Outcasts of Gideon

Aftermath : Part 3

A man tapped his shoulder from behind. "Did you feel it too?" Kishan turned to look at him, deciding whether he should answer. The man had thinning white hair and a weathered face. Kishan had not noticed him when he selected his seat. There were several other men seated in their vicinity. They hadn't been there either. "The quake. Did you feel it?"

Kishan was rarely in the mood to talk. His guard was up. It was always up. And talking to strangers was never on his agenda. However, he couldn't ignore the fact that the man may have followed him to this seat.

"They say it was a meteor strike," said the man. "Shook the entire planet. Had to be something. I don't think there's any tectonic activity here. Is there? You don't look like you suffered any damage from it."

"Do I know you?"

"I'd be surprised if you did. But I know you."

Kishan's stomach tightened. He allowed a sly smile to spread across his face. "I doubt that very much."

"Don't misunderstand me. I didn't say we'd ever met. But I do know you. People like you are valuable to people like me."

Kishan had begun to sweat. He worked his jaw as he reviewed his options. This was likely an operative of Runar. Maybe he was a Damasos officer. He wasn't sure which was the better prospect.

The stranger didn't make him squirm for very long. "Do you know why it failed? That might have been my fault."

Kishan pieced things together. This had to be Runar himself. "How so?"

"People have tried to create phaethonium before."

"I'm not surprised. I hear it's valuable."

"Yes, it is. And I wasn't the first to think of using a device of extraordinary means to replicate it."

"No, I imagine that you weren't."

"I saw an attempt fail. Well, I didn't actually see it, but there was a record of failure. I thought they'd just done it wrong. You could call it hubris on my part. Whatever the reason, the promise of a big payday made me a little greedy."

"Understandable."

"I sank a lot of mono into that first projector. And the leikela wasn't cheap either."

"Leikela?"

"The little power source you used."

"So that's what that was."

Runar shook his head. "Let me guess, Mihr talked your ear off but didn't tell you anything about the leikela. Well, he wasn't my first choice. Sometimes I have to use whoever is available."

"He's not available any longer."

Runar looked puzzled at first. "You killed him?"

"I'm not an assassin."

"That's right. There are lines you will not cross. I have to keep reminding myself about that."

"Mihr died of stupidity. Flew too close to the event."

"Yeah, that was bound to happen to him."

"I thought you paired me with him to get rid of me too." As he said the words, Kishan wondered if he should have voiced them. Runar's reaction surprised him. The older man looked hurt by the accusation.

"I wouldn't have invested all of that time and mono if I didn't think you were the right man for the job."

Kishan had worked for Runar several times. He always assumed that his work had been satisfactory. Hearing it from the man himself was a different story. Still, while he wanted to believe it, he knew better. Working in the shadows always meant some degree of dishonesty. "So where does that leave us?"

"Well, I was expecting another leikela to arrive on the next shuttle. But that shuttle isn't on its way. In fact, it's been hijacked by some drifter. My plan was to replicate the pile you created with the first run. Why not make a tenfold increase into a hundredfold increase?"

"You don't have any metal to replicate, either."

"Really? Isn't it still there?"

"It's there, but changed. Like powder. I don't know how it happened."

"That's unfortunate." Runar scanned the busy station around them. "What I'd like to do is pay you for your work, per the plan."

"You'd like to do that? What's stopping you?"

"I suppose I should have said that I plan to do that, but I'd like to retain you to retrieve the other leikela. I have another projector, but it will do me no good without a power source."

"You must have someone more qualified to do that. My expertise is in munitions and electronics."

"You underestimate yourself. Your expertise is thinking on your feet. I need someone who can do that."

"Despite what just happened?"

"As I said, I should have expected that."

Kishan darted his eyes to several men in their vicinity. None of them acknowledged him. "It looks like you have plenty of talent at your disposal."

"These men are more like hammers. They are excellent when I need something smashed. Right now, I need more precision, someone who operates well in complex situations."

Kishan again wondered if he had misjudged their relationship. Whether he had or not, he didn't see many options available to him. "What's our next step?"

Runar raised an arm. A man standing at a distance behind him approached. "I have a vessel for you. This pilot will be at your disposal. The ship is small, but fast. It would be best if we got you started right away."

"Aren't all flights grounded?"

"Yes, all official flights are grounded. If you know the right people, unofficial flights might be possible."

The man walked up to Kishan and extended a hand. His deep, gruff voice was unpolished, as was his English. "You have an emergency on Pyroeis?"

Kishan stood and accepted his hand. "Yes, my wife is expecting twins." He turned and nodded to Runar.

The pilot led Kishan back toward the far wall where he had been standing. From there they turned and made their way through a door into a long corridor. This led to an auxiliary dock where a vessel waited. The pilot entered a code into his comm bracelet. The hatch to the docking bridge lit up. They entered, the hatch closing behind them.