Beriven stumbled almost blindly in the darkness, struggling to find his way while his eyes slowly adjusted to the night. The moon faced away from the planet, and the thick clouds shrouded the streets in the thickest, harshest night Beriven ever remembered. Even the distant lights from windows, or the sides of buildings, seemed smothered by the inky black of this terribly dark midnight.

Beriven clutched his hand to his chest, willing his eyes to see what they obviously couldn't, and stumbled on blindly, until he came to street shop he recognized.

It belonged to a hunting enthusiast. It was mostly trophies and small hand weapons, meant more for cutting up a catch than for the actual hunt, but Beriven had peered inside more than once, and had spied a small stack of antique blaster rifles in the back end.

Beriven simply hoped they worked.

He didn't have time to come up with a better plan, and even if he did, he wasn't thinking straight. He seized on the first way to get inside, which happened to be a metal chair from a nearby cafe, put through the window.

The first throw bounced off the window, cracking some of the glass. Even with the wind, the crash was loud, crashing into his ears and making him jump away from the window. He panted, sharply, as he picked up the metal chair and tried again.

The second blow put one of the legs through the window, though the glass hadn't shattered completely. It wobbled, though, as he pulled on the chair to take it back out, and Beriven didn't waste a moment to try a third time.

The chair went straight through the window with the third throw, and Beriven followed it inside, scampering over the broken glass to the blaster rifles on display.

He grabbed at one wildly, snatching at the first weapon that reached his hands, and pointing it at the street, pulled the trigger.

The trigger moved all the way, as far as Beriven could tell, but nothing happened. Disappointed, Beriven dropped it on the ground and snatched up another, pointing it at the street and trying it in turn.

He tossed aside a half-dozen blasters, before he found one that felt a little heavier. Hoping that was a good sign, he pointed it at the same spot he had aimed with the other blasters, and squeezed the trigger.

The blaster screamed once, quickly, startling Beriven into dropping the weapon. Stumbling backwards, he held a hand to his chest, and panted, trying to calm his nerves.

As his breathing slowed, he picked up the blaster rifle again, and trying it one more time, managed to fire off another blast. Satisfied, he turned and ran back through the broken window, dashing off into the cold, windy night.

The possibility of being heard had crossed Beriven's racing thoughts, as he ran back through the streets. Despite the howling wind, he had fired two blaster shots off into the night. What hadn't occurred to him, was the possibility of having already been watched, by a cloaked figure on the rooftops, who waving a hand into the air lazily, moved to follow the fleeing boy.


"I said, which one of you hurt him?" The first boy who stepped in the room, who looked angry enough to have been crying a little, rasped. He held the stick up above his head, staring down at Marius.

"I did." Bug said quickly, stepping past his friends into the middle of the room, where he held his hands at his sides.

The boy with the wooden club swung it into Bug's side, knocking him over and sending him rolling along the floor. "Bullshit. Lasan here," and the leading boy pointed to one of his companions. "had you locked in here with a minimum of fuss. You're also not a girl. Now, that means it can only be the sickly looking one," and he pointed to Anita, "the short one, or the alien."

"If you don't tell me, I'll just kill all three of them. We don't need more than one person to tell us where the money is." The boy said. To Marius, who's tongue felt like a lead weight against the bottom of his mouth, and arms shook uncontrollably, the boy speaking looked far too young, not nearly enough like a blooded adult, to be making those threats.

Marius swallowed, and held up one of his shaking arms. "Please. We don't care about money, it's just something we needed to get ourselves safe and happy. You can have all of it."

The older boy looked down at Marius, and slowly, drew his arm back. Knowing it was coming, Marius didn't even try to move away as the hand clenched into a fist, and swung down at his face.

The next real thought Marius had was that he missed half of the conversation, as he blinked back the sudden pain that hammered through his head.

"And I'm not kidding. We're taking revenge for Monkey's eye, and we're taking your money. Tell us who it is, or I'll hurt all of you!" The boy who had hit him screamed, and Marius's friends shrank back in fear.

"I did it." a soft voice murmured, though every head turned her way.

"No!" Thema screamed, her hands covering her eyes.

Tha'varr shrank back as far as she could, holding he head behind her knees. "I did it. I hurt him."

"The alien." The boy smirked, a sickening smile that, despite his fear, made Marius sick to his stomach. "I should have known it'd be some dirty, tentacle headed, bloodthirsty little bitch."

He leaned closer, and grabbed her chin with his hand, yanking her forward. "Did you eat his fucking eye, too? Does whatever sick species you come from eat people, too?" He asked, drawing a knife from his coat.

He held it close to her eye, and Tha'varr whimpered a little in fear. "An eye for an eye, it's fair, isn't it?"

"No! She wasn't even there! I did it!" Anita shouted, finally finding her voice. "Ask your boss, the guy with the gun! He knows!"

The boy stood up, and with his free hand, hit Tha'varr across the face. "Shut the fuck up. This alien confessed!"

Whatever he might have said or done next was interrupted, dramatically, as a red flash drowned out all the light in the room, for the briefest of flashes. Marius and his friends, and even some of the boys with the clubs ducked down in sudden surprise.

"Dako, Lasan, Tream, what the fuck are you doing?" The boy with the gun asked, his long coat suddenly a comforting sight. "I told you not to come in here!"

"But Monkey! His eye! One of these little shits poked it out with their fucking thumb!" The lead boy exclaimed, his voice shrill, quivering a little as he spoke.

"And I told you. If it turns out they're paying protection money, the Boss won't stop hunting us. Monkey lost his eye because he was stupid, lucky for him he's got a spare. Now, do what I tell you, and get the fuck out."

"Fuck you. I'm starting to not like you being in charge."

"Well me and my gun don't give a shit. Move." The boy with the gun said, pointing with his gun towards the door.

Sullenly, but promptly, the others started filing out of the room.

Once they were out, he shut to the doors and turned to Marius. Leveling the gun at him, he asked "How much money do you have?"


Far from alone in the supposedly empty night, Beriven had been stalked by a figure in the shadows who moved along the rooftops with the confident ease of long experience. The footsteps that followed Beriven's urgent run were silent, smooth, and almost effortless despite the narrow paths between and along the buildings.

Another figure, in the shadows of a balcony, stepped into the light just long enough for the man tailing Beriven to notice, and he slipped quietly from the rooftop, to join the cloaked figure who had waived him over.

"Report, corporal." The cloaked man said, a figure that was obviously quite short, even among the shadows.

"I haven't been a corporal for a long time. I didn't even have to shave back then." The observer reflected.

"Save it, corporal." The other one said, insistently.

"Sorry, specialist." The first one replied, his tone apologetic.

"That's better. You know how important my anonymity is."

"Sorry. I think I've been up too long."

"Report, then."

"I've been tailing the kid since he stopped in front of the window of that shop. Normally, I would have just taken him out, but no one breaks the protection laws in the city. No one, not for any reason. I thought it was strange, so I figured you might want to know before I go end the problem."

"What did he steal?" The one called specialist asked.

"A hunting blaster." The corporal responded.

"An orphan stealing a blaster." The specialist mused, and he stepped forward a little, until he was next to the first observer.

"He must know that he wouldn't be unobserved. I already sent Mitch to keep the neighborhood quiet, and let them know they're getting the protection they paid for."

"Good man." The other one replied, the one referred to as 'specialist'. "And I'm glad you waited." He pointed towards the distance, where the boy had just rounded a corner and dashed out of sight. "Do you recognize him, corporal?"

"No sir. Should I?"

"No, but I should. He's a part of my solution to that orphan problem. Or at least, I thought he was."

"I'll go put an end to it, then." The one called corporal replied.

"Go ahead." The specialist sighed, turning away.

"Oh, on a side note, that small gang of kids, the one with the tall boy, they went down into the warehouse district for some reason. I told a squad to go check, but it's been a bloody windy night, and they're not exactly professionals. They say the boys went into one of those abandoned warehouses, but didn't come out."

The one called specialist turned round again, his eyes wide. "Is that squad certain?"

"Yeah. Bunch of fools, letting those kids get the slip on them." The corporal replied, chuckling to himself. He moved into the shadows, and down a ladder along the side of the building.

"I see." The other one said, musing to himself. "Don't kill him, yet."


"And don't bullshit with me. Tonight has really sucked so far." The boy with the gun said, pointing his blaster at Marius.

Marius took a deep breath, and said "Sixty Seven ducats. We'd been saving for groceries, new clothes, and school. We wouldn't have this much normally."

The gun wielding boy's eyes widened, his shoulders slumped, and his mouth hung open. "Sixty ducats?"

Marius sighed. "Not enough, huh?"

"Not by a long shot, kid. Monkey's heart just stopped beating." He turned, and pointed the gun towards Anita. "You and the smooth talker are definitely living your last night. As for the rest of you, pay up promptly and keep quiet." He turned back to Marius. "I take it they know where the money is?"

"They do." Marius said, holding his hands together to keep them from shaking. "Please, you're serious? You won't hurt the rest of them?"

"Of course."

"Okay. Bug, pay him." Marius said.

"But Merry! He's gonna kill Anita! And you!" Bug exclaimed.

Marius nodded, and turned to face the boy with the gun. "Do I get some last words, or something? I'd like to say goodbye, you know?"

The gun wielding boy sighed, and stepped out the door. "You have one minute." He said, and shut the door behind him.

"How are you so calm, Merry?" Thug asked.

"Shut up, Thug. Gather round." Everyone gathered close, and Marius started to talk in a feverish, raspy whisper that was hard to hear for even those near him.

"You remember the emergency fire system?"

"Yeah! Thug tripped it once, it took days to get all the water out." Bug said. "Are you gonna pull it or something, Merry?"

"I think so. We pay this guy all the money we have, then I pull the alarm and we all make a break for it, as fast as we can. We meet near the stump, noon tomorrow." Marius said. "Any objections?"

"One. What about you and Anita?" Mystery asked.

"We take our chances with the boy with the gun. I'm not trusting him to keep the rest of you alive."

"This is a stupid plan, Merry. We don't know if we can get out of this room." Mystery insisted. "Look, leave the alarm to us. If we can get out of this room, we'll pull it, and then you might have a chance against the guy with the gun."

"And if you guys can't pull it?" Anita asked. "We just go and die?"

"Yeah, we do." Marius said, quietly. "But we improve their chances of living through this."

"Don't worry, Merry. I can break that window." Thug said, pointing to the pane of glass above the door. "And Bug can fit through it."

"Guys..." Anita said, her voice quivering, tears in her eyes. She covered her face with her hands, and started weeping softly.

Thema came over and wrapped her arms around Anita's shoulders. "I've lived better in the last six months than I ever have, and it's because of all of you. We're not giving you up like that."

"You still need to finish that bedtime story, Merry. I don't read well enough to do it." Bug said.

"Are you all sure?" Mystery asked. "Are you all willing to do this for Merry and Anita?" He finished speaking, and everyone else in the room rounded on him.

The glares he got from his friends were all the same, and spoke volumes. "Hey, I had to ask. I don't want to be dragging anyone into this."

Wordlessly, Bug handed Marius the small bag that held their life's savings, and with a fierce grin, said "It's just money. We'll make more."

Marius stood up, and wiping his eyes with his sleeve, said "to the lucky orphans!"

Everyone else pumped their arms quietly, and Marius knocked on the door.

The boy with the gun opened it, and hanging their heads to hide their expressions, Marius and Anita slowly stepped through the door.


Beriven stood at the end of a narrow alleyway, dimly lit by the lights of the warehouse where his friends were now held captive, and tried to stop the shaking in his hands.

It wasn't that he was afraid. He was, but it was coming back from the shop he stole the gun from, at a near sprint, that now had his shaking hands struggling to hold the gun steady. He needed to be calm, needed to be ready, and he didn't have a lot of time to waste.

He stared at the warehouse, his home, and wondered if any of his friends were still alive. He had been gone so long, too long, trying to get this rifle, and everyone else might already have been killed.

He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, and focused on his friends. He tried again to see them.

The visions in his mind whirled, and in the direction of the warehouse, he could see the soft, small lights in the distance. A few were close together, and in the distance, five others were gathered.

It wasn't the first time he had done this, seen something beyond what sight normally allowed him. It was stronger, and far clearer, than Beriven ever remembered it, but the pounding fear in his own heart was enough to focus his thoughts.

The group of lights closest to him, he found himself focusing on them, and instantly, feelings swirled through his mind. He felt laughter, comfort, joy, and a sudden flood of memories, of his friends. He was sure, almost instantly, that it was his friends he could see.

But there was one light, moving with another two, away from his friends, that he didn't understand. The others were lights, small in his sight but brilliant, like looking at streetlights from a distance. This one cast a haze of light, soft silver and almost fog like, as it seemed to envelop the two lights around it.

Distracted, Beriven couldn't hear the muffled footfalls from heavy combat boots, as a black cloaked figure moved in the shadows behind him.

His own heavy breathing was the last thing Beriven heard, as a heavy hand gripped his hair, and swung his head into the wall.


Marius and Anita, chins still resolutely touching their chest, walked without speaking a few steps behind the boy with the gun, their sluggish pace and unsteady gaits readily assumed to be a degree of reluctance.

Only the boy with the gun wouldn't know, or believe, that hope still burned in their hearts, and that their bowed heads hid eyes that darted towards light switches and doorways, and searched hungrily for their potential escape.

The boy with the gun, his own head slung low and his gaze fixed steadily on his feet, would occasionally hold the blaster in both hands, and cringe.

"I didn't want to kill you." He said, loudly, though he didn't turn to them.

Neither of them responded, in any way.

"I really didn't." He added. "It's just I can't just let you guys go. There's no way you pay the protection tax."

He turned back to them, and said "I thought about it. There's no way the Boss would make you pay the tax if you're as young as you are. He might not make slaves out of us, but he sure doesn't look out for us."

He shrugged and rounded the corner, and looked up sharply as the others already arrived in view. Noticing his hesitation, Marius and Anita both stopped, and froze in place, their hearts pounding.

One of the other boys, the one who had threatened them, took a step forward and said "We talked it over while you were gone, Ratam. We've gotta kill all of them."

"What the fuck makes you say that?" The boy with the gun, the boy named Ratam, asked. "It only makes our situation worse if we kill them. The Boss won't take too kindly to it."

"You used our names, in that room, with the others. It's bad enough you told them about Monkey, but you told them three of our names. That's a big lead for one of the Boss' enforcers. If we leave even one of those kids alive, and he remembers our names, we're all dead."

"So you're saying we either kill all of them, and leave no witnesses, or we kill none of them, and hope the boss doesn't take the manhunt for us too seriously." Ratam said. He put his hand in his pocket, and made a show of gripping the blaster. "If it turns out they pay the protection tax, and we kill all of them, you know what happens to us?"

"Yeah. Nothing. We leave no witnesses, remember?" The other boy responded, taking a step closer. The other boys around him followed suit, and Marius, watching from the doorway, waved Anita to step back.

"Besides, how much did they have? They've gotta have lots of money if they can afford to pay the tax." Another of the boys added.

"They have sixty-seven ducats. We could eat well for three months on that." Ratam said.

"They're holding out!" Another boy exclaimed.

"If they aren't, they're not paying the tax!" Someone shouted, and Marius recognized the boy he had held at knifepoint, before their leader Ratam had appeared.

"I say we vote on it." The boisterous one, the leader of the small group that had attacked them recently, shouted into the air. His suggestion was cheered by the others, though Ratam was clearly unimpressed.

"All right." Ratam said. "We'll vote. Me and my gun say we take the ducats and get a head start. Now. We leave Monkey's body with them, and let them try to explain why they have a dead body. Now, my gun kinda has a problem with anyone else voting, so that's what we're gonna do."

"Fuck you! You got a real power trip going, ever since you found that blaster!" One of the boys exclaimed.

Marius saw it in his mind just before it happened, and didn't waste time wondering if that was exactly how it would play out. Just as the boy finished shouting, he whirled, and pointing towards the end of the hallway, he started running.

Anita barely had time to turn before one of the boys threw something at Ratam. As she took the corner, and fled from sight, Ratam screamed in pain and collapsed on the ground, his hands covering his face. The other boys were on him in an instant, and Ratam disappeared in the sudden flurry of blows.

"Merry, what about the others!" Anita panted beside him, as they both charged across the hall.

"Get the door open, and we run outside." Marius panted.

Just as he spoke, a sudden howl tore through the building, prompting both of them to cover their ears as they ran. The alarm startled them enough that for a few moments, neither of them noticed the water that was pouring from the roof.

"They're out!" Anita shouted, her voice lighter and happier than Marius had ever remembered it. "They're out!"

"Let's keep going!" Marius shouted, though he too felt like crying out in joy.

As they ran, they could hear heavy pounding behind them, a cacophony of stamps and beats that skulked just out of sight, but grew louder despite the dead run that Marius put himself into.

They rounded a corner into the larger storage area of the warehouse, and nearly ran straight into Thug.

"Thug!" Anita exclaimed, adrenaline still coursing through her system.

Thug didn't respond, but stared at the door, still some distance away. Marius, wordlessly, followed with his gaze.

One of the larger shelving units lay almost on its side, it's heavy bulk splayed against the storage doors. The heavy metal frame was made of solid duirte, fully as thick as Thug, and before falling, stood halfway up to the roof that towered over their heads.

Marius looked to the others, to see Thug's mute expression of despair echoed on their faces. Bug hung his head to his chin, his fists clenched at his sides. Thema, beside him, wrapped her arms around her chest, and tried to stifle the sobs that threatened to bubble up from her stomach.

Mystery and Tha'varr had each found a small pipe, and held it in their hands like a sword, staring at the doorway.

"Are we gonna fight them?" Anita asked, quietly.

"They have that gun! We can't win!" Bug exclaimed.

"I don't care!" Tha'varr screamed, the tears in her eyes joining the water streaming down her face. She turned to Bug, and said "Before I met you all, no one was ever kind to me! I know how everyone else still treats me! I'm not giving you up!"

"But we can't win, Tha'varr." Thug admitted. "Not against that gun."

"I don't care if I can't win!" She screamed at him. "You never have to fight when you know you can win!"

No one asked her what that meant. At that moment, the lights went out. The sudden, cold darkness was blinding, completely taking them by surprise. They gasped, and held their breaths for a few moments before the faint low of the few emergency lights illuminated the doorway again.

"Oh, they're coming!" Thema exclaimed.

"What?" Marius asked.

"They're coming!" Thema exclaimed. "They killed the lights like they did the last time!"

"That's just it, though." Marius said. "They're coming to kill us, and they have a gun. Why would they kill the lights?"

"You're right." Thug admitted, pushing water away from his face. "A gun's useless if you can't see. That's their edge they just gave away."

They held their collective breaths for a long moment, not speaking, waiting for what they feared would come.

A few heartbeats stretched into a few minutes, and still, no one came through the doorway.

"What's going on out there?" Bug asked.

A minute more, and the scream of a blaster rifle punched through the air, making the orphans jump in fright.

The blast was followed by a few more shots, startling screams that brought shudders, goosebumps, and confusion.

All at once, the lights returned, and the water stopped.

"Is it a trick?" Anita asked.

"Why?" Marius asked her in turn. "They didn't need to. They had us."

"I say we get out of here, and worry about it later." Thug said.

Cautiously, Marius and Thug started to walk back into the corridor, towards the other entrance to the warehouse. The others followed slowly, hugging the walls as they followed.

Marius, leading, rounded a corner to find a strange sight. A man, quite a bit bigger than any of the boys that had attacked them, and wearing some strange kind of helmet, held a blaster rifle and had it pointed towards a few shapes that lay unmoving along the ground.

The strange man saw Marius only an instant later, and slowly shifted into a less threatening stance, standing up straight and letting the blaster point towards the floor.

"You're part of that group, the lucky orphans?" He said. The voice was cool, calm, with a hint of boredom.

"We are. All of us except one are right behind me. You're one of the Boss' people, right?" Marius asked.

"That's right. Keep following that corridor, and head outside. Your friend is out there."

They did as the blaster wielding man ordered, trying not to look at the shapes lying on the floor.

A few breathless, silent moments passed, as they found their way without incident to the door, and stepped out into the night.

Waiting outside was a flurry of activity, with a dozen of the Boss' enforcers standing guard. None of them raised a weapon as they stepped out, but waved to the others who were now gathered a little further away.

Marius looked, and recognized the now familiar attire that the Don of Vos Ma'ar chose to maintain his anonymity in. Beside him were a couple of people he didn't recognize, along with Gothe, the spacer.

A little further away, holding a pack of ice to his head, was a far more familiar face. "Berry!" Thema shouted, dashing over to him. The others, at a similar pace, ran over to him.

The others embraced Beriven warmly, who was busy muttering 'I'm so sorry' to them, waving awkwardly as Thema, Bug, and eventually everyone clamored to ask him what had happened to him.

"I hid when it started." Beriven admitted, and looked grateful when no one looked upset with him. "Till things got quiet again, then I tried to find out how many there were. When I found out, I ran to the hunting store, to try to steal a blaster."

"Smart." Marius admitted, in admiration.

"I found one, and I was on my way back, when someone knocked me out. I woke up a couple of minutes ago, to have these guys," and here, Beriven pointed to the small group near him. "Telling me that they had just sent in some guys to get you out."

"We saw them, Berry. All those boys who had us were rounded up so quickly. I can't believe that they would do this. "

The small group of adults who were talking nearby stepped up to the group, which formed a semi-circle to accommodate them.

One of the two men that Marius didn't recognize spoke first, and said "We'd like you all to know that the boys who attacked you have been dealt with. All of them except one are dead, they were armed and tried to put up a fight. The one that's living looks like the others turned on him, and we're taking him with us now.

The Boss himself wants you all to know," And here, Marius kept his eyes judiciously averted from the brown cloaked master of the city, since none of his companions except Beriven had identified the Boss. "That this intervention and the subsequent fortifying of your warehouse is part of the protection tax that you pay. You will not be expected to take on some kind of debt, or engage in some quid pro quo."

The unfamiliar man paused a moment, letting the children take in what they had heard. "Also, the patrols will be expanded to encompass the warehouse district."

Surprisingly, Bug spoke first in response. "No apology?"

Marius turned to him quickly, before anyone else could respond. "No, no apology. The Boss doesn't owe us anything, Bug. He's a Don, a gang leader, not our government. And we'd be dead already if it weren't for him."

Beriven added "I honestly didn't think we were already paying the tax. We haven't done any of the things he wants us to do."

The unfamiliar man raised an eyebrow at that. "You agreed to it, didn't you? Since it's only been a day, no one could assume you were failing to do your part of the bargain, could you?"

"But the bargain I struck with the Boss," Marius said, to the visible shock of the others, except Beriven and Mystery. "I thought it was just that he wouldn't kill us or run the orphans out of town. I didn't think he was offering so much."

"Wait, Merry, you talked with the Boss? The Don of Vos Ma'ar? The mysterious master?" Thug asked, incredulous. "That's where you were last night?"

The unfamiliar man looked unimpressed. "You mean your group hasn't agreed to this already? This might change things."

"No. We agreed already." Mystery said, to everyone's shock.

"And you are?"

"Their leader." Mystery responded, and Marius grinned in thanks. "I was going to talk with everyone tonight, but..." And at that, Mystery waved his arms, glancing at everything around them.

The unfamiliar man nodded. "Good enough then. We'll have a maintenance crew come by tomorrow, to make your building more secure. Tonight, this squad will stand guard while you sleep. We'll let you back inside soon, after we have a doctor take a quick look at you."

"Thanks." Thema said.

"One more thing." The unfamiliar man said, and he looked stern and cold as he stood up straighter. "You all are privy, or at least close to privy, to the single most valuable secret in this city. It's a secret that men have spent small fortunes trying to find out. Your new relationship with the Boss cannot, under any circumstances, spread. It must remain tightly confined to you, to the point that even if your group, your inner circle grows, this knowledge cannot.

As their leader, you know who the Boss is. Beriven and Marius know as well. The rest of you cannot know. If any of the rest of you learn who the Boss is, or spread even the inkling that you might know, you will be killed.

I can't stress how serious I am. This is a warning, as much as a threat." The unfamiliar man finished.

Everyone nodded quickly.

"Good. Mystery, Marius, Beriven, come with me."