Two Suns: Chapter 2
06 May 2016Davadin
Chapter 2The Man and The Ship
As Darius jumped over the window of the burning hospital room, flashes of memories flew through his head. And his body seemed to have better command than his mind. But something is still grounding him to reality. Perhaps it’s the smell of melted plastic. Or the sound of pulse laser sizzling and crackling. Or it could just be pain. The reality is, he still didn’t have a fraction of his full memory. As Erin jumped behind him, Darius made a decision. He needed to grasp what’s going on and he needed to do it fast. And jumping into a hovering Vulture out of a burning room along with some rogue pilot, seems to be a hell lot faster to do it than sitting around in a hospital, recovering.
Or so he thought.
“Erin. Sit on the pilot chair. I’m still… woozy.” Darius was, in fact, had a clear mind, but not sure if he can still pilot anything and risking on revealing his lie, sitting on that chair seemed like a bad idea.
“Woozy? Well, that’s new coming from you. Aye aye, sir.”
Erin buckled in. Darius went up to second chair platform. The canopy was still closing as Erin boosted the ship upward and half way breaking the atmosphere. The way she handled all of Vulture’s thrusters, evading security lasers, timing the power distributor to get to jump drive. Despite her young-looking face, she is no rookie.
“Alright, here comes the fun part. I don’t know how you get your hands on this fancy top secret drive, but it did really help me getting to you on time! Well, sort of.”
As Erin finished her sentence, the Vulture made a jump. But it is not a hyperspace jump. It will be one year before the public would learn about Frame Shift Drive and going Supercruise.
Somewhere outside of Saturn, Erin dropped the Vulture out of the jump and hide behind an asteroid. Throttle max. Silent running. For all intent and purposes, they’re pretty much invisible at this point.
“OK. Pretty sure we got rid of all security out here. WOW. That was fun, right….” Erin got cut off as she removed her helmet and looked behind. Darius was profusely bleeding around the chest and barely able to sit straight.
“No no no NO! OH MY… did I…no, but… that wound… what’s going on??” she looked confused and dumbfounded as she frantically jumped out of the seat, kicked open a panel filled with what seems to be a first aid medical kit and rushed towards Darius’ side.
“What’s going on is what I like to ask you… Erin….” Darius squeezed the last of his energy to speak while smirking a little.
“I haven’t been completely honest with you. Truth is…”
“No. Ssssh. Shut it. You just focus on getting fixed. I promised you, whoever did this will PAY.”
It seemed like Erin starting to get a little teary eyed. Darius wasn’t sure. It’s hard enough to keep his conscience afloat.
Wow, she is kind of cute looking like that, was the last thing crossed his mind before everything went pitch black.
Three days had past. The Vulture was docked. Darius was soundly sleeping inside the medbay when a large Anaconda class cruiser docked to the garage right next to it. The vibration of the thruster alone was enough to wake most sleepy pilot up. Darius opened his eyes and sat up.
Not again, he thought to himself. I have to stop waking up in unknown places with no memories. As he put his hand to his chest, his wound seems all but healed. There was no more pain. No more blood. Seemed like somebody taken a really good care of him the past few days. But lying in bed for a few days would make any pilot feeling a little shaky when walking up for the first time.
Holding on the corridor wall as he walked, he finally arrived at the cockpit. His eyes quickly scanned the environment. Docked in a station. Coriolis type? But which system? Suddenly there was an announcement,
“Welcome to Futen Spaceport. Please observe your docking station number and do not….”
Futen? In Fujin? Where’s Erin?
“Erin?” He called to no response.
He sat down on the commander seat. Brought up the local bulletin board. This feels familiar, he thought to himself.
Date. 13 June 3296. Latest Galnet news. Nothing but the usual political squabble between the factions. Few festivals, minor discoveries, nothing seems to caught his interest. Last event took place on Mars, so Darius checked the intergalactic sections. How about attack on a military base? Escaping hospital patient? Did anybody reported his great escape?
Nothing.
Seems like somebody wants to keep this under wrap.
Suddenly, the watch-like communication device being charged on the seat’s hand rest started to vibrate. Darius put it on. Erin’s voice came through the speaker.
“HEY sleepyhead! Good evening! Had a good nap? Good timing. Come down and join me for a drink. Meteor Shower bar, up on level six at the Gonkuro entertainment district. Big sign. Can’t miss it. See you in ten?”
Bar? Drink? Then there must be food. Damn I’m starving, he thought as he nodded. “Yeah.” Then he hung up.
After finding some decent civilian clothes in the cargo bay, he stepped out. As he walked toward the shuttle stop, he looked back and observed the Vulture. This time, no more security shooting at him, no more excruciating pain, no more jumping out of a window. Just the Vulture. Standing tall and proud. A Dangerous rank insignia of the Pilot Rank was visible on the side. Its name was painted on lower side.
Perseus.
“Fancy name. Dangerous rank, huh? No wonder Erin had no trouble busting me out of … WAIT. She did say it was MY ship? Holy shit. Did she confuse me with someone else? Is this the same Vulture? Wow, I got no memory of ever being part of the Pilot Federation. Or maybe it’s just a fake identity I setup to get close to Erin and investigate my original goals?”
The shuttle stopped and an announcement disturbed Darius’ thought process.
“Gonkuro, Entertainment District. Please take care when you step down the shuttle. Thank you for using Futen Transport. Have a nice day.”
Right. Where’s station elevator? Entertainment district was busy that day. Futen was under Li Yong-Rui’s bubble. Thanks to Li’s excellent business skill, all markets under his exploits can match and undercut any price in the galaxy. Fujin system is also famous due to close location to both the Empire and Alliance borders, and Futen Spaceport is the only station in the system. In other words, this is where you shop. Pilots, Bounty Hunter, Trader, everybody worth their salt carrying decent credits would be wise to visit Futen at least every once in a while.
As the nearly full elevator door closes, Darius looked up to the news panel. Bounty report.
Suddenly, Erin’s face was displayed.
“Wanted. Dead or Alive. Erin Bellcordia. Consider armed and dangerous. 489,002 credits.”
His heart sank a little when he saw the numbers. Nearly half a million credit??
What did I get myself into, he can’t seem to stop asking himself that question.
“Level 6”
As the door opened, the same face was right there standing in the flesh.
“Hiya! Change of plan. We’re going to a different bar. Thought I pick you up here.”
Erin walked into the elevator as a dozen other patrons walked out. Then there were only five people left.
“We’re going up. To the ninth.”
The elevator stopped at the seventh and eight floor to drop more people, until it was just the two of them. As soon as the door closes on the eight, Erin pressed a button to stopped the elevator.
“OK, quick briefing. Just had a chat with Clemont at the bar. He can smuggled us back to Rabatha. Then we can finish what we started…”
“What? Why Rabatha?” Darius instinctively asked.
“What do you mean why Rabatha?? Look, I don’t have time to play games. Clemont said he can get us in but we gotta do one mission Futen’s boss. Special delivery and it’s on the way to Rabatha anyway. OK. No time. No time. Let’s go.”
Erin hit the button to continues to the ninth floor. The door opened and it’s unlike any other floor. It resemblances more of a Penthouse than a market. There were a clear area of about 200 square feet right outside the elevator, with a narrow straight path in the middle, and there’s a pair of heavy doors at the end of the path. There are at least ten security guards armed to the teeth patrolling the whole are outside the path. The couple walked towards the door, which automatically opened just a few moments too soon, prompting them to paused for a second while they were exposed to what’s behind these gates. It looked like a small café. There were five, maybe six small, two-chairs table setup. A bar on the left side, a door towards the kitchen, and some display on the right. A guy was standing behind the bar, although he doesn’t look like a bartender. An elderly slender man, perhaps in his eighties, sat at one of the table. Standing next to him was a young man, perhaps in his teenage years. Sixteen? Eighteen at most. Looked very sharp with his gaze focused at the pair’s entrance.
“Ah, yes. Erin, was it? And Darius. Come in, come in. Sit with me.
Apollo, would you kindly pull a pair of chair so we all can sit together?” the old man spoke.
“Yes, master” the boy replied.
“So, Clemont asked me to grant you an audience as you were looking to find entry to a very special station in Rabatha. Certainly, we can accommodate. But you might have been aware, there are no such thing as free in this world. Compensation to be made. Prices to paid. So, let’s get down to business, shall we? Please. Sit.”
The old man waited patiently as the two guests sat down.
“Right, you know me as Melphisto, the main benefactor of this station. I can get you permit to Rabatha. But I would truly appreciate it if you can stop by at LHS 449 at Perry Station. Dropping a small container of mine.”
“The prison colony?” Erin asked.
“Sharp perception, woman. Indeed, it is. Hence, you see, the station is continuously orbited by police ships. It is very hard to deliver… something less than legal there without being scanned.”
Erin took a turn in talk, clearly expressing concern. “Whoa whoa whoa… illegal container into a military outpost? Are we on the same page, here?”
“Yes, indeed. You see, I’ve heard about you, ELITE Commander Davadin. Darius “Davadin” van Keuter. Joined the Pilot Federation at the young age of eleven, took his first bounty kill at fifteen. Completed a smuggling run across the galaxy by seventeen. Surely, doing such a request as mine would be too easy for you, yes? And yes, miss Bell, you think somebody of that caliber entering my station unannounced would past my attention, hmmm?” Melphisto smiled viciously while looking at Erin, who now turned pale for being caught.
“I… I didn’t declare him because he was in critical con…”
“Spare me the excuse” Melphisto cut her off, “I know all about it. I know more than you know. It is fine. Now that you are here, it’s perfect even that you now have something I’m interested in, as well as you in me.”
The two continued to argue and debate numerous subjects, becoming more and more entrenched in their own world.
Darius, who’s been sitting as if he’s frozen in time, quietly continued to process all these new information. Is Melphisto telling the truth? An Elite Commander? Was he a Pilot Federation Commander even BEFORE the Navy? Was the record faked? Or the Pilot record was the fake one, fabricated by Federal Navy for him to infiltrate? The sign on the Vulture was Dangerous, wasn’t it?
But, in the end, just like leaping out of a burning hospital room, Darius again went with his instinct.His voice cuts through Melphisto and Erin’s bickering.
“So when do we leave?”
“Ah, excellent! Then we have an agreement?” Melphis claimed while Erin glared at Darius looking rather calamitous.
“Yes. I’ll get your package delivered, I just don’t want waste anymore time here.”
“Good. Good. My men can finish outfitting a top-of-the line Lakon Type-6 or a Faulcon Cobra. Take your pick.”
“Wha… what’s wrong with our Vulture?” Erin stood up and interjected.
“Foolish woman, no ships can dock in a prison system solo. There’s always at least one security escort…”
“…that’s where I come in. I am legally still an active Federal Navy Lieutenant.” Darius finished Melphisto’s sentence.
“Exactly!” Melphisto responded with glee while Erin sat back to her chair while rolling her eyes to the sky.
The next day, Erin and Darius walked towards Melphisto’s private hangar. A Type-6 was waiting inside. Erin checked the flight system as she’ll be the one piloting the vessel. After checking the promised Rabatha system permit as promised, Darius walked towards the cargo bay, looking to inspect Melphisto’s special delivery. The cargo module would fit sixteen tons of cargo. Yet, there’s only one small pod in the middle of the twenty by ten module space, heavily secured by multiples metal frames.
So it is a human after all, Darius mused. Another prisoner transport? Why would an enterprenur like Melphisto wanted to deliver a prisoner to a prison anyway? Slave perhaps? But why the secret? Curious, Darius looked inside the pod’s window.
Sleeping solemnly inside was not the expected brute or hardened criminal profile. Instead, a young lady, dressed in what seems to be a Royal garment of the Empire, with short wavy green hair.
“How’s the cargo?” Erin shouted from the cockpit.
“Secured. Not quite what I expected though.”
“As long as it’s secured and deliverable, I don’t wanna know.”
“Roger that” replied Darius with a heavy tone followed by an even heavier sigh…