Starbourne, page 29
Kneeling beside the crate, Jaeden looked for the posted serial number. Locating the barcode on the crate on the floor, he looked back at the serial number on his wrist jockey. They were an exact match.
“What are the chances of that,” Jaeden said, scowling at the box. He shrugged off the coincidence quickly and bent over to pick up the case.
It was heavier than he hoped for, but still manageable. Hefting the box up, his damaged ribs screamed their protest. Jaeden grunted as he maneuvered the box into the corridor.
Entering the lounge, Jaeden dropped the crate on the floor. It hit the surface with a thud, but nobody in the room paid him any attention, other than Hoss. He winked at Jaeden before looking back at the RusaCorp employees. Jaeden sat atop the crate and studied those in the room.
Teagen was attending to an injured employee, while the original would-be-doctor Owens, was seeing to another. Hoss stood guard at a distance; his pistol drawn and ready just in case. Elena stood in the corner with her associate from the cargo bay. They were speaking amongst themselves in hushed tones.
Jaeden counted seven employees in the lounge. Or rather, seven witnesses as he had grown to view them. How would they manage this now? Wrangling them all to keep the same story would be a nightmare.
“What is taking so long?” A voice echoed through the ship.
Jaeden and Teagen exchanged looks of concern and moved to prepare for their employer to join them. Nyx appeared from one of the corridors leading into the lounge and marched into the center of the room. Jaeden could sense that the man was still in a foul mood and braced himself for the incoming insults.
“Just what the hades are you morons doing in here?” Nyx shouted, looking at the injured employees on the floor.
“We’re almost done, just—” Jaeden started to answer.
“Oh, for voxx sake, why are these people still alive?” Nyx demanded.
Teagen rose to her feet and gestured to the injured, “These people need help. We need to activate their distress signal soon or–”
“Okay, you know what? We don’t have time for this,” Nyx said. He turned and marched back into the corridor.
Sounds of clattering echoed through the hall from Nyx’s direction. Some of the employees began to murmur, with one of them beginning to sob gently. Teagen tried to regain control of the situation by getting their attention.
“Listen to me, everything will be alright. We will get help here soon.” Teagen said, palms exposed outwards.
Nyx entered the room, but this time he was holding a long-barreled pulse rifle. He cocked the weapon, engaging it, and took aim at the group of injured employees on the floor.
Jaeden turned in time to see Nyx and anticipated what would happen next. He glanced at Hoss, who stood frozen in place. Jaeden then looked towards Teagen, who based on her expression, also read the man’s motives. She moved to intercept Nyx and Jaeden darted forward towards Teagen. He grabbed hold of her to pull her out of the way of Nyx.
Desmond Harrington’s associate pulled the trigger of his high-powered rifle and unloaded a devastating barrage of bullets at the injured employees. Teagen screamed with fury as Jaeden held her against the wall. The sound of gunfire echoing endlessly inside of the lounge. Round after round, Nyx fired without discretion, until his magazine finally ran dry.
Jaeden and Teagen remained pressed against the wall. Jaeden’s ears rang and his body ached from the bracing. Teagen pushed Jaeden off her and stepped towards the employees. Jaeden looked in the direction where the injured people were laying, but quickly looked away when he saw the result of the massacre.
“There,” Nyx said definitively before throwing the weapon onto the floor of the ship. “When I tell you kozah’s to do something, I expect it to get done.”
“You have gone too far,” Teagen said, her voice trembling.
“Come again, nitwit?” Nyx said, stepping forward. “You had muttered some nonsense? Was that it?”
Teagen whirled on Nyx, withdrawing her pistol. “They didn’t need to die!” She shouted.
Nyx wrinkled his nose and cocked his head to the side. “Are you serious?”
“Nyx, my guy, this wasn’t part of the plan,” Hoss said, his voice sounding small.
“Oh gol,” Nyx said, rubbing a hand over his face. “You voxxing amateurs. It’s called pivoting and adapting.”
“You got the whole job wrong.” Jaeden chimed in, “All the details were off about this job.”
“Yeah?” Nyx snapped, “I don’t give a shaz. Tell me you at least got the case.”
“Yeah, we did,” Hoss said, pointing at the crate.
“At least you can read,” Nyx growled. “Get that crate outside now before I really get angry. I swear, dragging you morons along was–”
Teagen stepped forward, pulling the hammer back on her pistol.
“Oh, you want a piece Streetie?” Nyx spat, withdrawing his katana. “Try me, I’d love to cut me up a piece of trash like you.”
“That’s enough!” Hoss screamed. “We have to get out of here!”
A deafening silence fell upon the room. Teagen and Nyx were locked in on each other, neither moving an inch. Hoss and Jaeden stood on either side, fearing to take a breath. Jaeden pictured his holstered pistol in his mind and readied himself for action. If Nyx took so much as a step towards Teagen, he would pull his weapon free.
“I’m leaving,” Nyx said coldly. “You idiots better get that case outside, right now.”
Nyx relaxed his shoulders and sheathed his katana. He turned towards the exit and marched out, cursing under his breath. Both Hoss and Jaeden sighed with relief, but Teagen remained rigid.
“T, you okay?” Hoss asked, stepping towards her.
“That man is a murderer,” Teagen said, finally relaxing her shoulders. “We need to put as much distance between ourselves and him as possible.”
Hoss clasped an arm around Teagen and pressed his head against hers. “I agree, I’m sorry for all of this, T.”
“Let’s get out of here and we can figure out what to do next,” Jaeden said.
Hoss released Teagen and ran over to the crate. He hefted it up and moved towards the exit. Teagen looked back at the RusaCorp employees. Jaeden stepped beside her to nudge her to follow but stopped for a moment.
He followed her gaze over the deceased employees. With each bloody face he looked over, guilt racked up inside of him. The last person in the row was Elena Navarra; the woman who had told him to reconsider his actions. How true her words were.
“Teagen…” He started.
Without saying a word, she turned to leave. Jaeden sighed and followed her, exiting the freighter. As the two stepped out of the ship and back out into the outdoors, Jaeden stopped. Small, scattered fires still burned, and there was debris from the ship everywhere. He had forgotten that the exterior of the ship looked like a warzone.
Jaeden was surprised to see a new transport shuttle was grounded nearby. He quickly remembered that their own shuttle was destroyed, and that Nyx had likely called this in as their new getaway. This night was almost over.
He then noticed that Nyx was pacing back and forth, and that he was speaking to a group of people shrouded in darkness. Reinforcements from Desmond perhaps? Odd that they would send people now to help when everything was over. All that was left was to make the getaway. Jaeden then remembered the final component that Nyx had to put in place. Nyx was set to stage the cadavers at the site to make it look like a gang had tried to take the convoy down.
Hoss, Teagen, and Jaeden all stopped at once as they realized what Nyx was planning. Instead of fresh cadavers from a morgue, Nyx had four actual members of the Rebel Kings gang. Each of the men bound at the wrist, spouting obscenities back at Nyx. Jaeden and Hoss looked towards Teagen, who watched with a furrowed brow as Nyx lined up the hostage gang members like puppets.
Hoss was the first to step forward, a question clearly on his tongue. But before he could ask his question, Nyx withdrew his pistol and opened fire on the hostages. Each one was struck once and fell immediately. No sooner had the final shot been made, did Nyx holster his pistol and move towards the active shuttle.
“What was the point of that?” Teagen called out after the man.
Nyx moved forward. “It’s called selling a crime scene. Now get in the shuttle.” He called over his shoulder, keeping his back to her.
Teagen shook her head in disagreement. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Nyx jumped up onto the shuttle and turned to the group while still in the doorway.
“Then stay here. What do I care? But you will put the case on the shuttle.” Nyx demanded.
“You’re a sick freak, you know that?” Teagen spat at the man.
“Put the voxxing case on the shuttle,” Nyx repeated.
“Go to hades!” She cried out, pointing her pistol at him.
Nyx responded by raising his own pistol at Teagen. Both Hoss and Jaeden withdrew their weapons as well, pointing them at Nyx aboard the shuttle. Jaeden had enough of death today, but if Nyx pressed the issue further, he would end the man with pleasure.
“Everyone just calm down!” Hoss called out.
“Tell this hoska to put the voxxing case on the shuttle right voxxing now!” Nyx screamed, his face contorting into something barely human.
Teagen began spouting off a tirade of curses directed towards Nyx, who in return started shouting his own list of obscenities. Hoss joined into the madness and was screaming at both to calm down. The entire scenario was mad, each person screaming with fury laced in their words. Jaeden stood watching it all, waiting for the first action to be taken.
Time seemed to slow down, as Jaeden heard a weapon fire. He didn’t know who shot the first bullet, or who it was directed towards, but he knew that several shots rang out between Nyx and Teagen. Jaeden returned fire on Nyx, striking him several times. Flashes of electric orange danced across Nyx, as the bullets hit a defense barrier.
Regardless of his barrier, Nyx likely knew it wouldn’t hold up for an extended period. He ducked further into the shuttle. The door of the ship slammed shut, and after a moment, it began to rise. Jaeden, Teagen, and Hoss watched as the shuttle lifted off and disappeared into the darkness.
“Shaz!” Hoss yelled, the shuttle far enough that it couldn’t cover his voice any longer.
“We gotta’ get outta’ here!” Jaeden chimed in, thinking of the city security team that was likely on its way. “What’re we going to do?”
“You two head back to Alexander’s car,” Teagen said, heading towards her parked bike.
Hoss rushed forward to Teagen. “Wait, where are you going? We should stick together.”
“No,” She protested. “I’ll go on ahead to The Wishing Well. Maybe if I can get closer to the city network, I can delay the security teams by rerouting their messages.”
Teagen checked the bike systems and with a nod, she hopped on.
“I don’t like you being out there alone, Teagen,” Hoss said, putting a hand on the hoverbike.
“I can handle myself, Alexander,” Teagen said.
“Look, I didn’t know this was going to happen like this,” Hoss said, head hanging down. “If I knew, I–”
“We’ll talk about this later, okay?” Teagen said, placing a hand atop his.
“Alright,” Hoss said, removing his hand from the hoverbike. “Then take the crate with you. If we’re caught, at least you can finish this up.” Hoss then placed the large heavy case onto the back of her hoverbike and secured it.
With a nod, Teagen looked over at Jaeden. “Stay safe. Get this one back in one piece.”
Jaeden nodded back to her. “Be careful out there.”
Teagen turned her attention back to Hoss, who stood in front of her, fear for her safety displayed across his visage. “I told you I had a bad feeling about this job.”
“I thought you said we’d talk about it later?” Hoss asked.
Teagen reached out and grabbing Hoss’ jacket collar. She pulled him in and gave him a deep passionate kiss. As he rose his hand to touch her face, she pushed Hoss back and ignited her bike’s engine. With a whirling thrum, the bike tore off towards the city, leaving the two remaining mercenaries standing amongst the wreckage.
“Shaz, man.” Hoss finally said to break the silence.
“We have to go,” Jaeden responded, turning to move toward the parked hovercar.
After a moment of watching the bike’s rear light speed off into the distance, Hoss finally turned to join Jaeden on the trek. The two made their way around the wreckage of the freighter and stared into the black horizon. A sense of unease washed over Jaeden as he thought of the futility of finding their hovercar in the night.
“How are we ever going to make it back, man?” Jaeden said, voicing his concern. “It’ll be daylight by the time we find ourselves in some crater.”
“We should have asked T to point us in the general direction,” Hoss suggested pointlessly. “Her eyes can see hadesa good in the dark.”
“Her eyes!” Jaeden exclaimed, remembering she had given him her cybernetic lenses.
“Yeah, man, she had beautiful eyes before she got those weird robot eyes,” Hoss responded, not realizing that Jaeden had stopped behind him. “I guess they’re cool upgrades and all, but I loved her eyes.”
Jaeden tried to remember what Teagen had told him in the morning on how to use the lenses properly. So far the lenses only worked by happenstance, and not by his command.
He focused on activating their scanners, and several indicators popped up in his field of vision. He focused his attention on the horizon, searching for anything electronic in the distance. At first, he could see nothing, but after adjusting the scope of his search, he was able to lock onto a very distant shape—a dormant vehicle.
Jaeden exclaimed with excitement and relief, the eyes and their parameters now giving him a poor version of night vision. He locked in the coordinates of the vehicle and searched for Hoss. Jaeden saw that his friend had continued walking, without realizing Jaeden wasn’t with him.
“It’s this way!” Jaeden called out.
“How do you know?” Hoss asked, jogging over to join Jaeden.
“Just trust me,” Jaeden replied.
Teagen had made good time reaching the outskirts of the city. While she rode, she had done her best to reroute the security messages, but their protection eventually overrode her, and City Security were now on their way to the crashed freighter. She had hoped that whatever time she was able to buy her friends was enough. Her scout bike had taken her as far as it could before giving out with a dead battery just inside the city limits. From here, she was on foot and travelling alone.
She parked her hoverbike, just as the engine gave out. Kicking out the stand, she dismounted the vehicle and stretched her limbs. Teagen moved to the back and hefted the crate under one arm. She was thankful that her upper body enhancements had increased her strength. Lugging this case around otherwise would be tedious.
The group’s plan was to meet up at The Wishing Well, but after recent events, she felt more inclined to seek sanctuary at Cyrus’ safe house. It was closer to her current location than The Wishing Well and given the current circumstances, it felt like the safer destination. Teagen trusted Cyrus and felt as though he could help advise her on what to do with the Desmond situation. There was something nagging her about their arrangement; she couldn’t shake it.
Thunderous booms and crackling bangs of thunder reverberated through the city, accompanied by the pitter patter of rain drops. The narrow alleys and corridors between the skyscrapers almost seemed to enhance the ferocity of the storm. There was always a distinct smell when it rained like this, a combination of stone and fresh air. It was a scent that Teagen enjoyed deeply but brought on somewhat conflicting emotions.
The smell of the storm brought on a nostalgic sensation, but she was never able to identify or connect a specific memory that would trigger the stir of emotion. Sometimes when she was alone in a storm, she would sit for hours and just absorb the experience. She would focus on either the smells or the sounds, or even just the cold feeling of the rain droplets falling on her skin.
Teagen moved through the busy city streets, navigating through the dense crowds. Despite the thunderous storm pouring down, the city was still alive with commotion. People carried on about their busy lives, albeit in a faster pace to limit the degree of dousing. Sounds of vehicles and conversation resounded throughout the streets, battling for auditory dominance against the thunderstorm.
Even in the dead of night, the neon signs and vid windows lit up the surroundings. The effect of the rain gave each light source a slight translucent and hazy effect. It seemed the city of New Parora never slept. No matter the time, no matter the weather, the city bustled, with the streets always flowing.
She stepped to the side and stopped for a moment to allow a couple to pass by unimpeded. As they approached, she studied them closely. They were young and enamored with each other. The two companions were huddled close and held each other’s hands as they whispered to one another. The young boy leaned in and made a remark, accompanied by an exaggerated facial expression that made his companion giggle.
Teagen smiled to herself as she watched the two, then forced herself to look away. Watching them had brought on a new wave of sentiments, which washed over her, almost more than the rain pouring down on her. Her mind wandered to Alexander, and what his hand would feel like to hold tightly while walking in the rain. She thought about what silly remark he would have made, and his equally silly expression. Her smile deepened as she fantasized about the scenario.
A sudden sense of unease intruded on Teagen’s thoughts, and the smile melted away, replaced with a firm scowl. The thoughts of the RusaCorp employees huddled together on the freighter just before they were gunned down emerged in her mind. She looked over her shoulder to identify the cause, but nothing immediate presented itself. With a furrowed brow, and heightened senses, she rejoined the crowd flowing down the street. While surrounded by people, the feeling of anxiety never left her.
