Farscape Black Ghost (3) ** He opened his eyes briefly and saw nothing but the night sky. He quickly rolled up his eyes behind his head and closed them in the state between consciousness and unconsciousness once again hearing voices. "You have him?" "Yes," she replied. "Is he bleeding?" "I can’t tell! I can’t get the armor off. Frell it’s still hot!!" "Alright we’ll take care of it inside. Help me move him quickly." Traynor blacked out again. Traynor awoke to a sharp pain in his chest. It wasn’t as strong as he felt before but it hurt him nonetheless. He opened his eyes and found himself in a room. He looked down to his chest and saw that his clothes were off. He instinctively reached with his right hand to touch his mark on his left shoulder, more concerned with this that the bandages and medicine that covered his wound. He looked around the room to see if it looked familiar. He was still groggy but it slowly came back to him. The furnishings the bed all belonged to Attan. He was in one of the spare rooms behind the bar. He looked across the room and saw his clothes. With some effort he got out of the bed and moaned as he stood up and moved to get his clothes. He looked for his pulse pistols, comlink, and armor but they were nowhere to be found. He put on his clothes and proceeded to look for Attan. He opened the door and made his way forward to where the bar was. The place was empty not opened yet for business. Traynor wondered what time it was and knew that it was sometime midmorning but he could not be sure. He saw Attan carrying some crates that were no doubt bottles of alcohol and placing them on the bar top. He looked up and smiled when he saw Traynor. "Looks like you’re doing ok. Some piece of work that armor of yours. You had us worried for a while." "Us?" "Yes me and Elantras." "Where are my pistols?" "I have them they’re locked up. I also have that transmitter." Traynor looked at him surprised. "Yeah I saw that. Did you see who shot you?" "No. As soon as I turned around I got hit. How did you find me?" "Elantras did. She went after you when you didn’t say goodbye. She saw you get hit on the head, shouted out your name then they ran off." "They?" "Yes. She did not get a good look at them but she said that there were two of them. After they ran off she came back to get me and we pulled you into the bar." Traynor winced in pain as he sat down at the bar. "Thanks. I owe you." "Yeah you do." Traynor smiled as best he could to deal with the pain. "Where is she anyway?" "She went out to get some more medicine for your wound. I still don’t know what she sees in you," Attan said shaking his head. "What’s that mark on your shoulder?" He looked at him and replied somberly, "It’s just a scar," trying to change the subject, "Frell, what time is it?" "Two aryns before midday." "FRELL ME. I was supposed to meet U’ave at the docking bays." "I took care of it. He was trying to reach you on your com but it was burned. He contacted me and asked if I’d seen you and I told him that you came back to the bar and had a few more drinks and you were sleeping it off in the back." "Think he bought it?" "Nope. He said to contact him when you’re ready." "Where’s my armor?" "You mean what’s left of it. It’s here behind the bar locked up with your pistols." Attan hopped over the bar and bent down to remove a floorboard that revealed a small vault built into the ground. He punched some keys and it opened up. He handed Traynor the armor and placed his pistols and the transmitter on the bar top. Traynor looked at the armor relieved that it had worked, but he was surprised and upset. Surprised at the amount of power the blast had. He rubbed his hand over the hole that used to be the chest platting and was still not able to understand how. Upset that it was now useless to him. "I’m going to take it with me," he said out loud. "There’s one more thing," Traynor continued, "My thermal sensor." "Sorry that was burned too. Funny thing though, we found it near the center of the armor close to where you were hit." Traynor could not understand that. "It might have been all that heat that the armor produced after you got hit. It may have been attracted to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if your body temperature went up. Frell your armor was hot and we had a hard time getting that thing off of you. It was like it did not want to leave you," Attan said while opening up the crates. Traynor stood up and leaned on the bar top and began to put on his pistols, shoulder holsters first. "Why don’t you rest up for a couple of arns?" "Can’t have too much to do and I’ll still need you to work on items on my list." "Sure as soon as you get it me." "Like I said as soon as I check the information that I need you’ll have it and I’m going to need them as soon as possible." Attan nodded. "Once I contact U’ave I’ll com you. I’ll need you at the docking bay. I should have the list then. Do you remember the bay number?" "Bay 3744." "Right," Traynor replied fastening the notch on his belt on his waist making sure that his holsters were securely fastened. He grabbed the transmitter and placed it in his pocket grimacing in pain. "I’ll contact you in a few arns," Traynor said as he turned and walked away from the bar heading towards the exit. Traynor boarded the transport pod for the ride back to the docking bays. He closed is eyes still feeling pain throughout his body. But he was trying to concentrate on the events that had just occurred. It was obvious to him that someone had wanted to get rid of him. He tried very hard to make the image that he had in his mind of the figure that he saw clearer, but it was no use. It was a waste of time. Traynor then tried to focus on what he could remember from the moment he arrived on Siecom. But nothing stuck out. He closed his eyes tighter hoping to see if he could remember anyone from the bar. Then it hit him. The drunken tavleks that he had run into at the bar. He immediately opened his eyes and looked around and found that the pod had just landed at the docking bays. He paid the pilot and walked towards the bay where the ship was. He made his way up the landing ramp to the command deck. Traynor began to search the ship’s data banks for information on leviathans. Once the search was complete, he went over all the information that he had procured then completed his list for Attan and contacted U’ave and they both agreed to meet in four arns. He contacted Attan and told him to be at bay 3744 in six arns. Traynor then made his way back to his quarters for some rest and a fresh change of clothes. ** Traynor opened up one of the containers and looked over the strobe grenades that U’ave had gotten for him. He liked strobe grenades, they were cheaper than plasma grenades, and the effect was just as good. Once they explode the emit intense flashes of blinding white light effectively stopping an enemy in its tracks making it easier to capture them or to finish them. He opened up another container that was filled with tannot roots, which he would use to recharge his weapons as well as those from the ship. The other containers contained spare parts and tools. "Everything in order?" U’ave asked. "Yes," Traynor replied. With his head still inside the container Traynor asked, "And the rest?" "I have it right here," U’ave replied steeping aside to reveal twelve containers filled with Traynor’s payment being closely guarded by two of his bodyguards. "I take it you’re feeling better after you night of drinking." "Frelling wonderful," replied Traynor sensing that U’ave wasn’t buying it. "Hey you!" Traynor yelled at one of the ground personnel. "Give me your scanner." He handed the scanner over to Traynor and he proceeded to scan the containers for explosives, tracking devices and anything out of the ordinary. "Traynor, come now…" U’ave said incredulously. Traynor only looked at him. He completed the scan and all was clear. "When will you be leaving?" "As soon as I restock the ship with supplies I’ll be off this planet." "Is there anything else that you require?" Not from you Traynor thought. He shook his head no. "Very well. You may contact me should you need anything else." Traynor took out his money and paid U’ave half the agreed price. "Good bye Traynor, good luck." He said this sounding relieved and walked away to pick up a transport pod being closely followed by his bodyguards. Attan arrived on time as usual. He walked over to where Traynor was and stopped to look at the containers. "What’s all that?" "My supplies and my payment." Attan’s widened his eyes, "I take it that the large stack is your payment." Traynor smiled, "I have the list for you," and he handed it over to him. Attan looked it over and uttered out loud, "No problem." He looked at the second item, "No problem," the next item, "I kind of figured you would need that," and frowned when he looked over the last one, deep creases in his face appeared, "This one may take some time and its going to be very expensive. It’s going to have to be modified to fit and honestly I don’t think that it can be done." "Fine just see what you can do. There’s one more thing," he said as he looked over his shoulder towards the Takayi, "See what you can find out about this freighter. Now give me a hand moving this and loading it onto my ship." "You said I wasn’t going to do any lifting?" "I lied. Besides don’t you want your twenty five percent?" "My WHAT?" "Your fee for the bar." "TWENTY FIVE PERCERNT? Which one do you want to move first?" ** Traynor was in the command deck and looked over the specifications intensely making sure that the torch would be able to fit into his raptor. The raptor was the second and final payment from the mining guild. The miners used a one-man transport module to mine very difficult terrain. He was concerned with the speed not the weight of the equipment that we would carry; he would be able to compensate for that. "Traynor?" Attan’s voice coming over the comlink. "Go ahead." "I’ve got all the items that you requested. But the tridelium torch is going to take time." "How long?" "Two days to fit your specifications. But there’s another problem." "Wonderful. What?" "Because you have to modify the torch, the power cells needed to generate power are proving to be an obstacle. The cells to be compressed and converted into cartridges that you’ll have to insert in order to power it. The torch is being made smaller so the heat dissipation is a concern. You can only use on cartridge at a time to power it." "Is that going to cut into the torch’s cutting power?" Traynor asked with concern. "No because your power cells are compressed. Essentially, you are getting three times more power than a normal sized tridelium torch, but in a shorter time frame." "That explains the heat." "Exactly," Attan said. "How soon were you planning to leave?" "Two days, why?" "Compressing the cells takes a lot of time. If you plan on leaving in two days I can only get you four cartridges." There was a pause as Traynor thought, "Its going to have to do," he replied. "Anything on the freighter?" "Yes, but I would rather not talk on the comlink." "Understood. In the meantime I am going to restock the ship with provisions and work on recharging the gun turrets." "I’ll get in touch as soon as it’s ready and bring it and the rest of the items to the ship," Attan said as he faded out over the comlink. Traynor sat back in his chair and looked over the specs once again making sure that it would fit. Once satisfied he turned his attention to the information he gathered on leviathans from the ship’s data banks and pulled out a star chart. He looked it over carefully and began to double-check his coordinates looking for his starting point. Smiling, he put the chart away and headed down to the cargo bay to begin recharging the gun turrets and restocking the ship with supplies. “Where is the owner of this establishment?” shouted the general as he entered Attan’s accompanied by six of his soldiers. General L’oray Outha, commander of Siecom’s military forces, was a shrewd and capable man who had risen through the ranks to gain his current position and commanded the military longer than any of his predecessors, began his inquiry. “I’m right here,” replied Attan as he approached the general. “How can I be of service?” The general replied, “I am investigating reports of an incident that occurred three days ago outside of your bar. I would have been here sooner but I had more pressing matters to attend to.” “I’m not aware of anything happening sir.” “Really?” replied the general in a tone of disbelief. “I have received reports that a male sebecean was involved in an altercation and was shot. Interestingly enough, I checked all the local medical facilities and they have no records of anyone who was treated with that type of injury that night.” “General,” Attan replied, “Under the provisions of the license that was granted to me in order to open this establishment, I must report all violent incidents that occur inside and outside my bar to the proper authorities and I can assure you sir, that there have been none.” That was what the general needed to hear from Attan. As far as he was concerned the investigation was over. “Very well then, should you come across any information regarding this contact me immediately.” “Of course general,” replied Attan graciously. “Where is the magistrate’s brother?” asked the general. “At his usual table. I’ll have the waiter bring you your drink,” replied Attan looking over at where U’ave was sitting. “Good. I have business to attend to with him,” the general said as he walked over to where U’ave was seated, while two of his soldiers remained behind guarding the doorway. “I take it all went well general,” U’ave replied looking at the general as he approached the table. “Of course,” smiled the general as he took a seat in front of U’ave. “Excellent. I will transfer the usual amount into your account by the end of the day.” “You are too kind U’ave. If your brother only knew what you were doing for him to keep him as magistrate of the house.” “My brother is blind as he is stupid. I do what I must to ensure the survival of the house. Just as you do to keep your position, other than to collect your money, why are you here?” “I am investigating an alleged “incident,”” replied the general. “And what did you discover during your investigation?” asked U’ave. “That I no longer wish to investigate it,” the general said taking a sip of his drink. U’ave laughed, “I’m going to need more men like yourself when the time comes.” “What do you mean?” U’ave continued, “Things change. How long do you think I can keep my brother in power? The magistrate of the weakest house in the system content at being mocked by the houses, many people have grown weary of this and demand change.” “Do you wish to strip him of power?” asked the general curiously. “Power? What power. The things I have done to fend off threats to keep him where he is…he has no power, only what I give him.” “I see…”the general replied cautiously. U’ave sensed how uneasy the general was, “No need to worry general, I have to intentions of improving my position. I am perfectly content with what power I have and am satisfied with the people that I surround myself with that help me with my agenda. And you?” The general looked directly at U’ave, “Content is not the word that I would use. Ecstatic is more like it.” Both men let out a loud laugh that caught the attention of Attan. “Good,” replied U’ave. The general quickly turned his attention to a different subject, “And Dekksin?” The pirates hired by the house and under the command of the general had run into Traynor the last time that he was on Siecom. The ships opened fire on Traynor after his refusal to stop and identify the cargo he was carrying. Traynor had always adhered to the law in the past, but he had grown tired of the so-called inspections and had decided on his own to change the protocol. Traynor had managed to cripple one of the ships that fired upon him before landing on Siecom on the outskirts of the city without authorization from the control port, which had managed to track the ship briefly before loosing it and sent the last known coordinates to the general who in turn dispatched a security detail. When the detail arrived they fired on Traynor, standard procedure when an unauthorized landing has occurred. They engaged in a firefight and Dekksin killed one soldier while wounding two others. The bloodshed would have continued if it not had been for U’ave contacting the general over the comm. The general knew Traynor’s reputation as a bounty hunter and was aware of how closely he worked with U’ave. He was always concerned that Dekksin would replace him as head of the military, but nothing could be further than the truth. “Clam yourself general, he is here conducting business as usual.” “What he did the last time he was here was acceptable and he was warned of any future transgressions,” the general replied angrily. “Dekksin has proven to be useful and very profitable for me, the house and yourself. He is of no threat to you.” “But he should….” “I understand your need for retribution general,” U’ave interrupted, “that will come in time. But for now do as I ask and let him go about his business.” “I take it he is working for you?” asked the general. “No, not directly,” chuckled U’ave. “He has been hired by a retainer who has placed a very large bounty. Lets stop talking business and drink and enjoy the rest of the evening.” The general nodded his head in agreement. He sensed that U’ave was involved in something big. The general had learned along the cycles not to trust anyone, especially U’ave, seeing how he manipulated and betrayed friends and family in order to gain profit. L’oray did regard the magistrate as somewhat of a friend who had given him advice along the way as he moved up in rank. But he knew not to trust anyone. The general did not know where to place his loyalties, which would be based on whomever would make him wealthier. For now he would have to wait to see what would develop. Attan pushed the cargo container containing the tridelium torch along with the other items up the landing ramp while Traynor pulled. "Just be thankful that this is the smaller version of the torch," Attan said as he and Traynor struggled to get the containers into the cargo bay. When they finally managed to get into the bay, they placed the containers along side of the raptor. Traynor began to open them up to take a look at its contents. "It’s all there, the torch, the body armor, four cartridges, the demo paks and the…" "What’s the time delay on the paks?" "Ten microts," Atttan replied catching his breath. Traynor took out a long metallic box that was hidden among the containers in the bay. "Here," Traynor said as he handed the box to Attan. "Payment for my items." Attan took the box and opened it up, counted the currency and looked puzzled. "It’s more than what I told you." "No its not. You’re forgetting about the information I asked about the freighter." Attan closed the box and held it under his right arm. "I almost forgot," he replied. "The Takayi arrived four days before you did," Traynor grew curious, "Go on." "The funny thing is that the freighter did not register with the control port when it arrived. It registered with the port the same day you arrived. Judging by the port’s arrival log…" "Hold a microt. How the frell did you manage to get an arrival log?" Traynor asked. "You know what?" he continued, "I don’t want to know." Attan couldn’t help but to laugh out loud. "The log has the Takayi arriving exactly the same time the port had your ship in a holding pattern because of the so called traffic." "So they were stalling. Why?" "I don’t know. It’s possible that they were buying time," Attan offering an answer albeit an incomplete one. "When you were with me at the bay where the freighter was docked, did you notice any ground crew?" Traynor asked. "No I didn’t" "Neither did I. Was there ever a crew assigned? What did the log show?" Attan looked at him, "I didn’t look at that…FRELL! Come to the bar later this evening. I’ll have what you need." Attan turned around and abruptly left the cargo bay. Traynor was left alone to store the cargo and try to figure out what was going on. ** "Hurry up will you?" the waiter said to Elantras who was working behind the bar. "Attan is much more faster than this." She stopped dead in her tracks and slammed a bottle of alcohol that she had in her left hand. "FRELL YOU! If you think that you can do a better job then you do it!" she shouted out and walked away from the bar. "All right! All right! I’m sorry. Its just that I’ve been running all over the place tonight and I just can’t seem to get ahead." "I know, I’m trying," she replied walking back to the bar. She placed some more drinks on the waiter’s tray and he walked away in a hurry. Traynor couldn’t help but smile when he looked at her. She had this look, this mannerism when she got upset or was frustrated that he found extremely attractive. "Need some help?" he said as he approached the bar. "Yes," she said with a sigh of relief, "Yes I do." He reached for a glass that was on the bar top, then for the bottle of ococno that was in her left hand. He continued to look at her as he opened the bottle and poured the drink into his glass, placed the top back on the bottle and put the bottle back on the bar. Looking at her, he took the glass and raised it to his mouth and took a sip and smiled when he was finished. She stood there shaking her head and biting her lower lip smiling, "Thanks Traynor. And all this time I thought you were a nerfer." "Where’s Attan?" "We ran out of rasklak so he went to the back to bring some more crates of the stuff. He should be back in a few microts." "Uh… thanks for the other day," he said shyly. "Your welcome. Besides you still owe me money from the bet you lost." "Is that it? Is that why you helped?" She stopped and looked directly at him, "YOU should know better." Upset at what he said she started to walk towards the other end of the bar. Traynor quickly grabbed her arm before she left. She jumped, startled by his touch surprised at his reaction his show of affection. "I’m sorry…all I can offer you now is my thanks," he said lowering his eyes then his head. She placed a hand on his face, "For now?" "…For now," he said softly looking directly into her eyes. Shaking her head, "…I don’t know why I put myself through this." He looked at her not knowing what to do or what to say. His feelings and thoughts meshed, he couldn’t think. He did not what he was feeling and if it he should let in. She placed a kiss on his cheek, "Hurry back." she whispered into his ear and went off to do her work not looking at him. Attan made his way forward carrying two crates of rasklak fighting the crowd for some space. "Well, you were right," handing the crates over to a waiter who happened to walk by. "There was no crew assigned to the Takayi and there still isn’t. Looks like our guests want to keep their arrival a secret." "It’s not them," Traynor replied. Attan looked confused. "Who has the authority to view the port’s arrival and crew assignment log?" "Other than the control port officer the only other person is…U’ave!" "Consider your source compromised. It’s a sure thing that he knows that you were looking for information." "You don’t know that." "How many blue plants do you know that can talk and own a bar?" Traynor deadpanned. Attan ignored his sarcasm, instead choosing to focus on the waiter who entered the bar. "What did you find out?" Attan said. Traynor turned around and saw it was the young delvian that had served him. He turned around and faced Attan. "What? Do you think that talking blue plants can only own a bar?" Traynor smiled. "I looked for the ground crew as you requested, I did not see any." "Had to be sure," Attan said cutting in, "Go on." "Two tavleks approached the bay and made their way to the freighter." "The tavleks that were in your bar," Traynor said to Attan. "Wait, I’m not finished. There was someone else on board. I was too far away to hear what was being said to the tavleks." "The tavleks say anything?" Traynor asked. "Something like "we don’t have to worry about the rasklak," then they laughed and went on board." "Good work. Thank you," Attan said. The waiter nodded and left to prepare for the busy night ahead of him. "What do you think?" Attan asked. "I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. Why bother to broker a job, than try to kill me. It just doesn’t fit." "You think he’s setting you up?" "No it’s not his way of doing business. For him it’s about power. I’m nothing to him except a tool to get things done." Traynor laughed out loud as he said this. He never realized that U’ave and everyone else that he had done business with were using him. He always felt that he had the advantage over all of them but now he wasn’t so sure. "What?" Attan asked. "Nothing…forget about it. U’ave is making sure that no one gets near whoever’s on board." "Want me to send him again?" Traynor shook his head no. "It’s to dangerous. U’ave knows that you were looking around. I don’t want anything coming back to you." Traynor turned around and looked over at the usual table were U’ave was sitting. He began to feel the pain again in his left hand. He felt it go numb. "What’s next?" Traynor turned back and faced Attan. "For you? Nothing. Just go on running the bar. And STAY OUT OF THIS." "Traynor it’s a setup, back out now." He knew that he couldn’t do this. If he did he’d be lucky if he got a job picking tannot roots. "I can’t," Traynor replied as he turned around and left the bar deciding to go to the bay where the mysterious freighter was. Attan looked at him, his eyes expressing deep concern. He knew Traynor was right he had to stay out of this, he had too much at stake. **
Copyright © 2001 Rick Mantilla |