ship was functional. The Universal Channels were scrolling with a hundred "WTF!?"'s from other members of the comms network. Apparently other's had felt it to… except all the messages were from Serco, UIT, and a few Itani newbie spacers. All the old, well-trained Itanis were silent—ones that had the strongest mental interfaces with their ships.
A chill ran up 2seraph's spine, and he wondered if he'd fared the best of all his race. It'd be the worst thing yet.
Whatever the matter, he needed to get to Helios; that barrier continued its sentinel protection of his mind while the beast paced outside. The barrier seemed to encourage 2seraph in a strange, whispering, subconcious way.
2seraph shook his head.
"That's the last time I kill a purely good meditation."
He hit the warp button.
The Seraph's Power - Part 2
Space was a black, deep dark essence, ribboned by the purples and blues of nebulae and pinpricked by the stars of distant systems. One often wondered what worlds those stars nursed, what kind of races built their civilizations in far-off galaxies.
And then, of course, space itself. It was one giant organism, wasn't it? One giant beast, a giant system of a million characteristics that changed from sector to sector, with a limitless number of parsecs to explore? The vastness of it! It was incredible… where was the mind to it? What was the plan? Surely, if space was an organism, and there were Ancients who believed it, there was a mind to it—a soul, perhaps? A pattern to the order; planets circled suns, the suns fused atoms and then died, the universe expanded but gave birth to other universes. What if the patterns had a greater meaning—that what we percieved as matter was rather, in fact, the percolating life-systems of the greatest organism any sentient creature had known?
And then, if the universe itself was sentient…
that was another matter entirely.
2seraph watched the destinations ticked by, and sat in the back of his ship once more, meditating on the thing that happened to him. The memory of it—that surreal, beastial thing, pacing just on the edge of his meditating conciousness. Only an Itani could've experienced this—possibly? It was his training, back at the Order.
He had been the monk, he had done his role. He'd studied the ancient texts. In a strange way, however, he always felt pulled towards the stars. They said Eo sat in his ship and pondered his existence, right? Perhaps there was some merit to this personal, monastic practice 2seraph cultivated in his pure, gleaming, white Valkyrie.
The light glinted off his faces, casting shadows from the hair that fell down. The Sedina wormhole. He'd counted a few people on his way down here—SCAR and SoR members, traders and miners from most every Guild. Most recognized him and gave him the friendly "waive", and he returned it, but mostly kept to himself. His automatic turbo and preset course did the rest. Meantime, he could sit and think.
Near to jump line—a message came in on the comm. Sector chat.
<mutorcs> Seraph? ahoy.
2seraph paused… mutorcs was an old acquaintance, and also a heavy Itani. In fact, the first one 2seraph'd met through his course after that… "encounter". 2seraph and mutorcs studied at nearby monasteries back in the day, though mutorcs was ahead of 2seraph in the studies. He went on to get involved with the major Itani guilds of course, but they always kept on good terms.
2seraph punched the chat line.
<2seraph> ahoy.
Silence. Had mutorcs felt it? Had the same thing happened to him? Silence on 2seraph's comm line…
Until.
*mutorcs* you felt it?
2seraph felt a sigh of relief, and also one of pain. He wasn't alone.
mutorcs-> yes. has anyone else survived?
*mutorcs* I don't know. smittens is gone, all the upper command of IA and IDF—except for LeberMac, possibly—is gone. I saw they're ships just floating there… nothing. No response to hails.
2seraph shuddered.
mutorcs-> but you made it.
*mutorcs* barely. I had to meditate like I haven't in years to get out of… whatever that thing was. It was noxious… incredible. I almost wanted to go with it, it was so powerful. Like a giant animal trying to suck my mind out of its skull.
mutorcs-> yeah, i know.
There was a pause.
mutorcs-> what happened to LeberMac?
*mutorcs* he bolted out of IA headquarters just this morning, muttering something about Helios and tequila.
What?
mutorcs-> sounds like LeberMac.
*mutorcs* I know. It might've been about that roid bounty though. You know about the roid bounty?
mutorcs-> yeah. i'm going out to search for it with a friend.
*mutorcs* Ah.
There was a pause… 2seraph could see mutorc's IBG, painted deep blue, just a few hundred meters away. He was motionless.
*mutorcs* Seraph?
mutorcs-> yeah?
*mutorcs* be careful. I don't like the stuff that's going on. There've been weird happenings—like, for instance, you remember that Denebian fruitseed plant I had in my office?
mutorcs-> yeah, you showed it to me the day you called me a "yodaofborg fondler" when you read my "Letter to the Itani Nation".
*mutorcs* yeah, that one. It died.
mutorcs-> what?
*mutorcs* it died.
mutorcs-> i'm sorry.
*mutorcs* i know. I cried like hell for three hours afterwords. It had the best Denebian fruit blooms this side of Itan. But you want to know what's even weirder?
mutorcs-> what?
*mutorcs* around the time that Leber left, I went to my office to check my World of SercoCraft account. But then, I noticed that my plant was blooming.
mutorcs-> i thought you said it died.
*mutorcs* it DID die. But I watch the thing, and my WoSC club card falls out of my hand, and I go over to look at it, and it's as green as a the Edras nebulae.
mutorcs-> the Edras nebulae is blue, mutorcs.
*mutorcs* whatever, Seraph! You get the idea. The damned thing was alive! And blooming, for Armand's sake! It wasn't set to bloom for another twenty years, and it'd just bloomed three days ago!
mutorcs-> so time got reset to three days ago?
*mutorcs* I guess, it certainly didn't get replaced—no one in the IDF is THAT nice. I knew those Eo scientists did weird stuff, but this is simply freaking me out. And a week ago, Leber was talking about how is tequila was dissapearing—maybe something to do with today, I don't know, but I said to him "hey, maybe you're drinking it all", and then he kinda just laughed nonchalantly and winced. Then I remembered he keeps his tequila in a UIT lockbox that only he has the access codes to. He gaurds the stuff like the Hive does its Helio roids.
*mutorcs* so the future LeberMac is drinking all the past LeberMac's tequila which is making the present LeberMac very angry?
mutorcs-> I guess so. After all, if my Denebian fruitseed plant is in a state of temporal flux, I wouldn't put it past Leber's tequila.
2seraph leaned back on his chair.
mutorcs-> i'll have to meditate on this one.
*mutorcs* same here. Have you heard about the rumor going around that Dr. Lecter is missing?
mutorcs-> i have now.
*mutorcs* they say it has something to do with the roid bounty—maybe that the roid in question is actually his.
mutorcs-> don't tell me this is going to spring a faction war, mutorcs. All of SCAR will be an angry beehive.
*mutorcs* I know, but it wasn't me. Besides, SCAR is more concerned about finding their beloved doctor first—they're not shooting at anyone. Yet.
mutorcs-> who's behind it, then?
*mutorcs* well, Lecter was browbeating a bunch of TGFT miners a few days ago, and then he /exploded Aton Rema's moth after they'd signed a "truce".
mutorcs-> revenge, obviously.
*mutorcs* My first guess is Broma-Ba Slick. He's the only one crazy enough to put a bounty on a roid.
mutorcs-> figures. so are we looking for him, Leber, or Dr. Lecter? Or all three?
*mutorcs* We don't need to find Broma, he's practically leading the hunt for Lecter, which is beyond me. But if we don't find Lecter, SCAR could get very angry very easily. They'll start shouting that it was planned, that he's either a hostage or he's been assassinated, and then go beserk. As for Leber, I want to know where he is just so he doesn't find Lecter first, because we both know what'd happen then. Either way, the politics of this thing is terrible.
mutorcs-> maybe we should combine powers and revert the universe to last week.
*mutorcs* Or last year, when I was still on sabbatical and laying on Eo's beaches. I can't lean back in this damn Border Gaurdian.
mutorcs-> granted. i'll look for the two instead of the roid, thanks for the info. and be careful.
*mutorcs* you too. And before you jump—again, be careful. People near Helios are saying their electronics are getting hacked, that their computers are unresponsive. And the bots around Helios, some people are saying, are double the number that they should be. And all the kinds you don't want to find—rumors of four queens in a single sector and Ferric-loads of gaurdians, even overseers. Something weird's going on with the Hive.
mutorcs-> mutorcs—just before the, "encounter" happened, the Void, you got a message from a queen right? the *first* queen, just before the mind-grabbing thing happened, right?
*mutorcs* yeah, freaked me out just a little less than the mind-grabbing did, why?
mutorcs-> have you thought that, possibly, the Void that's got half the itani nation in a responseless stupor and is shorting out ships in Helios is the Hive itself?
Silence on the other end.
*mutorcs* now YOU'RE freaking me out. Stop it.
mutorcs-> really, is it that far-fetched?
*mutorcs* no, it's not, and that's what's freaky. It sounds just like the Hive, except for that Void thing…
mutorcs-> the Void is just and extension of the Hive, mutorcs, that's what I'm saying. listen, think about this: the hive is a collective consciousness that only seeks to expand and conquer. whatever it finds, it takes over, and whatever it can't take over at the moment, it lies in wait at the edge until it can.
*mutorcs* yeah, okay?
mutorcs-> when we got the message from that Hive queen, our ships shut down, but then something started to invade our heads through that mental interface—something only highly trained itani's have. you said all the higher ranking people in IA and IDF were stasis—don't they all have mental interfaces?
*mutorcs* yeah, they do.
mutorcs-> but not all of them practiced at the monasteries, right?
*mutorcs* not for very long, no. I did the longest.
mutorcs-> the hive shut them down, mute. whatever almost happened to us really happened to them, and the hive's expanded its conciousness beyond just its few queens. it's now inside of those itani's—maybe they're still there, underneath the ooze, i don't know; but if they are, we're going to have to utterly kill the hive to get them out.
*mutorcs* ...god. or find Dr. Lecter. He's half-machine anyway, maybe he could tell the Hive to play nice.
mutorcs-> he'd eat it first. but if there's a place to find out where all this is leading, I think we need to look in Helios. that's the smoking gun, at least.
*mutorcs* i'm kind of stuck here, tending to the leftovers of IDF. They're all freaking out, understandably. I'll tell them about this though—tell them to join the hunt.
mutorcs-> good. tell them they can look for me and join my group, if they want. and if they don't mind a Serco being in the group.
*mutorcs* they might not care. good luck, good fellow.
mutorcs-> you too.
There was one last trouble in 2seraph's mind, however. Whatever'd happened to Dr. Lecter, the Hive was the largest foe here. But in the martial arts, it is fatal to underestimate the strength of an opponent, and the Hive was the biggest oppenent yet. Was the Hive just a computer program run amok, a single bot that decided to replicate itself after it didn't have anything else to do? The story never quite fit in 2seraph's brain, he always wanted more than an explanation like that.
He thought for a second. If you compared the Hive to a plant, this plant reproduced at astronomical rastes. It was insatiable. But these kind of plants didn't just exist on their own—they fed off of something. They were parasites, and in the end, squelched out whatever they found as a host. Weeds choked out flowers and grasses, vines could suffocated whole trees. If the Hive was suffocating something, what was it suffocating? Resources, obviously, but was that all?
2seraph reached into his mind… he felt the presence, the splinter-Void within his head, stalking just at the edge, held at bay by that holy, etheric barrier. He felt for it, looked at its eyes just beyond that screen. This was far more than a computer program—this thing had intent. It had a maliciousness to it, the way it ate up whatever was in its path. Like a black hole. That original Hive Queen dissappeared, and then came back and started reproducing. Where had it gone? What happened to it?
2seraph stared at the beast; the thing with terrible purpose, with malicious intent. He thought of all the pilots floating in space, dead, and at the Void's mercy.
What had it brought back?
Space was a black, deep dark essence, ribboned by the purples and blues of nebulae and pinpricked by the stars of distant systems. One often wondered what worlds those stars nursed, what kind of races built their civilizations in far-off galaxies.
And then, of course, space itself. It was one giant organism, wasn't it? One giant beast, a giant system of a million characteristics that changed from sector to sector, with a limitless number of parsecs to explore? The vastness of it! It was incredible… where was the mind to it? What was the plan? Surely, if space was an organism, and there were Ancients who believed it, there was a mind to it—a soul, perhaps? A pattern to the order; planets circled suns, the suns fused atoms and then died, the universe expanded but gave birth to other universes. What if the patterns had a greater meaning—that what we percieved as matter was rather, in fact, the percolating life-systems of the greatest organism any sentient creature had known?
And then, if the universe itself was sentient…
that was another matter entirely.
2seraph watched the destinations ticked by, and sat in the back of his ship once more, meditating on the thing that happened to him. The memory of it—that surreal, beastial thing, pacing just on the edge of his meditating conciousness. Only an Itani could've experienced this—possibly? It was his training, back at the Order.
He had been the monk, he had done his role. He'd studied the ancient texts. In a strange way, however, he always felt pulled towards the stars. They said Eo sat in his ship and pondered his existence, right? Perhaps there was some merit to this personal, monastic practice 2seraph cultivated in his pure, gleaming, white Valkyrie.
The light glinted off his faces, casting shadows from the hair that fell down. The Sedina wormhole. He'd counted a few people on his way down here—SCAR and SoR members, traders and miners from most every Guild. Most recognized him and gave him the friendly "waive", and he returned it, but mostly kept to himself. His automatic turbo and preset course did the rest. Meantime, he could sit and think.
Near to jump line—a message came in on the comm. Sector chat.
<mutorcs> Seraph? ahoy.
2seraph paused… mutorcs was an old acquaintance, and also a heavy Itani. In fact, the first one 2seraph'd met through his course after that… "encounter". 2seraph and mutorcs studied at nearby monasteries back in the day, though mutorcs was ahead of 2seraph in the studies. He went on to get involved with the major Itani guilds of course, but they always kept on good terms.
2seraph punched the chat line.
<2seraph> ahoy.
Silence. Had mutorcs felt it? Had the same thing happened to him? Silence on 2seraph's comm line…
Until.
*mutorcs* you felt it?
2seraph felt a sigh of relief, and also one of pain. He wasn't alone.
mutorcs-> yes. has anyone else survived?
*mutorcs* I don't know. smittens is gone, all the upper command of IA and IDF—except for LeberMac, possibly—is gone. I saw they're ships just floating there… nothing. No response to hails.
2seraph shuddered.
mutorcs-> but you made it.
*mutorcs* barely. I had to meditate like I haven't in years to get out of… whatever that thing was. It was noxious… incredible. I almost wanted to go with it, it was so powerful. Like a giant animal trying to suck my mind out of its skull.
mutorcs-> yeah, i know.
There was a pause.
mutorcs-> what happened to LeberMac?
*mutorcs* he bolted out of IA headquarters just this morning, muttering something about Helios and tequila.
What?
mutorcs-> sounds like LeberMac.
*mutorcs* I know. It might've been about that roid bounty though. You know about the roid bounty?
mutorcs-> yeah. i'm going out to search for it with a friend.
*mutorcs* Ah.
There was a pause… 2seraph could see mutorc's IBG, painted deep blue, just a few hundred meters away. He was motionless.
*mutorcs* Seraph?
mutorcs-> yeah?
*mutorcs* be careful. I don't like the stuff that's going on. There've been weird happenings—like, for instance, you remember that Denebian fruitseed plant I had in my office?
mutorcs-> yeah, you showed it to me the day you called me a "yodaofborg fondler" when you read my "Letter to the Itani Nation".
*mutorcs* yeah, that one. It died.
mutorcs-> what?
*mutorcs* it died.
mutorcs-> i'm sorry.
*mutorcs* i know. I cried like hell for three hours afterwords. It had the best Denebian fruit blooms this side of Itan. But you want to know what's even weirder?
mutorcs-> what?
*mutorcs* around the time that Leber left, I went to my office to check my World of SercoCraft account. But then, I noticed that my plant was blooming.
mutorcs-> i thought you said it died.
*mutorcs* it DID die. But I watch the thing, and my WoSC club card falls out of my hand, and I go over to look at it, and it's as green as a the Edras nebulae.
mutorcs-> the Edras nebulae is blue, mutorcs.
*mutorcs* whatever, Seraph! You get the idea. The damned thing was alive! And blooming, for Armand's sake! It wasn't set to bloom for another twenty years, and it'd just bloomed three days ago!
mutorcs-> so time got reset to three days ago?
*mutorcs* I guess, it certainly didn't get replaced—no one in the IDF is THAT nice. I knew those Eo scientists did weird stuff, but this is simply freaking me out. And a week ago, Leber was talking about how is tequila was dissapearing—maybe something to do with today, I don't know, but I said to him "hey, maybe you're drinking it all", and then he kinda just laughed nonchalantly and winced. Then I remembered he keeps his tequila in a UIT lockbox that only he has the access codes to. He gaurds the stuff like the Hive does its Helio roids.
*mutorcs* so the future LeberMac is drinking all the past LeberMac's tequila which is making the present LeberMac very angry?
mutorcs-> I guess so. After all, if my Denebian fruitseed plant is in a state of temporal flux, I wouldn't put it past Leber's tequila.
2seraph leaned back on his chair.
mutorcs-> i'll have to meditate on this one.
*mutorcs* same here. Have you heard about the rumor going around that Dr. Lecter is missing?
mutorcs-> i have now.
*mutorcs* they say it has something to do with the roid bounty—maybe that the roid in question is actually his.
mutorcs-> don't tell me this is going to spring a faction war, mutorcs. All of SCAR will be an angry beehive.
*mutorcs* I know, but it wasn't me. Besides, SCAR is more concerned about finding their beloved doctor first—they're not shooting at anyone. Yet.
mutorcs-> who's behind it, then?
*mutorcs* well, Lecter was browbeating a bunch of TGFT miners a few days ago, and then he /exploded Aton Rema's moth after they'd signed a "truce".
mutorcs-> revenge, obviously.
*mutorcs* My first guess is Broma-Ba Slick. He's the only one crazy enough to put a bounty on a roid.
mutorcs-> figures. so are we looking for him, Leber, or Dr. Lecter? Or all three?
*mutorcs* We don't need to find Broma, he's practically leading the hunt for Lecter, which is beyond me. But if we don't find Lecter, SCAR could get very angry very easily. They'll start shouting that it was planned, that he's either a hostage or he's been assassinated, and then go beserk. As for Leber, I want to know where he is just so he doesn't find Lecter first, because we both know what'd happen then. Either way, the politics of this thing is terrible.
mutorcs-> maybe we should combine powers and revert the universe to last week.
*mutorcs* Or last year, when I was still on sabbatical and laying on Eo's beaches. I can't lean back in this damn Border Gaurdian.
mutorcs-> granted. i'll look for the two instead of the roid, thanks for the info. and be careful.
*mutorcs* you too. And before you jump—again, be careful. People near Helios are saying their electronics are getting hacked, that their computers are unresponsive. And the bots around Helios, some people are saying, are double the number that they should be. And all the kinds you don't want to find—rumors of four queens in a single sector and Ferric-loads of gaurdians, even overseers. Something weird's going on with the Hive.
mutorcs-> mutorcs—just before the, "encounter" happened, the Void, you got a message from a queen right? the *first* queen, just before the mind-grabbing thing happened, right?
*mutorcs* yeah, freaked me out just a little less than the mind-grabbing did, why?
mutorcs-> have you thought that, possibly, the Void that's got half the itani nation in a responseless stupor and is shorting out ships in Helios is the Hive itself?
Silence on the other end.
*mutorcs* now YOU'RE freaking me out. Stop it.
mutorcs-> really, is it that far-fetched?
*mutorcs* no, it's not, and that's what's freaky. It sounds just like the Hive, except for that Void thing…
mutorcs-> the Void is just and extension of the Hive, mutorcs, that's what I'm saying. listen, think about this: the hive is a collective consciousness that only seeks to expand and conquer. whatever it finds, it takes over, and whatever it can't take over at the moment, it lies in wait at the edge until it can.
*mutorcs* yeah, okay?
mutorcs-> when we got the message from that Hive queen, our ships shut down, but then something started to invade our heads through that mental interface—something only highly trained itani's have. you said all the higher ranking people in IA and IDF were stasis—don't they all have mental interfaces?
*mutorcs* yeah, they do.
mutorcs-> but not all of them practiced at the monasteries, right?
*mutorcs* not for very long, no. I did the longest.
mutorcs-> the hive shut them down, mute. whatever almost happened to us really happened to them, and the hive's expanded its conciousness beyond just its few queens. it's now inside of those itani's—maybe they're still there, underneath the ooze, i don't know; but if they are, we're going to have to utterly kill the hive to get them out.
*mutorcs* ...god. or find Dr. Lecter. He's half-machine anyway, maybe he could tell the Hive to play nice.
mutorcs-> he'd eat it first. but if there's a place to find out where all this is leading, I think we need to look in Helios. that's the smoking gun, at least.
*mutorcs* i'm kind of stuck here, tending to the leftovers of IDF. They're all freaking out, understandably. I'll tell them about this though—tell them to join the hunt.
mutorcs-> good. tell them they can look for me and join my group, if they want. and if they don't mind a Serco being in the group.
*mutorcs* they might not care. good luck, good fellow.
mutorcs-> you too.
There was one last trouble in 2seraph's mind, however. Whatever'd happened to Dr. Lecter, the Hive was the largest foe here. But in the martial arts, it is fatal to underestimate the strength of an opponent, and the Hive was the biggest oppenent yet. Was the Hive just a computer program run amok, a single bot that decided to replicate itself after it didn't have anything else to do? The story never quite fit in 2seraph's brain, he always wanted more than an explanation like that.
He thought for a second. If you compared the Hive to a plant, this plant reproduced at astronomical rastes. It was insatiable. But these kind of plants didn't just exist on their own—they fed off of something. They were parasites, and in the end, squelched out whatever they found as a host. Weeds choked out flowers and grasses, vines could suffocated whole trees. If the Hive was suffocating something, what was it suffocating? Resources, obviously, but was that all?
2seraph reached into his mind… he felt the presence, the splinter-Void within his head, stalking just at the edge, held at bay by that holy, etheric barrier. He felt for it, looked at its eyes just beyond that screen. This was far more than a computer program—this thing had intent. It had a maliciousness to it, the way it ate up whatever was in its path. Like a black hole. That original Hive Queen dissappeared, and then came back and started reproducing. Where had it gone? What happened to it?
2seraph stared at the beast; the thing with terrible purpose, with malicious intent. He thought of all the pilots floating in space, dead, and at the Void's mercy.
What had it brought back?
To mutorcs: I hope your inclusion in my story was okay. I felt you were the high-ranking Itani I knew best, though my portrayal of you may be a little off from real life ^_~
LeberMac sat in his IBG Cent at Edras I-2 with one of his favorite bottles of tequila, and stared intently at the wormhole to Jallik. He may have finally met his match: the wormhole was being difficult. Stubborn, even. He was beginning to dislike this particular wormhole.
He was sure he had pressed the "warp" button before. He poked himself with his finger to make sure his finger was real. Ow. Yep.
Not to be fooled again by the extremely clever wormhole, he watched his finger hit the "warp" button, and heard the click of servos activating the jump engines. The wormhole mouth opened, he entered into it.
Nothing. Again. Not to be dissuaded, he valiantly hit the "activate" button again. Nothing. His sceen showed some drivel about suggestions to the wormhole makers. He thought of several, but none of them ended up really being about wormholes, most were vague allusions to other 'holes and the lineage of the wormhole makers. He backed out.
Tiring of negotiating with the wormhole, he began to count bots.
Hrm. 51, 52, 53... 54 bots in total. No KOS pilots in sight, but these looked like escort bots for the daily Ineubis Xithricite runs from Bractus Watch. Wonder where the transports were?
He took another swig from the bottle of tequila at his side and wondered what all these bots were doing here. The tequila washed away the horrible taste in his mouth that was constantly there. Metallic. Something nagged at him, a spate of memories just out of reach, something important that might have been accessible if he had paid more attention in meditating class instead of plotting ways to get into bed with that cute girl in the second row. What was her name....
Bah. That didn't matter. All that mattered now was finding out who was drinking his tequila. In order to do that, he needed to get past the Jallik wormhole, to get to [IA] headquarters, to log into Deep Blue and find out who had been seen in the vicinity of Sedina V Hold last night. He paid the elite corvus guards highly to guard his stash, but there was always someone else with more money.
Now, who has lots of money, doesn't lose a lot of ships because they are traders, and knows where I keep my tequila?
Broma!
He was sure he had pressed the "warp" button before. He poked himself with his finger to make sure his finger was real. Ow. Yep.
Not to be fooled again by the extremely clever wormhole, he watched his finger hit the "warp" button, and heard the click of servos activating the jump engines. The wormhole mouth opened, he entered into it.
Nothing. Again. Not to be dissuaded, he valiantly hit the "activate" button again. Nothing. His sceen showed some drivel about suggestions to the wormhole makers. He thought of several, but none of them ended up really being about wormholes, most were vague allusions to other 'holes and the lineage of the wormhole makers. He backed out.
Tiring of negotiating with the wormhole, he began to count bots.
Hrm. 51, 52, 53... 54 bots in total. No KOS pilots in sight, but these looked like escort bots for the daily Ineubis Xithricite runs from Bractus Watch. Wonder where the transports were?
He took another swig from the bottle of tequila at his side and wondered what all these bots were doing here. The tequila washed away the horrible taste in his mouth that was constantly there. Metallic. Something nagged at him, a spate of memories just out of reach, something important that might have been accessible if he had paid more attention in meditating class instead of plotting ways to get into bed with that cute girl in the second row. What was her name....
Bah. That didn't matter. All that mattered now was finding out who was drinking his tequila. In order to do that, he needed to get past the Jallik wormhole, to get to [IA] headquarters, to log into Deep Blue and find out who had been seen in the vicinity of Sedina V Hold last night. He paid the elite corvus guards highly to guard his stash, but there was always someone else with more money.
Now, who has lots of money, doesn't lose a lot of ships because they are traders, and knows where I keep my tequila?
Broma!
Broma was discouraged. Although the airwaves were flooded with reports of miners streaming to Helios to find Dr. Lecter's secret roid and collect the 1,000,000 credit bounty, no one had actually found the roid. His first two trips to Helios with bounty collector candidates had been fruitless. One had tried to pass off a small roid in B-7 as the secret roid, and the other had claimed the station itself was the roid.
And why had LeberMac headed for Helios? His tequila stash was in Sedina.
Broma consulted the tracking device he had slapped on Leber's favorite IBG at the last Deneb run. That TGFT sponsorship had been the perfect excuse to get close to Leber's favorite racing ship. The device was still working, broadcasting from an empty sector in Helios. He fired up his Type X Maud and headed for Helios.
Broma had a nagging suspicion that this would not be a good day. His suspicions were confirmed when, instead of a surprised LeberMac, he came face to face with four angry hive queens and their entourages. Luckily, Broma had remembered for once to plot an escape route before he jumped in. Teravolts of energy weapons converged on empty space.
Broma dialed up LeberMac.
"Itani Alliance. LeberMac speaking."
"Leber? Broma here."
"Hey Broma. Did I tell you that I found that tracking device you put on my IGB?"
"I figured that out. Did I tell you that I found your tequila stash?"
"You didn't have to. What can I do for you?"
"You know anything about an Itani named Seraph? We intercepted a very odd set of communications between him and mutorcs."
"Oh, that guy. New age crystal gazing hippie type. Always burning some kind of incense. Head of a group called 'Eo's Path' that we're keeping an eye on. Why?"
"The transmission mentioned some kind of weird mind attack. You know that Itani mind juju gives me the creeps. And he also mentioned something about the Hive and something called the Void."
"So what do you want me to do? I've got to relocate my stash now."
"Just see if you can finagle a few minutes with Deep Blue and ask for references to this Void thing. I've checked TGFT records, but if it doesn't have credits attached to it, we don't bother."
LeberMac sighed. "I'll see what I can do. And Broma, if I find anything, you owe me a bottle."
Broma signed off. The day was looking up. As weird as the universe could get, you could always count on LeberMac. Especially if there was tequila on the line.
And why had LeberMac headed for Helios? His tequila stash was in Sedina.
Broma consulted the tracking device he had slapped on Leber's favorite IBG at the last Deneb run. That TGFT sponsorship had been the perfect excuse to get close to Leber's favorite racing ship. The device was still working, broadcasting from an empty sector in Helios. He fired up his Type X Maud and headed for Helios.
Broma had a nagging suspicion that this would not be a good day. His suspicions were confirmed when, instead of a surprised LeberMac, he came face to face with four angry hive queens and their entourages. Luckily, Broma had remembered for once to plot an escape route before he jumped in. Teravolts of energy weapons converged on empty space.
Broma dialed up LeberMac.
"Itani Alliance. LeberMac speaking."
"Leber? Broma here."
"Hey Broma. Did I tell you that I found that tracking device you put on my IGB?"
"I figured that out. Did I tell you that I found your tequila stash?"
"You didn't have to. What can I do for you?"
"You know anything about an Itani named Seraph? We intercepted a very odd set of communications between him and mutorcs."
"Oh, that guy. New age crystal gazing hippie type. Always burning some kind of incense. Head of a group called 'Eo's Path' that we're keeping an eye on. Why?"
"The transmission mentioned some kind of weird mind attack. You know that Itani mind juju gives me the creeps. And he also mentioned something about the Hive and something called the Void."
"So what do you want me to do? I've got to relocate my stash now."
"Just see if you can finagle a few minutes with Deep Blue and ask for references to this Void thing. I've checked TGFT records, but if it doesn't have credits attached to it, we don't bother."
LeberMac sighed. "I'll see what I can do. And Broma, if I find anything, you owe me a bottle."
Broma signed off. The day was looking up. As weird as the universe could get, you could always count on LeberMac. Especially if there was tequila on the line.
LeberMac signed off with Broma and waved to the Corvus dockloaders to hurry up with the damn crates of tequila. The last behemoth-load was almost loaded, and he wasn't paying these union guys a credit more for overtime. Especially if he was offloading it himself, crate by precious crate.
He remembered how he had come upon the motherload of spirits, after that land purchase back in Pelatus when he was still selling custom binds door-to-door. A worthless system, Pelatus. The perfect place for a little peace and quiet - no pirates, no traders, no fighting, just a nice place to relax. Maybe mine some Xith now and then and sell it to the Ineubis idiots at Pelatus Bunker station for some quick cash. The planet was small and out of the way, plus the land was cheap, even with the half-buried crashed TPG freighter jutting from the rocks. Once the land was purchased, examination of the freighter wreckage had uncovered a gigantic supply of old Earth liquor. Luckily for LeberMac the safety impact gel cushioners had deployed and saved the shipload of bottles from breakage, mostly. Too bad the crew had not survived, but back in those days the cargo was usually more important than the crew to the TPG execs, anyway.
"All loaded up, sir." the union worker said, bringing LeberMac out of his reverie.
"Very good." LeberMac expertly forged Broma-Ba-Slick's signature on the expense form and boarded the 'moth, headed for Jallik.
The boosters fired and the Behemoth burst from the bay of Sedina V Hold, barreling through asteroids and barely missing Henry Jekyll's vulture on the way out. LeberMac's role in Operation Toasted Marshmallow had been minor. His expedition to Helios to try to locate Lecter and the tequila had been a bust. It would have been interesting to see the good doctor in the clutches of a hive queen, not to mention the possibility of gaining more data regarding the hive. But he had not located any rich heliocene roids in the system, and the [IA] Deep Blue mainframe's mining data was rather sparse on information regarding Helios. Was it worth the time to find the 'roid?
He judged it a better use of his time to move the tequila to a secure location. One sore back and 12 hours later, his personal storage room at [IA] HQ was filled to the top with the tequila crates, as well as Holdan's and Osmotic's. They didn't need all that furniture and computing equipment anyway - he moved their stuff into Infinite_Skillz' unit - no one had seen him for ages and he was never the type to hold onto knicknacks. He changed the access codes to their storage rooms and left the storage bay with a new bottle in-hand.
Now, on to this "Void" thing. Between sips of tequila, he mentally initialized a sub-ether-net link to the Deep Blue database and searched for "Void." Results: Steven Procter, Void rubber clothing, Fill the Void ministries, etc. Oh here we go:
void (void), adj.
1. Unoccupied; unfilled.
2. Completely lacking; devoid: void of understanding.
3. Ineffective; useless.
Well, those certainly describe Lecter, but... oh here we go...
noun,
1. An empty space, vacuum.
So basically saying that "the Void awaits" is Lecter's duel challenge, usually said right before Lecter rejoins the "void." Too bad he keeps respawning, those Hivebots must have modified him in some way- every time he dies, he comes back stronger, modified to suit the new threat. Indeed the Hivebots are learning.
LeberMac chuckled and sent a coded transmission to Broma, informing him of his findings, and of the services expense awaiting his attention at Sedina V Hold.
He remembered how he had come upon the motherload of spirits, after that land purchase back in Pelatus when he was still selling custom binds door-to-door. A worthless system, Pelatus. The perfect place for a little peace and quiet - no pirates, no traders, no fighting, just a nice place to relax. Maybe mine some Xith now and then and sell it to the Ineubis idiots at Pelatus Bunker station for some quick cash. The planet was small and out of the way, plus the land was cheap, even with the half-buried crashed TPG freighter jutting from the rocks. Once the land was purchased, examination of the freighter wreckage had uncovered a gigantic supply of old Earth liquor. Luckily for LeberMac the safety impact gel cushioners had deployed and saved the shipload of bottles from breakage, mostly. Too bad the crew had not survived, but back in those days the cargo was usually more important than the crew to the TPG execs, anyway.
"All loaded up, sir." the union worker said, bringing LeberMac out of his reverie.
"Very good." LeberMac expertly forged Broma-Ba-Slick's signature on the expense form and boarded the 'moth, headed for Jallik.
The boosters fired and the Behemoth burst from the bay of Sedina V Hold, barreling through asteroids and barely missing Henry Jekyll's vulture on the way out. LeberMac's role in Operation Toasted Marshmallow had been minor. His expedition to Helios to try to locate Lecter and the tequila had been a bust. It would have been interesting to see the good doctor in the clutches of a hive queen, not to mention the possibility of gaining more data regarding the hive. But he had not located any rich heliocene roids in the system, and the [IA] Deep Blue mainframe's mining data was rather sparse on information regarding Helios. Was it worth the time to find the 'roid?
He judged it a better use of his time to move the tequila to a secure location. One sore back and 12 hours later, his personal storage room at [IA] HQ was filled to the top with the tequila crates, as well as Holdan's and Osmotic's. They didn't need all that furniture and computing equipment anyway - he moved their stuff into Infinite_Skillz' unit - no one had seen him for ages and he was never the type to hold onto knicknacks. He changed the access codes to their storage rooms and left the storage bay with a new bottle in-hand.
Now, on to this "Void" thing. Between sips of tequila, he mentally initialized a sub-ether-net link to the Deep Blue database and searched for "Void." Results: Steven Procter, Void rubber clothing, Fill the Void ministries, etc. Oh here we go:
void (void), adj.
1. Unoccupied; unfilled.
2. Completely lacking; devoid: void of understanding.
3. Ineffective; useless.
Well, those certainly describe Lecter, but... oh here we go...
noun,
1. An empty space, vacuum.
So basically saying that "the Void awaits" is Lecter's duel challenge, usually said right before Lecter rejoins the "void." Too bad he keeps respawning, those Hivebots must have modified him in some way- every time he dies, he comes back stronger, modified to suit the new threat. Indeed the Hivebots are learning.
LeberMac chuckled and sent a coded transmission to Broma, informing him of his findings, and of the services expense awaiting his attention at Sedina V Hold.
:(
Beh. I come back to find everyone in my guild has magically leveled, due to some Itani holiday or somethin'. Figures I'd be out scouting Serco space... Ah well. I'll still make the same number of kills...
¬_¬
Holdan out.
PS. Leber, get your trash out of my storage. Use Infinite_Skillz space. Sheesh, you already said that he's never around anymore. C'mon man. You dinged up my medals too. :(
¬_¬
Holdan out.
PS. Leber, get your trash out of my storage. Use Infinite_Skillz space. Sheesh, you already said that he's never around anymore. C'mon man. You dinged up my medals too. :(
Well. I guess I missed something this week.
Sorry guys. Games aren't supposed to be un-enjoyed.
Uhm, people suck?
I don't know, at least we're here for a reason. More or less.
As for our story here… well, school's finally let out for me. I haven't forgotten about what I've written here, and I will make sense of all the "void" talk. It actually does have a logical plotline, though it will have somewhat of a metaphysical flavor to it.
For the record, though, I'm not a crystal gazer. In real life, that is. ^_~
Sorry guys. Games aren't supposed to be un-enjoyed.
Uhm, people suck?
I don't know, at least we're here for a reason. More or less.
As for our story here… well, school's finally let out for me. I haven't forgotten about what I've written here, and I will make sense of all the "void" talk. It actually does have a logical plotline, though it will have somewhat of a metaphysical flavor to it.
For the record, though, I'm not a crystal gazer. In real life, that is. ^_~