Chapter Forty - Exploration
Inferna and Cold lead their small group of scientists and researchers through the main hall of the shrine heading for their next room to explore. In the time since the fight with Jikoku the two of them had gone through fifteen rooms. They'd spent no more than six hours to a room, or what the pair had felt were six hours at least, during that time. Twice during their outings they'd been contacted by a concerned Fyuu who had felt that far more time had passed, and once they were told that no more than ten minutes had passed since their departure. The pair was quickly realizing that the further you were from other groups the more random the flow of time was in comparison. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower.
Cold was also sure that one of his men had given him a report the previous day on something he hadn't even ordered investigated until an hour after he'd gotten the report. It was the only such instance he knew of like that, but it made things even more confusing. The idea that time flowed so differently here that some place else could receive orders he hadn't even given yet... Still, their efforts at forcing their way from room to room in the shrine were starting to pay off. They'd not yet found what they'd set out to find but they had found two rooms they had set up the main research groups to study.
They had their forces split into four teams at present. Yiku, Rikoo, and Fyuu were all guarding a group of their own while the two Masters had their fourth group. They'd considered splitting up as well but decided, in the end, that sticking together would be better. They found that bouncing ideas off of each other about each room's purpose helped to pass the time and made the entire affair a little less dull when there was nothing for them to do but stand there and let the men work. Both were certain, however, that they would find their answers eventually. They were just hopping it was before the next of the Shitennou surfaced so that they'd have new questions to ask.
"Hey, Cold, look at that." Inferna said, pointing down the hall.
Cold followed the line of her finger and raised an eyebrow. This was new. The vast majority of doorways along the hall were on the inside wall. Those that were on the outside wall had all, thus far, lead to stairs. The pair had yet to go up or down any of the stairwells, sticking to the first floor for the time being. Ahead of them now was a doorway on the outside wall but, unlike any other doorway they'd yet seen, this one had statues standing on either side of it. A man on the left, a woman on the right.
They both stood on stone bases, raised up from the floor about a foot. Going from that Cold estimated the woman to be about five and a half feet tall while the man was just over six foot. The pair stood, facing each other, holding swords in their hands that crossed in front of, as though to bar entry to, the door they stood beside. As they drew closer to them Cold was able to get a better view of their appearances. Tunic like clothes, somewhat long and pointed ears, and general body and face builds that would let them almost pass as Human or Sai-jin.
The man even had the spiky hair that Sai-jins were so known for. It was short, only jutting up three or four inches at most, but it stood almost completely on end. The woman, on the other hand, had long flowing hair that spilled halfway down her back and was draped, as well, over her shoulders. The amount of detail in the figures was quit impressive. Cold could almost make out the stitch work of the fabric their tunics were supposed to be made of. The only other place he'd ever seen such detail in a statue had been in the Grand Hall with the towering statue of Souzousha located there.
"Our mysterious heroes, perhaps?" Cold asked as they came to a stop in front of the statues, gazing at the door they were blocking. It was an ornate golden door, far more splendid than any other of the few doors they'd seen in the building. There also seemed to be something carved onto it but Cold was unable to discern what it was, exactly. Writing, he figured, though in no language he knew.
"Maybe. Though I doubt great heroes would be standing guard duty like this." said Inferna. She looked back at the men they had with them. "Can any of you read what's written on them or the door?"
Cold glanced down at the Valkano for a moment and then turned his focus to the statues again. Sure enough there was writing on them as well, something he'd missed. The same odd language seemed to be carved on the swords the two individuals held while a different language was carved on the bases of the statues.
"We've seen the writing on the bases before." said one of them. "But we can't translate it. It's from the beginning of the prophecies. The first language written on the walls in the Grand Hall." They'd all come to the agreement some time ago that that language was the native language of the people who'd once lived here. The fact the same writing was on these statues implied to Cold that they were likely representations of the original natives of the world.
"And the swords and door?" he asked.
"I've never seen it before." said one of the workers as they gazed at them.
"Hey... wait a second..." said another as she walked up to the swords. She ran a finger along the edge of one of the stone blades, directly under the writing carved onto it. "This isn't a language."
"Not a language?" asked another scientist, walking up.
"Well, not exactly." she said. "I suppose it could be considered a language. They're music notes. It's a really old styling that's coming back into popularity on my world again. 'Classical Notation', they call it."
"Music notes?" Inferna asked, raising an eyebrow. "Interesting."
"I can synthesize the sounds." she said, pulling a small computer out of a small holster at her waist. "Give me a moment." She set to work coping the notes into her computer from each sword making sure to get them and their placements exact, then did the same with the door. "Alright, I've got the notes copied in. The question is, what type of instrument should we use?"
"Hey, look at this." another said, pointing at the statue of the woman. "Is this a flute?"
"Hmm?" The woman walked over and looked at the object on the woman's belt, then moved over and checked the statue of the man. He had the same object on his belt. "I don't think that's a flute..." she said. "Hang on." She brought her computer back up and connected in with the central database on Cold's ship. A moment later she was scrolling through displays of wind instruments. "Here we go, it's called an ocarina. Well, I guess that's the instrument the song is meant to be played on." A few button presses later a soft melody was sounding from the speaker in her computer.
"Well, it's a nice song at any rate, but I don't think..." Inferna trailed off as lines of light suddenly traced up along the statues, from their bases up along their legs, over their bodies, across their arms, and to the points of their swords. The notes on the swords began to glow as light traced up along the golden door and then those notes glowed as well. A grinding sound started a second later as the statues moved, their arms raising out of the way, and then the golden door faded into nothingness just as the song finished playing.
"An interesting way to open a door." said Cold as he walked forward to get a better look at the statues. "And I see no joints to these, no means of mobility. It seems as though the stone itself simply... bent, to allow them to move. Our natives appear to have been able magicians."
"Magic?" Inferna asked, walking up beside him and eyeing the statues as well. "I don't believe in magic."
"Well, they say that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." replied Cold. "I have seen things I would consider magic in my days. Whether it truly was or was simply something beyond my realm of knowledge..." he shrugged.
Inferna nodded. "That I could accept. Especially in this place where their technology is already well beyond anything we've even yet imagined."
"Indeed. Well, let's keep moving. I'm interested in seeing what our two friends here were guarding." Inferna nodded once more and followed Cold into the room, leading their researchers with them. There were startled gasps all around as they gazed about at the room. It was a large and ornate place. Not quite as massive or decorated as the Grand Hall, but almost like the hall in miniature. If the Grand Hall had been made to accommodate a goddess than this room had likely been made to accommodate a king.
The room stood at least seventy-five yards tall, a hundred yards wide, and three hundred yards long. The ceiling was gold or gold plated, like that of the Grand Hall, the floors were marble, and marble pillars reached up from floor to ceiling every twenty five yards. A red carpet reached from the door to the opposite end of the room were a golden podium stood and where two more statues resided. Unlike the statue of Souzousha in the Grand Hall, however, these two were made from marble and not gold. They greatly resembled those standing guard outside the door but they were both male, one of them was only just over four foot while the other was maybe five foot eight, and both had mohawks.
"Lady Inferna!" one of the men called from behind them. Cold and Inferna turned to look just in time to see the golden door solidify back into place.
"Hopefully that song opens it from this side, too." Inferna said, scowling a little. And then she noticed something else that caught her eye and she moved back toward the door. "Cold, come look at this." she said.
Cold followed her over and saw what had caught her attention almost instantly. Starting on the right hand side of the door, as they were facing it, and wrapping all the way around the room, were a series of painted murals. The very first painting depicted two individuals who were unmistakably the ones standing guard outside the room. But instead of being in the tunics the statues wore they were in far more elegant attire. She in a long flowing white gown and he in a fancy and decorated red robe. His skin seemed to be a pale orange color while hers was a light turquoise, and her hair was pink while his was red.
"I think our guards were husband and wife." Cold said, gazing over the image. It certainly seemed to be depicting some type of wedding ceremony. "And royalty..." he said, turning his gaze to the next painting. It showed the man and woman sitting on thrones and wearing crowns. The woman had one hand resting on an obviously enlarged stomach. The next image was that of the two holding an infant child with red hair and grayish hued skin in their arms. The fourth image wasn't as cheery, however, and depicted the man in chain mail armor standing at the head of an army of similar looking, and similarly dressed, individuals. They were standing opposite another group of much shorter purple and red skinned people in blue and green robes.
"A recorded history?" asked Inferna, as she gazed from that image to the next which showed the two sides locked in battle.
"Of a specific event, it would seem." agreed Cold. "And, luckily for us, in picture form and not written." He moved to the image after the battle and saw the field of fighting now littered with the dead and dying. It was a dark and desolate image, obviously meant to convey the horrors war to those who saw it. The next image, however, came back to cheeriness again. It showed the man and woman standing together and smiling again. The child of before was no longer an infant now but he was holding one in his own arms, also with grayish skin, and smiling at him.
The paintings continued on along the wall showing the two boys growing up, the birth of a sister with light purple skin and bluish-white hair, and her growing up with them, and showing more bouts of violence between the pointy eared individuals and the short robed people. Then came an image of the two boys, the youngest no more than ten and the older boy no more than fifteen, fighting three of the short robed men. Just in the background of the battle Cold could make out the bodies of their parents, blood pooled around them. Apparently their enemies had succeeded in an assassination attempt. The next image showed the elder boy being crowned and then the next had him on the throne where his father once sat.
That was the last image along the left hand wall. They'd now reached the end of the room where the two statues stood. They were clearly of the red haired boys in the paintings on the walls. Slightly older than they yet were in the paintings, but them. Cold figured they were twenty and fifteen in the statues. Before moving on to the next wall of paintings he stopped in front of the podium before the statues. Writing was carved into its surface. That unreadable language of the natives. Expected, but still a disappointment.
"Oh my..." Inferna said from somewhere else in the room. Cold turned to find her and saw her about half way down the right hand wall already. She was staring at one of the paintings there and Cold moved over to get a better look. It showed the two boys, now as old as they were in their statues, facing off against some sort of gigantic monster. Cold turned his gaze down the wall toward the statues again and saw another image of the monster, though it didn't reveal the size like this one. Apparently it had been the creation of the short robed people as the next phase of this on going war.
Cold followed the mural again and watched as both boys were defeated by the monster but managed to escape with their lives. The next image was of the monster laying waste to a city and a castle. Fires burned and people were screaming and running. The next image had the boys back and wielding swords different from those they'd had in previous images, ready to face the monster again. The next image had one of them apparently playing a song on his ocarina while the other was slicing the monster in half.
The image after that showed the two halves of the monster being drawn into some object, Could couldn't tell what. The following image depicted the boys being laid to rest, the effort of defeating and trapping the monster apparently having killed them. The final image was of the girl, their younger sister, now sitting on the throne and wearing the crown first her father and then her brother had worn. She was smiling and crying, her parents and brothers standing, semi-transparent, behind her.
"Interesting." Cold said. "It would seem these two boys would be the great heroes Jikoku mentioned."
"Yeah. Saved their world from that... thing. Apparently at the cost of their own lives. I'd say that qualifies them for the title."
"I wonder, though..." Cold began, looking back toward the creature. "That thing doesn't seem to be dead. Perhaps it is the sleeping 'it' we heard of?"
Inferna pursed her lips in thought. "If it is then I hope it stays asleep." she said.
XXX
Everfrost sighed. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Zukina. The Sai-jin had seemed to be in good spirits after their landing on Xentron and her mood had improved after being told that Storm had gone off shopping on her own. It had then soured significantly upon the Wathor's return to the ship and the Sai-jin's discovery of just why she'd gone off shopping on her own. That had been twenty days ago now and the Sai-jin's mood had not improved in the slightest since then. Not that he could blame her as it was now impossible for her to go more than thirty feet from where ever Storm was.
One of the items the Wathor had purchased, one of the things that he and Xeno had refused to buy for her, was a restraint system. A common item in the slave trade. One person would wear the master unit while another would have the slave unit on. The master unit on this particular model was a ring while the slave unit was a collar. If the person wearing the slave unit left a predetermined range set by the master unit they would get a powerful shock. Attempt to go even further and they'd be shocked again, harder.
What's more, this particular unit also came equipped with a ki line system. With this the ring could be linked in, physically, with the collar, and a leash of sorts would be created. The energy for the leash was supplied by the twin units but ki line systems drew the actual power of the lines they made from people, in this case the one wearing the ring. Thus the 'leash' that reached from Storm's ring to Zukina's collar was as powerful as the Wathor. Too powerful for the Sai-jin to get away from, though she had attempted to do so a few times the first time they'd all gone outside. Storm had not turned the leash off since then and was, constantly, dragging Zukina around town with it.
Such was the case now. He, Storm, Rain, Xeno, Eve, and Nail had gone out to explore more of the city, since there really wasn't much else to do at the moment, and Storm had brought Zukina along, leash in place. Everfrost felt that if he had a Sai-jin always glaring at him like that, even if he were nearly three times stronger than them, he'd be a little more worried about his life than Storm seemed to be. Of course, he also got the distinct impression that the only reason Storm continued to use the leash and drag Zukina around by it was because of just how much it upset her. That whole Sai-jin pride thing.
"Honestly." Rain said, rolling her eyes, as Storm gave a hard yank on the energy leash so that Zukina was up beside her instead of trailing behind them all at the end of the fifteen foot line. "Can't you give the poor thing a break?"
"I'm not a 'poor thing'." Zukina growled, rubbing her neck with one hand where the collar had bit into it at.
"You know, you probably shouldn't be snapping at someone who's actually trying to help." Eve said from where she was examining a necklace at a small outdoor vendor's stand.
Zukina sighed. She knew Eve was right but Rain just looked so much like her sister she considered them the same person. "I still don't see why you couldn't just leave me back at the ship." she muttered. "Or let me go."
"I spent ten hours filling out those damned WMC forms." said Storm. "Do you have any idea how boring that is, or how much my hand was cramped after I finished?"
"Oh, excuse me." said Zukina sarcastically. "I'm so sorry I inconvenienced you so much. A hand cramp, that must have been so painful. Meanwhile I've had four broken fingers, a shattered ankle, six broken legs, two shattered knees, four broken arms, eleven dislocated shoulders, three cracked ribs, a fractured hip, and two fractured jaws. But I guess those don't really compare to a cramped hand."
"Well, if you'd just do what you were told, you wouldn't have had any of those injuries, now would you?" Storm said, giving the leash another yank for emphasis.
Xeno closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "One of these days one of those two is going to kill the other one." he muttered.
"If Storm can't find the time to finish the training process, you're probably right." Rain agreed. "She was an idiot to take a Mate while we were out on assignment, especially a Sai-jin. Zukina's power has increased over a thousand points since the first time I saw her."
"Training... ugh." Eve said as she left the vendor behind and joined the others again. "I've never been a fan of the whole slavery thing."
"It's part of our culture." said Rain. "Wathors have taken Mates, literally speaking, since as far back as our records go. That's nearly eight thousand years. Every single one of us knows there's always the chance we'll be the ones taken, instead of the ones taking."
"Wathors, maybe." said Eve. "But Zukina's a Sai-jin. She didn't exactly grow up in that culture."
"It's not like Sai-jins don't do the same thing on occasion." Storm countered. "There's plenty of Sai-jins out there who's Mates were... less than willing in the beginning. Such as the Mates of Masters Vegeta, Kakkarotto, and Gohan. And anyway, the Masters say it's fine, they wouldn't have passed the WMC laws allowing it otherwise." She turned her gaze back to Zukina then. "Which is something you should keep in mind." she said. "Legally speaking you have to obey me."
"I'm rather surprised that the Masters would allow you to take a Mate from their races, or their troops." Nail said. It was his first trip out of the ship since their arrival on Xentron. Ferri had done some digging around the city and managed to locate a holographic image inducer. With it the Namek's appearance could be disguised. It was a simple vest like device that he had to wear. Currently he looked like a Human in something of a blue suit, yellow shirt and a tie, with reddish-brown eyes, and 'fluffy' dark green hair.
"They prefer things to run smoothly in the Empire and the more concessions they make to the right groups the smoother things go." said Rain. "Wathors are a warrior race like the Sai-jins. Having us as allies gives them another three billion soldiers. And I've found the Masters don't really care much about anything that doesn't affect them directly."
"I still say you should cut her some slack." said Eve. "I think if you were a little nicer she probably wouldn't cause you so much trouble."
Rain laughed. "A Wathor being nice to their taken Mate would be as likely a Sai-jin giving up food for a week." she said. "But I have to agree with Eve, Storm. You're pushing things a little too far given our current situation. Things would be different if we were back on our world, or even just at a base somewhere, but we're not. We're in the middle of nowhere with very little resources open to us."
Storm sighed. "Alright, alright." she muttered as she reached down and ran a finger over the ring on her right hand. The glowing blue leash that ran from ring to collar shimmered and then vanished.
"Thanks." Zukina said softly in Eve's ear. She'd found, over the last several weeks, that she rather liked the Nezorf, something she was surprised by since the other woman was very un-Sai-jin like in personality. Xeno and Everfrost were nice enough as well, but Eve was the only one from the group she was willing to consider a friend. Tao she'd barely spoken with and Nail kept to himself.
Eve shrugged. "Just don't do anything stupid." she said. "I think so long as you don't cause her problems she'll go easier on you." Zukina frowned. "I know, I know." said Eve, seeing the look. "But I've always found the best way to deal with a situation is to flow with it and try to control it instead of fighting against it. It's gotten me this far. I'd be locked up in an Imperial prison right now, or maybe even executed at this point, if I didn't work that way."
"Huh?" the Sai-jin asked. "Why would you be imprisoned or executed?"
"How do you think she got to be such a good hacker that she can avoid even Dr. Gero's security measures?" Xeno asked. They knew the doctor had detected her intrusions by the simple fact that security had been increased, but Eve was still able to circumvent the measures. What's more, she'd even verified, by hacking into Gero's computers, that he hadn't been able to trace a single one of her hacks.
"I... never really gave it much thought..." Zukina said. She knew, of course, about how deep into the system Eve had gotten. She'd broken through pretty much every defensive barrier that she'd come across. The Nezorf very nearly had complete and total access to anything on the Imperial Network. "What'd you do?"
"I used to work freelance. Did hacking jobs for anyone who needed something done. Typically one company wanting to steal data from another. MechaDyne hired me one time, about three years back, wanted me to steal the data on Capsule technology from the CC computer network for them. I got in alright, got the data, and got back out. I'd thought it was a clean job. No detection, no traces, nothing. Only... when I opened the door to leave the hotel room I was staying in there was a CC security team standing there pointing their guns at my head. I was given two options then. Let them turn me over to the Imperial Police or return what I'd taken, join CC, and pretend the hack never happened. I took option two. That was only the second time of two I'd ever been traced."
"Eve's the closest thing to a slave that Capsule Corp. employs." said Xeno.
"What do you mean?"
"I signed a twenty year contract." Eve answered. She sighed and slipped her hands into the pockets of her coolant suit. The suit looked a lot like a light blue body suit, only it was thick, squishy, and rubbery instead of thin, stretchy, and velvety. "If I break it at any time they turn over all the information about my hack and data theft to the Imperial Police. And the contract I signed was a full contract. They say where I go, where live, what I do, everything. It's not exactly slavery but it's as close as you can get without crossing over that line."
"I guess that explains a few things about why she's so nice to me and always on Storm's case for me." Zukina thought. "She may not actually be a slave herself but she knows something of what it's like." She found herself liking the Nezorf even more, now. "So... what was the first time?" she asked.
"Uh, well, you know that network crash from ten years ago?" she asked. The Sai-jin nodded. "That was me. Er, it was an accident, though."
"An... accident?" Zukina asked. "How do you accidentally crash the entire Imperial Network? And I'd heard the crash was supposed to be some sort of OS bug."
"The OS bug thing was just their cover." said Eve. "But partly true. I got into the system through a security hole in the OS the network used back then. I crashed the network by accident because my attempt at hacking into the Imperial banking network was detected so I started shutting down pathways and stuff to try and block the trace while still transferring the funds I was after." She shrugged. "What I hadn't realized was that the Imperial banking network was linked directly into the central mainframe on Saiya. So, when I crashed the banking network to throw off my pursuers... I sort of crashed the entire network."
Zukina stopped walking. "You... you stole money directly from the Imperial banking network?" she asked in surprise. She let out a gasp of pain a second later as her collar shocked her and, cursing under her breath, she rushed to catch up with the others again.
"Yeah. Around three hundred million credits." said Eve. "Though I haven't been able to touch a single cent of it."
"How come?"
"The guys who detected my hack had managed to trace me despite the network crash." she explained. "I would have been charged and arrested but they had no actual proof it was me and I didn't admit to it even after a week of interrogation. Then, suddenly, they found a new trail on the money that lead them away from me and I was set free."
Zukina blinked as she looked Eve up and down. "She got through a week of Imperial Police interrogation without breaking?" she thought in awe. Her opinion of the Nezorf had just improved even more. Anyone that could last that long was made of some pretty strong stuff, even if they weren't very powerful. Especially considering how fast she'd given in to Storm's demands the first time on the Talon. She hadn't lasted more than thirty minutes, at best. "But what lead them away from you?" she asked at last. "Where'd that new trail come from?"
"Safety measure I'd taken." Eve replied. "I set up a remote terminal to make a new hack and some money transfers if I didn't enter a password before the timer ran out. It made it look to the Imperials that someone else had stolen the money and was trying to hide it and trying to steal more. Unfortunately they managed to trace the transfer and marked all of the money."
"So... if you try and spend any of it..."
"The Imperial Police will be alerted to the transfer. They'll know what I bought, when I bought it, and where I bought it. And as most stores have security cameras they'll also be able to see who I am from that. So I've had no choice but to just let all of that money sit there."
XXX
"Ludic, Ridic." Tao said, nodding to each of them in turn.
"Ah, Tao." Ridic said, grinning. "I was starting to think those little flies hadn't passed on the message, or that you were avoiding us."
"I've just been rather busy." Tao said, clasping his hands behind his back. "I did send a message along that I would be a while in coming."
Ridic nodded. "Yeah, we got it." he said. "But you've never taken this long before. No matter, it's not important. You're here now so we can get down to business. I trust you've got the money to cover the port rent?"
"In a manner of speaking." Tao replied. He moved one hand out from behind his back and started digging through his pockets. "My funds are almost entirely tied up in acquiring a new ship. However, I had my old ship appraised." He pulled out a small computer and gave it a toss over to the two large men. "As you can see, the total value of the ship is enough to cover a ten month period of rent. My companions and I still need it currently as living quarters, but once the new ship is finished I will be able to sell the old one. That will be in two to three months, depending on how construction goes."
"I see where you're going." Ludic said, looking at the data on the computer screen. "We wait until your new ship is done and you're ready to leave and we get all the money from the sale, yes?"
"Exactly." Tao said. He'd dealt with these two several times before during visits to Xentron. They were two of the weaker Bosses on the planet. Independently, anyway. They'd both been wary of him, initially, but the three of them had settled into a friendly relationship rather quickly. Tao saw no reason to 'rock the boat', as it were, so he'd not caused them any trouble and he'd even done the two of them a few favors over the years. In turn he got more leeway with them than the average person. He didn't know of anyone else who could have made them wait as long as he had and still have their ship in one piece, for instance.
"Alright, you've got yourself a deal." Ludic said, grinning. "You're lucky we like you, Tao. We don't normally take late payments like..."
"Hang on." Ridic said.
"What is it, brother?" asked Ludic. "You're not worried Tao will cheat us? He's never caused trouble before."
"No, no." said Ridic. "He's one of the few around here I trust. But have you forgotten, brother? The notice we got a couple weeks back?"
Ludic frowned for a moment, thinking. "Ah, right, yes." he said at last. "I had forgotten about that. Hmm, that is a problem."
"What's the problem?" asked Tao.
"Well, it's like this." Ridic began. "We received a notice from The Cabal about two weeks ago. As you know, all transmissions off world are recorded and monitored for anything... unwanted. One such transmission was made the same day you arrived. It went out into the Imperial network, to Saiya, and told the Empire that you are here."
Tao frowned. He couldn't think of how he'd been tracked to Xentron, or anyone on the planet who'd inform the Empire he was there. Ferri certainly wouldn't have and she was the only former Imper... "One of my new passengers." he thought, frowning more. "I would say the Sai-jin was the most likely candidate."
"You see the problem, I'm sure." Ridic said.
"You don't think anyone from the Empire would actually come here for me, do you?" Tao asked. "I may cause a little trouble now and then but there are far bigger fish out there than me."
Ridic tapped a finger against his chin. "Maybe. Maybe not." he said. "The Earth was destroyed, yes? Humans must be big nuisance for that to happen. And you have people with you now. You were always alone before. Who are these new people?"
"Survivors from a ship malfunction." Tao answered. "I rescued them when their hull ruptured and they agreed to help me for a while as payment for rescue."
"So, not Resistance?" asked Ludic.
"No." said Tao.
"Imperial?" asked Ridic.
"No." said Tao again. "Not soldiers, at least. Capsule Corp. employees."
Ludic blinked. "Capsule Corp.?" he asked. "Well then, they're good here. But still, this matter of transmission is not good."
"I'm not entirely sure how it happened." said Tao.
"Not entirely?" asked Ludic. "Then perhaps, partially?"
Tao wasn't sure how to answer that, exactly. Right or not about Zukina having sent the message, suggesting she might have to a Boss could put her in a lot of trouble. Then word that she was an Imperial soldier would get out and cause him trouble. Plus Storm and Rain, while working for Capsule Corp., were also still technically Imperial soldiers as well and that would likely get out. All of that would also put out word about Nail for sure, and the fact that the Namek was an escapee of Frieza's captivity, one that the Changeling would certainly want back, would cause them both even more trouble still. But lying to these two and being discovered would be as bad, if not worse.
"Maybe." Tao said. "Two of those I rescued are Wathor, one of them with a... new Mate."
Ridic blinked. "Ah, yes, the orange skin. I thought I knew that look. New Mate, you say? Untrained then?"
"Currently, yes."
Ridic nodded. "Problems are abundant with untrained slaves. Resentful ones even more so. Well, what's done is done but see it is not done again. If, by chance, Imperials do come for you, then do not damage our city or I take the cost of repairs from you. If you can kill them, though..." Ridic grinned, then. "I give you half discount on port rent for their bodies!"
Tao smirked. "I shall do my best."
XXX
Eve sighed as she leaned back against the wall of the building and stared at her feet. They'd come across a club during their exploration of the city and the two Wathor women had insisted on checking it out. Clubs were not Eve's thing, though. Too much body heat, for one. The coolant suit was good, it was keeping her at a fairly cool temperature, even if her face still felt like it was on fire, but she doubted it'd work as well in the club which was sure to be even hotter. She also wasn't a fan of the usual blaring music they played. Besides that, this particular club wouldn't have been her style even she had liked clubs, anyway.
It wasn't to Nail, Xeno, or Everfrost's tastes, either, so the four of the had remained outside. Zukina had wanted to remain outside as well but Storm refused to turn off the restraint system so the Sai-jin had been stuck following her in. A sign on the wall by the door announced that there would be a slave auction held inside that night. Under the sign were twelve cages, each of them holding one of the twelve slaves that was to be auctioned off that night. Most of them looked bored but Eve was sure two of them were terrified. Obviously they hadn't been slaves long.
Eve brought her head up from staring at the ground as a blast of music hit the street. "Finally." she said, seeing Rain and Storm coming out, Zukina right behind them. "Can we leave, now?" she asked.
"Sure." said Storm. "Though I fully plan on coming back tonight. I've got a few thousand credits saved up in my account and this seems the perfect place to spend some." Zukina snorted but didn't say anything.
"Shh." Nail said softly. "Not so loud."
"Oh, come on, what's the big deal?" Storm asked. "It's in my account, not on me."
Nail gave his head a light jerk down the road to their right and Storm turned to look, hiding it by making as though she were cracking her neck. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the three people leaning against the wall a block away making like they were just hanging out. It was clear, however, that they weren't 'just hanging out' as they kept casting glances in her direction. What's more, she recognized each of them. She'd been seeing them all day. No, wait, she'd seen one of them almost a week ago, too.
"They've been tailing us." she said, turning to face the others again. "And I saw one of them a week ago or so."
"That one with the ruined left eye, I saw him about ten days ago." Eve said, after casting her own covert glance their way. "I remember because I nearly ran into him."
"Why are they following us?" asked Xeno. "If they wanted something they'd just come up to us."
"I don't know but I don't like it." said Nail. "We should head back to the ship and let Tao know. He might... well, speak of the devil." The others all turned to look and saw Tao walking toward them. The three men at the wall looked toward him then went back to pretending to not be interested in anything. "We've got shadows." Nail said, nodding toward them.
"I know." replied Tao. "I've had one on and off for the last few days as well, whenever he was able to keep up, and I just finally found out why."
"What is it?" asked Everfrost.
"The Cabal has taken a small interest in us." replied Tao. "Mostly to make sure we don't cause trouble."
"Trouble?" asked Rain. "What sort of trouble could we cause?"
"The Imperial kind. It would seem the Empire knows that I am here." Tao noticed the sudden twitch Zukina made. Like the Sai-jin wanted to turn and run but then remembered she couldn't. It confirmed his suspicions.
"What?" Eve asked, shocked. "But... how? They didn't trace one of my hacks after all, did they?" she asked.
"No." replied Tao. "They were informed by someone on the planet. All transmissions off of Xentron are monitored by the Bosses for just such an occurrence. Thus The Cabal learning that the Empire knew of my being here, and thus our shadows."
"But... I thought this place had no ties to the Empire, that they hated anyone who did." said Storm. "Who would send..." she stopped then and turned to look back at Zukina. The Sai-jin didn't even bother to argue a defense, just glared right back at the Wathor. "You do realize you may have just gotten us all killed, don't you?" she demanded.
Eve blinked and then turned to see who and what Storm was talking about. "Zukina? You sent...?"
The Sai-jin nodded. "While all of you were busy with those two oafs after we first got here." she said, still glaring at Storm. "I don't care if you end up dead."
"Not just me." the Wathor said. "All of us, including you. Or didn't you think that far ahead?"
"What are you talking about?" Zukina laughed. "I intend to leave with whoever co..."
Storm sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "Honestly, Sai-jins must be one of the dumbest races in the universe." she muttered.
"What was that!" demanded Zukina.
"Zukina." Rain began. "Our presence here with Tao, and the fact that we didn't contact anyone about him, makes us all guilty by association. Which means anyone who comes for him can kill us as well. That's not even considering Eve's hacking or what we've learned through it. You know what happens to the taken Mate of a Wathor once that Wathor is dead. I know you do, because I was there when Storm told you."
"That requires that they know." she said.
"Can you really be that dense?" Storm asked, lowering her hand. "Didn't we just talk about the WMC forms not more than three hours ago? I had to file paper work to get permission to take you. I didn't take you down to the hold until after all the paper work had cleared and you were officially listed as my Mate. It's been a matter of public record for over a month, now. Everyone in the Empire already knows."
Zukina scowled. She hadn't thought of that. There would be records saying that she 'belonged' to Storm now. "Fuck it, I don't care." she thought. "I'd rather be dead than be owned, anyway."
"Perhaps it best we not talk about this in the open." Tao said. "Let's return to the ship for now and continue this there."
"Good idea." Eve said, glancing down to the three men again. They seemed to be more interested in their group now than they had been before. They weren't even pretending to be bored now. She was just about to start off in that direction when a pair of people walked onto their road from one of the side streets. Big people, one red and one blue, both wearing simple tunics. People Eve recognized from her stay in Imperial custody ten years ago, even out of their armor.
"Oh... shit..." she said softly, eyes going wide.