Starbourne, page 36
“There, do it now!” Julian cried out.
Jaeden opened his eyes and glared down the corridor. He pleaded desperately for someone to see him or hear him. To his surprise, a dark figure stood at the end of the alley. The person must have seen the commotion and now made their way towards them.
He closed his eyes and attempted to steady his mind before opening them again. Jaeden felt Sean tug on his right arm, pulling it forward; the cold night air settled on his wrist as his sleeve was pulled back to expose his bare hand. He knew what was coming next, and he prayed to himself that the figure in the alley was, in fact, coming to his rescue, and not to aid the three gangsters.
Jaeden prepared himself and opened his eyes. To his relief, the figure was much closer now, to the point Jaeden could faintly make out slight details; a long black coat over what looked to be a military style button up jacket, something hung at his waist, looking to be a weapon of sorts. The figure walked towards the group with a look of determination spread across his visage.
Positive that the man came to his aid, or at the very least to contest the three men here, Jaeden felt renewed hope spring into him. He glanced to Julian, focused on holding Jaeden against the wall. The thug seemed to not even notice the approaching stranger. In fact, none of the thugs had reacted yet, likely so caught up in their struggle to keep Jaeden restrained.
“Alright, hold him steady.” Sean spat as he readied his weapon just above Jaeden’s wrist.
With a mixture of fear and anger, Jaeden glanced towards Sean who now attempted to amputate him. Jaeden stared deep into the man’s eyes, and he noticed something peculiar take form. Sean’s eyes, which were naturally a deep brown, turned into bright blue. But not a natural blue hue, more of a magnificent bright azure as if illuminated by electricity. The light emanating from his eyes became so bright, Jaeden had to squint and look away from the brilliant light that soon lit up the entire alley.
Sean howled in pure agony, pulling away from Jaeden and his comrades. The now blue-eyed man wildly dug his fingers at his eyes, seeming to try and gouge them out of his own head, if only to stop the blinding light. Jaeden felt Julian’s grip falter, who was now looking back at Sean.
“The hades is this!” Julian spat, watching Sean scratching at his own eyes.
Seizing the moment, Jaeden pushed Julian away from him. His legs were still weak, and he fell forward onto the ground. Jaeden collided with Hector. The man with the broken nose had pulled himself into a sitting position against the wall and watched in horror as Sean screamed.
Jaeden scrambled away from Hector and brought himself back to his knees. He readied to defend himself but noticed both Julian and Hector gawked at Sean. The electrocuted man collapsed onto the ground and began violently convulsing. The blinding light and screams of pain still overwhelming the electrified gangster.
Shaking his head gently, Jaeden’s brain fog started to clear. Pushing himself to his feet, Jaeden gasped for breath. Julian snapped back to reality and reached to grab hold of Jaeden. No sooner had the hoodlum snatched Jaeden’s collar, did the stranger in the black coat grab a hold of the Julian himself.
“What the—” Was all Julian could manage before he was forcibly thrown against the brick wall. He collided with the surface with such force that a horrifying crack echoed through the alley. Julian’s limp body fell to the ground and remained motionless.
Hector, who had for the most part stayed largely docile during the last few moments, finally made a move to help his companions. At some point during Jaeden’s dazed moment, Hector had risen back to his feet and wiped the blood away from his nose.
He lunged at Jaeden, tackling him to the ground. The two rolled over each other once, then twice, with the stocky man holding a top position over Jaeden—hands taking hold around Jaeden’s throat. Once again in the fight of his life, Jaeden fought to break the gangster’s hold on him.
“Forget the questions,” Hector said, tightening his grip around Jaeden’s throat. “We’ll find out who you’re working for from your girlfriend.”
Feeling a wave of anger flush over himself, Jaeden let go of the man’s wrists. He ground his teeth, and a guttural growl escaped from his mouth as he struggled. Mustering all his strength, he attacked the inside of Hector’s elbows.
The blow to the inside of the arms landed cleanly, causing Hector’s grip to falter and release Jaeden’s neck. Feeling the immense release of pressure on his throat, Jaeden gasped for as much air as his lungs could hold and spun to his side.
Unfortunately, Jaeden remained underneath the heavier man. Hector recovered from the blow quickly, pushing the attack against Jaeden. The gangster shifted his hips and repositioned to Jaeden’s back and attempted to wrap his arms around Jaeden’s throat.
Jaeden felt the tentacle-like arms wrapping and squeezing around his now raw neck. The overwhelming smothering sensation caused Jaeden’s anger to spike. He desperately fought to separate himself from the suffocating bully.
With both of his hands, Jaeden grabbed hold of Hector’s arms. Digging his fingernails into the man’s forearm, he pulled with all his might to force the tentacle appendage loose. He could feel the stranglehold start to weaken and tucked his chin underneath the forearm. Jaeden then pivoted his hips and maneuvered out of the headlock, until he finally took a top position over Hector.
Now with an advantaged position over his would-be killer, Jaeden unleashed a flurry of blows upon Hector below him. With each strike that landed, Jaeden could feel his fury burning through his arms, as if transferring from his own fist, directly into the man. Hector attempted to defend himself; although, all he could muster were two flailing arms that barely interfered with Jaeden’s sight as the barrage of strikes continued.
It wasn’t until Hector’s hands fell limp to the ground that Jaeden finally stopped striking his foe. Dropping his own arms to his sides, every muscle in Jaeden’s torso and arms tightened. His breathing was labored, and his head pounded. His ribcage screamed with agony from the assaults. Jaeden suddenly became very aware of the massive goose egg that had been protruding out of the side of his head from where the mace had struck.
Jaeden was so concerned with finishing off Hector, he had completely forgotten his savior. The dark figure who had dispatched the other two thugs. With blurry eyes, he scanned the alley for his guardian, and found that the man in the black coat had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching Jaeden struggle.
Jaeden tried to push himself to his feet. His weak knees refused to cooperate, and he wobbled. He fell into a seated position and took a deep breath, which caused him to cough uncontrollably.
“Easy now.” The man in black called out, making no move to aid Jaeden.
Waiting until his coughing settled down, Jaeden wiped blood away from his mouth. “Listen man, it’s been a long day. We cool, or do you wanna’ fight too?”
The stranger gave Jaeden a long hard look before answering. “That depends.”
Jaeden laughed. The movement only caused him more pain, and Jaeden winced. “On what.”
“On you.” The man said, a simple smile forming on his lips.
“Well, if it was up to me, then we’d be cool,” Jaeden replied between labored breaths.
“Is that so?”
“It is,” Jaeden said in an exasperated tone.
“You don’t sound so sure.” The man retorted, tilting his head to the side as he gazed at Jaeden.
Jaeden cleared his tender throat with a cough and eyed the stranger carefully. So far, the nature of the interaction was unexpected and leaving Jaeden feeling overly anxious. He wasn’t sure if he should let his guard down or stay on edge.
“If I don’t, it’s because you’re being awkward as shaz, and I don’t know what’s going on here.” Jaeden spat back at the man. He pushed himself up to a standing position.
“I appreciate your candor.” The man said evenly.
“Well, you’re welcome, but I would appreciate it if you stopped playing this game and just told me what’s going to happen next,” Jaeden said, gaining control of his breathing. He noticed that with every exhale, he wheezed.
“I’m just assessing the type of person you are. I have countless questions, and I would like to know a bit about you.” The man said, still leaning against the wall across from Jaeden.
His head was still ringing, but Jaeden’s vision became more focused. He studied the stranger before him closer. The first thing that Jaeden noticed about the man was his eyes. His right eye was a striking blue, while his left eye was a mechanical orb with various lenses and apertures. Other than his peculiar set of eyes, everything else about the stranger seemed normal. The man appeared to be in his early to mid thirties and held himself with a great deal of confidence.
He had short messy black hair. His black military stylized coat was adorned with golden metal epaulettes; although, it didn’t look like any uniform that Jaeden was familiar with. Jaeden noted that at his side hung a long-sheathed sword of some kind. There was usually only one group of people that Jaeden knew to use swords: Technologists. Due to their upgrades and enhancements, it often meant their reaction time was faster and gave them an edge in using the bladed weapons.
“Can I ask you a question first?” Jaeden asked.
“No.” The man responded quickly.
“Well see, that makes me a little more uncomfortable,” Jaeden grimaced. “You’re gonna stand here and ask me my life story, and I’m supposed to just riddle it off for you?”
“That constitutes as a question.” The man said, a playful smile spreading across his face.
Jaeden’s heart was still racing, and his emotions felt unstable. He was exhausted, he was angry, he was miserable. Each feeling fought for control over his body. He needed to stabilize if he was going to make it much further.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the canister of pills. Jaeden ejected a red pill into his hand and placed the container back into his pocket. He threw the pill into his mouth and swallowed hard.
“Okay…” Jaeden started, wiping blood from the corner of his lip. “What do you wanna’ know? Or does that constitute as a question too?”
The man laughed heartily and smiled at Jaeden. “The asset transfer convoy you and your team hijacked; which conglomerate authorized the transfer?” He asked.
Jaeden felt his face heat up with a flush of anxiety. As he thought about his response, Jaeden reached a hand to the side of his head and touched the spot where he had been struck by the mace. His finger felt warm; blood leaked from the area onto his finger.
A bounty hunter, Jaeden finally thought as he regarded the blood on his finger. The stranger was likely hired by Desmond to track Jaeden down. He wiped his hand against his pants, drying it off as best he could.
“Shouldn’t you already know that?” Jaeden replied, massaging his hand. The impact of punching Sean still reverberated through his bones.
“Indulge me.” The man pressed.
“It was a RusaCorp transfer,” Jaeden answered simply.
“Destination and reason for transfer?”
“How the hades should I know? I don’t work there.” Jaeden laughed.
“You were not privy to either of those details during your operation?” The man asked.
Jaeden rubbed the back of his neck. The line of questioning making him feel anxious. “No, man, that’s not how it works. It was going off world, and someone else wanted something from it.”
“And the asset you were hired to secure, where is it now?” The man pressed.
Jaeden narrowed his view on the man. “Long gone now. An associate has it.”
“And this associate, where can I find them?”
“You won’t be able to.” Jaeden attempted to get ahead to the next question, “And neither will I. They were instructed to go dark once the job was finished. We won’t make contact again until the delivery is made.”
“Then I suppose I will need your help to make contact with this person.” The man said, his eyes fixed on Jaeden’s.
Jaeden could feel the intensity of the gaze and squirmed beneath it. The man wanted more detail about Teagen and the case. But even if Jaeden knew where she was, he would never give up anything else about her.
“We will search for this Teagen together.” The man finally said, breaking away from Jaeden.
“What?” Jaeden nearly blurted, astonished at the mention of his friend’s name.
“Your friend, Teagen. She has the asset.” The man responded evenly.
Thinking back to the wanted image, Jaeden guessed that was the reason he knew who she was. “She doesn’t have it; neither does Hoss.”
“I can appreciate your dedication to your friends,” The man said, glancing back at Jaeden. “But I know the last time you saw the asset; it was firmly attached to the back of your friends hovercycle.”
Jaeden furrowed his brow and took a step away from the man. “How did you…”
“I saw it; through your memories.” The man said, tapping a finger to his head.
Jaeden’s face flushed red. “You can… see in my head? Are you some sort of Technologist?”
“Some sort, yes.” The man responded. “I am called Atom, and I too am searching for the asset you secured from the convoy.”
“Listen, man, if I help you, will you promise not to harm Teagen?” Jaeden asked, feeling entirely outmatched.
“I have no intentions of harming either Ms. McKay or yourself. Our interests are aligned, Jaeden Starbourne, of that I can guarantee,” Atom explained. “At least for the time being.”
“’The time being’,” Jaeden repeated. “You realize that’s not all that reassuring, right?”
“Someone else approaches,” Atom said, turning to face down the alleyway.
“Who now?” Jaeden asked, sighing heavily, turning in the direction of the newcomer.
“We’ll be in contact,” Atom said, his voice distant behind Jaeden.
The man moved so quietly that Jaeden hadn’t noticed that Atom left. Jaeden turned towards the direction of Atom’s voice but to his surprise, saw no sign of him.
Jaeden shook his head in frustration. In his entire life he had only known of a few Technologists, and now it seemed like there was one on every other corner. Why did they all have to be so enigmatic and mysterious. Did they think it was cool? Because it was. But it was also very annoying.
“Hey there, cowboy.” A masculine voice called out to Jaeden, accompanied by the sounds of footsteps.
“Hades, can I just get a minute to myself?” Jaeden cursed, turning to face the man.
“Doesn’t look like it.” The voice responded.
Before Jaeden could act, he felt a stinging sensation on his chest, followed by a violent wave of electricity rock through his entire body. He fell backwards and hit the ground, convulsing from the pulsating shocks. While his body was stunned, Jaeden was surprised that the shocking feeling passing through his body did not cause any additional pain. Instead, it caused complete paralysis.
“Well, that was easy.” The man said.
Jaeden stared skyward from his prone position, unable to move or speak. A figure came into view standing over him. A self-satisfied grin was painted across the mans face, as he stared down at Jaeden.
“Let’s go, hot stuff.” The man said. “You’re paying for my dinner tonight.
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CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Layne Chambers walked through a back corridor at the Elliot Draven’s Spaceport. He had been granted clearance to land at dock E-Seven at the station. From there he set off in search of his new bounty Jaeden Starbourne. While the quarry seemed an easy enough target, never in his wildest dreams would Layne have thought it would have been this easy.
Shortly after he had departed from his ship at the Spaceport Layne headed down to the surface level. His plan was to make his way to The Wishing Well and start his search there. By pure luck, only a few blocks away from the station, Layne happened across Jaeden in an alley.
His target had evidently survived a shakedown by a few thugs just prior to Layne stumbling upon him, leaving the target weakened and distracted. All the better for Layne, it was easy picking.
After a quick paralyzation dart, Jaeden was subdued and loaded into a prisoner pod for transport. The unconscious man was seated in the hovering egg-shaped chair, with his arms and legs fastened tightly. Even if the prisoner woke up, he wouldn’t be able to move.
It hadn’t even been an hour that Layne had been on Mars, and he was already heading back to his ship with the asset. Layne reckoned that this was the fastest bounty he had ever accomplished. With the credits from this side job, he would be able to get back on track with his main objective.
A soft moaning emerged from the prisoner pod as Jaeden’s head moved slightly. Layne had hoped he could get onto his ship before Jaeden woke up, but there was nothing he could do about that now. The paralyzer dart would keep his prisoner’s limbs in place, allowing Jaeden only to move his head and to speak. It was a small grace that Layne allowed his bounties.
“Relax, kid,” Layne reassured his prisoner. “You’re not going anywhere, so you may as well just save your energy.”
“What the… hades is going on…” Jaeden asked, rolling his head from side to side.
“Taking you in. That’s all you need to know.” Layne said, pushing onwards towards his ship.
Layne checked the markings on the wall. Dock E-Five, they weren’t far now. He quickened his pace as he got closer to his ship. Bounty Hunters had to be extremely careful. Even in a moment like this, another Hunter could swoop in and try to take Layne’s prize from him.
