FutureSight - a YEAR 10000 story

08 - McGraw

A few hours later, a man from the rebels showed up. He came in from the drizzling rain, taking his coat off and laying it on a stair rail. He then took a seat at the coffee table Daren was at.

He looked at the man, noticing that he had a red beard and mustache and dark red hair. His face was a little pale, and his eyes a little small. He was wearing a sweater underneath his raincoat, and currently looked like he was thinking deep about something.

"And you are?" Daren spoke.

"I might ask the same question," he answered," but for the sake of conversation, call me McGraw."

"And for the sake of conversation, call me Daren."

"Daren?" he echoed, lifting an eyebrow. "As in, Daren the Outlaw?"

He nodded once. "The one and only. It seems you've heard of my handiwork. Where'd you hear about me from?"

The man just shrugged and looked away. "From here and there. You used to work with the Glory Star, didn't you?"

"And how do you know that?"

McGraw chuckled some and looked at him. "We know a lot of things about a lot of people. You... you've been of some interest to our little organization for some time. To be honest, no one's had the guts to approach you with a plan."

Daren lifted his right eyebrow. "Is that a fact?" He was a little flattered; suddenly it seemed like everyone had heard of him. It wasn't a pleasant feeling though.

"Mhmm. A fact."

The two sat there, contemplating what was to be done. Eventually, McGraw cut through the smoke by getting down to business. "Well, I suppose we oughta get this done with then," he started. "I heard you have a deal in mind to make with us, the Consheir Rebels. Well, out with it then."

Daren leaned forwards and looked him straight in the eye. "The Triad are workin' on something - something big. I know a little bit about it. It's called FutureSight, and that it's primary purpose is to predict the future. And I know it works too, because I was one of the test subjects."
"Really? How does that work?"

He cleared his throat, and rubbed his hands together slowly. "I was hired by the Sel Sarrak Combine to escort some of their valuables to another planet. The security was top notch; no way the Triad could've found out about it. Except they did. Not only did they find out about it, but they knew right where to intersect my route. Almost killed me too."

McGraw nodded slowly, as if in thought. "Interesting. Continue."

Daren sat back and sighed. "Then the Sel Sarrak Combine backstabbed me and blew a hole in my ship. That's where you come into play, the Consheir Rebels."

"How so?" McGraw asked.

"You help me repair the Anvil, I'll help you get FutureSight. Oh, and there's one other thing I neglected to mention."

McGraw lifted his eyebrows and ran a hand through his curly red hair.

"There's this... being on planet Grimrall, the world I crashlanded on. If at all possible, I think you should capture him and interrogate him for information. He ain't human, and I'm getting the feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of his kind soon."

"Not human? Explain."

"He's... an alien. He's big, got green skin, an ugly face, and a gun the size of my arm. He was pretty damn tough to fight, and I didn't get the chance to kill him. We capture him and take his ship, just for good measure."

McGraw chuckled some and leaned back. "Forgive me if I disbelieve your account, but there hasn't been a sighting of any aliens since the fall of the Konro Empire. I somehow doubt that you just happened upon a new species by accident-"

"Yeah, well, don't believe me, just visit Grimrall and see for yourself. The condition I left him in... he won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

"I see. So the deal is the Anvil for FutureSight. Do you know where we can find FutureSight?"

He nodded his head emphatically," oh I got a pretty damn good idea of where to find it."

McGraw stood up. "If that's the case, I'll be on my way back to our base. Mr. Daren, if you and Mr. Kavoly will accompany me...?"

"Oh. Well, alright." Daren put his armor back on, and McGraw put his raincoat back on. They walked outside into the light rain, splashing in a puddle as they approached McGraw's transport shuttle. It was smaller than the airbus by a bit, but should still be able to accomodate the three of them.

The shuttle opened up, and the passengers boarded it. It closed, and then took of to the Consheir Rebels secret base.

A five hour flight came and went, and by the time it was done they were bearing down on this barren moon that had sparse civilization. Daren wasn't sure where they could hide a base on this thing, except for maybe underground.

They approached the planet and landed slowly on a docking pad out in the middle of nowhere.

"Just wait a second," McGraw said. "They're scanning my ship to make sure it is a registered Consheir vessel. Just be patient."

A few minutes ticked by - Daren assumed these people didn't have emergencies in mind when they designed their security systems. After about five minutes, the ground rumbled and lowered them down.

Daren chuckled some, and they were under the ground. "Ya see," McGraw said," told ya you just needed to be patient. Now we wait, as it lowers us into the main base. There are other ways in, of course, but this is the one I am most comfortable with."

They waited for maybe another minute, and the downwards elevator revealed a bustling base maybe the size of a small city. It stopped, and McGraw flew the ship into a pressure chamber. Once inside, the air pressure was equalized, and they were allowed into the base.

"Holy God," Daren groaned, looking around in awe. "How do you get the money to build a place like this?"

"Donations, mostly," McGraw responded. "Some of the most illustrious people today are secretly members of the Consheir rebels. Just like Mr. Kavoly here. Some names you might recognize are Drense the Baron, Allin Aleon, and Sinsadda Tushayne.

He did know those names; every last one of them was a big name in whatever particular field they dwelt in. Allin Aleon was a renowned musician, Drense was the Baron of a small city-state on the Triad capitol world, and Sinsadda Tushayne was a renowned celebrity of many fields. He'd seen her on his CTV often enough. These were all big time people... maybe these rebels weren't as backwater as he'd first thought.

The ship landed on another pad, and this time it opened up to let its passengers out.

Daren stepped out into the artificial light that flooded the entire underground city. This place was amazing! Koe was part of something big, it seemed. Bigger than he would've ever guessed.

"Welcome," McGraw said. "To the Moon of Dampheere."