Spacer Clans Adventure 1: Naero's Run (20 page)

He
appeared to be rubbing his hands over it.

“
Proceed,” one of the bots said.

This
man didn’t look Triaxian.

In fact
, he wore a veil below his eyes and the attire of a Menkaran. They worked for Triax and several other Corps.

What she could see
of him as she drew closer bespoke a life of power and excess. He weighed four times as much as she, or more. His hands were soft, pale, and flabby, unused to any physical labor and covered with expensive jewelry.

The energy screen went down.

The heavyset Menkaran held a soft white cloth coated with some kind of tangy-smelling oil that he buffed and polished the shining desktop with. The wooden surface gleamed like a mirror; nothing else was on it.

His amber eyes
above the veil seemed slightly glazed over as if from fatigue. Then he yawned, looking more bored than tired as he continued to polish.

Naero looked around, but it was hard to see much else in the dark.
The Menkaran leaned forward suddenly, into the tight beam of white light shining down onto the desk from high above.

The light struck her interrogator like a laser, breaking his face and the veil beneath his nose into sharp panes of eerie white and black stone. For an instant he didn
’t even look human.

Then he undid his veil and leaned back, suspended comfortably in his gel chair.
No place for her to sit.

The
screen went down. The lead security bot took up a position directly behind the man. The other two kept their weapons trained on Naero.

“
There must be some mistake,” Naero said. “Why am I here?”

The man stared down at his desk with lackluster interest, ignoring her.

“This is a breach of every treaty that Triax and the other Corps have with my people,” Naero added.

Her interrogator yawned again, shook his fleshy head, and didn
’t even look up. “Don’t waste my time or your breath,” he said. “Both of us know very well who you are and why you are here.”

“
Who are you, then?”

He grimaced and rolled his eyes and muttered something even Naero
’s ears couldn’t make out. “You need a name? Use Kattryll.”

She recognized his voice already from Baeven’
s blurt.

“
So, Kattryll, what–”

“
Shut up.” He sighed heavily. “Your parents were intercepted and destroyed by Matayan mercenaries while attempting to smuggle dangerous alien tech data through the Corps systems.”

“
That’s old news,” she lied.

“
The data was never recovered. But they had already made several forays into the Unknown Sectors.” He pointed a thick finger at her. “We think you might be able to shed some light on its whereabouts.”

Naero shook her head and looked him right in the eye
. “You’re not going to believe this,” she said, “but you know more about all of that than I do.”

Kattryll shrugged and began swiping the mirrored surface of the wood again
. “No matter. Before we’re done, I’ll be entirely certain about what you know...and what you don’t know.”

Naero swallowed dry before she spoke again
. “I might be tougher than you think.”

A weak laugh erupted from Kattryll
. “I sure hope so, kid,” He yawned again. “That might make it a little interesting–for a while at least. But I doubt it. A lot of my subjects babble some shit like that at first. But I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and I’ve broken down just about anything with a brain.

“
In reality, everyone cracks when the pain gets too bad.”

He looked up and stared
right through her with his cold, lifeless eyes. “You aren’t any different, kid. Just meat, bone, and nerves.”

Kattryll smiled in a most unpleasant way.

This individual is an enemy. He intends to harm us. Activate my defensive protocols so that we may eliminate him as a threat.

Shhh…
I wish I could. Be quiet, Om. Let’s listen to what he has to say and try to pump him for as much info as he’s willing to blurt out.

Strategy acceptable. Defensive protocols still offline. This is not acceptable.

Kattryll chuckled slightly. “When the time comes, little girl, you’ll tell me anything you even think I might want to know.”

He turned the
soft white cloth over, and methodically continued to rub.

23

“
So,” Naero said, “if you’re just going to kill me anyway, why should I tell you anything?”

She looked him right in the eye.

Kattryll didn’t even blink. His eyes like dead fish eyes.

“
You’ll talk,” he said. “You all talk, even if it’s just to end it. A lot of you beg me to end it. Sometimes I do–if I feel like it.” He yawned. “It all depends. Sheesh, I should get some sleep before we get started.” He snorted like a hog. “You aren’t going anywhere–you can wait a few more hours.”

“
You don’t seem exactly enthused about torturing me.”

“
Not really.” He paused to apply some more of the oil onto the white cloth from an exotic-looking green glass bottle. “A fairly standard operation. But I like to start a new subject when I’m feeling fresh. Don’t normally like to be disturbed.”

He glared at her for a bare instant. “
They woke me up for you. You’re supposed to be a rush job.”

Naero put her hands behind her back
. “Then I would think your employers would want me broken quickly.”

Kattryll smiled wearily
. “They’ll wait. They know I’ll get results. That’s why they gave you to me.” He sighed again, nodded to himself, and put the cloth away. “We’ll begin in earnest, tomorrow morning. I’ll give you the rest of tonight to dwell on that.”

“
What a way to start the day.”

“
I’m glad you have a sense of humor about all of this.” He looked her up and down and grinned in a most unpleasant way. “We’ll get to know each other quite intimately. Your friends will be part of this too. We’ll check on them from time to time so that you can watch them suffer. So that they can beg you to end their agony. They’re really of no practical use to us, except as another way to get to you.”

Naero laughed and took in his scent. Even through the
tang of the oil, he smelled of cologne and soap and something more.

He probably bathed twice each day, but
he couldn’t wash off the stench. His body odor was still rank–he smelled of pain and death, as if he’d been steeped in them for decades. His very flesh stained with the misery of others.

“
Look you bloated pig,” she told him. “It’s pretty plain that you’re going to squeeze us dry and gut what’s left. Why should I make anything easy for you? Go ahead and kill us and get it over with.”

“
And spoil the minor distraction you’ll provide? I think not.”

It was the fat man
’s turn to truly laugh.

His clothing rustled in a strange way as he chortled
. “You really think that this is all about you, little girl? Shit. You aren’t worth the energy it would take me to smear you across the floor. We’ll get what we want from you; I just want to enjoy it in some small way.”

“
Who’s ‘we’?”

He clenched his meaty fists suddenly
. “Don’t feign ignorance; I despise ignorance.”

“
I’d like to hear you say it.”

“The Corps. O
f course. Despite what some of them say, there isn’t a one of them that wouldn’t dump their populations into their suns to gain the technological edge of a few thousand generations over the rest.”

“
And somehow you think I have it? The Kexxian Data Matrix? Boy, did you back the wrong ship in this race. If I had all of this tek data, would I be busting my hump as crew in a family fleet? Hell no. I’d be queen of the universe by now.”

The fat man stared at her in an odd way
. “What are you looking at?” she asked

He will attempt to access our data. Not allowed. Eliminate him.

Kattryll stood up and came closer. “I’m not usually so aroused, but I find your empty bravado rather charming...in a pathetic kind of way. Some might even find you quite attractive and alluring, in a waifish, childlike mode. I could bring myself to enjoy raping you a few times, and not just to humiliate you–though there’s that also. I find it better to do so before the interrogation breaks you down too much and ruins those cute, childlike tendencies you still possess.”

“
In your dreams, fat boy. I’d have to be restrained, unconscious, or dead.”

“
I prefer my prey alive.” He turned away from her. “Take your pick on the other two.”

“
You Corps honchos really think you can get away with whatever you want, don’t you?”

He shook his head
. “We’ve been getting away with it for centuries my dear. The masters can’t resist dallying among the slave girls and boys, and why the hell should they? It’s one of the darker and more enjoyable perks of human nature. At least for the masters.

“And
I’m far from being a honcho. I have a rather wide range in my area of expertise, and I’m paid very well, but I’m still little more than a glorified errand boy.”

She almost laughed again at
“wide range,” but that was too easy.

What is too easy?

Study my memories on humor and insults, Om. Then pay attention while I get a rise out of this jerk. If I get him angry, he might let something slip.

Pursue current strategy with the jerk.

“Look, you putrid heap of talking dung. Do what you’re gonna do. You can kill me, but you still won’t ever defeat me, or my people.”

He turned on her
, leaning toward her over his ancient desk. “You strutting spacks. Too dense and too stubborn to see that your days are numbered. I’ve broken lots of your aberrant kind, during the wars. You’d be surprised how much your people told me, once I went to work on their families, their old people, their kids. They couldn’t handle watching that. Family’s so important to you freaks.”

Naero grimaced and blinked. “And we still
fought you Corps lackeys to the death every time you took us on. We beat you.”

Kattryll reclined and looked up into the
soaring darkness above him. “All my life, I’ve had a gift for backing the winning team, kid. The Corporate entity is eternal, irresistible–the perfect concept–as long as there are lackeys, as you say, with greed and ambition enough to power it. As long as there’s one of you who will betray a trillion others to get a leg up.”

“
Make me vomit. You believe that spew? The sooner we fry every Corps brain like you, the better. And you say I’m pathetic.”

“Face facts, little girl.
Corporate structure is conquering known space and beyond. Nothing has endured against it or threatens to replace it. Spacers are an aberration that won’t survive for more than a few centuries. Look at the empires the Corps have crushed, the races they’ve wiped out or absorbed. Kill Corps associates or leaders, and more are eager to rush into the breach. Like the regenerating heads of hydra. People die, but the Corps are eternal. They’ll go on forever. You back the winners, kid.”

Naero smiled her half smile
. “The galaxy has enough skutbrains and pukkheads like you running around murdering and enslaving everything and everyone to the everlasting glory of the Corporate Order. Spacers know what freedom is every time they leave one of your festering mudballs behind.”

Lexicon. What is a mudball?

Om, I’m working here.

Kattryll sat back
further in his gel chair and grinned. “Well, Triax has a few advantages. They know how to detect the Matrix and access it. Now they just need the files. Perhaps you will be more of a challenge than I thought,” he said. “I might enjoy you in any number of ways.”

Naero snorted. “
My luck you’re probably impotent.”

Kattryll scowled
. “You haven’t figured it out yet, have you? This isn’t a personal thing; it’s business–my business.”

Naero s
pat on his desk directly in front of him. His eyes popped.

“
You bloated bastard, it’s personal to me,” she said. “Fuck you, you rotting skutbag. You’ve been torturing and butchering people so long you don’t even care about anything anymore. You’re bored with it. I don’t know what’s more sickening.”

She
’d gotten to him. He glared through her again. “You will find it unwise to insult me.”

“
Who the hell cares? You’re going to do your job anyway.
Haisha
, maybe you don’t even have a prick to do me with, just a useless little nub of skin that piss dribbles out of.”

He snarled at her in a sudden outburst of rage.
“You will beg to satisfy my whims.”

“Ooh, touchy, touchy. N
ubs.”

“
Get out of my sight, you annoying little gash. Silence her.”

The bots fired
their stunbolts on command.

Naero got out a chuckle before she hit the floor.

Om inquired
. Is our strategy working?