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  The Dinari lowered his laser pistol a few inches and considered Liam and the crew.

  Nix insisted, “This is a conversation best suited for the elder. There is much to tell and our time wanes.”

  Jalin shifted his gaze between each of the crew as though gauging their intentions. Liam sheathed his blade and urged Ju-Long to follow suit. The Dinari finally lowered his weapon to his side and stood up straight.

  “Very well,” Jalin said. “Follow.”

  •

  The large Dinari pushed past a tangle of vines, leading the crew into a glade filled with makeshift huts. The miniature homes were built from downed tree branches and held together by flexible vines. The tops of the huts were made from a branch framework with large leaves woven in to protect from the rain. Liam felt as though he’d traveled back in time. These Dinari had almost no technology, but what they did have looked scrapped from Ansaran leftovers. He wondered how it was possible that Nix and these other Dinari could be so different and yet so similar.

  At the edge of the village several more Dinari appeared. Liam and the crew reached for their weapons but they were quickly taken and the crew was restrained by the beefy guards. They were led to a square hut at the center of the village, in steep contrast to the much smaller rounded dwellings. Two torches were lit on either side of the entrance, providing a little light inside the entryway but hardly enough to see by.

  The guards shoved them through the doorway one by one, remaining outside to ensure they couldn’t leave. In the near darkness a figure sat cross-legged in front of them. A faint glow appeared inside his closed hand, seeping out through the cracks. He opened his clawed hand and the orb floated there, growing with intensity until the room was fully lit.

  An ancient Dinari sat before them grinding away at a bundle of leaves in a little cup. He banged a stone instrument against the side of the bowl and picked up a pinch of the crushed leaves.

  “Why have you come?” the old Dinari asked, his glazed eyes turning questioningly to Nix.

  “Zega sent us. He sends his regards and regrets that he couldn’t make it.”

  The timeworn Dinari let out a hearty laugh, ending with a throaty cough. “Zega lives. Of course he would be alive. The bastard never had the good sense to die.”

  “You know each other?” Liam asked.

  “Zega is known on many worlds, but he’s rarely welcomed on any. Yes, I’m afraid to say I knew him. I’m the only man I know to whom he owes a favor.”

  Saturn smiled and said, “I was hoping we’d be the first.”

  “What do you know of the Ansaran research facility nearby?” Nix asked.

  The elder held up his handful of crushed leaves and sprinkled them over his tongue. His golden eyes opened wide and his pupils dilated. He blew out a calm breath of air and said, “My people were brought here generations ago to serve the Ansaran researchers. We did as we were told until a few short weeks ago. During the night, several cargo ships came and went. When we reported for duty the next day everyone was gone.”

  Liam itched the long scar on his cheek, which guided several beads of sweat down his face. He’d gotten used to the heat from Surya, but the humidity was another story. He asked the elder, “Do you know a way into the facility?”

  “We were never allowed inside the main facility. Attached to the side of the structure are living quarters for the Ansaran guards. We would clean and cook for them there.”

  The elder’s eyes seemed far-off. Whatever plant he’d consumed had a profound effect on him. Nix was intent on the crushed green substance, worried for his fellow Dinari. Liam wondered if Nix knew what it was.

  “Are you alright, elder?” Nix probed.

  “I’m not as young as I once was. This herb keeps my mind off the pain so I can focus.”

  Nix gave the elder a look of pity. His respect for the elder seemed to be deeply rooted, something uncommon on any human colony. Their traditions were old, perhaps the only thing they could cling to after the war. Liam frowned and asked the elder, “Without supplies from the Ansarans, how will your people survive?”

  The elder’s eyes focused on him and he said, “We all have our burdens to bear. We are Dinari. We will find a way.”

  “And what of this silence?” Nix asked.

  “I suspect it is the Ansarans’ doing, but there’s no way to be sure. This world still has life, and we will find it, even if we have to move this village.”

  “Elder,” Nix began, “We need to get inside the research facility. The lives of good people depend on what we find in there.”

  “War is coming,” the elder muttered.

  Liam exchanged looks with his crew. Saturn and Ju-Long had kept awfully quite during their exchange, but suddenly Ju-Long was interested in the conversation.

  “I have seen it,” the ancient Dinari continued. “The Ansarans, they prepare for battle.”

  Nix asked, “What do you mean?”

  “If they have abandoned this post then they are consolidating their forces. They expect an attack. The Dinari, most of us unassuming, will be the foot soldiers. The decoys. I do not care what becomes of this war, so long as my people are safe.”

  “If war broke out you wouldn’t help?” Saturn asked harshly.

  “Help whom? If the Dinari help the Ansarans win we’ll be no better off. If the Kurazon win the war they’ll be focused on the Ansarans.”

  “Until they’re all dead,” Saturn said. “Then who do you think they’ll come after?”

  “Saturn, that’s enough,” Liam ordered.

  “If the Dinari want to live they need to rise up,” Saturn objected.

  “Look at my people,” the elder said. “We are not warriors. Most of them are sad the Ansarans are gone because now they have no one to serve. Out of a hundred perhaps five would rise and what then? We have only a few weapons that were discarded by the Ansarans.”

  Saturn huffed and stood up, making her way toward the door and pushing past the Dinari guards. Liam couldn’t help but agree with her, but now wasn’t the time to be making enemies or starting revolutions. They had a mission to attend to that might inform their next move.

  “I’m sorry about her,” Liam apologized.

  “She is headstrong, but means well,” the elder said.

  “Will you show us to the facility?”

  “Jalin will show you to the facility, but be warned. The way into the main facility is a mystery to us. If you do find a way in, pray you do not find an Ansaran straggler. They won’t take kindly to intruders.”

  13

  The Ansaran research facility was a massive metal structure with a curve to its outer façade. Countless vines gripped the sides, seemingly pulling the building into the ground. It was only a single story tall, but Liam had a feeling there was much more beneath the surface. The rounded main building had a sloping roof reminiscent of a shallow dome. Off to Liam’s right was a square building attached to the main structure that appeared to be built as an afterthought.

  Jalin led them around the structure, carrying their weapons in a mesh bag slung across his back. Despite emphatically demanding their weapons be returned, the elder wouldn’t have it until they were clear of the village. Even then, Jalin wasn’t giving in until he left them at the facility. It seemed the elder’s prior relationship with Zega curried them no favor. Or, perhaps more likely, it was because of his prior relationship with Zega that he was being cautious.

  The Dinari guide wore form-fitting leather shorts, sweat glistening down his bare back when the rare burst of sun seeped through the jungle canopy. Liam looked at Nix, whose skin was perfectly dry, though his mouth hung open and his long tongue panted like a dog. The differences between them were subtle but they were there.

  Their guide stopped in front of the entrance to the living quarters. A wide rectangular door with ribbed horizontal strips of metal stood before Liam, its faded red paint job chipping away in places to reveal bits of steel underneath. Jalin put his muscular arm into a hole in
the wall. The Dinari’s arm was bathed in blue light and he jumped as a needle penetrated his scales. Once the needle retracted, he removed it and rubbed the red spot on his upper forearm. “The Ansarans never were the trusting sort,” he told Liam.

  A few moments passed before Liam heard a rumble from behind the entryway. The red door split in two along a solid metal track, large copper gears in the framework churning along with its slow procession. The living quarters was only dark for a moment before a dozen orbs began to illuminate, hovering inches from the ceiling.

  The room was a mess. Clothes and papers were strewn everywhere and plates of food sat uneaten on a round table near the kitchen. Two rows of cots stacked three high extended toward the main structure on Liam’s left while a row of lockers and tables inhabited the section to his right. The room wasn’t as large as he’d expected, with perhaps enough room to house twenty Ansaran troops. Near the front of the bay, a weapon rack sat empty, save for a few rifle straps hanging over the top.

  “Looks like they got out in a hurry,” Liam remarked.

  The crew was silent as they entered the living quarters. Saturn and Ju-Long each took a side and investigated. Jalin appeared restless, fidgeting with the strap over his shoulder and refusing to stand in one place. He looked out of place in the entrance of the facility. His chameleon-like features only worked with the vegetation outside.

  “We are here without permission,” Jalin said. “If you would weather the risk, then stay. I’m leaving.” He turned and moved a few steps before Nix stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. The Dinari turned and regarded Nix quizzically. His familiar golden eyes betrayed his fear.

  Nix smiled and asked in his most polite voice, “Thank you, friend, but would you mind returning those?”

  He noticed the strap in his hand and removed the mesh bag from his shoulder, clanking it down on the metal floor of the bay. He regarded Nix, oblivious to Liam’s presence, and said, “Apologies. Live well, or die quick.”

  Nix struggled to maintain his smile before patting the guide on the back and watching him disappear into the dense jungle.

  “What was that about?” Liam asked.

  Nix picked up the bag of weapons and turned to Liam. He responded so Saturn and Ju-Long wouldn’t overhear, “The phrase? It’s a remnant of the war, but it’s not used in civilized conversation. He assumes we’ll die if we continue.”

  “This Narra breed sure has a lot of doubt.”

  “They don’t know anything different. They’ve been secluded here. Though, I don’t think it will be much better elsewhere. On Surya you’ve had the occasion to meet some of the more radical of our kind.”

  “Well let’s not prove him right,” Liam said before searching through the mesh bag and pulling out his weapons. “Come on.”

  Saturn was busy searching through lockers when Liam and Nix approached with the bag of weapons. She looked up and asked, “What exactly are we looking for again?”

  Liam looked down the row of lockers to the end. The wall was solid save for a few seams. There might have been a door somewhere in the wall, but there was no keypad or scanner to be seen. “Any kind of tech you can find. If there’s no keypad there must be a trigger somewhere.”

  Saturn took her weapon from the bag in Nix’s outstretched hands. After holstering her energy weapon and sheathing her machete, she checked the curved screen on her wrist and shook her head.

  “What is it?” Liam asked her.

  “The stupid thing has gone haywire. It can’t even tell us where we are.”

  Liam nodded and said, “Keep looking the old-fashioned way.”

  Saturn continued forcing open lockers and tossing out the contents. Despite her frustration she looked like she was having fun. It had been a long time since their last smash and grab.

  Ju-Long tossed the footlockers at the head of each bed, removing clothes and strewing them around haphazardly. When Liam approached, Ju-Long continued on with the next trunk, breaking the latch off with his bare hand and flipping up the lid to reveal tightly folded clothes within. The faster he tossed the clothes and objects within the quicker his smile grew. He stopped just long enough to remove his machete and energy weapon from the bag and strap them to his body. While he pitched the contents of the next box he said to Liam, “When’s the last time you had this much fun? We might as well be Space Pirates looking for loot.”

  “Space Pirate?” Nix asked Liam curiously.

  “Don’t ask,” he replied, then said to Ju-Long, “I thought we agreed on Freelancers.”

  “You and Saturn agreed. I was never part of the conversation.”

  Ju-Long stopped rifling through one of the boxes, a couple of stray objects in his hands, and stood up straight. “And if it were my choice, we’d be Space Pirates, searching the planets for treasure.”

  “What’s that?” Nix asked.

  “Treasure is anything valuable, whether it’s rare ore or precious metals.”

  “No, that!” Nix said pointing to the spherical object in Ju-Long’s hand.

  Liam approached him and examined the device. The small metal sphere had several seams that flashed different colors from somewhere deep inside. Ju-Long handed Liam the device and absentmindedly tossed the goggles in his other hand over his shoulder, cracking the glass lenses when they hit the hard floor.

  Liam ignored the sound, intent on the fist-sized sphere. He tried turning the device along the seams and it instantly heated up, searing his hand. He dropped it and the ball rolled away toward the wall of the living quarters that bordered the main facility. The device gravitated toward a spot near the center of the wall and began to spin, sending multi-colored flashes of light out in every direction.

  Along the locker side of the bay, Saturn stood up and stared at the scene incredulously. She called to Liam, “What the hell is that?”

  Liam didn’t have time to answer. The device suddenly stopped spinning and projected a green beam of light on the wall, which changed from a single dot into a line, and which finally expanded out into a large rectangle. Through the holographic green haze, Liam could see a white hallway on the other side. The crew shared looks until finally Saturn motioned for Liam to investigate.

  Liam stepped out into the center aisle of beds and approached the sphere with caution. From up close he could see that the image projected out from the sphere wasn’t an image at all. It wasn’t like any holographic projection he’d ever seen. Liam drew his blade and waved it in front of the green projection, half expecting the metal to be cut in two. The projection bounced off the metal as he ran it through, but the blade wasn’t damaged at all. He looked to his crew and shrugged his shoulders.

  It was possible that the device was some sort of x-ray that penetrated the wall so he could see through to the other side. While a device like that would certainly have its uses, Liam had a nagging feeling it was more than that. He gave the projection a wide berth and walked up to the wall a foot from the edge of the emerald image. It was too real to be a simple representation worked up by a machine. Liam inched closer to the light, clenched his teeth together, and waved his hand through. It was warm to the touch, giving his hand a slight tingling sensation.

  Liam stepped closer to the hole and put his fingers up to where the wall would have been. It went straight through, the only resistance a growing numbness in the tips of his fingers. He gazed through the bright green light to his crew, who stood aghast. With his arm still outstretched through the thick wall Liam said, “I guess we found the entrance.”

  14

  Liam gazed through the projection into the facility. He swallowed hard and then walked up to the barrier and put his hand through to the other side. Cautiously he stepped through the wall. On the other side, he patted himself down to make sure he was still in one piece. Everything seemed in order. He turned around and saw a much darker room on the other side. He could hardly make out Saturn and Nix as they approached the barrier, looking quizzically at the light before testing it with their ha
nds.

  Ju-Long took a different approach. Apparently unconcerned with the light, he confidently approached the doorway and crossed the barrier to the other side, looking bored in the process. Seeing Ju-Long also make it unharmed, Saturn and Nix slowly made their way across, joining Liam inside the research facility.

  Saturn’s jaw hung open involuntarily, mesmerized by the strange technology. She asked Nix, “Have you ever seen anything like that before?”

  Nix shook his head. “Never. But, if the stories about this place are true, then we’re in for a few surprises.”

  “Surprises I can handle,” Ju-Long said, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s get on with it.”

  “Showoff,” Saturn jeered.

  Ju-Long looked like he was about to give an angry retort but thought better of it. Instead, he said confidently, “I’m a people pleaser Saturn. I please people. It’s a curse, really. I guess it’s a good thing so many people like me.”

  Saturn rolled her eyes.

  Liam sheathed his blade and retrieved his crescent-shaped energy weapon from its holster. He noticed that the hallway had white walls that were made from some type of smooth polymer, neither stone nor metal. Up ahead a few meters the hallway came to a ‘T.’ Liam didn’t feel good about splitting up in there; if the facility was large, they may never find each other again. He would have to make a choice and stand by it.

  “Follow me,” he told the crew, taking off down the corridor to the right.

  There were no doors along the smooth hallway, only glowing orbs floating every several feet and casting bright light into every crevice. The corridor wound to the left until they reached a dead end. Liam placed a hand on the wall out of curiosity. It was cool to the touch, but didn’t give way like the projection at the entrance.

  “Now what?” Saturn asked.

  Liam scanned the floor and the ceiling looking for anything besides the glossy white surfaces. He mused, “They wouldn’t put in a hallway to nowhere.”