A Test of Skill
Aisha Mahmud
The silence was deafening, even to her ears. How many nights had she endured like this? Lying on her back, eyes open, staring at the slate-colored ceiling in her apartment? How many nights had she rolled over in her bed to find the large, holographic lights of a binary clock staring back at her, barely illuminating her face it its soft, multicolored luminescence? Too many. Everyday it was the same routine: contract, complete it, and then report. Afterward, the chain was struck apart, and the assassin was free to do as she pleased. But what pleased her? It wasn't as if she had many friends to choose from, without risking their lives by being seen with them openly. She lay there, staring at the changing dots of the binary clock, ashamed that all her time alone had enabled her to study the complex computer language, mastering it enough so that she could read this clock – which to others was just a convoluted collection of lights on a silver clock face. With a sigh, she waited, as she had so many nights before, for morning to come to Blue Heaven.
"Man, you think people would have enough sense to pay us up front," the young, aqua-colored haired male remarked with a scoff as he watched the dock workers load their precious cargo onto the El Dorado, the beloved ship that was rumored to participate in illegal activities. The young McDougal brother leaned against a post, arms crossed while he watched his older brother, whose eyes were on the sky. His older brother, Ron, laughed.
"Well it wasn't our fault. They didn't pay us up front; they didn't get a contract fulfilled. Simple as that. And if they have any objections we have just enough reason to back us up." To which Harry chuckled, but none would recognize it, such an awful sound it was. The younger McDougal watched as the last of the cargo was loaded and he and Ron boarded the ship, the older smirking smugly, and the younger looking every bit as sinister as the rumors seemed to say. Once they were safely out in space, Ron set the ship to autopilot and went out to the back to take a nap, trusting his younger sibling to keep an eye on things while he rested. But he'd barely put his head on the pillow when his younger brother bellowed for him to come and speak with someone. Ron, slightly miffed at the fact that someone decided to interrupt his well-deserved nap, grumbled to himself as he came out to speak with a potential client.
"Yes, how can I help you?" The display screen was dominated by a sharply handsome man, whose eyes were obscured by a pair of expensive-looking shades. His hair was slate-gray, slicked back and clubbed at the nape of his neck, and his smile was slick and sinister, belying a cold and calculating intelligence that was overshadowed by the facade of dull wit and willingness for bloodlust. All in all, Ron's type of guy.
"Ah, the one and only Ron McDougal. I must say you and your brother are quite hard to track down. I daresay I'd almost forgotten why I wanted to speak with you, for all the time I've been trying to find you." At that, Ron quirked an eyebrow, skeptical.
"Oh come now, certainly a man of your status has the resources necessary to track down a couple of freelance transporters?" The man's smile widened, revealing a gold tooth which Ron made a point to ignore. He didn't answer the question.
"I have a job for you."
"Doesn't everybody?"
"Yes, but I think you'll be delighted to take this one on."
"Try me." Harry watched impatiently, eager to see his brother haggle out a contract with this would-be city slick. The man relaxed in his seat, drumming his fingertips against one another.
"You are familiar with the assassin, Jodasi?"
"Who isn't familiar with her? She took out some of the Greats in her time. Eddie Guardo from Hei Phong's Triad sect," to which Ron began to list off the legendary assassin's accomplishments – reckoned a coup in some of the guilds of the criminal underworld.
"Yes, yes, I'm quite aware of her feats, Mr. McDougal. But that's not what I contacted you for."
"Well, I'd appreciate it if you'd get to the point."
"I want you to track her. Word is she's been contracted by the Kei Pirates to make a very big delivery at Hei Phong within the next few days. I want you to find her, and get whatever it is she's delivering. And then I want you to bring it to me at this address." The address came up in a separate window on the screen, and Harry wrote it down. The man smirked at Ron's expression.
"Is that too much for you?"
"Listen, you're asking me to rob one of the most deadly women in the galaxy. You had better be an eccentric rich kid who's going to make this worth my while."
"Oh trust me Ron; it will be worth your while. But I must warn you, I have heard by word of mouth that she's very...persuasive."
"If by persuasive you mean seductive, then I can easily circumvent that. You got any of her information, other than the obvious?"
"Of course. Would I arrange a contract for you without doing my homework first? Here you are. A list of all her information, save for her current residence of course." The information scrolled onto the screen and Harry scribbled frantically, his robotic arm effortlessly penning flawless penmanship on the paper which now contained the vital information they needed to aid their mission. Ron smiled.
"Is that all Mr..."
"Tzu. Mr. Tzu."
"Is that all Mr. Tzu?"
"Yes. Oh, and one last thing."
"Yes Mr. Tzu?"
"Try not to get killed, eh?"
"Can't make any promises."
The screen went black and both Ron and Harry stared at each other in silence. After a span of a few moments, the two burst into hysterical laughter.
"Ron do you know what just happened?"
"No."
"He just hired us to rob Jodasi! I mean, the guy must be fucking sick in his head if he thinks we can pull something like that off!"
"We can pull it off. We've done the impossible, remember?"
"Yeah but this is...Jodasi! She's a fucking legend for God's sake!" Ron shook his head, ruffling his younger brother's hair.
"Trust me, Harry, she may be legendary but she's not invincible. She's just a human woman with a lot of skill for survival. In the end, she'll bleed just like the rest of us."
A few days later...
Everything was going smoothly, and as usual, she was undetected by any. The ship she piloted, a rent-out from her Kei Pirate contractors, was sleek and amiable, and carried the cargo without much effort. She was tempted to just put it on autopilot the whole trip but skilled or not, she was still wary about all the possible consequences for slacking off, even a little. As she docked and the ship's slight shudder heralded that she was safely within Hei Phong's busy port, she gave commands that her ship should not be touched until she was back from whatever endeavor's she pursued in the bustling city. Thus, was her contract nigh completed. She seemed not to notice much else as she disembarked from her vessel and headed out into the city, dressed casually, as if it were another day on the job of delivery service. Being a legend also meant retaining an impeachable status of anonymity. She looked the same as she always had; only her clothes were different.
"Hey there, sweet cheeks, maybe you and I could hook up and dice together sometime, eh?" She ignored the cat calls entirely, adjusting her hat so that she could place her hands behind her head. Striding nonchalantly along the sidewalk as she watched people hustle and bustle about as if they had no time in the world. Little did they no how true that were. It was only a matter of time before the contract was complete and time was up for these people. She smiled, pausing before the large heavy door of a bar that was popular with the Triad sects of Hei Phong. The Lotus Sect frequented this place weekly for meetings and such. Checking her watch, she noted the date and time, and smiled, knocking on the door in an intricate rhythm and pattern thrice before waiting. The paneling slid open to reveal a pair of Asian eyes, narrowed suspiciously at the pair of green eyes that stared back.
"What is it?"
"Tell them I have what they wished me to deliver."
"Password?"
"Galactic Leyline."
For a moment, nothing move betwixt the two of them, and the paneling shut rapidly. For a moment, it appeared as if the door would not respond anymore but the dull sound of bolts being loosened let the woman know she'd been accepted. The heavy door swung open and she stepped inside.
"Is this it? Man? How the hell are we supposed to find her in all of this?!" Harry complained as the El Dorado docked in Hei Phong's busy port. Ron waved his hand dismissively.
"We don't find her stuff. We find her. Only then can we make her lead us to whatever it is she's supposed to deliver."
"Yeah but when we find her, how the hell are we gonna convince her to lead us to her shit? I mean, last I heard this bitch is one of the most ruthless assassins. She's got bigger balls than Hilda." Ron smiled wryly.
"Yeah, and Hilda's dead. Kei Pirates killed her for stealing from them. But this woman's been around since Hilda first started out. She was picking off important people when Hilda was still trying to figure out which end of the gun to hold. Or so the rumors say."
"You think she's not human?"
"Only way to explain it, I guess. Come on, let's not waste anymore time. The contract said she'd be at that Triad hangout. You remember the door code?"
"Of course."
"Good, let's go."
"Welcome, I must say it's very nice to see you again, Jodasi." The man was old, withered, but still commanded and held sway over the Kei Pirates, who held up the front of being a Triad group within Hei Phong's underworld. The woman he spoke to stood before him, her pale face impassive, as if she were carved from marble and ivory, her eyes like emerald chips, and her mouth full and sensuous. But from the neck down she was clad in a worker's jumpsuit, a dull mottled gray with a blue overtone and heavy, worn boots. But her crowning glory was her waist-length black hair. Like sable in midnight, and it shone like stars caught in a net, falling in rippling waves down her back from beneath the worn baseball cap she wore backwards. But there was something about her that exuded a sensual predatory nature, like the way her eyes followed everyone like living, breathing crosshairs, the way her mouth quirked whenever her eyes spotted something strange, or just her in general. The man rested his gnarled hands on the table, hungrily drinking in his contracted killer, but knowing that she would not be the type to bend to his whim. Though the prospect of going through the process of breaking the unbreakable assassin was tempting and arousing indeed. Instead of dwelling on that, however, he spoke on the matter at hand.
"Is it set already?"
"Yes sir. As you ordered. It's waiting in my cargo hold as we speak." The man smiled ant nodded his approval.
"Please, Jodasi, do sit down. It would be seen as inhospitable of me if I did not offer such a beautiful woman a seat." One of the guards brought the assassin a cushioned chair to sit in and she sat, her eyes following the guard until he was well out of sight. The man licked his thin lips and Jodasi met his eyes, her face impassive once more.
"I trust you have secured the item in question?" He asked as a cup of tea was poured for the both of them. Jodasi did not even glance down at her tea cup, the steam making veritable serpentine swirls between the two of them.
"Your trust in me is very wholesome; might I warn you that those who have placed too much trust in me often find themselves worse for wear at the end of it all." The barest of smirks quirked her sensuous mouth and her employer felt his hackles rise.
"Is that a threat, madam? Because, last I checked, you were on Kei Pirate territory. Even a mighty assassin like yourself can not face off against your adversaries when they have the upper hand."
"On the contrary," countered the assassin smoothly, "I do believe you recall Athena Damascus of Hei Phong?" The old man's eyelids flickered, as if he'd received word of a death in the family. Jodasi regarded him with a cold, even stare.
"Just a friendly warning," the assassin said, getting up from her chair and turning to leave, "rest assured your item is being delivered and the situation is in capable hands." And she made a motion to the guard to open the door. She was actually surprised when she was greeted by the double barrel of a castor rifle.
"I think it'd be best if you stepped back inside, Ms. Jodasi." Ron said smugly, smirking, confident that he and his brother had caught the assassin by surprise. Harry was grinning with barely contained glee. Ron watched the woman and could barely contain his glee, but he was staring at her with something else other than the general excitement of getting a bounty-head. She was beautiful, of that there was no doubt, but she was a killer. A cold-blooded, ruthless, heartless killer. She was pale, like a porcelain doll only without the frail delicacy; no, this woman was carved from marble and ivory. Her nose was aristocratic, echoing of her beautiful ancestors; her mouth was shaped for loving, Ron knew this, but couldn't explain why – as right now that mouth was frowning at him distastefully. Her eyes, ah! She had eyes that reminded him of a nebula he and his brother had passed through to escape pirates. They were frosty, like emeralds with a glaze of ice on them, flecked with gold. They were rimmed with sooty lashes, and arching above them were two well-kempt brows, sooty and becoming. Her head was covered with an old baseball cap, but tumbling from beneath it was a mane of wavy black hair. Ron was so busy studying her features and memorizing them that he scarcely had time to avoid her right hook.
"Asshole! You've got the wrong girl!" She snapped as Ron rubbed his jaw and the woman stormed past him, shoving Harry out of the way. Ron blinked but found himself staring at a bunch of angry Kei Pirates.
"Ron, I think...we had better follow her." Ron nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan."
Jodasi cursed angrily as she made her way into the docking bay. The crew workers could barely keep up with her as she rattled off orders that her ship be prepared to take off.
Set up!
She could not believe the Kei Pirates had set her up! And to send those bumbling idiots the McDougal Brothers after her was just...insulting to her skill! The assassin boarded her ship and shut the hull, swinging into her seat and preparing to blow her way out of Hei Phong if it meant destroying half of the docking bay to do it! She was furious. No one double-crossed her! No one! She'd just finished booting the ship when the familiar click of a gun cocking rang in her ears. The assassin ducked and rolled, reaching under her seat for her own castor gun, loaded, cocked, and ready to blow her assailants to Kingdom Come. Ron McDougal stood there, looking quite heartless but she was undaunted, her face twisted in a cold snarl.
"It's no use, Jodasi," he said, "My little brother's got the El Dorado. The moment you exit Hei Phong he'll blow you out of the sky. If you move, I'll kill you."
"Who the hell says you'll succeed?" She asked smoothly, licking her lips to moisten them and delighting in the way it made the older of the McDougal Brothers uncomfortable. For a moment they held that position, their guns pointed at one another. Before either of them could speak they heard angry voices raised outside. Jodasi and Ron cursed in unison and Jodasi lowered her gun. Ron lowered his.
"Your friends seem a little cross with you, assassin," Ron remarked as Jodasi punched in the coordinates for her escape route.
"No thanks to you, numb nuts," she retorted as she contacted the El Dorado; Harry's face appeared on the screen. Ron spoke.
"Ron, what the hell is going on? Did you get her?"
"Yeah, but the Kei Pirates are pissed and their coming for us now. Hurry up and get the hell out of here."
"Where?"
"Sentinel 3."
"No!" Jodasi interjected, and both Ron and Harry looked at her sharply.
"You got a better idea?"
"Blue Heaven."
"WHAT?! Are you nuts? That's the first place they'll look."
"No, it's the last place they'll look. Sentinel 3 is a haven for all criminals and hunters tend to stay away from there because the Space Forces are constantly prowling around. No, Blue Heaven is quiet and nigh empty...we'll be safe there." Her reasoning was sound and Ron and Harry had to agree.
"Alright, Blue Heaven it is."
"She what?!" Hazanko was furious when his subordinate came to him with the news of Jodasi's flight. The old man bowed and kowtowed submissively, begging forgiveness but Hazanko simply swiped his hand, whispering the spell that was so common amongst the Kei Pirate Elites. Soon, nothing kowtowed before him but a pile of ashes.
"It seems our trust in the assassin was misplaced," he said thoughtfully, "perhaps we should send out someone to look for her. Someone with enough competence, and someone like...Hitoriga." Hazanko observed the surveillance replay again, watching as Jodasi's ship lanced into the insurmountable darkness of the space frontier. It was a lovely ship, and for her sake, she had better have the sense to get rid of it. After all, it was he who lent it to her for this specific mission after all. With a final chuckle, Hazanko watched as one of his elite assassins dispatched to find the renegade mercenary.
"You're getting rid of your ship?" Harry asked as Jodasi ordered her cargo hold emptied and the cargo transferred into the El Dorado.
"This isn't my ship. The Kei Pirates lent it to me for this mission. If I keep it, they'll track me faster than you can say 'hot pocket'."
"What is it they want you for?"
"I'll tell you later."
The assassin worked at the helm, downloading all information out of the ship's onboard computer and onto her portable one. Then, she covered her tracks by backtracking the code so that they'd never be able to discern where she'd gone next. Ron watched, making sure that the process was executed without detection. The McDougall brothers may have been notorious in the space frontier but they covered their tracks so wsell that their slates seemed nigh spotless. When Jodasi had finished she strode off the ship and onto the dock, sighing.
"You guys are idiots." She said after a span of heartbeats had passed. Ron quirked a brow.
"You couldn't wait for me to get back to the docking bay, eh? Had to come barging in with your guns cocked and loaded, screaming my name in the streets; sans the finesse." She crossed her arms and began walking, Ron and Harry exchanging amused grins and following the assassin to wherever she was headed.
"Where exactly are you going?"
"Home."
"Home?"
"Yeah, I gotta pack. You fuckwits led the Kei Pirates right to us. I'm not going to be around when they come hacking and slashing looking for the idiots who ran off with Jodasi as hostage."
"Somehow," Ron said, still amused, "I thought the legendary assassin would be a little more resourceful than this. I mean, how is it that we were able to capture you so easily?"
"I'm not captured," the assassin retorted, her back still to them as she turned the corner, "I'm hitching a ride because those idiot pirates think I'm with you guys. And no matter what I say they won't believe me if I deny it." She remarked heading into the side door of a dilapidated apartment complex. Ron could not believe it. In a span of five hours he had 'captured' Jodasi and learned that she was indeed not as badass as the rumors and legends said she was. She led them up at least eight flights of rusting stairs to where she currently stayed. When she opened the door to her apartment, Ron was amazed to find it to be lavish and comfortable, and then mentally kicked himself for thinking Jodasi would be living in the dumps by choice. Naturally, the dilapidated complex was a front to dispel any questions of whether or not someone lived there. Jodasi began gathering up important things, which wasn't much. Her apartment was rather small and barren. But it was very clean. The assassin returned to them with a bag full of jargon. She gave them a wry smile but said nothing. Ron headed out the door, holding it for his brother and the beautiful mercenary. She sighed.
"We have to take my ship." She said with a smile. Ron's brow furrowed incredulously. Harry's gaze took on a light that was only visible when he was involved in one of his own contracts.
"Your ship?" He asked excitedly. Ron gave him a reproachful look.
"What's wrong with our ship?" Jodasi paused on the steps to look at the two of them.
"It's too slow, too well-known, and can not make tunnel jumps."
"Tunnel jumps?" Ron echoed, confused.
"My point exactly."
Hitoriga traveled alone in his ship, waiting just outside of Blue Heaven. He would be patient. Jodasi was likely to think the Kei Pirates would not track the El Dorado down. So he waited for the El Dorado to move. It didn't. He watched another ship take off casually and had it in his mind to shoot it down out of boredom, but Hazanko had made it clear he wanted Jodasi alive and unscathed, along with the item in question.
The ship vanished beyond the spatial 'horizon' and Hitoriga once again focused on the El Dorado. Either Jodasi was confident in her hiding place or something else was amiss.
"He was waiting for the El Dorado to take off, did you see?" Jodasi asked as she set her ship to autopilot. Since it was designed to hold up to two people, it was quite cramped in the cockpit but the room in the back could be shared by the three of them, if they moved a few things. But sleep was the last thing on anyone's mind.
"So where to now?"
"What do you mean? I'm gonna drop you guys off at Sentinel and handle my business." The assassin quipped. Ron frowned.
"You left our ship unprotected at Blue Heaven."
"You're rich, you can afford to get a new one."
"What?! That ship is top of the line—"
"For the Space Forces...but tell me, have the Space Forces designed any part of my ship?"
"Give me the cross checked blueprints and I'll tell you." For a moment the two held a stare wrought with so much tension Harry thought it would make the air in the hold dissipate.
"Guys! Shouldn't we be worried about whether that guy saw us leave or are you two gonna kill each other over whether or not the Space Forces designed this ship?" Which, to him was rather kick ass. He'd never seen such a ship, small and nothing impressive to look at, run so smooth. Ron and Jodasi glared at each other one last time and then broke the tense gaze. Ron went to lean against the wall while Jodasi set a course for Sentinel 3. Harry glanced between the two and shook his head. He wanted to talk to his brother about something but he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted Jodasi to over hear. He'd have to wait until they were dropped off at Sentinel.
"Gene! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Jim demanded as Gene flew the Outlaw Star out of yet another predicament. The young outlaw smirked and waved his hand dismissively.
"I was savin' our asses. What else?"
"Do you know how much repairs for that grappler arm are gonna cost?!" The young boy practically shrieked. Melfina, the ship's coordinator smiled from within her tank, stifling a mental giggle. Gene listened with a bored expression as Jim berated him for being a brash, insensitive, careless, and reckless idiot. Suzuka merely sipped her tea and Aisha rolled her eyes. When Jim was done, and it was evident by his panting and heaving chest that he was quite finished giving Gene an earful, Gene flicked the boy's nose.
"Lighten up your life, Jim, how do you expect to survive out here if you don't take risks?"
"I do take risks! I just don't take the unnecessary ones! Gene we can't afford to go looking for trouble. We don't have that kind of money."
"Who said I was looking for trouble? That guy shot at me first!"
"After you insulted his girlfriend and boasted that you could pistol whip him!"
"Yeah? And I beat him didn't I?"
"That's not the point, Gene!"
"Then what is?"
"Will you two shut up?!" Aisha had had enough of the petty arguments between Gene and Jim lately. Everyday, Jim got a little more agitated, and Gene a little more reckless, Suzuka became a little more aloof, and Melfina...well, she was Melfina. Aisha couldn't stand it anymore.
"All you two ever do is argue anymore! What is the big ass deal? Jim, we know we don't have any money, but we don't need you reminding us every minute of the damned day! Gene, we know you're an idiot sometimes and sometimes that can't be helped but even an idiot knows when to keep his damned mouth shut! Argh! You guys are a real pain in the ass, even for a Ctarl-Ctarl! Drop me off at Sentinel 3, I'm outta here." For a long while nobody spoke. It was obvious Gene and Jim were at odds more and more these days, and that Aisha had been the one to always break them up in case their arguing got out of hand. But it seemed the felinesque woman was fed-up with the arguing and needed to be on her own. Suzuka finished her tea.
"I too have had enough of your childish behavior," she said with all the calm worthy of an assassin of her level, "I'll be leaving with Aisha on Sentinel." She turned and headed to the back room without another word. Gene and Jim shared a gaze and Jim's face hardened.
"I'm going too. Gene, you're too damned reckless for anyone to stand you." He didn't give Gene a chance to respond, but turned his back and walked off. Gene frowned, his hand balling into potent fists.
"Well fine! Who needs you guys anyway! You're just a bunch of cowards! After all we've been through together, we hit a rough spot and you guys are just up and gone like that! Cowards!" He spat and looked to Melfina, whose face was wrought with sorrow and concern. The outlaw sighed and sat in his seat, looking out of the display window to see the vast emptiness of space.
"At least the ship hasn't abandoned me." He muttered and set a course for Sentinel 3.
"By the gods woman, for such a small-looking ship you've got it all back here!" Harry remarked when he saw the shower and small kitchenette in the back complete with one bedroom equipped with the bare essentials – a bed and a small dresser. Jodasi rolled her eyes. They were well out of Kei Pirate territory and safe within what Jodasi called 'hyperspace'. Ron had thought the Space Forces were kidding when they told him about experimenting with hyperspace travel. He assumed the endeavor was too dangerous for humans. Apparently the lovely woman was more resourceful than he thought. He watched her work around her ship, checking to see that they stayed the course, and how she kept always to herself. Ron began to wonder what she did in her spare time. For someone so wanted by the authorities, how did she make due in her personal life. Ron found himself growing more curious about her by the second.
"Ron! Hello?" Harry waved a hand in front of his older brother's face. "I've been talking to you for almost ten minutes! Have you been staring her down all this time?" Harry' voice was a whisper as he led his brother to the bedroom.
"You think Jodasi has a private life? I mean, how does she let herself get seen in public when she's not on the job?" Ron asked, his voice rankled with curiosity. Harry smirked.
"You like her don't you?"
"She's a real piece of work. I mean, look at her."
"No, I mean you like her. Ron, wasn't it you who swore women were nothing but trouble?" Harry asked him suspiciously. Ron smirked sheepishly.
"Perhaps I said that because I was angry."
"Because Hilda dumped you."
"Let's not talk about her okay?" Harry frowned but softened when he saw his brother staring at Jodasi who was lounging at the helm, watching the tubular lights of the hyperspace tunnel. She caught his gaze, and her expression turned quizzical. Both quickly looked away.
Yeah, a real piece of work.
There wasn't anything suspicious about how a simple-looking cargo ship docked in Sentinel 3's clean port. There was nothing suspicious about the ship at all; its passengers were another matter. Jodasi had already surmised that she was being followed and that Hazanko's memory was long, and she'd sooner be forgotten than a missing limb. So it was with this knowledge Jodasi's disguise was assumed and she took on a different name and hid her long hair beneath a rather ostentatious-looking hat. Ron and Harry exchanged puzzled glances at her oversized pants, which rode low on her hips; her mesh top and the bikini top she wore beneath it. The hat however was an assortment of rainbow colors. Ron swore that every color of the spectrum was contained therein and then some. It was reminiscent of the hat that the storybook character 'The Cat in the Hat' was always seen wearing only the stripes were in rainbow form. The garments altogether made the assassin look a lot younger than she was. Ron smiled, and looked out towards the lazy port.
"Well, I guess this is good bye, huh?"
"Yeah? Your point being?"
"I mean, will we ever run into each other again?"
"Given the circumstances on how we met, do you want to run into me again?" The two shared a tense gaze, which ended with Ron looking away first. Harry made sure they didn't tear at each other's throats first. It was odd; Ron was normally the one ensuring the safety of Harry and making sure that it was her who didn't tear at someone's throat without just cause. Now it seemed as if one woman had made Ron's judgment skewed and volatile. The man's temper was getting the better of him. Jodasi waved her hand dismissively.
"Actually, you will see me again – if you don't put what you stole from me back."
"What are you talking about?" Jodasi frowned and pointed to Harry, who was fiddling with a silver-faced object.
"What...that? Is it important or something?"
"It's my clock, I would say it's about as important as that gun you're carrying." Harry blinked and looked at the face of the 'clock'.
"It's just a bunch of multi-colored lights. At least it matches your hat." Jodasi's lip curled into a snarl.
"It's a binary clock, you nitwit!" She snapped snatching the clock from him. "It takes elite skill to read binary in light form."
"Or maybe you're just a little too much of a computer geek." Jodasi looked indignant.
"Might I remind you that this computer geek is your only protection against the Kei Pirate search party heading this way!" That sobered Ron and Harry from their laughter. The two stared at the assassin coldly.
"And just what are you trying to say, that you'll help get those pirates off our back?"
"No, I'm saying I'll get you back to your ship if you in turn, cooperate with me." Now she had Ron's interest – and not romantically. He waited for Jodasi to lay down her terms.
"It's quite simple actually," she said once she had finished, "you scratch my back, and I scratch yours kind of thing. All I need is a place to hide this thing before the Kei Pirates show up. After which I'll make negotiations and clear our names. But knowing Hazanko...it'll take a hell of a lot of convincing to get him to believe that I acted alone and you guys acted stupidly." Jodasi's eyes narrowed as another ship docked next to theirs. Ron and Harry followed her gaze. The ship was red, a brilliant shade of it, and the paint was slightly chipped on one of the grapple arm panels. The McDougall Brothers exchanged weary glances. Jodasi smirked, amused.
"You know those guys?" She asked, watching the ship's crew disembark. Ron sighed.
"Unfortunately."
"Who are they?" She asked, when she noted the ship's apparent captain, a rakish-looking red-head, coming off the ship, and he was flanked by a shy-looking girl with wild black hair and big brown eyes. Ron noted her gaze and frowned.
"Just a young buck who thinks he's some badass outlaw. We've bumped heads a few times and—"
"You lost." Jodasi interjected, her voice tinged with a teasing amusement.
"No," said Ron through gritted teeth, "we never finished our battles. It was always a standoff. But anyway, the kid's name is Gene Starwind. He's got a crew consisting of an assassin, a Ctarl-Ctarl exile, a computer wiz, and the girl's Melfina, she's the ship's coordinator."
"That little strumpet has a brain?"
"Correction, she is the brain. She is directly connected to the ship." Jodasi nodded. "A bioandroid I surmise. Alright, so I take it you guys aren't friends and you can't hitch a ride with them?" The McDougalls shook their heads simultaneously. Jodasi rubbed her temples.
"Well, we really want that ship. Word is, the Space forces and the Kei Pirates built it to find this place called the Galactic Leyline." At this Jodasi started. She glanced to them sharply, not quite believing what she'd heard. The Galactic Leyline! She'd thought it only a password to get into the Kei Pirate's Hei Phong base, and up until now, a mere myth on the space frontier. Ron smirked.
"But since no one's been able to get their hands on the ship and use it to its full potential, no one's sure whether it's merely myth or if it's the real deal." Jodasi glanced toward the Outlaw Star with seemingly detached interest. The Galactic Leyline...she'd heard stories. And where the stories come from, there was usually a bit of truth to start them. Some said it was a library – a well of infinite knowledge. Others said those who reached it had all their dreams come true. But no one knew for sure what the Leyline truly was. Jodasi, for all her notoriety, had never had any interest in pursuing the myth along with the rest of the galaxy. She had been content with her fearsome reputation and simplistic warrior lifestyle, and, as Harry had put earlier, her aptitude at being a computer geek. Until she'd seen the ship capable of finding the Leyline for herself, she'd had no real purpose for traversing the galaxy off-duty. Jodasi watched Gene, a beautiful woman she knew to be Suzuka the assassin, a Ctarl-Ctarl she would soon know as Aisha Clan-Clan, Jim Hawking; the notorious computer wiz, and Melfina follow Gene off the deck and onto solid ground. Jodasi turned away from the sight, unsure as to why the sight of such a close-knit group bothered her. Ron and Harry were waiting on her.
"Let's go get something to eat," she said gently, "then we'll see about setting our plan into motion."
"Hitoriga, we've been sitting here for almost a full day; are you sure Jodasi is with the McDougal Brothers?" The Kei Pirate, member of the Unten Seven, and a notoriously ruthless fighter, Hitoriga, watched the screen. The El Dorado had not moved for hours and the pirate was beginning to believe that Jodasi had either decided to stay the night or had left by other means.
"Land the ship," he commanded coldly, "and then we'll destroy everything. Even the mighty Jodasi can not presume to think she is untouchable." He chuckled as the ship came to a steady halt within the small docking bay of Blue Heaven. Once the pirates had disembarked, he glanced to the golden ship that stood motionless within its bay. The pirate strode casually out into the open, and was well-avoided by the civilians there. Everyone knew the Kei Pirates were nothing but trouble, and to contend with them was to contend with death itself, let alone contending with one of the Unten Seven.
"Citizens of Blue Heaven!" One of the lieutenants announced in a booming baritone, "We of the Kei Pirates seek out the notorious assassin Jodasi! She was tracked here, along with the McDougall Brothers! Tell us where they are, and we may spare you! Refuse and we will turn this place into a nebula!" That sobered up some of the more brash of the civilians within earshot. The Kei Pirates normally used covertcy to snuff out their prey but Hazanko had been rather adamant about wanting Jodasi and his precious item-in-question back alive and in tact. And so, the Kei Pirates for once threw covertcy to the winds and decided to openly voice their desire to get the assassin and her two mercenary accomplices.
"She left." Said a gruff voice.
"She what?" Hitoriga demanded, turning his faceless gaze sharply toward the voice. The man shrugged.
"They took a cargo ship almost a day ago and got the hell out of here. Said taking the El Dorado was too risky." Hitoriga briefly recalled how he'd watched a cargo ship leave, a bored expression in his eyes. He recalled how he'd thought nothing of it, and now he inwardly chided himself for it. Without another word he turned and headed back to his ship. His subordinates did not follow.
"Kill them." Hitoriga ordered and took his ship away from Blue Heaven as all hell broke loose.
"Let me get this straight, you guys intend to go your own separate ways? Or are you all in this whole 'let's abandon Gene' thing together?" Gene demanded of the three deserters of the group. Suzuka regarded him with an impassively cool expression, hand always on her sword, the other by her side. Aisha frowned.
"I'm just sick of you two bitching and moaning like a couple of brats." She retorted. Jim huffed, crossing his arms.
"I'm fed up with you being so damned reckless all the time. It's really not good to be hanging around someone who squanders money on pointless battles and booze."
Suzuka remained silent, and that was enough. Gene sighed and waved his hand.
"Fine. Go. Who needs ya, anyway? It's not as if we haven't been through so much together anyway."
"And a lot of that we wouldn't have gone through if it weren't for your carelessness!" Jim snapped and the two fell into another argument which thus drove Aisha and Suzuka into walking away. For a while they were on the same path, and then the diverged, saying their goodbyes. Melfina looked on in sorrowful silence, not quite understanding why everyone was leaving. She couldn't leave Gene, and she couldn't leave the Outlaw Star. She'd most definitely not survive long on her own, but she didn't like the fact that everyone was simply abandoning Gene because he and Jim seemed to be clashing in opinion. The bioandroid sighed and watched Jim sputter one last time before he stormed off, leaving Gene and Melfina alone. Gene sighed, but said nothing.
"You hungry?" He asked at length. Melfina shrugged sadly and the two headed off into the general direction where the populace resided.
Ron and Jodasi didn't say much to one another it seemed. They had stopped at a small well-to-do restaurant and ate in silence. Ron was getting exceedingly tired of not being able to get her to open up, but it was partly his fault because he wasn't really trying. Harry, however, sensing his brother's frustration, decided he'd try and help. The younger McDougall asked if he and Jodasi could speak in private, much to Ron's surprise; the assassin complied, again with Ron's surprise.
Ron waited and watched while Harry spoke animatedly to Jodasi and saw the assassin crack a Cheshire smile a few times. Harry motioned for Ron to come over. Ron, puzzled, decided he'd see what his brother had been able to get out of the woman, but was surprised to see his brother heading back to his seat.
"She's all yours. Just be sure not to blow it." He said with a wink. Ron was still confused and it must have showed. Jodasi waited, seemingly impatient and anxious about something. Her eyes cut him in sections and Ron felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as he sat across from her. The assassin waited, and was ready to prompt him when he cleared his throat, disrupting her thoughts.
"Jodasi—"
"Jade."
"Pardon?"
"Call me Jade, please."
Ron, believing this to be one of her aliases, complied, cleared his throat, and tried again.
"Jod—Jade. I know you and I got off to a rough start, with me having to capture you and all," he noted the amused snort from her end but continued with aplomb, "but seeing as we're all in the same boat now, so to speak, I was wondering if I could take you out sometime. You seem to be a real nice woman and I think if we're going to die we should at least do it in style." He'd never felt so out of place before. He'd never felt his heart hammer in his chest like this.
Not since Hilda left his bed for the cold frontier of space.
Jade's eyes narrowed and her head inclined a fraction, spilling the oil-dark strands into her field of vision. Her mouth curved into a slight smile, as if she were unsure whether to suspect a trap or to acquiesce to his invitation to a date. She opted for the latter under the pretense that she would see how far he planned to go with this charade until she had to kill him.
And part of her wanted to spend some time getting to know the heartless elder McDougall Brother.
"I suppose you have a point. Your method of putting it into perspective is a bit unorthodox as these things go…" She studied Ron's face with a predator's trained eye, noting the small signs of disappointment forming at the corners of his eyes. "However," she said with a seemingly bright smile, "I am a huge fan of the unorthodox." She stirred her martini with a smile, and downed the rest.
"So tomorrow evening, then? The Phuong Hat restaurant?" He asked with a smile that showed just how often the man had felt joy in his life. Jade inclined her head wordlessly, rubbing her fingertips along the glass' rim before eating the olive. Ron smiled at her again and excused himself from the table to speak with his brother.
"It's a date." Jade murmured, letting herself simmer in the warm feeling that she knew was brought on by Ron's rather unanticipated request.
Her scent was so clean; he could practically taste her creamy skin. Hitoriga felt the need to tear her apart overtake him. Hazanko had given strict orders to bring her in alive and with the cargo she'd stolen, but he wanted to see blood streak her creamy skin. He wanted to see her sweat, bleed, and weep. No one got the better of him. Suzuka had not even driven him to such ends. Jodasi was a work of living art. She'd outwitted the best, had destroyed countless plans to disrupt the balance of power in the collective systems. Yet, she could not be found. Few knew of her appearance, even fewer lived to actually describe her. Hitoriga knew exactly what she looked like. He could point her out anywhere. She was a star amongst gems if nothing else.
He could still remember how she'd double-crossed him, and she'd been so damned flippant about it, he had hardly believed that anything she'd said prior was truth. She'd felt nothing for him, she'd been using him from the beginning, and all for that tiny stone. And what had she done with it?
I hope you don't mind, Hitoriga-sama, I've a client that made me an offer I was hard-pressed to refuse. You see, this stone is very valuable, and they're willing to pay a large sum for it.
She turned, and the candles lit her naked body in a splendor unmatched by any. He could still see the droplets of sweat on her skin, could see how the curve of her small waist moved as she glanced over her shoulder with a smile. As the poison numbed his body, he could see her delicious lips form into a plush 'O' as she blew him a kiss. Then, she simply left the room, in nude glory, she left him there to die, leaving behind the scent of the faux passion she'd woven for them, the scent of her perfume, tangled sheets, and a vial of the antidote on the other side of the room. He had precious little time to lose, and his legs and upper arms were useless. With a desire for vengeance, he began to make his way across the agonizing expanse of the room, chasing Jodasi's scent, and his freedom.
"Sir, I believe they've gone to Sentinel 3. If I'm correct, they'd have jumped ship by now. Permission to pursue?"
"Yes. Pursue them and capture by any means necessary."
The sun vanished, leaving the two moons of Sentinel 3 to cast an eerie glow on the planet itself. Jade stood in front of a full-length mirror, admiring the skin-tone garment she'd chosen for the evening. Her hair had been upswept in a charming profusion of oil-black curls and waves, her eyes rimmed in silver and sea-blue, giving her the appearance of a Siren more than ever. The dress, a provocative mockery of the "little black dress" was long, with a slight train at the rear, and split down the middle just past the navel. It's front was raised slightly to reveal her legs from the knees down while the back was cut low enough to skim the base of her spine. It seemed the only thing holding the lewd garment together was her body. The slightest movement gave a teasing glimpse of a curve of her breasts, the walk gave viewers a provocative first-look at how the legendary mercenary moved with a fluid grace better-suited to a dancer than a fighter. She carried a small, black hand-bag, though she'd rigged it for her own purposes. Finally, with one last look into the mirror, she slipped into a pair of black pumps and headed out the door to meet Ron. He was waiting outside according to the bell hop.
Ron, in the meantime, had donned a suit, tailor-cut to show off his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs. But when Harry opened the doors to reveal Jade in her splendor, the swarthy business man was at a loss for true words. She descended the steps like a predatory angel, and finally, came to take her place by his side.
"Jade…you look…" She enamored him a smoky glance of her sea-rimmed eyes and he felt the words gather in his throat. "You look spectacular." He breathed after a span of heartbeats. Jade merely smiled, and his pulse leapt in his throat as he guided her to the car. Opening the door for her, she slipped inside and he right after. Harry was their driver, being that it was his idea the two date in the first place.
"So, Ron," she said with an amused smirk, crossing her legs daintily at the ankles, "what's on the menu? Something edible, I hope." Ron canted his head, feeling more relaxed as he basked in the attention she lavished upon him.
"I suppose. I've learned not to question what one's meal is made of. Otherwise one might end up starving half the time." He didn't think his joke would be a hit with the seemingly cold assassin but when she laughed—hard—he was surprised, and laughed too.
There were times when he thought there was living a dream. Jade talked as if she led a normal, respectable life. She was animated, she smiled, she laughed, and she played with her food, questioning the contents of a stuffed Portobello Mushroom, sipped her wine in a completely unladylike way, and still managed to stun him. Ron watched as she spoke with the waiter about the wine, and with a gracious smile and flirtatious wink, sent the blushing boy off to retrieve a fresh bottle. Jade's eyes settled on Ron once more, and Ron felt himself grow nervous.
"You alright, Ron?" Jade asked. "You've hardly said a word all evening." Ron studied her expression noting her genuine look of concern. For better or worse, he answered her.
"We're being followed," he said bluntly. Jade canted her head, brows furrowing, nonplussed. Ron inclined his head subtly and picked at his food as if he'd just closed a deal. Jade glanced at her shoulder, catching the two suspicious looking men entering the restaurant in her peripheral vision. Her gaze siphoned off to Ron, her expression stoic. Ron continued to eat.
"Don't make any sudden moves. Act natural, babe. They can't touch us here." Jade acted natural, as if she hadn't seen the Kei Pirate informants at all.
"We need to get a head start if we're ever to make the performance on time, dear," she murmured, sipping her wine and regarding him over the rim of the glass with an expression better suited to the bedroom than in a restaurant. Ron smirked, falling into the act with a surprisingly flirtatious ease.
"Why the rush, darling? You've hardly touched your food all night." He leaned over, and she leaned in, their gazes holding for moments too long for either to dwell upon. Her breath came slowly and as the informants made their way toward them, Jade acted the only way she knew how. Ron was unprepared for the moment, and as the Kei Pirates passed them he was spellbound in a kiss that was as furiously urgent as it was spontaneous.
Her mouth was like hot satin, and he drank from her in a way he'd never thought possible to drink from a woman. She was all spices and cloying perfume and he felt her tongue run along the length of his lower lip before suckling it into her mouth. It was a flash of lighting to them both, and the heat spread and spread, and stayed.
Jade, on the other hand, had felt nothing more coaxing to her passion than this man's mouth, relishing the opportunity with vigor. She'd admittedly been aching for an excuse to possess his mouth, and as she held his face in her hands, devouring his mouth with all the vigor of a starved lover, the Kei Pirates simply walked past them, one remarking upon what would transpire behind closed doors once the couple found themselves alone. When they searched and found nothing, Jade waited until they'd left before she pulled away.
Silence prevailed like a pall over the table, but between the two mercenaries was a tension that was strung as taut as a harp string. Her lips, loveswollen and beestung, ached with his taste. Her eyes had darkened to a velvet green, and a storm was brewing in them. Ron looked the same way, and she saw the broad plane of his chest rise and fall with each labored breath he took. Wordlessly, he paid the bill for dinner and stood, helping Jade out of her chair. The two were as calm as a couple could be as they left, and the silence remained in the car on the way to the hotel they'd put themselves in. Harry was already in bed when they got there, and Ron didn't even think as he walked Jade to her room and bid her good night. All he could think about was the taste of her mouth, the scent of her skin, and the look she'd given him afterward.
"Good night, Ron," Jade murmured gently, the door shutting once Ron had vanished into the room across the hall, leaving the assassin to stew in her thoughts. With a sigh, she kicked off her heels and silently chided herself for pulling such a ridiculous stunt. Her bed had been made and there were two mints on the pillow. She ate them and drank a glass of water, hoping to clear her head. As she settled on the bed, she glanced at the phone, only to be stirred from her reverie by a knock to her door. She already knew, but she couldn't speak otherwise.
"Who is it?" She was opening the door before she'd even finished the sentence. However, she was only met with a shadow darkening the doorway as Ron stepped inside, took her by the arm, drew her to him, and possessed her mouth with his own. This time, it was Jade who drank from him. She'd never been designed to drink her own medicine which she gave out in generous amounts but Ron was accustomed to being the seducer, not the victim of seduction. The door shut behind them and he walked her further into the room, devouring her mouth, his lips tracing a path of flames along the sleek line of her jaw and against her pulse. His lips on her ear, he whispered words that promised the night would be unforgettable. Jade found herself drowning, then, drowning in a sea of her own making, and when she finally was revived and pulled to the surface, something had taken a place in the hollow of her being. She felt, for the first time, as if she were truly alive.