Twinks in Space: Destination Unknown - Part One - 33. Chapter 33 - In the Company of Mercenaries

The Cometskipper and the newly renamed Quasar Queen slipped through hyperspace at a cool 14 light speed. Both starships were invisible to any sort of detection at that rate of travel.

Stawren was with Fonith on the Cometskipper, and the three men were together on the Quasar Queen.

Before launching off the planet Xanithon, Fonith had admired the new ship’s dual cavitation engines, along with quite a few of its other upgrades. Lyoth, Phentrom, and Captain Suoki were now enjoying some of them.

“I can’t believe the owner of this ship had a hot tub installed,” Lyoth said with a laugh.

The three men were lounging in it. They were naked and feeling very relaxed. Froufrou was asleep on a large fluffy sofa.

“I can’t believe whoever they were had a virtual bartender installed!” Captain Suoki added. “Phentrom, please have it make me another lemon lunar zimzam.”

A moment later, the beverage appeared.

“This will be a nice way to search for the Ulaa-Lah,” Phentrom commented. He sighed.

A little over an hour later, the Quasar Queen approached the edge of its programmed map, and an alarm started ringing. The ship-wide computer said, “Warning! Navigational system can no longer guarantee safety of space travel. Warning!” The ship dropped out of hyperspace, and the Cometskipper was waiting. Fonith and Stawren hailed the men.

“Are you leaving the Quasar Queen out here, or do you want to bring it all the way?”

“Now that we’ve got it, I don’t want to leave it!” Phentrom declared.

“Alright,” Fonith replied, “I’m sending you the flight path that is supposed to lead us to the mercenary stronghold.”

With the extended map of the universe installed in both starships’ computers, the interplanetary vehicles disappeared into hyperspace.

Thirty-seven minutes later, they returned to normal space at the edge of a planetary system that none of them knew.

“The map is telling us to head toward the asteroid belt,” Lyoth said, indicating the cosmic path that the computer was displaying. “Fonith told us mercenaries typically hide out on asteroids. Wonder what we’ll find.”

Another four minutes of space travel brought the two ships into the flow of the enormous belt of rock orbiting its sun. Both vehicles were hailed and granted permission to land. The base was on one of the largest asteroids in the belt, but its gravity still registered as minuscule on the ships’ scanners. The two vehicles landed within a sphere of artificial gravity that encompassed the base, and the travelers exited their vessels.

The Cometskipper sealed itself behind Fonith and Stawren with its impenetrable security protocols. Phentrom, Lyoth, and Captain Suoki joined them.

“Welcome, madam Fonith and her companions,” an attaché exclaimed as he came out into the docking port. “You are most welcome here. Lord Wrisa is very interested in hearing about what it is you seek.” Their host continued. “Madam Fonith, my lord knows that you have had an alliance with the mercenaries who have always made this rock their home, and he honors it. Would you like to refresh yourselves from your journey before meeting with Lord Wrisa, or would you like to see his lordship now?”

“Unless any of you have any objections,” Fonith answered, looking at the other four, “I have no problem with going now to talk to…” and she turned to the attaché, “Lord Wrisa?” He nodded and smiled at her pronunciation as she concluded, “Let’s go meet him and see what he knows or can find out.”

The others agreed.

“Very well, please come this way.” The man led them down a hallway to an open room with a large table at its center and several chairs.

A guard entered the room holding a crate and instructed, “Please, deposit your weapons before meeting with Lord Wrisa.”

Lyoth stepped right up to the man and unsheathed several blades that he placed into the bin. Captain Suoki followed suit and unholstered two blasters that he set down beside Lyoth’s knives.

“I don’t have any weapons,” Phentrom said uncertainly, patting himself down to show he had nothing.

Fonith did not have any of her long-range weapons, but she added her own pair of blasters to the box.

Stawren shrugged. “I’m also unarmed.”

The guard turned and exited, and a separate door opened.

“This is Lord Wrisa,” the attaché declared, bowing and exiting the room.

“What’s this about?” Lord Wrisa asked. He was an angular man with a square jaw and a stiff manner. His face was clean-shaven, and his expression was stony. A pair of councilmen flanked him, but they said nothing.

“I am Madam Fonith,” she informed the men. “Thank you for granting us this audience. May I introduce Lyoth. He will explain.”

Lyoth stepped up and said, “I used to be part of a community starship that has become lost in space, and we suspect it’s somewhere beyond the outer rim. The ship is called the Ulaa-Lah.”

“How interesting, I’m also looking for a ship called the Ulaa-Lah.” Lord Wrisa gave them a smarmy grin and asked, “What’s the easiest way to get a weapon from a warrior?” He paused and answered his own riddle. “You ask them for it.”

Lord Wrisa suddenly shouted, “Seize them!” and guards rushed in with blasters drawn and pointed at the five new arrivals, who were now unarmed.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Fonith yelled.

“Get them out of my sight!” Lord Wrisa ordered the guards. “My ship is leaving and the others are on their way back.”

The five were taken at gunpoint to a room with three separate cells, and they were locked in them. Fonith was shoved into one; Lyoth and Captain Suoki were sealed in the next, and Stawren and Phentrom were locked in the third.

The guards rushed out of the room and the prisoners immediately started discussing their predicament.

“What in the name of all the gods just happened?!” Lyoth snapped.

Captain Suoki grabbed the bars. “This is Dozshi steel!”

“How in the universe are we going to get out of this?” Stawren asked.

Lyoth clenched his hands into fists. “I hate being locked up.”

Stawren started patting herself down. “Do any of you have anything useful? They didn’t take our devices, but they’ve clearly got a signal jammer on us. None of my stuff’s working.”

Captain Suoki was examining every inch of the cell he was in with Lyoth.

“Did we say something wrong?” Fonith asked under her breath, more to herself than the others.

Lyoth turned to Stawren and Phentrom’s cell.

The mandroid was kneeling with his palms on the floor, and his eyes were closed.

“Phentrom,” Lyoth said quietly, “are you alright? What are you doing?”

Phentrom replied, but his voice was barely above a breath. “I’m finding the resonant frequency of the flooring.” The slab below his hands began to crumble, and a crawlspace beneath was revealed.

The others looked at him in surprise.

“How did you…”

“That’s perfect!” Stawren stated. First she stuck her head into the hole; then she disappeared into it.

“Now, where has she gone?” Captain Suoki asked. “Phentrom, can you follow her? Will you fit in that space also? Can you crawl beneath us and do what you just did to the flooring to break us out of here as well?”

The mandroid looked into the space and said, “Yes, I think I can fit also.”

There was a click, and the cell doors released.

“Never mind,” Captain Suoki said. “Did Stawren do that?”

“There are a bunch of wires and thing in the floor,” Phentrom replied. “They must control the doors.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Lyoth urged emphatically.

“This base is tiny,” Fonith added, we are still just down the hallway from the ships.”

“Seems like it was a mistake coming here,” Phentrom added. “Let’s get the ships and go!”

“Wait,” Stawren called, climbing back out of the hole, “Lord whatever said they were looking for the Ulaa-Lah also. I’m certain they know something. I think we need to find a computer and access the base’s databanks before we leave.”

“Dammit, you’re right,” Fonith replied. “Let’s split up. You and I can go find a terminal.”

“And we’ll go get the ships,” Lyoth concluded.

“No, that’s not going to work,” Fonith suddenly stated. “Only I can open the Cometskipper.”

“I’ll go with Stawren,” Lyoth offered, “and you three, get the ships ready to launch.” He stepped up and wrapped his arms around Phentrom. “I love you,” Lyoth said and kissed his cheek. “Also,” he added, “I need this.” Lyoth stepped away from Phentrom and revealed a blade that had been hidden in the mandroid’s clothes. “Thanks, babes!”

Phentrom looked startled. “I’ve been carrying a knife around?”

“You’ve been holding it for me,” Lyoth countered. “Let’s move.”

The door was not locked and the hallway was still empty.

Fonith pointed one direction, and she led Phentrom and Captain Suoki toward the starships, as Lyoth and Stawren snuck back down the hallway.

“Where is everyone?” Lyoth asked under his breath. “Why aren’t there more people at this base?”

Stawren shrugged. “It’s weird. Anyway, there was a computer in that room where we met his lordiness. Lets head there.”

They crept to the door and reentered the empty room. Stawren stepped right up to the terminal. She activated its three-dimensional holographic display and began to dig through its files.

“Oh gods…”

Lyoth looked at her. “What is it?”

“Fonith’s contact was right; the Red Stars are not just mercenaries anymore. I’ve pulled up a document all about a merger with the Giblox Authority, and there’s something about an overthrown kingdom aligning with these mercenaries.”

“The Giblox Authority again,” Lyoth said.

Stawren then made a noise of shock.

“What else?” Lyoth asked her.

“I think I know why we got arrested.” She turned back to the display. “There’s video surveillance footage of us breaking those kids out of that prison. Wait…” she paused. “What in the…” Stawren’s eyes widened, and she blurted out, “They have videos of us doing battle with the pirates in Boullia Bay!”

Lyoth gritted his teeth. “Oh, great,” he growled, “so they knew exactly who we were before we even arrived. Phentrom was right; coming here was a mistake.”

Stawren scowled at the screen. “I agree. Oh, and here’s our reason for why there’s only a skeleton crew. More than half of the base’s inhabitants went to collect the remnant of that overthrown kingdom, and they’re planning on returning here with reinforcements. Let’s get off this rock.”

She shut down the computer and the pair of them made their way again through the empty hallway, but they were surprised by what they found when they reached the docking bay.

The Quasar Queen was being dismantled, and the Cometskipper was gone!