The Arrival Page 3

  U4 walked over to Evaran. “Analysis. Scan complete. Seven system enhancements proposed.”

  “Seven? Like what?” asked Jake as he jerked his head back.

  “Propulsion. Navigation. Power generation. Shielding. Weapon systems. Tractor beam. Long-range sensors.”

  “Okay … wow. I’d like to see what you came up with, but I need to get Greecho’s shipments in order. He’ll be here in a few hours.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “What does Greecho have in his shipments?” asked Evaran.

  Jake shook his head. “He sends me a list of things he wants, which usually means cargo runs. Most of the time, it’s the usual stuff, like food, water, and general supplies. This time, though, he wanted some drugs, so I had to hit up the Randians. The supplies have to last at least three months for the trip to Earth.”

  “You mentioned that Earth is in Kreagan space. Do they approve of Greecho’s slave runs?”

  “Uh-uh. Greecho is actually running late right now, but he has to dock his ship on a Kreagan transport. From what I heard, there’s an outpost that allows that transport through. Most likely bribed. Takes about two weeks. Once across, it’s then about two and a half months to Earth.”

  “He will be in a hurry when he arrives then if he is running late.”

  “Yeah. Just means I have some extra time to make sure all his stuff is ready.”

  “You do not have a choice in this?”

  “Nah. If I didn’t get them to him, who knows what he would do to me,” said Jake. He glanced at Evaran. “Or Dad.”

  Evaran narrowed his eyes. “I see. Very well. U4 will relay the ship proposals to you. After Greecho has left, we can begin on them if you wish.”

  Jake nodded. “Okay. I’ll be back.” He exited the room and cursed himself for not at least trying to ask about going to Earth, but that was him in a nutshell. There were rumors of some humans having escaped the system, but he did not know how they did it. They probably had no problems asking for help. He sighed and continued down the hallway.

  After several hours, Jake walked into the dining room. Evaran was sitting at the bar with U4 a bit off to his side.

  Jells was at the bar, looking down at a screen. After a few moments of scrutinizing it, he looked up at Evaran. “I would suggest you head to your room before Greecho comes in.”

  “I would like to meet this Greecho,” said Evaran.

  Jake slid into a seat next to Evaran and turned toward him. “Why?”

  “To study him.”

  Jells smirked. “Study him? He’s likely to enslave you.”

  “I will sit at the other side of the room. Will that be an issue for you?”

  Jells shrugged. “Not at all. Just hope he doesn’t take an interest in you.”

  A red light flashed on the embedded bar console.

  “Well, he’s here,” said Jells with a sigh.

  Jake peered over the counter to look at the screen. Greecho’s ship had landed and he and his crew were on their way in. Jake noticed Greecho had his twenty-two-year-old pet human, Kathy, with him. This would be Kathy’s second visit, and she looked worse off than the first time she was there.

  Jells glanced down the bar to where Evaran had moved, and then turned toward the entrance as Greecho entered.

  Greecho stood about six feet tall with a muscular build. Surrounding him were four other slavers. They all had on dark-gray one-piece suits with various devices and lines on them and weapons on their sides and slung across their backs. Greecho and two of them had open-face helmets, and the other two slavers had a tinted glass shield covering their eyes. Kathy, with her blond, curly hair and fair skin, stood next to Greecho. She stared at the ground in her one-piece yellow suit with a neck collar and chain attached to it leading to Greecho’s hand.

  “My favorite person. Jells. How’s it going?” asked Greecho. He handed the chain to one of the slavers, who anchored it to a device on the wall.

  Kathy slid into a booth attached to the wall and turned her head toward it.

  Jells nodded. “Just fine. Just fine. Everything’s in order. Shipments are in, and Jake will begin the fueling.”

  Greecho tilted his head at Jells. “Sounds like you’re in a hurry to get me outta here.”

  “No, no, I know you’re a busy person and don’t want to be the one that slows you down.”

  Greecho scrutinized Jells, and then laughed. “Running a bit late. Only got two hours instead of four this time. You would think that Kreagan transport would wait, given how much they get paid. Kreagan bastards.” He looked at Jake. “And how’s ol’ Jake doing? Twenty-one this year.”

  “Fine,” said Jake in a hushed tone.

  “What’s that, boy? Speak up!”

  “I’m fine,” said Jake with a raised voice.

  Greecho grabbed Jake by the shoulder. “You’ll show me some damn respect when I come in here. Is that clear? You’re only alive because I allowed it. Don’t you ever forget that.”

  Jake glanced at Jells, then faced Greecho. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.” He swallowed the bubbling hate that swelled inside him. Just being near Greecho made his skin crawl.

  Greecho released Jake and dusted off Jake’s shoulder. “That’s better. When you go to a breeding camp, your attitude will change. Four years of all the women you can have, and you will understand why I do what I do. Hell, you may even join my crew. I understand your anger, I’ve been there, but you have to accept that this is how it is. Not you, me, or anyone else can change that.”

  Jake sighed and nodded. “You’re right, of course.” He did not want to admit it, but the fleeting sense of hope he had accumulated with Evaran present really did not mean much when confronted with the cold, hard truth of his situation.

  Greecho turned his head toward Evaran. “Busy place today.”

  Jells waved his hand at Greecho. “Just a traveler.”

  Greecho walked over to Evaran. “So … traveler. Where you traveling from?”

  Jake held his breath as he watched the situation unfold. He wondered how Evaran would respond to Greecho.

  Evaran wheeled around on his stool and faced Greecho. “A place far from here.”

  “Uh-huh. What’s your name?” asked Greecho, slightly raising his head.

  “Evaran.”

  “You look human.”

  Evaran shook his head. “I am not human.”

  Greecho reached out to touch Evaran’s suit. Evaran caught his arm and pushed Greecho back, causing him to stagger. U4 stepped forward as lights began to glow on her inner hands.

  “There is no need for that,” said Evaran with a hand down toward U4.

  A startled Greecho studied Evaran.

  Jake could almost see the wheels spinning in Greecho’s mind. No one had ever stood up to Greecho, at least that Jake knew of. It was the first time he had ever seen uncertainty on Greecho’s face. The speed and force at which Evaran reacted left no doubt in Jake’s mind that Evaran could have overpowered Greecho with ease. Jake wondered if he could as well. Five years in guudinka had made him a white crystal, the highest rank they had. Greecho had basic guudinka training, but relied on weapons and numbers. In a hand-to-hand situation, Greecho would probably not fare well.

  Greecho wagged a finger at Evaran. “You’re lucky I have a tight schedule.”

  Evaran met Greecho’s intense gaze. “Noted.”

  Greecho turned around and walked back to the front of the room. With one last look at Evaran, he laughed. “Jells, show us the supplies you have. You missed a food container last time. I had to eat that Kreagan crap for a few weeks. That shit won’t happen again.”

  Jells nodded and gestured toward the entrance.

  Greecho tousled Jake’s hair. “Be a good boy and feed my pet after showing us the Randian shipment.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Jake, looking down. He sighed as he followed them out of the room. Although he had a brief moment of hope that maybe with Evaran present something would happen, it did not. He resign
ed himself once again to his fate.

  After twenty minutes, Jake returned back to the room with a swollen eye. He walked over to the bar and grabbed an ice pack and applied it.

  “Jake, are you okay?” asked Evaran.

  Jake looked at Evaran, who waved him over. He took a seat next to Evaran. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just Greecho being Greecho.”

  “Your eye. Did he hit you?”

  “Yeah … I got smart with him. I didn’t get to show him the drug shipment. He kicked me out of the room and sent me to feed Kathy. Anyways, I deserved it.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  Jake sighed and looked down. “Greecho controls my fate. There’s nothing I can do about it. He brought me here, and now I will go to that dumb breeding camp when he gets back from Earth.”

  “I see,” said Evaran. He glanced away for a moment and then pointed at Kathy. “Is that woman Greecho’s slave?”

  Jake looked over at Kathy. “Yeah. Not much we can do to help her. She was supposed to go to the breeding farms, but Greecho liked her, so he made her his personal pet. He does that from time to time. She will go to the farms at some point, though.”

  “Can you introduce me to her, and then afterward keep Greecho and his men occupied for half an hour?”

  Jake jerked his head back. “I can, but why?” He put down the ice pack and narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to help her escape, aren’t you?”

  “I am, but I need her to be calm when I talk to her, and when I free her, Greecho and his men need to be occupied.”

  Jake drew his lips flat and shook his head. “It won’t work. She has a tracking device in her left shoulder. The moment she walks a few steps, they’ll be alerted.”

  “I will deal with that.”

  “Even if you get her to your ship, they’ll just track your ship down.”

  Evaran half smiled. “No, they will not. They will not know she is gone, until they come back at least. It is important you are with them when she actually leaves so you are not implicated. Trust me on this.”

  Jake paused as he studied Evaran. He was not sure what to make of this gesture. Helping out by fixing robots and ships was one thing; helping out by saving Kathy was another. He sighed and looked around, then focused on Evaran. “Well, worst that can happen is I get beat more. Let’s go.”

  Evaran motioned at U4, and together they followed Jake over to Kathy.

  Jake knelt down next to her. “Kathy?”

  Kathy tightened up and stared intently at the wall.

  “Look, I know you might not want to talk right now, but I got a friend here who wants to help you.”

  Kathy turned her head a bit and looked at Evaran. She swallowed hard as her eyes darted between Evaran, Jake, and U4.

  Evaran knelt beside her. “My name is Evaran, and I will free you. What Greecho has done to you is not right. I will correct that and take you back to Earth.”

  Kathy turned her head around fully and fixated a dull-eyed gaze on Evaran.

  Evaran gestured at U4, who stood to his side. “My robot friend, U4, will escort you to my ship. Once aboard, you will not be able to be tracked.”

  Kathy tilted her head toward her shoulder and in a hushed voice said, “How?”

  Jake’s eyes widened. He had never heard Kathy speak and had resorted to motioning to communicate with her in the past. Maybe something about Evaran made her implicitly trust him.

  “I have something that will take care of your tracking device. May I use it on your shoulder?”

  Kathy grimaced and then nodded.

  Evaran placed his UIC on her shoulder.

  Kathy jerked a bit when the blue light appeared.

  After a few moments, Evaran took his UIC off and placed it on the table. A screen popped up as he interacted with his ARI. “I have transferred the tracking device’s signal to this table console and nullified the one in your shoulder. Once I break the chain from the wall, follow U4 to my ship. Understood?”

  Kathy swallowed hard and nodded.

  Jake wondered again how the UIC could do that. He was sure at this point that Evaran was much more than he presented himself to be.

  Evaran put his UIC back on his belt and then stood up and grabbed two links in the chain, separated by a middle link. With a quick twist, he snapped the middle link.

  Kathy shuddered as Evaran laid a hand on her shoulder.

  Evaran guided her up and over to U4, who took her hand and escorted her out of the dining room. He drew his lips flat and narrowed his eyes. “Okay, Jake, go occupy them.”

  “On it,” said Jake. He exited the room, reflecting on the horrors Kathy must have faced alone with Greecho and his crew for months on end. With a shake of his head, he went to the shipping room. When he got there, Jells was showing off an assortment of items in various open containers. He walked over to a container on the far side of the room and dragged it over to Greecho. He knew Greecho would still be interested in hearing him go over it. With a pop and pull of the cover, exposing shiny bottles and bags, he began going over the various drugs in it.

  After thirty minutes, Jake returned back to the dining room with Greecho and his men, followed by Jells.

  Greecho ran over to the broken chain. “The hell is this?” He pulled a small, flat, rectangular device off his belt and tapped at it. “It says she’s right here.” He walked over to Jake and grabbed him by the back of the neck. “What’re you up to?”

  Jake scrunched his face. “I was with you the whole time!”

  Greecho eyed Jake, then pushed him away. “Most of the time.” He studied the chain. “You couldn’t break this chain anyways or hack the tracking device in the time you were gone.” He turned to his men. “Fan out. I don’t know what’s going on here, but she couldn’t have gotten far.” The men took off out of the room. He squinted at Evaran sitting at the far end of the bar and walked over to him. “Did you hear anything in the last half hour?”

  Evaran returned Greecho’s intense gaze. “I did not.”

  “You didn’t hear a chain breaking or the door opening? I find that hard to believe.”

  Evaran shook his head. “I am sorry, but no. I was enjoying my meal in peace and browsing the local news.”

  Greecho stared at Evaran. “Where’s your robot?”

  “On my ship.”

  Greecho snorted and raised a finger toward Evaran. “If I find out you had anything to do with this, you’re dead.”

  “Noted.”

  Greecho snapped his head toward Jells and Jake, who had followed Greecho over. “I want to see the video feeds of this room.”

  Jells shook his head. “There are none. You had us take them out.”

  “Damn it, I don’t have time for this shit!” said Greecho. He turned toward Jake. “Don’t get any ideas about trying to run away or anything else foolish. I’m bringing your real dad back with me this time.”

  Jake’s eyes widened. “What?”

  Greecho chuckled. “Insurance. You try anything, he goes to Karakuus, just like your mother. You do what you’re told, I’ll take him back. Think of it as a present. You get to see him before you enter the system. You should be thankful.”

  Jake sighed and looked down and then nodded. At least he would get to see his real dad.

  “Get the final shipments on board,” said Greecho, whipping a finger in the air.

  Jells glanced at Jake with narrowed eyes and then exited the room.

  Greecho stormed out of the room, talking into a communications device.

  Jake walked up to Evaran and whispered, “You did it. She’s safe?”

  “Yes. She is on my ship. Appease Greecho until he is gone. Then we can talk more in detail.”

  Jake nodded and then took off after Jells. He could not believe what just happened. The confidence to pull something like that off was inspirational to him. Evaran had stood up to Greecho and taken control of the situation again. Jake smiled. Definitely not something he could ever do. He knew Greecho would easily disman
tle the station, looking for Kathy if he had the time, but missing the Kreagan transport and a slave run would have severe repercussions from the higher-ups. Greecho could be forced back into slavery or even killed. Jake remembered Greecho telling him long ago that when it came to money and slaves, you do not mess around. At all.

  Jake entered a room and saw Jells doing everything he could to calm Greecho down. Jake felt bad not telling Jells, but it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and he believed that he did the right thing. Greecho took his anger out on them over the next ten minutes by physically hitting both of them. It was not like they could stop Greecho. Helping Kathy was costly.

  After another ten minutes, Jake and Jells came back to the empty dining hall. They walked behind the counter and watched the embedded console.

  Jake massaged his swollen eye as he watched Greecho’s ship leave on the screen.

  Evaran walked into the dining room with U4 and took a seat at the bar. “Kathy is being treated for some minor wounds while she sleeps.”

  “Yeah … thanks for the heads-up. I’m happy that Kathy is free, but now I’ll suffer the consequences of that decision,” said Jells with a scowl.

  Evaran tilted his head at Jells. “I apologize. You were with Greecho, and I felt that was the safest place for you to be. Did Greecho do anything else other than hit you?”

  Jells waved a hand in the air. “Uhh … yeah. Greecho took an additional fifteen percent of our matter replicator element storage. We’re down to roughly ten percent now, and this is typically a slow period. Guess I’ll need to find supplementary work somehow.”

  Evaran studied Jells for a moment. “I will rectify the situation by filling your element storage to capacity.”

  Jells laughed. “How? That stuff isn’t cheap. It’s also hard to find some of the rarer elements.”

  “I looked at your setup already. Your element storage has an external outlet. I can hook up to that.”

  Jells eyed Evaran. “That’s a very specific outlet.”

  “That is correct,” said Evaran. He scanned Jells with his ring. “If you require treatment, U4 can administer it to you as well.”