Grinde Galaxy Chapter 9

 

Chapter 9

Allen crossed his arms. A fireplace appeared next to him, complete with a fulfilling warmth. “You may wonder why you’re here and not inside the psychic maw of that DNA scalper.”

“I’ve never heard that term before.”

“Right, there appears to be a lot that your government doesn’t tell you.” Allen rested his chin on his hands. “A DNA scalper is a being who scouts planets for synth conquest and engineers cults to hamstring the defense when the invasion does happen. They are, quite literally, demonic heretics.”

“I’ve never liked that term.”

A chair flew out from infinite space and slid underneath me.

Allen waved his hand. “Sit.”

I sat.

Allen snapped his fingers and a bottle of wine appeared in the same way.

“That’s Brudox. Vintage ninety-seven?”

Allen raised an eyebrow. “You know your wines.”

I grimaced. “I kind of had to. One of the major things I delt in was fine wines. They’re really easy to pilfer, but really hard to discern the true value of.”

“You were a fence.”

“Not just any fence. The best one in Altris City.”

“Hm.” Allen tilted his head. “But in any case, that does not apply now. I was able to protect your consciousness from the psychic blast of the DNA scalper. However, I was not so fortunate with your Rhymarchi friend.”

“He’s not really my friend.”

“No matter. If you end up saving him, things will turn out better for the both of us.”

“What do you mean?” I raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t think I chose to travel with you without my own goals?”

“Then what are you after?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Allen stood up. “You’re about to enter the spectral realm. Nothing you have learned from your experience in the physical realm can prepare you for what is going to happen.”

“So I need to find Ang and rescue him.”

“Exactly.” Allen snapped his finger and a dot appeared in the far white distance. It rushed up until it flew past me like a freight train. When it stopped, abruptly, I saw it was a line of racks filled with weaponry.

Allen grabbed a shotgun and tossed it to me. “If you die here, you die in real life. Not that I really had to warn you about that.”

I grabbed a few grenades, a pistol, and a visor. After snapping all my equipment together, I sighted the gun. “I’m ready when you are.”

Allen nodded. “Be careful. My reach doesn’t extend into the DNA scalper’s realm.”

“Understood.”

Allen snapped his fingers. A rushing wind drew up around me, blowing my clothes in all directions. I fell into a deep, dark pit, extending in all directions for infinity. Teeth the size of buildings surrounded me. A landscape of oozing, pulsating flesh materialized out of the darkness. I landed with a splatter on a piece of meaty goo. Standing up, I checked my visor, and engaged my newly acquired enviro-shield.

The light of my flashlight swept across red meat. The walls breathed. In the distance, someone screamed in terrible pain.

I started forward. No entity made contact with me as I went deeper into the tunnel.

I found Ang. He was only half visible, covered in that meaty goo that made up the walls. His eyes were closed, and his clothing was gone.

I knelt beside him and checked his pulse. I wasn’t even sure if that translated to this psychic world, but when I pressed my fingers against his neck, I could feel his heartbeat.

I took out a pill of smelling salts and snapped it underneath his nose. His eyes flickered open.

“Squire.” He tried to move, but the meaty tendrils bound him to the wall. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re in the spectral realm.” I began to hack at the meat surrounding him.

“Why are you saving me?”

“Because you’re my commanding officer.” I managed to separate the tentacle holding down his left arm.

Ang began to assist me. “I’m sorry you had to see me in this state. You are as brave a soldier as any Rhymarchi.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” I hacked away at the meat until his right arm was freed.

With a herculean effort, Ang ripped his body free of his tentacle chains. He flexed his arm.

“We’re good.”

I tossed him a pistol. “We don’t know what’s going to come at us. Remember, if you die here you die for real.”

“Then let’s get going.”

Allen: I can only speak to you for a moment. Go north, and when you reach a fork, take the left pathway. Be careful of – The transmission garbled and cut off.

“You okay?” Ang looked at me with concern. “I don’t want my only ticket out of here to die because he wasn’t paying attention.”

“How do you know I know the way out?”

“Well you found me, didn’t you?”

“I guess.” I pointed my flashlight down the tunnel. “It just so happens that you’re right. Let’s go.” We went along the tunnel, which got increasingly disturbing the further we traveled. The whole place reminded me of a slaughterhouse. We reached the fork.

Ang’s eyes lit up. “This way!”

He started towards the right pathway.

“No, wait!”

Ang rushed into the tunnel. I ran after him. The moment I stepped into the opening a metal door slammed shut behind me. All I had was my shotgun and the attached flashlight.

“Ang? Commander?” I took a few ginger steps forward.

“This way, squire!” I heard Ang’s voice echo across the walls.

I followed his voice. After a few minutes of careful walking I came across Ang. He had his flashlight pointed at a large object, appearing like an egg made of metal and glass.

“The orrery.”

“So that’s what it looks like.”

Ang walked up and touched it. “This is what we were searching for.”

“Why would it be here?”

“I do not know, squire.”

The orrery lit up with a sudden burst of colored light. A shadowy figure was illuminated inside of the device.

“Abla pan tech no quarti.” The machine beeped.

“What the hell?” Ang took a step back.

The machine rumbled. “Dootus NonCraftica? Albative Persista?”

Ang tilted his head. “I think it’s trying to communicate.”

The machine beeped. “Thou hast understood my missive.” The machine spit out an archaic form of Royal Validian.

“Yes. I understand you.” I spoke in Royal Validian.

“Boy.” Ang also spoke in Royal Validian, though it was a bit accented. “You know how to speak this language?”

“And so does this machine, apparently.”

The machine rumbled. “It hath been long since I last laid eyes on a slave race.”

“What the hell is this machine talking about?”

Allen: You … Static Idiot more static.

“Why don’t you ask it?”

Ang grimaced. “Oh great machine. What do you mean by that?”

“Thou art homo sapiens, no?”

“Well, yes, we are.”

The machine clicked. “The stars. They have changed. But your species has not. Or has it? I sense that you are a very interesting specimen. Has your species begun the process of immolating its own genetic code?”

“I am a proud Rhymarchi, fist of the Empire.”

“Hm.” The machine squeaked. “But first we must leave this spectral realm.”

Reality flashed, and we were standing in the room we had been in before. The orrery floated above us. Tentacles rose from the ground, surrounding it.

“I request thy help!” The orrery started spinning, trying to avoid the tentacles.

Allen: You imbecile. You woke up the orrery.

Me: I’m still going to help it.

Allen: I would reprimand you, but at the same time it was not your fault. It was the fault of your idiot officer. No matter. We shall go with the cards we have been dealt.

Ang drew his power sword. “Die, you squid monster!” He began tearing at the monstrosity with his blade.

I fired off my last clip of ammunition.

The orrery blazed with an infinite amount of colored lasers, flying in every direction, coating the walls with photonic radiation. The synth monstrosity receded, flowing away into the vents.

“You fought bravely.” The orrery turned to focus its vision on Ang.

In the physical realm, the orrery was a lot less impressive. It was simply a ball of energy surrounded by three rotating rings. The rings swept past each other as they rotated, each one fitting snugly inside the last. The orrery bobbed up and down a bit as it floated.

“That is who I am. I fight.” Ang walked towards the orrery. “My mission is to retrieve you.”

“I shall not allow it!” The orrery trained a laser on Ang. “You shall not bring me to my death!”

“I can guarantee your safety.” Ang held out his hand. “The tech priests would never harm an artifact of the tolk.”

“Your backwards race has no understanding of my function. I am a proud print construct.”

“I don’t understand what that means, but I’m sure if you try to negotiate with the priests, they will understand.”

“No mere slave race—”

A shock bolt exploded from my interface device and surrounded the orrery.

Allen: Access code 10496. Force of will.

The orrery froze. “You. You cannot—” Its voice modulated. “Okay. I shall travel with you.”

Ang looked at me with a curious expression. “Squire. What did you just do?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

Ang shook his head. “We’re dealing with a mystery then.” He walked up to the orrery. “Well, it looks like I can carry this back.” He grabbed it—it was about the size of a small child—and strapped it to his armor.

I remembered his armor falling off at some point, but the warp of the spectral realm had confuddled my memory. I’m sure it wasn’t anything to worry about.

I hoped.

We returned to the spot where the tunnel ended, opening into the gigantic shaft. The anchor I had placed was still there. Ang went first, carrying the orrery on his back, and I followed. When we returned Isac and the other Rhymarchi and squires were waiting.

“Captain!” Isac saluted. “I felt a disturbance in the psychic field. Are you all right?”

“I am, thanks to your squire.” Ang clapped Isac on the shoulder. “You made a good decision with this boy here. He’s going to go places we can’t even imagine.”

Isac looked at me with an interested expression. “I knew you were more than you appeared, Mythe.”

“His name is Mythe?” Ang looked at me critically. “I will remember that.”

Isac nodded. “He’s my squire, though. Don’t try to poach him.”

Ang chuckled. “I would never.” He lifted his chin. “Let’s go. We have the orrery. It’s time for extraction.”

The entire trip to the surface, Allen was silent. I thought about asking him what had happened, but thought better of it. He would tell me when he was ready.

We reached the surface and were extracted by a landing craft. The craft left the planet’s surface and we docked with the Atlas half an hour later. The whole while, Ang was zealously guarding the orrery.

Before we docked, I ventured the question that was on my mind. “What does the orrery do?”

“It’s a map, squire.” Ang shook his head. “That’s all I can tell you.”

“To where?”

Ang looked into the long distance. “I cannot tell you, squire. Even if I knew, I would not tell.”

Isac cracked his knuckles. “It’s something the higher-ups are going to deal with. It’s not our problem.”

Me: Allen? Do you know what that thing is for?

Allen: I do.

Me: Will you tell me?

Allen: I won’t.

Allen didn’t say anything else. I left the conversation at that, and when the ship docked with the Atlas, I followed Isac back to his cabin.

 

Grinde Galaxy Chapter 8

 

Chapter 8

The dark tunnel ahead seemed to stretch into oblivion.

Allen: If you had the power to hypnotize, why didn’t you use it before? When you were being beat up?

Me: I prefer not to use it. Every time I do, I get closer to the darkness.

Allen: Right.

Me: You know them?

Allen: I know many things.  

Me: Then that’s it. No more need to ask questions.

We turned right at an intersection. The squad leader seemed to know where we were going. We took several turns after that until we were in the bowels of the industrial district. Shadows flickered where the light from the marines’ armor faded into blackness. I felt something pressing against me, a sort of psychic force.

A man jumped out of the dark and ran into the line of fire.

“Please don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!”

The marines trained their rifles onto the man.

I stepped out. “Don’t. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

The commanding officer looked a bit miffed, but lowered his gun. “Isac. Your squire appears to have an attitude.”

“Sir, he may be right. We can at least listen to what this man has to say.”

Thanks, Isac.

The commanding officer sighed. “Okay, peon. What is your business here?”

The man waved his hands in front of his face. “We mean no harm. We just want to be left alone.”

The commanding officer checked his holo map. “We’re in the right location. Do you know where the orrery is?”

“I don’t know anything about no orrery.” The man coughed, splattering blood across the floor.

The commanding officer ran up to the man and shoved his gun in the man’s mouth. “You’re corrupted. Tell me where the orrery is or I kill you on the spot.”

Isac waved his hand. “Captain. Let me handle this.”

The commanding officer backed off. “You’re the interrogations expert.”

Isac walked up to the man. “You look sick.”

The man wiped his mouth. “I am sick. We’re all sick down here. That’s why we trust in our savior, the Teogyne.”

“Heresy!” The commanding officer fired a spray of bullets at the man, dissolving him into red mist.

Isac sighed. “Captain. Please keep your trigger finger under control next time.”

The commanding officer grimaced. “I will not tolerate an affront to the Emperor. No man may worship any other being.”

Isac shrugged. I looked at him, and we made eye contact. He shook his head ever so slightly.

Allen: Your commander appears to not have learned anything from the last encounter.

Me: No kidding.

Isac looked back to the darkness ahead of us. A slow, deep hum vibrated underneath the floor. “Let’s keep going.”

Our squad moved deeper into the tunnels. We entered a large open space filled with industrial machinery that must have been a century old at least. A couple of seconds after entering the room, I noticed the smell. It was not like the smells I was used to in the sewers of my home world and the Atlas’s sewage system. It was totally different, an offending odor that penetrated my very being.

The Rhymachi seemed to agree with me on this. Isac gagged before pressing a button on his armor and engaging the enviro-hazard shield. At that moment I wished I had one as well, but as a squire, I was out of luck.

“What the hell?” The commanding officer also engaged his hazard shield.

Allen: I detect the presence of a certain bacterial pathogen associated with the Warp.

Me: Tell me more. This can’t be anything ordinary.

Allen: The Warp has grown unstable since I last looked upon it. These pathogens are associated with Marlo.

Me: Marlo? Who’s that?

Allen: The chaos god of pestilence. One of the five major chaos deities.

I pinched my nose. “Yeah, I’ve never smelled anything like this.”

One of the other squires vomited.

“Keep it together, Smalls.” The Rhymarchi who was nearest to me slapped the vomiting squire in the back.

“It’s not going to help, Peters.” Isac shook his head. “The smell is supernatural. I can tell.”

“Yeah?” The Rhymachi named Peters kicked at a large piece of junk. “We’re supposed to be tough. Smells shouldn’t stop us from achieving our mission.”

The commanding officer turned towards the darkness ahead. “Let’s forgo the distractions. I can sense the orrery.”

A scream rose from beyond the darkness. Stale air, infested with that infernal smell, flowed out from within the tunnel. The scream grew louder, the concentrated wails of a hundred dead souls.

“Prepare for contact!” Isac and the other marines aimed their guns towards the tunnel.

A wave of disgusting, rotting human bodies flowed out from beyond the line of sight.

The marines opened fire. The monsters weathered the hail of bullets, climbing over the bodies of their fallen comrades with a crazed frenzy. They continued to come, and come, and come.

“We’re running low on ammunition!” Peters yelled above the sound of battle.

Isac switched to his sidearm, holding his main laser rifle by his side. “There’s too many of them!”

As a squire, I had a sidearm, but that was it. I fired as many shots as I could at the horde, achieving little.

The commanding officer held up his palm. A blast of electrical energy surged from his skin, enveloping dozens of the crazed attackers. They sizzled with the direct contact and fell to the ground, smoking.

Isac dropped his sidearm and pulled out his energy sword. The blazing light of contained plasma illuminated the walls, casting them in a violent purple. The other marines also pulled out their swords. Watching them swirl through the mound of crazed corpses was like watching a ballet of blood and plasma. Black ichor splattered against the ground and rained upon the squires, who stood back, away from the chaos.

The monsters finally petered out and stopped coming. The remaining zombies froze for a second and then retreated back into the darkness.

“Ang. Can we get an analysis?” Isac was speaking to the commanding officer, whose name I finally knew.

Ang knelt by one of the mutilated corpses, holding a small device. The device sucked up some blood and then beeped.

“Yep. Just as expected. These are synth.”

“Something’s wrong.” Isac knelt down beside Ang. “Synth usually consume the biomass of life they capture. Why did they leave the physiology mostly intact?”

“I have no idea.” Ang stood up. “But we must continue. The orrery is ahead.”

We pressed onward through the tunnels, the space marines’ suit lights illuminating machinery, pipes, and other fixtures of an under-hive. It was a familiar landscape.

We came to the end of the tunnel. A gigantic cylindrical air vent stretched up and down from where we stood. It was maybe half a mile to the other side, and both the top and bottom could not be seen.

“Where the hell did those monsters come from?” Isac tapped the ground next to the ledge.

“Maybe we missed a side passageway.” I knelt down and tried to see the vent’s bottom. It faded into darkness, and I was unable to tell how deep it went.

“The orrery should be close.” Ang opened a dimensional door and retrieved several sets of climbing gear. “We’re going down. I sense its energy.”

Allen: At least your species retains some knowledge of spatial manipulation.

Me: Are you talking about his portable bag?

Allen: Is that what you call it?

Me: I thought you saw me use my own portable wallet.

Allen: I imagined you to be special.

Me: Well thanks, I guess. But it’s not just me who has this stuff.

Allen: Now I know.

Ang began to strap himself into the climbing gear. “Isac. Peters. Stay up here and guard the anchor point.” He looked at the remaining space marine. “Rodgers. Come with me.”

“Sir.” Rodgers saluted. “I am not trained in rope work.”

Ang gritted his teeth. “Then—”

I stood up. “I can go down with you. In fact, I can climb this without a wire. If you let me go first, I can set up an anchor at the bottom.”

Ang looked at me with a critical gaze. “You should know your place.”

Isac stepped forward. “I can vouch for him. He has more wherewithal than you give him credit for.”

“Fine then.” Ang grunted as he tightened the wire around his waist. “Come with me. We’ll see how you measure up.”

I let myself over the edge and began my descent.

“Whoa, he’s fast.” The marine named Rodgers looked over the edge. “You okay down there, squire?”

I continued to descend the vertical shaft. I reached the entrance to the lower level.

Allen: I sense the object you are searching for inside that tunnel.

I swung onto the ledge. “Then let’s find it.” I attached the anchor and signaled for Ang to begin his descent. Five minutes later the hulking space marine was standing next to me, looking into the tunnel.

“Do you sense it, squire?” Ang pointed his suit light into the maw of the tunnel. “We’re nearing our goal.”

“Yes, sir.”

The two of us continued forward. We came into a well-lit terrarium ornamented with hanging catwalks. In the center of the room, there was an orb, about the size of a basketball, surrounded by fleshy tentacles and teeth.

So you’ve come. The rumbling psychic voice pierced my head. Do you understand what you are toying with? Or are you just dogs sent by your pathetic Empire to stop me?

Ang pointed his gun at the monstrosity. “I don’t negotiate with heretic monsters.” He tried firing his weapon and it clicked—he had used all his ammunition in the fight before. He tossed the gun aside and drew his plasma sword. Holding it out, he rushed the monstrosity in the center of the room.

Gigantic tentacles rose from the ground and attempted to swat the gigantic Rhymachi away. With incredible agility, Ang dodged the tentacles, weaving in and out, getting ever closer. He finally closed the distance and stabbed the monster in its center.

The monster released a psychic energy wave that ruptured the membrane of reality and sent the immaterial world flowing through the room. It was as if a flood of emotion suddenly broke its bounds and filled the room with the screaming souls of a million dead. I gripped my head in pain.

The pain went away in an instant.

Allen: I’ve engaged the psychic hazard shield. You should be protected.

Me: Thanks.

Ang, on the other hand, was not faring well. He gripped his temples, a tight grimace on his face. I ran up to him. He was gigantic, almost eight feet tall and wearing several hundred pounds of armor.

Allen: I’ll handle the armor.

The armor surrounding Ang split, falling off his body. Even though he was still huge, I was able, just barely, to drag him away.

“The … Orrery …” Ang spoke as if he were enduring great pain.

I looked at the object that had been at the center of the monster. “Is that it?”

“Yes …”

I dropped Ang to the floor and rushed towards the glowing ball of light. Just as I was about to grasp it, a tentacle reached for me and grabbed my waist.

I am not done yet!

The world shattered around me and I fell into a deep pit, a pit of psychic energy. I felt my soul separatee from my body and I watched as I rose above my physical form, watching it collapse against the magical device I had picked up. The device, the orrery, shone brilliantly in the mental world I entered. I was holding it, and I appeared in the middle of a large white space.

A handsome human man in a top hat and suit appeared out of nothing. He sat down in a plush chair.

“I’m sure you have many questions, Mythe.”

“Who are you?”

“Allen. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

 

Grinde Galaxy Chapter 7

 

Chapter 7

The path to the training center was barren. I pushed open a broken automatic door, causing it to screech across the deck. The interior of the training center was high-ceilinged, with a walkway that looped around the second floor. Ancient pieces of workout machinery lay scattered around the first floor.

All at once the lights turned on and the ventilation system started rumbling.

Allen: “Every Tolk super cruiser has amenities such as this. It’s a sorrow that this particular environment has been so neglected.”

“The Atlas is a Tolk super cruiser?”

“Of course it is. Did you think your current pathetic Empire had the technological knowhow to create a ship of this size?”

“Well, I just assumed that the tech priests had figured something out.”

Allen: “No. Not a chance. This ship is capable of so much more than what you’re using it for. But no matter. I will repair the machinery in this room for you to utilize. Bring me to that socket over there.” My interface device pointed a small laser at a recession in the wall of the training room.

I brought my interface device to the recession and plugged it in using a universal adapter.

“Ooh, good. The network is still stable.” The console within the recession beeped a few times. “Okay. I got everything figured out. There’s a couple of strength training machines I just activated. Do you want to try them out?”

“Sure.” I walked to one of the machines in the center of the room. “What does this machine do?”

“That is a leg machine. You use it to increase the mass of your leg muscles.”

“Okay!”

I spent the next hour working out on the various machines. While I did, I contemplated my next move. I knew that, eventually, I would see combat. There was no doubt about that fact. I needed to be ready to handle anything that could go wrong. I knew, however, that I was chaff. To the Empire, I meant nothing except another body to throw against the never-ending tide of monsters that beset humanity. It wasn’t just the synths out there. There were all sorts of alien threats that required an iron fist and a company of space marines to defeat.

At that moment the Atlas jumped out of warp. I felt it as a drop in my stomach and a piercing headache that lasted only a few seconds.

Allen: “Looks like we’ve arrived in the Qualar system.”

“Never heard of it.”

“I wouldn’t have expected you to have.”

I got off the arm training machine. “Should I report back to Isac?”

At that moment the console at the entrance to the training center beeped.

I walked over and accessed the message.

Mythe. Come to my office now. Also, we need to get you a comm.

I turned away from the console and left the training room. A few minutes later I was knocking on Isac’s office door.

“Come in.”

I entered. The room was the same as ever. Isac turned to look at me. “I have some things to do ashore. You’re going to come with me.”

“Yes sir.” I saluted.

“Good.” Isac stood up. “We’re heading to the craft bay.”

I followed Isac out of the office and into the hallway. A dozen other Rymarchi were gathering, heading towards the same space.

We entered the craft bay. The Rhymarchi gathered, standing in orderly lines with their squires behind them. I copied what the other squires were doing.

The Rhymarchi all saluted as one. At the same time the squires straightened their backs.

Grand Malfor Dictatus, a man I recognized from newsreels, strode out onto the deck. He was a commanding presence. His jaw was chiseled and he wore his many medals with pride and confidence. His eyes were deep in color and moved across the room in a straight motion. His robes emanated a crimson aura.

Dictatus walked along the line of saluting Rhymarchi. “I want you to understand. We are not here to save people. We are here to crush heresy and destroy the enemies of the Empire. If people are to die because of our work, then so be it.” He stopped, clicking his heels together. “You know your mission. Now go forth and perform your duty for the Emperor.”

“Sir!” All the Rhymarchi saluted at once, clacking their boots together. The Rhymachi then broke formation and started donning their ablative armor. Since each space marine was over seven feet tall without armor, adding armor to them made them appear gigantic. The ablative power armor was one of the Empire’s most useful military technologies. Able to withstand almost any kind of attack, they were the primary tool given to Rhymarchi to act upon the will of the Emperor.

As a squire, it was my job to assist Isac in his equipping of the armor. However, I did not have any idea how to even begin. I ended up watching as Isac went through the steps of activation. It appeared that squires were not totally necessary when putting together a space marine’s armor.

Isac flexed the gigantic glove attached to his hand. He then picked up his laser rifle. “We’re ready to go.”

We entered into a dropship with a number of other Rhymarchi and their squires.

The marine with the highest ranking sigil addressed the crew. “There’s a heresy brewing in the depths of this planet’s main city. We’re here to crush it. Our detachment is heading to the industrial district. Be aware, they could be anywhere, armed with anything.”

I made eye contact with several other squires. Everyone appeared to be tense, almost nervous. Why were they so concerned? It was just a small insurrection that we were fighting against.

I was calm. I didn’t really know where I got it from, but I usually had the gift of a straight mind about these things.

Our dropship shuddered as it detached from the Atlas. We entered the atmosphere of the planet. At this point I didn’t even know its name. I knew the star was called Qualar, but that usually didn’t translate to individual planet names.

Isac’s eyes were far off, staring at the wall of the dropship. I folded my hands in my lap and waited for the ship to land.

We landed in the middle of an abandoned industrial sector. It was quite similar to the industrial centers on my home world, so I didn’t feel too out of my depth.

The funny thing was, no one came to greet us. We fanned out from the bay of the landing craft and saw nothing but rusted catwalks and old chimneys.

The commanding officer held up his hand. “Squads one and two, go down below.” He checked his visual map program. “Three and four, follow my mark.”

Isac was part of squad two. I followed him into a tunnel along with three other marines and their squires. The darkness swallowed us up for a split second before the marines turned on their armor lights. The place was eerily familiar. Even the smell, on a totally different planet, reminded me of home.

An echoing sound resonated through the tunnel. Isac held up his fist, causing the marines to stop moving and swing their lights across the walls.

A flashing tentacle of black ichor snapped into the light from the armor lights. A space marine—a being at least three times bulkier than an ordinary man—disappeared from sight, leaving only sparks.

“Contact!” Isac and the other two marines opened fire in the direction of the tentacle.

“It takes a lot to bring down a Rhymarchi like that.” Isac continued to fire his percussion rifle, each shot sending bright stars into the darkness.

“Look at that!” One of the other marines pointed his suit light into a side corridor.

“Oh, god.” I covered my mouth with my hand. The tunnel was a pulsating, shivering wall of flesh. A single civilian man slurped out of the fleshy orifice. His eyes were covered in tentacles and his entire body oozed slime.

Isac opened fire, blasting the figure into mist.

“Wait, wait!”

Allen: You thinking what I’m thinking?

Me: Yeah. I think they’re not trying to kill us.

I approached the flesh ball, carefully, my hands up.

“What the hell are you doing?” Isac tried to grab me, but I dodged him. I stopped right in front of the door—if that was what it was.

“I want to ask you a question.”

“Stay back!” Isac and the other marines started rushing towards me.

I held up my fist. “Wait!”

The marines stopped. My voice had pierced a certain membrane of reality, causing it to attain a sort of persuasive bent.

It had been a while.

Allen: Ooh, you’re a Psikh.

Me: Wasn’t that obvious?

Allen: Well, yeah.

Psikh in this case was the Royal Validian word for a user of psychic magic. 

The marines shook their heads, appearing to be under a sort of trance. So did the squires.

The voice behind the flesh door spoke.

“You. You are special.”

“Yeah?” I kept my hand on my side arm, as if it would do any good.

“Why did you stop your own soldiers from performing their duty?” The voice was scary in how it only mimicked human speech.

“It was for their own protection.”

“Hm. You pass the test. I will be waiting to see what you can do. Then I can harvest you.”

Allen spoke out loud using my interface device. “Fat chance of that, you stupid synth! Mythe is mine!”

The voice chuckled. “Oh, you Tolk were always so arrogant. It seems their creations are no less on point.”

“Eat it!” Allen’s voice was full of vitriol.

The fleshy wall receded into the darkness. There was silence.

I snapped my fingers and the air was cleared.

Isac coughed, holding his hand to his mouth.

One of the effects of Psikh aura was that the people who went under its spell came up with their own imaginations of what happened while they were under the spell. I wasn’t certain what they had heard or seen, but it wasn’t really a problem.

The three remaining marines, including Isac, opened fire on the tunnel, filling it with tracers. After a minute they stopped.

“We beat that damn thing.” Isac looked down at me. “You did well.”

I rubbed the back of my head. “Um, yeah.” I pointed in the direction that the captured marine had been pulled. “Let’s try and rescue him.”

Isac nodded. “We’re still not sure what we just encountered. I think it was synth. Command will have to hear about this.”

“Yeah, it was a synth. It’s hard to mistake them.”

“What does that mean?” Isac scratched his head. “This planet appears totally normal.”

“I have no idea.”

Allen: You don’t know about life stealer cults?

Me: What? What are those?

Allen: Before synth invade a world, they seed the world with dissension through the use of a brood Psikh. It’s like a religion. The poor sods who fall for the trick all try to facilitate the invasion of the main fleet.

Me: That’s horrifying.

Allen: It was strange that they negotiated with you in that manner.

Me: Yeah? Well it doesn’t matter now. We have work to do.

Isac slapped me on the back. “Come on, kid. Let’s get deeper in so we can secure our objective.”

“What is our objective, exactly?”

Isac pointed his suit light ahead. “We’ll have to see if it’s still there. The orrery.”

“What’s that?”

“An ancient treasure that could help us in our battle.”

“Why would a treasure like that be here?”

Isac started walking. “We weren’t told. Our mission is to retrieve it, not ask questions.”

“Okay.” I walked behind his hulking form. “But I still want to know.”

“So do I, kid. So do I.”

Grinde Galaxy Chapter 6

 

Chapter 6

I, of course, won the game. It was what happened afterwards that really almost killed me.

The person betting against Draw and Ranger was a squire to a high-ranking space marine. After I won, the squire and a couple of his goons surrounded us.

“Um …” I looked between the five thugs who were stepping closer to me. While one or two thugs wasn’t enough to make me worried, five thugs was too much to handle. I had to figure out a way to get out of this.

One of the thugs rushed Draw and grabbed her by the shoulder, pinning her to the ground. He began knocking her around, landing blow after blow on her face.

Ranger rushed two of the thugs, landing several hits before a single strike to his chin toppled him to the ground.

I held up my hands. “Hey, man. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Well you’ve got trouble.” One of the thugs, a hulking man with a leather jacket on, socked me in the stomach hard enough to make me spit blood. I collapsed over on myself, coughing. “Seriously—” The thug kicked me in the chin and my head was knocked upwards. I collapsed to the floor. “Look, here—” The thug landed a kick square in my balls. I vomited. “I just—” Two more kicks to the face ended the experience. The thug grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and looked me in the eyes, breathing on me with his onion breath. “We’re the ones in charge now.”

The other thugs had retrieved the speakeasy keys from Draw. Once they had kicked her a couple more times, they left, leaving the three of us bleeding on the ground.

“Ugh.” Draw coughed. “Not fun.” She turned over on her belly to look at me. “You got another plan to get them spaced?”

Your species never fails to amaze me with its pettiness. Allen spoke in my mind.

Yeah? Were the Tolk any better? Before I realized what was going on, several of the boxes next to me floated up into the air, hovering for a couple of seconds before crashing onto the ground.

“Whoa.” I stood up, still clutching my stomach.

Draw got onto her hands and knees. “What just happened?”

Looks like you awakened your psychic powers. It usually takes an event like this for that to happen.

I’m a psychic now? I rubbed my chin, which I thought was probably broken. With a snap I set the bone and used a piece of scrap metal to hold it in place.

“Hey, can I get some attention here too?” Draw rolled onto her back. “I think a couple of my ribs are broken.” She spat out a tooth.

It appeared that Draw was the only one to notice my psychic awakening. Ranger was out cold, and no one else was in the room. The hovering boxes shuddered, shimmered, and then fell back to the ground.

“Welp.” I could barely speak through my broken jaw. “That was interesting.”

“Do you think you could use those new psychic powers to help us get revenge?” Draw stood up, wobbling. She braced herself against the wall.

“I don’t even know what I’m capable of.”

You’re now a level one psychic. Not very powerful, but capable of growing. Allen’s voice echoed through my head.

You’re going to have to tell me more. I could now speak back to him using my mind.

I could hear a whispering, a devious cacophony just outside the walls. It started to grow on me.

A deep crimson red voice echoed out to me. Come to me. Come dance with the fires of chaos.

I clutched my temples. “No, no, no!”

Draw hobbled over to me, grabbed me, and pinned me to the wall with surprising strength given her condition. “Hey. Snap out of it. The warp is infiltrating your mind. Push it away.”

I shook my head to clear it. The whispering faded away, though it was not gone entirely.

Your psychic power is budding, but at the moment it is not very powerful. You perhaps qualify to be a hyperspace technician, if you are trained properly.

Oh. I rubbed my jaw, which was hurting like hell. I had a lot of experience dealing with pain, however, so I just pushed through it. I looked at Draw.

She nodded. “I know. Tell no one. I’m used to keeping secrets.”

Ranger pushed himself to his feet. He wiped blood off of his face. “Aw, hell.” He staggered to the wall and leaned against it. “This is the first time I’ve been whacked in a long time.”

Draw coughed. “No kidding.”

“So what are we going to do?” Ranger heaved vomit onto the floor.

“We’re going to get revenge, obviously.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think I can come up with anything close to the plan I had before.”

“What makes you say that?” Draw swallowed hard, and spat out a tooth.

“Well, those guys look a lot more dangerous than Dereck.”

“So? Can’t you just figure out a way to deal with them anyways?” Draw set her broken nose with a twist. “Gak.” She spat out blood.

I sat down against one of the boxes I had lifted moments ago. It was surprisingly sturdy against my back, considering the fact that I had lifted it six feet into the air.

The order for a cleanup echoed from the intercom system.

“Not now!” Draw coughed, and turned to the door. “But we’ll get spaced if we don’t show up.” She walked towards the door.

Allen: I’m starting to think we may have trouble escaping this ship.

Me: Yeah, I’m kind of stuck here. It wasn’t my choice to leave my home.

Allen was silent.

Draw, Ranger and I left the speakeasy and rushed through the ship to get to the cleanup scene. It was, again, the bloody mess of someone who had been purged for heresy. At this point I wasn’t even surprised anymore. I eyed the inquisitor as he passed by us but didn’t say anything.

The inquisitor approached me. I held up my mop.

“Can I help you, your lordship?”

The inquisitor raised his hood to show me his deep crimson eyes and pale face. “You. What is your name?”

“Mythe, your lordship.”

The inquisitor waved his hand. “Do not call me your lordship. Call me Thran.” He rubbed his hands together. “I have sensed a great power coming out of you. Come with me.”

Obviously I had no choice. I gave Ranger and Draw my best “I’m sorry” face and followed Thran away from the cleanup site.

“Your lordship—”

“Inquisitor Thran.”

“Inquisitor Thran. Where are you taking me?”

“Ask another question and I shall purge you.”

“Yes, Inquisitor Thran.”

“Good boy.” Thran led me to a part of the Atlas I had never seen before. “Your jaw is broken.”

I did my best to smile. “Um, yeah, I got into a bit of a fight.”

Thran gripped my chin and pulled my head sideways. “May the power of the Emperor course through you!”

My broken jaw healed itself in less than ten seconds. Thran let go of my face.

I rubbed my newly healed chin. “What …”

Allen: Ah, I see not all advanced technology has been lost.

Me: What the hell? They can do that?

Allen: It wasn’t too uncommon in the era of my birth.

Me: But …

Thran led me to a small room in the officer’s quarters of this section of the ship. He closed the door behind him. “Under the command of our Lord Emperor, I bless you with a promotion. You are now the squire of Good Sir Isac Bredford.” Thran’s lips curled up. “And you are my ward. I have a task that I need you to perform.”

“Okay?”

Thran opened up a drawer, taking out a sheet of paper. “The marines have a mole among them. The Synth cult has extended its tendrils into our very midst. I need you to be my eyes and ears among the space marines of this ship.”

“So I’ll be your spy.”

“You pick up quickly, young Mythe.”

“Thank you, your lordship.”

“Thran. Again, call me Thran.”

I grimaced. “Inquisitor Thran.”

“Very good.” Thran reached for me with his hand, brushing aside my bangs. “Young boy. Such youthfulness. You will be part of something so much bigger.” He turned around and cut open his finger, spilling blood on the paper. He turned to me, holding out the knife.

I knew to hesitate would be death. So I cut open my own finger and pressed my blood seal on the paper.

Allen: Yeah, about right.

Me: What do you mean?

Allen: Oh how far humanity has fallen. Allen was silent.

Thran held the paper up and it burned in a flash of blue light, leaving behind a single sigil of metal. He turned away from me. “You will report to your duties now. I will give you map to your destination.” Thran rummaged through a bin and handed me a simple map of this level of the Atlas.

I took it with both hands. “Thank you, Inquisitor Thran.” I tuned and, breathing a sigh of relief, left the inquisitor’s quarters.

It took me ten minutes to arrive at Isac’s room. I knocked.

The door slid open. Isac was sitting at a chair, typing into a console. He stopped and turned to me. “You look ragged.”

“I got into a fight.”

Isac turned back to his console. “I heard you were assigned as my squire.”

“I was.”

“Good.” Isac continued typing. “My last squire was killed in action by a synth destroyer. I needed someone with guts to replace him.” He turned to me. “You have guts. But you don’t have the strength.”

“But—”

Isac clicked off his console. “You’re weak. Other Rhymarchi don’t bother training their squires. But I’m different. A good, well-trained squire could mean the difference between life and death in the field.”

Rhymarchi was the official name of the space marines.

“Okay. I’ll work hard.”

Isac handed me a data crystal. “This has your workout routine. You’ll find an abandoned strength training center according to the map included.”

“An entire strength center was abandoned?”

“This ship is old, Mythe. Older than any of us understand.”

Allen: He’s got that right. Of course Isac couldn’t hear the AI.

“So why do you want me to work out there?” I frowned.

“You’re not popular among other Rhymarchi. I’d like to keep you from getting on the bad side of some of them. They’d probably be annoyed just looking at you, considering your background.”

“Ah, yeah.” I rubbed my newly fixed chin. “I understand that.”

“Oh, and you probably shouldn’t associate with any friends you made as a cabin boy. You outrank them now and it’s not good to fraternize.”

“Nothing at all? I can’t even tell my friends what happened?”

Isac rubbed his temples. “Look. I don’t know exactly how things are down there. But I do know that cabin boys do not hold squires in high regard.”

I sat down. “Okay.”

Isac pointed to a small door on the starboard side of his cabin. “Your bunk is in there. You may find the accommodations a bit better than what you had as a cabin boy.”

I entered the room attached to Isac’s cabin. It was about the size of the cabin boy’s bunk, but it was designed for a single person. The bed looked quite comfortable. I nodded, left the room, and closed the door. I stretched. “I’ll be going to the training center now.”

“Good.” Isac returned to his console.

 

Grinde Galaxy Chapter 5

 

Chapter 5

Crawling through the vents put me closer to the warp than I had expected. I could feel the tendrils of chaos reaching through the ship’s thin outer hull and inserting itself into my brain. I had once been friends with a navigator, so I knew what to expect.

Navigators were humans who could use their psychic power to pilot ships through the warp. The warp itself was difficult to deal with. Filled with the gods of chaos and brimming with madness-inducing psychic waves, the warp was not a friendly place to be. Lots of precautions had to be taken to prevent total collapse of the mental state of any crew within a ship traveling the warp.

I climbed through the vents for a bit to familiarize myself with the layout. The ship Atlas was larger than a small hive city. I only knew where I was going thanks to my innate sense of direction.

I noticed, through a vent grate, that some engine room complexes were completely sealed off and abandoned. However, I still sensed life inside of them. I made a decision and exited the vents to scout out one of these dead engine rooms.

Inside were skeletons. Hundreds and hundreds of skeletons. They looked to be quite old from how decomposed their clothing was. Nothing left but dust and bones. I walked through the room full of bones.

My instinctual sense triggered and I dove for the ground. A splash of violent acid struck the place I had been a split second before. I looked up.

“Well then.” I backed towards the vent that I had entered through. The main door to the engine room had been sealed long before.

My foe was a spider-like creature with huge scythes for hands and a large, bulbous cranium. Its eyes were bright red, and they bored into me.

A powerful psychic blast emanated from the monster’s mind. I was able to defend myself against it by shielding my mind. I had practice with these kinds of things.

Yelling, I picked up an ancient laser pistol that was in the grip of a skeleton hand. I hoped to the Emperor that it still worked.

It didn’t. The gun fizzled and shot sparks from its barrel, barely reaching the level of a sparkler. I tossed the gun aside.

The spider creature scuttled across the wall, its mandibles clicking.

There’s a weak point in the bulkhead exactly two meters and five centimeters to your left, half a meter up.

The voice echoed powerfully through my mind.

Not wasting any time validating the situation, I dove for the wall, slamming into it with brute force. The wall collapsed and I spilled into a sewage treatment pipeline. The flowing sewage gripped me and washed me down the pipe before the monster could get off another acid ball. The spider monster stuck its head into the hole, but did not pursue.

Not everyone survives their first encounter with a synth crawler. Especially unarmed.

“Synth? On this ship?” I crossed my arms and let the sewage flow take me where it will.

Now you will come to a fork. Go right.

The fork appeared with frightening speed, and I just managed to push myself down the right pipe.

Now you will see a platform. Climb it.

I grabbed at a ladder that came up out of the darkness. The ladder lead to the platform the voice spoke of. There was a single door, reading “storage” in Royal Validian, a language spoken mainly by the nobles and the elite of the Empire.

I pushed at the door and it scraped open. The storage room inside was cut off from any other entrance—not even a vent. The door slid shut behind me, trapping me inside with a bang.

“Hello?” I grabbed my light torch and turned it on. “Anyone here?”

I’m the little VCR in the corner.

“What the hell is a VCR? What language are you speaking? I know Royal Validian and Basic, but I don’t recognize that word.”

Sigh. I’m speaking basic. I’m inside the black rectangle with beeping red lights.

“Ah, right. I see it.” I picked up the object in question.

Now please plug me in to an interface device. I know you have one.

“Yeah, I know I’m not supposed to have it, so please don’t—”

Idiot. I’m not going to destroy on my only chance of getting out of here.

“Um, okay.” I plugged the aux cord connected to my—illegal—interface device.

“Whoo!” The voice that came out spoke the most perfect Basic I had ever heard. I was able to tell even from the single word.

“Shucks.” The voice was beautiful. “Well then. Thanks for saving me. I assume you have a lot of questions.”

“Um, yeah.” I scratched my head. “First off, are you the AI that Jones was talking about?”

“I’m the only AI on this ship, so probably!” The voice chuckled, which was musical in its tone. “You wanted to ask a question?”

“Yeah. Where is the chronomicon?”

“Oh, yeah, the chronomicon. Nice one. Yeah I have absolutely no idea.”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“No dice. You’ll need authorization for that.”

“From who?”

“Just kidding. No, I know the answer, I just don’t want to tell you.”

“Okay.”

“You’re fine with that?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, eventually I’ll figure it out.”

The AI was silent. Then it spoke again. “You’ve got a strange biosignature.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Have you ever been tested for psychic powers?” The AI sounded interested.

“Um, no.”

“Well you should.” The AI’s tone was final. “Oh, and while I know your name is Mythe, you don’t know my name yet.”

“I didn’t think AI constructs had names.”

The AI’s voice became jolly. “The name’s Allen.”

“Allen? That’s it?”

The AI chuckled. “Sure. What, were you expecting something different?”

“I suppose I was expecting something more, Tolky.”

“While I am a Tolk construct, I have chosen to choose a moniker that fits within the language that I speak with an individual. Thus, Allen.”

“Okay. I get it. You’re speaking basic because I speak it.” I switched to Royal Validian. “So what’s your name in this language?”

“Ooh!” Allen switched to Royal Validian as easily as I had. “Call me Atriax.”

“I think I prefer Allen.” I switched back to basic. “Why are you on this ship?”

“I was put here by one of your primitive scientists. I believe it called itself a tech priest?”

“What, do you not know about the Cardinal Archy?”

“Archy? Sounds familiar. But I’ve been in this here closet for many hundreds of cycles. Much has probably changed out there.”

“Hundreds of cycles? How old is this ship?”

“This ship was commissioned on the sixth of Vibril, ten ten sixteen.”

“My god. That was over three thousand years ago.”

“Hm. My internal clock must have gone whack. Maybe it’s because your stupid navigator wasn’t calibrating his swath procedures right.”

“The skill of this ship’s navigator aside, what kind of an AI are you?”

“I’m an operational assistance AI. My job is to run the copier.”

“Copier?”

Allen sighed. “Well, I wouldn’t expect you to know about ancient Tolk technology. A copier produces a copy of any physical object. Basically it is a fountain of material goods.”

“Ooh! Can you show it to me?”

“It was taken offline centuries ago. It’s gone.” Allen’s voice showed a sense of sorrow.

“Can we get it working?”

“Did you hear what I just said? It’s beyond repair! Are you daft?”

I frowned. “If you say so.” I tapped my interface device. “So do you think you can upload your entire code into my interface device? I don’t think I can hide that huge box you’re in right now.”

Allen’s VCR thingy blinked. Then my interface device shuddered.

Allen’s voice came through clearer through my interface device. “Ooh. This place is a lot roomier than I thought it would be. Considering the level of technological development I’ve observed aboard this ship.”

“Yeah, my interface device is special.”

“I can see that. Hm, a piece of Tolk software? How did you get your hands on that?”

“I told you I know my stuff.”

“Well, if you bring me off this ship, I’ll reward you handsomely.” Allen’s voice sounded hopeful. “I’ve been cooking in this stupid storeroom for far, far too long. I wish I could grant you a wish like a genie, but like I said I’ve lost my copier.”

“Can you tell me which of these piles of junk is its remains?”

Allen sighed. “The one below my black box.”

I looked down on the bottom rack of the shelf that Allen’s operational device was sitting. “Oh.” It was a total mess of wires, buttons, and broken fusion cores. I took out my portable wallet, opening it. The wallet’s interdimensional door flashed into being. I picked up the remains of the copier and tossed them in. Then I closed the wallet.

“You amaze me.” Allen’s voice was genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, not many people really know how deep I go.”

“Ooh, you’re being philosophical.” Allen chuckled. “Maybe a bit overdone?”

“Forget I ever said that.” I looked around the room one more time. “Okay. One last thing. How in the world is a synth aboard this ship without anyone knowing?”

“Oh, about that.” My interface device blinked. “This ship is older and more complex than anyone of this generation knows. There are so many hidden corners here. It’s possible that there are hundreds of aliens aboard this thing. Or what you homo sapiens would call aliens.”

“But …” I thought about it for a minute. “I get it. This place is ancient. The Empire is only two thousand years old. This ship predates it by a thousand years. Of course there would be stowaways.”

My interface device beeped. “Now let’s get out of here. You’ll have to wade through sewage for a bit, but I’ll give you the best way out of here.”

I started towards the exit. “Do you have a complete schematic of the Atlas?”

“Again, no dice. Many of my memory banks have been damaged or lost over the years. I haven’t lost everything, but even your mechanic crews don’t know the full extent of this behemoth.”

“What do you know about the synth?” I jumped into the flowing river of sewage ad began wading.

“Synth are a bioaccumulating life form whose only goal is to consume as much useful matter as possible.”

“I mean, I knew that already. What can you tell me that I don’t know?”

“Take the next ladder that appears around the corner.” My interface device vibrated. “Well, I don’t know much about the synth myself. I only know what I’ve been able to glean from this ship’s holo library.”

“I suppose that would be limiting. The tech priests and inquisitors don’t keep sensitive information there.” I took the next ladder and began climbing. “Oh, I think I know where we are.” We were in a space that I remembered walking through. I entered the hallway through a grate in the floor. Since I probably smelled really bad, I made sure I didn’t meet anyone.

Finally I made it to the wash room, which was only a hallway away from the speakeasy. I did my best to clean myself with my meager bath ration. When I was done I stepped out of the shower.

Draw entered the room. She grabbed my wrist and started dragging me. “Come on, ace in the hole. We have some work to do.”

“Um, I don’t think—”

“We just got challenged to a high stakes game. We need you to be our designated player.”

“Okay, okay, sure.”

My interface beeped.

I’ll talk to you telepathically while other people are around. But hey, I didn’t think katar would still be around after all this time.

I smiled, not speaking. I still hadn’t learned how to communicate telepathically.

We entered the speakeasy, and I looked up at the playing table. This would probably be easy. However, I couldn’t let my guard down. I went up to the table and sat down, cracking my knuckles.

“Let’s get this over with.”

Grinde Galaxy Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4

“Dereck runs the speakeasy, right?”

Draw rubbed her chin. “Yeah. That’s right.”

“Then all we have to do is win it off him.”

“Wait what?” Draw’s eyebrows went up. “You mean …”

“Exactly. There are three parts to an economy. Land, labor, and capital. We have the capital, we won it off him. If we get the land and the labor, we’ll be in control.”

“But Dereck’s goons will snuff us before we get the chance to do anything.”

“That’s why we make it public. Make sure everyone knows what’s happening and what the stakes are. Then no one can argue with the legitimacy of our win.”

Ranger crossed his arms. “You really do have a metal head.”

Draw elbowed Ranger. “That’s not how you use the term, dumbass.”

Ranger chuffed. “Okay. I get it. I’ll make sure you don’t get shanked before we pull this off.” He tilted his head. “Do you think you can reliably win the big game? A lot is at stake.”

“Oh yeah.” I looked at Draw. “We have to have our side of the bet.”

“Oh no you ain’t saying what I think you are.” Draw grimaced.

“Oh yeah. We’re going to bet this.” I pulled a single piece of gold our of my pocket.

Draw seemed surprisingly relieved, and then her eyes widened. “Whoa.”

I grinned.

“Is that …”

“Yeah. A portable wallet.” I flicked the small golden object into the air and caught it.

“Where the hell …” Draw leaned in closer.

“I pilfered it off of Captain Christon.”

“No way.”

Ranger frowned. “I was watching you the whole time. I never saw you even get close to his wallet.”

I chuckled. “And get this. We’re going big here. If we win the speakeasy from Dereck, he’s never going to stop trying to get it back. So I have a plan.”

“Go on.” Draw crossed her arms.

“We lose. We give Dereck the portable wallet. Then we sit back and watch as every space marine and inquisitor in the ship looks to take it back. If Dereck isn’t quick on his feet he’ll never be able to get out of it.”

“What if he tries to convince them that we were the ones who stole it?”

“Who’s going to believe that a scrawny sixteen-year-old cabin boy stole a portable wallet off of a space marine? Captain Christon will never live down the shame if they decide to believe it. He’ll think Dereck got the wallet through some sort of trickery.”

“You’re brutal. How about the witnesses of the game?”

“Bribes. We insist on allowing only the official witnesses to watch the game and then bribe them to stay quiet.” I crossed my arms. “And besides, if he admits to gambling he’ll get vented anyways.”

“Damn, boy.” Ranger chuckles. “There are so many things wrong with this plot. I can’t even begin to start counting them.” He smiled. “But I trust you, and at the very least I think you’re smart enough to make this work.”

I grinned. “All right. Let’s start putting this together.”

The first thing we did was spread the word of the upcoming game. We never specifically told them what we were betting. That was the privilege of the challenging party under the rules of katar. However, we also invoked the “witness only” rule, as I had planned. Thus, I would bring two witnesses and Dereck would bring two. The witnesses’ only job was to make sure the game was played fairly and to hold the parties accountable. This kind of arrangement was very common among the mafia families of my hive world. I had expected Dereck to bring up something, maybe an obscure rule I hadn’t heard of before. But he ended up going with the flow. I suppose he just wanted revenge against me for humiliating him the day before.

About a day after we made our plans the game was scheduled to take place. It took place in the speakeasy, and both I and Dereck brought two witnesses. I brought Draw and Ranger, and Dereck brought two buff looking dudes who were probably just there to intimidate us. But I wasn’t about to get spooked by a couple of muscle heads.

We opened with an east hand. I won this match in order to keep up the illusion. When we went into the grave hand I started making deliberate mistakes. It took a while for Dereck to catch one of the ones I’d made, and while I found that interesting, it didn’t slow the plan down. Dereck made prompt usage of the opening and won the game outright in the durian hand. I tossed my cards onto the table.

“You got it.” I took the portable wallet out of my pocket and slapped it onto the pile of cards.

Dereck took the wallet and admired it under the light from the lamp. “You sure this came from a junkie?”

The term “junkie” referred to a space marine squire. Every space marine had one. While I hadn’t directly interacted with one yet I had seen them wandering around the ship. They were a level higher than cabin boy, though, so I was still at the bottom of the pile.

This was the ruse we had set up in order to trap Dereck. Dereck slipped the device into his pocket without opening it. “Yeah. Some rich idiot junkie’s out a portable wallet, I guess. And so are you.” He winked at me and got up. “Jake. Jack. Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes boss.” I wasn’t sure if it was Jake or Jack who said that. I wasn’t worried about the distinction anyways.

I kept my grin down until after Dereck had left the speakeasy.

Ranger crossed his arms. “I suppose it worked as planned.”

“Now all we have to do is drop the hint to Captain Christon’s squire. Or maybe an inquisitor. Not sure about that one.”

Draw gave me a fist bump. “Nice.”

I pulled a set of keys from out of my pocket. “And you’ll think this is even nicer.” I twirled them around my finger. “Snagged them off of Dereck when he passed me.”

“Oh my god.” Draw laughed. “You’re amazing. Are those the keys to the speakeasy?”

“You betcha. Come on, let’s get Dereck spaced before he notices they’re gone.”

I passed Jones a note the next time he met with me, which was half an hour later. Jones looked at it and rolled his eyes.

“Mythe, I leave you alone for a day and you get up to these shenanigans.” He swept his mop around the engine room we were cleaning.

“Do you think you can get that message to the higher-ups?”

“Yeah, I mean sure. The whole platoon of space marines underneath Captain Christon is knocking heads and smashing doors in to find his lost portable wallet.”

“Well there you have your solution.” I sucked an oil puddle into our shop vac. “If you go and tell them now I’ll finish the job for you.”

Jones stretched. “Ah, I need a break anyways.” He shrugged. “See ya.” He left the engine room.

I spent the next hour cleaning the room. When it was sparkling, I left the room and returned to my bunk. When I was in the corridor I noticed junkies running everywhere, as well as normal sailors.

I put my hands in my pockets and tried to remain inconspicuous. When I returned to the bunk I leaned into the tiny room.

“Any news?”

“Dereck was just put on an emergency military trial.” Draw flicked a booger at the wall. “Your plan seems to have worked.” She twirled the speakeasy keys around her finger—I had handed them to her before passing the note to Jones.

“Yeah. Are we the ones in charge now?”

“You betcha.” Draw gave me a fist bump. “Pushaaa.”

“Nice.” I sat down in the only available space. “So what now?”

“We run the speakeasy.” Draw shrugged. “I thought that was your goal?”

“Not really. I just really didn’t like Dereck.”

“That’s it? You got a man spaced because you didn’t like him?”

I sighed. “Yeah. You know, where I come from you have to be cutthroat. I’m not a good guy. Dereck was eyeing me in the same way that the Arborian slavers eyed me back when …” I paused. “Never mind. But I took immediate action because I thought I was in danger. That’s all.”

“No need for a soap box. We all understand how this world works.” Draw crossed her arms. “I just hope you stay on our side. That was a wicked plan. You sure you’re from a hive world?”

“Where else would I be from?”

Draw looked at Ranger. “Ranger here is a fallen noble. His family got on the bad side of an inquisitor and, well, the rest is history.” Draw pointed to herself. “Me? I’m a tracer. I’ve carried packages for all kinds of shady organizations. Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Draw waved her arms. “We both have reasons to be skilled. But you? You’re a hive kid who suddenly shows up on this ship and plays killer katar while simultaneously being able to pickpocket a space marine. Like, really?”

I shook my head. “I can’t say.”

Draw narrowed her eyes. Then she smiled, sitting back and laughing. “Okay. I gotcha. We’ve known each other a couple of days now. We all have secrets. I guess that, since you’ve helped me, I can help you by not prying into your past.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

“But when you—”

Ranger knocked Draw on the head, gently. “You promised not to ask.”

Draw huffed. “Well then.” She threw up her arms. “Let’s get to organizing this ship’s Z quadrant’s new underground masters! Yay!”

“I’m sorry.” I bowed my head. “I don’t want to be a part of it.”

“You what?” Draw furrowed her brow. “But there’s a killing to be made. We’ll be rich.”

“No.” I grimaced. “I don’t exploit people. I have enough food to eat and a roof over my head, as well as a stable job. That’s all I’ll want. It’s not that I don’t want to be associated with you. It’s just a matter of principle.” I smiled. “But if you ever need someone to win a game of katar, you know who to call.”

“You’re just letting us have it.” Draw tilted her head. “The whole speakeasy. The leadership role.”

“About right.”

Draw sighed. “Well, there’s no convincing you. You’re one hell of a guy. I hope to get up to more shenanigans with you.”

“It’s not like we aren’t going to be bunking together anymore.” I looked up at the air vent I had noticed the moment I had entered the bunk room for the first time. “All I ask is that you shut up about what I’m going to be doing with that vent.” I pointed up.

“Dang. I didn’t even know that was there.” Draw looked up at the vent. “It looks just big enough for you to slip through. Are you seriously going to do what I think you are?”

“Yes. I have to find something out.”

At that moment we got another call to clean. It was just an oil spill, but cleaning it up took the majority of a solar day. When we were done I returned to the bunk for a good sleep, the first one I had obtained in a long while. It felt like forever since I was able to close my eyes.

My eyes snapped open in the early portion of the off shift. I rose out of bed, eying the vent. Now was the time to strike.

I took off my clothes, down to my underwear, and used my upper arm strength to crawl into the vent. It was wide enough for me to fit, just like I had noted.

With that, I started off on my mission.

Grinde Galaxy Chapter 3

 

Chapter 3

“The hell happened here?” Draw approached the gathered cleaning staff with an air of superiority. “Who killed this poor sod?”

One of the other cleaning staff stepped forward. “He was a heretic. Espousing heresy.”

“Sure. That’s all I need to know.” Draw pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. She tossed me a mop. “Come on, runt. Do your job.”

“My name is Mythe.” I shouldered the broom.

“Fine, then. Mick. Do your job.”

“Mythe.”

Draw made a crude gesture and started picking up the corpse. “Hey, are you guys going to make me do all the work, or are you going to help?”

The half dozen or so cabin boys got to work cleaning up the mess of the dead sailor.

“I wonder what his heresy was.” The cabin boy next to me was a skinny fellow with lots of acne and buck teeth. He was wearing eye augments—glasses.

“Shh.” I shook my head. “We don’t want to know.”

The boy extended his hand. “My name is Gregory.”

“Mythe.” I looked over my shoulder before shaking his hand.

“Look.” Gregory looked over his own shoulder. “We have to be there for each other. It’s not every man for himself. The Empire is built on us trusting authority and each other.”

“Softie.” Draw knocked Gregory on the head with a broom handle. “Go cry to your mamma.”

“Ow.” Gregory rubbed his head. “My mamma’s dead. Killed by the synths.”

“So be it.” Ranger walked up to us, crossing his arms. “We have work to do.”

We cleaned up the body, which took us about half an hour, mostly to get the residual caked blood from between the cracks on the mess table. I stood aside and wiped my brow. The mess hall was surprisingly humid. The whole ship’s climate control system seemed to be out of whack, I had noticed. That had to be costing energy that could be used somewhere else. Though I was sure I would be killed for heresy just like that poor sailor if I mentioned it to anyone. Only the tech priests could handle technology. Us plebians were not supposed to even touch it.

Draw suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder, pressing me against the wall. “Salute.” She saluted herself.

A number of space marines entered the mess hall. They were silent. They got their food trays and sat down without speaking.

One of the space marines held up his arm.

Draw punched me in the back. “Go. He wants something.”

I approached the space marine who had raised his arm. “Um, can I help you, sir?”

“Yeah. Get me a new spoon. This one is stained.”

“Yes sir. Right away sir.” I hadn’t lived in a hive without learning how to treat people of higher rank. Anger a noble and you’d be dead in a heartbeat.

I turned around. “Spoons …” It struck me that I did not know where the silverware was kept.

“Hey, runt.” The space marine looked me in the eye for the first time. “I told you. A spoon. Are you stupid?”

Draw came up to me, chuckling. “Yes, sir, he’s new here. I’ll get you your spoon.” She pinched me by the ear and dragged me away.

“You’re going to get yourself killed!” She grabbed a spoon from a small outlet in the wall. “Here. Hand this to Captain Christon.”

“Is that—”

“Yes that’s his name. Don’t refer to him as anything other than captain or sir.”

I walked up to the space marine. “Here you are.”

Captain Christon looked at me, his head tilted. “You, boy. You feel different. I don’t recognize you. And I know everyone on this ship.”

Isac, who was with the other marines, held up his hand. “I brought him aboard, sir.”

Captain Christon looked me over with an incredibly critical gaze. “Hm. Make sure he doesn’t make another mistake.”

Isac lowered his hand. “Sir.”

I bobbed my head and backed away to where the rest of the cabin boys were standing. It looked like even Isac was underneath someone in the pile.

The space marines ate their meal and left one by one, until it was just us cabin boys again. Draw stepped forward. “All right. Let’s get this place squeaky clean.” She twirled her mop. When working in action like this, she seemed to have a different aura than when she was playing cards. Now she actually appeared dependable.

We had the place cleaned in half an hour. When we were done, the cafeteria lady leaned out of the kitchen window.

“Hey, y’all. I have a treat for you.” She gestured with her soup ladle.

“Let’s go.” Draw approached the window. “You don’t have to keep doing this, Lira. If you get caught they’ll throw you to the inquisition.”

“Well, honey.” Lira scooped Draw a large spoonful of soup. “They were going to throw this to the rogs anyways.”

“Sad lot, that.” Ranger got his pile of soup. The rest of the cabin boys lined up for their turns.

I ate the first thing I had eaten since Jones tossed me that nutrition bar. And, by hive standards, the food was pretty good. Sure, it was colorless and goopy, but it tasted better than some of the fare I was forced to eat during the lean times for my family.

My family. What were they doing? Had they survived the synth? That thought ran through my head. I had been aboard the Atlas for more than a day now, according to my internal clock. We had to be nearing our destination in the Warp. We were probably headed to an imperial fortress world, or maybe a forge world. I didn’t know. But I was stuck here and there was no way I would be escaping life aboard this ship.

I returned to our small bunk space with Draw and Ranger. We entered the room and Draw closed the door. She sat down on a skimpy chair and crossed her arms.

“Are you in with a space marine?”

“What do you mean by that?” I scratched the back of my neck.

“Lieutenant Core. He said he brought you aboard.”

“I, ah, I think I jumped a synth scather with, ah, a plasma knife.”

“A scather?” Draw whistled. “Dude. Totally metal.” She put her arm over my shoulder. “It’s good to be in the graces of a space marine. That means you’ll get better treatment. Do you think you could get us on his good side as well?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“Man you’re a wimp.” She slapped my back. “But a metal wimp. Dude, jumping a scather with a plasma knife and surviving?”

Ranger shuffled a deck of cards. “Sure, he did it. But is he a good fighter?”

“What does that matter?” Draw pushed me onto an old, broken chair. “Come on. Play katar with us. For real.”

In the ensuing games I managed to win every hand.

“Katar,” I said, spilling my hand onto the small metal table. “Come on. I don’t want to take the clothes off your back.” I took the pile of credits and pushed it back to them. “We aren’t even playing on an even field. I’ve been katar hustling since I could speak.”

“Sheesh.” Draw took half the pile of money and shoved the other half back to me. “Yeah, I get the point.” She grinned. “Hey, do you want to try something?”

“Um, sure?”

Draw’s grin widened. “You’re good at this game, right?”

“I thought that was clear.”

Draw’s grin became comical. “Okay. We’re going to use your skills to play in the big leagues.”

“The big leagues?”

“Yeah.” Draw put her hand on my shoulder. “Dude. You have potential. You also have guts. I mean, you jumped a scather. We can get rich if we play our cards right.” She chuckled. “Come on. I have to take you somewhere.”

I followed Draw out of the tiny bunk room and into the hallway. We walked past several ordinary sailors, who paid us no notice. Soon we arrived in the bowels of the ship, near the engine room. Pipes extended all around us. I almost tripped over a spot of spilled engine oil.

We came to a small door hidden in a crevice. Draw knocked on it twice.

“Password?” A voice came from behind it.

“Tolk.”

“You may enter.”

Draw opened the door and the three of us entered the room beyond. It was a speak-easy, built into the cavity where an old gravitic reactor once was. At least a dozen other sailors and cabin boys were spread around the room, drinking alcohol, and playing Katar.

Draw went up to the group that looked the nastiest and plopped down a wad of credits.

The nastiest-looking sailor looked up at Draw and laughed out loud. “Yo, Draw! Here to bet the clothes off your back?”

“Not me, Dereck.” Draw pointed to me. “That boy over there.”

“Ha! He looks like he was sucking his mom’s milk last week.” Dereck waved a finger at me. “Come on. I’ll show you what a real player plays like.”

An hour later I was sitting in front of more credits than I had seen in my entire life.

Draw leaned into Dereck. “Hey, big guy. You want to keep mouthing off and losing everything? Or do you want to accept the new boss in town?”

Dereck tossed down his hand. “Okay. You got me. Wherever you found this boy, you got lucky. He’s cheating. I know it.”

“No he ain’t.” Ranger stood behind me, his arms crossed. I was sure the only reason I hadn’t been shanked yet was because he was there. I stood up. “Ahaha …” I was about to return the money that I had won.

Draw instead took it out of my hands and started counting. “All right, Mythe. You get sixty percent, I get thirty, Ranger gets ten. We good?” Draw handed me my cut.

“Hey, you guys.” Dereck stood up, cracking his knuckles. “You want to get up—”

The intercom crackled. “All cleaning staff, to deck ten.”

Everyone burst into action. It took less than two minutes for the speakeasy to be cleared.

I ran, following Draw and Ranger through the ship’s corridors.

We arrived to a horrific scene. The whole hallway was covered in blood.

“What the hell happened here?”

The ship’s inquisitor came forth from the darkness. “It is heresy to ask.” He folded his robes and then skulked back into the darkness.

“Well, if it’s heresy to ask, I ain’t asking.” Draw opened a nearby janitor’s closet and started distributing equipment.

Dereck appeared behind me, surprising me. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten, cheater.”

“I’m not a cheater.”

“We’ll see.” Dereck grabbed a mop and started cleaning.

We cleaned up the mess in about an hour and then Draw dragged me back to the bunk room.

She sat me down and crossed her arms. “We got on Dereck’s bad side.”

“I would bet.” Ranger shook his head. “We did win over a thousand credits off him.”

“It’s more money than I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

“I think it’s time Dereck’s empire fell.”

“Empire?” I tilted my head.

“Yeah. Dereck’s the boss of pretty much every cabin boy on this ship. He’s the one who gets to make the calls when we don’t have orders.”

“Dereck’s been uppity recently.” Ranger leaned against a bunk. “I think his power’s going to his head.”

“That does tend to happen.” I did my best to smile.

“Yeah? What do you know about power, being a hive dweller?”

“I’ve dealt with, ah, guilds of the underworld before. People tend to get like this when there’s no one in charge. I think we can just bring this before an officer and—”

“No.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” I scratched my neck. “Well, here’s my plan.” I took out a short pencil and started outlining my plan.