Jason King: Agent to the Stars 1: The Enclaves of Sylox (15 page)

Chapter 21

The planet Hyben was your typical uniform brown and blue globe, with a few patches of light green wrapping the equator. In reality, this would be only the seventh planet I’ve set foot on, not counting Earth. I had been to Mars – briefly – and then a couple of other Union planets while working with Pulte, before settling on Sylox. After that I’d vacationed on a couple of the more-populated worlds in the surrounding stellar systems.

If I could get this damn Unity Stone affair behind me, then my Noreen II would take me to even more alien worlds. I just hope I won’t be running for my life when it did.

The data Yorf had sent me placed the Ionin Design Company in the city of Lioren-Cur, which jived with the information the thugs had given me in the dirty Sylox City warehouse. IDC was the company that had originally carved the Stone, turning a huge chunk of opaque, dirty-looking crystal into a two-foot tall, rather sensuous-looking, freeform work of art. So even though they had created the Stone in the first place, they were also the most logical start my search.

Lioren-Cur was the largest city on the planet, and was located at the edge of a dusty desert bordering a shallow, blue-green sea. The navigation program sent me right to the city, and I set down in the largest of three spaceports servicing the population.

While making my landing approach, I could see vast excavations to the north of the city, where the sand of the desert had been scraped clean revealing massive, striated slabs of stone. Even to this day, work crews were freeing the giant stones and cutting them into construction-size blocks. There were no forests visible, so the natives were using the only raw material that was available. The process seemed both ancient and practical at the same time.

The gravity of Hyben is about three-quarters that of Earth, so I would have a spring in my step while here, even if the noticeable drop in oxygen would require me to wear a small nose tube. I would also need a wrap-around sand-shield over my eyes to protect against the omnipresent blowing sand.

Overall, the planet Hyben was a real shithole, and I was glad I’d only be here for a few hours.

I strapped an MK-17 flash pistol to my right hip, a Ka-bar combat knife onto my right calf and placed a small Taser at the pit of my back, hidden under my khaki-colored waistcoat. The serious, big-bang weapon and knife were for any hostiles I may encounter, while the Taser was for Miranda – if she didn’t come along peacefully.

I opened the side hatch to the
Enterprise
and stepped outside, only to be immediately welcomed by a blast of lung-sucking hot air like I’d never experienced before. I gasped for breath, which with the lower oxygen level, required extra effort on my part, and tended to draw even more scorching air into my lungs. Damn, it had to be frickin 120-degrees out here, if not more!

This was unbearable, but the natives would have air conditioning inside their buildings – wouldn’t they? They couldn’t have evolved to a point where
this
was comfortable? For a moment there, I considered returning to the Enterprise and donning on of the spacesuits I had onboard. But then I dismissed the idea. I never did look good in spacesuits.

There was a soft breeze blowing which only served to exacerbate the heat and stir up the restless sand of the desert. I looked at the exquisite paint job on the Noreen, and hoped it wouldn’t be sand-blasted off by the time I concluded my business on the planet.

Within minutes, a small, open-air cart pulled up, with two brown and dusty natives riding in the front. As they climbed out, I saw that they were both about a foot taller than me – which was the case on most lighter-than-Earth-gravity worlds. Their hide was dry, wrinkled and tough-looking, evolved to accommodate the constant abuse suffered from the blowing sand of their desert world. Both wore equally drab, grey uniforms that looked like they’d seen better days.

The one carrying a datapad approached me first.

“Your transponder indicates Sylox as your planet of origin, is that correct?” His voice was as gravelly as the soil beneath my feet.

“That’s right.”

“What is right? I did not ask for a direction, but a confirmation.”

“I meant the information you have is correct.”

The native frowned. “Duration of stay?”

“Not more than a day or two.”

“The docking fee for two days is two hundred fourteen credits. How will you pay?”

“Electronic transfer; the funds are in the transponder account. And I’ll need transportation into the city.”

By this time the other native had moved up to the
Enterprise
and was running his hand over the smooth surface of the ship. “This is a fancy vessel you have here, traveler” he said over his shoulder. “It is unfortunate it will not look like this in two days’ time. Yet if you wish, you can rent a hangar for only a hundred-forty credits more.”

A hundred-forty for only two days of storage was highway robbery – but the Noreen was my new toy and I’d really hate to see the paint job ruined.

“Sure, that sounds fine. The keys are in the ignition. She’s restricted to only ground transport at this time, so don’t get any ideas about trying to take her for a spin around the system. It won’t work.”

The native looked at his companion and they both smiled. “We would not even think of it, traveler. The fee will be taken from the account; Hangar Thirteen, when you are ready to leave. A ground transport will now be requested. Enjoy your time on Hyben; we don’t get many visitors from Sylox anymore, so two in one day is rather rare.”

“You had another arrival today? How long ago?”

The talkative native turned to the one with the datapad. “Three hours ago – maybe a little less?” he said with a frown.

“Did you call a transport for her, too?”

“Yes we did, but how did you know it was a female?”

“Because we’re together; can you find me the same transport?”

“If she has reached her destination, then we can call it back. Let me inquire.”

My heart was racing. This was the first real break I’d caught since this whole thing began. If this same cab can take me to where Miranda had been dropped off, then I could be done here on Hyben in a matter of hours. And maybe it was the heat talking, but I was to the point where all I wanted was the Unity Stone. What happened to Ms. Miranda Moore was no longer my concern. If she resisted giving me the Stone, then she’d find out what a shitty mood I was in.

As it turned out, my lucky streak was continuing. The same cab
was
available for me; I’d just have to wait an hour for him to drive back from the city. I was sure – or at least I was hopping – that Miranda couldn’t work out a deal and have the cutting begin while I was waiting for the cab.

I began to pace nervously near the main gate to the spaceport, watching the long, deserted road from Lioren-Cur for any signs of an approaching vehicle. During the wait, I sought what shelter I could from the blistering heat in the shade of the guard shack. Still, it wasn’t much, and I was soaking wet and panting for breath within minutes.

The natives had been right; they not only had very little traffic from Sylox, they had very little traffic from anywhere, period. The place was a ghost town, which made the fee for the hangar seem all the more out of whack. Normally I would have haggled, but I had more important things on my mind than saving a few credits.

Like where was the damn cab?

Chapter 22

When the cab finally arrived, I apparently committed some kind of faux pas when I jumped in the backseat and began barking orders. The disgruntled driver simply hitched an elbow up on the barrier between us and sent me a scowl.

“Just slow down, alien,” he said in a drawn-out, gravelly voice. “It will be ninety credits just for coming all the way back out here. And then another hundred for the rush order.”

“You’re kidding? That’s more than they charge back on Sylox, and I don’t see a lot of people waiting in line for your service.”

“Only you.” The native met my eye with a steely determination. “In advance.”

I grunted, but began digging in my pocket. I handed him two hundred Union credits, and then he turned back to his controls and put the cab in gear – without giving back the ten credits in change. I bit my tongue as I slumped in the rear seat. At least the cab had air conditioning. I suppose that’s worth an extra ten credits.

Forty minutes later we were in the city and pulling up to one of the older-looking block buildings – if one stone building could be classified as looking older than any other.

“This is where you dropped off the other Human?”

“I don’t know what species you are, but this is where I let off the female of your kind. I have to say, she was just as rude and demanding as you. Do all members of your race act in such a manner?”

“Pretty much,” I conceded.

“Then I hope to never see your kind around here again.”

“Unfortunately, I’m going to need a ride back to the spaceport in a few minutes. Will you wait?”

I guess the expression
shit-eating grin
was universal, because that’s just what the cabbie flashed me. He hesitated before answering, while appearing to revel in the agony I was going through. I knew he’d wait – the question was for how much?

“Two hundred for waiting, plus another hundred for the trip back.”

Knowing that Miranda was already in the building with the Unity Stone – which could be broken into pieces at any time – I simply gritted my teeth and nodded.

“In advance.”

“
Bullshit!
What’s to say you don’t just drive off?”

“That is a possibility; I suppose you will know when you leave the building. I will wait, but for only forty-two Hyben intervals. I hope you have a conversion timepiece.”

I did; my watch could link with the galactic Library – their version of the internet – and adjust to local time intervals. As it turned out, forty-two Hyben intervals were only twenty-two real minutes.

I dug into my pocket again and pulled out a money case. I had the credits in cash, but just barely. Just like on Earth, we don’t carry a lot of cash out here in the galaxy. And I’d left the escrow money back in the
Enterprise
.

I climbed out the cab and once again experienced the stifling heat of Hyben. I wanted to say more to the cabbie, but that would have to wait until after he’d served his purpose. At that point, it would be anyone’s guess how that situation would turn out.

I quickly entered the large stone building through a double foyer designed to keep the heat and sand from penetrating the interior. Once through, I noticed that the anteroom was air conditioned, large and could pass itself off as the lobby of most executive buildings back on Earth. I approached a reception counter where a bored-looking native female watched me with a frown.

“That is two in one day,” she said even before I had a chance to say anything. “Third floor, then turn to your left.”

I took the stairs rather than the elevator, just in case someone was watching, and when I reached the third floor exit, I was disappointed to find that the door there wasn’t equipped with a window. So I had to cautiously open it and stick my head out into the corridor for a quick look. It was empty, as far as I could tell, so I slipped inside and hugged the wall, MK-17 held firmly in my right hand. Ionin Design would be down the hall, past the elevators.

I was surprised that Miranda would bring such a massive diamond statue to the jeweler here by herself. After all, it was the most valuable sculpture in the entire galaxy. I couldn’t imagine her just walking in and saying to the creators of the Unity Stone, can you guys cut this into smaller pieces for me, please?

Having had that thought just cross my mind, I should’ve been expecting the electronic lash when it whipped out of nowhere and jerked the MK from my hand. The sharp crack of the whip stunned me momentarily, and then the hallway was suddenly filled with four of the tall, tough-looking Hyben natives. They were unarmed, except for batons and one with the whip, and they were upon me before I could pull the Ka-bar.

I saw the first baton come arching in towards me, and I sidestepped it with ease. Unfortunately, I stepped right into a second one, which caught me across the back of the head. The blow stung like a bitch, but it wasn’t debilitating. I spun around and placed a booted foot squarely into the chest of the nearest attacker. In the light gravity – and with my superior Human strength – the kick sent the native flying through the air, trailing an echo of crunching sounds behind him as ribs cracked and lungs were punctured. That left only three attackers to now contend with.

I have to say at this juncture, I was restless for some real action. Since leaving the Army years ago, I’d had absolutely zero opportunity to use the skills I’d learned in combat training. Now, as the muscle memory returned, and the frustration that had built up recently was released, I lashed out at the Hyben natives with a fury bordering on animal ferocity.

My lightning-quick fists found pliable flesh and brittle bone, and I continued to strike even after two more of my attackers went down and the last remaining native was attempting to escape.

I ran him down in a flash and yanked at his collar, sending him crashing to the floor on his back. I stomped a foot down hard on the arm still carrying the baton and felt the bone give under the pressure. The overmatched alien cried out in pain, but I didn’t let him suffer for long. As a punctuation point to the all-too-brief battle, I swiped my right foot across his face, sending the helpless native into la-la land.

Although brief, the fight had been tremendously satisfying, and I looked around to see if any other natives were anxious to join in. To my sadistic disappointment, the hallway was deserted – all except for a smiling Miranda Moore, standing at the open entrance to IDC, and holding a .45 caliber Glock 21 steady in her right hand, aimed at my chest.

**********

Miranda appeared to hold the weapon with confidence, so I held my hands away from my body. The Glock was a serious, big-bang weapon which wasn’t to be trifled with.

“What now, bitch?” I said, not trying to hide my distain for her.

“Now you get to see what this is all about, lover. I know you probably have a knife on you, too, so why not leave that on the floor here, and then, step inside.”

With one last, satisfying look at the carnage spread throughout the hallway, I lifted my pant leg and withdrew the KA-BAR from its sheath. I held the knife up in front of me and smiled past it at Miranda. Then I flicked my eyebrows a couple of times and let the knife tumble to the stone floor. I was hoping she would conclude that it was the last weapon I carried and she wouldn’t find the Taster.

I then slipped past Miranda and into the IDC offices. On the outside I displayed calm resignation, yet inside I was bristling with nervous anticipation. I was alert and ready, so what happened next would all depend on Miranda’s skill with the Glock.

This was about to get exciting.