Chapter 1

Mark was working on a simple relay when the call came in, “Mark!” Sam Mark’s sister was screaming, “They’re gone! I was working on a sonic display here at headquarters and heard a noise when I went to check. They were both gone!” Mark was a little confused gone? Who? His sister was so upset that she practically babbled. “I looked everywhere. You know Nissie always leaves a message!”

Now Mark was starting to become worried himself, “Calm down, Sam, start at the beginning.”

Sam relayed all the details and the strange recording device that she’d found that had Mark’s name on it, obviously keyed to only his voice. Racing home, Mark’s muscular body practically tore the door from the frame cause it didn’t open fast enough. Sam handed an ancient (to him) recording machine, which started as soon as he touched it.

“Hello, fart boy,” came a voice he hadn’t heard in over six years, “remember me, you little shit? Well, I remember you; it’s taken me almost five years to remove the comp virus you infected me with. You didn’t think I’d gone away, had you, you putrid son of a bitch! Speaking of sons, I now have yours and the whore of a wife of yours. Know this within two days, he’ll be dead, and she, well, suffice it to say you won’t want her after the slavers are through raping her a few thousand times, though you might want her as a rag doll. The only thing I want is you; they are just bonuses for taking the last six years of my life I take them. Then you, I’ll come for you know you’re a dead man walking.” With that, an evil laugh sounded, and then a hiss started; Mark threw the recorder with an improved wrap shield around it out the window, and the resulting explosion shook the whole building.

Tantka! Damn it! Why hadn’t he just killed the bastard six years ago? Reaching above a shelf, Mark activated a switch that not even Sam knew was there. Over a dozen hunter drones activated as soon as the hidden door opened.

“Activate active hunt mode search and retrieval,” Mark stated.

“Compliance,” the drones answered.

“all significant data is contained within this disc,” Mark stated, sliding the disc into the lead drone.

“Updating, retrieving data, correlation of voice prints and machine alteration, affirmative voice prints overlaid with 32 different machine alterations, correcting. Composite voice confirmed all further information, and the hunt will now commence.

“Advise and transmit all data collected directly to this terminal only, with password protection code Arthur,” Mark instructed.

“Activation and mission confirmed code word Arthur,” the machine droned.

Sam’s mouth hung open; damn, brother had been busy. There wasn’t anything on the open market that would even be close to these, and Mark was fuming. He had half a mind to contact Nissie’s sister Assti so she could get in on it; on second thought, he’d better; she was a mean one when you got her angry, as he found out years ago when she went after Tantka. Opening a special comp he’d not used in years, her smiling face appeared on the screen, “Mark! How’s my sister?” looking closer, she saw something was wrong,” What’s happened?”

Mark explained what had happened. Assti’s face twisted in a look of pure hate, “I knew I should have killed him back then. I thought your idea was better, shit! Together, our plans would have been better. Don’t worry, the network won’t let him through this time, I guarantee it!”

Mark was working on refining a new concept when his new neural link beeped. The first of the drones detected something. The relay was coming in now.

“Detection of the primary target has been confirmed, and a passive scan of the surrounding area is now beginning. All scans indicate that the subject was in the area within the last 2 hours, confirming” it droned on.

“Initiate more active scans, beware of explosive detection, enact all anti-hacking protocols, and continue all reports.”

Mark replied, seeing that Tantka was still a creature of old habits; he was glad he’d equipped both his son and Nissie with the updated comps he’d just finished two days ago.

“Compliance...” Suddenly, there was an explosion, then a dozen more.

Startled, Mark flipped on several screens. Almost all were blank but one, “withdrawal to the outer perimeter, active scan area for transmissions.”

As the readings came in, Mark cursed under his breath, so his time in prison had been used to advance his skills. The destructive energy he was detecting was something only a more advanced maintenance man would know.

He’d finally gotten the last of the drones withdrawn when he received a message, “Surprised fart, boy? Told you I was better, I have always been better, you’ll find out soon. Hope you like your little bastard of a son extra crispy; the timetables moved up; he’s dead tomorrow as if I care rather slice his little throat now, but I want you to suffer.”

A crease of anger crossed his face, reaching into his back. He grabbed a comp that he hadn’t used since he’d gotten Tantka put away.

The headmaster of the maintenance school was enjoying the peace and quiet for the first time in years, with a whole week of no problems. Hell, he’d even gotten a few chapters of his book done. Damn, he could get used to this; suddenly, a pinging went off in his desk, opening the top drawer. He sighed. It had been a few years since he’d had contact with Mark. Snapping on the comp, Mark’s face appeared, “hello sir, it’s been a while,” Mark said.

“Hello, Mark. I knew you’d be calling soon, but I was hoping you’d not need my help. Detail the situation for me,” Mark’s mentor said.

Sighing, Mark began the long report of what was going on with Tantka. The headmaster listened intensely, nodding from time to time at certain snippets of information. “Alright, Mark, I’ll contact the prison and find out exactly what he took while he was incarcerated; till then, you might want to update all your software.”

Mark clicked off, opening another comp. He initiated a network connected to every system and planet he’d been to in the last seven years. Sighing, he knew that this would take a few days to a week; not all of the planets would receive the update till they were contacted by a liner or ship that was in the network. Smiling, he saw that this planet and central were already almost done; the encryption he’d used wasn’t even known to the school yet. Mark smiled when he saw that Tantka had already used it against him, but no more. Everything he’d done was laid out to Mark. Most of it was fixed immediately; some, though a lot more complicated, would take a week or more.

Looking over everything, Mark started to get a little more insight into what Tantka was trying to do. Mark was on his way out the door when his synaptic interface clicked on, “Subject moving towards spaceport alpha, two large containers also in transit with him, internal scanners indicate the presence of an adult female within the first, a small male child contained within the second. First, the readings are unclear, and all further scans are blocked and reflected back. The second readings indicate that the child within is the offspring of first class, aa-1, modern advanced system and sub-system, and super master tech Mark Doraland.” Shaking his head, he’d have to remember to reprogram the damn drones to drop all that shit.

The drone went on detailing almost everything about his son’s condition. Mark nodded as the information came in; heading not far from the site of the explosion of his drone, Mark looked down every few seconds at the scanner in his hands.

Reaching a doorway, Mark tapped his ear and started to issue commands, his heart racing, his anger apparent. He reached for the door.

Nissie was scared, far more scared than she’d been in years. Though they couldn’t touch her, she wasn’t that sure that they couldn’t after a while; that ass Tantka had given them a lot of readings on her comp and shields. She more than remembered him from years before. All the threats and explosions were as fresh now as they had been then. All the slavers were pouring over the readings and had been trying to deactivate the shields for hours. The reading she was getting indicated they were no closer, but though he was the best, she was afraid that someone might find a way through her husband’s shields. Why the hell had Mark not included a communicator in this model? True, it was more advanced than anything she’d ever seen him create; true, as soon as she felt a threat from Tantka, it had snapped on, pissing Tantka off (she’d laughed at his tantrum, thereby pissing him off more).

It was obvious that the slavers were a little pissed themselves. They’d already tried to contact Tantka something about untouchable merchandise. There was a knock at the door, which all the men in the room ignored till the door suddenly was blown off its hinges, disintegrating as it flew across the room, denting the back wall as what was left smashed into it. Each man in the room turned, pulling many manners of energy weapons, “I’m here for her,” Mark said, the anger apparent on his face, his tall, muscular body taunt and tense, not quite sure what these slavers’ tech was.