The Red Moon Collection - 1 - Starside

Chapter 5

Olokun-2, in orbit above gas giant Olokun, Osun System

Adrenaline coursed through Will's veins as he stared at the squad of armed batarians at the other side of the small space station. The leader of the group stood with his arms folded behind his back in a strangely diplomatic fashion. Will noticed he had two thick, black lines encircling his neck that he assumed were tattoos. He wanted to look down and make sure the artifact was out of sight, but realized that was not worth the risk. Behind and beside him Shansa, Eleena and Tul'Sorrin stood eying the guests cautiously. Will cleared his throat and took a small step forward.

"Mind if I ask what you're looking for?" He inquired casually.

The leader of the batarians smirked. "Ah, so you're going to act cooperatively this time? Even though it was their own fault, I didn't appreciate what you did to my men on Omega." He raised his chin slightly. "I'm looking for an artifact and I know you were in contact with it recently."

Out of the corner of his eye Will could see Tul's arm below the edge of the workbench furiously tapping away at his omnitool. He didn't really buy into praying, but at that moment he prayed that the quarian had something planned.

Will nodded his head in consideration. "I see. And might I ask who you are?"

"Fair enough. My name is Narek," the batarian replied cordially.

"Narek, if I may be so bold to ask, what exactly is stopping us from reporting your... unusually intense interest with illegal prothean tech to the Citadel authorities?" Will had put a hand to his lip thoughtfully. Shansa rolled her eyes.

The batarian chuckled. "Well, two things I suppose. The first being that we've already sent several anonymous tips to the Citadel informing them of your prothean artifact smuggling operation. I wouldn't try to take your ship anywhere near Council space anytime soon. And the second... well we could just shoot you if you tried."

Will noticed Tul's hand had stopped working and was resting on a softly pulsing green button. "Well, you make a compelling argument. But I question whether or not you'd actually be willing to hurt us, as you claim."

Narek narrowed his eyes. "Do you? Then how about I kill your quarian friend and we see how strong my will is."

As Narek reached down to the holster that held his pistol Tul tapped his omnitool and shouted. "Down!"

Will spun and grabbed Eleena and Shansa, yanking them to the floor as Tul dropped with them. Before they had hit the ground the sound of machinery could be heard at the other side of the table, quickly to be drowned out by the deafening roar of flamethrowers. Will turned his head to look over his shoulder as a plume of fire erupted over them from the side of the station their unwanted visitors had been standing. Screams from the victims of Tul's handiwork filled the room as the fire continued for nearly ten seconds. As quickly as it had appeared the heat from the fire died and Will spun up and readied his pistol, aiming it over the workbench and toward the door.

"Fuck!" Eleena shouted from the ground as she shook her head.

Will agreed with her, though for different reasons. The side of the chamber where the batarians had been standing was scorched black. He glanced up to see two small turrets ascend back into small compartments in the ceiling. He looked back down to the charred bodies of two batarians laying before the sealed airlock door.

"Three of them got away! They're getting back onto their ship!" Will turned and ran to their own airlock and rushed to open the door. "We have to go now!"

Eleena, Shansa and Tul jumped to their feet and rushed into the airlock, Shansa still holding the orb tightly in her arms. Will jumped in and closed the door behind them as the thick mist began to fill the room.

"Tul'Sorrin!" He looked to the quarian to see that he was already at the control panel.

"On it!" Within a few seconds he had overridden the external hatch and the group ran for the Hyperion's outer door.

Will frantically opened the door and began doing the same to the control panel of his own ship. He glanced to his side to be sure the group was on board before forcing the outer door shut. Almost immediately the inner airlock slid apart before the decontamination sequence could even begin.

"Take this!" Shansa shouted to Tul as she shoved the artifact into his arms and bolted through the door toward the cockpit.

Will followed Shansa into the cockpit as she jumped into her seat. He looked out the viewport to starboard to see the batarian ship already pulling away from the space station. Shansa's hands darted to what seemed to like every button on her flight control panel as she prepped the Hyperion to move.

"Eleena!" Shansa shouted to the asari that stood just outside the cockpit. "The FTL drive's emergency charge inhibitors are on!"

Eleena had already turned and begun sprinting down the hall toward the cargo bay a she shouted back in response. "Got it!"

Will looked back out the viewport. The batarian ship had blasted away from the station and was beginning a tight turn. It was coming back to line up a shot.

"Shansa..." Will muttered as he watched the ship complete its turn.

"The station's docking locks are still enabled!" Shansa turned back to Tul as he stood in the doorway holding the artifact.

"Damn it!" The quarian leaned forward and dumped the orb into Will's lap as he pulled up his omnitool. "There! We're free!"

Before Shansa could ignite the thrusters a flash of light from the batarian ship's main cannon illuminated the cockpit. None of them even had time to look before the shot impacted Tul's station, sending debris flying into the side of the Hyperion. Loud thumps rang out as chunks of the station hit and were deflected by the ship's hull armor. The batarian ship took evasive maneuvers and flew past them at close range. Shansa regained her composure quickly and the Hyperion jumped forward as the thrusters burst into full drive.

"FTL drive is charging at emergency capacity," Shansa noted as she entered a state of concentration. "Good job, Eleena..."

The Hyperion banked into a sharp turn as Shansa angled the ship way from Olokun, her hand resting on the command to enter FTL. He finger shook nervously as seconds passed that felt like minutes. All three watched the green indicator for the FTL charge as it filled to a sustainable level.

"Jumping!" Shansa pressed the button firmly.

In a fraction of a second the ship had entered FTL and was soaring toward nowhere in particular. Will let out an enormous sigh and glanced out through the cockpit door to see Tul'Sorrin leaning against the wall, frozen. Eleena jogged through the cargo bay door and up to the cockpit. After seeing the ship had jumped she backed away from the door and took a deep breath, leaning against the wall much like Tul. Shansa locked the Hyperion into a course and sat back from her console, staring out the viewport blankly.

Will pulled himself to his feet with the artifact tucked under his arm and gave Shansa a pat on the shoulder. "Good work."

As he made his way down the hall to the cargo bay he could hear the others forming up behind him. Will leaned down as he reached the orb's crate and quickly locked it inside. He turned around to see Shansa, Eleena and Tul all standing and looking to him expectantly.

"So..." Will couldn't think of much else to say.

"We have to get rid of this thing," Shansa started. "The Citadel or Alliance-"

"-will arrest us," Eleena interrupted. "You heard what that batarian said."

"He could have been bluffing!" Shansa growled.

Will shook his head. "I'm not gonna take that chance. Eleena's right."

Shansa sighed in exhasperation. "Then we dump it!"

"What good will that do? I doubt they'll stop chasing us because we threw their precious ball out the airlock," Will crossed his arms.

Eleena narrowed her eyes and raised a finger. "Wait a second. How did they find us in the first place? We were barely docked a few minutes before they showed up."

Tul'Sorrin cleared his throat slightly. "Tracking device, most likely..."

The others glanced to the quarian in slight surprise, almost as though they had forgotten he was there.

Will nodded to Tul and turned back to the cargo containers."He's right... there's no way they could have found us so quick unless they had something on board. Oh goddamn it..."

"What?" Shansa stepped up beside him.

He nodded to the crate marked "First Aid" with a suspicious eye. "We picked this thing up a few hours after we loaded the artifact."

Will leaned down and opened the container. The lid parted to reveal a collection of boxes labeled as various medical products. He pushed them apart and reached down before pulling out a large, blinking, rectangular device. He tossed it onto the floor and stood up.

"Well, that looks like our tracking device," he said with a sigh.

"Hold on a second... did you say that box was a separate job from the artifact?" Eleena was clearly angry.

"Some... batarains... contacted us about an urgent delivery to Lorek with good pay before we even left the starport with the other package. We were headed there anyway," Will stated defensively as he turned to the asari.

Eleena crossed her arms. "Didn't you say the scientists that hired you to move the artifact paid extra so you wouldn't take on any other cargo?"

Will shrugged. "Well, yeah, but... it's not like they were gonna find out."

Eleena groaned in frustration and shook her head. "You're an idiot."

"I'm an idiot? Why would they jump through so many hoops instead of just stealing the artifact before we left orbit?

"They watched you pick up the artifact then planted a tracker so they could steal it and kill you when you were far enough away from any possible help," Tul'Sorrin answered. "No one would know when or where it was taken, where it was going, who took it. Seems... rather obvious to me."

"Alright! Fine! I'm an idiot. We'll jettison this tracker when we exit FTL and get the hell out of this system," Will raised his hand and rubbed his temples in frustration.

"And then what?" Shansa spoke softly.

Will closed his eyes and shook his head. "We'll head to Omega. Get some supplies." He looked to Tul and lowered his gaze. "Tul'Sorrin, I'm... really sorry we got you caught up in this."

The quarian let out a small grunt. "Thanks, but sorry won't change what happened. My home is nothing but burning debris" He shook his head and looked to the floor. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to let strangers with an 'artifact' onto my station."

"Is there anything we can do?" Shansa stepped toward Tul with an apologetic smile. "You can stay on the ship as long as you'd like. Right Will?"

Will nodded in agreement. "If it'll help then by all means. It's the least we could do. I wouldn't want to stay in one place with these guys still out there."

"I'll think about it, but I agree with the Omega idea, for now. I doubt you have any dextro foodstuffs laying around and I'd rather not starve to death," he commented flatly.

Will leaned down and picked up the tracking device. "Shansa, take us out of FTL and I'll toss this thing out the airlock. Then set a course for Omega."

Shansa nodded and hurried off to the cockpit as Will looked down to the two cargo containers. He felt like an imbecile. The timing of the two deliveries and their convenience was so obviously suspicious in hindsight. Will turned and headed to the airlock, leaving Eleena and Tul standing in the cargo bay. He opened the hatch and tossed the device in before closing and locking the decontamination chamber. As he stared at the control panel waiting for Shansa's signal he began running through their options and hoped that one would stand out as the least terrible.

Whenever the Hyperion was underway one could always expect the engineering compartment to be abuzz with the sound of machinery. The steady hum from the FTL drive peppered with the hiss of various gases traveling through the dozens of pipes rounding it was strangely comforting to Will. He sat in the corner of the chamber by the doorway that lead to the starboard thruster housing, staring idly through the window into the drive core. White and blue light filled the room from the small viewports as the drive worked to keep them at FTL capability. They had dumped the tracking beacon hours ago and were preparing to make their relay jump back to the Omega Nebula. This had offered him some much needed time to think.

"Sorry. Didn't realize you were in here."

Will blinked as he came out of his trance-like stare and looked to the door to see Eleena tapping away at her omnitool. She glanced over to him once again, waiting for a response as she stepped into the room and up to the core control panel.

"Needed a place to think. Shansa already called the loft for a while," Will stated regrettably.

"Well don't let me stop you," Eleena stated with a sideways glance. "Just making sure the core is running smoothly after that emergency charge."

"Hey good work, by the way. Didn't even have to give you instructions," Will quipped with an air of sarcasm.

Eleena smirked. "Believe it or not I was familiarizing myself with the ship for a reason."

The asari closed out the panel and her omnitool after finishing her checkup. She did not leave, to Will's surprise, but rather leaned back against the wall by the door and looked down to him.

He glanced up and managed a sincere smile. "Regretting your choice to come with us yet?"

Eleena shook her head. "Na. It'll take more than a couple crazy batarians to turn down a job that pays eighteen percent flat per job."

Will let out a small laugh. "Glad you're with us for the right reasons."

"By the way... I'd like to apologize," Eleena averted her eyes slightly. "I called you an idiot earlier and it was out of line. I would have done the same thing in your shoes."

"Well I was an idiot. Sounds to me like you're admitting to being on my level," Will grinned.

Eleena snorted and rolled her eyes. A silence fell between the two as Will's eyes drifted back down to the floor, his mind once again getting caught up in the events of the past few days. Eleena watched him curiously for a few moments.

"So what are we gonna do about this?" Eleena's voice lacked its usual boldness as she asked.

Will shook his head lightly. "I don't know yet."

"Hitting the relay in ten seconds," Shansa's voice announced over the ship-wide comm.

After a few seconds the thrusters and eezo core could be heard making adjustments as the Hyperion entered the relay's FTL 'corridor.' Will looked down to a blinking on his wristband that indicated a new message on his omnitool. He reached over and activated the screen to see it was from Shansa, sent only a few seconds prior.

I'll be in the loft if you need me.

He closed the message and deactivated his omnitool as Eleena stood up straight from the wall and stretched her arms. Will pulled himself to his feet with a small groan.

"I should probably check up on Tul'Sorrin... make sure he's holding up okay." Will felt excruciatingly guilty still over getting the quarian involved in their problems.

"Alright. I'll stay here. Try to get in some of that thinking time you were talking about."

Will nodded to the asari with a smile and made his way through the hatch and into the hangar bay. He glanced at the artifact container briefly as he passed it before continuing onward into the forward hall. He could see from the hall that the cockpit was empty and glanced into the common area. Tul was sitting at the dining table working at a datapad. Will stepped in and walked over the table, sitting down in silence. The quarian continued his work without a glance.

Will drummed his finger slowly on the table between them before speaking. "So... you doin' okay?"

Tul pressed a few more keys on the screen of his tablet before glancing up. "I'm fine. Been better. Been worse."

"Your home and everything in it just got annihilated and you've been worse?"

The quarian switched off his datapad and turned his full attention to the human. "Yes."

Will shook his head slightly in disbelief. "Well, Tul'Sorrin, I was a little confused at how relatively calm you were about all of this. Now I guess I know why."

"The ship I was raised on in the flotilla had a very interesting philosophy: being of an exiled and homeless race was as bad as it could get, don't let anything else bring you lower," Tul'Sorrin looked straight to Will as he spoke.

"Exiled and homeless isn't as bad as it can get. Your race could have been wiped out," Will noted.

"I feel it would be rather hard to be born into an extinct race," Tul retorted while crossing his arms.

Will paused. "Fair point."

"And by the way, just call me Tul. Everyone else does."

The human nodded with a small smile. "So, Tul, mind if I ask what you did on that station? I saw a lot of tech in there."

Tul'Sorrin hesitated for a moment. "Eh, I guess there's no harm in opening up if you're going to let me stay on your ship for a little while. In addition to living on Olokun-2, I worked there as well."

Will leaned forward slightly. "Doing?"

"I'm a software engineer who works mostly with omnitool translators. I've probably worked on the program your omnitool uses. It's how I got interested in xenolinguistics."

"Hm," Will leaned back. "So you're a tech expert? Hacking and the like?"

"I wouldn't say I'm a hacker. Not by trade or by hobby. But if needed I can work my way around a security system." Tul shrugged casually.

Will smirked slightly at the cocky gesture. "How's the money in the omnitool translator business?"

"Good enough to buy a small space station," Tul replied coolly.

Will gave a bittersweet smile. "Thanks for taking all of this so... reasonably."

"Your portion of the blame is miniscule compared to that of those batarians," Tul'Sorrin halted himself and leaned forward. "By the way, if you're still unsure about what to do next, I have a suggestion."

Will raised his brows and leaned in as well. "I'm all ears."

"You need to find out what you're dealing with. They could be nothing but a band of mercs trying to make a fortune on the black market."

"Or...?" Will waited for him to continue.

"Or... we could be in over our heads. Either way, it would be good to know," Tul nodded as he finished his thought and leaned back.

"We?" Will narrowed his eyes with a small grin.

"What? I'm curious."

The human looked to the side as he considered the quarian's words. "We don't have many, or any, leads... and the only other place we know that they've been to is that facility on Lorek."

Tul nodded. "Might as well start there."

"What good is that gonna do? Everyone there is dead," Will argued.

"And you already checked the facilities for any physical evidence or security vids?" The quarian tilted his head to the side.

"Well... no. Alright, you've made your point. We'll stock up on Omega, then I'll ask Shansa and Eleena if they're up for a little trip to Lorek," Will stated with a confident nod.

"I'm glad we have a plan," Tul commented as he flipped on his holopad and looked down.

Will stood and pushed in his chair before turning to leave. "Let's hope it turns out to be a good one."

Author's Note

Hope you're enjoying the story so far. Drop a review if you are!