The Betwixt Book One (8 page)

Commander Cole, what would he think in general? He didn't
believe in Twixts, in fact, he didn't believe in Twixts with bells
on, if that made any sense. He seemed unduly frustrated by the
Crag's insistence that the denizens of the in-between were behind
the ghost ship. So, how would he react if I were to walk up to him
and casually assert that I'd been behind the frying-pan-rescue
yesterday? Would he glare at me, act indifferent, laugh out loud,
or shoot me on the spot? Probably a mixture of all four.

And to be honest, I didn't really want to think about that
right now. Because I was off to buy illegal weaponry from the lower
decks – which is something the Commander would have a definite and
easily predictable opinion on. He would throw me in prison, because
Commander Jason Cole played by the book.

I had a definite icky feeling in my stomach by the time Od and
I had traveled the lift down to the right deck. It felt like
someone had crammed me into an old-style cocktail mixer and shaken
me till my insides had turned to jelly. I tried not to hold my
stomach as we walked through the crowd. But it was hard, for more
reasons than one. Not only did I fell like death, but the deck
looked even worse. It was in the same drab, mechanical style as the
docking bay - all bare metal and scratched , aged paint. There were
packing crates dotting the large open space, with aliens of various
sizes, descriptions, and levels of menacing sitting or leaning on
them. Everyone seemed to be wearing the same colors too – grays.,
dirt browns, and blacks. There wasn't a baby blue to be
seen.

I tried not to double up, compact my shoulders, and hide
behind my hair like the frighten child I felt I was. I had to stand
tall, right? Walk proud with my shoulders jutting out like they had
caps with wicked spikes on them. I had to flare my nostrils and
blink in slow motion. Otherwise, I was dead meat. Or more likely,
dead disintegrated particles by the look of some of the hardcore
particle rifles some of the aliens carried.

But even though I was trying very hard to keep my cool, I was
starting to sweat, my hands jittery in my pockets. What if I ran
into a GAM, what if I ran into Cole?! It wasn't impossible, was it?
In fact, it was a darn right certainty. This would be just the
place the Commander came in his spare time to continue his life's
work of cleaning up the galaxy. He was probably in the lift right
now preparing his sack to bag me with – ready to chalk me off as
another chunk of litter scraped off the pavement.

I clutched my stomach tighter, trying my utmost not to look
anyone in the eyes as we passed all shapes and sizes of galactic
scum.

‘
Now, where to start,’ Od said softly to himself, his voice as
chirpy and unperturbed as ever. If he had noticed we had entered
the den of illegality, he hadn't shown it. He didn't look
frightened at the group of Crags, holstered guns at their sides and
rifles strapped to their backs, which passed us by. He just smiled
vaguely as I tried not to whimper when one ran into my
arm.

‘
What color do you think you might like? I say, that positively
homicidal looking Krip'tal over there has a very nice white-looking
long gun. Quite smart, though it might get scuffed
easily.’

The Krip'tal in question, a tall race with a face that
resembled a carnivorous plant, hissed at us, the flaps of his mouth
blowing wide. I yelped and scurried along after Od.

‘
I don't actually care what the color is,’ I whispered because
I was still uncomfortable discussing weaponry in public, even when
the public appeared well versed in that topic.

‘
Oh. Ah, well that leaves shape then, I suppose. Would you
prefer a long one or a short one? And are you sure color doesn't
matter?’

A long one, a short one, a colorful one - this wasn't how you
chose firearms! I was supposed to be fighting the Twixts for
heaven's sake, and the only assistance my supposed mentor could
provide was the ‘fashionista's guide to accessorizing with your
plasma particle rifle’.

‘
Human,’ something boomed from behind me.

I didn't instantly turn, after all, there were other humans
dotted around this dump.

‘
Human,’ a huge hand settled on my shoulder and twisted me on
the spot.

I stared straight up into the huge lizard-skin face of the
Crag who had first told me about the Twixts.

‘
Lost,’ he rumbled in his monotone.

‘
You are,’ I squeaked, ‘well if you just take the elevators
over there—’

‘
Human is lost, not Crag'tal.’

Most Crags had names that began with Crag. For some reason
they thought it would avoid confusion – as if anyone in their right
mind would ever fail to pick a Crag out of a line up.

It took me a short while to realize what he meant. ‘Oh,
I—’

‘
Human take the elevator and go back to the deck above, this
not a good deck for her.’

Now, I would never go gooey over a Crag, they didn't exactly
engender warm feelings. But I realized this guy was actually
looking out for me. In another time, another place, I would have
smiled at that and offered him a Tika tea on the house.

‘
No, my good Crag'tal, we are not lost,’ Od piped up from
somewhere around the Crag's ankles, ‘we are in search of
weaponry.’

I could have just shot him, if I'd had the foresight to bring
along a gun on a gun-buying mission. Od had the subtlety
of . . . a Crag. Did he really have to announce our
mission so blithely?

I flinched, waiting for Crag'tal to pick me up in his gigantic
arms and carry me to the brig. But he didn't, the big guy just
looked down at me. ‘Joke.’

I couldn't figure out if he was asking whether it was a joke,
or he thought it was funny – probably both.
‘N . . . no, I, well, it's hard to
explain.’

‘
I have quite a large amount of rare Eluvian Platonium ore,’ Od
reached under his robe, ‘and we plan to trade this, plus Mini's
live savings, for a gun. Or two, if we can afford it.’

My eyes widened like someone had pumped air into them. I had
never even seen Eluvian Platonium ore – it was one of the rarest
and most valuable substances in the galaxy. Never mind buying one
gun with that, Od could afford to equip an army, and then retire on
his own planet.

Crag'tal placed out a hand and covered Od's tiny one. It was
an oddly slow and gentle move for the titan. ‘Put back in robes,
dangerous to show around here.’

Yes, yes it bloody was! I was surprised every thief in the
place hadn't jumped on us the moment Od had brought the glittering
goods out. I was betting no one here would have ever seen a fortune
like that, let alone been this close to it. I peered around
nervously, and was horrified to see more than a few scraggly
looking aliens peering our way.

‘
Oh, I suppose you are right,’ Od stowed the goods
quickly.

He had made me withdraw all my life's savings while he'd been
carrying around more money than I could earn in a 1000 lifetimes.
This was impossible . . . 

‘
Human and small one should go.’

I agreed with that, in principle. In practice, it would just
mean we would have to come back later.

‘
Not without a gun, I'm afraid,’ Od, pushed himself up onto his
toes and let himself roll back, like an excited child doing
callisthenics.

Crag'tal heaved his shoulders up and gave what I assumed was a
sigh. ‘Small one is strange. Human is strange too. Dangerous – yet
you want gun.’

‘
Could you,’ I bit my lip for a moment, but I had to force the
words out. I was abundantly aware of the fact Od and I couldn't do
this on our own. ‘Well, could you possible help
us . . . ‘ my voice trailed off weakly.

Crag'tal didn't move or speak, then heaved his shoulders
again. ‘Like human, small one makes Crag'tal laugh – Crag'tal will
help.’

I could have hugged the guy, or at least managed to wrap my
arms around one of his mammoth legs and given it an appreciative
squeeze.

As we moved off, I stuck to Crag'tal like a satellite to a
moon. Or, which wasn't a good analogy these days, his shadow. Od
would walk off on tangents occasionally, drawing the greedy eyes of
those that fancied a palm-full of Eluvian Platonium ore. But
Crag'tal would always catch up to him and menace away the
onlookers, before escorting the lost, crimson lamb back into
place.

Eventually he took us down a short set of steps to another
part of the deck I had not seen. This area really looked more like
a depot - there were stalls set up with all sorts milling around
them. Packing crates were stacked by the walls, some open, with
Crags, humans, and various aliens going through their contents. A
human pulled out a huge looking jet-black rifle and checked the
scope, while at a different crate a Crag pulled out a massive
shoulder cannon and remarked on the color, which drew a smile from
me.

Crag'tal walked us up to a far quieter looking stall off to
one side. It had a Hantari serving behind it - a creature that
resembled a biped stick insect with the same huge reflective eyes.
He wore an actual uniform though, from what I could tell. It was a
light shade of navy blue and appeared to have some kind of company
logo on it. It was a holo-badge that blinked out the name of Tech
Industries. I'd vaguely heard of them, they were one of the major
weapons companies that supplied GAM. But why would an official
looking rep, like the Hantari, be down here amongst the space bums
and mercenary scum?

Crag'tal went and answered my question. ‘Got legit licenses?’
he nodded his head at the Hantari.

The Hantari didn't answer, just grabbed something from his
pocket, and flicked it open. It was a little data pad that showed
an assortment of different hologram symbols.

Crag'tal nodded. ‘More expensive,’ he turned to me, ‘but don't
go to jail.’

I nodded quickly, as if I understood what he was saying. I
mean, I understood parts of it – like it would cost more and I
wouldn't end up rotting on a moon prison somewhere. But how could
you just buy a gun license? Didn't you have to . . .
I don't know . . . sit some kind of safety
examination? Not that anyone down on this deck would pass, but
wouldn't they demand more than a couple of Central Credits before
they gave you a lethal weapon?

I felt uncomfortable, itchy, and hot all over. I really didn't
want to be here. At least Crag'tal and Od were with me, but the
prospect of actually buying a gun . . . it was
getting a little real for me.

‘
Who's buying?’ the Hantari asked, voice like a chimney full of
mosquitoes.

Crag'tal nodded my way.

The Hantari didn't laugh, but appeared to look me over.
‘Money?’

‘
Enough,’ Crag'tal growled.

The Hantari looked at me a little longer, then did what looked
like a praying mantis shrug. ‘Bio scans.’ He nodded my way,
appearing to want something.

I just looked back, with a pained but thoroughly unhelpful
look on my face.

‘
Give him your arm,’ Crag'tal nudged me softly with his
shoulder.

I acquiesced, though couldn't stop blinking while I offered my
shaking arm, certain something painful was about to
occur.

The Hantari, a notoriously quick race, jabbed a device into
the skin below my elbow, which made me yelp in surprise. Both he
and Crag'tal looked at me and probably did the equivalent of an
alien roll-of-the-eyes.

Finally, he gave me my arm back, and I rubbed the injury
concertedly.

‘
Now registered,’ the Hantari stepped back and picked out a
much bigger data pad from under the table. ‘Now pick.’

He slapped the pad on the table and turned on the
holo-function, which sent a perfect revolving 3D picture of a gun
just above the table.

‘
What type?’ the Hantari didn't even bother to look at me, he
looked straight at Crag'tal.

‘
Why do you need it human?’ Crag'tal bent down to
me.

I sucked in my lips. As if I could tell
them . . . ‘I,’ I cleared my throat,
‘need . . . something that . . . will
work against . . . .’

‘
Non corporeal, non substantial entities from the in-between
dimensions,’ Od piped up, voice hearty, obviously happy to
help.

Crag'tal's ridged brow knotted together. ‘What, small
one?’

‘
Alright then, something with a thermal buffer, pictonian
insulation, inbuilt particle accelerator, and preferably,’ Od put
up a little red finger, ‘no blast filters.’

The Hantari had already begun flipping through the guns in his
holo catalog – obviously capable of following Od's complex
description.

‘
Going to be bright,’ Crag'tal said.

‘
Precisely,’ Od slapped his hands together lightly.

I felt like an audience member with nothing at all to do with
the show playing on around me. I must have had the blankest look on
my face.

‘
Very expensive – 4000CC,’ the Hantari brought up the picture
of the gun. ‘Comes in duel pistol and rifle form. The rifle has
secondary function—’