Papuru Star: Coalition Carnage

Chapter 26: Victim to Greed

The Underbay is known throughout the galaxy as a safe haven for the criminal element. It wasn't just because the Underbay was located five hundred meters beneath the surface of Ksush and made up sixty percent of the planet's interior; an area so vast, it would be near impossible to find someone who didn't want to be found. Neither is it entirely because of the omnipresent darkness, the only illumination being the street lights and home lights powered by generators connected to the surface power grid. Primarily, it was the Ksush themselves. The three armed beings value hospitality above all else and consider any who set foot on or below soil to be guests protected under the laws they set. The only law for those who call the Underbay home is to not antagonize those above ground. The happiness of the world of amusement must never be breached under penalty of death with the extreme prejudice sixty million, seven foot bipeds could muster against a violator. The criminals obey wholeheartedly, knowing they have a whole race of protectors from various interplanetary law enforcement.

One such person was desperate for that protection at the moment. He is a Tilris named Domeraa and he had stolen enough c-chips from an old lover to buy an island on Aphlis and retire from a life of crime. Unfortunately, that old lover was the head of the deadliest crime organization the Underbay had to offer. While she was currently off-world, he knew he had better follow her example before she returned. Domeraa was known for his ability to crack any safe. His thin, bony fingers could sense by touch which buttons or switches or any number of protective devices with a combination lock needed to be used. Magically enchanted locks were no issue for him; he possessed a scroll stolen years ago while on a trip to Yon that allowed him to immediately identify and know the proper counter spell to any magical sealing experienced by the scroll's creator. He made a name for himself as the Bird Burglar and was hired by and targeted by many organizations that sought to use or fell prey to him.

He never had the golden eggs to pull a job on the Zandorina crime family before yesterday. After all, Zandorina took a liking to him and made him one of her lovers; she paid him well and supplied plenty of jobs to keep him occupied. But after a centennial of comfort, he felt the call of the wild once more. He decided to take a parting gift for having to be with the much bigger Dagon so often. A thief's gotta thief, after all.

Once Zandorina and her top lieutenants left for business, it was a simple matter bypassing the normally adequate security measures and into the electronic safe in the Dagon's bedroom. Inside were papers, which he ignored for a small grey box that he knew held her emergency stash of c-chips. He opens it and nearly passes out. Lined in three rows of twelve and stacked four deep were c-chips with a digital value of one hundred thousand a piece.

His joy at his newfound wealth was shattered within hours. After hiding the box of c-chips in a lake of sewage, he returned home and by sheer luck, saw Zandorina gunmen enter the crumbling structure. He must have tripped some alarm that sent a warning to Zandorina or someone within her organization. Luckily, it wasn't to anyone inside her heavily fortified headquarters or he wouldn't have got out alive. And she knew it was him, out the cage. The woman was smarter than she looked. He retreats to one of his lesser known hideouts, sticking to the ground instead of flying the distance, sure Zandorina spies had infrared sensors trained on the black skies beneath the surface of Ksush.

He was at a security gate hidden by a wall of fake graffiti and punched the code only he knew. Inside was a stuffy hanger full of boxes, cobwebs, and dust. Also, a snub nosed cruiser of Cycloid design all dark and dead looking. Domeraa searched a particular box and obtains the ignition ring he hid for the ship. He hadn't used this ship in over a year, pretending to be shipless just for this occasion. It would take the ship's computers an hour to reboot and get the systems ready for flight.

He took this opportunity to make it to another hideaway, which was a shitty boarding house he paid for a year in advance. He also had to kill the homeowner, who tried to rob him, thinking he was loaded. He took flight up the stairs to his room and knew someone had been inside. Everything looked untouched; his bed, dresser, and box holotube was like he left it. The floor dust was disturbed and his clothes in the closet were moved around as if someone was searching for something. He was positive it was the homeowner's wife, a Human, who can never be trusted. It was possible Zandorina knew of his secret apartment and had her goons here, but the place would be more ransacked if so.