Cath

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light examined the statue and his suit provided a helpful summary from the station’s internet.

“They…saved a bunch of people in this segment during an explosive decompression a century back. Apparently some fault with a power grid opened a hole in the hull and that Tekeri flew their ship into the gap. Its shield stopped the decompression long enough for them to patch the hole up…sounds foolish to me. They could’ve done a lot more harm than good. Take this left!”

They turned off the wide avenue into a smaller but well appointed thoroughfare with little foot traffic at this time. On it was a Myrmidon showroom, several corporate recruitment offices (mining, biosciences etc) and a couple of fancy restaurants. The sight and smell of them made Light’s stomach cramp. That tube of crustacean paste had barely hit the sides.

“I must eat again, properly, after the drop. Perhaps this…Cantonese restaurant we are going to cooks edible food.” He remarked casually, before wondering why they were dropping this data in such a random location.

“We mustn’t dally too long afterwards; is there anything you need to buy before we set out on the next job?”

Behind them, the black clad droid followed along the high speed line, listening in.

They are not discussing anything of note, unless there is a cipher here I have not detected. It reported back.

You cannot let them pass on whatever the Utaysi is holding without knowing what it is. Get alone with the QV if necessary; they seem to be leading this merry goose chase, perhaps you can throttle the information out of them.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light undulated in agreement. “That is pretty much the size of it. Organised chaos.”

He looked distastefully at Senjen’s tail then back into the lizard-robot’s face. It was obvious that they wanted to explore the city outside of the confines of the monorail, but that just filled Light with dread. Unfortunately though, the monorail wasn’t much faster to their destination. It also raised the odds of being spotted and cornered by any bad actors. They could blend into the bustling crowds of the street and escape easier if detected. At least that's what Light assumed; he’d never actually really had to evade detection like this. He didn’t even know if anyone was looking for them. The data package could be something completely mundane.

“Fine. I think I know a route that takes us past a gel repository where I can replenish. I’ll mark the location on your map.” The QV wobbled over to Senjen and his gelsuit adhered to Senjen’s tail and back. It was as if the Utaysi was wearing a very large and impractical backpack.

The monorail station opened out onto a small square with a statue of a Tekeri in the middle. It was completely packed with people. On the left was a narrow street that cut between two dense blocks of buildings. Mostly Tindrel mounds on one side and a mix of the other species on the opposite. Upon looking at the street entrance for a couple of seconds, adverts from shops down that route began popping up on both their HUDs.

In front of them across the square was a wider avenue with small trees planted on either side. An impressive Human structure took up a sizable portion of the street frontage, the adverts suggested it was some financial services company. Other side streets veered off from it at regular intervals.

“Left looks quickest but more winding. Difficult to maneuver. Straight on looks more open, isolated.” Light peered round Senjen’s bulky frame.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Your optimism is admirable. A touch naive, perhaps, but admirable all the same. People will always find something to compete for. Some people more than others.” Senjen may not have noticed it yet, but Light didn’t speak like most QV. A long time on the road, mingling with all different species had made his ‘vocabulary’ decidedly more cosmopolitan than most.

“My view? This war isn’t about habitable space to live. Not really. It's about power over the people who live there. The power to control them, the power to choose who lives where. People’s lives are the ultimate untamed resource; some crave the chance to try and tame it. My advice to your people is to stay well clear.” If Senjen was perceptive, he may detect a note of bitterness in his employer’s voice.

When the Utaysi brought up the QV as a species, Light felt a pang of sadness, maybe even regret. He hadn’t been in a habitat his species would consider ‘natural’ for a very long time. He’d almost forgotten what being out of his gel suit felt like.

“It's not just our bodies that make the light down there. We’ve cultivated bioluminescent plants to do everything from living in, warning of danger and luring prey. Large Quelun-Vosh settlements are alive with a rich story of colours that you can see from miles away. There are no large predators to hide from anymore on the homeworld, so we lost any reason to hide long ago. On frontier colonies that is not true.” Light’s tone had turned nostalgic. Even though he couldn’t be a part of his civilisation right now, he felt pride at what they’d accomplished.

After a little while, the spoke’s residential tiers abruptly ended and the train entered an airlock. The train pressurised and filled with breathable air, though gravity remained low. In fact, they were close to weightless now. The Grand Concourse was at the middle of the station’s vast centrifuge, which meant it benefitted from its pull the least. Light fiddled with the small thrusters built into his gelsuit to make sure they were ready for when they disembarked.

“The drop is at the Guangzhou Cantonese restaurant, in sector 7.4. That means it's three whole segments away and on the opposite side of the tube from us. Stay vigilant for anything suspicious.” He whispered to Senjen.

A black-clad bipedal droid who’d got on at the same stop as the pair stood at the opposite side of the crowded monorail carriage. They gripped an overhead handhold and faced nonchalantly away from them while listening to every word they exchanged. Then they relayed it to their handler.

Well done - I knew something didn’t feel right. Follow them, try to find out if it is the access key. I’m sending back-up to that restaurant.

Copy that.

Once the airlock had pressurised, the blast doors opened and the monorail rushed out into the Grand Concourse. This was the fifty mile long cylinder that ran through all fourteen of the station’s rings and connected them to Korit’s space elevator. The Fourteen Factories’ designer had gone with an open plan space with maximum customisability and interoperability built in. Over the centuries it had evolved naturally like a living organism. Covering most of the internal surface area of the cylinder was a tight mish mash of different buildings suited to each of the species that used the station. There were rocky mounds favoured by the Tindrel, wobbly gel orbs for the QV, tall open aviaries for the Tekeri and monolithic skyscrapers for the Humans, with everything in between. Monorail lines snaked between them, and small flyers traversed the open space in the middle. At about a mile in diameter, the space was so large and so overwhelming that Light’s suit struggled to parse all the available data from its scan.

“We’re on the wrong line. We have to get off here.” Light announced after consulting the route map.

"We can either find another monorail, but who knows what the wait time will be like. Or we can hire a flyer, or walk, I suppose?"

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“I would take the safety and quiet of Orostro over Korit any day. Isn’t it funny how we all seem to be looking for cleaner water in the next cave?” Light replied, using an old QV saying. He detected movement above; looked up he saw a train with four carriages dangling from a rail come to a stop.

“Ah, of course! Let's take the monorail, we can get past this lot. The station door is there.”

Taking the lead as he was more familiar with the Fourteen Factories fast transit system, Light pushed to a door that opened into a large cargo lift. It elevated them onto a shelf platform about two thirds of the way up the corridor wall. The monorail had just left, but it would only be a few minutes before another arrived.

“So what is your impression of our melange of species in this galactic zone? We have been integrated for so long, everyone seems so jaded. But you, you have a fresh perspective.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light sighed. It seemed to him like the gravity of his situation hadn’t properly landed with his assistant. After being bugged to elaborate on his ailment, It was vaguely irritating to be fobbed off with directions to hospitals light years away. The QV supposed it must be difficult for a synthetic to truly understand, even if they did look like an organic lifeform in armour.

“It is hard to say for sure - different doctors say different things. But on average I’d say about 1.5 billion more GCs to give me a good shot. I could probably sell my ship for that, but then I’d have bigger problems. Shuttling is my livelihood - without it I’ve got nothing left.” Light grunted eventually.

The gangways either side of the main road where the parade marched were getting packed out with people. The last few cargo bays they had passed seemed to have waiting passenger liners, and people were pressing together trying to secure passage. The parade ground to a halt.

“We don’t have time for this…” Light remarked, but did nothing about it. The thrumming mass of bodies made him anxious. He asked Senjen the first thing that came to his head, mainly to soothe his jangling nerves.

“Was that your homeworld you just mentioned? What made you leave?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light undulated sagely at Senjen’s first question.

“A lot. I must admit, I was briefly tempted to agree on your behalf. That money could do a lot for both of us. But you’re right, it was much too risky. Even surgery aside, we are on a special mission to transport…you know what.” The QV looked around but couldn’t see anyone eavesdropping in the crowd as they flowed down the corridor together.

Then Senjen asked about his health. Light flashed signs of fear, anger, anxiety and embarrassment. “I, uh, have to eat.” The QV left the parade for a stall on the sidelines, and bought a tube of crustacean paste. It was still expensive, but not as bad as the cargo bay, which made him feel slightly better. Light eagerly engulfed the tube in his gel suit. The suit helpfully squeezed the contents out then directed it all into his maw. For a moment, he felt euphoria at having sated some of his hunger. Then he realised Senjen was still waiting expectantly. He sighed and studied the floor.

“I have this…condition. Some of the cells in my body grow and spread uncontrollably. It started off here.” He raised one of his tentacles up - it had an unsightly growth about ten centimetres across on one side.

“Now it has spread to my respiratory system. It makes it hard to breathe sometimes, even with the suit. I’ve been trying to save enough for treatment, but doctors aren’t cheap. That's why I've started taking on more risk; it pays better. But I'm not in good enough shape for all this activity, normally I just pilot my ship from place to place. Thats why I’ve hired you.” Light flashed embarrassment again.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Séverine’s face fell. For a split second, she looked…sad? Angry? Light couldn’t tell. His assistant was shaking though, and he knew that meant Senjen was uneasy. The QV had recovered from his coughing fit now, so reached a manipulator out to gingerly pat the Utaysi’s frame. It was a gesture he had seen other land-based creatures complete, and he couldn’t think what else to do at this moment.

The Human looked around quickly, then when she looked back at them she was smiling again.

“Okie dokie! Please, don’t let me make you late.”

Seeing the soldiers checking the line were occupied, two Tekeri turned and ran from their place in it towards the exit. Spotting them immediately, Séverine slipped a stun gun with a yellow barrel from her hip and held it at arm's length. After a pregnant pause, she fired twice. Both aliens collapsed and slid limp across the hangar bay floor. She looked at Light and grinned.

“I’ll catch you later.” The Human winked, spun the weapon around her finger then holstered it again. She walked off, towards her quarry, and Light breathed a shuddering sigh of relief.

“I need food, and a nice lay down. Let's get out of here!” He exclaimed.

They exited the cargo bay into the vast corridor which spanned the entire ring. It gently curved upwards at either end, with other cargo bay doors set into the walls at regular intervals. As Light had seen earlier, a parade was passing by at this moment. Lots of brightly festooned people with lit paper lanterns were walking by and others watched. Stalls sold paraphernalia, food and drink.

“We need to get to a spoke corridor then enter the Grand Concourse.” Light explained as they joined the parade. He checked behind them, looking for any signs of being followed. There didn’t appear to be any. He leaned in close to his assistant.

“I’m glad you didn’t go along with that. I didn’t like the look of that Human at all! Sorry I lost my composure. What do you think they were going to do to you?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Séverine listened attentively to Senjen’s counteroffer then smiled and shook her head.

“That is very kind of you, but I’m afraid I need to activate your personality matrix at the same time as your memory. As your mind has more in common with us organics, we’re using the same device we use on Humans. It is very fun in that it uses your unconscious mind to locate and unlock information.”

This all struck Light as highly irregular. The Utaysi were quite new to the area, and their makeup was still relatively unknown. This Human spoke like she knew it well, and for some reason it made him angry.

“Ok, I think t-this has gone far enough. We’re really very late for an appointment and I need to re-oxidise my gel urgently after that, so we should just-”

“Fifty billion credits for five minutes of your time. Though unfortunately I must trouble you for a quick answer. I am needed back on the line.” Séverine said simply, looking between the two of them.

Light blanched, turning a milky white. Fifty billion credits might be enough for him to escape the Vermillion Consortium’s clutches! He could get medical attention for his condition, retire somewhere the QV didn’t know about his past. Maybe even raise some offspring…

He couldn’t breathe. Light turned politely and collapsed into a coughing fit. As he doubled over, he happened to see what looked like some parade shuffling past the exit on the main concourse. All different species, holding up different paper lanterns with a light inside. It must be a religious festival or something, Light thought distractedly.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light didn’t reply straight away. This naive Utaysi didn’t realise just how much you didn’t want to talk to these Humans about anything at all. Especially when you were carrying secret cargo for an employer who had no qualms about killing people just for discussing business to strangers. To make matters worse, Light knew they were probably capable of listening to private conversations and so couldn’t warn his assistant any further. So he remained silent, bathed in green, and looked for an opportunity to get them away.

Séverine nodded and smiled again at Senjen’s answer, as if he’d done the right thing. “You have good instincts. You should come join us in Naval Intelligence! We could use the help, in this day and age.”

Light tried to discreetly examine the metadata for this Human’s armour; there was nothing to suggest they had anything to do with a planetary government. The woman looked right at him.

“Hi there, we don’t mark our armour anymore for security reasons. Is that your ship? I admire your bravery, piloting something outside of the QV’s ken. Where did you buy it?”

Light tried to remain calm, feigning a cough so that he could obfuscate his body with the gelsuit a bit more.

“I-I bought it here. Lots of Tindrel trade ships were going cheap after they got infected with that rock fungus a few decades ago.”

Séverine nodded, pursing her lips.

“I heard about that. Awful business…Listen, you guys seem trustworthy so I'm going to tell you a little secret. We believe that Utaysi is carrying half a master key for one of our ship Minds. With that level of access, you could convince the ship to turncoat. Or destroy a planet. The trouble is, our technology isn’t optimised for your species. If we try to find and extract this ‘file’ from our friend over there and they resist, we could destroy it by mistake. That's no good, as Minds do not like to distribute more. Worse than that, we could hurt him, and we don’t want that. So…I was wondering if I could do a test scan on you? Properly calibrate my device on someone who won’t resist, so we have the best chance of success on our friend.”

“That is very thoughtful of you, b-but we really must be going.” Light ventured.

“I promise it won’t hurt, and will take just a moment. I’ll pay you handsomely for your time, of course.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Senjen got no response from the bound Utaysi. They were eerily motionless, looking at the hangar floor.

“What!? Why did you talk to them?!” Light spluttered incredulously, flashing black with dark green spots. “There is no ‘above board’ here, and there’s hardly an embassy. Oh no, what have you done…Don’t mention our cargo!”

Light then also went silent, and Senjen would learn the reason for that when he turned back to the ship and found the holopad woman standing neatly before them. Her helmet visor had unclouded, revealing a broad and chiselled face with full, blue-pink lips and piercing blue eyes. A strand of yellow hair framed either side, just at the edge of the viewing area. She was smiling warmly, revealing perfect white teeth.

“Hi, I’m Séverine, pleased to meet you! I’m here with my friends Eugene and Constance.” She gestured back towards the line, where the two soldiers worked.

“I couldn’t help but notice that one of our detainees spoke to you about some files while his comms were being monitored. I wanted to thank you for confirming our suspicions, we’ll be sure to follow this up with him. I am curious though - why do you think he spoke to you of all people? Is it because you look alike? Or is it because Utaysi are known for their proficiency at keeping files secure? I’m genuinely interested; I haven’t met many of your kind before.” She bored holes into Senjen with her eyes while Light quivered silently by his side.