Chpt 1
It all starts out somewhere.
The sun was peering through an open window across the room, when the sunbeam hit me in the face. Lazily I opened my eyes and glimpsed about the drab bedroom I was in. A torn up, dirtied cloth heaved back and forth across a covered window. My single bed, on which I found myself, was in better condition, but not by much. A dresser here, a closet there, and Voila you have a bedroom of a bounty soldier. Standing up, I went to the closet and got my garb out. I took out big military style boots fitted with metal armoring first, then the knee and elbow pads. A pair of shorts that came just below my knees nicely equipped with a large 'combat knife' I had acquired and I slapped on a "space" pistol harnessed into a shoulder strap. Gray and sleeveless was my undershirt, stained with the blood, dirt, and sweat from previous encounters and the green fleece jacket left open with the sleeves rolled up, made the finishing touches for my 'armor'. Big, thick gloves with over sized collars made the outfit complete. In the mirror, I did look good.
"Ya up yet? We're going to be late if you continue the party like that", A voice called from the distance. As I titled my head, dreary eyes made contact with my partner in crime, literally. Scratching my head, I answered back, "You know, Kevin, it's not nice to scare people like that. Making them think you can't party most of the night away." And with that, I walked towards the door shoving him out. Before I left the room I noticed a young lady on my bed sleeping next to where I was.
'What did I do last night?' I thought myself as I shut the door.
While Kevin went into the kitchen to finish up breakfast, I sat down at the computer terminal as I did every morning after a job. The computer screen came to life as I moved the mouse a bit.
"Enter your code" Flickered on the monitor.
Same report before and after a job. I hated filling out that report. "Turn on the 'puter. Enter your code. What did you do? How where you paid? Thank you and Goodbye" I said to myself out loud sounding less than intelligent while doing it. Kevin came over putting a plate of eggs on the desk.
"Eat up. We have a big engagement for today. Remember, lots of food means lots of fun." I eyeballed him with a smirk. Kevin was interesting person, 6'7" 260lbs of solid muscle, black roman style hair and hollow black eyes made him attractive, but I knew the truth. Kevin looked human like me, but he wasn't. Just a symbiotic creature that dwells in the body of a dead person. I didn't know the real Kevin, but I did meet him on the ship ride over here. In fact, I wasn't all that sure where here was. Here in the present that is, but the past was different. Knew where I was going and how to get there. And I still like to remember, and sometimes forget, the past.
A couple of months after I graduated in 2004 was when everything happened. Afghanistan and Iraq's governments failed and crumbed, allowing militant coups to rise up and take the countries. Soon they banded with other Middle Eastern countries and declared a unanimous vote to war on the western world. The countries of Northern Africa joined their war shortly after. Israel and Turkey were the first to fall, then Italy. Soon, bells didn't chime for the beginning of 2005, but bombs did. World War III had just commenced. America, Japan, Great Britain, India and Australia formed the Allies. China took this opportunity to attack as well. The super power joined Korea and Mongolia, and together attacked Russia, Japan and India. Most of Europe and Asia were wasted by nuclear blasts. Russia had fallen quickly, but not silently. They too launched the last of their ICBM's onto their Asian conquerors.
Very quickly did the spring of '05 become the winter of '05. I was nineteen then, young and stupid. A couple of my friends and I stole some cars and headed for the coast of Texas, near Galveston. A Naval base had been built in a hurry. A huge armada of ships was going to be docked there. So we got the bright idea to sneak on and fight for our country. But that wasn't going to happen.
Having an ex-military father gave me an idea. I used my military ID to get us on to the now Fort Galveston. It took us 8 hours to each the base, but only seconds to realize what was going on. As we reached the docks, the ships that awaited departure weren't American. They weren't even from Earth. Great vessels of unearthly design were in or hovered above the water. One thing made sense though; the occupants of the vessels were not human.
"Hey! Quit daydreaming and let's go!" Kevin shouted at me in a vexed toned and tossed toast at me. He turned and headed for the armoring table, letting his clothes flow behind. His dress was much more dramatic than mine was. A black jump suit thing decorated with battle scars and matching gloves and boots. A blood stained scarf wrapped around his lower face and flowing cloak made him look similar to Kane from SoulReaver. The handle of his katana protruded from his right shoulder and guns were strapped to his thighs for easy reach. We made an inventory check before leaving. We finished with the supplies so we made a run down of our weapons. My ion pistol required no bullets, just batteries. Kevin preferred the old school Earth guns, less damage but what few shields there were couldn't block them. My 'dagger' was the way I liked it, up close and personal. Kevin had a sword due to his strength and striking speed and the fact he can't really die. Aside from our weapons and fighting styles, we each had our talents. Kevin had superb strength and seemingly-immortality from the symbyote, while I was quick and agile from experience and other things.
"All green?"
"Check"
"Suited up and ready to rubble. I love that phrase."
Kevin picked up his gear and headed out the door. I made sure my gun was full, but grabbed a couple batteries anyway and left. The door shut behind me, the locks slamming into place. The walls of this dilapidated building had long been stripped of their original wallpaper, exposing the metal and woodwork left behind. Down the first flight of stairs, into the lobby where the intergalactic hookers and drug lords made camp, and out into the open. Above us the Bi-sun system stretched across the sky. The yellow sun was setting on the horizon while the blue sun was creeping into the midday position. Sunlight was everywhere and all the time. It was a rare occasion to get dark on the planet-sized moon for more than an hour or so. But this time, tonight was going to be long. The planet of which the moon we inhabited was on the 'bright side' of the planet. Every week or so, it get dark for less than an hour, but every whenever it was, the moon went dark for quite some time.
"Oh, scary. Big Blue's going to set and stay dark. Hold me." Kevin said and jumped on me as we stood outside the housing complex. Staring out into the blue, I looked up at him, shielding my eyes from the suns.
"Ha ha ha. You're really funny. So where are we going this time? Guards of the Festival of Drac'moth? Or just kill someone again?"
"Naw, even better. We get to hang with Abbie."
'Oh Zippidi Do-Da' I thought to myself. Abbie was just as strange as my symbyote friend was. Granted she was a human, but she banged a dead body that's infested by something that looks like a little amoeba, now that's just creepy.
"Must we go visit her now?' I begged as we walked down the streets of Nuvu, the hometown of which we all got left at," I mean, do you think she'll appreciate that her love doll isn't off making money? Or bringing home stories?"
"Fret not, my friend, but she is part of the mission. She and the housing complex she lives in are being moved."
"Moved? But why?"
"Don't know. She didn't say or know. We just do. That's the job description: 'The bounty soldier is to do any job that is with in their capability', or did you forget the contract?"
"No I didn't forget the contract." I thought coldly to myself, 'How could I?'
We had left the cars back in a parking lot and jogged back to the docks. Sneaking into some near by warehouses gave us both cover and listening points.
"Hey, Shane, should we really be doing this? Sneaking up on our own government? I mean, don't they have this under control?" My friend Craig asked me.
"Well, maybe. But the truth always hurts. And the truth is: They don't." After that I crept closer, dodging from box to box, hiding in the shadows. I continued forward until I came upon 2 privates talking to each other.
"Hey Jones, how can we trust these aliens if we can't speak to them?" That private seemed worried more for himself then the other. "Darbie, calm down. The CO said it was cool, so keep it down. And pay attention, we're on watch." Both became quiet after that. From where I was crouched down, I could see the other side of the facility. What appeared to be pale, skinny, bald humans were on the other side. Their eyes just hypnotized you. I probably would have stood up in awe if Craig hadn't scared the crap out of me.
"What the hell, dude?! You scared the living hell out of me." My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to faint. "Man, we need to get the hell out of here quickly. Something doesn't feel right." I could see that Craig was on the verge of tears. It startled me the most when I realized I was about to cry also.
Kevin was staring at me rather weird, even for him.
"You ok, Bro? You don't look so hot Shane. Ya fine?" Rubbing my eyes, I shook off the memories like a drug.
"Just thinkin' of the past again. Can't seem to help it sometimes."
"Hey, what's done is done? The past in no place to live. Trust me."
He put his arm around my shoulder and walked me the rest of the way to Abbie's complex. The building she lived in was more refined than our rundown shack. A metal outer shell with pot marks from the past coated the building. People where all out in the front yard with their belongings in mobile boxes and hover crates. Most of the occupants were not human. Most were Fray'lings, the pale, skinny, bald ones. The rest were a hodge-podge of humanoids and other non-human things. Most of which I couldn't recognize. One thing that I did understand from these beings was that most were elderly. The only young ones I could identify were Kevin, Abbie, her little sister, and I.
"KEVIN YOU MADE IT" I could hear that loud person even if I was deaf.
"Hey honey, I made it. Oh, and nice to see you too Abbie." Kevin and Abbie looked like the ultimate oogey young/old couple. Kevin looked about 26 years old, but of course, he never ages. And Abbie was like 16, four years younger than I was. Kevin scooped up Abbie's sister, Luna, who was about 11. Abbie undid his scarf and they became tongue-fest.
"Ok. I'm about to loose it. Stop. You two saw each other last, what, 24 hours ago?"
"But I get lonely when I don't get to see my heaping hunk of a man." Abbie replied in a babyish tone.
"Enough" Kevin put Luna down, kissed once more and headed with me to the headmaster of the complex.
"You're just jealous." Kevin peered at me with his dark eyes,
"What the hell are you talking about? You and Abbie, That's just up there on the 'Rather-wrong-o-meter'"
I told with out trying to laugh. He nudged me into the wall just as we reached the headmaster.
"Whoa lad. Becarefu' Na. Dem walls neak up on you ike dat." Rubbing my head, I gave Kevin a 'burn in hell' look. Then I looked up. The headmaster was something you try not to laugh at. His large, flat frog like head with hairy arms and hands meant he was a Lokk. He stood as high as I did, only fatter and smelled like strawberries and sushi. His bright clothing and cologne was an indicator to his wealth.
"Na tea hur. I have n'listed oar help for us do move. Ooh vill move dat big gouch out'tide. Under'dand?" His funny looking frog eyes made contact with Kevin. Kevin gave the couch a double look. It had to be the size of a Buick. He hung his head and walked forward.
"Ooh, 'mall one. Come hur." I followed the silly creature down the hall. "Ooh move dat murrer." I nodded my head and moved closer to the wall mirror hanging. Looking myself up and down, I thought to myself,
'You've really come a long way to get here. But was it worth it?'
Sneaking into a place was always easy for me. But of course, everyone has their flaws. Mine was usually getting out of that place.
"FREEZE! Stop moving and stand up!" A third private had caught the two of us back out from the crates.
"Put your hands where I can see them!" Craig and I stood up and all three privates moved closer. They ushered us into a storage room with in their sight. After binding our hands and gagging us, they shut the door. The room was so dark I couldn't see Craig next to me. I could hear him breathing hard and sobbing. Trying to look around in the darkness wasn't helping. I was so focused on trying to see and feel my way around that I almost didn't hear the gunfire. Both Craig and I held our breaths for a moment. More gunfire, men screaming and giving orders. Then there was silence. The door flew open and PFC Jones stood there.
"We got to hurry up and get you two out of here" He cut the ropes off us and ran out the door.
"That way", he pointed to the left, "will lead you out of here." Turning he raised the M-16 and fired. As Craig and I slipped passed the young soldier, we witnessed horror. Mutilated and screaming bodies littered the floor of the warehouse. I got a glimpse of a man with a cloak on running in the direction of the ships. The soldiers yelled and fired upon him, missing with every shot. As the man came closer to leaving the building, a figure jumped out a grabbed the man. One of the aliens had locked its arms around this guy. The man yelled something in Arabic and blinding heat and light over took the room.
'I really gotta quit doing that. Leave the past behind me. ...But it's so hard.' I shook my head and took a good look at my self.
I'm about 5'7' tall about 165lbs, mostly muscle, I thought to myself; dirty blonde hair in a flowing mop and baby blue eyes glowed from my face. Not the best, but I can get the ladies. I flexed for a bit and picked the mirror up. Carefully, I carried it down the hall and out the door. I set it down where the headmaster needed it. Kevin came up to me holding a piece of paper.
"Here's what we need to do to get paid." Handing the paper to, I read.
Move objects out of building. (check)
Escort party to new dwellings
Help move the occupants in.
'Well, this shouldn't be too hard. Move some people here to over there.' Thinking this to myself, I nodded to Kevin and pick up some boxes. The move took longer then expected. Some of the non-humans thought I was trying to steal their stuff. Others just didn't know what was going on. Damn old people.
Looking over at Abbie and Luna, I did realize I was a bit jealous. And Abbie was kinda lucky. It was only her and her sister in the apartment. And the only reason she lived there is because Kevin supplied her with the money, and one of the old aliens took her in to 'show her the ropes'. If it were up to Kevin, Abbie and Luna would move in with us. Like that was going to happen. No way was I going to live with a Nerco. The moving "party" stopped some ways form the final location, allowing the older ones to rest. While resting on a rock, Luna came up to me and started asking questions. Rather annoying questions.
"Why do you sleep with women of a questionable nature?" At first the hamsters in my head stopped running, and then picked up the pace. And the fact she didn't understand her own question made it worse. With a deep sigh, I did my best.
"And where did you hear this?"
"Abbie says that you sleep with other worldly whores."
Frankly I was shocked and appalled by this. I gave a dead stare to Abbie, who waved at me no less, and just walked away. To get back at her, I whispered into Luna's ear what Kev and Abbie where doing. Of course it wasn't something that Luna didn't know already, but Abbie didn't know that.
Later that night, after we had collected our pay, cheap bastard, I had a close discussion with Kevin. He won again in the fight. I would have to put up with Abbie for a little longer now. With an ice pack on my face and left hand, I turned in for the night.
'Maybe sleep will get these thoughts of the past out of head' I stared at the ceiling until I fell sleep.
I could smell the world around me before I could see or hear strait. The man in the cloak had blown himself up. My vision began to clear and my ears stopped ringing so loudly. Everything smelled like burnt flesh. I could feel that my bangs were missing and arm hair too. Clothes were fine so I stood up and looked around. Craig was mumbling something to himself and trying to stand.
"Come on Craigy, stand up and try to walk." Craig looked at me like I was crazy and walked like a drunk. We stumbled towards the direction of the hole in the wall. Barely walking over the rubble, I saw that one of the ships had been struck with something and a hole was gaping in its side and fire coming out. Military soldiers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. One came up to us and said something about getting on a ship and leaving. I couldn't really hear him that well because of the blast. So I hurried Craig towards the armada when another explosion went off behind us. Everything went black as I fell to the ground.
I awoke to a spinning, unknown world. Everything hurt, inside and out. Blurred vision didn't help any, so I felt around. My head was bandaged and my left arm was in a sling across my body and hurt like hell. White, blood soaked bandages covered me like a crimson mummy. I looked around in fear, trying to yell for help but couldn't. All around me, humans and aliens alike were helping each other, some carrying bodies, others just comforting. In this strange world of comfort and pain, was where I met Kevin. At first he seemed a normal man, just a big, normal man.
"Hey, um, guy, y-you ok? You don't look so hot," He said to me. His voice was soothing, but somehow hollow in it's meaning. As he helped me up to stand, I noticed he had been shot.
"Are you so sure you're not hurt, yourself?" I questioned him, pointing to the bullet hole in his chest.
"Oh this", He put his finger into the hole in his chest; "this is nothing. Pierced the heart the think, but, I'll be fine."
At first I thought he was just goofing around, but I looked closer and I really could see all the way through his chest. His heart had been pierced.
"A-a-are you a z-zombie?" The words came out of my mouth like a scared child's. "I-I mean, are you a-alive?"
His black hollow eyes met mine and he grinned at me, "Well, please define alive. The body is dead. But I'm perfectly fine. See"
He lifted his shirt to expose a small wound on his stomach area. Then it moved around a bit and this big worm thing with claws, and tentacles, and eyes just peeked out. Honestly, that scared the hell out of me, and I fell to the ground yelling.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" I screamed in terror, but the others around looked unfazed by this guy.
"Sorry about that." And he reached down and grabbed the worm thing. It wriggled around a bit until he squeezed it hard enough to kill it. "Body leaches. They live on the ship. Here, let me show you me." A mental image of a slime mold thing flashed in my head. "That was me. I'm a symbyote. I have to have another body to express my being physically. Otherwise, I'm kinda a blob with telepathic powers."
I just stared at this guy for a time, not knowing what to think. But, after awhile, I got use to the idea of the worms and blobs in the dead body.
"So, um… where are we?" I asked my newfound friend.
"On the starship 'Andron', on the way to a lunar colony."
"Where is this colony…hey? Wait a minute. Where's Craig? Was he with me?" I stood in a panic to find him. "Craig! Are you in here?" I yelled as loud as I could. "Cra-"
Kevin pulled me down before I could finish.
"Calm down. I'm sure he's fine. Where was he last?"
"Um.Um…right after the bomber blew himself up."
Kevin's eyes got big and looked surprised.
"OH. That was a while ago"
"How long ago?"
Kevin just looked at me
"HOW LONG AGO!?"
Kevin sighed heavily, "About 2 days ago. You've been unconscious on this ship. I found you lying near the waterfront, so I picked you up and carried you on board. I don't know where your friend Craig would be."
That news alone hit me harder than anything else. But Kevin went on to tell me that most of the countries on Earth launched the last of their missiles. Nuclear winter was already going into affect. Radiation and cold were to seal the fate of my home planet. Everything that my world had become was reduced to worthlessness in a matter of days. My species only survivors were on the 4 ships, the only 4 of about 180 ships to arrive.
Kevin informed me that the ships belonged to the aliens, the Fray'lings. They too were refugees, running from their past. But their home world had been taken over by some other alien race. The Fray'lings had stumbled upon Earth by accident. They had hoped that we had the technology to repair their ships. Instead, they found a violent and disturbed race, hell bent on destroying one another. Most of the ships landed in or around the Asian seacoast, which is why only four were left. One from Northern Europe, another from the Mediterranean area, and two from North America; one from Texas/Mexico area, the other from New England. A fifth was reported to have left, but was never to be found on radar or heard from again. But only four to be sure. Out of 6.5 billion people, our race had dropped to about 40,000 strong. Even then those 40,000 displaced souls are going to be spread thinly across the galaxy. I was told that these vessels were going to leave survivors at about 2 dozen solar systems.
Kevin told me that the ships each had different destinations to ensure the safety and survival of both races. The ship I inhabited was to go to a moon that orbited a planet on the edge of the galaxy. The trip took weeks. I'm not really sure exactly how long, but my arm had healed before we reached the moon. While on the cruiser, I met races from across the galaxy. The Fray'lings themselves lived in what we know as the Vega star system. Another one was the Lokk, a strange frog like people with hairy bodies and funky foods. Of course, Kevin was technically an alien too, but his race didn't have a name. So I called them the Body Snatchers, because, frankly, that's what he looked like to me. Languages were a different story. The Fray'lings tongue was impossible for a human to speak, so a sign language was developed. A Lokk's native language sounded like an Australian had bitten their tongue and could still talk. Talking to them was easy, but reasoning with them was useless. They were rather stubborn and did things their way. So in a matter of weeks, I learned most of both of their cultures and languages, and even some partnerships. Two of which changed my life completely. One was a human, the other wasn't. At first, both were for fun, but it got really bad. And took me down places I would never wish to be again.
I awoke in the middle of the night. The moon had already gone behind the planet. I didn't remember the party we had with the neighbors, which is why I don't remember the darkness. Looking outside didn't help; both suns were going to be down for the next couple days. So I got up, put my garb on and started to head outside. Before I left the apartment, I put my pistol in the shoulder harness for easier carrying. It was better that way in public. Just on a whim, I decided to check the terminal to see if any jobs had been listed. Sure enough, one was there:
ATTENTION ALL BOUNTY SOLDIERS
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A HUMAN FEMALE
HEIGHT: 5'2"
WEIGHT: 105 LBS
SKIN: CRÈME
EYES: BROWN
HAIR: WHITE
LAST SEEN WEARING: WHITE SHIRT/RED STRIPES ON SLEEVES, BROWN SHORTS, BLACK SOCKS WITH RED SHOES, RED BOW TIED IN HAIR.
WARNING: CONSODERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS IF MET, DO NOT CONFRONT. WAIT FOR PROPER AUTHORIES.
COMMISSIONED BY THE ANEX CORP.
'That's odd. Anex corp., why would they want her? An employee? A whistle blower?' I printed a copy and headed out the door. My watch told me it was about 3:30 in the morning. 'It's going to be a long day.' I thought to my self. Walking down the streets of Nuvu, I noticed things I didn't earlier. Like none of the buildings were more that 6 stories tall, or that all of them appeared to be really old. Like downtown streets in America old. The buildings were old, but kept up. The streets had rats and dog-things rummaging through the garbage. The huts and tents of the day merchants were empty, but ready for the crowds tomorrow. I knew that in the morning these streets where going to be packed with the hustle and bustle of humans and aliens. I was thinking of going on a camping trip with Kevin, Abbie, and Luna to get away from the city. We had connections to some really good supplies. And although Kevin and I had only lived here for a little over 12 months now, but people knew us well.
The bar down the way was a common place to get information. The bartender usually had some connections to someone somewhere. I pushed the saloon style doors open and surprisingly, it wasn't empty. About 50 humans and aliens filled the room. I checked over the group to see if any of them matched a description of the bounty. I'm sure they did the same to me. The bartender greeted me with a mug of froth.
I looked at him wearily, "Do I have to pay for this?"
The bartender was alien race that I didn't know. It looked a lot like a big teddy bear on crack.
"No, little Earthy, it's the festival of Drac'moth. So it's on the house."
"Cool. So um… (Sip) What does that mean exactly again? Uh...Drac'moth?"
"It means 'Festival of the Soul Sucker', because we release one at the beginning and kill it to end the festival."
'To me this sounded like a demented Halloween.'
"So you release a creature that can kill into the general public? This is safe because…"
"It's safe because a Dac'moth only comes out at night and feeds on those males who have matured enough to have offspring."
'Oh great, ´ I thought to myself, 'I'm on the menu. Wait, isn't it going to be dark for some time? And can't pretty much everyone on the rock have kids?'
"Well, little Earthy, I don't think it would like your kind anyway. But who knows."
"Hold on?! Isn't it going to be dark for next few days?"
The big crack bear looked at me with a smile; "It makes the festival all the more fun."
Chuckling to itself, the alien backed off to finish the dishes. He grabbed the towel on the counter and turned.
I was just about to finish off my drink when a hovercraft sounded over head. The patrons of the bar also stopped at the sound. The swinging doors opened and 2 government agents walked in. White tuxes and black shades meant high level agents. Oddly enough though, they appeared to be human. The 2 heads crisscrossed the drab room and occupants. The one on the right was to speak up first,
"Have any of you lowlifes seen a small girl?" His voice was loud and punctual. It was like every word had been stamped into my head. "It's ok to talk; none of you are on trail, at this moment."
The drunkards just shook their heads and continued to talk. The left looked at me hard.
"How about you, Earthling?"
'Same voice, odd.' I thought to myself
"Uh…No sir. No little girls in the tavern. But if I's sees one, I'll inform you." And I slammed the rest of my drink.
"You had better." 'Damn was that voice creepy.' I nodded my head and they left. The engines whirled loud and the vessel left. Looking around a bit, the mass behind me was starting to leave. So I decided I should too. I waited until the rest had gone outside to make sure that nothing was up and was the last to leave. Gave my thanks to the keeper and headed for the door. No sooner than I raised my hand to open the doors, they came flying back at my hand. The swinging door smacked right into my right hand's fingers.
"AHHHH…DAMN! That hurt." Shaking my hand a small figure stood in front of me.
"I'm sorry", cooed the cloaked figure.
"No problem, I'll be fine. I…" My eyes left my hand and fell upon the cloak. The cloak covered the person completely, but stopped short of the shoes. In that instance, it dawned on me who stood there. I arched back and tried to look at the face. Sure enough I saw white hairs sticking out of the cloak.
'Ha Ha. I hit the jackpot! YES.'
"Please don't turn me in."
'Score, I'm going to be…wait. Did she just ask me not to turn her in?'
"You have no idea what they want to do to me."
At that very moment, she looked up at me and tears streamed down her face,
"Please, (sob) I need your help."