Chapter 8

His eyes slowly opened. There was a nice lull in the air as he stretched his limbs over the coverings. He sat up checking his surroundings, noticing that his body was stiff and unbelievably aching. There was not much to absorb the dark hard metal ground of the ship’s interior, so every muscle in his back was knotted and screamed in pain. He used his hands to give his shoulders and back a good squeeze.

Alarm sounded and everyone started to stir, Lindsay raised up and went to one of the lighted consoles to shut the alarm off, “We shall arrive at VenuuX system in about 10 minutes.”

Everyone mumbled their approval, most of the night was spent on their back or tossing and turning in their sleep. While they got to sleep, it was not a good and comfortable type of sleep that you might want after a day’s hard work.

“What should I do?” Lucian asked everyone.

Grogginess in his mind did not allow him to process anything that took too much thinking, “We’ll need to get the people up, prime and ready for their transport.”

“Then I’ll do just that.” He said and jumped on his feet.

Taking Liza’s and Ericha’s arms he pulled them up and gave them a toe curling kiss. Both women smiled. Even though the day before did not result much in bonding of the three lovers, they almost anticipated the love that every one of them had.

“I’m going girls, be safe.” He said.

He started walking through the door humming another tune. As he was about to disappear through the door, someone yelled “Lucian, clothes!”

Looking down he noticed that his appendage was standing at an attention. Looking embarrassed he turned around to see Ericha, Liza and even Lindsay grinning widely.

“Don’t start.” He waved his finger at them, making them giggle even harder.

Lucian put the clothes he had on his back, white T-shirt, blue denim jeans and a short leather red and yellow jacket. He thought he needed a different style of clothes that were not so similar to a clowns. Any vivid colors made him think he looked like a joker. And not the cool kind from the batman movies.

He spent the next 10 minutes or so talking to different people and helping them get ready for their move into different living area. They needed more than just a space to sit and sleep. They deserved so much more.

As he was about to go back, two people were standing in his way. Momoa and the girl that spent most of yesterday glued to his back.

“Listen, can we talk to you?” Momoa asked.

“Sure.” Lucian smiled.

He led them into an empty room. He stood in the middle of it and patiently waited for them to begin. Momoa looked unmoving, Lucian expected the buff man to hide his true feelings and if he hadn’t took a peek yesterday, through different means, seeing his old memories and how he behaved previously Lucian would not expect anything different from the buffed man standing in front of him. The woman beside him fidgeted and looked like she had something on her mind that was difficult to express in words.

“Ummm – “She started but was abruptly cut off by Momoa’s sharp tone.

“It was your idea, why are you nervous all of a sudden?” Momoa barked.

“Momoa! You, we need this.” It was her only answer.

Her hooded figure still made Lucian wonder what she really looked like, she had not time to find extra clothes that weren’t revealing too much, like her current ones. And Lucian suddenly realized that he knew nothing of the woman before him. Not her name, or her face. She was an enigma.

“I know.” Momoa growled.

“So now ask him.” The woman almost pleaded with him.

Momoa took a long look, first at her, then switched to Lucian’s eyes. He was apprehensive, guarding from something that Lucian did not want to poke at, he saw what it did to him, pushing anything would result in him shutting further down or just plainly refusing to speak.

“Argh, why do I need to bend down and ask for help? Again this was YOUR idea.” Momoa barked.

“Look I’ll ask him myself, but you need to do it as well.” She WAS the stoic one.

Strength and courage. That’s what everyone needed in certain times. Be it a positive or negative, everyone could display it at any time. It was not uncommon to see people that were often regarded as weak, to exhibit the most of it in certain circumstances.

Lucian knew how she looked yesterday, the current woman was unrecognizable. Her point was made and Momoa looked like he was backing down to her almighty aura, “Ok. I’ll do it.”

“We – I am looking for someone, and as I was caged up for almost a year... “The vitriol in his voice was almost palpable

“ ... I do not know where to start looking. We – I do not have any money, but I will repay you somehow.” Momoa knew there was no such thing as a free ride.

Everyone wanted cash, payment up front and then they would do what you wanted them, and it was how things worked in Spacer’s world. He was emotionally prepared to beg, plead or crawl, but also he was prepared to get laughed at by this man for asking something so ridiculous.

“I just need to start looking. Without any money – I do not have any other options.” Momoa said.

“Sure.” Lucian said with a smile on his face.

Momoa looked confused, perplexed, scared even, with his coarse voice he almost whispered, “Do you know what I asked you?”

“Yeah. Both of you want to travel with us.” Lucian stated as a matter of fact.

“Correct. And do you know we have nothing to pay you with?” Momoa asked one last time.

“Yep. You have said it before.” Lucian simply said.

Momoa’s defensive walls went up almost immediately, he knew better of course, but once you’ve bitten by a rabid beast it’s pretty hard to get that trust back. His mind almost raced with possibilities and ways of this turning against him, he knew that he could get hurt again, but he had to chance it.

“Look I might not know what you had to endure, but you are welcome to travel with us wherever or forever.” Lucian said.

“See I told you, Momoa.” The woman said.

Lucian thought their interaction was quite enchanting, “What’s your name miss?”

She looked embarrassed when Lucian asked her a direct question. She again fidgeted, taking few moments to compose her thoughts. Lucian patiently waited for the scared woman, after a while she started talking, “My name is not important –”

Lucian waited, several moments passed in silence when he decided to speak up, “But everyone has to have a name. IT’s what makes you, YOU.”

OH god here I go again. Lucian thought.

She took the time to think about his words, “You mean I am important too?”

“Well, that depends. Everyone wants to be noticed, especially women. They want to know if they are pretty enough or they feel that the world is just ignoring them.” Lucian simply said.

The woman looked perplexed for few moments. She was busy figuring out the course of his words if he would have some ulterior motive to say all of the things he had.

“My name is Tigga...” She said in a whisper.

Lucian had to perk his ears up just to hear her talking, “Can you repeat that please?”

“My name is Tigga.” The woman repeated.

Now her voice was audible enough for Lucian to pick up what she had said. “That’s a nice name.”

He extended his arm and was met by a nervous twitch as she grabbed his arm and let him shake it up and down. They remained this way for few minutes. There were no interruptions coming from the broad-shouldered man, but still it looked like they should hurry up and move to another topic. Lucian smiled. Tigga smiled as well.

Lucian left them and moved back to the bridge, while walking he kept thinking this will be fun!

A dark recess of a popular bar was hiding two figures that spoke in a low voice. Low enough not to be heard but not so low that would attract unwanted attention. Drinks were accumulating on their table and they started slurring their words.

A man in a pristine white suit was riding in the back of a cab. The cab was not clean, but that’s what you’d expect from the public transportation. Driver; just moments before, taking this man for a long ride to his destination, gave a ride to a particularly exotic being that spread ooze every time it got excited. Considering the views that most of these tourist types got to see it was almost at every bend. He had to spend a fair amount time cleaning after it, before he received his next customer.

The man was unaccustomed to the mediocre state of his cab, but considering that the next best thing was riding on a bi-cycle he assumed the man had no qualms riding in this mode of transportation. How wrong he was.

Yim Haell stepped out of the taxi that got him here, clicking his tongue at the dilapidated state of the vehicle. After all, he was accustomed riding in much nicer types of transportation. This station did not have anything else for those few that stood on the top. For those that had the coin in their pocket. Exiting the vehicle he almost thought about not paying, but considering how Police dealt with those types of criminals on station, Yim thought otherwise, he was not about to spend a night in a slammer.

Standing up he took his briefcase and turned around. Behind him he heard the sounds of engine revving up and driving off into the distance. He hoped never to see it again. But he knew better. He needed to meet his crew in this bar. To make sure they remained in line. Furthermore there was his First Officer. He had a meeting with the man and was fairly late. Yim hated tardiness.

Yim finally looked up. He was standing in front of a neon sign, there were a lot of them on this station. This one showed the letters “TOLL” in bold bright blue. He smirked at them and started to climb up several stairs that led to green doors.

Another one with that iDEF marker he thought.

Like he was under aged suddenly. No one saw him as under aged. That did not stop him from taking plenty face Replants just to avoid the cops. Again time and the surgeries could not hide the sea of scars that were on and around his body. He sighed. Placing his forged iMark and waiting for it to clear before he could enter the establishment.

This better not fail. He thought. A growl almost escaped while he was nervously waiting for the process to complete.

It took unnecessarily longer than it really needed to. Doors swished open, Yim almost kicked them in while he waited for the process to complete. Such was his frustration.

He stood near the counter checking the half empty establishment. It was always half empty even though the popularity of the name attracted even off-worlders to come and take part in all of what it had to offer. Drinks were the main bread and butter of this bar but sometimes they would branch out to the exotic and feed people something that would spread its name further than it had been. He always wanted to make this establishment bend to his will, but now he had more important matters to attend to.

Yim Haell was looking around the tables for any sign of his crew, spending a fair amount on each table he noticed that it was fairly quiet, people were definitely checking him out, but he was not about to be intimidated by some local Squids. He noticed them in dark recess of the bar and started walking. He passed several species and looked in utter disgust. Almost covering his nose as if he could smell them. Yim would cry out in utter disgust if the bar was not in as public area as it was it blew his mind how much trash came here and tried to mingle with the locals.

He could hear them arguing about some whore not doing what they wanted to, he could not care less. Both men had pristine black and white suits, he enjoyed seeing how refined his crew looked on a daily basis. But still they lacked the etiquette that most men of HIS caliber had.

“Captain, come ova’ ‘ere!” One of the men yelled, clearly drunk out of his boots.

“Be quiet.” Yim growled.

They saw the glare in his eyes and did not made another sound. “I spend few hours away and you devolve into raging bunch of off world scum.”

They said nothing. They knew better than to interrupt Captain Yim Haell of the First Pirate brigade.

Yim on the other hand was tempted to kill them right here and now but chose not to make any more complications. He took few moments, pinching his nose and collecting himself.

“I’ll ask one more question, though I surmise what the answer will be; why did you pick such a crowded location?” Of course he knew why.

His men were refined in looks, but behaved like primal animals. No, even animals know how to exhibit some decorum when you teach them, they were almost a lost cause.

“‘o course Captain. We’ve just thinking ov askin’ that little flower to accompany us, but she ‘fused. The whore.” The man hiccupped.

Great! he thought. “I assume YA know the penalty for TREASON?!” Yim spat.

Yim started speaking in the street talk. Often when he was boiling with rage his speak would slip and turn to those days, when he and his brother were on the streets bobbing for food.

“Sorry, Captain. We just meant to ‘ave a little bit o’ fun.” Again the same man sputtered while drinking his jug.

Suddenly the jug exploded, bits and pieces of it were thrown all over the men, making them scream and yell in pain. Other patrons in the vicinity jumped up and looked in horror, they saw a man holding a large gun in his hand, the opposing wall was boiling for some reason, and no one dared to move a muscle.

Yim for one aimed at the man’s head. The only reason he missed was the shaking of his hand. Rage was almost boiling out of him as bad as the opposing wall.

He sat on the chair. His face was inspecting the men writhing in agony. Yim felt reason slowly slipping from his fingers. So he used a tried and true method of breathing and evaluating the situation at hand. People could hear him whispering, a flaw that he often exhibited when his options were limited.

“If I shoot them here. Police will come. There are witnesses. I could end in jail.” He counted his cons.

Thinking for few seconds he came to conclusion. “But I have a bomb.”

Patrons did not hear his words so they were a bit surprised when he dropped his case and started walking out the door. Relieved that he wasn’t about to do anymore damage they all sighed in relief. Manager of the place was already telling the waitresses to give the guests free drinks and make them feel like this was a usual thing with the locals. Both women smiled, nodded and while one was busy filling drinks, the other went from table to table talking to every customer making them feel calmer by the second.

He stood in front of the establishment seething with rage. Almost cackling with laughter he pressed a button and watched in utter joy as the words “TOLL” started burning and explosion after explosion devoured the building. Yim had to stop himself from dancing on the ashes of the place several hours after the fires burned down.

Fire fighters weren’t able to stop the fire from burning down the place. He was again centered and in control. His white suit was a bit charred as he was leaving the police station. After giving them his accounts of the events he was about to sit in a meeting with his First Officer. He at least was not incompetent.

And Yim Haell REALLY hated incompetence.

He was busy checking everyone’s condition before they left his own ship. He still had a delicious smile on his face whenever that thought would cross his mind.

Lucian thought people looked quite bad and was hopping they would get the help that they needed.

Ericha said that they should, before buying anything, register the ship with proper authorities. Shaking his head while walking towards the designated area on Grimova, the very size of the station still eluded him. He visited briefly only once and they just spent browsing in local market apparently. He thought that was it from the station. But apparently Lucian was very wrong.

“The things you learn.” He spoke while standing in a line.

“Excuse me.” Someone spoke in a harsh voice behind him.

Lucian turned and saw no one. Thinking he was either imagining things or it was just not behind him, all that sciency stuff hurt his head. He returned to his own task. Standing in a line and waiting for his turn. Bureaucracy at its finest.

“Excuse me.” The same voice spoke.

He turned, “Down here!” The voice said.

Lucian looked down and saw a creature. A monstrous creature. All it was missing was a sword or a knife in his hand to closely resemble the creature from Earth known as Goblin. The color and the size was about right, but the striking thing was how clean he was. Or she. Lucian did not discriminate.

“Oh sorry. Did not see ya there. What can I do for you?” Lucian politely asked.

“Can I cut in line in front of you? I’m in a hurry.” His voice was unusual not rough like Lucian usually thought these creatures sounded.

He did not sound small either. For all of his size, his voice was towering few octaves over Lucian’s, making him sound squeaky in comparison.

“Aren’t we kind of in the same spot? I’m in front of you I’m sure it does not take that long.” Lucian spoke.

“What are you in for?” Lucian asked, trying to make some friends in a line.

Often on Earth that would result in few minutes of knowing the other person and his merits and flaws. Laughing at the myriad of things and innuendos, but this was a different place with different set of rules. “I’m looking for a job, have a family to feed and I came here to do it.”

He sounded very desperate, almost if he was clawing at final straws and this was something Lucian could relate to. The man’s family was behind him, his two kids and his wife. The man looked like he missed some meals. The woman was clearly underweight, but the kids were showing that they still had energy. Perhaps mom and dad skipped meals just to feed them. Lucian’s breath caught in his chest.

“I’ll - I’ll do it.” Lucian said.

“Can I move in front of you?” The man’s voice was hopeful as he asked one more time just in case.

“No.” Lucian said a tear formed in his eye.

The man stood perplexed, “But you said I could.”

“I’ll hire you. You poor, widle thing.” Lucian was by now sobbing.

Lucian started hugging it and crying in his neck, slobbering all over his suit. “You poor man. It’s a hard world but I’ll do it.”

“Stop, what are you doing?” The creature was looking scared at this belligerent man.

Lucian sobbed and cried, but when the line moved he moved with it. The creature had no choice but slide with Lucian on his knees, his family looked on, mixed feelings on their face. On one hand the wife was watching scared at what might happen next to her husband. Not knowing what the large man and his antics wanted, on the other the kid’s seemed to like it. Laughing and crying they jumped all over Lucian’s back, hopping that they too would get a hug from this emotional man.

“You are both courageous, and I’ll give you a place to stay. You poor goblin.” Lucian said sniffling in the creature’s neck.

“Look, let me go you have drool all over my ONLY suit. And my name is Keeg not Goblin.” Keeg said.

“What do you mean? You look like one.” Lucian asked a line of snot connecting to Keeg’s suit.

“I do not know what a goblin is. Clearly you do ... AHHH god damn it you have snot all over me. What’s wrong with you man?” Keeg said.

“Well seeing you and your wife, and hearing your story I just could not help it.” He tried to sniff the snot back in with little to no effect. Finally resolved, he wiped his nose on the Keeg’s suit.

Keeg winced and tried to remove it but had no positive results, Lucian ignored the poor creature, still in his arms and said, “What can you do? What is your specialty my little friend?”

Keeg’s face changed suddenly, “Call me little again and I’ll eat you alive.”

Lucian squinted his eyes, looking directly into Keeg’s. Suddenly he started shaking him violently and repeating in monotone voice, “Little, Little, And Little.”

“ASSHOOOOOOOLE Stop that.” Keeg begged.

Lucian did not listen and continued repeating the words, “ALRIGHT, sorry. Just STOP.” Keeg begged.

Finally Lucian relented, stopping and placing Keeg back on his feet. “I do not like threats.”

“Noted, now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to vomit.” Keeg said simply running with his little feet to a nearby trash can and emptying the contents of his already empty stomach.

The woman surreptitiously approached Lucian. He could see that she was weak and almost barely standing on her two feet. “I’m Lucian by the way. Lucian Deca.”

She jumped at the sound of his voice. Looking at him she clung to his waist, she shook as she relaxed her muscles, her tiny hands dug deep into his clothes. Even his leather jacket could not stop her claws from digging into his skin. She almost slumped to the floor, but Lucian managed to catch the fainting woman and carry her in his arms. She weighed almost nothing. Dressed in ragged clothes, it was clear that this family was more concerned for the wellbeing of their children, like real parents should do, like his did.

“Listen, my wife is tired and in need of a meal desperately. Can you help us?” Keeg asked.

He looked at Lucian carrying his beloved trying to collect his courage, he continued by asking, “I don’t have much but will you please help my family. I do not care what happens to me as long as they are safe.”

“I told you I’ll take care of you. I guess registration can wait let’s get you a home and a warm meal my friend.” Lucian spoke.

The children did not know about plights of adults, they were vivid energy of happiness, unaware how much they parents suffered. They smiled, laughed and did what healthy kids should do. Play games.

Lucian carried the woman and led Keeg and his kids towards his ship that was docked in its spot on Grimova which engineering team gave them so they could easily equip, clean and mobilize. The ship was moored, naked. Stripped of its black walls revealing its intricate design. Ship had another layer of protective armor beside the one that they took apart.

Lucian only now could see what this ship looked like. The pristine black walls made it hard to notice all of its intricate details but he was sure a lot of love went into designing this boat. Ericha was busy discussing what upgrades they should get, as Luca already had some of them preordered. The rest was on them. Apparently Lucian and his gang could not pick and choose what weapons they could get.

After leaving the patient in her room, Keeg and his kids were holding back and waiting for the final diagnosis from Liza. She gave the woman extensive scans. Making sure she only needed nourishment. And that was the case. She missed some meals, but overall she was healthy.

Lucian was lost in thought for few moments, looking at the magnificent dance of the station’s heavy machinery as they carried bits and pieces around and positioned it so they could get riveted in place.

“What are you thinking about?” He heard Liza ask him.

He smiled. She was finished inspecting the starved woman and just left her behind. Her family slowly surrounded her with cheerful banter. “Nothing just looking at the ship it looks so much different than I thought it would.”

For several minutes they watched enthralled at the work that was taking place before them. Liza looked back at his face and watched Lucian for few minutes, silently admiring his resolve, silently wondering what made him do all the things that he did. Was there some hidden agenda in his actions? She could not be sure. But she knew one thing that whatever his plans were she was going to be right beside him, holding his hand through everything.