Chapter 1 - The Lapse
Chapter 2 - A Past Life
Chapter 3- Old Friend
Chapter 4 - Pirate Spy
Chapter 5 - Dream Factory
Chapter 6 - Pirate Colours
Completed below ++++++++++
Chapter 7 - The Ruse
The short docking tunnel had been pressurised and his suit indicated atmosphere but he did not trust the pirates not to blow the seals if he removed his helmet. At the far end the inner airlock opened with his approach and then closed behind him. He heard a hiss of pneumatics and the opposite door opened. Two guards stood poised with pulse rifles held in a half threatening manner. One, a traditional Argon thug, all steroid enhanced muscles, prominent forehead with close cropped hair, the top of his left ear missing and a thin pale scar across the left cheek. The other a heavy set Split with a sneering hateful expression married to his face.
“Boss, to see you,” the Split almost spat out the words as if they were an affront to his species. Lumar refrained from providing a derogatory comment about ancestry deciding, however much his skin crawled with loathing, this was not the time to express himself. The Argon guard said nothing but signalled Lumar to follow. A warning bell sounded in Lumar’s mind and he knew the Split would have refused to lead with a deadly enemy walking behind him, otherwise he would have lead.
‘Play the part,’ the thought rolled over and over in his mind. He walked with a slight rolling gait, his head turning side to side observing everything, taking in the details. They took a shuttle lift with the two guards remained poised to bring their weapons up in a moment, and after a few more mizuras they arrived at an office.
An Argon man, wearing a dark suit sat behind a large desk. He had all the appearance of a man a little over middle age and had been spending the latter jazuras enjoying a rich lifestyle. Lumar was signalled to approach the desk, both guards remaining just inside the doorway. With a slight hiss he heard the door shut behind him. The man stared at him and Lumar for a moment looked directly at him then spent a while studying the decor of the office. The main thing that struck him was not that the man had enjoyed a few meals more than most but the cold, stone hard tint to the eyes. Yet for all this, Lumar gauged the man was not the top man on station.
“I heard rumour that you stole a ship and are here to get pirate colours,” the man said in a slow thoughtful way.
“A new ID tag as well, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“But of course.”
Lumar waited, and after a long pause and being stared at for the entire duration, he said, “Nice set of carvings, Litomanckeballum’s aren’t they. Must be worth a few credits.”
The man raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“Suit by Arminable, Argon Prime’s tailor to the rich and famous. By the way this is a nice desk, Hulma wood from Montalaar inlaid with Spr’th from Thuruck’s Beard if I’m not mistaken.”
“Why don’t you tell us your real name and why you’re really here,” the man spoke his tone low and menacing.
“Name’s not important. The ship’s to order, and you know what that means, drop off is Anarchy station. Can’t get close without colours and that’s why I’m here.”
“Clients name?”
Lumar smiled and replied, “Oh no, you know the score. This is to order, that means everything’s anonymous, no traceability.”
“News slipped through the net that a ship, the ship you tell me you stole, is registered to a man called Creed, ever heard of him?”
“Then you’d better get the ID of that ship changed double quick and the hull redecorated before he comes looking for it,” Lumar responded sharply. The man’s eyes narrowed and Lumar added, “Or am I to believe that you think I’m him?”
“Prove to us you’re not.”
Lumar felt a presence move towards him, he made no move and fought against his instinct to react. A heavy blow to the small of his back sent him lurching forwards and collided with the table which knocked some of the wind out of him. He turned over and looked at the Argon guard who grabbed his suit and punched him in the face while he brought up his hands all too slowly to protect himself from the blow. Hitting the deck he was hauled back to his feet and put up a weak and ineffectual defence before being knocked down again.
“Enough. Get the pathetic maggot back on his feet.”
Hands hauled him back up and Lumar could taste blood in his mouth, he wiped the back of his hand across his lips and it came away smeared with blood. Staring at the man behind the desk he noted the expression had changed, it was more relaxed.
“I’m going to give you the benefit of doubt because the real Creed would never have taken a beating.” The man addressed the two guards, “Show him to the dock master.”
This time the Split led the way, his expression was now one of utter contempt.
============
Lumar felt a surge of dark thoughts while he padded along behind the Split, ‘So this is what they mean by humility, and it’s supposed to be a virtue.’
They arrived at the dock masters office and Lumar was greeted by a Split woman in faded overalls that appeared to be several sizes too small. She was neither young or attractive and while he wondered how the stitching managed to hold itself together she growled, “What you want?”
“New colours on the Nova in dock.”
“Who’s?”
“Any clan who’s on good relations with the Anarchy Station, otherwise it doesn’t matter to me, I’m just delivering it.”
She moved to a terminal and her fat fingers hammered the screen much harder than Lumar considered necessary, “Need ID chip.”
The sentence seemed to be more of a statement than a question even so Lumar responded, “Yes.”
“Eighty five thousand credits.”
“Are you trying to rob me?” Lumar had seen the screen, in fact he felt as though she had deliberately allowed him to see the figure being displayed to know she had virtually quadrupled the price.
“Pay or leave,” she sat down and slouched back in the chair to sneer at him.
“Let’s discuss this shall we. How about you reduce the price or I tell the previous owner where to find his ship.”
The woman laughed and garbled, “That threat?”
“Apparently it belonged to someone called Creed.”
The laughter stopped and her eyes narrowed saying in a menacing hiss, “He not come here.”
“From what I understand, he probably wouldn’t come and reclaim his ship by actually docking. But he might risk some collateral damage to the vessel while he cuts away the docking bay using plasma rounds,” Lumar said and gave the hint of a no nonsense smile.
She appeared pensive for a few moments and then grinned, “Eighty thousand credits.”
Lumar frowned and knew he would be unlikely to get the price down to anything reasonable, yet he had received a concession, albeit small and rather than waste more time said, “I’m still being robbed here, but you have a deal.”
“Come back in a stazura.”
Lumar was escorted out of the office and directed towards the bar zone at which point he was thankful to see the guards leave. The corridor opened out into a wide round hub with the usual mix of bars, places to eat and gambling pits all around the edges. The centre had benches where those too intoxicated to make it to the sleeping cells sprawled out. The field dampers hummed modulated anti-noise frequencies to suppress the cacophony of sound that threatened to assail his ears from all directions.
“Looking for a good time, honey.”
Lumar glanced at the prostitute and wondered how much the constant proximity to weed and other substances had prematurely aged her. The figure and face were pinched thin with what he could only assume was from malnutrition and he guessed that it was only because of implants that she had a shape that did not resemble a stick. He shook his head and responded, “Not today. I just need some food.”
“I can show you a good place,” She said all too keenly.
“When was the last time you ate proper food?”
“Two tazuras ago,” She muttered and sidled closer to him. Lumar was acutely aware that she had not so much overdone the perfume but smelt as though she had tried to drown herself with it.
“I’ll buy you a meal if there’s any chance you can try not to kill me with that perfume,” He said and she flashed him a baleful look, the eyes watering and in that brief few moments Lumar understood, and said, “Don’t tell me, you’d like to but you haven’t any credits and you can’t get a room without a client or credits, and you’re struggling to get both.”
She stepped away from him with her head hung low and shoulders sagging and several tears running down her face. As she turned to walk away, Lumar said, “Wait,” she stopped and looked at him, “Follow me.”
She trotted along beside him while he strode across the hub, saying, “I’ll give you a really good time.”
“Just tell me where the best place to get a decent meal, go freshen up and then come get something to eat.”
“Then we’ll have some fun together, right?”
“That all depends on what you mean by fun.”
They entered the lobby of the guest room centre and Lumar glanced only briefly at the two bouncers. At the automatic check in desk he listed the rooms and booked one and then authorised the credit transaction.
“You’re here for five tazuras?” the woman said.
“No, you are,” Lumar said but did not feel like elaborating. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, but he was all too aware of the proximity of the perfume to appreciate it.
“Best food around here is supposed to be Motrag’s place, third one on the left past Goo-glug’s bar, but you normally have to book.”
“I’m sure they’ll let me in. What’s your name?”
“Cherry.”
“Your real name?”
“Mim.”
+++++++++++++++
“I’ll tell the thugs on the door to let you in,” Lumar said and left, he could feel the curious gaze of the other girls.
One of them intercepted him, “That was quick, do you need someone that lasts a little longer.”
He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her and felt himself slipping inside as though the foundation of his new self had been built on ice. A sense of annoyance was shifting to anger and that whoever managed Mim could let her get into such a state began to gnaw away of him. That annoyance was held in check from voicing itself at the girl simply because she looked better fed and less haggard looking only beneath the heavy makeup there were bruises. He flinched a brief smile and in a quiet voice said, “No.”
His pace slowed as he remembered a conversation with Noah and at the time was acutely aware of how much the old man had taken a personal interest in him.
“More recently when you did those things you did, how did you feel?”
“I didn’t.”
“No sense of right or wrong, no regret?”
“These days it’s just about staying alive. Someone points a weapon at me I react. There’s no feeling or emotion. It’s me or them and one day one of them will get lucky.”
“Is it the same when faced by a slave owner?”
Lumar felt a shiver run down his spine and pushed the rest of the conversation to the back of his mind. Standing either side of the doorway two tall gangly Paranid bouncers barred his way.
“Do you have a reservation lower life?”
“I just got ripped off by the dock master for eighty thousand credits, if it’s a question of whether I can afford to eat here then the answer is, yes. So let me by so I can book a table.”
The shorter of the two bouncers stepped back and spoke surreptitiously into a com unit. He reached out a long multi-jointed arm and tapped his colleague on the shoulder and signalled to allow Lumar to pass. The dark tinted transparent doors glided apart and he entered.
The internal decoration was a lot more refined than he had expected, it had a dignified and formal look to it that bordered on understated rather than the garish colours and gold gilding used by many establishments that attempted to look upmarket but simply ended up appearing tacky and cheap. He found himself approving of the decoration and then brought himself back to reality when considering the location, and the fact that the clients were a little too well dressed to be the general run of the mill well healed pirates. The Argon by the desk did not smile when he spoke and there was a definite hint of contempt in his tone, “You want to book a table?”
“For two, and tell the thugs on the door to let Cherry in.”
“When would you like the table for?”
“Now,” Lumar looked around, there were plenty available but he half expected to hear excuses to refuse him one particularly as he was still in his pilot suit.
“The waitress will be along shortly.”
Lumar glanced at the desk clerk, who appeared to be making a point of ignoring him. Moments passed and then a busty waitress in an ill fitting dress appeared. A thick mane of dark auburn hair cascaded in ringlets down her back and her skin a light tanned brown, the eyes the colour of rich hazel. She looked at the monitor, eyed him up and down and with a frown said, “Follow me.”
She led him to an out of the way corner table then handed over a menu pad and said, “Drink?”
“Bamma juice.”
“That all?”
“For now.”
She turned and walked away while he watched her move gracefully with a slight roll of the hips and then pulled his attention back to the menu pad. Instinctively he knew everything on the list would be grossly overpriced but he was hungry and decided this was not the time to get concerned about his credit balance. Several dishes caught his eye and he selected them, then put the pad down. From his viewpoint he could barely see any of the other diners and assumed this had been done more for their benefit than his.
The waitress returned with his drink and he noted the name tag said Candy. For a moment this perplexed him as it was normally one of the first things he found out. She leant forward and reached out to take the menu pad.
“You’d better leave that, I have a guest coming.”
The waitress straightened and said nothing then returned back towards the reception desk. From a pouch on his utility belt he pulled out the technical datapad and scanned the drink for toxins. It registered negative and so he took a very small sip, just enough to allow the flavour to break on the taste buds and reveal any sign of residual bitterness that might indicate the presence of a poison not detectable by the scan alone. Happy the drink was untainted he sipped it slowly and waited.
Mim appeared by the desk and was led across by Candy. The waitress’s expression was a mix of uncertainty and curiosity. Stranger still, for Lumar, was that they appeared to know each other and spoke quickly but quietly to each other. He caught the last few frantic words, “..but you know he doesn’t like street girls being in here.”
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s nothing,” Mim smiled and sat down beside him.
Candy shot her a concerned look then leant forward and reached out for the menu pad, but rather than pick it up she whispered, “Her owner’s here and he won’t approve.”
Lumar felt his nerve ends freeze, as if he had been plunged into freezing water. His expression hardened and he said, “And are you a slave too?”
A momentary lapse of reason - Ch7 completed (14/07)
Moderators: TheElf, Moderators for English X Forum
A momentary lapse of reason - Ch7 completed (14/07)
Last edited by Mercenary on Fri, 14. Jul 06, 21:31, edited 7 times in total.
Hmm ... cool read but puzzling at the same time. So he is not at the port yet but on a smaller pirate station made of an old TL? I presume that one acts as an outpost?
Anyway, Lumar taking the hits really is as convincing as it can get. Clearly his reputation would never have accommodated such action. Excellent.
I guess he is now at a point where he could take over the station because their attention has lapsed. But since he is there for the girl he probably needs to keep a low profile and try to smuggle himself aboard the Anarchy station.
Looking forward to the next part!
"bring there weapons up in a moment" - there = their?
Anyway, Lumar taking the hits really is as convincing as it can get. Clearly his reputation would never have accommodated such action. Excellent.
I guess he is now at a point where he could take over the station because their attention has lapsed. But since he is there for the girl he probably needs to keep a low profile and try to smuggle himself aboard the Anarchy station.Looking forward to the next part!
"bring there weapons up in a moment" - there = their?
Ahh, I see where there's a touch of confusion. His current location is New Income not Loomanckslots .. okay, I embelished the mine and asteroid fields a touch which probably helped cause the confusion...
Next port of call will be the Anarchy Station .. and depending how things go generally he might decide to have a change of heart about letting them dish out a beating with impunity .. revenge .. it's best served cold..
Next port of call will be the Anarchy Station .. and depending how things go generally he might decide to have a change of heart about letting them dish out a beating with impunity .. revenge .. it's best served cold..
-
jackleonfraust
- Posts: 1172
- Joined: Tue, 27. Dec 05, 00:42
-
Captain Chris sTc
- Posts: 991
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 04, 01:21
Excellent part! Very nice touch and brings the change in Lumar across extremely well. Although, I have a feeling he may have done something similar in past times, too, for as long as nobody saw it. 
Looking forward to the next part!
"while he cut away" - cuts?
Come back in three mazuras - mizuras, I believe.
Looking forward to the next part!
"while he cut away" - cuts?
Come back in three mazuras - mizuras, I believe.