Chapter One
Roshon had no intention of giving up his weapon. If it came down to that he would walk away. Contract or no contract, there was no way he was going to walk into a citadel, on a Union planet, without knowing that he would be able to defend himself. They called themselves the guardians of peace, but he never trusted government types.
Standing outside the imposing structure, Roshon checked the message once more.
Two passengers for transport to Alarias Prime. Payment upon confirmed arrival. Rendezvous at Machingo Citadel, Zantac III.
This was the place. Despite the rosy glow of the pink genomite that the citadel was made from, it looked imposing. Its spires reached well into the cloud bank, like spears threatening the sky to fall. The reinforced tubing that helped the genomite grow in the correct shape looked like steel traps to Roshon.
Pushing down his feeling of foreboding, he approached the gate.
“State your business.” The bored gatekeeper could barely be bothered to look Roshon in the eye.
“I am expected. I am here to transport…”
“Name.” The gatekeeper interrupted, apparently wanting to keep their interaction as brief as possible.
“Nandu, Roshon.”
A few seconds later, he was being escorted in the citadel by a very jittery and very short pink man. A Genovian, to be sure. His flapping robes told labeled him as a Keeper. The magnificent growth and maintenance of the great genomite citadel was his responsibility, so too were the keeping of its secrets. For a moment, Roshon felt sorry for the hyper little man. He would never be allowed to leave the citadel; Roshon couldn’t imagine a worse fate.
The Keeper left Roshon in a small ante-chamber and disappeared without a word. Roshon looked around. He wasn’t in the citadel proper; this room appeared to be part of an outer ring of chambers. They were probably incorporated in the design to allow meetings, such as this, to happen behind closed doors but away from whatever secrets the citadel held.
After a few minutes, the door of the ante-chamber opened and two females walked in.
Females! Females? Why had the Union contacted a known mercenary to transport females?
It had been so long since Roshon had seen one up close, and even longer than that since he had spoken to one. Everything began to click in Roshon’s brain. The Union was transporting females from one citadel to another, but they weren’t using the normal transport. That meant trouble and Roshon wasn’t sure he wanted any part of it. Was it too late to back out?
“Mister Nandu, I presume?” The eldest of the two spoke first. She was well past breeding age and had the pinched faced demeanor of a school warden. Roshon assumed that she was probably well armed beneath the dark blue traveling robes she was wearing. It wasn’t likely that the Union would let a female get within 100 meters of a male like him without some precautions.
“Yeah, that’s me. Ladies, you mind telling me what all this is about?”
“I am Zaffa and this is my charge. We are your cargo for this run. I assume that the terms of the contract were to your liking?”
“Nobody told me about running females off world. Doesn’t the Union have dedicated transport for this kind of thing? I don’t want any trouble.”
“You are being paid are you not? Mr. Nandu, in your line of work, isn’t the avoidance and disposal of trouble part of the job description?”
Roshon was not enjoying the way this conversation was heading. More and more he felt like he had walked into a trap. The breeder said nothing. The only movement she made was with her eyes, bouncing from Roshon to Zaffa and back again as the conversation progressed.
“Look, if the breeder is running away from her guild I want no part of it. I still value my life.”
“I assure you the ‘breeder’ is not running away from anything but need to be safely taken to her sistren who await her on Alarias Prime.”
“Sure, sure. And what if I say I
Roshon had no intention of giving up his weapon. If it came down to that he would walk away. Contract or no contract, there was no way he was going to walk into a citadel, on a Union planet, without knowing that he would be able to defend himself. They called themselves the guardians of peace, but he never trusted government types.
Standing outside the imposing structure, Roshon checked the message once more.
Two passengers for transport to Alarias Prime. Payment upon confirmed arrival. Rendezvous at Machingo Citadel, Zantac III.
This was the place. Despite the rosy glow of the pink genomite that the citadel was made from, it looked imposing. Its spires reached well into the cloud bank, like spears threatening the sky to fall. The reinforced tubing that helped the genomite grow in the correct shape looked like steel traps to Roshon.
Pushing down his feeling of foreboding, he approached the gate.
“State your business.” The bored gatekeeper could barely be bothered to look Roshon in the eye.
“I am expected. I am here to transport…”
“Name.” The gatekeeper interrupted, apparently wanting to keep their interaction as brief as possible.
“Nandu, Roshon.”
A few seconds later, he was being escorted in the citadel by a very jittery and very short pink man. A Genovian, to be sure. His flapping robes told labeled him as a Keeper. The magnificent growth and maintenance of the great genomite citadel was his responsibility, so too were the keeping of its secrets. For a moment, Roshon felt sorry for the hyper little man. He would never be allowed to leave the citadel; Roshon couldn’t imagine a worse fate.
The Keeper left Roshon in a small ante-chamber and disappeared without a word. Roshon looked around. He wasn’t in the citadel proper; this room appeared to be part of an outer ring of chambers. They were probably incorporated in the design to allow meetings, such as this, to happen behind closed doors but away from whatever secrets the citadel held.
After a few minutes, the door of the ante-chamber opened and two females walked in.
Females! Females? Why had the Union contacted a known mercenary to transport females?
It had been so long since Roshon had seen one up close, and even longer than that since he had spoken to one. Everything began to click in Roshon’s brain. The Union was transporting females from one citadel to another, but they weren’t using the normal transport. That meant trouble and Roshon wasn’t sure he wanted any part of it. Was it too late to back out?
“Mister Nandu, I presume?” The eldest of the two spoke first. She was well past breeding age and had the pinched faced demeanor of a school warden. Roshon assumed that she was probably well armed beneath the dark blue traveling robes she was wearing. It wasn’t likely that the Union would let a female get within 100 meters of a male like him without some precautions.
“Yeah, that’s me. Ladies, you mind telling me what all this is about?”
“I am Zaffa and this is my charge. We are your cargo for this run. I assume that the terms of the contract were to your liking?”
“Nobody told me about running females off world. Doesn’t the Union have dedicated transport for this kind of thing? I don’t want any trouble.”
“You are being paid are you not? Mr. Nandu, in your line of work, isn’t the avoidance and disposal of trouble part of the job description?”
Roshon was not enjoying the way this conversation was heading. More and more he felt like he had walked into a trap. The breeder said nothing. The only movement she made was with her eyes, bouncing from Roshon to Zaffa and back again as the conversation progressed.
“Look, if the breeder is running away from her guild I want no part of it. I still value my life.”
“I assure you the ‘breeder’ is not running away from anything but need to be safely taken to her sistren who await her on Alarias Prime.”
“Sure, sure. And what if I say I
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